What ho one and all,

When I built, I really want screw piles but was told that I could get the 10 year warranty. So whet with conventional piles.

There is a small site near me that I am watching with interest. I was eight lock-up garages and is now becoming three, small, two story terraced houses. And they are using screw piles with a steel ring beam.

Watching the process, and I am amazed at the amount of work. First. the piles have been cut to a predetermined height so the top-hat can be fitted. The top-hat part has not been drilled, so they are doing that on site; 56 piles with four holes each in 20 mm steel. That is a lot of work.

Next, the top-hats are fitted and the ring beam assembled, fully bolted together and the top-hot holes are marked ont he underside to the ring beam. Then, remove the ring beam, drill all the bolt holes before the ring beam is sent off to be galvanized.

A lot of work but I'm following with interest.

I don't know specifically but the site is only as deep as a normal garage, so not much more that 5.5 meters. Of course, the garage opened onto the small access road so there is chance fo that being blocked during construction. At the back of the new housed, there are some neighbouring, very tall laylandii trees. presumably, at one stage, it was going to be a hedge but now they are likely to be a foundation problem.

And to add to their difficulties, the building on the main road date from around1930 and has a low(ish) arch to access the land at the rear. This arch is occasionally hit, and my guess it that to bring in a bigger digger plus concrete trucks would be challenging. Even the council rubbish collection do not try to go through this arch.

This a streetview and surprisingly, it is recent as the site is in the photo