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Polytunnel – Day 6

May 3, 2013 / stephen

Just about done. The excess plastic around the door frames has been trimmed. The excess around the edges of the polytunnel will be buried in a trench around the polytunnel. This will help ensure that the polytunnel isn’t going to go anywhere in strong winds. We will probably put a row of patio slabs around the edge of the polytunnel to keep the grass at bay – we will not be able to use the strimmer up against the polytunnel.

I would have dug the trench today and backfilled it, but the physio has told me to take it easy with my back.

The plastic covering the polytunnel has now been trimmed around the door frames. The plastic just needs to be tensioned and then the excess around the edges buried into a trench around the polytunnel.

Buried treasure

May 2, 2013 / stephen

Well, not quite. I found an old mobile phone while digging in the garden. We have found lots of pottery and bits of china, but this is the first phone that we have found.

It didn’t look in good shape. The battery had really deteriorated, so it was good to have it out of the ground.

When I took off the back of the phone, I was a bit surprised to find the SIM and a memory card still installed. You can tell from the photo below that both were showing signs of having been in the ground.

I wondered if I would find anything on the memory card. Or even if it could be read.

Amazingly, it was a yes on both counts.

Looks like the phone was owned by a young boy who was into fishing, hip hop and air rifles. Below is one of his most notable catches.

It is amazing what you find buried in the garden.

Having removed the back and the battery, imagine my surprise to find the SIM and the memory card still installed. There is no chance of getting anything off that memory card. Or is there?

One of the images left on the memory card. All dated 2009. Goodness knows how long the phone had been in the ground.

Polytunnel – Day 5

May 2, 2013 / stephen

And I am almost there. By the end of the day, the frame is covered and waiting to be tensioned. I had to get some help unfolding the plastic before it went onto the frame. I probably could have done it on my, but it is the sort of job that would take an hour on your own or 5 mins with two people. I opted for the two person approach and Rob North kindly lent a hand.

It is starting to look like a polytunnel now, particularly from the inside!

The next job is to tension the plastic and cut off the excess, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

I must admit that this is a two man job – unfolding the plastic and getting it over the hoops is much easy with two pairs of hands. Rob North kindly assisted.

It only took 5-10 minutes to unfold the plastic and get it onto the frame. Next job is to attached it to the wooden battens that run aroung the base of the frame making sure that it is tensioned correctly. Why do I think of Dougal from the Magic Roundabout?

The plastic is still to be tensioned and the excess material trimmed off around the door, but we are almost there!

Update on tender process

May 1, 2013 / stephen

The deadline for the tender process for phase 1 is 7th May. The tender documents were issued to 5 local companies. They were told that they could do a site visit from the 29th April.

So far there have been two site visits – both on 29th. Maybe the other tenderers will leave it to the last minute or maybe there will submit a quote without having seen the property. Or maybe they won’t submit a quote at all. Who knows at this point.

I have been running the site visits and to make sure that I tell all the tenderers the same things, I have been following a sort of script (see below).

One of the things that I have been doing is using the 3D drawings to show what the finished building will look like. This material was not distributed as part of the tender pack and it is clearly given people a much clearer idea of what the finished building will look like rather than just relying on floor plans alone. I now have the 3D drawings as PDFs and will post some more shortly. I have only had them in paper copy until recently, but did post one here before on the blog based on a scan of a paper copy.

Anyway, here’s my script for the site visit:

· About us

Me and Jo live in Netherthong
Me to PM the overall build
Technical questions to the architect

· Objectives

Looking for something that suited the way we live
Traditional on the outside, contemporary inside

· The site

Extent of the site
Potential new drive through orchard

· Access

IBA require access at all times

· Plan

Potential move in date is April 2014

· Why two phases? Phase one / Phase Two

· Overview of the design

Renovation of the existing properties – Phase 1
New extension and refurb of existing – Phase 2

· Tour of the existing buildings

8
10
Barn

· Unusual things to point out

Cellars
King post trusses
Asphalt flooring

· Questions

Potential start dates
Any issues/questions?

Polytunnel – Day 4

April 30, 2013 / stephen

Well, again today, it was really only half a day on the polytunnel. I had to go to the builders merchant this morning and I didn’t get started on the polytunnel until after lunch.

I decided to redo the first door frame that I had installed. Looking back at it, it wasn’t completely vertical and you didn’t really notice until you should back and looked at it. If I didn’t put it right, it would always annoy me in the future. So with that sorted it was then a case of installing the supports for the internal trestle platform. This has only been installed on one side since we are going to put raised beds for vegetables on the other side.

Then it was time to start bolting the timber rail that runs around the bottom of the polytunnel and keeps the polyethene taught. By the time that I had installed half of it, it was time to call it a day. Tomorrow the weather forecast is good, so hopefully I will get the other side of the bottom timber rail done and will then cover the polytunnel with polyethene.

The door frames are vertical – honest!

The timber rail is where the polythene is attached. This rail can be moved down the hoops in order to tension the cover.

Cost of uPVC vs Hard wood windows

April 29, 2013 / stephen

As part of phase 1 of the building work, we are replacing 34 windows. The majority of the windows are small since most of the window openings are mullioned (meaning that a single window opening may in fact have 3 separate windows. The existing windows are a mixture of uPVC and soft wood windows of various designs.

We have a quotes now for both uPVC and hardwood windows. The uPVC is for a coloured (cream or pale green) rather than white window. The hardwood windows are painted pre-installation and come in a variety of colours.

Both quotes including fitting and the hardwood windows are about double the cost of the uPVC. The uPVC windows are around £8,000 and the hardwood windows around £15,000 (including all glazing).

Polytunnel – Day 3

April 28, 2013 / stephen

We get most of the framework up today, including the door frames and the doors. We had to cover the doors with the polyethene and netting ourselves. It was a bit fiddly to get the material taught, but we succeed on our first attempt.

There are just a couple of things to do before we can get the polythene on the framework. But it is going to have to wait for another day!

It takes a couple of hours to get the hoops and ridge pole installed. Then the corner stablisers are installed.The stone step from the old chicken house needs centering.

Door frames and doors installed. There is polythene in the bottom part of the door and netting in the top part. This allows air to circulate.

Polytunnel – Day 2

April 28, 2013 / stephen

This morning I was distracted by purchasing a new lawn mower (and giving it a whirl in the garden). So this was really only half a day on the polytunnel.

The anchors are now installed – 10 in total – they are installed in the right position and the anchors are level side to side. The ground does slope slightly along its length, but there isn’t much I can do about it.

Last job of the day is to screw the hoops together ready for tomorrow. Once the frame is installed, we can level out the ground inside. Once the hoops and ridge are installed, this will pull the frame straight and true. Well, let’s see.

Doesn’t look like much for half a day’s work, but the anchors are installed and the hoops are now ready to go on.

Some of this ground is going to need to be even up and the plan is to installed some patio slabs on end to create a “step” on this side. Hopefully, this will make the ground inside level. The tops of the anchors are level and you can see the difference in levels, particularly on this side.

First mow of the season

April 27, 2013 / stephen

Last year we cleared out the orchard. All the non-fruit trees were taken down, we cleared back all of the undergrowth and removed an old chicken run and a wooden shed. The only problem now is that there is grass to mow. The grass has really taken off in the last couple of weeks.

While it is never going to be a lawn, we need to keep the grass under control just to make accessing the orchard a little bit easier. We already have a lawn mower, but it is a small electric one – it is not going to be man enough to handle the orchard.

Now, I am never one to resist buying power tools, so this has to be an opportunity to purchase a petrol lawn mower. After a bit of research, it looks like the best option is a mulching lawn mower. This will cut the grass to a very fine mulch and leaves it on the lawn as a fertiliser. So there is no need to collect the grass in a grass box. This means that it is quicker to mow the lawn and then there are no clippings to get rid off.

After talking to Fisco mowers in Wakefield (www.fisco-online.co.uk), I decided on a Stiga. I can’t recommend these guys enough – always helpful, they set up the machine, show you how to use it, and are only marginally more expensive that buying it online (in fact the Stiga was the same price). I prefer to support local businesses wherever I can. If you need advice, talk to Oliver.

The Stiga is a powerful machine (4.5 bhp) that is going to be more than enough to cut the grass in the orchard. And first impressions are great, it cut the grass without any problems at all – it seems to start first time and cuts the grass with ease. The finish is surprisingly good. Hopefully, not too good. It isn’t meant to be a lawn!

We cleared out the undergrowth in the orchard last year – an old chicken run, brambles and an old shed. The down side is that we now have some grass to cut.

It will never be a lawn, but it is a lot tidier now!

Log burning stoves

April 22, 2013 / stephen

We have decided to install a ground source heat pump and underfloor heating throughout the property – both upstairs and downstairs – in addition, we are going to install a number of log burning stoves. As well as looking good, they are a great way to provide additional heating should it be required.

All in all, there are potentially 5 locations for such stoves throughout the property:

In the open plan lounge/kitchen in the new build part of the house;
In the hall of number 10. This is where the kitchen used to be and there is currently a log effect gas stove in an inglenook fireplace;
In the lounge of number 10. This will become the snug with TV and AV. There used to be a gas fire installed in a bricked up inglenook;
In the lounge of number 8. Used to have an old gas fire. This will become a downstairs guest bedroom in the new house;
In my office which is currently the coal hole in number 8! This is currently a single skin building and will need to be rebuilt. It is shown on the 1788 map, so we know it has been here a while. We aren’t sure what we are going to do with this part of the building yet – part of the answer depends on the cost of rebuilding it.

Stoves 1 and 3 are likely to be used the most. Stove 4 is likely to be used the least. And stoves 2 and 5 somewhere in between. All the existing fireplaces work and are free of any problems. Installing working stoves requires a stainless liner and some remedial buidling work.

Stove 1: Open Plan lounge/Kitchen

This is in the new extension. The outside will be built to match the materials in the existing building. The interior will be contemporary. There are three rooms in the extension – kitchen (double height), lounge (heitght and a half) and a separate master bedroom. I reckon the volume of the kitchen and lounge combined is going to be in the order of 150 cubic meters.

Given that this is such a large space (ignoring the fact that it has underfloor heating) and is in the new part of the building, the choice is for something more contemporary.

Stovax Studio Firebox

Stove 2: The new hallway

This is in the older part of the building. The fireplace is made up of three large slabs of sandstone. This currently houses a log effect gas fire. The proposal would be to put a log stove in here. Not sure exact what make or model.

Stove 3: The snug

Again in the older part of the property in a large sandstone inglenook fireplace. The proposal here is to put in a log stove, but something that isn’t compeltely traditional, but has some modern twist. Maybe something like the Scan Andersen 8-2.

Scan Andersen 8-2

Stove 4: The downstairs guest bedroom

I don’t think this stove is going to be used very much. The fireplace is one of the traditional sandstone slabs. The proposal is for a Jotul F100. This is a smaller stove than the others. It is only 3KW and as such it does not require an air inlet. Thus less building work.

Jotul F100

Stove 4: Steve’s office space

There is no fireplace here, so the suggestion is to install a wall hung unit and have the flue do straight out through the wall and upwards. Maybe something like the Scan 58 wall hung unit.

Scan 58 Wall Hung

Hagg Leys Farm