14-я неделя строительства: укладываем балки перекрытия первого этажа! Строим 4 элитных дома

Week 14 of our Four Luxury Homes Build Diary sees another major step forward as the first-floor construction gets underway, the landscaping begins and the houses really start taking shape! In this week's construction update, combining Episodes 59, 60 and 61, we follow the latest progress across our development of four luxury family homes, including the installation of engineered first-floor joists, preparations for the next stage of brickwork and the early landscaping work around the site boundaries. We start with something you might not expect to see so early in a house-building project — planting the hedging! Matt explains why we're installing mature native hedging long before the houses are finished, how this helps meet biodiversity and landscaping requirements, and why getting the plants established early will make a real difference when the properties are eventually marketed. We also look at the protective earth bunds, the movement of stored topsoil and the preparation of the boundary trenches to ensure the new hedging is protected while construction continues. Next, we head up onto the scaffolding for a bird's-eye view of Houses C and D, where the ground-floor walls are now ready for the first-floor structure. We look down into the large kitchen and family rooms, lounges, stairwells and utility areas, and explain how the internal layouts are beginning to take shape. Finally, we reach one of the biggest construction milestones so far — the installation of the first-floor engineered joists! The carpenters begin fitting the open-web metal joists, which will support the first-floor decking while allowing electrical cables, plumbing and other services to pass through the floor structure. We look at the joist hangers, structural straps, staircase openings and the preparation for the protective chipboard flooring. Meanwhile, brickwork and blockwork continue across Houses A and B, with window openings, structural details and facing brickwork all progressing. It's another busy stage of the development, with the landscaping, bricklaying and carpentry teams all working towards the next major milestones. As always, we explain not only what we're doing, but why we're doing it, giving you a genuine behind-the-scenes insight into the practical process of building four luxury homes from the ground up. Whether you're planning your own self-build, interested in property development, or simply enjoy following the construction process, we hope you find this episode both useful and informative. Build & Design follows the complete construction of four high-specification family homes from an empty plot through to completion, sharing practical building knowledge, design ideas and behind-the-scenes insights into professional property development. If you're enjoying the series, please give the video a thumbs up, subscribe to Build & Design and follow the full journey as we take these four luxury homes from foundations through to completion. #BuildAndDesign #BuildDiary #HouseBuilding #Construction #SelfBuild #PropertyDevelopment #FloorJoists #Landscaping #LuxuryHomes #NewBuild