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The Essential Guide » Starting / Ground Works to Slab Level / Basements / Drainage » Setting up the Site Ready to Start Property Renovation | Conversion
This section has not yet received its final editing or checking. It is included here as it may give the reader some useful advice – even in this format.
The text will shortly be checked and edited and will then be presented in its final format.
“Setting up” the site: Renovation and Conversion.
Introduction:
In this section I will be covering the more major Renovation and Conversion projects in terms of how you set up the site before you start work. Smaller projects, apart from the need to maybe hire a “lock up”, generally don’t need a lot of planning in this respect. Services are normally connected, the roof is on and therefore gives you the “weather tightness you need, and you are pretty flexible in how you are able to approach the whole thing. As you start to consider the larger projects where you are either taking a shell and “re creating” a building from it, or you plan to “strip back” a property to its basics, then you need to think about the implication and give some thought to making sure that everything is set up right before you start.
Larger “Renovation and Conversion” projects will generally be set up along the same lines as new “Self Build” projects. There are, however some fundamental differences between the projects which will often lead to alternative decisions being made, and a in many cases different “site set up” being needed.
For this reason I have split the “Setting up the site” section into 2 parts. One to cover new “Self Build” projects (see previous pages), and one to cover “Renovation and Conversion” projects. - It may be useful for anyone starting out on a Renovation or Conversion project to read both partss as, although there will inevitably be repetition in what I am saying, there may also be one or two points raised in the “Self Build” section which you could find useful to bear in mind for setting up a site for Renovation or Conversion.
The main differences between the two types of project are that:
1) There is a structure already in place:
With a new build project, unless you have to demolish and existing building, you generally start with an empty plot and create your new structure. With Renovation or Conversion projects the building is already there, either in part or completely. You may be changing its appearance and / or extending it substantially, but the basics are already there. This removes a section of the work which you have to do on new build (foundations, slab, structure, roof) but brings in a whole new section of work (stripping out) to get you to basically the “same place”, where you are ready to start your first fixes.
The first things you will usually need to consider on larger projects, before you start, are “Health and Safety”, “scaffolding” (dealt with later) and “stripping out”.
Health and safety:
You need to make sure that the existing structure is “sound” and safe to work in, before you send anyone in to start work. You should have covered all of this side of things with your designer and the CDM (Construction (Design and Management) department (see previous sections of this guide) in the early stages of planning the project.
Will anything need supporting or protecting while the work is done? Are there any dangerous parts of the existing building which need attention before you start? Will your early works affect anything in such a way that you need to take steps before you start to make sure that work can continue smoothly and so that Health and Safety issues don’t arise as you work?
Stripping out:
One of the first jobs on Renovation or Conversion projects is to take out the “old stuff” ready to be replaced with “the new”. Waste skips will usually be needed. But along with the skips you should bear in mind that there may be stuff you strip out which you don’t have to take away from the site. Anything you can avoid “skipping” a) you may have a use for later in the project, and b) you won’t have to pay to “dump”! – Tipping charges have multiplied over the past few years so recycling is not only a good idea for the planet, but also for your pocket!
Choose an area for waste skips as close as practically possible to the point of “exit” from the building, but out of the way of any scaffolding, or delivery routes or vehicle turning areas. Ring round and get prices for the skips. They will often vary in price quite substantially and the closest company is not always the cheapest. Try to use the largest skips where you can, they work out more cost effective.
You should then choose an area, also close to the “exit point” if possible, where you can deposit all the materials which you may be able to reuse, or get rid of without “tipping”. Items such as Bricks / Blocks / rubble could be used as hardcore for the base of your new patio area. Wood may be able to be burnt, or the smaller stuff “mulched” for use in your garden. You may find a use for old joists in your landscaping, or for supporting outbuildings. Old floorboards may be useful for “shuttering” some part of the new work which you will be doing. Window frames and doors which may be still in a useable state may be sellable for a few quid in the local paper. The doors may come in useful, at least temporarily for security (creating a lockable storage area in some part of the building).
Make sure that you plan to keep a clear route open through the building which can be used by the contractors and yourselves, to bring the materials which are being removed, out safely. This may affect the actual process of the stripping out work, so that you start “furthest away” from the exit point, and work your way forward, keeping the route to your working area clear from debris, nails etc.
2) There is usually an entrance route already formed from the boundary of the site to the structure. It is usually the case that this will be kept in the same position:
If you can keep the old driveway in its existing position it will save you time and money. If you try to dig up the “sub base” to re lay it elsewhere you will lose a lot of it.
You may need to extend the driveway area for your new development, and if you do,- and you do the work early on in the project, then the new areas may be ideal for storage, positioning waste skips, turning vehicles, parking vehicles etc.
Give some thought to how deliveries will get in and out of the property (especially the bigger ones). You may need t provide a temporary “turning area” for them. This may cost you the price of a lorry load of stone, but weigh up the cost implications of providing it, with the cost implications of maybe having to off load your deliveries some distance away from the “point of use” and carrying them, or barrowing them to where they are needed.
3) There are usually basic services connected to an existing property, even if it’s only a well for the water supply and an old electrical system which will need updating. – The chances are you will be able to adapt and use “what is there” to supply the water and power you will need for the project:
Where this is the case, you can usually save time and money. Even if the nature of the work on the structure means that you have to disconnect the supply from the building itself, you may be able to build (lockable) boxes to house your water and electricity mains which you can run supplies from, directly to where they are needed on site. When you are ready, later in the contract the supply can then be “taken in doors”.
Where you are installing new services, you need to bear in mind their “routes of entry” and where on the site any equipment will be located. For example, you may be installing a new gas supply which may not have been available when the building was originally constructed. Or you may be planning for one of the new, more “ecologically sound” forms of energy such as “Ground Source heating, or “Wind energy” which will require you to be able to access a significant part of your plot for excavation or other works. Think about all your services, existing and new, and how they will affect a) your access to the building b) deliveries c) The works as they proceed.
4) There are different security concerns on Renovation and Conversion projects:
In theory it should be easier to take care of security concerns on a Renovation or Conversion project. Whereas, with a new build project you will normally need to “ship in” a dedicated “lock up” to store plant and equipment, with an existing building already in place there is the possibility that you could temporarily utilize one of the rooms in the building for your secure store. If you can use an old “substantial” door with a good lock on it, and the walls around the room are not flimsy timber stud walls, and depending on the area where the development is taking place, this room may be all you need for storage.
Also, where most new build projects generally need to secure the whole site using security fencing, on a Renovation or Conversion project may only need to provide this sort of security to part of the site. – In some cases it may not even be needed at all. Use your own common sense on this, but bearing in mind that this sort of fencing can cost upwards of £30 a panel to buy (cheaper to hire, but you have to pay for any damaged panels), - plus the cost of “feet” and “clips”, it can be a costly item. There is possibly a substantial saving to be made by giving some forethought to the matter of how much and where you need to use it.
5) Where, on a new build project, you can usually reach the rear of the site with delivery vehicles before you create the new structure, with a Renovation or Conversion, if you have a smaller sized plot with limited room either side of the building, you sometimes can’t:
If you have read the previous section on “Setting up site for New Build”, you will have read about the fact that at the start of the project you can usually take deliveries to the rear of the building, and that you should possibly plan to get “bulky” materials for use later in the project, taken round to the rear of the building and stored early on, before the structure is built.
With an existing building, and scaffolding possibly restricting this access from “day 1” you need to give this more thought before you start: Before the scaffolding is erected (which can be one of the very first jobs, do you need to get anything round to the back or do anything at the back which you won’t otherwise be able to do until much later in the project?
Are there any changes in the building structure (extensions etc) which are going to make it difficult to get either new materials or plant around to the rear of the structure, or waste materials FROM the rear later on? For example, if you are installing “Ground Source Heating” under the rear garden, would you be wise to do the excavation works before you erect the scaffolding for the main property so that you can get a “Mini Digger” and “Dumper Truck” in and out before you cut off any access?
Just think through the implications of your all of the actions which are going to take place early in the project and before you start to bring in scaffold, stone, and other plant and materials, think ahead on how where you position everything will affect you ability to access the whole of the site.
6) Scaffolding requirements will often be different:
Some larger Renovation and Conversion projects will involve the roof being removed from a property, or substantial works being carried out on the external surfaces of the walls around the building. Scaffolding will often be one of the first things to come to site and one of the last things to go.
If this is the case try to think the whole job through as you design your scaffolding needs. Talk to scaffolding companies about what you have planned. It may be that at the start of the project, you only need part of the full scaffolding, so, if you only have that section erected, it may help to reduce your costs. You may need to alter scaffold numerous times during the project, for example if you need to work on an external wall which will later have an extension attached to it, you may need to have a scaffold erected initially which will then be taken down later for the extension to be built.
Many people just think that you just have to “build the scaffold” for a job and that’s it. – It’s there and it will be there until it is finished with. That’s not the case. You can plan your scaffolding in stages (see section on scaffolding later in the guide).
A bit of thought on this, as with every other section of the job, can save you time and money.
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