Plasterboard ceilings - 1 November
First of the ceiling plasterboard goes up - the smallest room is done and the largest is underway.
Interior door veneers - 2 November
A pending decision on interior door veneers was made today, which really was as late as it could be, with lead times becoming tricky. It proved to be very difficult to assess different options and in the end we spoke with the company which makes up the doors (as opposed to the firm which supplies them hung in frames) – probably something we should have done earlier.
While natural wood veneers obviously differ by tree species, they are also cut in different ways (e.g. crown cut/plain sliced, quarter cut, rift cut, rotary cut) which results in very different grain patterns. Once cut, the veneer itself can then be laid using a variety of patterns which again alters the finished result (e.g. book match, shift match, random match).
This short document covers most of these options.
Garage door - 4 November
Great to see the garage door installed today.
Zinc cladding - 4-11 November
The zinc cladding is steadily progressing, moving down the south and north sides of the building.
From the Motorway
North
South
Tiling - 7 November
Blair has been hard at work waterproofing the first bathroom, in preparation for tiling.
Plasterboard linings - 9 November
Plasterboard is being rapidly fitted throughout the house.
The sense of space and proportion changes with each transition; from framing, to insulated, to lined. We expect it will change again when the first coats of paint start to go on.
Bath - 10-25 November
The bath is now installed after some initial problems with getting the correct upstands.
The upstands are factory fitted and provide a small vertical surface on each wall side of the bath to tile over. This creates a junction which is easy to seal to prevent water getting behind the tile and onto the wall surface. Great idea!
Pre-lining (10 Nov)
Villa board installed, ready for waterproofing (17 Nov)
Tiling in progress (25 Nov)
Kitchen duct - 11 November
Anthony has just finished installing the custom duct for the kitchen extractor.
We didn't want to penetrate the zinc cladding or roof with an exhaust outlet, but weren't keen on a recirculating rangehood. This only left going down the inside of the 140 thick wall to a vent under the house. The duct uses the toe-space of the kitchen joinery to get away from the wall and an exterior motor provides the necessary power (each 90 degree bend adds significantly to the effective duct length).
Plastering - 17 November
The plasters have started and are moving quickly through the house.
Tiling - 18 November
Tiles in the shower are coming along.
Cladding progress - 18 November
Zinc continues to be laid around the building, and the entrance elevations are almost complete.
Sub-floor framing and cladding - 21 November
The team have been working hard to fit framing and cladding to secure the underside of the building.
Doors! - 25 November
Finally our doors have arrived!
The colour of the front door caused the build team to quickly check if there had been a mistake but, no, that's the right colour.
Painting - 25-26 November
Chris was waiting at the site before 7am on Friday and was still at work at 6pm.
The painting team have got a first coat on most areas. Come Saturday and they were back again - Vance here working on a ceiling second coat.
Zinc entrance elevations - 25 November
The zinc entrance elevations are complete, and we can start to get a real sense of how the cladding will look.
North scaffold down - 28 November
Liam preparing for the retaining wall while George continues with the sub-floor cladding
The scaffold on the north of the house has come down to permit work to start on a small retaining wall.
