​After a trip to there local large chain Kitchen Company they were a little disappointed with the design supplied, the price, and the fitting cost was excessive and really the whole thing was not want they wanted, after a quick call to us we arranged a meeting and we took down what they wanted from there new kitchen and they were also interested in a new floor through out which really required new skirting, architrave and 3 new doors would finish the house off completely, so with some pondering and a little bit of tweaking we came up with the simply idea of just moving the doorway from the corner of the room to the middle. 
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There was a few complications here but nothing we cold not handle as builders this was not a problem at all, the main was the loss of the Radiator which we moved to a different position in the hallway, the new kitchen still has heating via plinth heaters so the room is still as warm as toast!

​As a young couple with a young family it was important to do as much we could with the budget they had while still given them, all they wanted, the original kitchen design only gave them a really like for like run of units, but by just moving the door we managed to get the 70/30 integrated fridge freezer, the tall oven & microwave Housing, a 800 set of pan draws and two 150mm pull out sliding units to keep all oils sauces and spices in.  

​The run was completed with another 600mm base unit with 900 high wall units either side of the extractor, the other side originally had a 1000mm sink base, but we split that to a 400 & 600mm unit and now the 400 unit is just a pull out bin cupboard which makes much more sense of the cupboard, the integrated dishwasher and other two 600mm cupboards finished this run off sweetly and with the new taller wall units the kitchen has an increased storage area of about 35% new worktops and matching splash backs completed the look the transformation is fantastic considering the original space.

​well, we amended the electrics, amended the pipework, moved the door, installed a new gas supply for the hob, installed a proper extraction system over the loft, skimmed the ceiling, new wall and areas requiring our attention, done all the floors, installed new skirting's, architrave, doors and fully painted all the downstairs as it made sense to us to do this while we were there free of charge, as sometimes its just plain nice to be nice and they were worthy customers as they had put there trust in us to deliver them a fantastic job which I think we just about pulled off.

The revamp started with a new slimline tray, followed by a new porcelain floorboard floor, which we under matted with Dural C1 matting, which allows timber floors to deflect with causing any damage to the tiles. We then tiled the shower area with 600x600mm porcelain tiles and full fully grouted the whole job with Webber Pro Grout which is extremely waterproof and has an amount of flexibility built into the mixture that is ideal in extreme wet areas, even outdoors.

We then completely re decorated the whole room and installed new skirting’s, the vanity unit got a new doors and side panel and we scratch built the matching hidden cistern housing to give a flawless easy to clean look all in high gloss white.
The new bar shower, twin pivot enclosure and WC with soft close seat completed the whole look and our customers are extremely happy with the outcome that took us 5 full days to complete.
I hope you found this of interest and if you want any further information, don’t be shy just give us a call. 

​Welcome to the Buildjunky blog where we share our latest work and professional tips. This blog is a helpful guide to our latest building project which replaced an unusable cold in the winter ugly conservatory.  

The clients had had enough of the conservatory on the back of their home in Doncaster, it was connected by an opening directly to the dining room and lounge which without any doors made this whole area cold in the winter months, the clear plastic roof was constantly being covered in mess by the resident birds and pigeons and was not built particularly well as conservatories do not have to comply with building regulations only planning permission.
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After an initial survey by us, our architect Carl visited the clients and after some sketches from him and 3 dimensional images from us, came up with the general design of the extension itself. He then produced the final drawings & building regulations and organised the planning & building regulations submission. We gave the clients a fixed price quotation based on the drawings and our next available start date, and were delighted to contracted for the job.

​Our Initial task was to dismantle the Conservatory which was incidentally sold on Ebay, which is a far better way of disposal than that of landfill. The demolishing of the dwarf walls was pretty straight forward as was the slab and footings as they were not exactly very deep at only some 200mm. We managed to keep virtually all the rubble created and used this as towards the subbase of the adjoining patio again saving landfill and the cost of skips

Just some of the waste created and how we secured the opening during this phase, the blue sheeting covered virtually the whole garden to protect the existing paving.

We did come across a problem with the ground that we were digging out for the footing in that it was completely made up of all sorts of rubble from when the house was originally built, this is not uncommon on newer houses, but it was hard going as instead of a standard depth of 1 meter we had to go down to about 1.6/1.7 meters which is a deep hole especially when you find old lumps of reinforced concrete, old bricks and stone at every level. With the footing dug out and secured with shuttering we poured the concrete footing to a depth of a meter with footing blocks making up the remainder of the height just below ground level ready for the class b brickwork. 

Apart from the day when it rained the remainder of the job ran well with a constant arrival of materials and labour being the way in which this build and to fair our jobs stay on timetable. This extension has one or two features that maintain light into the building which is really important when considering any extension to your home, the reason I say this is because without adequate nature light the room that becomes the middle room will be cave like if no allowance is made in the design.

​This has been done on this build by installing the latest in large roof light design, the full height slot windows, bi-fold doors and decorating all walls and ceilings in white matt emulsion which incidentally allows any natural light to bounce and reflect around the interior spaces that adjoin the extension itself.

The roof of this structure utilises a EDPM roof which is basically a rubber roof that is extremely durable, long lasting and with its associated trims gives a nice finish to the whole job, we also install other types of roofs, such as GRP or fibreglass or apex and lean-to roofs, which all have their merits in different situations the latter best used where there is room under first floor windows.
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It was important that this extension flowed from outside to in and vice versa, the reason for this was that with a sloping garden just coming from a full width set of Bi-fold doors to a set of steps would have been a waste of the bi-fold doors, the other reason was that this house did have a really lovely view that extends to open countryside which when linked to the raised planters really gives the whole design a wow factor.

The planters actually do several things, with the patio which is covered in antique fossil limestone being virtually parallel to the floor height of the extension, it creates an unsafe drop of the edges as the garden slopes down the garden. The planters combat this but also act as extra seating all the way around should you be entertaining and is extremely versatile as with the additional lights can be used during the day and well into the evening.

​For those readers who have some horticultural experience, knowledge or just want to know a bit more about the planting, I can tell you that the planting has been designed within a pallet of colours and plants that will give a good constant display throughout the year. Along with the wide range of perennials there is a number of structural plants that gives the whole scheme height, structure and interest that links the other plants which have been chosen for their foliage, height, position, and flowering time.

​I have included some 250 bulbs within the design from Bluebells and Muscari, to a wide selection of Alliums that have been planted to interweave with the sedges. Some of these plants have a habit of out-growing their planting area if left unchecked, however to combat this some plants have been restricted by being planted on in to bigger pots, and then into the beds themselves creating a restricted space but at the same time allow them to grow and thrive without taking complete control of any given area.

I hope you found this blog of use and if you have any request or questions please drop us a line as we would
​love to hear from you.                        

​​​To have a fighting chance of solving the leak you should stop using the shower straight away, you will then need a sharp Stanley knife and start removing the bulk of the old sealant, with the aid of a scrapper, you then need to remove every last piece of old silicone, when you think are done just over it one more time, the resulting gap between the tiles and the tray will still have debris in it so it is also important to clean this also. Wrap toilet paper around the edge of the Stanley of scrapper and manoeuvre it along the gap until it is bone dry.

This process should take you at least 2 hours to prepare before it is ready for resealing, if the toilet paper still has signs of moisture leave the shower for as possible or even place a small blow heater in there to aid drying out. Then seal the whole shower using a good sealant such as Dow 785 which is anti-fungal, using a corking gun apply each area at a time and smooth out with a moistened finger or tool, ensure there is enough covering the gap, and repeat around the whole shower paying attention to the corners, leave for 24 hours to cure and test.

This is the only way to give yourself a fitting chance so undo all your hard work by using a cheap alternative, and also be prepared for it to fail at some point in the future, it might last only 3 or 6 months, but it could also last a number of years, you will soon know if you saved it in time if no fungi are visible within the grout and sealant. I hope this was useful and please rate it below, if have a problem with your shower and need our help then please contact us, I am sure we will be able to help.