The Self Build Diary - Day 126 - A busy week of insulation

Following the Easter break we have had a very busy site, the builders were back on Tuesday and have got the property up to Second floor joist height, these were positioned today. This week will see the stone catching up and getting to the same level.

My weekend duties were to board out the ground floor on top of the slab and the damp proof membrane with Kingspan insulation boards. I thought this would be a relatively easy task.......i was wrong!!

It was tough to get it into position and tough to get the boards in nice and tight, the cuts had to be inch perfect and it took loads longer thank i thought it would! My naivety nearly got the better of me with this one but i persevered and we ended up with a good result. A long day on Saturday (finished with a fabulous takeaway from the cinnamon lounge on Flockton moor!) was followed by some of Sunday to finish it off.

Ground floor studwork this weekend, i am not taking this lightly!

So today, the Underfloor heating contractors (Velta UK) came to install the pipework downstairs ready for it to be screeded tomorrow. again these are all things we couldn't do yet without the tent (See counter below). Once the screed is down, the stud walls (which there are not many of downstairs), the ground floor is ready to be first fixed by the plumber and the electrician. my efforts then follow the builders up as they go above 2nd floor joist height for Me to board out that floor and work below on the studs for the second floor, if i haven't already thrown the studding towel in by then!!

We are using the metal speedline studs as they are straighter, quicker and cheaper than wood, I'm doing two 50mm walls 25mm apart to create A 150mm thick stud wall which should have very good acoustic properties with some rockwool down the middle. the fact that the walls are separate should stop sound transfer between rooms.

ill be back tomorrow with underfloor heating photos.

Neil

Tent counter



No of working days tented – 45


Days saved for weather – 14


Days work done ahead of untented schedule – 5

The Self Build Diary - Day 119 - A first floor and a few aches and pains!

Its been a while! one thing i have tried to do is only put a blog Post on when i have got something worthwhile to say....... some of you may disagree, Mrs G disagrees!

Well since the last post things have pressed on on site, the walls to the first floor continue up, in fact the block work is nearly up to the second floor joists, and the stonework is mid window.

the last fortnight has been about mentally and physically preparing myself for getting involved in the project in a more hands on way! Good Friday way my first part of the project which was to install the flooring to the 1st floor joists. A luxury that we can afford due to the tented scaffold we have (See the added dimension to the "Tent Counter" below. Normally this would take place when the roof is on and the job is water tight.

So planning for the future weeks has been tough, there is lots for me to learn and i have been bending the ears of all of those contact i have access to and potential suppliers. I have come to the conclusion that i don't need to develop long term relationships with suppliers as i am only doing this once, being shrewd and asking for discounts and pushing the boundaries of the pricing and terms offered is essential in controlling the budget, whilst that doesn't stop you being honest with suppliers and getting on with them, the project comes first. If your in the same position as us, please don't accept the first price you get offered on anything.

so my schedule for the coming weeks:-

• This weekend - Boarding first floor
• Next Weekend - Kingspan ground floor (preparing for UFH installers
• Then - Ground floor Stud work.

So how did the boarding go? take a look:-

The biggest thing that i missed was that i needed to factor in the time to get prepared. When I arrived, all of the tresseling and temporary boards needed moving somewhere before i could start, then i needed to get 90+ pieces of 22mm chipboard up onto the joists and then i had to put everything back on top when i had finished, I think there was about 5 or 6 hours this weekend on moving things never mind doing the flooring.

Things i have learnt.

1) we went for 22mm flooring, rather than the 18mm, there is a small price differential but there is a lot less movement in the boards, hopefully meaning a more stable floor overall. I think the increase in quality is well worth the small amount of extra cost (about 40p per board).

2) always send the boards the opposite way if you are flooring a different section of the house, this way you can use the offcuts on the other side, I made this mistake and nearly ran out of boards, this makes total sense to everyone, if only i had thought about it!!

Anyway I'm pleased with my first efforts, there is room for improvement when we do the 2nd floor but a good job has been done and only a few achy muscles as collateral damage!

Back to work tomorrow, so ill keep you informed of progress this week.

Neil

Self Build Diary - Day 101 - Upstairs

Well its been a week and its been a busy one!

Things have pushed on on site and we now have the beginnings of an upstairs!

Last Friday i got into training, i helped out on site moving blocks upstairs with the builders and labourers, my body hurt in places that i didnt know existed before! however it will soon be time for me to get my hands dirty on most weekends, so ill have to get used to it!

Otherwise this week Ive been busy pricing up things like floorboards, stud walling, plaster board and other first fix work, if nothing else i have planned well as i stare at 2 weekends before it all gets going for my bit.

As you can see the 1st floor is taking shape and the joists are becoming fixed, preparing for me to attack them with a nail gun and a great deal of good hope!

Looking at the schedule everything seems on track, maybe a couple of days behind but nothing that cant be recovered. as the next few weeks kick in there will be other activity from other contractors and of course my work too, that's when we start to get more possibility of time issues, but fingers crossed that the planning and preparation we have done with the other contractors pays off!

Time for bed!

Neil

Tent Counter

Working Days Tented - 24

Days Saved - 6

Self Build Diary - Day 93 - Joists

Its amazing how the installation of joists makes the property feel like it has rooms, after my 1 day touch line ban I headed to site armed with a camera for your entertainment.

Also the stone work on the property roars up to meet the joists.

Some more decisions for Mrs G and I to make today, well decisions for Mrs G to make and for me to agree with. we need to decide on what type of Wood Burner we would like and also look at some floor coverings, however we may have to wait for the weekend and a trip to various departments of various large stores designed for home improvements and floor coverings.

So a quiet day today but we hope for more  quiet days before big decisions have to be made and hard work put in.

In the meantime we will watch the stonework and block work shoot up and keep planning!

Neil



Tent Counter


Working days Tented - 18


Days Saved - 5.5 (today was depressingly bright and sunshiny)

A Self Build Day - day 92 - banned from site....

Today I was banned from site due to the builders installing the joists! The last thing they needed was me getting under their feet whilst they swing and balance joists into place, so I bring you photos from the weekend.......

The walls have shot up and we can start to see the how different rooms will pan out.

The sawn stone for the windows is now giving us a sense of how the property will look from the outside.

This is an unknown downside to the tent is that we can't take a step back and look at things in perspective.

So today we have been looking at some of the details of some of the finishes that we want, ow we want the fireplace to be, what flooring we require!

We need to be super organised so that we can be on top of these million decisions that we need to make and what we have decided!!!

Things like - should we use 18mm chipboard flooring or 22mm. What is 4mm between friends!!??

Early night tonight, all these sleepless nights are not good for house building.

Neil

The Self Build Diary Day 91 - Back to the grind

Well paternity leave is now over and I must get back to it! Things have been progressing nicely on site and I haven't had to be too proactive whilst at home enjoying our new addition to the family.

From here on in though things get busy!

Abode, our building contractors, are on a fixed price contract, with a fixed schedule. They will build the shell of the house and the roof and leave me with bare joists and no windows or doors. I could in theory just turn up on site the day they finish and start on the first and second fix but we need to be in the house ASAP and we also have the fabulous tent which allows us to do first fix work before the roof goes on.

We are now at first floor level with the walls and this week will see the joists go on for the first floor. Over the course of the next couple of weeks the stone work will continue up and starting Easter weekend, when the builders are at mid way through the first floor walls, I will be starting my tight schedule of weekend/evening work to get us to the point where we can take the most squeezed critical path (on paper).

Bearing in mind I haven't done half of these jobs before (not all things will be attempted by my own fair hand as I frankly want a better finish than that could acheive) I will be learning as I go and letting u know where it all goes wrong!!!

So I have to start compiling materials lists, getting quotes on materials and am learning the processes of how to do things!

My jobs are:-

- board the joists to the first floor - prepare insulation to ground floor and readying for Ufh and screed. - stud walling ground floor

The list is a lot longer than this but, one step at a time!!

I would also like to share with you That this blog was listed at number 2 in the top ten home and property blogs In the Telegraph last week, quite proud! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/9116032/Top-10-home-and-property-blogs.html

Will be back tomorrow with a photo special and a material of choice to explain/learn about!

Neil

TENT COUNTER

Working days tented - 16

Days saved - 5.5

a Self build Diary - day 82 - update

Well just an update reallY.

As you will notice from my relative silence, I have been busy elsewhere, Mrs G gave birth o a baby boy on monday, so this week has been spent at home and keeping a remote eye on site.

Everyone is doing very well and I now have more determination to b.ring this build in on th budget and timescale expectations.

The builders have been cracking on and we are reaching 1st floor height with the locks and the stonework is flying p behind it. The sawn stone for the window and door jarms is looking good, and the first floor joists arrived today!

It's literally been a very busy week!

I will be back on Monday for a photo special, but for now I will go and spend some time with the family.

Tent counter

Working Days tented - 11

Days saved - 4.5