We have started to make the openings between the two properties. This will take a couple of days to complete. The concrete lintels have to go in first before the stone underneath can be removed. However, we already have a couple of holes in the wall that give a glimpse of what it is going to look like!
There are three openings to be made in this wall – a small balcony high up, an internal window that looks a long the edge of the kitchen units and the doorway between the hall and the kitchen.
We have started putting the stone slates on the front elevation of the extension. These are reclaimed stone slates that we bought a few weeks ago. They have been stored off site until we need them.
To be able to install the bi-folding doors this Saturday, we need to make sure that the scaffolding has been dismantled on the front of the extension. With any luck (mainly weather permitting) we should finish slating this elevation tomorrow. This will leave us with Friday to dismantle the scaffolding.
We have got about half of the stone slates on the front elevation of the extension today. Hopefully, tomorrow we will finish slating this elevation so that the scaffolding can be removed allowing the bi-folding doors to be fitted on Saturday. You can also see that the large oak window has now been glzed.
I have started installing the insulation in the extension. There is 130mm of insulation being installed in the roof (100mm between the rafters and 30mm on the back of the plasterboard). There is 75mm of insulation going underneath the floor. The underfloor heating is clipped to this and then 75mm of screed goes on top. This insulation is in addition to the 100mm of insulation that has gone into the wall cavities. Current building regulations require 50mm, so we are well above the current specification.
The insulation comes in large sheets (1.2m 2.4m) of foil backed high density polystrene. Kingspan is the most well known make, but there are others that are just as good and half the price. The sheets are cut to length with a hand saw. It isn’t a difficult job, but it is messy and the bits of polystrene get everywhere.
The complication with the extension is that the rooms have high ceilings and you have to use tower scaffold to reach the ceiling. You can’t do this off a set of ladders.
By my reckoning, it will take about 41 sheets to do the floors and 48 for the ceilings. We have order 30 sheets of each (75mm for the floor and 100mm for the ceiling). Once these are installed, we will order a top up. It only takes a couple of days to arrive. The sheets are around £30 each, so this part order is £1,800. Insulation isn’t cheap.
We are putting 100mm insulated boards between the rafters in the new extension. This is then covered with insulated plasterboard. This will leave the oak trusses exposed. Because the ceiling is so high, this has to be completed using tower scaffold inside the building as ladders will not reach.
It starts to get dark at this time of the year by about 4pm. We are using lights indoors from about 3:30pm and here you can see the inside of the kitchen ceiling.
The bath for the upstairs bathroom arrived today.
Note to self – check how heavy things are before you buy them! This bath weighs in at 170 kgs. It takes 4 men to lift it. So far, it has only made it into the property downstairs and is waiting for us to build up the enthusiasm to take it upstairs.
It is a StoneKast Ovale bath made from a limestone resin. It is white with a matt finish and looks amazing. But there is no getting away from the fact that it is heavy (and that is without the water in it!).
Just measuring up to work out how we are going to get this bath up the stairs. It came relatively well packed and arrived in one piece (unlike an Ovale basin which has now been replaced).
This was the half way house – moving it from the front of the house to the back garden took a lof of effort. Tomorrow, we will try and get it up the stairs!
There is a small gable to the rear of the kitchen and we finally managed to finish off the stone work on the exterior. With any luck, we should get the window installed tomorrow. This will be alot easier to do while the scaffolding is in place.
I don’t often take photos of the house from this angle, but you can start to see the extent of the extension (even with the scaffolding still in place).
The last couple of courses on the kitchen gable were finished off today. With any luck, we will get the window installed tomorrow.
We need three phase supply for our ground source heat pump. The supply was installed today and the existing overhead cables and the supplies to the two previous properties were recovered.
We dug the trench from the front to the rear of the property. Do make sure that you read the details carefully about how the trench – and the conduit – need to be laid. It took the best part of a day to pull the cable through, connect it to the supply on the pole and make the joint into the cable for the house.
We need a three phase supply for the ground source heat pump. Fortunately for us, the pole outside the property had a three phase supply.
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