A traditional single storey rear extension on a period village property in East Chinnock. Solid masonry build in matched local hamstone with a brick inner leaf, taken from strip foundations through to a watertight, finished elevation that settles into the existing cottage as if it had always been there.
East Chinnock, Somerset
Single storey extension
Brick & hamstone
Foundations to watertight
The brief
East Chinnock is a Hamstone village, with much of its historic housing stock built from the golden Ham Hill limestone quarried only a few miles away. The owners wanted a rear extension that would add usable family space without looking like it had been bolted on. The brief was clear: match the existing house in character, material and proportion, and leave no hint that the new work was a later addition.
We took on the full build from ground-breaking through to a watertight, finished shell. Strip foundations, solid masonry walls in matched reclaimed hamstone with a brick inner leaf, steel goalpost over the new opening, tiled pitched roof tied into the existing ridge, and aluminium bifold-style glazing to the garden elevation.
Across the build we kept the rest of the house fully lived-in, sheeting and dust-screening the existing opening until the moment of break-through.
The build, stage by stage
Strip foundations dug to a firm bearing, drainage diverted and the oversite prepped with compacted hardcore. The concrete slab was poured level and given time to cure before any masonry went up, giving a dead-flat starting point for the brickwork.
First courses of brick laid on damp-proof course, block and brick inner skin brought up evenly around the perimeter. A galvanised steel goalpost frame was installed over the new opening between the existing house and the extension, carrying the floor and roof loads above the glazing.
The outer leaf was built in coursed hamstone, colour-matched and sized to sit comfortably against the old stonework. Piers raised square and plumb, wall plates bedded, door and window reveals dressed with cut quoins for a clean period detail.
Large format aluminium windows and doors installed to the garden elevation, bringing light deep into the new room and giving a clear visual line from the kitchen out to the garden. Cills, lintels and seals dressed in for a long-lasting weather-tight finish.
Pitched roof built and tiled, fascia and soffits fitted, rainwater goods hung and flashings dressed neatly against the existing elevation. The finished extension reads as part of the original cottage, which was exactly the brief.
Gallery
Click any image to open it full-size. Photographs taken through the build, from first dig to finished elevation.
Build spec
Free quotes on brick, stone and hamstone extensions across Yeovil, East Chinnock and the surrounding villages.
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Single and double storey extensions in matched stone, brick and render across Somerset.
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