No, not the illness, but a sustainable wood roofing material.
We're having to do some 'value engineering' to trim the project budget. The global economic downturn is having an impact on our finances (and has even resulted in our builder getting rid of some of his employees due to lack of other work) and we're seeing what we can do to trim costs. Instead of using an aluzinc standing seam roof for the kitchen/diner we've come up with a possible alternative. Aluzinc would be comtemporary and ultimately recyclable but is not cheap. An alternative that we've tracked down, which will suit the very low pitch roof (15 degrees), are red cedar shingles. These are much like conventional flat roof tiles except that they are slices of timber, and as a renewable material they are very sustainable.
Their eco credentials, combined with being contemporary in their own way and cheaper than aluzinc, may mean we opt for them instead. We just need the builder to confirm that his roofer can install them for less than an aluzinc roof, then we'll go ahead with the change.
Sunday, 30 November 2008
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Tar
Finally had some time to think about the stove tar problem yesterday evening. Since the builders installed the joists at the end of last week, we've had a problem with tar running down the outside of the stove flue after it has been lit for several hours. After they cut the holes for the joists, but before they'd installed them, I'd looked in the holes and checked that the stove flue wasn't damaged. So I was fairly confident that wasn't part of the problem.
When the stove was installed they also put in a liner plate, blocking the chimney off at low level. So my thought was maybe the debris that the builders have knocked out has fallen down the chimney, complete with solid lumps of tar from the chimney lining, and these are in contact with the flue and after a couple of hours of stove use get hot enough to liquify. So decided to lift the lining plate to see - only to find it welded in place. Nothing in my toolbox could break the weld, so has to rely on the builder and his grinder to help, which he did this afternoon.
Sure enough, along with a load of brick dust there seems to have been a lump of old tar sitting on the lining plate and touching the flue which was melting and dribbling down the flue. Thankfully that has all been cleared out and after a whole evening of burning the stove is back to normal. Just in time for visitors for dinner tomorrow evening, just hope they don't mind eating out on a building site!
When the stove was installed they also put in a liner plate, blocking the chimney off at low level. So my thought was maybe the debris that the builders have knocked out has fallen down the chimney, complete with solid lumps of tar from the chimney lining, and these are in contact with the flue and after a couple of hours of stove use get hot enough to liquify. So decided to lift the lining plate to see - only to find it welded in place. Nothing in my toolbox could break the weld, so has to rely on the builder and his grinder to help, which he did this afternoon.
Sure enough, along with a load of brick dust there seems to have been a lump of old tar sitting on the lining plate and touching the flue which was melting and dribbling down the flue. Thankfully that has all been cleared out and after a whole evening of burning the stove is back to normal. Just in time for visitors for dinner tomorrow evening, just hope they don't mind eating out on a building site!
Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Joists
Last week saw rapid progress with the garage part of the extension. The inner skin of blockwork has shot up and as of yesterday we have joists at first floor level! So it's starting to look like a building rather than yet more retaining walls. The thermalite blocks have also turned up (for the bedroom walls) so it's good to be using blockwork with a high recycled content at last.
Meanwhile we seem to have a problem with the woodburning stove, which is proving to be a pain in the cold weather. Not sure if this is something caused by building rubble falling down the chinmey when they cut-in to the cottage to fix the joists - but we've had dark brown tar run down the outside of the flue onto the woodburner the last two nights once it's got very hot. Not very pleasant and rather smelly! Hopefully it'll be solved easily but we need to get in touch with the guy who installed it last year to find out how to remove the chimney lining plate. Just another job to do.....
Meanwhile we seem to have a problem with the woodburning stove, which is proving to be a pain in the cold weather. Not sure if this is something caused by building rubble falling down the chinmey when they cut-in to the cottage to fix the joists - but we've had dark brown tar run down the outside of the flue onto the woodburner the last two nights once it's got very hot. Not very pleasant and rather smelly! Hopefully it'll be solved easily but we need to get in touch with the guy who installed it last year to find out how to remove the chimney lining plate. Just another job to do.....
Monday, 17 November 2008
Slabs, timber & drainage
The build has moved on well over the past few weeks, with far more progress than I've had time to capture here of late. Better late than never, here's an update on where we are:
We've ordered the timber frame - hurrah! And we've had the first meeting with Crendon, the supplier, who have gone off to design the frame with a plan to have it onsite late December. Due to the size of the structural openings we require for the sliding/folding doors and general open-plan layout I think they've got a challenge on their hands! Hopefully nothing a glulam beam or two can't solve.
The slabs for the kitchen/diner and utility are poured so we can now get a sense of the size of both those spaces. They've not been able to pour the slab for the garage thanks to a few drainage problems - not least that the existing foul drain (that we're still using) passes through the garage. This means the garage will be built and the slab cast last, once we've moved out and they can disconnect the WC.
After a very dry early autumn rain has finally arrived en-masse, resulting in a stream coursing through the 'garage', and washing mortar from between blockwork while Paul has been trying to lay it. This has slowed progress, understandably and highlighted the fact that they need to get the drainage right. Something that we are all too well aware of! Site is therefore extremely muddy and the guys are now laying drainage pipes and loads of gravel to give a reasonably decent work surface.
We've ordered the timber frame - hurrah! And we've had the first meeting with Crendon, the supplier, who have gone off to design the frame with a plan to have it onsite late December. Due to the size of the structural openings we require for the sliding/folding doors and general open-plan layout I think they've got a challenge on their hands! Hopefully nothing a glulam beam or two can't solve.
The slabs for the kitchen/diner and utility are poured so we can now get a sense of the size of both those spaces. They've not been able to pour the slab for the garage thanks to a few drainage problems - not least that the existing foul drain (that we're still using) passes through the garage. This means the garage will be built and the slab cast last, once we've moved out and they can disconnect the WC.
After a very dry early autumn rain has finally arrived en-masse, resulting in a stream coursing through the 'garage', and washing mortar from between blockwork while Paul has been trying to lay it. This has slowed progress, understandably and highlighted the fact that they need to get the drainage right. Something that we are all too well aware of! Site is therefore extremely muddy and the guys are now laying drainage pipes and loads of gravel to give a reasonably decent work surface.
Sunday, 2 November 2008
Dumped
We've been thinking about putting a gate on the entrance to the orchard/plot/land (name to be agreed) recently but haven't got around to doing it yet. Plus gates don't appear to be cheap things to buy. Today's discovery may speed this up.
Got back home today to find somebody had left their X reg Nissan Silvia in the gateway to the 'orchard'. Not an obvious place to leave a car if it had broken down en route somewhere so we assumed that wasn't the case, and that it was most likely it'd been dumped there last night. The fact it was left unlocked reinforced this.
Thought this would mean us paying for somebody elses wreck to be disposed of. Just incase we phoned the local police to see if it was stolen etc, but they couldn't find the registration on their records. I pointed out that the tax disc was dated 2001! Much to our suprise the police told us they'd send somebody out to look at it soon, and less than 2 hours later (while we were cutting down brambles) they turned up along with a breakdown truck. After taking a note of the chassis number the wreck was dragged onto the truck and taken away! We were amazed, and relieved that it didn't cost us a penny. Maybe it'd been used in some unsolved crime and gave the police the missing lead they needed.....
Whatever the history of the Nissan, we've been impressed by the speed by which the police responded to something we thought they'd not be the slightest bit interested in.
Better get the gate sorted.
Got back home today to find somebody had left their X reg Nissan Silvia in the gateway to the 'orchard'. Not an obvious place to leave a car if it had broken down en route somewhere so we assumed that wasn't the case, and that it was most likely it'd been dumped there last night. The fact it was left unlocked reinforced this.
Thought this would mean us paying for somebody elses wreck to be disposed of. Just incase we phoned the local police to see if it was stolen etc, but they couldn't find the registration on their records. I pointed out that the tax disc was dated 2001! Much to our suprise the police told us they'd send somebody out to look at it soon, and less than 2 hours later (while we were cutting down brambles) they turned up along with a breakdown truck. After taking a note of the chassis number the wreck was dragged onto the truck and taken away! We were amazed, and relieved that it didn't cost us a penny. Maybe it'd been used in some unsolved crime and gave the police the missing lead they needed.....
Whatever the history of the Nissan, we've been impressed by the speed by which the police responded to something we thought they'd not be the slightest bit interested in.
Better get the gate sorted.
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