30th July branding and internal stuff

Schindler's Kings Road House - concrete finish

Proposed concrete finish: 'honed'.
images by franjayo source

Insulation installation continues

Next time I won't be using Kingspan. It is very labour intensive to install and not much fun as when cutting the material is very friable (part of the reason why it is such a good insulator) and causes some breathing discomfort. Mostly sneezing and coughing.

Instead I'll try a pumped or sprayed version. Either the paper pulp or possibly the polyurethane type foam (though I'd need to more research on off gassing etc).

Still waiting for Alumasc to deliver their gutters - now holding lots of things back.

Otherwise things are going well; approximately to programme and within budget. Flemings have agreed to send someone back to fix the dropping canopy sadly despite my URGENT requests that won't be until next week and will hold up installation of the flat roof membrane and the timber cladding on the East elevation.

Last image for you Toby - C24 rafter.

*EDIT*
advert for spray foam application

Plexus epoxy for Aluminium Cladding

Recommended to use Plexus Epoxy as the glue for the cladding panels by the aluminium fabricator MSP (SCotland)

Marine & Industrial Sealants
8 Westwick Hill
Westwick
Norwich
Norfolk
NR10 5BQ
Tel: +44 1692 406822
Fax: +44 1692 406866
Email: sales@marine-consumables.co.uk
Contact: Jane / Penny

Anixter Adhesives
Unit 10
Sundon Business Park
Dencora Way
Luton
LU3 3HF
Tel: +44 1582 491748
Fax: +44 1582 491280
Email: luton.adesco@infast.com
Contact: Paul Boggas
Web: www.infast.com

Anixter Adhesives
3 Edmund Road
Sheffield
S2 4EB
Tel: +44 114 2784500
Fax: +44 114 2780957
Email: purchasing.adesco@infast.com
Contact: Sonia Ibberson
Web: www.infast.com

What do you get for your money?

The Design for Manufacture Competition also known as the 60K house competition produced a very interesting "lessons learnt" report. One part of which says:

COUNTING THE PENNIES
Mortgage money has been cheap for a decade. The Halifax’s lending rate averaged 6.7 per cent from 1997-2001 and then 4.89 per cent from 2002-2005. This created the climate of confidence for house buyers to buy new homes and upgrade existing ones through renovation and extension. That in turn has driven demand such that build costs first outstripped and then began to accelerate beyond other inflation indicators:
■ Over the last 10 years building costs rose 70 per cent while retail prices rose
30 per cent.
■ Over the last five years building costs rose 40 per cent while retail prices rose
15 per cent.
Recent data by EC Harris and Savills estimate that increases in build cost to 2014 will run at around 5 per cent a year whilst house values are set to rise only 3.5 per cent a year(Property Week, 13.04.06). The drivers behind price rises are complex but availability of labour has been significant. Several housebuilders have tried to limit their dependence on skilled trades: both the number of persons and the number of hours each works per home. Those that have not tackled labour costs are perhaps looking to materials manufacturers that have been developing innovative variants to reduce labour charges incurred on site and, in some cases, the need for skills and years of experience. This happened first with plasterboard and push fit plumbing, and is now spreading to masonry with large format blockwork, panels of brick slips and clay rainscreen systems and electrical works with plug-and-play wiring.

The other response – the cynical one – is to give customers less for their money: tiny starter homes as small as 38 sq m, that cost more per square metre to purchase yet achieve no construction cost savings. Sadly, that response in UK housebuilding is all too common. The Design for Manufacture Competition sought to change all that.

23rd July - problem with the cantilevered flat roof

Realised that the cantilevered flat roof has had some compressible insulation inserted instead of 12mm hard acrylic as specified. This means that the roof isn't square as the weight of the cantilever pulls down and compresses the insulation strips.

This is the result of Fleming homes sending the wrong thing and Alan Tough's team installing it. Judging by their responses to date Flemings are going to resist any obligation for them to make this good.

Corner glazing design

Just sent these off again to Natralight for design development, this is the corner glazing design for the tea room.

21st and 22nd July Progress

Blockwork sub contractors turn up. They are good, quick and friendly - one couldn't really ask for more. Neil and Lewis continue joinery work internally.
Velfac send "Sprayrite" to fix damaged windows - they do a good job but you can see a difference between the powder coat and spray coat, not enough to condem the work but enough so that I have a little less enthusuiasm for Velfac windows.
Also Natralight send John and Russell to measure up the corner glazing - hopefully we can get them going soon.
Lastly our epdm flat roof membrane arrived along with the witches hat. Pictures to follow.

14 - 19th July progress

Dom and Viv visited with Ingrid on 13th-14th so no work on the weekend of 14th July. Slow week with two days spent making the roof watertight after strong winds almost ripped away the stapled down breather membrane. Delivery of insulation on the 17th means work is hard with no space but but good progress with big team of helpers on the 19th July. Thanks to everyone who helped.

Also 4 cubic metres of concrete go into complete the sub base.

Starting electrics with Danny the Electrician and met JWS plumbers - we may have a plumber!

Sorting slates and lead dormers 10th July

Wednesday 9th July House progress

Rain in Portobello! Leadwork starts at last, after two no shows by Blakes.
Road re-intstated by British Gas despite the fact that Electric company have to dig it back up next week. And last image showing the broken waste pipe that needs to be replaced.

7th July 2008 Tanabata

7th July 2008, Tanabata, finished the sarking on the roof, heroic efforts from Neil and Lewis.

4th & 5th July Progress

Mainly on the dormers and roof.

Heavy rain on the afternoon of the 5th - first time really that work has been disrupted by the weather. The last picture shows the horigotatsu filled up with water - that's 800x1750x440 or 0.616m3 = 616Litres. We syphon it off using a small bore plastic pipe and some sucking which is disgusting when you get a mouthful of stinky water! It takes about 5 hours to empty.

2nd July progress on the Portobello House

The main corner views of the house.


The corner glazing facing due South



The dormer boxed out with haffits and soffits (just like saying those words)




The C16 grading of timber stamped on the s/w.

Charnwood stove

Much nicer than the Taro in my opinion, will have to see how much it costs...

edit: just found the costs £1,330. Minus my 30% I'm demanding from all my suppliers from now on...


A beautiful stove detail from flickr

and the rest of the interesting ones

Velfac windows arrive

1st July progress

2 guys on site from Alan Tough's carpenters mostly notching rafters and preping the roof structure.