Rockwool Flexi Slab Installation

Hi Everyone, hope you all had a good Christmas and not too many hangovers.... Work has been limited since last post - everything done on site has been DIY. No sign of the brickies or Keith the roof - but to be fair the weather continues to be a problem, and everyone wants to be at home at Christmas. I have been busy installing the external wall insulation - here you can see the 140mm Rockwool Flexi Slab being installed in between the studs. On top of this will be a Vapour Control Layer, battens and then the plasterboard.

Joyeux Noel - Merry Christmas

A tous nos bloggers francais - Joyeux Noel et Bonne Annee!
To all our English Blog Fans - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
A nice Festive scene taken by Lindsay today...

Comments Made Easier

It was brought to our attention that leaving a comment was a labourious process. We have now sorted that out, so leaving a comment/question is a lot easier. If using Anonymous please leave your name in the post so we know who you are!

Freezing Weather Stops Work

Unfortunatley due to snow and freezing weather, we decided that the site was un-safe for work today. Brickies turned up, but we decided that conditions on scaffold were too dangerous. With the Weather forecast set for more of the same, we have stopped work and closed site until after Christmas. Laying brickwork in freezing conditions is not a good idea anyway - if the mortar freezes before going off it crumbles and flakes and will need re-doing.
Bit of a blow but better safe than sorry..
It didn't stop me doing a bit of clearing around the site today - and i hope to get some of the ductwork for MVHR done during the Christmas break - you gotta keep chipping away at the work.. every little bit done means we are a little bit closer to moving in!

Thanks to everyone who voted on the poll - we have no idea when the build will be finished - obviously sooner the better, and were hoping that the poll would give us an idea. Unfortunately all options received the same votes! we do hope to be in before sep/oct - so if you voted for that - thanks a lot!

Battens On, Brickwork Makes Good Progress!

Progress on the brickwork has been good this week - Phil and Kelvin have done us proud. I can't fault the work they are doing and would recommend them without hestitation! so if you are looking for any kind of brickwork give these guys a ring.

Here you can see the blockwork we are going to get rendered. This is the right hand section of the house as you look at it (left hand side is exactly the same), we have put the reclaims around the windows and door openings to give the house a bit of continuity.

If you are interested in looking at Kelvins Website please visit http://www.reillymasonry.com/   His specialty is stonework, and you can see on his website some of the stone houses he has built, they are top of the range stuff. Below is Kelvin hard at work.

Keith The roof has also been to site and all the tiling battens are going on nicely.. Here is keith hard at work on a frozen roof..

Above is a picture taken from the field in front of the house, you can see here the batten work done so far, it is quality work again, and we are lucky to have tradesman who take pride in their work,.. 
We are pleased overall with the progress this week and we are in a good position coming up to crimbo..

Nearly Above Scaffolding

Phil and Kelvin have been there today - two brickie's makes a difference. Weather has been ok too - we are nearly above the scaffolding 1st Lift all the way around the house now. 
I am busy trying to get the Intake and Extract 160mm Ducting for the MVHR System through the walls so we can lay the brickwork around them - saves us smashing big holes afterwards..
Ducting arrived on site today, went for Lindab 'Safe' system in the end, and it worked out a lot cheaper than I thought it would :-) 

Reclaims Looking Good

We have made steady progress and 'Phil the brickie' has been on site all this week, laying as many of the reclaimed bricks from the old house as he can while the weather is good. Tomorrow 'Kelvin the brickie' is also starting, so we will have 2 brickies - and the weather is forecast to remain dry. If we get another week like last week I am hoping that we will be in quite good shape by Friday.

We are very pleased with the brick we reclaimed from the old house - sat there in a pile, they don't look great - but when you lay them properly and the brickie knows what he is doing, they look Fab! I am glad we went to the trouble cleaning them now because i was beginning to wonder if they were worth the effort.

No sign of 'Keith the roof' this week - but we are hoping we might see him on Tuesday - fingers crossed!

Good Weather Continues.......

More Good Weather today - so Phil the Brick did some more facing brick, leaving the block work for when the weather gets worse. No sign of Keith the roof today - but hopefully he is coming again at weekend. I was in work today - so no more insulation inside either. Limited progress but we plod on.... I will be posting more pictures of the interior at the weekend - just to show how the insulation is installed, it continues to dry out nicely inside, and despite the rain last night - no water made it through the roofing felt...Phew!

Blue Skies and Brickies

It's been a busy week - Phil the Brickie has started putting down the reclaimed bricks from the old house, and Keith the roof has put some counter battens on. So it's all starting to come together a bit.
The timber frame is actually finished - Hurray! - I think there was a lot more work in the roof than they thought, after a initial estimate of 5 days to complete the frame - it took 17!! (including a couple of days cancelled due to crane driver not turning up and high winds)
Also taken delivery of the insulation for the external walls - Rockwool Flexi Slab 140mm - and i have started to install this in the walls where possible.

Roofer Comes to Site

Keith Oldham, our roofer, and all round good guy, has been to site over the weekend (despite a bit of a hangover and man flu!). The 'high performance membrane' (roofing felt to me and you) has been put on the sarking - so at last we have a good chance of keeping the worse of the rain and weather out of the structure. It was a bit depressing going to the house and constantly hearing the rain running into the building - but now we are feeling a bit of relief - especially as the weather here is absolutely dreadful. The battens you can see have just been 'tacked' temporary - they will be removed and 'counter' battens will need fixing on. We did it this way to save time.
The Timber Frame is all but finished - but they are back tomorrow for what should be their last day, and the bricklayers start as well, so it will be a busy site...

First Pictures From Upstairs!

Exclusive to you bloggers - first pictures taken from upstairs! 1st pic is the master bedroom - 2nd pic is Georgias room - , pictures don't do the rooms much justice - but they are nice size. 3rd pic shows the sarking going onto the roof this is a manufactured board which firms up the structure and allows the insulation to be pushed right up into the rafters without stressing the roofing underlay. It also means you can pack in the insulation nice and snug - and the sarking will also help windproof the structure - eliminating all the draughts into the insulation, making it more effective - end result a nice warm house...(we hope!)

We have never had an 'upstairs' so this is highly exciting for Georgia and Alex....