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| Latest News from site January 2004 onwards |
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| 28 February 2005 | ||
| It’s
been oh so long. Sorry!
What’ bin happenin? Well, quite a lot actually, but still less than should have happened. THE CEILING What a result, it looks marvellous now but grief it has been an anguish-ridden journey. As you know our first effort was unsuccessful. This prompted reflection and certainly a bout of depression. Then the letter arrived from Adrian Thompson, yacht designer and builder, who imparted the idea of vacuum pressing. A very short time later we heard from BAGPRESS saying "we do this, and we are just up the road in Letchworth". Well Darren and Ken (son and father) came to site and looked, looked some more. I could not hear any air being sucked over teeth so reckoned there was a solution to this nightmare. And the solution was:
This still gave us a pressure issue though – how to keep the panel in place evenly and pressurised to get a good adhesion. Well Darren contacted an adhesives supplier who knew me and knew the project well. Having heard all the issues they suggested German yachting glue which has structural characteristics. This enabled us to even out some of the differentials that existed in the stressed ply sections as some of these existing panels appeared to be lower than others at the maximum point of stress. We were almost ready but one final job to do – get the remaining veneer from the previous effort off the ceiling. This was 2 days work in addition to the work already undertaken by Jayson (chippy). Having removed this I then had the tiresome task of rubbing down the entire ceiling to remove the Teknos coating that had been put there by the roof fabricator in line with the build specification. Interestingly, though, one panel had the coating missing. This latter task was a nightmare. I gave up with the power sander. It was not working. I was not getting back to the timber – it just skated over the surface coating. I therefore decided to use a planer on a very shallow setting but first I needed to buy one. I’d already bought the belt sander, which was no good, but the planer was ideal. It still took another 4 days preparation for two people and was utterly exhausting. By the time Ken arrived I had still not finished. Ken and I spent the first day finishing the ceiling and setting up our work area. Darren and Ken had worked out a way to secure the veneer panels to the ceiling. Simple and clever. Pieces of ply with rebates to allow the veneer panels to be pressed flat. We screwed these supports into the shadow gaps that exist in the ceiling structure and sometimes into the adjacent panels. We started by doing all the stressed panels first. We had Dennis (chippy) with us for the first 4 days which was a great help. By the time he left we had a rhythm going and with the odd bit of help from Steve (stone floor man and tiler par excellence) we were rocking. During these days we came across odd challenges but managed to overcome them all. Each of the panels we applied overlapped the existing ceiling shadow gaps – it was to be my job to rout the edges – I cannot say I was looking forward to it. Upside down with a router – hmmm! I have a bit of a record with machinery and a Frequent Flyer Card at my local A&E department in Wycombe – “Oh hi Tom how is the build going?” I once came back with a new Medical Kit which I bought on the way home to be greeted with gales of laughter at site by those who were convinced that A&E had given me this in recognition of my 20th visit. Well gradually we worked towards a finish. We had noticed that where the laminated sheets abutted we were always going to get a slight step one way or another. Ken thought the best thing was to cut a small groove along this joint. We had ensured that this joint was “cock on” so we were confident that the 2mm blade would achieve the job – but using a circular saw upside down was not my idea of fun – so for this job I volunteered Ken. We were using a wonderful German circular saw called a FESTOOL – it came with an aluminium guide rail in which we drilled some holes to secure a fixing for it to the ceiling. It went as sweetly as you can imagine – and the finish job looked good. Ken sorted out the ends abutting the glass by hand – and made a wonderful job of it. Then it was my turn to start with the routing. I had ordered 2 small router bits with a guide wheel. The job was far from easy. At the point where the stressed panels were located slits are cut in the back of the ply in order to make it bend. The wheel caught in these and a number of points it made the blades cut into the newly applied veneer panel. This happened in a few places – could not be helped so it was then a question of finding a solution that would conceal these minor infringements. We did this using advice from a Nickerson Metolux – a timber filler manufacturer I know from old. A mixture of their products resolved the colour issue and the result is marvellous. Their technical help desk was hugely accommodating and event sent me a free tub of the colour I did not have to make up the mix they had arrived at to replicate birch. Now that is service. Once
the new panels had been fixed it was then 3 days of rubbing down
and preparation for the first coat of protection. Each coat took
about a day to apply. In total 3 coats were applied and now you
can see the result in pictures
from site. Lights are being put in all over the place. There are enough of them. All luminaries are low voltage with very few exceptions. Stacks of fluorescent – yuch I hear you say. No not yuch – fantastic and very energy efficient and used to indirectly illuminate – from hidden ceiling and from the floor through opaque glass. Companies I am using include Encapsulite (for Flourescents) Mike Stoane Lighting for specialist downlights and spotlights on gimbals. Mike's company in fact, with Encapsulite, supplies the majority of the internal lighting, then we have other lighting by Louis Poulsen and others. Garden lighting is mostly from a fellow self-builder with a wonderful lighting business – Deltalight. Tony Cutting is the boss of the business and he has some wonderful exterior fittings called Monostep which we intend to use to line the drives – lordy don’t I sound pretentious. All very architectural, take a look at their website under external products. To make many of these things work you need transformers. Roger told me that these can be amazingly unreliable and I should get the best. We also needed some very small units to get into very shallow ceiling space. IBL are THE transformer people. Intram Barwell to give them their full title, manufacture all sorts of goods that go between the power source and the lights to manage and transform power. It all tekkie stuff but they also manufacture a range of lights. They are certainly not the cheapest for transformers but you only ever get what you pay for. Meanwhile there is much on order. The kitchen we have decided upon is by Rational. It will be here shortly. Presently it is speeding its way from the factory I hope – and being German I suspect all the pieces will arrive at the same time – betting please? Meanwhile we need to undertake some enabling works – I have shown you a “before” in the kitchen area – have provided some plans in this copy and will show you the after very shortly I hope. All in all it’s a very complicated bit of work – even David (architect) admits its not easy. Plastering chaps (Progressive) have just been back to sort out a few bits that needed to be completed. Not their fault – it just sometimes happens. We have also been looking for engineered maple flooring – which is significantly more expensive than solid maple floor. On of the reasons is that the make up of the flooring makes it much more stable when faced with underfloor heating. I was looking for a wide plank or a narrow strip, I did not want a middle for diddle size that in the overall meaning of things would say nothing. I found my solution in Tarkett a German company. Wonderful clean white timber with an “invisible” protective coating applied to its surface which is factory applied under ultra violet light. I was convinced there was nothing on the timber and left it in the open for a couple of days and made a point of treading on it whenever I passed, and doing the odd pirouette to see if I could mark it. I brought it back into the caravan and gave it a clean and it was as new. The coating is called Proteco and is exclusive to Tarkett. Being a clear coating it will not stop the maple “warming” in colour as a result of UV which frankly is fine, but the surface protection is superb. And before you ask – there is a non-ultra violet applied version that is available this month for maintenance purposes. The visible timber is 4mm of top grade maple. A veneer if you like. The laminated substrate timber is machined to provide a “clip” fitting between each of the boards. This provides added confidence about the boards being inert. You will never do away with movement completely – I just want it minimised. So
with slate and maple taken care of the only other element of floor
to sort out is the rubber flooring for the utility area. We are
then done. |
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| 27 September 2004 | ||
The marked ceiling remedy scored 1/10 - we tried and failed. Tom Dyckhoff , The Times architectural critic was right when he suggested in his Grand Designs Magazine article I might not get it right. I have put a few pictures on the site so you can see our failure. Blistering for want of a better description. Until very recently we still did not have the answer. Grief - it is depressing when you have no solution to a challenge. Everything tells you one must exist, but the thought of turning over all those stones to discover it does not fill you with enthusiasm. I do a great deal of research on the web and fortunately one or two people visit the Cloud 8 website (54,000 people in the last 12 months). Pleasingly the tale of the challenge relating to the ceiling sounded a chord and I received the following email: " Look, I’m the bloke that designed “Team Phillips” – the great big catamaran that was named by H.M.etc. and then proceeded to snap its bow off. So any advice offered is in good faith.
I do know about sticking things together despite the above. Your
veneer needs applying with a vacuum bag. Don’t panic –
it’s easy. I recommend you use an epoxy resin with a working
time of an hour or so. That’s about normal for a standard
hardener. Wessex resins do one and so do SP Systems. Its boaty stuff
so you will find some at a boat chandlers. Get
a sheet of good quality poly sheet with NO holes in – even
pin pricks. This needs to be about 12” bigger all round than
a sheet of 8 x 4. This is the vacuum bag. You also need another
piece about the same size as the plywood. You need some bleeder
cloth which is a thickish blanket that provides a gallery for the
air to evacuate the bag – same size as ply. You need some
sealing tape which will stick to your surrounding roof. This needs
to make an airtight seal so you may have to prime a narrow strip
of roof adjacent to your vacuum bag. A sticky sealant tape is OK,
but keep in mind that the vacuum bag seal with have to hold up the
whole assembly before you achieve your vacuum. Good quality masking
tape will do. Whilst I was grateful for the suggestion, it all sounded very Barnes Wallace, dodgy bow-tie, unkempt hair, an unblinking stare, and a Morris 1000 traveller. And we are in arable territory, not a milking cow in sight so no chance of a pump! It all sounded impossibly difficult – but then a few weeks later another email arrived from an outfit called Bagpress based conveniently close to me in Letchworth, and here again a similar process was described but in less agricultural terms. Darren the company boss drifted to site with a pump, a plastic sheet and other items to demo the methods described in his email. It was all seriously logical so we progressed to the next stage of developing a solution for the challenge of the marked ceiling. The plan is to use 2mm mdf to which my veneer will be applied using the Bagpress technique. The mdf will be pressed to shape for the stressed sections and equalised with Formica on the other side. This achieves the veneering element, and the shape for the curved sections, before arriving at site. The two surfaces we will be joining on site are Formica and birch ply. Here we will still have a pressure issue although with the different glue we can use we are confident of a solution. It’s much more structural and we don’t need the same pressure. All the tests tell us this. Now we just have to strip off the bubbled veneer off, remove all the adhesive and rub down.... My oldest mate Geoff (we’ve known each other since we were 6 years old) came to site recently and I roped him into helping me take the veneer up to Letchworth where Bagpress are based. Because of the earlier balls up I had to order more sheets of veneer which is bloody irritating and pricey but heyho. It was never going to be easy – which is why the roof fabricator walked away from the difficulty they created. Roger the sparky progresses loading the 3 distribution boards. They are looking good. We have started our heating and the sensation of underfloor is marvellous. True radiant heating – the difference is amazing and the comfort levels are astounding. Captain Flood's been busy in the bathrooms and Dennis and latterly Jayson have been getting together to arrange the bathroom studding. I’ve been getting the indoor pond ready for lining. It looks super now but when its finished – hmmm! Ralph from Stevend Engineering, the fantastic stainless steel fabricator I found in Marlow, has delivered the downpipe for the alligator. Dealing with Ralph is easy – he thinks, and comes up with creative solutions to niggles and challenges. The downpipe looks fantastic – stainless steel mesh. Sexy beyond belief. It will deliver water from both roofs (210sqm) to the rear pond and you will be able to see the water cascading through it. It’s 4.5m long and you know its there. We expect stalactites to form on it during cold snaps. Lights have been arriving – I am shortly going to be starting a new section on lights and lighting. Almost all the house uses low voltage luminaires. The majority of the lighting is indirect fluorescent from the leader in the field Encapsulite. These are supplemented with lamps, a few wallights, downlights mainly from Mike Stoane Lighting. We think the garden is as important as the house and is often the forgotten area of most households. Complete madness of course – frequently the forgotten asset of most houses at night. Indigo our marvellous lighting designers have planned to pick out selected trees in the garden and The Clump which forms the roundabout to the front of the house. Wonderful and very architectural lights run along the edge of the driveway, beautiful things from Deltalight. I spoke to the boss of the company, Tony Cutting, another self builder. He asked all those questions you should never ask of a self-builder then told me some of his own stories. Grief, it cheered me up! When we rented a house in Coleshill there was a large house opposite which had been despoiled by tudorbethanisation by the present owners. The garden lighting to the front of the property consisted of 2 high powered halogen lights. To the side of us we had another halogen addict. It was like being in the vicinity of a penitentiary, mind you the occupants of each house shared much in common – tobacco chewing, guns, large dogs, gates, BIG gates, and on the front of each property the insignia of an alarm company. Why? Other than these foul luminaries their gardens were in darkness. My very discreet alarm company has no insignia, is hugely discreet in its hugely sophisticated systems. I have no gates because frankly I don’t need them and I don’t like them. Had I not got such confidence in Secom’s systems I might reconsider gates – but don’t they just say to everyone – get lost! Interesting news about Gummer’s law has emerged – far from removing it from the statute books the government has decided to strengthen it – a step in the right direction to rid us of pastiche houses. Two chaps arrived on site recently – Steve Beck and Billy Grace - to commence laying the slate. Steve is from Kendal and Billy from Northern Ireland. Both these places are North of Oxford Street so I’m lost, but they are doing a marvellous job on the slate and we’ve got it everywhere. The terraces to the northern building are complete, as are all the bathrooms. The rills are yet to be fully launched into. The circulation link between the buildings is being done now. We have lots of cleft slate (rough texture) to go in bathrooms and on terraces outside and external stairs. It’s called Rio Neblina from Brazil supplied by Kirkstone, looks a bit white and dusty and to be frank I thought I may have made a mistake with the choice, but when the sealer is applied – wow does it look marvellous. The honed slate (polished) is for the kitchen, bathroom trims, stairs and main hallways. This is already full of beautiful markings, when sealed it just gets better. Jude is delighted with both. Pictures next time. We also had the challenge of tanking the rills. After a goodly amount of research I found a company called Koi-Kote. In very basic terms it is a 2 coat application of very thin epoxy resin. The area we needed to cover was significant, the rills and the pond. We had a particular challenge in that we needed to give the non porous engineering bricks a primer coat first. This was followed by a binary mix grey coat and then a binary mix black coat. Other colours are available. I supplied the company with the areas that needed to be covered and they supplied the quantities, the applicators, the mixing kit, cleaning solution, everything in an “idiots pack” together with COSHH regulations, directions – and advice to make sure it went well. We are now most of the way through this application and we completed the large rear pond only yesterday. Next update will contain pictures of this easy application. The advantage of a liquid over alternatives in our requirement of angular pond and waterway to which slate is going to be applied is significant. Our cement adhesive for the slate sections that will line the waterways sticks to the koi- kote very well. Our bathrooms are now tiled, with lights precisely positioned in tiled walls all starting to take shape. Showers and baths are positioned and we have waterproofed the walls behind the tiles with Schluter products. Additionally where we have tiled onto ply we use Schluter Ditra matting to de-couple the tiles from the expanding and contracting ply. If tiles were applied directly to the ply they may be prone to cracking but certainly the grout would crumble. For all the ceramics I went to my local retailer, Susana in Amersham. They have a significant presence locally and can be found in a number of Chiltern towns. They’ve been in Amersham for years and there is a good reason for this. Super advice, amazingly prompt delivery of materials. In the end we chose a simple white (matt) 50x50mm German tile for all areas. Needless to say our specification for fixing tiles and slate is not usual. Lots of work and underlay to be put in place before an item is fixed. Steve and Billy have just completed the big steps to the garden from the terrace – they just look like a fantastic lump of slate that has emerged from the ground. A very interesting article appeared in Electrical and Mechanical Contractor, all about the BMiS see media page. I am coming out of the huge depression and into a glint of light. We still have a long way to go, I feel it is very important to get my family in as soon as possible and certainly before Christmas, although we will be nowhere near completion. Captain Flood (Graham) is up to his ears elsewhere and I am floating towards the top of his list for second fix. I
need to look at flooring for the other areas but frankly can’t
afford it. I have a new business I want to become involved with
and last week completed Heads & Terms of agreement. It’s
a business I believe could be made to really progress quite rapidly
and quickly. I hope the owner agrees to the proposal as I believe
it is mutually beneficial, which is always a good basis for a “deal.” |
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| 13 June 2004 | ||
Further drainage has meant even more trenching for both storm and soil pipes. Then more rain fell. The rills to the front and rear of the property have proved challenging to install. They have lights in them – 25 in the rear rill and 12+1 in the front rill. Each light has to have a cable directly back to the house. The rills are to be lined with slate. The lights in crude terms are T shaped the top of the T being glass through which the light shines. This part of the light is designed to be flush with the slate – so I have to create a lip in the slate on which the flange of the “T” sits. Great! I have just ordered the requisite waterproof sockets to fix to the light and the DIN boxes back in the house – this involves 12 solders per light – that’s 468 solders people – and a further 468 solders for the vendor of the lights. This is only part of the issue. The rill sits on a concrete base. Conduits have to be run into the concrete before pouring – and where the light sits in the centre of the rill a 100mm pipe has to be set at right angles and vertically to the conduit to accommodate the light. We only have a tolerance of 50mm to get it right. We then hope that in the case of each light it sits directly in the middle of each piece of 200mm wide slate allowing of course for 5mm of mortar either side. Isn’t this just a doddle? Our new ground workers are a local firm from Aylesbury. They’ve progressed reasonably well. We are doing quite a complicated piece of work presently including the extension to the reinforced concrete retaining wall to accommodate stone steps from the deck, and the finishing of the rear pond directly connected to the rear wall of the house. The rear rill turned out to be more difficult than the front rill. Steve (groundwork’s foreman) and I reckon the boss’s (surveyor) input - without much referral to the plans - cost us 1.5 days of time for 3 men. Front rill went sweet as a nut using manual methods to establish levels, and experienced no delay. Rear rill – don’t ask. So much for the professionals. THE ROOF – I don’t really want to tell you about this. My plans for veneering the ceiling have not worked. Everything to the point of fixing went well. Sandblasting went very well. The cleaning demonstrated which panels had truly been affected by rain ingression from the back – only one panel of 2400 x .900. Everything seemed to be going well. The replacement veneer went on well, left overnight, supported well, but in the morning once the supports were removed the panels blistered. I am going to speak to the glue manufacturers on bended knee – we’ll see what happens but at the moment I am hugely depressed. It’s not that I want to do this job – but no companies familiar with veneering want it which leaves me Dennis and Mark for the job. Believe me we are all very fed up. Mark has experience of veneering so where to now? I know not. The electrics are something else as you are probably aware. With minor revisions checked we have placed our order. It should be all here next week. I am delighted we have now got to this position. Most of the Building Management Systems are sourced from ABB. There is a fine mixture of intelligence and design. The Busch Jaeger switches are particularly elegant and functional. In forthcoming weeks there will be much more on this subject. Captain Flood (Graham and Stuart) of our mechanical team has just been in to fit the OSO hot water storage tank and the pressure diaphragm that sits along side it. The tank gives us 300L of hot water and the pressure diaphragm stores both hot and cold water to pressurise around the house removing the need for pumps and other nonsense. Combined with a flow and return pipe this gives us hot water within 2 seconds wherever you are in the building. Both Graham and Stuart forgot to mention that someone who is a regular visitor to this Website has just placed a very tasty contract in their direction. I’m pleased – it’s how things should work but sadly there’s nothing in it for me – broke of Buckinghamshire. Also last week a huge delivery from CP Hart arrived. A lovely story I recall about sanitary ware concerned the contract plumber of the Savoy Hotel in London. On seeing that 70 baths had been specified he asked his client, Richard D’Oyly Carte, if he expected guests to be amphibious? This came to mind as we lugged the fourth bath into the building for safekeeping. The Keston boiler and the high performance American produced Water Boss water softener from Coleman Water, the hugely knowledgeable UK distributor, have arrived. They will be installed next week. On the last day of filming of Grand Designs IV last year a female researcher from Talkback TV fell from a balcony and broke her back. On the last occasion I heard news of her, the prognosis was for a full recovery. I am very pleased about this, but not at all pleased that she is now suing me for alleged negligence. She is also suing others. I sent a note to her saying I regretted she felt the need to sue me – it garnered no response. I will tell you more as soon as I am able. The story merits an essay on its own. Insurance companies demands will ensure that you the audience will in future only be able to watch grass growing or paint drying. The HSE contributes to this awful situation. No matter that people may sign waivers to say they will not sue, it means nothing because one cannot deny liability. This situation will mean that we are unlikely to loose Big Brother as they cannot do much damage to themselves but we will gain nothing of greater interest. Other news concerns the withdrawn Building Guarantee Insurance. The Financial Ombudsman’s recent letter did not read well. I feel as though I am clinging to a tree in a hurricane and yelling for help; no one hears! The logic being followed by the FO shares much with Salvador Dali. If you were a 60’s rocker on smack or another hallucinogenic of choice the FO’s position would be entirely clear. I have feet firmly planted on the ground, and little of it makes sense. Their position follows no normalcy. This is just one of the disadvantages of becoming involved with an entertainment programme. My insurer looked at the screen and seemingly believed he was watching a documentary then denied they were prejudiced by what they had seen on television - despite sending a surveyor to site two days after transmission who confirmed that the company had been “spooked” by the film. They then changed their minds and said they were influenced by the (entertainment) programme, but the FO will still not use the film in their considerations because “it is not relevant.” So The Financial Ombudsman does not see my insurers withdrawal of insurance, which was predicated on the transmission of an entertainment programme, as relevant. If you follow this let me know – it’s beyond me. To add to my malaise two nights ago I had my beautiful Renault Avantime vandalised by someone. Thank you whoever you may be, you achieved a great deal. As someone who passed my house one day said to me – “hmmmm modern house – modern car.” My
energy is on the floor. I also have to listen to a whining neighbour
– he has little better to do. Blinking is an effort and frankly
I am beginning to think we’ll sell. Don’t be shocked
– I’m out of love with The Cloud, Judy is not. The Cloud
is a demanding mistress and I’m tired of the whingeing petulant
demands on my time, and the continuing strain she exerts on my now
bereft patience and finances. She’s tiresome, difficult, challenging
but also elegant, unique, and bewitching. Cloud 8 is a building
of the 21st Century of which I am proud, and tired. She is costing
my family and me too much in too many ways and it needs to stop.
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| 24 March 2004 | ||
Where might someone who holds these restricted opinions be usefully employed? I know the CDC Planning Committee. He’d probably be voted Chairman in a fortnight providing he owns a blazer. The thought processes contained in his ill-structured utterings were non-existent. He’s clearly a fan of Wendy Houses with Mrs Tiggywinke interiors, which are the equivalents of comfort blankets for the visually insecure. Is it any wonder we have a worsening built environment when there are such knee-jerk reactions to anything new. I suggested he might like to speak to English Heritage on the matter, but with insults being made with increasing frequency and volume, brought on by reactionary fear of evolution, I was boomed down and besides I’d just finished my Guinness. He returned to the bar to take solace amongst others who had been inoculated against his boorish manner. I said goodnight and went home. Shortly
before the Cloud 8 screening I sent an email to Pete and Geoff on
the Virgin Radio breakfast show saying give the show a plug –
your listener is on! Now being 50 it could be said I am an ageing
rocker. Well I’m much younger than many of the band members
of groups who continue to release records so I’m a youngster.
The chaps watched the programme and Pete said he was fiddling with
his colour button throughout the programme in an attempt to correct
my florid complexion. He thought his tube had gone – thanks
Pete! Pleasingly both the guys considered the house quite cool. Take a look at the May issue of Grand Designs Mag everyone – I’ve been libelled by Tom Dyckhoff, Architectural Critic for the Times no less, who is a contributing editor of Grand Designs Magazine. The article is sweet and sour – perhaps those are the best. Sadly he hasn’t said a great deal about the building and I suspect this is because we’re not finished. I guess for all he knows we might be adding a huge plastic cornet to the front façade with a vast flake sticking from the top and the whole concoction lit up with fairy lights. Now there is an idea – “Darling...what’s
the number for Mr Whippy ……………?”
Firstly Keith, Eddie, Paul arrived from Progressive to lay the Dow insulation and the Schluter under floor systems. The orange Schluter Bekotec has a tape which fits to the underside of the system which then adheres to the wall so that in effect you waterproof, or tank, the inside of the building. All the floors were covered. John Anderson then arrived to start and assemble the manifolds for the under floor heating. He is an independent subcontractor who knows the Wirsbo system inside out. Top man who is keen to ensure the job is done right. Thanks John. We have used 17mm pipe, which is unusual and the reason is because of the Schluter Bekotec. Now a brief bit of technical. Schluter enables you to have a thin screed on your floors i.e. 8 – 30mm over the top of the pipes. This is a distinct advantage as you have less of a thermal store in the floor. The Schluter system permits the screed to micro crack – this means that heat is released quicker into the room so there is less thermal lag when the building requests heat. Back to Wirsbo. I looked at the pipe. A clear pex pipe – chemically cross-linked. Believe me when I tell you this is the best. What you put underground is vital. Do not skimp – you will regret it. There is no metal in this pipe – most other systems are made from a standard plumbing pipe – don’t go this route. Wirsbo is more expensive – but believe me it is worth it. The fitting went well. John shoved just over 5 bar of pressure into each loop contained on each of the 4 manifolds and everything worked. If someone subsequently put a hole in any of the pipes we would know – it would be like Trafalgar Square with 85psi in the pipes. Now
while John is a super fitter and confidence inspiring to have around,
he has a downside (in case you decide to use him); dysfunctional
indigestion… read ……… wind. And what’s
more he admits it and his charming wife confirms it. A diesel driven pump had arrived at site for the Progressive chaps. Over 100 meters of rubber pipe was also delivered and Eddie whizzed around the house filling in holes and gaps with either shuttering or sand. On the Monday we poured. The first RMC truck pulled up. A sample was taken of the mix for consistency and tested on a piece of metal. It all looked as though a pancake was being made. As the mixture spread across the steel circle it stopped. A measurement is then taken and this confirms the mixture’s consistency. The pour started. I looked in horror at the mixture coming out of the back of the mixer. I could not understand how it would set so quickly. I went to the room where pouring had started. There was little I could say, everything seemed under control, screed was filling the bathroom and dressing room of the main bedroom. Keith tamped the mixture on the floor to remove the air and to encourage levelling. Paul had already moved on and the level markers calibrated by laser level had been set for the next room. Within about 20 minutes the master suite was poured leaving Keith to tamp finish. Within no time 2mm of water surfaces to the top of the tamped slurry and you get a wonderful reflection of the room. But I kept thinking where does all this water go? Four RMC tucks arrived in quick and efficient succession – just as Keith and Paul wanted. The only thing that held them up slightly was me – they had originally said there would be 40 minutes between each load and I had a few little things to get resolved ahead of them. The entire house was finished and the guys washed up, and leaving the premises in 4 hours dead. Extraordinary. With the frenetic preparation of the previous few days and the completion of this process I was exhausted and went to bed in the afternoon and slept soundly. The following morning I went to inspect. No water – where had it all gone. The slurry was solid! I could walk on it if I wanted to but I chose against. The chemical reaction that had occurred had created a solid floor to the level that we left the previous afternoon. If we had wanted to we could force dry it, which is just one of Supaflo’s characteristics. It is a wonderful product. So the concern and worry of the previous days about the mixture of materials was groundless. You now tap the floor and it is a very strange hollow sound. Cover it with Schluter slip membrane and we can now lay our slate. Supaflo is more expensive than normal screeds but it is laid faster, is self-levelling, can be walked on more quickly, can have flooring laid on it much earlier, so it saves time and in turn money. Marvellous. And if you are really in a hurry it can be force dried. We’ve had a number of our external blinds fitted. They look fantastic and really add to the external face of the building – another layer. Needless to say if you look at our environmental report they will be vital to keep the interior of the building cool on sunny days. Peter the fitter pointed out that we needed adjustment on some of the steel – Steve from Kimbers will be here shortly. THE CEILING. As you may recall our ceiling in the living area is marked – we need to get rid of the marks. The plan is to laminate the ceiling. Laminate is a substrate to which veneer (birch in our case) is glued with phenolics and other chemicals. It is heat applied. This offers the veneer strength and assists the application. We invited a number of companies to undertake the remedial – none wanted the job. It’s too difficult for them. Working overhead you see – just like Michelangelo. I asked Dennis (carpenter extraordinaire) to make up a template of the stressed section of the roof some months ago. I left it in the garden and let it get into a distressed condition. We brought the template into the house last week and erected it on legs to replicate the working conditions. I needed to find a suitable adhesive to use in this exercise. We need some working time before wanting “contact” glue characteristics to kick in. This enables us to line up the veneer to the correct position. Amazingly I found an adhesives broker locally in Chesham – the boss of the company suggested an adhesive (far from cheap), which we used last week. It worked a treat. We have worked out a clean working schedule – how we need to apply pressure till the glue takes. I’ve taken a few pictures of the solution and as you can see we are on our way. The entire living area needs to be scaffolded and this will also happen next week. Rubbing down the entire area is going to be a nightmare. I am considering possibly sandblasting the ceiling if we can get a sensitive enough application. A contractor has told me he thinks it’s possible so I am taking a ply sample to him to trial. To press the laminate to the existing ply I am going to use foam, which is then supported and braced with a length of 10mm ply from underneath. This seems to work best but I need foam that relaxes to a good degree but has strong memory. I believe I have found the right product in Vasco 60. Now brace yourselves people – this is space age technology and I am certainly going to have a bed made from this material. The manufacturer British Vita, (does Vitafoam ring a bell everyone) produce this wonderful product. I spoke to their Technical side first who very kindly sent me a range of samples. From these and with knowing nothing about the products Vasco was the answer. I then spoke to Paul Glynn the Production Director at their Manchester office and he very kindly arranged material cut to size to be sent to their High Wycombe depot that is only a few miles away. This product is to be placed onto the laminate application, the Vasco will then be pressed and braced while the adhesive goes off, which takes about 20 minutes. The foam gives sufficiently to take up imperfections – and the memory of the material is so efficient in returns to its starting position but it takes a moment or two to do so - it's a slow recovery foam. The material was put into space suits to keep astronauts comfortable. It is also heat sensitive which encourages the material to soften further as it warms. Let me tell you in a mattress it's wonderful – and before you ask it is also breathable. Other matters. I hope we will get the service trenches started in the next couple of weeks. I want to get gas, electric and water in and operating so I can get rid of the space heaters and the dehumidifiers I have around the building. The house feels quite different now we have had some kit to dry things out placed in there for a couple of weeks. I hope to order the second fix electrics from ABB next week – Mike the boss of the electrical contracting firm is chasing me as our distribution board second fixing involves a goodly amount of work. Till next time. |
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| 15 January 2004 | ||
| Much
has been happening. We now have door sub frames in all the places
they should be and almost all the plumbing in place for first fix.
Captain Flood and his team are in charge of all mechanical –
his other name is Graham and he is now in partnership. Plastic plumbing
– who would be without it. Fast efficient, effective, and like
our exterior waste pipes I alighted on Hep2O,
which to you and me is Hepworth by any other name. Marvellous design
service – with plans sent direct via email to you (assuming
you can read .dxf files) and then hard copy in the mail. Same with Wirsbo, fantastic design service all sent to you by .dxf attachment. Wirsbo have been hugely tolerant. Neil Young their designer has made a host of changes to the repositioning of the three manifolds (twice) to final and creative locations. You name it we’ve changed it, and still each time I call he is still in! Amazing – I’d have told me to get lost 12 months ago. Captain Flood reckoned I’d oversized the Keston boiler and he suggested I spoke to Neil to check what he wanted for the heating. Having done this and re-checked everything else the 55Kw spec I had originally ordered looks spot on. We have some spare capacity but Neil said he thought it was on the money. Now I have to candidly admit this was more by luck than judgement on my part. So the Keston (shock news here people - an award winning BRITISH product!!!!!!!!!!) Boiler – fully modulating – that has beaten the Germans at one of their specialities – EFFICIENCY – is hitting the garage wall in Cloud 8 very soon. It is a cracking product. I intend to dig a trench across to the bridge structure for the waste air stream, which is another efficient addition to the Keston product. The house in winter will then not look as though it should be located in a New York set with steam emanating from every grille. Pleasing to find a really good British product. The house is the product of multi-national product sourcing – from Brazil, to the US to continental Europe and Japan. Pleasingly Europe has played the major part but I wish Britain’s share had been larger however our manufacturing base has withered over the last 40 years, as we are all aware. But still, large sections are British, not least the glass from Pilkington’s and we have 174m2 of their product in Cloud 8. For our hot water cylinder I have chosen an OSO - a Swedish company with a very successful importing arm in the UK. Huge guarantee with this product that is worth the paper it is written on. Our tank is directed unvented and has a 300 litre capacity with 15 minutes recovery. An additional feature that sold me was the pressure diaphragm – this pressurises the water around your house removing the need for shower pumps even with our very long pipe runs. Again high efficiency, huge insulation with very little heat loss in a 24 hour cycle – don’t think any of these mechanical items are cheap but they are excellent quality and I believe value for money. To keep the heating operating at high efficiency we need to have a quite large water softener. I looked at all the usual offerings and kicked them into touch. Through research on the Internet I found a company called WaterBoss. Apart from a very good name they also have a top rated product and pleasingly I discovered they have a UK distributor in the shape of Coleman Water. This unit will be located in our garage close to the boiler and in line with the water tank. The water in our area almost breaks baths it's so hard – and for boiler and heating efficiency softened water is vital. Use of salt is efficient as is cleaning and operation. Reliability is first rate so a client recently informed me. Can’t argue with this so it’s included. In conversation with Roger (Sparky) he asked if we had any power surge protection. "You'll need it with all these systems in the house Tom, because if you are hit by lightning the whole bloody lot could go up." Well I heard the word lightning and immediately thought of the roof with its 260M2 of stainless steel, and made for the office to call David. No - we had made no provision for lightning conduction - but power surge is easy to take care of. Again after some research I found Rodells' Steeplejacks in St Albans. I needed a very unobtrusive solution and frankly having not "designed it" into the build I was concerned that this now could not be achieved. I arranged a visit to site for Richard Sayer who heads the division having sent him plans of the building so that the necessary calculations could be made. As with most things in building there was an answer which means you can see so little it's marvellous. With 0.5mm steel covering the roof we have a huge conductor facing skywards - and required 3 conductors on each building. Richard explained they needed to connect each conductor to a rod and then bury the rods in the ground and cover with inspection covers. The rods need testing annually to ensure they are still functioning to the required standard and then we have protection. The vast majority of their work is for larger commercial buildings, churches, airports, offices but when Richard saw some of the electrics he completely understood the need for lightning protection. The chaps who came to fix the strips to the agreed positions were fast and efficient and understood completely the requirement for discreet and secret fixing. How did we do it? - by using the steel structural supports to carry the "strike" towards the ground and hiding the conductors behind the insulated render. I have to admit that lighting layout has been challenging. You have to work out where the cable is going to come out of the wall allowing for the size of the fitting so the plasterers can do their bit – and hope you have it right. The plastering detail has driven everyone up the wall – IS THERE ANYTHING SIMPLE IN THIS HOUSE? It’s all down to SHADOW GAPS. This means that you have to do things arse about face. First you do the walls – and you apply grounds to the wall to make sure the plasterers have a finished line to work to that gives you the 15mm finish we are looking for. No walls are ever absolutely straight in any building – tolerances exist. So back to SHADOW GAPS. Our walls and skirting finish in line i.e. the skirting is not mounted onto the plaster but underneath. Where the skirting meets the plaster there is a 5mm shadow gap. Similarly where the wall meets the skimmed plasterboard there is a 5mm gap all around the perimeter of the ceiling. The internal doors also have shadow gaps – which means that the plaster has to go to absolutely the right place on many of the door sub frames. In doing so this forms a shadow gap between the doorframe (that sits on the sub frame) and the plaster that partly covers the sub frame. Got that – I’ll be asking questions later! At one stage I seriously considered “dot and dabbing” the house and with David looked at the practicalities of using this much faster method. It did not take long to conclude this was a non-starter. If you walk into a really beautiful property built of seemingly substantial materials and then tap a wall and it sounds as though you are on a dodgy film set it says one think to you – CHEAP. Many developers use this method even in large and expensive houses – because it’s quick – not better. I think it just screams nastiness at you but hey each to their own. It was easy to decide on “Hard Plastering.” There were a few issues I wanted clarification on and pleasingly a gent from British Gypsum called to see me on site. I explained how we were going to use the walls to reflect light into corridors and rooms. I also needed a really smooth finish and accuracy of application because of the shadow gaps. It was an educational meeting for me and at the end I thought; whom on earth am I going to get to do this job. Experience is what I required as well as a company that is not a one-man band. I also wanted to get the same company to be qualified in Supaflo screed an RMC product that is fast efficient and different about which more later. I went off to the Federation of Plasterers and Dry Wall Contractors where among many who I contacted I alighted on Progressive, a large company which turns over £6M in the plastering division alone. Tony Cooney came to see me and priced the job. It appeared competitive, but the thing that tells you it’s the company for you is the confidence-inspiring questions you are asked. It indicated that thought was being applied to the complex mixture of corners, materials, unusual angles and finishes required. The company are also qualified in the application of Supaflo – but they have never put this over Schluter floor loading systems. Mind you RMC are not terribly used to this either as you will read later in this update. The plastering teams arrived. (Fast) Eddie the man on stilts – Jake his son – and Emilio – kick boxing hardman. This team concentrated on the tacking and skimming – the others, Roy and John, were the wall team. I’ve learned much from these chaps including sayings of the day, such gems as “total spectrum domination” (George Bush) and “when in a rage make a gauge” - John. They are coming close to the end of their work now – a couple of days left – and the company is after me for another valuation. The quality of finish is vital not least because of the indirect lighting washing down walls which has this tendency to show every imperfection. Supaflo screed enables us to screed the house in a day to the very fine tolerances we need. It can be walked on (light traffic) after 2 days. It’s warm to touch. It can be force dried if you are in a belting rush. It can be tiled and covered weeks earlier than traditional screeds. It’s more expensive but saves you tons of time – which in turn saves you tons of money. ARE YOU GETTING THE PICTURE. It’s bloody good stuff by all accounts – and self-levelling. I hope it helps with the tight tolerances we are having to work with but this is a question I need to get answered. Expamet products were used in plentiful supply. Stop beads, EML, plasterboard beads, external corner beads – on and on. In a slightly more naïve time I looked at all this seeming junk in merchants and wondered what it was all for. Shadow gaps would not have been possible without Expamet 580 – anyone building a property needs to go to their website. All the information you need – and the ability to shop. Everyone who has visited Cloud 8 has commented on the number of straps that were visible – all Expamet. We also wanted product that was not readily available in our local Merchants (we are nor your norm building you see) and I regularly spoke to Paul Prest at the company without who I might still be wondering what we should have been using. My thanks to Paul for his tolerance and assistance. We used British Gypsum plastering products and used large 15mm boards on the ceilings in the level four bedrooms because of our unusual Dow ceiling insulation. Progressive understandably wanted to screw board to BS standards – every .450mm but this would compromise the Dow Styrofoam Roofmate® which slots between the 600 centre joists. Answer – use 15mm boards – more unwieldy and heavier but able to carry a greater distance i.e. 600mm. My thanks to Steve Limb, of British Gypsum for this very positive contribution to the job as well as several others. Emilio popped the boards into position on the tall ceilings on level 4. Skimming got underway. On the lower ceilings I suddenly spotted that Eddy had taken to stilts and was zipping around. Sadly the team from Talkback missed this but it certainly makes ceilings a breeze – but I kept out of the way every time the shadow gaps came into the discussion. On
the BMiS front I have now installed the hub box in the garage. Great
piece of kit called We had another interesting event on site. The glaziers said that my roof had slumped by 40mm – oh joy! How is this calculated I asked. The answer appeared to be that between being measured by laser and the fitting of the top level glass in the roof it had allegedly slumped and 6 pieces of high level glass did not fit. Now to be frank the least of my worries was the glass. More to the point was the huge potential issues I would have to resolve if this slump had occurred. This was a slump over the 20mm “dead load” slump we expected. If this had happened I was in very deep poo! I spoke immediately to Peter Shepherd at Anthony Hunt Associates, our structural engineers and asked what key measurements I needed and he sent me a quick .pdf file – see below.
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As mentioned we expected a dead load slump of 20mm. Live load slump (a rugby team wandering around on the roof) would also prompt slump just as snow load would – but this had been worked into the calculations. So the measuring mattered. I measured the lot – did a live load test to observe slump – none evident. I did a string test along the length of the roof at the base of the curve to check for variation (minor). I then took a measurement from the base of the centre panel to the Steel universal beam in the centre of the structural floor. I then went back to the site hut and checked off all the measurements and composed an email to the glaziers -
The result of my measurements were contained in my email to Peter Shepherd below:-
ATT:
Peter Shepherd
Well knock it down and start again is what I say! This is a 121-m2 roof on 6 vertical supports. “Get Foster, Piano, Calatrava, Liebskind, Gehry, and the rest of the architectural glitterati and tell them I am available from late July 04. Tell them I work to single figure tolerances only – and if that’s too fine for them they need to get someone else!” For a rank amateur I am delighted with this result although I regret that there has been a glass-measuring problem, which has caused more delay. I also regret the cost to someone, but I do wish I had been told of the situation after some further consideration by the glaziers, as the shock of the news could have caused a heart failure – and I’ve just turned 50. “No No No No , you cannot use our product like that.” Well this is what the technical boss of RMC told me when I discussed using their anhydride screed Supaflo over the Schluter floor load system. “You must have a 30mm cover” I was repeatedly told – “but did you read the Schluter technical information I sent you" I asked. In fairness I think the answer was negative. As soon as the familiar “eggcups” were seen I think an assumption was made – wrongly it has to be said because the Schluter system is wildly different to all insulation and underfloor heating pipe holding systems. The design permits a thin screed to be used, with the minimum cover being 8mm. The loading system then permits micro cracks in the screed. Micro cracking + thin screed = less thermal lag. So when you turn the heating on the heat transfers to the room that much faster than if you had 30mm screed and no cracking. Simple innit. It took a letter from Schluter guaranteeing their systems operability and performance for RMC to be convinced. I sense a number of RMC people will be here on the day and thereafter. More news. We were asked to quit our rental home with the fantastic views into London. This was bad news. No, before you think it, we had been wonderful tenants – I say this from having been a landlord myself. But as I commented to the owner during our tenancy I periodically felt less like a tenant and more like a curator due to the number of maintenance issues I rectified. We had to be out by October 18th and securing a rental for 6 months around here is not easy. Judy said let's move to site – let's get a caravan - it won't be for long…. I have to candidly admit I was not keen on the idea. I am of a heavy engineering build, and Judy until recently was light industrial – there goes love! Well I railed against the idea but we are now here on site in a mobile home, one of Essex’s finest, delivered to us by the lovely people at Amber Leisure. Amber Leisure are very large and run many of their own holiday sites which gives them a huge turnaround of previously owned homes. We found one in a twinkle of an eye having been looked after by the fun Jemma at their Colchester branch. Delivery to site was swift and the home very efficiently manoeuvred by 2 Landrover’s into position. Getting it onto site was not easy and we were on a bit of an incline – but with everything level in the home pleasingly. For logistical reasons on site we have since moved the caravan twice – but we are now in the permanent location till completion. How is it – well not large for 2 adults and 2 children one has to say but we are warm, sleep well, eat well, have a fantastic shower, wave at all the passers-by who invariably don’t quite know what to do. We have broadband – entertainment and it is very acceptable accommodation. So if you think it’s not for you I think you may be surprised. I went to a minor public school and the accommodation @ Cloud 71/2 is infinitely better to that which I experienced for many years. . In December the boys from Kimbers turned up again with the external blind frames. They had previously arrived but the finish was poor and they had to go back. The company told me I was looking for a finish that is not available from steel fabricators. Well I disputed this. The covers needed to be a smooth appearance as the eye follows the stainless steel flashing straight into the blind cover. One smooth the other bumpy doesn’t work. Using P60 car filler worked for the larger imperfections but did not give the smooth finish that was being sought. I recalled using a product called FEW on a previous occasion. It’s a filler which can make imperfections disappear as it is fine grain and very easy to sand to a smooth finish. I got a couple of tins and sent it to Kimbers. The standard of the finish is now really fantastic and my great thanks to Gareth in the paint shop at Kimbers for persevering. I think the standard of finish even surprised the company – they now have a new line in exemplary finishes now.
This week the flue arrived. It is going to be very sexy. It’s just like a ship's funnel – a number of waste air streams being ejected through 1 pipe. With us it’s just 2 waste streams – the hob and the fire. The two tubes are then wrapped in stainless steel 316 satin finish. This last piece is if you like the dressed finish. The company who designed, built and finished this is Chimflue. The visuals of the finished flue emerging from the Cyclops will be quite stunning. I look forward to the Cyclops arriving so the flue can be finished. We are now also fitting the louvers to the ventilation doors, which sit to one side of the entrance doors or the large windows. This gives us our passive ventilation for the property. Some of these at high level are motorised and operate automatically as part of the BmiS. My relationship with Cloud 8 remains very rocky. It is love hate all the way. It gives me too many challenges and will only give a return when it is finished. It’s sheer grind and very tiring. I am suffering from “decision fatigue.” I realise that instead of starting of with a self-build car kit I went straight to Formula 1. Perhaps not hugely sensible but I hope I finish it. Enjoy
the new film – possibly being shown as early as February. |
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