Overview

Earthwise Construction was appointed as main contractor to carry out a partial retrofit and large single storey extension to a Victorian terraced house in the Horfield area of Bristol.

Prior to commencing works the client had already undertaken a retrofit of the front of the building and so our remit was to bring the rest of the house up to a good standard of energy efficiency. This included demolition of a single storey bathroom/toilet building, removing the whole of the back wall of the house at ground floor level and construction of a full width single storey timber frame extension. We also installed new windows to the rear of the property and wood fibre external wall insulation to the walls of the house.

The end result was a transformation from a small kitchen with very little light, to a lovely, light and airy open plan kitchen/dining room, with large sliding doors looking out onto the garden and the creation of a downstairs utility room and shower room.

Challenges

As the works involved removing all of the rear wall of the ground floor of the house, complex structural works were needed to minimise damage to the remaining structure. Airtightness was also challenging as the existing suspended timber floor had to be made airtight, which provides its own unique challenges. Working closely with the client, we came up with the most appropriate solution for his house that ensured good levels of airtightness were achieved.

Materials used

Wood fibre insulation was used for the insulation throughout. Larch F.S.C timber cladding was used for the walls of the extension, and high performance Velfac windows and doors were fitted. A large P.V array was mounted to the roof of the extension, providing the house with much of its electrical needs.

Sustainable construction is Ben’s forte and he does it well. He is a good problem solver with attention to detail where necessary and a sound grasp of the modern building techniques required to construct the sort of places that we’ll all need to be living in if we’re serious about tackling climate change.

On site, Ben and his team were reliable and delivered a high quality of work. We could see that Ben’s calm approach was key to coordinating other contractors and maintaining a motivated workforce. I would highly recommend Earthwise Construction to others.

Alan Davies