Topping Out Ceremony

The roof is very nearly finished, so on 12th November, Phil Reeves performed his customary Topping Out Ceremony, which as in the time honoured tradition of launching all things new, involved a bottle of Champagne.

HardieBacker is used on the walls/floor
wherever there will be tiles instead of the vapour
plasterboard used on the rest of the bathroom
walls; this doesn't need plastering

Meanwhile, on the inside, Aarron (MJP Bathrooms) and associated builders, Tony, Justin and Jake (J A Buckingham) have been working all week on the bathrooms; they are now plastered and ready for tiling and fitting the sanitary ware next week.

Very fine plasterwork in a tight window area in our ensuite.

And here is David, with his sailing haircut (thankfully only a '4', not a '2' so it will grow back reasonably quickly), testing out his new sat phone, before he leaves for Cape Verde tomorrow to join our friends Philip and Helen Scourfield on 'Shelena' (an Oyster 545), for the second leg of the ARC+, a 2,000 mile leg from Cape Verde to St Lucia.  I think he is more nervous about the prospect of me being Project Manager for the next few weeks than he is about his trip.

Week 28, 11th November:  Fireworks, Air Test, Solar Panels

Here we are - with the best seat in town, perched on the very top of the roof to watch the fireworks at Sherborne Castle on Saturday evening.  

We had all the necessary refinements for a civilised evening, including a bottle of Prosecco and some olives; the only problem was what to do with it all. The half empty bottle presided very nicely against the MVHR vent but sadly the olives slid very slowly down the roof.

                    

There has been a big build up to today's Air Test.  

It is necessary as part of the SAPs calculation so that 

we can get the solar panels registered and will ultimately be needed for the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) so we will need to have a final one done in about 6 months time. If the score on this is not up to the required standard, they can pinpoint the areas of weakness so that these can be addressed.  Basically the house was closed up, a sheet was fitted over the side door with a big fan in it which sucked air out of the house and digital readings were taken for both the upstairs and the downstairs.  We were delighted as we achieved a score of 1.62 - anything below 5 is acceptable; the chap basically said that even if we blast a hole in one wall we will still pass next time.
Air tightness is measured in cubic metres per hour, per square metre of building envelope (walls+floor+roof) at a pressure differential of 50 Pa. One atmosphere is about 100,000 Pa so this is a very small pressure difference!! A perfect Passiv Haus could achieve as low as 0.5 air leakage, we hope to improve as walls and ceilings are sealed and plastered.

The upshot of all this is that any unpleasant smells linger for quite a long time - but it will all be OK when the MVHR leaps into action.

Update on the stone cladding:

We have applied to West Dorset District Council for a Non-Material Amendment to replace Century Stone with another product from EuroBrick Systems Ltd (more about this when it actually happens), so yet again we are in the hands of the Planning Department.

However, the problem which has proved to be the most challenging so far to resolve, reared its head most unexpectedly last Thursday.  We had chosen to get some solar panels from Environmental Logic.  Back in September, when the roof tiles were going on, we had a site visit and David asked about fitting brackets before the tiles which we hold the panels in place.  They assured him that they had their own fixing system which was preferable to brackets, so we bowed to their experience, didn't insist and the roof tiles were laid.  They arrived on site last Thursday to fit the panels, wanted to drill holes all over the new tiles which Reeves wouldn't let them do.  If the screw holes allow any water seepage the water would drip down into the SIPs panels until they blow apart; it would take a long time for any damage to be apparent.  To cut a very long story short; the panels need to be fixed in place by some limpets (from Solar Limpets); adhesive which is normally used sticks to anything apart from Tapco Slate.  We sent some tiles off to Solar Limpets for testing (which failed) and we have carried out exhaustive tests on different adhesives ourselves.  In the middle of the night last night, we were almost abandoning solar panels altogether - which should be an almost unthinkable course of action but the prospect of having to strip the roof tiles off and start again in order to fit the brackets was a frighteningly time consuming and expensive only other course of action we could see working.  Anyhow, David put his great engineering mind to the problem and after much discussion with all parties involved has tonight written an enhanced method statement to satisfy and cover everyone's responsibilities.  Basically we are now going to fit the limpets almost as directed (with the screws in a slightly different position) but then there will be lead flashing over and extending 100 mm in all directions beyond each limpet.  We now have a new installation date for the solar panels of 26th November, so there will be photos of David's masterful system then.

Week 27:  2nd November

Alex and Marc - our two mainstay builders trying to mend a temperamental nail gun.
Tremendous workers with hearts of gold - we will always be indebted to them.

A day visit from Mum, Guy (who is due to commence a new job in Qatar on 15th November)
and Megan

The roof above the kitchen/dining area - with windows!

David, with John, Alex and Marc (from Reeves)

Wednesday 4th November - our busiest day so far; there were 14 people on site at one time, with three deliveries in the space of 30 minutes. 
In the middle of all this I received a call from the bank to tell me that someone in London was enjoying a spending spree with my credit card - despite the fact that it was still 'safely' in my possession.

Three chaps came from near Crewe to fit a post in the garage opening
(we are having both a double roller door and a personal door)

Jake, Justin and Tony (brought along 

by MJP Bathrooms) have nailed battens in between the underfloor heating tubes on the first floor, poured pug screed in between the battens and will return on Friday to
lay plywood on the top of all of this - so we will then have a 'finished' floor on this level.

Aaron (a partner in MJP Bathrooms) and Sam continued with work on the heating pipes.

 Paul, our Building Control inspector, came along to join the party, which with Vicki, made 14 in total.  The tea and sugar bill is taking us seriously over budget.










This has to be one of the best insulated houses in the country (Vicki does not intend to be cold in her old age).  On top of the SIPs is the grey waterproof membrane, with treated battens on top of that, the beige layer is another breathable waterproof membrane, with a waterproof cement board (Aquapanel) on top of that.  We've still got two more layers to go, but they won't be until the new year (we have just submitted a 'Non-material amendment' to the planning department as we have had to change the supplier of the stone slips).

Week 26:  26th October

  

6 months on from breaking ground; just under three months since the SIPs started to go up and we are really beginning to look house-like.

 

We now have a proper floor (only at ground floor level); the screed dried perfectly over the weekend and has made the whole building seem much brighter.

 

 

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that we have a new member of the build team.  Jane arrived on Monday and is staying with us for four days.  She is most certainly earning her keep and so far has finished off the damp proof membrane around the main garage (in the rain), helped to strengthen stud partition walls with studs and noggings.  She is now an expert with a cordless drill and this morning's trip to Screwfix proved to be an expensive one for the Deans.  David Dean will be pleased to learn that the nail gun has not yet won her over.  The fact that she is seen here using a spirit level to ensure her noggin is perfect, demonstrates the quality of her work.



What we wished we had known / asked........

David wanted to call this section "What we will do differently next time" but he received a withering look at that suggestion.  We will update this as we go along.  I once read an article in a magazine where one couple claimed that they wouldn't change a thing...... they are clearly much better at this game than us!

Windows:  Whilst the windows themselves are fabulous, we would look very closely at buying some that arrive with protection on the frames.  However, we believe that Internorm Windows UK Ltd will send the Internorm windows with a protective film on the frames - it is certainly worth looking into them rather than Ecohaus who don't.

Site:  Whilst the location of this house is perfect for the town, many of the delays and complications with the SIPs build occurred because the road is so narrow.

NHBC:  We would go down that road again, but now we are far more aware of their process, we know what their requirements are and would therefore aim to avoid the pitfall of the stone cladding.

Ground Floor Screed

Perhaps not the most fascinating topic to most, but another massive step forward for us.

It is only 09:28 and the floor screeders have been and gone (David Hemmings, Alex and Martin from Street), along with two different lorry loads of mix which have disturbed the early morning peace of Tinneys Lane.

We have used a Gyvlon flowing screed which uses recycled anhydrite binder.  One of the main benefits of this is that it gives improved underfloor heating performance; it also has high compressive / flexible strength, a high recycled content and a low carbon footprint as well as being easy and efficient to install.

Having done the preparation with levels yesterday, the three chaps just turned up this morning, the lorry joined the party, they mixed the screed with water, connected a giant hose pipe and directed the liquid into each room.  It is thicker than water but is still self levelling.  We have shut down the house now until Monday (it is currently Thursday), when we will be able to walk on it and then load on it by this time next week.

Week 25:  19th October - Huge Progress

Much happier today - we think we have a solution for the stone cladding, in fact possibly an even better alternative than the original one, so every cloud has a silver lining.

Huge progress is being made - the roof is almost finished:

John, standing very proudly beside his roof which is being proposed for an award by NHBC.
Ridge tiles still to go, but John is particularly renowned for his lead work.

David had originally intended to do the plumbing himself, but hadn't anticipated how much of his day would be spent answering other queries, so he very reluctantly decided to call in some assistance.  We ordered the bathrooms from Ocean Bathrooms in Bridport; they put us in touch with Matt Powne (MJP Bathrooms), also from Bridport.  David took to Matt straight away, and they have done an amazing job over the last two weeks, sorting out the first fix for all the plumbing and also laying out the miles of pipe for the underfloor heating.  

Matt (on the right) and colleague in the dining area.
There have been up to five plumbers on site at a time.

Ground floor underfloor heating manifold, marked with a clear warning to keep looking at the water pressure
throughout the laying of the screed.

Marc (from Reeves) just fitting a barrier where there is a step going down into the lounge
to stop the screed from the higher level sliding away into the lounge.
(The pipe holes were later filled with expanding foam).
The pale yellow upright barrier is all round the outside of every room to allow
space for the screed to expand.