STAGE IV - PLATE HEIGHT

Whenever I hear our builder talking about ‘plates’ I always imagine a nice piece of Royal Doulton or decorated Royal Crown Derby but in the construction industry, it seems ‘plates’ are not something used to dish up dinner.

 

Construction crockery?  Not this type of 'plates'

Our extension is now well on the way to its next milestone but what exactly is ‘plate height’?   According to the internet, plate height is the vertical distance measured from the top of the finished floor to the top of the plates where the roof timbers sit.  With not many more courses of block or brick to be laid plate height is now within reach so another piece of the building puzzle has been put in place.  

 

Keeping brick mortar from drying too quickly

 

Not much more to go before plate height reached

Almost there

I arrived home a few days ago to find a large metal ‘thingy’ laid out in front of the patio doors.  Unbeknown to me, this ‘thing’ was in fact the lintel used for bridging the gap above the new garden facing window and not a gigantic metal pencil.

 

Wow!  What's this?

The lintel comes ready insulated and sits in the cavity gap between the block and brick walls.  It looks very robust and no doubt weighs a tonne but then it does have quite an important job to do in supporting the roof and last few remaining brick courses.

 

Getting the new lintel into position

It's a very large window

Another ‘plate’ in the construction crockery cupboard is the wall plate.  This is a horizontal piece of timber placed along the top of a wall to support the ends of joists, rafters, etc and to help distribute the weight of the roof.  These timbers are also going to act as the anchorage points for the roof structure as everything else will be nailed or screwed onto them.

 

Adding the wall plate and roof timbers

In spite of today’s much welcomed rain, our builder made short work of fixing the wall plate and laying the framework of timber that will eventually become the flat roof.

 

Getting roof timbers into position

Soon to have a roof

Our brick box suddenly looks more like a proper building

Looking good

I’m just hoping for more rain so that I can use the empty structure as a giant outdoor paddling pool!

Fancy a swim?  Always wanted an indoor pool