Video summary
The video documents the comprehensive transformation of an exterior wall opening, converting it from a door into a window while simultaneously installing a new fireplace. The project begins with the removal of old materials, including a noisy and inefficient saw that is replaced by a modern, quieter electric model provided as a gift. The team then proceeds to install concrete lintels and angle lines to support the structure, followed by filling the gaps with expanding foam to ensure the area is solid and airtight. Throughout the process, they address various construction challenges, such as managing tight spaces between joists and ensuring proper bonding of blockwork to create a stable foundation for the new installation.
A significant portion of the work involves precise bricklaying and block cutting to fit specific gaps, requiring careful measurement and adjustment to ensure the wall is level and symmetrical. The builders utilize scaffolding to reach high areas safely and efficiently, allowing them to lift heavy materials like lintels into place with greater ease than previous attempts. They also install a cavity tray across the opening, though they decide against adding vents since the exterior will be rendered over soon. Temporary measures are taken to seal off holes and gaps with mortar and insulation until the final rendering can be applied, which is expected to take up to two years.
The project concludes with the successful installation of all components, resulting in a beautifully bonded and rock-solid structure that effectively seals out drafts and improves thermal efficiency. The team reflects on the complexity of the job, noting that it technically encompassed four distinct tasks: installing internal and external lintels, converting a door opening into a window, and constructing a new fireplace. After completing the cleanup and tidying up the site, they prepare to leave for upcoming events, including a festival in Sweden, leaving the transformed wall as a testament to their craftsmanship and dedication to high-quality building standards.
Read the full video transcript
I I've got a little fireplace done.
>> These gaps are getting foamed,
right? Oh, of course.
>> Yeah.
>> So, it's the day after.
Yes, it's the day after. Celebrated
Daisy's birthday. I've got the um K-pop
demon hunter drip to show it.
There we go. ready for this? We We give
you the ins and outs before. Only thing
we're going to do today before anything
before the stuff goes in is you can just
see that nib there. We're going to take
that out and probably put like a a cut a
block down and put that in there.
Yeah, [sighs]
not bad.
So, I think first task obviously get
everything out, then get the concrete
link in first, then get the angle line
in.
or this may not be in any particular
order, but get the concrete lint in. Get
the angle line in and then all the beam
filling. I think dad's picked up some
expanding foam
to put in the gaps.
Other than that, see how this goes. And
then we got a big big tidy up to do
after.
We brought a a relic from the past. Try
and cut up this lintil, but
we'll see if it works. I hate them.
>> Noisy, smelly, and it won't start.
>> That's you. What? What about the uh what
about the saw?
>> Right. Let's get this lentil out.
Heat. Heat.
That is going to be tough
to get up there. Head in there.
[snorts]
Hey. Well,
we'll get to that soon.
>> Oh, she's got that thing going.
That was actually a gift to us brand new
from Tony to say thanks for going and
spend two and a half months down there
with them in Lamington back in 20
21 I think. 21 or 22. Yeah, very
generous of him. But um we've got we've
got better stuff now. electrics,
especially that.
None of this, none of this, none of the
noise, none of the smell. It's just
there's just no comparison.
Probably lighter as well and probably
just as compact
on the side by side.
Not muching it for length.
But uh this the guard just for starters.
Look at the adjustment on the guard.
That one is very stiff.
Yeah. Love it.
And um the old spanner that you always
lose on still saw the spanner on the
evolution lives under there.
And
water suppression. Where's that?
There's the water suppression,
but that's
um on off with the trigger.
And you've also got a light
cracking piece of kit that
just look how bulky it is.
Anyway, that's enough waffle. Ready to
get this up.
Move it forward until it's on the end.
>> We're getting this out first.
>> It doesn't really make any difference,
does it?
>> I suppose we need to be putting it up on
frame there, don't we?
>> Yeah.
>> Get out.
>> Two heads are always better than one.
Left me headlight on.
Right, let's get this out
for you.
So, is it going to move?
It needs all those package top out
first, doesn't it? really put your mask
on there cuz you don't know what they
are.
I don't think I've brought your mask.
What are they?
>> I don't know. Can I get up, please?
I'm just going to grab my mask. Okay.
Might be worth lining those a up a
little bit.
Top out.
Uhoh.
It's still tight even though I've got
all the packers out
and it's it's it's not tight at that
end. It's just uh just friction holding
at the moment. Probably the last few
joists. So, Alex has suggested we just
get the still saw with the metal blade
on and just chop it in half.
Give us some wiggle room then.
means if it drop it a little bit, but I
think it's still going to be a pinch
point there where that meshes.
So, have to see
Right. You should be able to manage
that.
You flip it on it front. That's it. You
have to cut the rest of it. Now,
I tell you what, I think this is the
last time I'll ever use that. There's a
few
Right.
Yeah, it was through.
>> Did it get you
>> in the eye?
>> Yeah,
right in the eye.
>> Hopefully he bounced out.
>> Are you through?
>> Yeah. What are these safety specs?
>> I think Chris was Tell me to get
these.
>> Right. Oh, of course.
>> Yeah.
>> It's always the top falls off. We get
that replaced and get the um get ready
for getting the comp.
That was hard. We weren't expecting to
be easy.
Um, what time is it? It's only 9:00,
isn't it?
>> Yeah, I was trying to get this concrete
in before break.
>> 10 to 9. It's even earlier. Yeah. Right.
Sun's just on me shoulder, but it's on
its way out. So, it's going to go very
comfortable soon. So, we're going to get
this thing up onto the scaffold here and
then up onto the wall. But, we need to
fix this first. So, you go and get the
gobo and I'll I'll clean this work off.
Let it go down.
Right.
Ready?
>> Yeah.
We're on.
Right. Let's get that patched up.
Oh, this.
>> Yeah.
We're going to get the whole like get
the lint on again. Then get everything
patched up before putting the angle line
on.
>> Everything's been done from this side.
Yeah. Feels
like a shovel lift now.
[snorts]
>> [snorts]
>> Don't just hop inside. I'll just fix
that.
[snorts]
When we fix him,
>> just take the snots off and flush it up.
Okay.
Okay,
should be all right.
Yeah, normally you don't really want to
put your beds on too quick and let them
sit when you put the bruise like this
on.
Uh longer the better.
We're going to put a
uh two tie eyes in each pillar just to
[snorts] braces cuz the uh metal little
lintle is bedded. We can stick it in the
bed
and then we'll to this back in.
I might take those two off. Bring the
brick work over to the lint and take the
block work back over there. So it's it's
bonded.
Yeah. You don't want you don't want the
uh the block work stacking up. We'll
actually bond it.
Yeah.
I'll probably bring this out. Take that
back in. Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be
big beds cuz it's the gauge is funny on
here.
So,
the other good thing about doing this
the day after, we've got the solid wall
to stand when we're lifting in. So, we
can go forward and it's banged on level
with our scaffold.
So, it's probably as as good as we can
get it really. Take it right to the end.
I'll put two in.
That's it.
Need all the help we can get. M
careful. We can go up onto the
there first. I don't think I pressed the
record for that, but take it out.
>> Yeah. Should we take it out and put it
back in again? Yeah, it went in. It was
out of level. So, we packed it up at
Alex's end. So, we have got one bang on
now. So, it's uh basically
don't know what to do. I don't know
whether to put a piece under the joist
and put a full block in there.
It's probably favorite in it. Instead of
putting a thin piece all the way across
and then another piece on top.
>> Yeah.
>> We cut full blocks from there and then
patch them in between.
>> Is it a full blocks?
It's
>> easy. Oh yeah. 2 250 that gap.
>> 250. So it's still a tiny piece, isn't
it?
>> Yeah.
>> So what do we do then?
>> Maybe just put the small piece all the
way across instead of trying to cut like
a slither to go.
>> Yeah. Keep the piece as big as possible.
>> Yeah.
>> So what's these pieces going to be then?
>> Averaging about
the gap is 75.
>> So 65 then common bricks would have been
handy. We could use them really, but
>> the common brick.
>> Yeah. Don't really want um these brick
underneath holding the floor.
Yeah. 75. I'd rather cut them down. Some
fiber lights.
>> A quick break then.
>> Yeah. Get cooking.
>> Here we go. Get this cut this on charge.
Right. Got a couple of pieces in. I've
added them. And then Alex is doing the
the piece the beam filling pieces for
me. Uh he's got through a few and school
boy error. We didn't put the saw on to
charge during break time. And most
annoying, not annoying, but most
unfortunate is um Tom at Evolution Tools
sent us a couple of spare batteries. So
we had a backup. The eights and the five
are out of stock. So he sent us two
fours. But um between him sending it
down to the dispatch and dispatch sent
it out to us, they only put one battery
in. So we nearly had our backups ready
today, but we didn't.
We still got a four in the van, but we
didn't bring the other four with us. So
we've got three fours, but only one in
the van. So
just one of them things. So they they
sending another one out today. Hey Al,
if we'd have brought the battery we got
yesterday, we've got a four in the van.
Uh anyway, there you go. The beam
filling is getting done while we're at
it. I'm doing that. This is where we
sealed tight. These gaps are getting
foamed. So everything's basically solid
and airtight. And then once all this is
done, we can get the cavity tray up
across up across here onto this block
work. I might just multi-tool this lot
off because it's sticking out so much.
Those aren't too bad. But yeah, we we'll
sort something out. Going to chop that
off. Block work back to there and then
to this back over cuz I don't want to
take any more out of this. Yeah. So, at
the moment, I'm just working my way
along here.
Mhm.
vehicle.
>> [music]
>> came on the scene. I was on radio show
and her first song that we ever played
was called She just heard around that
time I was pregnant with my
play on my
god
listening to Lord,
especially the
people, but I think I took that
to keep the
>> [snorts]
>> Just
>> I don't believe in using that for fixing
anything. All that's doing is sealing.
>> Yeah.
>> Well, that's a bit better than when we
opened it up.
It's going to be quieter. It's going to
be warmer. It's going to be less drafty.
That's just pure to
um fill the gaps up. I've worked out
ceiling joist.
No, floor joist. Ceiling joist. Floor
joist. Ceiling joist. Can't show you the
gaps now cuz they you can't see inside.
But yeah, basically we're ready to go
now. We can put our tray up here later
after dinner when all this is gone off a
little bit. We can chop it off out the
way.
>> So, we're actually at the point where we
usually have with lentil jobs now. L's
ready to go in for lunch.
>> Yeah, that's true.
>> Yeah, made up with that. That's a That
was a bruise that went in quite easy.
>> I don't mind putting concrete in. They
always seem to go a bit easier than
steels or angle irons. If it's concrete,
it's easier.
>> This helps having this scaffold to slide
along and then you're at knee height up
onto there and then up onto there. And
the fact that we built all the block
work yesterday as well is a massive help
cuz you're on something as solid as you
got wobble and crack. So yeah, basically
it's it's a standard lint job from
dinner time from after dinner in it.
Apart from two course a block instead of
brick workers
to patch up.
>> Yeah, that's getting tooththed out that
that's going to get
I take that out and brick that up.
Basically, it's just block bonded.
Just going to be block bonded at each
end.
And then while I'm sorting that out,
Alex can have a tidy up. It's a bit of a
bump right now.
See after dinner in just after 12.
So,
it's it needs cut. It needs firms
cutting off it. But instead of doing
that, we're just doing put it over size.
We're going to let the cavity tray sail
pass by about 100 mil and that's it. No
upstand.
The reason being because it's being
rendered, we're not putting any wheat
vents in.
We've just done the extension at BC when
it's been rendered and we just rendered
over all the vents. There's no point
having a cavity tray in with render
really. Although we will put one in and
then if any water does get onto the
tray, it will run off at the ends into
the cavity and harmlessly away down the
cavity and away from the one away from
well away from the window opening. As
you can see, well away
over a foot each side. So we'll just
take the tray into there. Just past
what you after.
>> What are you looking for?
I'm I'll get I'm getting ready.
We need something to prop this with. I
don't know what cuz all the blocks wet.
We've got one little tiny nail there
holding the whole thing back.
[music]
>> [music]
>> Okay, we've got a 290 which is
Thank you, Alex.
Thank you very much. So, cuz it's the
last bit I film it.
And um we've we've managed to get the
acros out cuz it's it's all
it's a bit warm, so everything's gone
off very quick. So, everything's solid,
especially the uh the concrete rental.
That was done this morning, obviously.
And this the uh it's going off quicker
than I can point this propped in the
middle. So, it's going nowhere.
Trays in all the usual gobbins. We just
haven't put an upstand or or vents in
because it's getting rendered.
>> Yeah. All the holes that we had.
All the holes that we had, we filled
them back up with mortar or insulation
for now cuz obviously it's not getting
rendered for a while. So, we've
weatherproofed it and odds are it's
going to stay
jointed up.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. I've done a I think I've shown it
in the video. Every everything that
we've changed has been siliconed and
sealed up temporary cuz it could be up
to two years before it gets rendered.
There's a lot of work to do. The whole
roof coming off and getting redone.
That's our next job when we come back
off holidays up there when Alex is back.
I'll be back week before Alex, but I
can't be doing that on me. And we'll get
Malcolm lined up to get that that lined
up. So, um, let's get this last piece
in.
Don't have any seagulls considering by
the coast.
>> They're all in uh
in homes
miles away from the city
like we did.
>> Yeah. Oh yeah. Mland.
>> Yeah,
>> that stupid woman fed them.
Ow.
Ow. I have a name like a bucket shelf.
Maybe two pocket shelfs.
need that.
>> I've got to fill that on the top.
at all.
>> It's not much at all. What?
Heat. Heat.
CLOSE
THERE. There you go. Patched. Just this
to come out now, which I'll sort out
now. And then that whole film done. Alex
is finished in there.
Never been here.
Did the fireplace while he's off this
morning as well.
big old job that big old. Sorry,
Michael. There you go. Bit bit bond
slightly bonded bonded nonetheless. Not
a straight joint. Beautifully bonded and
rock solid.
So,
it's just just turned 3:00, so it's tidy
up time. Half it's done already, as I've
already shown you. So, time to drop all
this and chew on it into the van.
Here's my boy. Might as well put the
camera on. Got enough time lapse to tidy
up.
[music]
You go first.
Heat.
Don't push up tight.
Okay.
down touch. That'll do.
There we are.
Is that thermalite going into
it to the
>> That's thermalite. That's all thermalite
there.
>> Is it?
>> Yeah.
What's stuck in that there now?
>> Plaster.
>> All right. Just put one in the corner
there. That's a brick, sir. You know,
just
>> go into the block there. That's the
piece.
>> Come in an angle into the brick from
there. Go on a steep angle. Get get
yourself going now.
I need to buy a bag of these.
>> There's a box in the van in the garage.
Come on.
Put your boots against that.
I'll do again
>> much.
No.
Here
we go. So, it doesn't look centralized
because of the way the blocks are, but
I've looked up the cross joints.
Obviously, we double check with all the
measurements. It is right. There we go.
Once all that's rendered now that's nice
and symmetrical instead of being like
that and it's now a window.
But yeah, tell you it doesn't look like
a lot now it's done. But it was uh
technically four jobs in one because if
I turn this light on, obviously we had
an inside lentil, an outside lentil,
bricking up a door into a window, and
then I I've got a little fireplace door
done.
But yeah, there we go. That's all sealed
up.
Nice.
Well, that is us done here for a little
bit at least. We're back to do more, but
I'm off now until I come back from
Sweden. I've got a a Go Fest tomorrow
and then Sweden on my birthday.
Lovely stuff. So, for now, thank you
very much for watching. If you enjoyed,
be sure to give a thumbs up. If you're
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the support you guys give. All right,
this has been brick clean with Steve and
Alex with
two big lintils and a and a door brick
up [music] and see you soon.
I know.