Timber cladding classification and detailing

from the same timber cladding document

Timber cladding

Timber Cladding, published on the Highland Birchwoods website with some great images.

NPPG1 planning guidance 2000: sustainability

The Scottish Executive is committed to integrating the principles of sustainable development in its policy agenda. The Scottish Ministers expect the planning system to support and inform this wider policy agenda linking principles and actions to enable sustainable development.

source

Architects Certificates and the NHBC (etc) schemes

The Rias provides guidance on the use of architects certificates as a replcaement for building insurance, such as NHBC or Zurich cover. In short the advice is "do not use architects certificates as a replacement for building insurance"

Guide to architects certificates available here click on left border to dowload pdf

Certificates for Building Societies and Lenders issued by architects and others.

These are intended for reliance upon by the Banks and Building Societies when lending to small developers and self-builders, as evidence that the works have been satisfactorily completed before release of funds.

The RIAS has, for several years, published a standard form of ‘Architects Certificate for Building Societies’. Currently RIAS produce a pro forma required by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The CML is the watchdog body for the mortgage industry. The new CML form extends the architect’s liability to subsequent owners for a limited number of years.

Unfortunately, many legal and selling agents do not understand the limitations of these architects’ certificates and assume that they are a form of defect guarantee or insurance relating to the builders work similar to the NHBC defect liability insurance.

The RIAS has reproduced the CML form (by permission). It should be stressed that

1 The wording of this form is that of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), extracted from the “CML Lenders Handbook for Solicitors and Independent Qualified Conveyancers Scotland (2002)”

2 Architects are recommended to check that their insurers will provide extension of Professional Indemnity cover in the terms of the form, prior to provision of the service.

3 This form should not be regarded as a substitute for defects liability insurance such as that provided by NHBC, Premier Guarantee, Zurich Insurance or similar. The RIAS recommends that developers make appropriate arrangements for that cover.

4 Developers, sellers and seller’s agents should not promote this form as providing that cover.

5 This certificate is not a design certificate such as might be issued by a structural or other engineer

6 This certificate is not a certificate of work completed and due for payment as would be required under a standard form of construction contract

7 This is not a certificate of compliance with the Building Standards Regulations.

8 It should not be assumed that architects have a duty to sign this form as part of their normal service.

9 Provision of this form should be subject to specific agreement between architects and clients before commencement of the service.

10 A suitable fee and expenses should be agreed.

The forms can be purchased from the RIAS Bookshops at
15 Rutland Square, Edinburgh EH1 2BE - Tel 0131 229 7545
and are available as free downloads for Practice Service Subscribers.

sketch options 4

sketch options 3

sketch options 2

sketch options

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Stone roofs in Shiine, Japan

Shiine as photographed by the gumbies in Japan.

houses on stilts

Railway sleeper walls

Instead of using concrete blocks for protection from the road how about railway sleepers

Joinery in Edinburgh and big sliding doors

In Scape well known and respected Edinburgh Joinery company
http://www.inscape-joinery.co.uk/portfolio/

and large glazed doors from Reynaers

Sliding doors max width

waiting to see which option I can get.

Annual Driving Rain Index

Never knew such a thing existed, but there you go...

Rainwater harvesting

Have decided today to cut the rainwater harvesting system for cost and payback reasons. Having read this article by the environment agency.



One company that does RWH: Rainwater Harvesting Systems

Looking at aluminium gutters by guttercrest good site lots of downloads and prices.

and here to size the gutters.

pocket sliding doors

The best website I found, nice looking doors
http://www.eclisse.it/unico-uk.htm

Sink holes

A sink hole in Guatemala news story

February 26, 2007
After rumbling for weeks, part of a poor Guatemala City neighborhood plummeted some 30 stories into the Earth on Friday.

The reportedly 330-foot-deep (100-meter-deep) sinkhole swallowed about a dozen homes and is so far blamed in the deaths of three people—two teenagers, found floating in torrent of sewage, and their father, who was pulled from the chasm.

Rainstorms and a ruptured sewer main may have caused the sinkhole, officials in Guatemala told the Associated Press. After the collapse, the seemingly bottomless depths gave off tremors, sounds of flowing water, and the scent of sewage.

Sinkholes can occur when underground rocks that can be dissolved by water—such as salt, gypsum, and limestone—are inundated. The removal of groundwater can also leave gaps underground that can lead to sinkholes.

Japanese electricity

Electricity and Voltage

In Japan, the voltage supply is uniformly 100 volts throughout the country, but two frequencies are used. In the eastern half of Japan (Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Yokohama, etc.), the frequency is 50 hertz, and in the western half (Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, etc.) it is 60 hertz.

Electrical appliances such as hair dryers, travel irons, and electric shavers that can change voltages are convenient. For those that cannot, a step-down voltage converter is recommended.

In the UK the voltage supply ranges from 200-240V (officially 230) the frequency is a uniform 50HZ i.e. the same as Eastern Japan (where I live).

Electrical Plugs
Japan

UK


a good site

So in order for us to have japanese plugs we will need some form of step down voltage and a few (say 4) plug outlets that I will buy in Japan and ship home.

wind turbines

following my previous post about wind speeds in Portobello I was surprised when checking the HHF site near Inverness that the wind speed was so low.

The HHF site near Inverness:


So I did some research on known windy places.
North Uist in the Outer Hebrides:


Stornoway in Shetland:


The summit of Cairngorm:


Near Lake Windermere in the Northern Penines:

SIPS contractors

dowloaded from Kingspan TEK website

Building with SIPS

Sips animation by Hebridean Homes.

Timber Frames

8 companies selected by me from a list provided by the search facility at the UK Timber Frame Association In no particular order


http://www.scotframe.co.uk/web/site/Company/ContactUs/MoiraNicholson.asp

Timber Frameworks Ltd
Westwood Estate
West Calder
Livingston
EH55 8PW
Tel: 01506 870101
Fax: 01506 870055
Email: info@timberframeworks.com
Website: www.timberframeworks.com

Walker Timber Ltd
Carriden Sawmills
Bo'ness
EH51 9SQ
Tel: 01506 823331
Fax: 01506 822590
Email: mail@walkertimber.com
Website: www.walkertimber.com

Strathclyde Timber Systems Ltd
Castlecary
Cumbernauld
Glasgow
G68 0DT
Tel: 01324 840909
Fax: 01324 840907
Email: sales@strathclydehomes.com
Website: www.strathclydetimbersystems.com


Dan-wood House
36 d/3 Murrayfield Road
Edinburgh
EH12 6ER
Tel: 07917 163731
Email: sales@dan-wood.com
Website: www.dan-wood.com

Avonhill Timber Frame Ltd
1 Warren Road
Hamilton
ML3 7QJ
Tel: 01698 459777
Fax: 01698 459877
Email: sales@avonhill.ltd.uk
Website: www.avonhill.ltd.uk

Drumbow Timber Frame Ltd
Drumbow Farm
Caldercruix
ML6 7RX
Tel: 01236 842296
Fax: 01236 843539
Website: www.drumbowhomes.co.uk

Rob Roy Homes (Crieff) Ltd
Dalchonzie Business Park
By Comrie
By Crieff
PH6 2LB
Tel: 01764 670424
Fax: 01764 670419
Email: mail@robroyhomes.co.uk
NO WEB ADDRESS

Robertson Timberkit
10 Perimeter Road
Pinefield Industrial Estate
Elgin
IV30 6AE
Tel: 01343 549786
Fax: 01343 552546
Email: info@timberkit.co.uk
Website: www.timberkit.co.uk

Wood burning stoves

Wamsler Pluto
927x557x407mm 566pounds sterling inc VAT



Villager Duo

480x451x334mm 465pounds sterling inc VAT (multi stove)

Both are 5kw. At 1kw per 25m3 (see below) that will heat 145m3. My main living/ktchen/reading space is xm3

Sizing it properly:

Calculating room size and heat demand

1 kW of heating output will approximately heat
25m3 good insulated area
15m3 average insulated area
10m3 poor insulated area

The heating capacity is with an estimated outside temperature of -1°C. For accurate assessment of heating requirements a full heat loss calculation must be completed before installation of any appliance.


Example of calculating your room size.

Measure the width length and height of your room.
Calculate the three measurements together.
I.E width 4 meters x length 7 meters x height 2.4 meters = 67.2 m3

Advice for unusual shaped rooms.
If the room is shaped in an L configeration calculate the sections as two separate rooms then add together.
If the room has a pitched ceiling calculate the height of the room as half the height of the pitch for a guide. For a more accurate calculation we offer additional assistance. Click here

Insulation assessment
This is probably the most difficult assessment to make without a full heat loss calculation.
Essentials to keep in mind.
Number of outside walls:- The outside walls the greater the heat loss.
Number of windows. (Single glazed, double glazed).
Type of floor:- Suspended, solid, vented.
Insulation:- Cavity wall insulation, roof insulation.
Age of property:- Modern houses are far better insulated than traditional older Property.
Number of doors:- Are there doors to other rooms or to the outside.
Any other forms of heat:- Existing radiators, stoves or range style cookers in joining rooms.
House location:- Exposed or windy site, north side rather than southern aspect.

Completion of example
The room size in this example was 67.3 m3. In this example the room is of average insulation.
By dividing the room volume by 15m3 (average insulation) the kW demand is 4.48kW.

Heating capacity estimated with an outside temperture of -1 deg c. For accurate assessment of heating requirements a full heat calculation must be completed before installation of any appliance.

site accommodation

Japanese style unit baths from technobath



Ebay for 750pounds

Research timber cladding

timber cladding in scotland Gokay Deveci
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2002/03/15098/8749

prototype sustainable housing 1999
http://www.archive2.official-documents.co.uk/document/deps/cs/shdg/cases/case02.html

Aberdeen University and Gokay Deveci - a step towards zero heating houses
http://www2.rgu.ac.uk/subj/search/Research/SustainableHousing/Sust-H-Design/Publications/zeroleaflet.htm

John Gildert's Scottish case studies timber frame
www.johngilbert.co.uk/pdf_files/JGA_Scot_timber_case_studies.pdf

JJI Joists Scottish maufacturer of I-beams or I-joists
http://www.jji-joists.co.uk/

Timber Engineering in Scotland

Some useful links about timber construction in Scotland
www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/46910/0030658.pdf

Napier University
Pasted here is an undated document (but very well written) from Napier University which is developing some very interesting research under the guidance of Peter Wilson I think.

The Centre for Timber Engineering has been in existence at Edinburgh’s Napier University for a little less than thirty months, yet in that short time it has established its presence - and its value to the construction industry - in a number of ways. The Centre was founded initially with support from the forestry and timber sectors in response to two problems which prevented wider use of timber as a primary structural component in buildings - the limited knowledge of timber design among the country’s civil and structural engineers and the lack of training available in this particular field in any UK university engineering course. In addition to this, a profound ignorance existed amongst construction professionals of the properties of UK-grown timbers and the potential to use these materials in preference to imported products whose origins and credentials for sustainable design are often less than clear.

The Centre has addressed these challenges via the three-part route of education, research and knowledge transfer. In the area of education, new custom-designed training programmes have been put in place, and its undergraduate BSc in Timber Engineering is the only course of its type in the country. Two new Masters degrees have been created - an MSc in Timber Engineering for those who have a first degree in engineering, and an MSc in Timber Industry Management for professionals whose background is not in construction but who wish to develop their skills and career path within the forestry and timber sectors. Both of the Masters courses are available as part-time options, making them eminently suitable as Continuing Professional Development programmes leading to valuable qualifications. The Centre is currently developing all its degrees so that they can be accessed online, and this EU funded work is a key plank in fulfilling its remit to train more engineers in timber design.

In parallel with these initiatives are the Centre for TImber Engineering’s research activities - projects designed to aid understanding of different species of wood and to find better uses for them in construction. This work ranges from the world of wood science to exposure tests on differing types of timber cladding. One of the largest grants ever awarded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council was directed to a multi-institutional team led by the Centre for Timber Engineering to explore the properties of Sitka spruce as a first step towards identifying economically viable uses for the most sizeable part of the UK’s forest resource, and an important way, potentially, of reducing the huge amounts of softwood imported into the UK each year.
Much of the timber used in Scotland is hidden within domestic timber frame structures, but wood has become increasingly fashionable with designers for use as external cladding. Our weather is very different from other parts of the UK, and indeed is more akin to the maritime conditions to be found in British Columbia and Norway. Horizontally driven rain can have a significant deleterious effect on different types of timber cladding as well as on the longevity of the particular woods being used and the Centre for Timber Engineering is currently undertaking a number of site tests in extremely exposed locations around the west of Scotland. This work - which is due to be completed later this year - will for the first time produce the data and the details to help designers and contractors better understand the conditions necessary for timber cladding to work effectively and to build better as a result.

But it is not only timber’s scientific properties and its use in existing construction systems that is being researched at the Centre for Timber Engineering - new products for use in the building industry are also being developed, such as the new ‘Composite Insulated Beam’ which comprises timber flanges and double webs of OSB insulated with a rigid infill of urethane or expanded polystyrene in a sandwich construction. An important benefit of the product is its ability to make use of relatively low grade timber such as Sitka spruce to produce a highly engineered product in a section of the market currently restricted to imported materials.
Helping industry become more efficient and more profitable through access to academic knowledge and resources is the philosophy which underlies the DTI’s concept of ‘Knowledge Transfer Partnerships’, and which provides around 60% financial support for suitable projects. Under the programme companies can secure up to 60% financial support for their project, and to date the Centre has collaborated with sawmilling operations, timber frame manufacturers and product suppliers on a range of projects designed to have substantial financial benefit to the companies involved.
A new director will shortly be appointed to lead the Centre for TImber Engineering into the next stage of its development, but its activities will remain firmly focused on responding to industry needs and in creating new markets for timber in construction.

Peter Wilson is Director of Business Development at the Centre for Timber Engineering

ARB

The ARB website my ARB number is 068292F.

Concrete Countertops and one other

All about how to do your own concrete countertops and a link to dignity village a homeless housing collective in the US

Coordinates and wind speed

To find out the average wind speed for my site I followed Mark Brinkley's advice and went to the DTI site, they directed me off to streetmap.co.uk where I got my various values:



then you follow the instrctions on the dti page (you have to read the small print) and they then gave me this:



A bit more reading and it seems Porty is pretty average for the UK - i.e. bad. An average wind speed of 5m/s at 10m about ground level. According to Nathan Briggs, a consultant to windsave who produce domestic wind turbines, in a comment from Mark Brinley's blog:

Firstly I'm glad we didn't try to fit a windmill and I hope you see the sense that we didn't. With just 5.1m/s I doubt you would have seen anything close to 1000kWh per annum so payback would have been terrible anyway.

The Green Building Forum offers some definitive advice on the subject, which in summary is its not worth it unless you are in a windy site, and even then don't believe the hype.

Shipping container dimensions and cost

We are considering where to live wheile the house is being built. The shipping container route doesn't look that promising.

They appear to go for around 1,000pounds on ebay but it's hard to find a 30' container which is my ideal dimension. Then there is a tonne of work to make it habitable.

All about paint

All about paint

Biff Vernon - the window guy

Biff Vernon is great. He contributes his wealth of experience on windows and doors at the green building forum he also maintain his own site and makes some beautiful windows in solid oak.





I am going to ask for a quote for my windows but am not sure if I can afford him, I guess no is the answer as I can't afford anything much...

Window cost summary

Attached is a summary of potential total window costs. The figures in red are list price from velux. In blue are prime cost sums for the sliding doors and front door (no quote available as yet). Also there is a cost per sqm figure which is interesting.

Green Building Store window quotations

I sent off my window schedule to Green Building Store on 11th January and got my quotation back today 30th January. I was impressed by them keeping me up-to-date with e-mails and turning around what was quite a complex order ina few weeks.

The quote makes interesting reading (pages 1-7) I'll post more once I have fully digested it.















The total ex vat is 8,691.94. An additional 5,110.60 for installation if required.

FED EX story caption

"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a ‘C’, the idea must be feasible."
- A Yale University management professor, in response to student Fred Smith’s paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service (Smith went on to found Federal Express)

change to garden elevation

I've revised the design to the garden elevation. Finally managed to believe that I don't need a column in the middle of the windows (this is an aesthetic thing rather than structural).

So I can have 2 large sliding doors that totally slide out of the way to open up the living room to the garden.





Behind are 8 sliding shoji screens (not shown) which can also slide out of the way, I have altered the stair configuration to leave 800mmx350mm space to stack up the shoji when not in use.

Two quotes that I would like to try to remember. Both by Charles Kettering:

"Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail"

"The only time you can afford to fail is the last time you try"

Edinburgh planning online

Well, my application is in and online (gives me butterflies)
application number 07/00099/FUL
link to Planning Online page here

window schedule

This is my window schedule:



20 windows (inlcluding sliding doors to garden) and one door totall area of 49sqm.

I've sent this for costing by Green Building Store who look like they provide some good quality and sustianable windows.

low impact planning theory

A very interesting semi-rant by Tony Wrench who is "continually baffled by the obstacles that prevent me simply doing what my grandfather did - build a wooden house in the countryside. " I am baffled by the same thing.

"Homelessness and social deprivation

100,000 thousand families are homeless or in 'temporary accommodation'. This is twice the number of twelve years ago, despite all the economic progress governments claim to have made. Millions are living out a half-life in decaying inner cities, and millions more are trapped in estates on the edges of the towns and cities of Britain, many without hope of anything worthwhile to do; without land on which to grow food; without space for their families to grow up nearby; and without contact with nature or their natural heritage. They live in rectangular boxes designed by another class for another generation, planned by public officials they have never met. The TV programmes that are watched for 5 hours a day on average (what else is there to do?), videos and films, all offer largely some form of escapism. This 'underclass' is so numerous that controlling it is now the government's greatest worry. Thousands are criminalised and packed into our antiquated prisons. Only Turkey, of the European states, exceeds Britain's rates of prison population, which has risen from 40,000 to over 74,000 in the last twelve years. Most of the 'underclass', however, stay where they are, needing more and more billions of DSS and 'Law 'n' Order' budgets to be spent containing them in the deteriorating homes they already have. Why the big fuss about asylum seekers? Because the way of life of the poorest 20% of the population already here is so lousy that there is simply no more space within the system to allow more poor people in."

The full article avaialble here along with a woodland roundhouse.

This reminds me of the oft quoted statistic that the poorest 50% of the US population earn less combined than Bill Gates.

And the authors sugegsted change to the planning system:

"Imagine a new category of land use - Permaculture Land (Pc Land). This is land used for permaculture - sustainable self-reliant agriculture and horticulture in which work, house building, leisure, growing food, rearing animals, education, renewable energy, recycling and nature conservation are integrated in an infinite number of ways. The essence of Pc Land would be that there is a contractual relationship between the owner and the local/national authorities. This states, basically:
'I will buy and live on just this piece of land.
I will not buy several plots and speculate.
I will not let it out.
I will conserve energy and nature in line with a permaculture design.
I will plant over 20 trees per acre.
I will co-operate with my neighbours over transport, infrastructure, power generation, waste disposal, water harvesting and supply, and common land.
In return for the freedom to build my own house in the style I choose I will do without additional connections to mains water, electricity, sewerage or road systems.'

Planning authorities would be given the power to designate any area Pc Land, whether it was previously industrial, agricultural, military or even residential land. Conditions would be put on the number of dwellings per acre (maybe a maximum of two), roads and vehicles, and a height limit of structures appropriate to the site - say 10 metres. Authorities would be encouraged to designate areas of several square miles, or large zones of Pc Land. These could be areas currently suffering the effects of monoculture, depopulation, inadequate housing or chronic unemployment. Disused military bases could be designated Pc Land. Any farmer or landholder could apply to change from agricultural land to Pc Land, and there would be a presumption in favour of acceptance.

The consequences of this small change to planning law would of course be enormous, and I invite you to use your imagination with me...."