Author: stephen (Page 28 of 61)

Steelwork in the extension

October 27, 2013 / stephen

There are a number of large openings in the extension and we are using steel to bridge these openings. When finished, you will not be able to see the steel as it be covered with stone work.

Despite the bad weather, the first of the steels (the one across the top of the large custom oak window) was installed. The other steelwork is now on the ground in the right location. We will get this into position next week.

All in all, this week was one of the wettest in the build so far. Let’s hope for better weather over the next 2-3 weeks as the roof goes on.

The first of the steels has been installed. Due to the poor weather, this was the only steel to go in today. It was another wash out. Even Zep decided that it was time to put a coat on!

Treating green oak

October 26, 2013 / stephen

Next week we are due to start erecting the new oak trusses in the extension. These have been built in an industrial unit over the last 2-3 weeks. They will be numbered, disassembled and then re-erected on site.

Given that we are approaching the end of October, we cannot rely on the weather. Indeed, the weather over the last couple of weeks has been very mixed. We have decided that it would be nice to proect the new timber from the elements while the roof is being erected.

A bit of investigation seems to suggest that Osmo UV protection oil is the right choice. We have used an interior version of this to coated the existing beams, but this is the exterior version. When the oak trusses were sanded and coated in this stuff, they simply looked amazing.

We have used oak in the existing cottages to replace the old floor beams and have decided to use the same stuff to protect them. As the plasterers are due to plaster some of the downstairs rooms tomorrow, we thought it might be a good idea to put something on the untreated oak. The Osmo product works a treat and the oak looks amazing. Plus if anything gets accidentally spilt on the oak, it should simply wipe off.

If you are considering doing something similar, I would suggest you paint a test patch before painting all the wood. Some woods colour very differently. We are using the “type 420” on ours. This is a clear, satin matt finish and looks very natural when dried. We will also use the same product on the custom oak windows. More information on the Osmo product here: http://www.osmouk.com/previewpage.cfm?bookid=book001&chapter=57&page=121

We have decided to paint the new green oak beams in the cottage. This should help provide some protection from the plasterers! The unpainted section is on the left, the painted section the right. It has really brought the grain out of the wood.

Kitchen wall

October 25, 2013 / stephen

Despite the poor weather forecast for today, we got some good weather this afternoon (dry, at least). This enabled us to get on with the building of the internal kitchen wall. The reason that this is important is that the roof truss sits on this internal wall. This means that we can’t start erecting the roof until this internal wall is in place. The roof sits on the inner wall of the building and not the outer.

This wall is made up of reclaimed stone from a couple of internal walls that we demolished previously. Once finished, we will sandblast this wall to remove all of the old paint and grime. The internal wall, like the outer walls, will then be pointed.

Today we reached the height of the second window in the kitchen. This is a big one. Much bigger than we thought. Tomorrow the window head will be installed and the last few inner course built (weather permitting).

Despite the poor weather forecast, we had some decent weather today – particularly this afternoon. This enabled us to get a few more courses on the internal kitchen wall.

The view from the front of the building. You can see the back of the new internal kitchen wall.

Yes, that is a window on the right – not a door! I don’t think that we had realised that it was going to be this big! But at least it will let lots of light in!

Internal kitchen wall

October 24, 2013 / stephen

We had a fine day today so pushed ahead with the stone work on the internal kitchen wall. It is forecast for wet weather again tomorrow, so we might not be able to finish the rest of the kitchen wall off until Saturday (which is the next dry day).

We decided to use reclaimed stone (from a couple of walls that we demolished onsite) to build the front kitchen wall. This will provide a kind of feature wall and help avoid a large expanse of painted plaster! Once the wall is up, we will sand blast the stone to remove any debris and paint. The wall will then be pointed. All of this needs to happen before the roof or the windows go in. This will probably happen in the next 2-3 weeks.

The internal and external kitchen walls. Both made out of reclaimed stone.

The internal kitchen wall has been built (or at least part of it) today. We are using some of the stone that we reclaimed when demolishing some internal walls in the existing cottages.

This the door into the bottom room and the utility room beyond. You can see the back of the internal kitchen wall going up.

Looking from the lounge into the kitchen. This is the new internal kitchen wall.

We have made the best of the dry weather today and pushed ahead with the internal kitchen wall. Rain is due again tomorrow, but there is some more fine weather forecast for Saturday.

Insulation is expensive

October 24, 2013 / stephen

Or rather the materials for insulating a property are expensive. And we have lots of it!

There is 50mm insulation between the roof rafters which is then insulated with plasterboard that has a further 50mm of insulation on the back. The walls are dry lined with insulated plasterboard and then is insulation underneath the underfloor heating.

I have spent a couple of days this week putting insulation in the ground floor ceiling. This is more for sound proofing, however, it does help ensure that the heat from the underfloor heating goes up (heating upstairs) rather than down (heating downstairs). This consists of putting 100mm of rockwool between the ceiling joists. This is pushed above the wires and pipes already in the floor. This helps ensure that the insulation does not fall out before the ceiling is plasterboarded.

It is a pretty horrible job – arms constantly above your head with itchy fibres dropping on your face. Strangely enough, everyone seemed keen for me to do it. Strange that.

One thing I have learnt is to shop around for insulation. Everyone knows the big names – kingspan, rockwool etc. But with the big brands come a big price tag. Have a look at some of the lesser known players and you will find products that are just as good, but a fraction of the price. Our insulation has been purchased from Tyne Insulation Supplies (www.tyneinsulation.co.uk).

This stuff is itchy. Having spent a day insulating the ground floor ceiling, you need to have a shower. Big time.

This week I have spent a couple of very itchy days putting insulation in the ceiling on the ground floor. This is more for sound insulation than anything else, but it does help ensure that the heat from the underfloor heating upstairs go up rather than down! I have made sure that the insulation does fall out by putting it over the pipes and wires in the ceiling.

More ashlar

October 24, 2013 / stephen

Yesterday it rained, so we made the best of it and took the opportunity to pick up more of the remaining bits of ashlar from the quarry. Some of these peices are seriously big and will need a crane to be able to lift in them into position.

These are amongst the largest pieces of ashlar that are going into the extension. Some of the larger peices are over 3/4 tonne and will require a crane to lift into position.

This is the last batch of ashlar and some of these pieces are seriously big. Far too big to manhandle. We will need to use a crane to lift some of these.

Wet weather

October 23, 2013 / stephen

The wet weather has really affected us this week. Although you can build blockwork in the rain (it doesn’t matter if the sand and cement was down the front of the blocks), the same is not true for stone work. Even with blockwork, if it gets too wet the sand and cement starts to slump and the blocks move.

It is Wednesday and we haven’t been able to do much work outside – despite trying! But sometimes it is just better to give in to the weather.

The steel has arrived for the spans above the bi-folding doors. These are going to be manhandled into position and we won’t be doing that until the mud subsides.

Much of the ashlar stone surrounds are now on site. These are for the cills, heads and sides (called jambs) of the doors and windows. Every door and window has a number on the architects plans. These are marked up on the ends of each piece of ashlar.

Parts of the site are now very wet and muddy. This makes getting around difficult unless you have a 4x4. More wet weather is forecast this week. Ho hum.

Parts of the site are now very wet and muddy. This makes getting around difficult unless you have a 4×4. More wet weather is forecast this week. Ho hum.

Although the weather has been wet, we have been able to get some stone work up. Because the stones are large, each course really makes a difference. You can see one of the ashlar window cills has been installed.

The steelwork that will bridge the across the bi-folding doors has arrived. Later this week, it will be manhandled into place.

All of these bits of ashlar are for the door and window surrounds. There is a lot of it!

These pieces of ashlar are for the heads, cills and sides (jambs) of the windows in the extension. As the stone work goes up on the outside of the extension, these surrounds are built in.

Each piece of ashlar is marked up according to whether it is for a door or window. These two peices are for the head and cill for window 43.

Internal kitchen wall

October 19, 2013 / stephen

The internal kitchen wall will be built using stone that we reclaimed from a couple of internal walls that we demolished a couple of months ago. The walls (and thus the stone) was original and dates to when the cottages were first built. It is nice to think that this stone will remain on site and be re-used.

The lower part of the wall is built using blockwork. This produces a flat, even surface. This will help when fitting the kitchen. The work surface has an upstand that will act as a splashback. On top of the upstand, there will be an ashlar string course. The reclaimed stone wall will then be built on top of this string course. The string course has been installed and we will start work on the reclaimed stone wall next week.

Like the exterior reclaimed stone work, the internal stone work will be sand blasted before it is pointed. This will even up the finish and remove any paint or discolouring. The intention is that the internal reclaimed stone wall break up what would otherwise be a large wall.

Looking from the lounge into the kitchen. The feature wall in the far wall in the kitchen will be built using stone that we have salvaged from demolition work elsewhere on site.

The reclaimed stone for this internal wall has come from two internal walls that were removed when rennovating the existing cottages. It is piled up here on a pallet ready to go.

You can see here very clearly the ashlar string course that separates the upstand on the work surface from the reclaimed stone wall (yet to be built) above.

Stone work on the extension

October 19, 2013 / stephen

Despite some poor (wet) weather this week, we have made some good progress on the stone work on the extension. The stones are big so each course really makes a difference. Each course starts at the lowest point (the porch) and goes right around the extension.

We are coming up to window level so some of the window cills have been installed. The door cills have already been installed.

If we get some good weather in the next week, then we are going to make some great progress on the stone work. However, it is October!

This is the front wall of the extension. The window cill has gone in. We will start building the interior wall of the kitchen shortly.

We have been competing with the wet weather this week, but significant progress has been made this week. As the stone is so large, each course makes a real difference. Two of the window cills and one of the door cills have gone in.

Progress on the porch

October 17, 2013 / stephen

The porch is the lowest part of the new work that we are undertaking as part of the extension. The exterior stone work starts here and eventually the courses of stone will start to go right around the building. Once at that level, a single course will go right around the porch and then follow on around the new extension.

The reclaimed stone that we are using is fairly large so each of the courses makes a big difference. This is going up much faster than I was expecting.

We have made good progress on the stone work on the porch. When sandblasted this will fit in with the rest of the house.

With the hessian removed, the stone work is revealed! This will be sandblasted and pointed when finished to fit in with the rest of the house.

Author: stephen (Page 28 of 61)

Steelwork in the extension

Treating green oak

Kitchen wall

Internal kitchen wall

Insulation is expensive

More ashlar

Wet weather

Internal kitchen wall

Stone work on the extension

Progress on the porch

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