The update that we have all been waiting for on RHI (Renewable Heat Incentive) has just been published. You will find the information here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-heat-is-on-for-householders
Specific detail on RHI is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/renewable-heat-incentive-proposals-for-a-domestic-scheme
The good news for us is that the scheme appears to be open to all householders, even those who previously had a gas boiler installed.
The first phase of construction work (the renovation of the existing cottages) is drawing to a close. I reckon we will be complete in the next 2-3 weeks. This means that some of the men are coming free from the existing building work. Although the architects are still working on the detailed design for phase 2 (the build of the new extension), we have decided that we can start on the demolition of the existing barn and laying down the new concrete base. This should provide the architects with a little more time to finalise the overall design – the concrete base is not going to change (well, not without having to go back to the Planning department).
The roofline of the new extension will be slightly below the existing roofline. This means that part of the gable end will be exposed. This means that we need to hack of the existing render and either re-point the stonework or render the gable end.
As part of the phase 2 work, the barn will be demolished and rebuilt.
The roof line of the new extension is going to be lower than the existing roofline. This means that part of the gable end (that is currently rendered) is going to be exposed. We need to remove the rendering to check the quality of the underlying stone.
Yesterday we dug out the last section of wall to reach the stone gate post in the adjoining field. We made good progress building up the wall and I reckon that we will be all finished in the next couple of working days. The main challenge is that we are likely to run a little short on stone for the wall. We do have some surplus stone elsewhere on site, so we are going to need to sift through the various piles on site to find suitable stone.
The gatepost for the adjoining field is in the foreground (no idea why there is a letter “D” on the gatepost) and there is probably only a couple of days work left to finish off the wall.
Almost there!
All of the original stone has to be cut to ensure that there is a consistently size cavity between the stone work and the insulation. This is a messy and dusty job that isn’t made any more pleasant by searing heat (although it isn’t as hot as it was a couple of days ago.
As the courses get higher, they get shorter. Next couple of days and the stonework will be finished.
With the boss (Richard Battye) from HD9 Construction on holidays, Jo took the opportunity for a “team photo”. Sorry Richard! I snuck into the photo.
From left to right…..Andy (carpenter), Daniel (apprentice), Nick (builder), Matt (builder), Richard (labourer) and me (goodness knows what I do!).
We are now nearing the end with the dry stone wall in the orchard. We are within about 4-5 metres of the stone gate post of the adjoining field. This will be the end for this part of the dry stone wall. We have now started working on the wall from the other side as this is slightly easier. Digging out the old wall (complete with tree stumps) has been hard work in the hot weather.
Jo has been on holidays this week, so two of us have been working on the wall together. Progess is more than twice as quick with two people!
We are starting to clear the far corner of the orchard (hence the chainsaw on the wall) so that we can finish off the wall.
The empty bottle of wine in the blue trug was found under the hedge (honest!)
We are getting there and having two people working on the wall makes progress really quick (in relative terms).
Now working in the adjoining field and working towards the old stone gatepost
The rebuilding of the extension is coming on well. The weather yesterday was cooler than the previous day when the temperature hit 31 degrees! All very nice, but just a little to warm to work in. It is also to warm to do any pointing as the lime mortar will dry too quickly in the sun and crack. So the inside jobs we have been keeping in case it rains are now being done because it is too hot to work in the sun!
The coal hole has now been re-instated. The intention is that we will use this to hold flowers just as the previous owners had done. This is all part of trying to re-instate the property to its previous configuration.
The wall plates for the roof have been put into position so that the walls can be built up to meet it. This is the easiest way of rebuilding the walls in this rather quirky part of the building.
The hole for the coal hole is being reinstated to hold flowers.
Internal block work in place together with some guide rafters
Coal hole re-instated.
Work is progressing well on re-installing the first floor timbers. All of the oak beams have been installed and now it is a case of putting up the joists. These are attached to the beams and the wall plates via metal joist hangers.
Just a case of bending the top of the joist hangers over and nailing them down. With 6-8 nails per hanger, this takes a while!
Half installed with the metal joist hangers still to be bent over and nailed in position.
We are now working in the far end of the orchard. This is the “pointy” end of the triangular orchard. This part was behind the shed and had a lot of tree roots, not to mention a build up of soil. Much of this was cleared with a machine last week. Now it is down to clearing the ground by hand and rebuilding the wall.
We called it a day around 2pm due to the extraordinarily good weather. The temperature was topping 27C and it was just too hot to be digging and moving stones around. This part of the orchard has little shade from the sun, so it was very difficult to keep cool.
We are now getting down into the corner of the orchard furthest away from the house.
We are probably approaching the last 5 metres of wall in the orchard.
The re-pointing of the building has started. After a couple of test areas were completed, we have decided to repoint the building with Nosterfield River sand and Hydraulic lime. This is a traditional method that allows the building to breathe. The materials came from Womersleys in Heckmondwike that is fairly local to us.
The pointing has been completed on the chimneys so that the scaffolding at roof level can be taken down. The mid level scaffolding will be left in place so that the pointing high up can be completed.
Chimneys now re-pointed using Nosterfield River sand and hydraulic lime.
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