The Plan

It's June 2014

The internal asbestos has been removed. The Fleepit external walls now consist of a brick outer skin and a timber frame with asbestos cement sheets between them. There is minimal insulation and the asbestos needs encapsulating so as to be inaccessible to normal domestic activities.

We also want to get double glazing installed with some of the windows & doors being altered

Simon the builder is great, looks at the situation, considers the possibilities & restrictions and comes up with a plan.

Simon says:

• A steel RSJ will be put in across the extension to provide the necessary support for the roof;
• The windows/doors get replaced/altered
• A 4x4 timber frame will be built just inside the existing timber frame.
• New wiring and plumbing will have a first-fix through the new frame

• Kingspan insulation boards will be packed into the frame
• The lounge ceiling and all walls will have plasterboard and be skimmed
• The bathroom walls will be rebuilt, making it one room with the WC, skimming the ceiling to cover up the pre-existing wall marks and have a new door
• The electrics and plumbing will be completed.

Once done, all the remaining asbestos will be approximately 15cm behind the plaster so that only drilling right through the walls will be an issue. Hanging shelves and normal domestic DIY will be perfectly safe. Although totally removing the asbestos would have been the ideal, this is a good compromise and puts The Fleepit on a par with any home built before 1999 which may well have asbestos as part of it's construction.

This "making-good" was all considered as part of the original budget for the asbestos removal and the quote for the work is very reasonable. We give the go ahead and Simon schedules the work to start alongside work on a barn conversion he's doing. Our work will be indoors so ideal for when they're struggling with wet weather.

I'll be liaising with our existing plumber plus the electrician and window fitters that Simon has recommended.

The RSJ is the first item on the schedule...

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