A few weeks ago we shared with you some pictures of a fire damaged property that we have been working on in Great Leighs.

We are due to finish the job this week - what a difference to when we began!

This week we started a new job through Smithers and Purslow Surveyors restoring a fire damaged property in Great Leighs. As you can see, we are having to wear protective clothing and masks for this job!

Look out for more updates as the job progresses.

This week's 'Meet the Team' features Joe Waterson. Joe is an ex-engineer and has been part of the team for three years. Joe is a very loyal, hard-working man and can turn his hand to most things. He has just completed two years of a plumbing course for which he achieved a distinction. We are very lucky to have him as part of the team.

We are now at the next stage of our Newton development project. The scaffolding is now down and the windows will be going in soon.

This week, we have been installing a French drain for a Victorian property in Chelmsford. A French drain is a slightly sloped trench which is filled with aggregate, that allows surface water to drain away from buildings, walls, gardens, drives etc. Although the name suggests that it comes from France, this is not true. It was actually named after Henry French, a farmer from Massachussets, who wrote about the concept in 1859 in his book about farm drainage! 

Here is our next 'Meet the Team' blog. This week we are featuring Jason 'The Oracle' Hurd! Jason has been a member of our team for 30 years! He is incredibly knowledgeable - hence the nickname! He is also honest and hard-working. We are very lucky to have him as part of our team.

In this week's blog we'd like to share with you this stunning, purpose-made chimney stack that we built last year. We were involved with English Heritage on this project.

These shots were taken before we started.

We used locally sourced, hand-made bricks from Bulmer Brickworks to complete the job.

The next pictures were taken during the process of rebuilding the chimney.

Every brick used had a different shape, so this was a painstakingly complex job, which was rather like doing a jigsaw puzzle!

The hard work was worth it, as we think you'll agree that the end result is truly stunning!

We are very proud to share the latest photos from our Stanningfield project with you. The external lime render is now complete (you can read more about this technique in our previous lime render blog).

We have also completed the lime crete floor using reclaimed bricks.

A few weeks ago we shared with you some pictures of our renovation in Stanningfield. Now that we have returned to work, we have made more progress and are pleased to show you some more photos of how it is coming on.

As promised, here is our next in the ‘Meet the Team’ series of blogs. This week we’d like to introduce Ben Jones!

Ben is the ‘son’ in K.E. Jones & Son. From a young age, Ben loved going to work with his dad Kevin, and it was this that started his interest in the building trade, and period properties in particular.

Ben left school in 1994 and went on to University of Suffolk, Ipswich and Otley College where he obtained his NVQ3 in plastering.  After this, joining the family business was the natural path to take. Ben continued to improve on his skills over the years of working with his dad.

Following Kevin’s semi-retirement, Ben took over the running of the business. He takes a professional, yet friendly approach, and is well respected by both staff and clients alike. Ben prides himself on his eye for detail which he strongly believes is essential to what the company does.

Outside of work, Ben is a real family man. He has been married to his wife Jodie for 15 years, and they have been together for 24 years! They have two lovely daughters, Willow and Heidi. Ben enjoys entertaining with family and friends, and in the little free-time that he has when not busy with work, or family, Ben loves all sports!

We hope that you are enjoying our meet the team series.