The Self Build Diary - Day 200 - Rain, Rain Go away!

So the weather in the first week of July has been dreadful!!

rain nearly everyday this week would have caused some delays each day, and the deluge that we had on Friday causing flood alerts all around the area, would have washed away meters of hard work on the pointing.

Thank heavens for the tent which still continues to save us time from weather, next week it starts to come down and we will be fully glazed and secure!

This week was all about the kitchen. The fitters came in and started to fit the kitchen, most of it is done now, and we are awaiting the stone to be cut for the work tops. I put a CAD drawing on of our kitchen back at the beginning of the blog and it looks uncanny!

A couple more rooms have been plastered and we should be through the most of the plastering by the end of this week.

I spent the weekend cutting out the electrical boxes in the plaster work. a really easy but time consuming job, a great way of getting involved and saving a few pounds in electricians labour costs. I also painted the kitchen/family room which is the largest room in the house, it took all day Sunday but it has made the whole project feel closer now!

All that needs to be done to complete that room is flooring, glazing, second fix joinery (Architraves and Skirts) and some interior doors hung, which makes it feel like we are getting somewhere!

So a busy weekend, This week is about plastering, glazing and getting secure so that the tent can come down and we can finally see our house the week after!

Neil

Days tented - 127


Number of Days saved to weather - 78

No of days done ahead of untented schedule - 62

The Self Build Diary - Day 192 - The Business End!

Well another big catch up, in this post I promise not to make any rash promises to update the blog more regularly, it has been so busy, finding the time for everything has been difficult! Here is whats gone on since our last post.

The roof was finished and the chimneys installed.

The chimneys are Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) and weigh less than 30kg each, they come to site as you see them in the picture and are fixed in place to the masonary, the leadwork that Abode (Our Builders) have done is fabulous and you really cant tell the difference, even at this height, between the real stone and the GRP.

We chose to use GRP very early on in the build, the chimneys on the main house section are dummy stacks and the plans originally had chimney breasts in the house to support them, which seemed like a huge waste of space in the rooms below. We started looking at the options to remove the chimney breasts that supported the chimneys, whilst retaining the the chimney stacks for the planning pwermission. we had three options. we could build the chimneys out in the loft on supports and have them made of the same masonary as the rest of the house, we could have a lightweight chimne similar to the GRPs with thin slips of the stone facings to match the rest of the masonary or the GRPs. We opted for the GRPs as the cost including the man hours to install them came out well under the other options. We also havent had much opportunity to use modern cutting edge techniques on a relatively traditional house design.

So the whole of the house is built and the builders are on with pointing. The tent is performing fabulously in this "changeable" weather! the only downside is that we havent seen the house yet as its still covered up! We thought the tent would be once the roof is on and the windows in, but we have kept it on until the pointing is done.

We are using a raised square pointing which is quite a local style of pointing, originally used to provide protection against the elements when period stone buildings were using inferior stone. Its not required but it looks great and sets off the fabulous brickwork and the yards of sawn stone detailing we have.

So onto inside and my amature project management skills!

The manufacture of our windows has been a bit of a pain as the manufacturer didnt deliver them in the 3-4 weeks that he said it would take, no9te to would be self builders, ask for and set a deadline, to be fair i should have ordered them earlier but its the first time ive done this and im not going to be too hard on myself! We got the first batch delivered last weekend and another batch on thursday, most importantly we got the kitchen windows which we were desperate for as we didnt want to miss our kitchen fitting slot (more on the kitchen in a minute.

Twelve windows went in last week, including the kitchen, and to be honest they look great, they were well worth the wait. They are robust, detailed and are exactly how we imagined they would be!

So the windows went into the kitchen in the nick of time, the kitchen gets delivered on Monday, fitting starts tuesday! so the plasterers rushed to get the kitchen skimmed ahead of boading out some of the other rooms. The kitchen looks spot on now its plastered.

What amazes me is that the more materials you put in a room the bigger it feels! So the plaster will dry out this weekend, and ill seal the room off with polythene tomorrow and pop a dehumidifier in whilst the kitchen is being fitted, just to ensure that excess moisture doesnt damage the kitchen units.

Elsewhere, the underfloor heating on the upperfloors has been installed, it sits above the floorboards in a "siccus" system which is basically strong polystyrene with chanells cut out for the elements and pipework, its a great way on installing a wet UFH system on a wooden joist floor construction. We then boarded over the UFH membranes with 18mm chipboard floating floor, you can buy a concrete composite screedboard, but it is hugely expensive and im told the efficacy of the screedboard isnt worth the 700% price increase on 18mm chipboard.

Jobs for this weekend include putting some woodstain on the window frames finishing quite a few unfinished jobs and my weekley site tidy! Its amazing how much time i have spent tidying this house, if you ask Mrs G its not something im used to doing at home!

Next week the kitchen fitting starts, the plasterboarding continues, ready for the plastering gang to skim the house the week after, more windows will go in and the oak frame for between the kitchen/family lounge and the hall gets installed.

its all go! are we still on target for my overly ambious end of July moving in date???? possibly but we may well just take our time and creep into August, we havent given notice on our rental property yet and i think the most diligent thing to do would be to wait until we have got the plastering done, the eletrical and plumbing second fix is on its way and we have some stairs and glass before we do that, that will give us the first two weeks of august to make sure we are comfortable when we move in rather than have things going on around us? will i be upset if we dont move in in July, my arrogance says yes but actually if we only end up 2 weeks over my ridiculously ambitious deadline set before we even got out of the ground,  i think wcan consider that a result, however we still have a lot to cram into the next 4 to 6 weeks so lots can still go wrong.

The tent is the most valuable asset we have invested in so far.... tent count below

Days tented - 119

This is the number days that the tent has been up and there has been work planned on site

Number of Days saved to weather - 70
The number of days that work would have been called off or that work wouldn't have even started due to rain snow or temperature
No of days done ahead of untented schedule - 54

The number of days in which work has been completed on the site that wouldn't have been worked until the building had a roof on or windows in, this is number of days per trade and doesnt represent man days, if the plumbers have had 3 guys in for a week i have counted this as 5 days, essentially we would add this number of days to the end of the build in a conventional schedule , although we have the roof on the house, until there are windows and doors some things (Not all) wouldnt be able to be completed.

The Self Build Diary - Day 174 - One Big Catch Up!

Well its been a fortnight since my last post. The family and I have had a weeks holiday which was a really nice break from site and to spend some catch up time with the family! its been almost 10 weeks of weekends on site and work in the week, and some family time before we head into the busy final stages of the build was just what the doctor ordered.

So a week away and a return to site just in time for an extended Jubilee weekend to catch up on bits and bobs.

The house has changed so much in the last fortnight. Most of the stud walls have plasterboard on and those that do not have insulation packed in, so you really get a feel for all of the rooms.

All of the door casings are in place and first fix electrics and plumbing are all in place and complete throughout. The builders are cracking on with the shell and have already put a massive dint in slating the roof.

This is the best photo i could manage in the confines of the tent roof! So whats happening in the next few weeks.

The underfloor heating is being installed on the upper floors and this weekend ill be boarding over the underfloor heating to protect it from damage and to provide us with our completed floor structure for the upper floors.

Next week the plasterers return to complete the boarding and start with the dot and dab boarding on the masonry walls. Hopefully we will see some windows for the ground floor and they can be installed so that the plasterers can at least skim the kitchen, ready for the kitchen fitters in a couple of weeks or so.

Anyway this was always a quick catch up and ill be back In a couple of days to give you some updates on problems and decisions and other bits in more detail!

Tent counter is truly brilliant reading though! we would be looking at doubling our build time without the tent as things stand! God bless the tent!

Days tented - 101

This is the number days that the tent has been up and there has been work planned on site

Number of Days saved to weather - 56

The number of days that work would have been called off or that work wouldn't have even started due to rain snow or temperature

No of days done ahead of untented schedule - 46

The number of days in which work has been completed on the site that wouldn't have been worked until the building had a roof on or windows in, this is number of days per trade and doesnt represent man days, if the plumbers have had 3 guys in for a week i have counted this as 5 days, essentially we would add this number of days to the end of the build in a conventional schedule.

Neil

The Self Build Diary - Day 159 - Spinning Plates

Well the roof trusses went on on Tuesday on the main part of the house and i had a truly busy weekend preparing for various trades and keeping plates spinning.

I have stud worked the 2nd floor, Concreted a recess left in the flooring for the hearth and fireplace, Insulated some of the ceiling, had a good old fashioned tidy up and completed the media cabling through to the new stud walls.

So its just the gables for the builders to do now and all the stonework will be completed, the builders are now out of the house and the trusses should be felted by the end of next week.

the top floor last week, before i partitioned it off, it is remarkable that the more materials you put into a house the bigger it feels!

So we had the plasterers start to put some plaster work up on the areas of the ground floor which have been fully first fixed:-

And its a great example of pile the materials in and the room feels bigger!

The plumber and electrician are back on Thursday to complete the first fix throughout the house and then the plaster can crack on an fix plasterboard wherever he pleases, within reason!

On Saturday Dan and Adrian from www.vacpoint.com came and fitted the first fix for a built in vacuum system. This was something that we saw at the Home building and renovation show in Harrogate last year and we thought it sounded like a good but over budget indulgence. Anyway we looked at it and the first fix of a system like this is remarkably inexpensive! The guys were in and out in a day and they fitted the full first fix. We can then do the second fix in the future whenever we decide to or whenever we can afford. but the system is there and ready to use and will be a great selling point if we ever decide to go down that route in the future! As someone commented today "I don't know why they don't put the ducting in all new houses! 

Ill update you before the end of the week and then I'm going to have a well deserved week off!

Neil

The Self Build Diary - Day 153 - Stand by for a roof

Tomorrow will be a truly momentous day, and i thought i should drop a short blog post to let you know.

It was confirmed today that the provisional booking for a crane to pull the trusses into place for the roof has been confirmed and by the end of tomorrow we will have a roof structure!

Ill be back to you on Wednesday with some photos of the trusses in action!

This weekend I spent the weekend cabling the house with miles of Cat 5e and Coaxial cable that we may or may not ever use! each bedroom and reception room has been wired to a central point for 2 audio and visual and it will then be plastered over and no doubt forgotten about, but in the future if and when we decide to we will be able to use the structured network to fire all kinds of signals around easily and efficiently! I even ran some speaker wires into some of the ceilings in case we get the urge to have structured sound, and i also put wiring into the lounge for a surround sound system.

This might have been a wasted weekend and a waste of a couple of hundred quids worth of cable, but....... it may turn out to be one of the most important things we have done in the future to give us the flexibility of using the house the way that we want to.

This self building lark is tough, not only have you got to make a million decisions regarding how you want the house to be when you move in but you really have to think how you want it to work in the future too, that's tough!

so the trusses should be in on Tuesday, fixed on Wednesday and the builders will crack on with one of the gables for the rest of the week. This weekend i have a lot of jobs to do, most importantly the stud work on the 2nd floor.

The chaps at http://www.vacpoint.com/ will be coming on Saturday to install the first fix for a central vacuum system, its not something that we can afford at this point but if we get the first fix in, for the relatively low cost of the first fix, we have the option of doing the rest in the future when the cash flow returns. These systems are great, they will become more and more common in the future and are extremely convenient and great for those with allergies, its one of the few things that Mrs G has had her heart set on.

Last week was very busy on site, plumbers and electricians as well as the builders but we got 2 weeks of work done last week that we couldn't have done without the tent until the roof went on. see the updated tent counter

Off to bed now.

Neil


Tent counter

Working days tented -  79

No of days saved to weather - 45

No of days done ahead of untented schedule - 25

The Self Build Diary - Day 146 - Floor Boards and Stud Work

Firstly I'm not sure putting stud work in the title of this blog was a good idea, may i just point out to confused readers who have stumbled over this blog off a google link that stud work refers to dry lining partition walls. if that floats your boat please read on...

Well since the last blog post, things have continued at their ever rapid pace!

The builders  (Abode - http://www.abodebuilders.co.uk/) have brought the extension up to the corbels and kneelers, i didn't know either, but it is the sawn stone detail at the roof line. The main house is up to sill height in stone and the window recesses are in in block work. They have a busy week ahead to get the walls to roof line and enable the trusses to be craned in next Tuesday.

In the meantime Ive been busy messing around, after all this is a self build! Last weekend i boarded out the second floor with the help of my Dad, 100sq M and we turned this:

into this:

Please don't underestimate the sheer amount of time we spent just moving things around!

He then returned to assist me with stud work to the 1st floor, all 35 linear metres and we had very few hold ups. The builders merchant that we use mostly (James Burrell - In Ossett) recommended the speedline stud walling rather than using timber framed walling. the galvanised steel stud is easier to assemble and fit, its straighter and i think cheaper than a like for like wood alternative.

This the back of the first floor and splits it into 5 rooms, a bedroom, a dressing room, two bathrooms and a line/boiler cupboard.

So another full weekend on site, all day Saturday and Sunday, i was very pleased to receive a visit from a helper late on Sunday who wanted to inspect the size of her new bedroom.

This is my daughter Chloe, who insisted that she be bought a hard hat an goggle set so she can go and help daddy at the new house!

I thoroughly enjoyed a day off with the family today on the bank holiday! Electrician and plumber in this week first fix on the ground and first floors.

Neil

The Self Build Diary - Day 134 - A different house!

Well Ive started to call it a house, not a site........ the place has changed so much in the space of 9 days! last time i updated you i had finished Insulating the ground floor ready for the underfloor heating guys to come in. last Monday they came in and installed all the pipe work for the system on the ground floor.

The manifolds will terminate neatly under the stairs, when there are in fact stairs!

The sea of pipes was quite a sight to behold! we have left gaps for some of the architectural fixings like the kitchen island the stairs, toilets. At this point i thought it would be prudent to photograph exactly where all the pipes are so that i cannot have the excuse in the future that i didn't know, when drilling or moving things. This proved one of the most useful exercises when i came to install the stud walls on the ground floor this weekend.

I realised last week that i hadn't introduced the team of builders from Abode, our building contractors. Left to right we have Speedy Tom, French Kenny and Clever Luke. these guys are on site all of the time at the moment with cameos from their colleagues and other trades, they are very tolerant of my inexperience and are very helpful and supportive of my weekend efforts!

Tuesday last week saw the screed team come on site and screed the ground floor, this made a huge difference, it set the ground floor at its proper height and really finished it off from an aesthetic level:-

The finish looks great, it is a fast curing compound which meant that it takes 2 days to dry enough for foot traffic and is fully cured and ready to take a floor finish in 7 days! we didn't need this speed but the curing times of a normal 65mm screed could be up to 2/3 months based on the atmosphere, so for the small extra cost we opted for the fast drying option.

So last weekend, it was my first attempt at stud partition walls! using Speed line galvanised steel studs, i aimed to get the ground floor studded last weekend and i made it!

We are using double skinned walls, which will be plaster boarded on either side, there will be mineral wool through the middle and this will drastically reduce sound transfer between rooms. It will also create stronger thermal properties as there will be two independent unconnected walls.

This section was the most complicated, here we have what will be the office and on the right a cloakroom and media hub.

its been a busy week on site too! the guys have brought the block work up to form the second floor and by the end of the week most of the blocks will be up to head height of the windows, allowing me to board the second floor on the weekend..

The summit of the tent is being reached and the trusses are on order! talking of the tent, i have made some big underestimates with the tent calculator. Last post showed 45 days tented and 14 saved. the actual number of days tented was 50 and according to the site diary, which the builders keep the actual number of days was 29, due to a mixture of temperature and conditions. this last 2 weeks, the tent has been justified, we wouldn't have got anything done in the last 2 weeks due to the rain so i take great pleasure in correcting and updating the tent calculator as follows:-

No of working days tented (this includes weekends I'm down there too) - 59

No of days saved to weather - 38

No of days done ahead of untended schedule - 7

Chipboad floor onto the top floor this weekend! ill let you know how we get on!

Neil

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

A Self Build Diary - Day 73 - Walls = Progress

Well ive been back down to site today and there are walls sprouting from the ground at a great speed now! and the completed tent now stands fully water proof and today it rained all day!:-

so the tent did its job today and where a day would have been lost to the rain was saved!

The builders are really cracking on with the block and stone work,

I even ventured on to the scaffolding for your photographic pleasure!

so some real progress over the last few days and without the worry of scaffolders finishing their work i can take a small step back and prepare of the onset of tiny feet pattering!

TENT counter
Days Tented - 3
Days saved - 1

Neil

The Self Build Diary - Day 72 - Complete scaffolding and a Photo special

So its been a busy week on site! However Mrs G seems determined not to have a baby so as we sail into a week overdue, i breath a sigh of relief as the project management side can be put on the back burner as we only have builders on site for the next few weeks. Last week saw continued failed promises from the scaffolders led us to giving them an ultimatum on Saturday, we told them to have it done by the end of yesterday or not to come back. By the end of yesterday it was complete and we are now watertight on site.

I am introducing the tent days accumulator from now.......this will be a counter for the number of days that would have been lost if we hadn't had the tent it will be plain for all to see at the end of the project whether the financial investment in this gigantic tent! (See the bottom of each blog post from here on in.

These photos are from Saturday,  but they give you an idea (The scaffold is fully sheeted in now).

the ridge of the tent sits 13 metres above raft level, too allow for the roof ridge (11 metres) and for clearance between the two to allow for workmen to fit in.

We have been very lucky with the weather last week which has meant the builders haven't been held up by the scaffolders ineptitude to deadlines. Block and stonework is shooting up all around.

The tent is like a cathedral! It makes an absolute racket inside when windy too! it really give us an idea of the scale of the project when stood inside looking up!

The Scaffold now dominates the landscape! but its for the greater good and will ensure that the project is brought home on schedule!

Tent Count 

Number of days tented - 2

Number of days saved - 0

T

 Will be back to regular updates now as the builders will be cracking on so things will change quickly!

Neil

A Self Build Diary - day 65 - my first bit of project managing

So the scaffolders have not let me down, well they have! But I expected them to let me down so I'm not let down. I will attempt to make more sense!

They were meant to be finished on Monday, then they were meant to finish today. Any way they will be back on site tomorrow to finish.........or to let me down further!

Anyway I managed to get the builders on site today to crack on with their bits, so today was a success overall! I would love for the scaffold to be fully sheeted tomorrow as we have been very lucky with the weather!

The builders have been in setting out, which is an almighty task in its self! Mortar is being delivered tomorrow so hopefully we will have some structure down and a tented scaffold by the end of tomorrow!

this scaffolding firm is on site however, so I'll prepare to be disappointed! But there are conversations to be had about totting up the penalties incurred!

If anyone is thinking of getting a scaffolder in the Huddersfield/Halifax area, don't use this firm! I won't name and shame them, incase they come and take it all away!

So apart from the obvious a good day today, I'll get some photos of the scaffolding up tomorrow, it's big!

It's mrs Gs due date today which has whistled past unremarkably, so fingers crossed for some action on that front soon!

Neil @neilgrimshaw

A Self Build Diary - Day 63 - erection issues

well I have been pretty poor about keeping the log daily, a pattern I shall work pretty hard to break.

It has been a hugely busy week, not just on site but with family and work.

For those that don't know mrs g is due to give birth any time, so getting on top of work has been a priority.

On to what's going on on site.

Well my last post on day 52 stated that by the end of this week we would be water tight as the scaffold tent should be completed. Well we have been truly let down by the scaffolder who is not only poor at communicating but seems incapable of accepting responsibility for the actions of his staff and team. The builders hoped to be back on site last Thursday whilst the scaffolders sheeted in, but the structure wasn't ready and the roof wasn't in place.

After some strong conversations late last week the scaffolders were told that builders WILL be on site on Tuesday morning and any down time for them will result in penalties for the scaffolders. We agreed a two week build schedule and that finished on Friday, we have given them an extra day (as well as this weekend) so lets see whether my strategy works????

If they have had their way they wanted an extra week, which would have pushed our already very tight schedule back. The builders have been magnificent, juggling things around to fit around the delay which hopefully means we will recover the time quickly.

At this point early on, I have learnt to ensure that you fix time plans with contractors and decide on the consequences of them being broken before they start. It's difficult sometimes to make sure that they have no reason to drop you for someone else even if it is for "just a day".

So we will hopefully see the base of the walls starting to form from Tuesday onwards, either that or the scaffolder will be into some serious penalties!

So for now this is your update for day 63, I promise to be back tomorrow, unless I'm in a labour ward!

Neil

The Self Build Diary - Day 52 - The rising from the ground

So scaffolding has continued at pace, erecting the Tent that some of you helped me deliberate earlier on in this blog!

The structure should be finished by the end of this week and then the roof going on Monday/Tuesday, followed by sheeting in to make us totally weather tight!

One of the difficulties we have been fighting is the mud you can see on the road in front of the build, although the site is now hardcored and we have finished all the excavations, the residual mud lingers on, a road sweeper came in today to see if it could shift it but this wasn't budgeted for. In fact i didn't even think of cleaning up costs when preparing my budget. Its worth thinking about if you are still n the planning stage. Although it was less than £100 these costs soon add up and having them built in from the start, prevent you using scarce resources on things you haven't planned for. That's my "learn from my mistakes" bit done for today!

The electrician will be on site tomorrow to connect up the site cabin for light and power, thus installing any good self builders most important tool........a kettle!

Subject to us having no weather delays, the builders will be back on site next Thursday to start knocking up some walls and then we will be weather proof. I'm going to keep a tally on each blog about the days in which the tent would have made no difference and the days in which the tent has allowed us to work when we wouldn't have been able too.

At the end we can all pat me on the back for making a good decision or laugh out load at the fact i blew a load of money on a tent..... only time will tell!

Neil

The self build diary day 49 - a busy Site

Well it's been a few days since I have been down to site and on Saturday I received my list of things to do which included putting some locks on the Porta cabin.

On my arrival to site all I could see we're pallets of blocks and stone, which is obviously brilliant news.

The site is almost level and the rear is almost hardcored over and finished so that we can use it to store materials and access the site from the rear.

The Porta cabin is secure and just needs to be connected to the electricity.

And........... We finally have electricity!!!!!!!!!!! The lovely people at n-power came and installed our meter on Friday! Finally we have a serviced plot!

So for this week, it should be scaffolding that is the order of the week, although something tells me that we may have a few issues here??? Poor communication from the scaffolder could mean a re jig of the schedule. Watch this space!!!

I'll update tomorrow.

Neil

The Self Build Diary - Day 45

The drains are coming on strong and the front of the site is looking neat and tidy at last!

The Site cabin arrived today, which looks goods, I have a bit of work to do on it over the next few weeks but it will do nicely for making a brew in and keeping bits and bobs locked up.

Tomorrow the scaffolders arrive on site and start their work and the drains near completion.

So things tick over nicely to schedule, but nothing much to report tonight.

Ill catch up with scaffolding progress tomorrow.

Neil
@neilgrimshaw

The self build diary - day 44 - Lights camera.....

Well the weather today wasn't great! The drainage has made a small amount of progress and the front of the site has been hardcored. Site cabin arrives tomorrow and hopefully some more progress with the drains at the rear. And our first stint on selfbuilder.tv went online and on sky 231 tonight at 9pm, back on next Tuesday at the same time. It's nice to see the project in motion and will be great for us to look back on in the next few years. Http://selfbuild.tv Back tomorrow with some more photos of site. Neil @neilgrimshaw

The Self Build Diary - Day 43 - The Slab

well it has been a busy 6 days, and my daily blogging has been more than slack, but it truly has been a busy 6 days.

The builders on site finished the packing of the raft design and prepared the site for an early morning concrete pour on Saturday morning, the pump was on site for 7 and the first concrete waggon arrived at 7.15.....am.

It was Dark.....very Dark

The builders and concrete contractors sparkled in their high visibility wear as we started to pump the concrete into the slab and really get a feeling for the size of the footprint, after all this is the floor to the ground floor of the house, obviously without any insulation on it and the underfloor heating and the floor covering.

As the sun rose (well it got lighter, this is Huddersfield and sun is rare) the raft foundation neared completion. The structural Engineer specified the concrete mix required, but we had some issues between loads regarding the fluidity of the mix, which needed consistency, we needed to make sure that the concrete could flow successfully through the steel. As it flowed it was levelled and compacted and really started to take shape.

The temptation to do a hand print became all too much at one stage, but i managed to restrain myself!

so the weekend was used to let the raft set.

This week the builders have set about preparing the rest of the site, Drains going in and then the site compacted and hardcored so we can get about easily and cleanly and store materials on site easily. the scaffolders will be in at the end of the week and Will be setting about constructing our tent.

So its all change very quickly, i will keep you posted and my blogging will return to its usual diligence.

Neil
@neilgrimshaw

The Self Build Diary - Day 37 - Today is Hardcore

So today saw continuance of the filling of the ring beams of the foundations. I was asked yesterday why we had chosen the foundation method that we had; well the area is in a coal area and is a brownfield development site.

We sought the opinions of structural engineers and after doing some ground investigations via trial holes we looked for advice. we received a few different suggestions.

This is where having those people around you that I have previosly discussed is all important. To have the skill and knowledge and experience at your disposal of a builder, architect and other professionals that you trust and understand the project is invaluable. A structural engineer is no different, they must be on board with what you want to acheive, but at the same time deliver what is required with the balance between cost, timescales and most importantly the efficacy that is required, as no one wants their dream home dissapearing back into the ground in 10 years!

Our structural engineer (Marsh Design, Huddersfield) did just that, he saw what was required and designed it, nothing more. Another scheme discussed with another structural would have meant us having a straight forward 600mm slab of concrete full of steel to secure a private dwelling house; two other opinions saw this as excessive and unrealistic for a project of this nature.

Our design uses a 400mm ring beam and a 200mm slab on top, less concrete, less steel, more opportunity to lose spoil in the site rather than paying for it to be removed, and overall about ten thousand pounds less than a 600mm slab. this demonstrates that different individuals will give you different solutions, not all will base it on the projects objectives too.

Without the guidance of an architect and builder i trust, we could have just taken the advice of someone not in tune with the project and that would have put a massive hole in our budget.

This is the ring beam with the interior shuttering removed, the steel work is exposed at the top to tie it into the main slab when we pour it this week (temperature depending).

Here you can see how the builders pack the inside of the beam with spoil and then 100mm of hardcore to the level of the inside of the beam, then will pour the slab up to the level of the outer shuttering, once the steel mesh reinforcement has been constructed between the beams and over the hardcore.

So on course for a concrete pour this week, drains dug and a level site ready for scaffolders on Monday......fingers crossed. Neil

Self Build Diary - Day 36 - Site levelling

The progress over the last few days on site has been really encouraging!

The raft beams on Friday actually are part of the building, and today the spoil at the back is being used to fill in between the beams, become compacted and then 4 inches of hardcore level off the inside to beam level.

this should take today and tomorrow and maybe Wednesday morning, and hopefully we can find an appropriate window of opportunity on Wednesday afternoon to pour the slab, the only problem we may face is the temperature dropping t the current levels, we really need it to be 4 degrees or more to ensure that the concrete sets properly.

frost today, frost Tuesday but hopefully a tropical (in Huddersfield standards Wednesday afternoon, will nudge us a step closer to being weather proof!

Ill post some photos of the works tomorrow, its amazing to see the site levelling and us getting a real perspective of the size of the site and the garden.

The Self Build Diary - Day 33 - Concrete!!

Firstly my apologies for 2 days absence but there hasn't been huge news from site!

Everything has gone to schedule this week, the steel work was finished on Wednesday, shuttering completed yesterday.

But today, we have made the first permanent part of our home on site. We arrived this morning to a concrete pump and two waggons full of concrete.

Filling the raft beams full of concrete is stage one of our raft:-

a close up of the beams:-

So that will get the opportunity to set over the next couple of days, which will mean on Monday, the builders can fill the middle of the beams with spoil from the site and 60T of hardcore to level to the beams. and then subject to weather we can pour the main slab on top, which will hopefully be done on Wednesday or Thursday next week.

Today feels like a massive step forward, although in real terms its not actually a big job, it makes all a bit psychological difference to us to see actual structure forming!

so a trelaxing weekend, which may or may not include looking at some flooring or bathrooms, we havent decided yet!

have a nice weekend, Neil