Merry Christmas

To all my followers, may I take this opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 2011 saw the building of the studio and the start of a great new future for JBM Photography, 2012 will see the Business develop and grow.  I wish you all well where ever you maybe.

Studio Open Event

Saturday the 19th Nov saw the Studio Open Event, after months of hard work, not forgetting the administration and negotiations during the build and before hand, the build is complete. Friends and Family gathered to see the Studio now it is finished and furnished. It was a great event with numerous people stating how wonderful the building has turned out. I was very pleased that so many people had taken the time to make the event a success and I look forward to the future for JBM Photography now that I have a dedicated space to operate from.

Studio Build Update (construction and decorating complete)

It's been a busy weekend, but finally the last large amounts of rubbish and muck away have been collated and collected, I now have a Garden, Decking area (with furniture) that can be used, not to mention the fact I can park my car on the hard standing at the front of my house for the first time in months.  Whilst the lawn area is level, it will not get Turf until next year as the frost is imminent and it would not be a good time of year to lay it. After many long months of hard work, not to mention hard earned money, the studio build is officially complete.  I do have some preparation work to complete, such as ordering sample images with  frames and general organisation internally, before it can be used for clients, but I am holding an official opening/gathering on the 19th Nov for selected friends and family.

 Final rubbish pile

 All tidy at the rear of the house

Studio Build Update

It has been a while since my last update but I am very pleased to say that the Building Regs inspector was round on Friday and has signed of the construction as complete with no outstanding items, this is great news and whilst there are still many things to complete before I am in a position to open officially, it means the external influences to the build have been satisfied, in fact his comment was that it had been built to a high standard from the out set and he had no concerns, that is a great compliment to my excellent builder, (not to mention superb Brother), GSM Construction.  As you will see in the sequences below, the block paving is now in place, the interior doors are fitted, the flooring has gone down, skirting board and architraves are on, the toilet and sink are fitted and we went live on the electrics after they were thoroughly tested.  You will see in the last couple of pictures that the Sofa is in place, the TV mounted to the wall and the Venetian blinds are up, it is really pleasing to see the end in sight, I can't wait to get some shoots done, although the first Wedding viewing has taken place which was well received.

 Block paving edge stones in place

  Block paving edge stones in place

 Block paving complete

 Interior lighting and sockets in place

 New fencing panels to the left

 Flooring complete

 Almost there, we have electric, Sofa is in

Not forgetting the TV up and the blinds in place

Studio Build Update

Here we are one month on from the last update and inside the Studio there is very little difference, once a wall is painted white, another 4 coats of white paint is not going to make it interesting viewing! My Brother has been away on another job for a couple of weeks and in the mean time I have painted the entire exterior of the building applying 3 coats to each surface, including the Garden wall to the right as you look at the Studio. There are many other small jobs that I have completed but nothing significant to see. With my Brother back on site, the attention is turned to getting the soak away in place, which required the Decking to be lifted and a 1.2m square whole being dug to a depth of 2m along with pipes connecting it to the down pipes from the guttering. Then the services connected to the house, (Sewer, Electric, Phone, etc etc), this involved digging the trench from the studio down the side of the house, this occurred on a particularly wet day which just added to the level of mess around the house not to mention inside the house when the Dog brought it in on her paws! It's looking much better now, as following inspection by Building Control, the trench has been filled in and the work started to lay the block paving.

Painting of the exterior complete

No sooner the place is tidy, he's digging the garden up again to lay service connections

The view down the side passage by the conservatory

The view from the conservatory door

Marked out ready for the block paving

Edging stones going in

A much improved view down the side passageway

Studio Build Update

Despite having a week away since the last update, progress has once again been brilliant. Last Saturday saw a big shopping trip to get all the materials for the plastering out of the entire studio build. The ceiling boards were also put up last weekend whilst I was here to assist, but the majority of the remainder of the work, my Brother has done himself. As the photos below show, all the plasterboard is now up, the shed and toilet areas now have the dividing wall in place and the associated doors with both rooms plastered out as well. We then plastered the ceilings yesterday, well he did the plastering, I was just the labourer and also plastered around the windows and door areas. By Tuesday this week he anticipates all plastering to be complete!

Ceiling plasterboard in place.

Partition wall in place with doorways formed.

All plasterboarding complete.

Shed and toilet area plastered and the main ceilings also plastered.

Studio Build Update

It has been a couple of weeks since the last update, there was a lot of work going on that could not really be seen, such as the intricate work within the roof area and the cable runs. This two week period has seen the roof completed, including the flat roof area to the rear, windows and doors are in which makes the building secure, 1st fix electrics conducted, the roof fully insulated (totalling 6 inches thick) and the floor area screeded with concrete. There will be no work for the next week as I am away on holiday, which gives the concrete floor some time to harden.

Tiles on the front roof area complete

Windows and Doors in

Roof complete including ridge tiles

Insulation ready to go up

The start of the insulation between the rafters

1st layer complete

2nd layer up and the 1st fix electrics can be seen

Floor screed down and drying

Studio Build Update

Progress continues at pace, with the later photos depicting the start of the roof coverings going on. The weather has been mostly on our side, the lifting of the steel ridge beam for the roof went well, with a hired hand driven fork lift making it very easy to manoeuvre into place. The roof is now water proof with the felt in place, the rear elevation flat roof will be covered next weekend. The tiles are now lifted onto the roof structure and the first fix of electrics is under way.

Gable ends ready to receive the steel roof beam

Lifting the steel beam into place made easy by this machine.

Roof rafters in place.

Although taken with a wide angle lens it gives a perspective of the studio space

Lots of unseen work complete ready for the roof materials to start going on

Studio Build Update

We are coming to the end of week 2 of the Studio build. We have been working long days to make the most of the weather and the fact that I am around to be the labourer for this period. It has gone well, that's not to say we didn't have problems but thankfully they have been dealt with and the Building Regs people are content, the builder even managed to get the floor lowered internally to give me an additional 6 inches of headroom for the lights which is great, My builder has been superb throughout he is a workaholic with a meticulous eye for detail! The next time Building Regs will be back is just before we start to put the roof on, lets hope the weather stays on our side.

Machinery arrives and the digging begins

Footing dig complete

Concrete arrives all 16 tons of it!

The walls below ground

Ready to put the floor in

The walls rise above ground level after floor goes down

Site manager

Preparations for the Studio build

Preparations for the studio build have begun in earnest. Following months of planning and negotiations, approval has been given and the site has been cleared to allow the marking out of the new build. The sequence of photos below shows the transformation of my tidy(ish) garden into a mess! Having removed the shed last weekend, the last 3 photos show the clearance of the ground and the back wall, moving all the soil, bricks and block to the front of my house by hand, some 14 tons of waste!

From this-
To this-
Resulting in this-