The Wates team and our sub-contractors would like to thank you for your continued patience whilst we have been on site at Field Head.

Our site will close for the Christmas period on Friday 21 December, and will re-open in the new year on Wednesday 2 January.

Can we also take this opportunity to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

This week the weather has been a bit on the cold side making work outside unpleasant but we still managed to get our water services connected and remove our scaffold steps to the plots, replacing them with stone to provide easy access for the workers on site. Off site utility works are starting w/c 17^th December to lay the Gas Main and Electricity supply, the new kerb line has been marked out and the trench duct is ready for the service to be laid.

Scaffold steps removed and stone replaced, the site will look its more orderly self by the end of next week and all the service trenches can be backfilled.

We have 2 plots fully plastered and ready, our Joiners are in fixing skirting and architrave, the M&E contractor only has to pipe in the gas service to the plots, then the Dry-liners can close-up the internal ceilings ready for plastering and mist coating.

This week saw the Considerate Constructor’s Assessor visit to give our site a rating in all aspects of our activities on site and our interaction with the wider community. The site scored a ‘very good site’ rating with areas where subtle changes can be made to improve our score and how as a site we can prove to be a more considerate constructor, something Wates Group Ltd are committed to.

Externals 

Our Groundworks contractor has installed the main services to the plots and the off site works have started with BT placing a new duct across the road, Electric and Gas due to start w/c 17^th December. Our scaffold is fully down revealing the building in all its glory, the render panels are to a nice crisp finish.

Internals

Our First Plot is being plastered with only 1 plot left for our M&E contractor to deliver. The Dry-liners are closing up the internal walls ready for plastering and Mist Coating.

Our Groundworks Contractor has made a start digging trenches this week to enable us to lay services to the plots so that we can get Gas, Electric and Water into them before Christmas.

Both porches are now fully tiled and we are waiting the completion of the cladding to the ends and undersides of the porches, which starts next week.

The block work is being coated in the protective Render so all the façade will be ready to unveil by the end of next week with the scaffold coming down on the 5^th & 6^th December.

Plot 8 is ready to be plastered on Monday with our M&E contractor delivering a plot a day to the Dry-liners to close-up the internal walls ready for plastering.

Internally we have started the 1^st fix M&E with 1 Flat complete and the others following on, we are looking to get the flats plastered as soon as possible.



The plan is to get all the plots skimmed before Christmas break giving the completion trades a smooth canvas for them to start installing the kitchens and bathrooms.

We managed to survive the severe gales this week and our building is being slowly revealed, with the scaffold to the front elevation being stripped, just leaving a couple of areas up where the porches need to be tiled. The Renderer is due to start Monday to complete the external façade.

Internally we have started the 1^st Fix M&E with 1 Flat complete and the others following on, we are looking to get the flats plastered as soon as possible.

Next week we have our Groundworker starting on site who will install the services in to the plots to enable us to get heat into them in order to help the internals dry-out in the cold weather that’s predicted.



We have managed to maintain a pretty good rate of build on site, we have our roof 50% covered, and rain water gutters in place and our brickwork 95% complete

   

Internally we have put the perimeter plaster board on 7 out of the 8 flats ready for the internal stud work to commence followed by the Mechanical and Electrical trades

We are looking forward to another week of steady progress on site and start the internal trades

The dry liners have been extremely busy this week, putting up all the perimeter walls to the first floor units, and towards the back of the week made a start on the ground floor.

 

 

 

 

As the dry liners moved to the ground floor units, the Joiners passed them on the stairs and started laying the insulation to the sub floor, followed by the acoustic flooring,

completing 3 of the 4 first floor units by the end of the week.

 

Next week the internal walls will begin to go up leading the way for 1st fix M&E the following week. 

 

Externally the bricklayers started and made good progress on the 1st floor to eaves lift.

 

This week we all received the annual announcement to coincide with the start of the winter months that the average dual fuel bill would go up by 10.8%.  Downing Street called the rise "very disappointing".

This translates to the equivalent of more than £122 a year increase to an average annual fuel bill.........unless you are fortunate enough to be moving into any of the new 'Kirklees Excellent Homes for Life'.

Floors, walls, ceilings, lofts... Its all been insulated and this is exactly what was happening on site this week:

Externally the bricklayers where making good progress on the ground to first floor brickwork:

The roofers also started to lay the slates.

Works have been moving along at a very rapid pace, we have managed to fully erect the timber frame kit and have started roofing to make the building water tight.

  

All the follow on trades are booked in and we are looking to continue with the same momentum that has been witnessed so far. We have started the external brickwork already and our internal trades start on Monday with the Insulation and plaster-boarding.

Hopefully the weather will be kind to us over the following weeks and external works can be progressed smoothly.

Following completion of the beam and block flooring, the damp proof membrane (DPM) is laid and screeding poured. Then the pre insulated timber frame panels are lifted into place.

 

 

The scaffolding is erected to provide access to the first floor and roof.

 

 

The brick work was complete to the underside of the floor last week, in preparation for the beam and block flooring contractor.  Drainage elements have been laid by the groundworks contractor, and can be seen emerging from the foundations where they will be required for kitchens and bathrooms.

 

 

 

 

Despite the miserable weather over the past couple of weeks, the ground workers have forged on and completed the foundations at Fieldhead, ready for the bricklayers to start on site next week.

 

 

We have begun on site at Field Head, and as usual the site set up is prepared. 

 

The hoarding will follow shortly to complete the compound area, and enclose the works for the duration of the job.

 

 

 

The ground workers are working quickly on the foundations, which are being poured this week.

 

Welcome...

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves as Wates Living Space. We are a Building Contractor working in conjunction with Kirklees Council, and have been appointed to build eight new homes on the vacant piece of land on Field Head, Golcar.

This development is part of the Kirklees Excellent Homes for Life project, which will build 466 new homes for rent across Kirklees.  If you would like more information about the project, please visit www.kirklees.gov.uk/excellenthomes, or telephone 01484 225210 to talk to the council.

At Wates Living Space we take great pride in what we do and how we work with the local community whilst we are constructing our projects.  We will be in regular contact with you while we are building the homes, keeping you up to date with site activities which may affect you.

We will be carrying out further ground investigation works on the Friday 29^th June for a couple of hours, with the main construction works commencing on Monday 23rd July, starting with making the site secure. 

The site is due for completion on 28 March 2013.  Please feel free to get in touch at any point during this period if you have any concerns about our activities, and we will be more than willing to discuss these further.  The site office shall be manned from 7.30 am until 5.00 pm Monday to Friday.

You can contact us directly on our free phone number, 0800 121 4840, which is available Monday to Friday between the hours of 9.00 am until 5.00 pm.  However, if you need to contact us outside of these hours, please call us on the same number and leave a brief message with your name and contact details, and your call will be returned at our earliest opportunity.

May we take this opportunity to thank you in advance for your co-operation and we look forward to working with you over the coming year.