front bay rebuild - a case study

Quernmore Road, London N4

We were contacted by the Contract Administrators in February 2000 to provide a detailed tender for the reconstruction of the front bay to this subject property that had been adversely affected by historic subsidence. The front elevation had been underpinned by others during 1999, although the significant movement to the bay necessitated demolition and reconstruction.

Works commenced in April 2000 with the erection of weatherproof and security screens to the ground floor front room and the clearing of the front garden. The bay was then carefully taken down, by hand, to ensure that all of the decorative stone features were retained, as well as castings taken for the ornate fibrous plaster mouldings. Attempts were also made to retain the brickwork, but as the careful demolition works proceeded, it became apparent that this was not possible. We therefore had to source a matching brick for the reconstruction and samples were provided for both the client and the Contract Administrator and a Sussex Guestling Imperial Hand Made Red was selected.

After the demolition works were complete, the Contract Administrator and the client's Loss Adjuster inspected the exposed foundation and approved the top surface of the existing underpinning for construction.

The bay was then reconstructed reusing all of the existing stone features, but with new structural elements cast in to provide inherent stability. These comprised of new reinforced concrete posts at the bay corners, new reinforced concrete sub cills and a new reinforced concrete ring beam to the inner leaf. These RC elements were all connected monolithically and connected to the outer brickwork leaf using proprietary stainless steel ties. Similarly, the stone elements were repaired as necessary using resin bonded dowel bars and aesthetically matched using reconstructed stone.

The new bay roof was then constructed and recovered, internal plastering completed including a very decorative fibrous plaster cornice. The joinery was renewed and the project was completed with both a comprehensive internal and external redecoration.

Finally, and during the course of the works, ancillary items were completed such as the rebuilding of the garden walls, the construction of new entrance steps and renewal of paths. All works were completed early in June 2000.

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