We have installed the first 800m of ground loops and have decided to pressure test them. This means filling the pipework with water and increasing the pressure.
We have put 1 bar of pressure into the installed loops and will see what happens overnight.
Of course, we had to repair the water supply to start with!
We have put 1 bar of pressure (water) into the first 800m of ground loops. If this goes down overnight, we know we have a problem.
It seems strange to get excited about a flushing toilet, but when you have had to put up with a plastic toilet for the last three months, it makes all the difference.
We have connected up an inexpensive toilet pan and cistern to the newly installed drains. This means we now have a flushing toilet on site and we are starting to re-use the septic tank.
This drain is going to be the last manhole before we get to the septic tank. The blue pipe is the repaired water supply.
There is going to be a parapet wall between Jo’s study and the stairwell. This will be stud work that is plastered with an oak handrail. There will be an oak upright post in the middle connected to the king post truss above. The stud work was installed this weekend.
There is going to be a small parapet wall in Jo’s office. There is an oak handrail to go on the top, but for now we have installed it for health and safety reasons.
The view from the stairwell. The gap in the middle of the parapet wall is to accomodate an oak post that will connect with the king post truss above.
While looking for the main drain to the septic tank, we seem to have found the water supply for the property. Unfortunately, it was all a bit late.
The good news is that it is easily fixed and we know how and where to turn it off.
While looking for the main drain to the septic tank, we seem to have found the water main. It is only a plastic pipe and easily repaired, but it means no cups of tea until it is fixed.
We have laid the first 3 ground loops and are now in a position to cover them back over. Each loop is 50m and there is a layer of sand below and above the pipework. The subsoil is then carefully reinstated avoiding any very large stones.
There is a flow and return for each of the loops. Each loop has a tap that controls the flow to and from each ground loop. This allows the flow to be controlled to each loop compensating for the fact that some of the loops are further away from the pump.
Each pipe is 100m long, so each loop is 50m. Each of the manholes has a 6 port manifold so that is 600m of pipe connected to each manhole. There are 3 manholes making a total of 1800m of pipework.
The first 300m of ground loops are being covered using some of the subsoil that we removed earlier in the week.
There is around 100mm of sand on the bottom, then 100mm of sand on top of the ground loops. Then the subsoil is carefully reinstated.
The first 300m of ground loop disappearing under the subsoil.
There are two large bi-folding doors in the new extension – one in the lounge and another in the master bedroom. We will be using steel beams to bridge these openings. These beams will be supported by two large steel posts. The steel will be hidden behind the stone surround for the large square picture window (you can see this in the elevation below).
These steel posts are 140mm x140 mm square with a large plate on the bottom for bolting to a concrete pad. Then the foundations will be bricked up to the posts and the posts concreted into the floor slab. The posts are over sized and about 300mm too long. These will be cut later on to the correct length and the cross beams welded to them.
These steel posts are heavy!
Once upright, there isa steel plate on the bottom of the post that needs to be bolted in position.
These posts are big (and heavy). Getting them into position wasn’t easy.
The second of the steel posts has been positioned. With some slight tweaks with a large hammer and a crowbar.
The steel posts are now in position.
This is the south elevation of the new extension. This is the elevation that faces the courtyard garden.
One of the things that has surprised me is that a number of decisions need to be made so quickly. Here’s an example…..the kitchen.
The concrete slab has yet to be laid in the new extension. This includes the slab for the kitchen. You can see the current state of the build in the photo below.
The kitchen as it is today. The two brown pipes are for the island unit. The three brown pipes in the background are for waste and cold water for the sink and a pipe for the down draft extractor.
To be able to get the pipework in the right place in the concrete, we need to understand the layout in the kitchen. We have really had to move quickly over the next few weeks and have just placed the order for the kitchen. While the finishes may change, the layout is pretty set. We have used the layout to define where the pipework should go in the concrete slab.
There is a 75mm layout of insulation to go on top of the slab and then another 75mm of screed. The screed will contain the underfloor heating pipes. You can put the water feeds into the insulation layer, however, we have put the cold water supply (blue pipe in the photo) inside a brown plastic waste pipe. By putting the cold water supply into the concrete slab, we avoid the cold water from being warmed up by the underfloor heating.
I am sure that there will be a few more tweaks to come, but this gives an impression of what the kitchen should look like when finished.
The kitchen design has been done by KC Design in Clayton West – again, we are using another local firm. The kitchen is bespoke and will be produced here in Yorkshire. Now we have sorted out the layout, we can relax a little bit as it will be the back end of the year before we are ready to install it. Lots of decisions to be made between now and then.
The base of the hole that we have dug for the ground loops needs to be fairly flat and free of any large stones. This is achieved by what is called “tracking in”. This means using the metal tracks on the 14 tonne excavator to crush the stones by driving up and down. In our case, the sandstone underneath is fairly soft and seems to respond well to be “tracked in”.
After the bottom has been tracked in, around 100mm of sand is spread across the bottom of the hole. This prevents the pipework laying directly onto any large stones potentially damaging the pipes. Once the pipes are installed, another 100mm of sand will be put on top of the pipes before the subsoil is reinstated.
The hole at the moment is around 1m deep and covers around 750 sq m. This is only 2/3 of the area that we require for the ground loops. Once this hole has been covered over, we will dig underneath where the spoil piles are currently located. This will be approximately another 400 sq m. If I have got my maths right!
Even so, with a 750 sq m hole, it took around 40 tonnes of sand to cover the bottom. At the moment, it is starting to looking like a beach (and there aren’t too many of those in West Yorkshire!).
The ground in the foreground has still to be “tracked in”. This means using the metal tracks on the excavator to crush the stones in the bottom of the hole so that they don’t damage the ground loops when installed.
The base of the hole that we have dug for the ground loops is pretty rocky. The way to deal with this is to drive a 14 tonne excavator up and down. It’s metal tracks crush the stone underneath it.
Just a case of going up and down in a 14 tonne excavator until all the stones are crushed.
The ground loops will be put on top of the sand. More sand will be laid on top of the pipework before the subsoil is reinstated. This prevents the pipes from getting damaged.
We have used around 40 tonnes of sand in a hole around 750 sq m to get a depth of (roughly) 100mm. It is a lot of sand!
Before the new concrete floor slab can be laid, the plastic drains need to be inserted into the foundations. There appears to be a lot of them!
We were hoping that the new concrete slab for the extension would go down this weekend. However, the excavations for the ground loops has distracted us (big time!).
The view from the spoil heap of the new drains going in.
Compared to digging massive holes in the ground, putting up new cast iron gutters seems pretty tame!
These are being installed “after hours” by a couple of local installers. The gutters have come from the local foundry in Holmfirth (JJ Longbottom) and the brackets have been made to a traditional model. The threaded bar in the centre of the bracket allows the height of the bracket to be adjusted so that it holds the gutters level.
The gutters are supplied already primed and painted. I reckon a couple of more evenings and these will be done.
The new gutters have started to go up this evening. They have been supplied by the local foundary (JJ Longbottom) in Holmfirth.
Close up of the new cast iron gutters
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