Mega Update post

So I got a little bored with blogging and somehow left it slip from Nov.  But in the meantime I've been busy with the project and there is a lot of changes (thankfully)!

Internally the plastering is pretty much complete.  I had some areas that were leaking (where there are flat roofs) and these are still left bare with plasterboard, and the front porch area is un boarded - but the rest of the house is skimmed and the rooms look like they're almost finished!

This really squares up the interior walls and the eye now has clean lines to follow.  Above is on the landing upstairs looking at the door to the master bedroom, we've a nice spot right there for a seat under the Velux - perfect spot for some reading.

In Dec I pretty much took a few weeks off to enjoy Christmas party season, much needed after a bit of a slog to this point.  Once the 27th hit it was time to get the floor insulation in.  With underfloor heating we have to have a serious amount on the floor and we installed 125mm Xtratherm PIR on the basement and ground floors.  It's not too technical, so an unskilled lad like myself gave it a go.  Straight away you get to see all the imperfections for yourself, where walls aren't as straight as the machine cut insulation.  I laid the insulation, foamed the joints where there was any gap.  On the two grounded floors I also put a 25mm thick upstand - this is a piece of insulation that will separate the finished floor slab and the rising walls to prevent the slab from heating these up too much.  Since they connect straight to the un-insulated sub-floor  this would be an easy way for heat to escape!  I had the underfloor heating plumber booked in, and while I thought I'd have enough time I ended up taking a week off work extra and pulling 12-14 hr days with portable lighting.

My camera phone is getting worse with the concrete dust taking its toll on the lens!  You can see the central vacuum tube on the right with the insulation undercut to fit on top, on the left is the underfloor heating flow/return to the ground floor.  These pipes really took up a lot of extra time!

With this done I pulled in a few extra hands to get a polythene sheet layer on top - this layer does a few things

• Separates the concrete from the insulation - the acid in the concrete can corrode the PIR
• Vapor layer - the difference in temp above/below the insulation can cause condensation
• Protect the plasterboard - the water in the concrete won't be good for the plaster

We blitzed the house in a couple of nights and had it all ready for the plumber.  We also fashioned the step in the kitchen - this was previously all the same level.  First we fashioned a plywood curve, buttressed with wood to ensure it will take the weight of the concrete.  Next we barrowed in 20 tonnes of crusher dust from a nearby quarry, leveled it to 220mm and then used a whaker to compact it.  Floor insulation and polythene and we had enough for 70-80 mm concrete screed on top.

Next in was the UFH pipes, a week of rolling this out and installing the manifolds for their plumber and its done.  We had the floor screed guy booked in straight after, I was pretty nervous about the idea of damage to these pipes.. once they're in its a nightmare to excavate and fix.  Thankfully no major problems and the screeder was ready literally the next day the plumber finished.

While he was there we were broken into - small window broken and since there is nothing of any value left on site nothing was robbed.  They did mange to get at some of the electrical cable ends, shortening them some.  Its left a headache for the electrician as all the tail markings are gone - he has to go and figure out which cable is which all over again.

Screeding went without a problem and we were into February.  Feb was mostly about getting ready for ESB connection, finishing groundworks, arranging electrical certs and building the vault for the connection.  We had laid the duct before but I had to terminate the end neatly at the pole.  The 125mm duct gets stepped down to 50mm at the house, and between these sizes I built a block walled vault with an ESB manhole.  First time building block and lets just say I'm not going pro, but it'll be all underground and hopefully never seen again.  The ESB connection went without a hitch - its great having full power on site without needing a generator.

Next up was water.  We had the well driller survey and water divine the site - his father has the power.  I was pretty confident with all the early water issues that we wouldn't be stuck for the stuff.  Sure enough he drilled in 300ft with a good depth of water in there.  With the well drilled then the pump was next - it was really interesting installing this, 91 meters down into the ground.  That is half the height of the hill we're on top of!  The pressure vessel was installed next to it.

There is a good stream of clear water, no smell and sure I had to give it a taste!  I'm still alive -if this is what you call living.

I put 50mm insulation under all this and a 1sq mtr block wall (slightly better than my first attempt!) I'll insulate the walls and build a hinged lid - the insulation may help when in winter I'll probably run a IR heat lamp in here to stop any joints freezing up.  Straight after we ran power up to the unit, and the plumber has routed the output to the basement.

On the same week I've had fiberglass installed all around the flat roof join to keep out any water - hopefully this is the end of that and I can get the inside finished off!  Its a really neat job and cleans up this area.  We'll install paving or some covering on this, so this isn't the finished surface.

Thats where we are - next stop is getting the heating components installed, filling the underfloor and Solar and getting the heatpump installed.  Meanwhile we're trying to design kitchens, have ordered stone to dress the stairs and are trying to find a handrail for it.  

The remaining issue is the outside plaster.  When we fitted it the conditions were fine, however 4 days later its started to wash off.  We're trying to get the supplier to take responsibility for the product not performing.

Race to the wire

With temperatures dropping into the low single digits, and a hint of minus, the race to cover the outside of the house is now gone to extra time, with penalties on the cards.  This week is possibly the last week we have to get the outside complete, and even then its a risk as if the plaster is too wet by nightfall then it may freeze and ruin it. Gotta get dry before sundown.

About 2/3rds of the house is covered with the base coat, and its set up to get finished with no delays. Inside all the dry lining is done, and  rooms are ready for the skim coat.  A few weeks should see the bulk of the internal plastering done as well, it's really beginning to neaten up and look like the finished article.

Outside some groundworks, laying a pipe run for ESB and another to allow cabling out to where gates are going to be for the future (electric gates/intercom and any services such a phone line).  We're also shaping the front area for driveways to get stone in and bedded down.

This pipe is then covered in quarry dust to protect it, then ESB tape and then filled in.  Only a rope in this section for now to allow the main cable to be pulled through when ready for connection.

Front door is finally ordered as is the garage door.  More robberies in the area makes us all a little nervous, as well as disgusted that it comes to this sometimes.  It can ruin a lot of hard work for people with little reward

Plastering underway

A lot has happened in the last month or so, with a number of fronts moving.

First fix is completed, with kilometers of electrical cable, 900m or metal in the suspended ceiling and a goodly number of pipes for plumbing and HRV, this crystallises a lot of room layouts.  With the showers integrated into the walls we have the mixing units and pipes to the shower heads all installed.

There was a massive amount of little detail that goes in here, you walk around with the plumber and electrician and mark out every socket and switch, every sink basin and toilet.  Light types are needed - are they LED or Halogen, are they dimmable, density of lighting, sockets here or there, TV point locations, door opens this way or that way - its hours of tiny decision making that will certainly annoy you where you get it wrong.

Once that's completed, we start slabbing the interior where the walls are ICF.  Where they are block then we'll use sand/cement and a skim coat, and we have only a tiny amount of stud partition where the building is irregular.  This tricky work is around the window reveals where we have to square them up.

Outside we had a big job of scaffolding the back and north side of the house - 10 hrs and 2 guys it took, and after that I was shattered.  However it gives the plasterer a good run at the outside and this is where we're under time pressure as winter is coming.

The grey areas are the sealing base coat, this seals up and gives strength (via cement additive and a fiberglass mesh) and applied onto the ICF directly.  The white area is a primer coat that is applied before the topcoat and helps the final colour to be correct.  Finally a textured top coat to give the finish goes on as below

Apart from plastering, we've also got another builder to finish off what was left behind by the last one.  So far we have the steps fro the front door in place, and the finish to the roof over the front door, the last vital as it was a water leak that will destroy the plasterboard slabs if not addressed.

So - now we can finally order the front door and sidelights and get the house truly locked up.  Once inside is plastered we can get teh finished floors insulated and poured inside (with the underfloor heating coils).  Then paint and 2nd fix.  Hopefully we can get all this done over winter.

Outside, the driveway and septic tank are the biggest items with landscaping and levels.  Then drains and sewers.

Spray foam insulation install

This week sees the spray foam insulation installed for the roof and flat roof interiors.

This foam is sprayed between and over the rafters, and where we will plasterboard over its shaved back to the rafter level so the board can be affixed to the wood.  The great thing is that both between the rafters and at the wall plate the foam expands into all cracks and gaps fully.  With rock wool or cut insulation you'll never get a perfect seal, with this it forms an airtight (but breathable) layer that stops drafts entering through the roof areas.

Its a messy business, and the good companies clean up after themselves.  I hope so as its like Les Arc in January in some sections.

Suspended Ceiling Started, Electrical finished

The electrical first fit is finished, with a maze of cables and conduits around the house.  With the majority of the plumbing and electrical in we're almost ready to start plaster boarding the inside of the house, and certainly ready to start plastering the outside of most of it.  Getting this done Sep/Oct is vital as temperature is important, too cold and the water in the plaster can freeze destroying the finish.

The Ceiling hangers are installed now, key was getting these in before the areas that require spray foam, such as the basement.  Also installed for spraying is a stud partition on the retaining wall in the habitable areas of the basement the spray will flow in behind the stud and up 50mm on it, leaving a 20mm airgap behind.

So spraying starts today, and will take approx 4-5 days to complete.  We had forgotten the Alarm 1st fix and scrambled to get a quote and fit this week - should be starting tomorrow, the spray foam contractor and the alarm fix will need to work around each other slightly as there are areas that have cable runs that need to be sprayed.

This week while that's going on, the priority is to order the outside render and inside slabs, to get a contractor to finish the job the other builder made a mess of and to get a steel mesh for the ICF where we're going to fix stone, as well as tidy up a list of snags before plastering..  Should keep me busy.

Electrical Fit

Electrical first fit is under way, all the socket, light and switch locations are marked, chased and cables are being pulled.  We spent a number of walk-arounds outlining where all these should go, having an experienced electrician is very useful to help with the better locations of these, from both a practical and aesthetic perspective. The fit-out should be finished this week, with the dropped ceiling slated to go in next week - the metal is being delivered on Sat.

The week following then I have spray -foam insulation lined up, then the house will be sealed (barring 1 window and the front door).  With insulation in we can install the plasterboard, and then we're ready in and out for plastering.

The front door section is still unfinished.  At this point I'm very unhappy with the builder - his efforts and attention to detail has slipped to zero and has cost me a lot of time and stress on the build.  I'm more than happy to give an anti-reference at this stage to anyone looking for ICF work done in the south-east.  We're meeting Friday with the engineer to discuss the work and we'll see what comes out of that.  The detail around the tanking and concrete of the flat roof sections are appalling - the concrete is not level or sloping from the house and cracked while drying.  Also the tanking membrane sticking out is not flush to the corners - I could put my fist down there.  Overall not good work, and while the entire job should have been completed in 2 weeks, 5 weeks later its still 1/2 finished.

Airtight tape and shutter blowouts

This weekend saw the roof areas being poured with concrete (over the insulation and DPC).  Unfortunately though there was a problem - the shuttering parapet didn't hold and blew out.  They started on the small area first and when that went the larger area was left.  Its messy, and puts more delay on getting it done.  The issue wasn't the wood shutters, or the ICF plastic tie in points, but the screws that were used to hold it in - they snapped.

Hopefully we'll be back on course to get another try with reinforced shutters tomorrow.

On the inside, the detail around the window and door openings continues - I poured concrete behind all the window sills on the top floor (so no more lugging buckets of concrete up there!) and have the basement and 1/2 the middle floor left to do.  I also started taping windows where I've poured the concrete.  I'm using a SIGA tape - its expensive stuff but its well designed for the job.

The tape sticks around the edge of the window frame and across the gap onto the wall reveal of the ICF.  This gap is filled with foam by the window installers, but that foam isn't airtight, so its a source of drafts and in winter that means cold air pouring in.  So the edge of every eindow and door needs to be taped up.  Its fiddly work with a small knife, and the tape is super-sticky, so your fingers get all glue'd up.  Also, sinve the gap between the window and wall is never uniform you end up having to patch parts of it - its not as easy as the guy in the video makes it look!

Here is the window tape - Corvum 12/48.  The window is sealed, but I also need to add tape to seal the inside EPS to the reveal - once I cut the metal window pins back to the minimum size.

As well as the windows, anywhere a pipe exits the building is a source for unwanted air to come in.  The key is to try and only have the MHRV as the source for air in the house - that way all the air coming in is pre-warmed.  Rissan tape is used on the pipes - and if the window tape is super sticky this stuff is unbelievable.  I'm like a football commentator running out of superlatives.

Here's some of the Rissan on a 4" waste pipe

Flat roof tanking

Flat roof tanking is underway - ideally it would have been finished but - as usual - there are delays in getting work done with this builder.

The flat roofs are particularly difficult to ensure they are watertight.  We also need to reduce any heat loss.  The engineer has specified a detail as follows:

Its basically a layer of insulation, covered by a DPC layer, on top of which is a layer of concrete that overhangs the wall on which the roof sits.  This concrete is leveled with a gentle fall to the gutter.  Flashing on the wall should prevent water getting under the DPC layer by dripping down.

So - as this gets assembled we have the following for the insulation clad roof with the overhang shuttered

Then with the DPC layer on top

Clearly lots left to be done.

Also the first fit plumbing has gone in, with the first electrical fix to follow.  There is an insane amount of cabling to go in, with a decent spec on the usual's, and a lot of Cat 6 cables. there will be a lot of runs.  The vaulted living room ceiling and the stairs poses interesting areas to light in a suitable way, that also allows us to make a feature of it.

We've also booked in plastering in and out to start in 6 weeks - worse case we'll get everywhere but the front door plastered.

Stairs complete

Finally the stairs is complete - the sage of this has been a bit of torture, and has held up a lot of the work that needs to be done over the next week - that will then allow some parallel work to take place.  The concrete will be finished off with a stone cladding on the topside and plastered underneath.  

With this in place the windows can be installed and the roofs tanked giving us a weatherproof house (bar the front door and 1 window) and plumbing 1st fit can begin next week.  There are some changes in the design that will effect the plumbing, a bit of concrete slab chiseling will be required as well as getting out to the outside for waste pipes. These will have to be carefully sealed afterwards to prevent future air and water ingress.

So plan for the next week:

Thursday - Window install
Wed -> End June - Roofs tanked
Sat - mark out the plumbing areas and get cutting the concrete, seal off the front door area with timber to prevent access.
Next week start 1st fit plumbing.

Filling in the Sills

The window sill work got started on the weekend.  The timing was dictated by the fact the bay window needs to be fixed into something solid at the bottom - this is a job that needs to be done but not until 1st fix carpentry when the window boards would be going in.

The thing here is to ensure that we dont' create a massive cold bridge by the concrete filling conducting heat into the stone window sills.  To do that, the DPC membrane is pulled up tight on the sill and against that a 1" thick layer of ICF insulation is placed along the DPC.  Then concrete can be poured into the gap between that insulation and the internal ICF wall.  I used can-foam to try and fill any gaps at the bottom or where multiple sheets of insulation were used.