Up Top

Over the weekend I managed to get up onto the top floor and have a look.  The walls are poured with only the gable-ends left to build up to their peaks... so still a lot of the defining shape of the house is left. Still, getting up there and looking around I could start to pace out where our bedrooms are, the en-suites etc, and check out the views we'll get from these rooms.  Again the windows should be long, close to the floor at the bottom and heading up to a regular height, here in this end is our bedroom and en-suite and somewhere as well is the walk-in-wardrobe that was the principle design effort in terms of sizing! All I know is i'll probably get a drawer or two if I'm lucky.

Also you can stand where the balcony over the living room is and look down into that area.  As the height at that point is significant it seems like a long way down and I'm not worried that the landing area there will be part of the sitting room. its the guts of 3.5 meters here.  The right edge will have a wall running along its length partitioning the stairwell from this room completely.

Once the gables are up we can then start fitting cills and measuring windows as all the openings will be cut.  All going well we can start all that process next week.  Then the stairs needs to be specified and poured - we'll be able to access all levels easily, and the roofer starts.  Then I'll feel like we have some real momentum again.

Almost there

With the height extensions on our ground floor, we've come up against the fact that the house is taller than had been anticipated.  With the ICF walls in bright white, this means we have a very stark impact on the countryside - I can see the house as I drive down from 25 kms away if truth be told.  However, when the roof is sitting on top, we've stone on a large % of the front and a muted render (I guess my dreamed of cerise pink is a no no) then it'll fade back a bit into the environment.  A few pieces of strategically placed vegetation and the fig-leaf covering will be in place.

Right now though its imposing - standing at the front door I look up over 8m to the roof plate which is almost complete.  The roof will drag the effect of this down ideally.  So - Roof plate finally is in sight with the projected pour of these walls tomorrow.  Then the roofer can get busy, we can start casting the stairs and screeding the exposed areas of the hollow-core to stop water pouring in. That'll be a major milestone, enable us to unlock more of our mortgage and start locking in the next parts of the build.  Its been tough to write about this for the last couple of weeks as I'm feel I'm repeating myself at the moment, it's been a week away for the last month and its frustrating.  However the pendulum will swing and soon I'll be giving out about the amount of time it's taking up!  Never happy me.

This was a couple of days ago as the top floor is being constructed.  Without a stairs there is no way for me to get up onto that floor either - so I've no idea what its like up there, but our architect was very happy with the views from that floor where our family bedrooms will all be.  With the heights all finalised, our room ceilings are even higher than we'd originally hoped - with the bulk of the ground floor at 3.3m from finished floor to ceiling.  Plenty of cat swinging room in that.

Ground Floor slabs on

Finally we have the ground floor slabs on.  They were lifted in yesterday, and another stage of the house is completed.  It also helps us to get the real size of the rooms on this floor and many of these are the key rooms in the house as the most used.  The added height of the ceiling (to make up for the step in the kitchen) is evident when you walk in, below the floor to ceiling height is not too far off 3.5 meters, this will come down by 400mm with floor and suspended ceiling.  We can also start thinking of things such as kitchen layouts and other significant rooms that will effect parts of the build such as underfloor heating.  We're still a good 3 weeks behind where I wanted to be, so the race is on to get weather tight - something I'm clearly obsessed with at the moment.  The back rooms now seem dark - the concrete blocks don't reflect any light and we're used to having full daylight all over the rooms.

Window quotes still continue to come in.  There is a range of quotes as you'd expect from a number of companies with products that appear similar.  Some of the things I'm looking for are U-values (performance on insulation) and security - the first is important for us as we're at the edge of the heating system capability and anything we can claw back and save brings us closer to being able to work as is without adding extra heat  pumps.  The question will be how much of a premium that is worth, you spend pounds to save pennies over 20 years or so.  Once that is resolved, then the next phases are pretty much lined up to the point where we can think of starting the interior fit out.

Finally the perspective picture view with these slabs on and the steel frame completed on the front windows.

Slow going with blocks

The blocks are not going up anywhere nearly as quickly as we'd been sold.  These internal walls will be carrying load for the hollowcore 1st floor, so we can't get these in place until they are completed.  It's not a mis-estimation on the builders part, the issue is that the blockies didn't turn up for a few days, and I suspect didn't exactly do a full days work when they were there.  These guys are subcontracted by the structure builder, so I don't have a direct line to them, and the builder isn't always on site while these guys are supposed to be, so supervision is minimal.  At this stage with everyone complaining about the lack of work you'd think people would want to get through it and maintain a good name for the next job.  I guess not.

This story is nearly finished, most of the blocks are up and hopefully this will then get slabbed next week.  The final ICF row, internal blocks and then the roof (finally) can start.  In the picture the columns are either side of the fireplace.  We're looking to install a warm air circulation system, this is above the stove we'll fit here and allow air above it to get heated and circulate back out the top of the stack.  This should improve the heat we obtain from the unit when its on.  We still plasterboard over the area so this space is hidden, and we'll have to work out how to affix heavy items such as a TV etc.  But combined with the Heat-Recovery ventilation we can use the stove to pump heat all around the house.  It's located in the central open space, and warm air here will naturally circulate to the dining room, kitchen, back lobby and top landing.  However, if we're in a position that we're depending on this for heat we're already in trouble!

Again I'm only worried about the pace of building from the perspective of getting the house sealed.  We're getting quotes for windows, doors, stone and have plaster in mind, so if we get pushing we might have an intense 8-10 weeks to get weather tight and ready for internal fit-out.

Ground Floor internal walls

With the outside walls poured the work has started on the internal walls.  Again we'll start to see the floor plan come to life and be able to walk though the house, allowing us to start planning the interior layouts in our own heads.

There are more and more detail decisions we need to make at this stage, that we really haven't thought of.  Size of the opening for the stove, final ideas of room sizes, as well as starting to plan stone cladding, windows and cills.  It'll be a busy period now as we make these choices, view work in other houses and order in materials and labour. On top of that the roof will hopefully be ready to be started in another 2 weeks.  While that is going in, we want to be moving fast on all the other aspects - sills in, stone on, windows in or there-abouts and if we still have time maybe start the external render.

With the windows we'll end up with some problems.  The large windows in the basement are too big to have as side-hung, so while we could have a tilt & turn window closing it may be very difficult due to the weight.  The curved wall may either be segments or a curved pane- the latter may be very expensive.  We also have to decide if we want certain pane's divided or left as single large panes.  Thats all without deciding on colour and type.

We have a decision on the external stone - a natural stone cladding made up of quartz and granite.  This has proved to be significantly cheaper than natural stone to apply - both in the cost of the stone and more so in the cost of the labour to fit it.  We'll also need to sort out an installer for the sills - these require a bit more detail as damp-proofing needs to be installed as well.

Finally, we also have our first tenants in - a flock of swallows have built a nest in a girder inside the garage.  They did it a lot bloody quicker than we managed as well.  They'll be off for the winter, and hopefully when they get back there will be no way in for them.  The carport area is exposed though, so we'll have to ensure there are no handy nesting spots - otherwise Lorraine can park her car under the nest and clean up the consequence!

Steel up

With the steel now in around the windows and lower floor area the pace is back up.  Hopefully we'll be in a position to pour the walls of the next story Tuesday, and then it'll be a sprint to get the internal blocks up - these are needed to support the weight of the hollow-core floors above.  All in all we still may make it for the 3rd week in Aug to get to roof plate - once these slabs go up then there is only a section of ICF left to go as well as internal walls, and no details with steel for load bearing left.  Given that, ideally the roofer will start then while the stairwell is cast.

It's about 2-3 weeks off where I wanted to be at the start, we've had a lot of little niggle delays, mostly around specification and detail of areas that ideally would have been thought out to start with.  It's meant that we've had to go back and retrofit steel, penetrate the hollowcore floors and a few other things like that that make you roll your eyes a bit.  I'm all for getting sleeves rolled up and get moving, but a bit more thought on the engineering may have saved me a good few thousand euro by being rolled into the original cost and thus open for negotiation.  While the extra detail prices aren't exorbitant, its difficult to negotiate the prices as you've been locked into the builder for that section.

We also had a stonemason looking at the site as we've decided on what stone to use.  It's a natural stone cladding (comes in tile-like sections) but is made of natural stone.  The one we've picked is mostly quartz - its what we've been drawn to in the stone yards and I think the natural sheen on the stone will make it very changeable in the light.  We're also looking at internal walls where we may put stone - we're thinking of a grey slate in some areas of the basement.  Give that cave feel.

Windows are still not even quoted - there has been a big hold up in getting a proper window schedule, with designated fire hinges or toughened glass where required for regulations.  Not a massive blocker now, but we're now into the builders holidays and a lot of firms will be shut up for these 2 weeks.  It's all getting tight to get closed up by end of October.

Steel onsite

The steel for the windows and reinforcing the garage roof are now onsite, when you see it laid out you can see why it costs so much!  I thought it was a few small sections, but there is metres of the stuff.

Delayed on fabricating the structures needed, but with lightning in the area over the last few days I can understand a certain reluctance to be swinging some of these about.

Ground floor detail

The walls rising on the ground floor bring to it a number of details that have to be resolved as we construct.  There seem to be number of issues cropping up here, mostly as a result of changes and one that has been deferred until now.

• First off, we moved the kitchen wall out by a foot.  Sounds small, but what we all forgot is that there was a steel beam in the basement roof below that was waiting to carry that wall, and more importantly the weight of the hollow-core slabs on top of it.  We moved it as we're worried the kitchen would be smaller than we'd hoped.  Similarly, the front wall of the living room moved out 450mm or so to ensure it was sitting on the wall underneath it.  The incremental cost here is a new steel beam in the underside.
• We've decided to add another half block of ICF on the wall level of the ground floor - with the step in the kitchen the ceiling height there would have been affected, so to maintain a reasonable height there we need to up the size of the wall a little.  More cost of material to do so.
• The living room features windows that wrap around the corners, nice but something needs to carry the weight of the wall above and in particular the stone on that wall.  This requires steel box sections to carry these, with .  Up till now it's been left, but now the engineer has spec'ed it our builder is a little skittish about the fabrication of the piece.

With all that, timeline for the next bit are to pour these walls towards the end of this week, complete the internal blocks next week and lie the hollow-core slabs by the end of next week.  If we miss the last deadline, we'll have an issue as we'll be waiting 2 weeks while the floor slab company are on holidays.  If we make it, it's likely we'll get all the walls completed by mid-august and look at starting on the roof.

Ground Floor walls started

The Radon barrier in, floor poured and the walls for the ground story are starting.  Had a look last night to see the progress and get a sense of the house as it sits back offset on the basement.  Also, all important, the tape measure to ensure the kitchen size is correct - 5.4m square.  The tape is correct, but without all the walls and ceiling on it's really hard to judge the size accurately.  It was the same in the basement, rooms look a lot smaller until they are finished off.  So finger are crossed really that it will work out.

Here is the back wall of the house, the radon peeking out from where the walls join the footings.  Again lots of jacks are going up to support the walls, giving me confidence that they will be straight!  This phase will only take a few days, with the detail going in around the front door - it seems to transcend the levels of basement/ground floor so getting these levels right is a task for the architect.

In the meantime, our minds switch more firmly to stone and windows.  Realistically we need to order our windows in about 3-4 weeks.  Similarly, we'll need to get in cills and stonework before they arrive, and it's proving difficult to get the stone - colour is no problem but we like the more rectangular cut rather than square or round and sourcing it is tricky.  However we've seen it around so it can be done.

On the windows the PvC or Alu-Clad is still a topic.  We've quotes from several companies that are competitive and may open up alu-clads, still would be a massive stretch.  But, if we're going with black windows PvC suffer from expansion and contraction with heat and this will cause gaps to appear, with contraction in winter.  So we may end up saving on windows and spending money yearly on heating.  With the heating specification at a stretch that isn't ideal.  We're going to look at some samples on the weekend and see where it all stands.

The offset on the basement leaves us with a natural balcony from the sitting room, which will be great in summer.  The outline of it is going up above.  Also working out nicely is the vertical services shaft.  So far, so good - the next detail to go in at this level is central vacuum and HRV duct runs!

Ground Floor footings

The ground floor footings are laid out, defining all the rooms on this floor over the ground (as opposed to over the basement).  These have a Radon barrier placed over them and the interior filled back up with earth.

These footings will support the block walls internally, and ICF externally or for load-bearing.  The plumber has also been in to install soil-pipes for waste water and showers at this level so that they will be under the path level on the finished build.  This will stop all the pipes being visible on the finished walls.  For the 1st floor, these pipes will route via the suspended ceilings internally.

Also added at this stage are the draw pipes for the stove fire.  Since the rooms are not ventilated naturally, we don't want the fire drawing air from the room directly.  2 pipes are installed, one routing to the left of the stove (just at the edge of the curved section of wall), the other routing back to the kitchen wall.  This allows 2 directions for air to get into the fire, preventing downdraft from the chimney into the fire if the wind direction isn't favorable.

Next is the installation of the Radon, and remaining pipes to sit in this floor level.

With the perspective drawing, I'll keep a set of photos taken from roughly the same perspective and it will be interesting to see the progress to that - so far we look like this

Ground Floor

After a bit of re-jigging we're nearly ready to pour the ground floor.  The changes we made went in after the foundations were poured, so thankfully these limited the extent of what could change.  Now the next Radon barrier and floor are ready to go in on the areas not over the basement section.

We need to get the plumber back on site to install the pipes for the kitchen, bathrooms and utility areas, of course I should have really known this and arranged it earlier, but my inexperience shows through.  Luckily he's able to have a look today, and hopefully able to install soon after that, but the builder is a little unhappy at losing days.  In fairness though, I'm not hassling him on the days here and there he isn't on site (he's very reliable though) so a little leeway here from him should be expected, although I can understand he may be a bit frustrated after the delay with plan changes.  After this though, it should all be in his control and no more delays - the only other thing will b the 1st floor plumbing.

I also have to get a the HRV and central vacuum points arranged for this floor before the ICF is poured.  I have a fair idea where these will go, but the HRV in particular is a little more fuzzy as the designer refused to believe that the vertical service shaft would line up.  Of course he also refused to look at the updated set of plans I sent. Net result is that for the basement it wasn't a complicated run and we could extrapolate the duct run to the shaft, but the ground floor is more complex and I'll have to chase him for this.

2nd Foundations poured

With excellent weather there has been no reason to hold back and with the last of this section of groundworks completed it's a blessing with no delays for rain or the tracked vehicles tearing up the surface.  It's dry and compacted all over the next build area.  With a few days left of the sunshine forecast, hopefully we can get a solid start on the ground floor walls and bring up the house another level.

The changes to the walls mean that we owe our builder a revised drawing, I prefer he demands that rather than winging it, but any reason to stop is painful.  Hopefully our architect can jiggle these in CAD over the weekend and we can get started.  Neither of us can wait to step into the next floor, and no doubt the room sizes will be a topic of discussion.  If we're lucky, we could see the next 2 floors on within the month.

Cash flows

Finally we hear word that the bank has released the first stage payment.  After a very panicky 2 weeks where we managed to apply for, get approved and draw down a mortgage in record time (since 2008) the cash is en route to our solicitor and of right now has arrived!  That removes one cause of recent sleepless nights, perhaps cutting back on the coffee habit might get another hour or two.

Of course, as soon as we want to start groundworks and tanking, it starts to rain.  We have the first meter of bituthene sheeting up and its well stuck on - we can now add the drain around the back and fill with stone up to the level the water is weeping from the rock.  The rain is handy as it will help identify where that is, although we did mark it last time it rained... unusual to think that was some weeks ago in Ireland!! Hopefully the interior load-bearing block wall is completed today as well and we'll be ready for the for basement roof slabs.  The interior wall is block because unfortunately the architect forgot to account for the width on drawing the plans :/.  An ICF wall would be thicker at 200+mm, so we're using a 6" concrete block wall instead ~ 150mm.  This has an impact on the corridor, having that too narrow is pointless.

Also, we think we may have found the stone and window combination we like for the areas on the plans marked in as stone.  We have seen the stone on a hotel while on the prowl for suitable stone, so the next challenge is to try and ring them and identify where and what the stone is.  Window wise we're thinking about a two-tone window - cream/white  on the inside and black on the outside.  The stone is a yellow-y colour and will be warmer than a more traditional grey stone.

We've also put some thought into putting stone on the inside of the house - primarily on the wall of the living area that will be double height and contain the windows housing our main view.  I think it'll add a touch of rustic quality inside and having seen such in another house really liked the feel.  In doing so though, we had to preplan for the walls in the basement section to be reinforced to take the load of the extra weight - so not something we can just decide on the fly.  Mixing this with light woods and white interior might just do the job on that room and be light and airy.  Anyway - that's a good bit away at this stage so better keep focus on grubbing around in the dirt!

Basement ICF Poured

Yesterday afternoon saw the pour of the basement ICF walls.  At this point of the build these pours are the piece I'm most nervous of - I've seen an ICF build that had a noticeable wave in the wall due to movement of the ICF blocks during the pour (and failure to correct after).  This has knock on problems later with internal and external plaster costs increasing.

There was only about 13m3 of concrete to go in and with the use of a concrete pump this is a quick process.  With 2 cement trucks lined up to go we set up the pump on the top level of the cleared area, and the swing arm has plenty of reach left when we were pouring.

The pump itself is quite an impressive machine.  While pouring, the pump nozzle is constantly being moved around to keep the levels from building too far in a section of the wall.  After the first cement truck was empty the concrete was vibrated to remove some of the air trapped in the concrete.  The second load is added and concrete poured into the window cill openings.  The whole lot is floated off at the top and cills and the trucks head offsite, after an interesting display of "hide the sponge" while the pump is getting cleaned.

The next part is truing up the walls.  The jacks that are holding up the ICF are adjustable and there is a race against time to get the walls inline before the concrete hardens too much.  There is a builders line at the top of the wall that is used to check its horizontally aligned, and a level against each section to get it vertical.  After a number of adjustments things look good, and we leave the wall to cure.

Into the wall we've set a number of ducts - 400x200mm areas for dual HRV ducts, 4" pipe for electrical cables - both of these are set into the ceiling area.  For the vacuum there is a set of 55mm pipes in the subfloor area.  Hopefully these are all correctly set and we won't be breaking through the walls later.

So next week we're back on groundworks and a few other bits and pieces.  We need to tank and backfill against the retaining wall, install a drain at the back of the wall and raise up some of the level that the top section of the house will sit on.  Foundations for load-bearing walls on the ground floor also need to go in, floor slabs on top of the basement and for the ground floor and then we're ready to raise up again.

All going well, ideally we'll be looking to get the roofer onsite in about 4 weeks.

Planning Ducting

The HRV Installer called over to the site on Saturday morning, mostly to nose around and say hello (and get some money) and to see what we're about.  From my perspective it was good to discuss exactly how he wants us to prepare the walls for allowing his ducts to pass through.  With ICF, getting a hole in the wall after the fact is not easy - you need reasonably expensive drilling bits, and they get destroyed. So planning anything in advance saves a vast effort later.  The same for the central vacuum, and we'll also put in smaller ducts for routing electrical cables around during the 1st fix.

Rather than placing the ducts in first and pouring concrete around them we'll put in a frame that allows 25mm around the duct.  There are 2 good reasons to do this - 1) the ducts have an insulation jacket around them that might not play nice with the concrete and 2) it allows a little wiggle room for the installer to move the pipes and generally adjust the length etc with less cutting.  So after 10 mins of agreeing the installation followed by an hour talking about rugby another piece of the overall jigsaw has been specified.

Also we're trying to determine the best way to tank the retaining wall.  Initially we were not going to backfill to the wall with earth and just have the drain at the back of the wall.  But the tanking system was concerning me.  The system is to use a bitumen membrane that is waterproof and is stuck to the ICF wall.  This is also taped to the radon barrier to provide a watertight layer wrapping the house.  The membrane is reasonably delicate, so on top of that is hung what is effectively industrial bubble wrap.  Its the same system used across the road.  The problem is that without backfill, the only thing holding it up is sticky pads, and I didn't think they'd last 30+ years.    So - on going back to the supplier the only solution is to backfill the cavity to hold the membrane against the wall - or go with a spray on plastic coating at twice the price.  Backfilling is a messy job but worth it in the end.

Hopefully we'll get the walls poured this week - it seems slow going again but the formwork is largely completed (we now have a doorway) with the delay being detail on how the stairs will sit (we'll be casting the stairs in place with concrete) and need to plan where starter bars that protrude from the wall will have to go.  Its a tricky piece of detail and the architect needs to get his measurements right here.  But - by the end of the week we may finally have an enclosed structure on the site, and getting the next foundations sorted out.

A little short..

The ICF is on going, with more of the basement walls being constructed.  The system we're using is new to the contractor - while the ICF idea is pretty much the same for all there are detail differences, such as distances between ties, sleeve & lintel details etc.  So its been a little slower going now while we learn the best approach of using the maximum material to fit with the dimensions of the house.  We also amend some of the dimensions, 50mm wider may allow easier cutting and could be preferable to 150mm shorter - especially when talking about room area.  Doesn't sound much, but I'd prefer to have it rather than not.

.  This section is the forward room in the basement, and you now see the size of the windows we're putting in down here.  More light is better, and in this section we're looking at having a study and a small home gym - so some welcome relief of contemplating the scenery is needed.  The bottom of the windows will be closer again to the finished floor, as there is 100mm of insulation and 100 of a concrete floor screed to go in.  With underfloor heating, I'd of liked to go thicker with the insulation, but the danger is that the concrete screed can crack on thicker levels of floor insulation.

The ICF Suppliers are also looking to get full up -front payment on the entire quantity of ICF.  They started with an initial amount, which should have been enough to complete the basement, but 'forgot' to leave enough of the sleeves for closing the window/door openings.  So we have to sort them out before pouring the basement.

You can see above the jacks to hold the ICF in place during the pour, as well as a walkway to use when pouring the concrete in the top.

Inside we have the steel rebar - and before pouring more will be placed perpendicular to these horizontal ones.  The inside of the ICF block is ridged - this is to allow the sleeves to slot into these ridges at the openings, but also to increase the internal surface area of the block to give the concrete more area to bind onto.

One question I wondered about was the ability hang heavy items off these walls - such as TV's shelves etc.  The insulating polystyrene itself isn't going to hold anything, but the plastic ties you can see have a head on them inside the polystyrene.  These are evenly spaced every 200mm and you can fix into these - they support pretty much whatever you'd consider fixing to a wall.  Rooted in the concrete, they have plenty of backing.

ICF Started

The first blocks of ICF are now going onto the basement!  These blocks are forming the front-outside walls and main load-bearing internal walls of the basement.  With these up, we'll be able to walk inside our house for the first time.

The blocks arrive flat-packed from the factory and open up with the plastic internal ties locking them into shape. These are then stacked like lego and steel bars places along them for reinforcing the concrete.  For door and window openings the blocks are simply sawed into the lengths.  No morter or glue is required to hold them together, the blocks fit via a set of plugs on top and sockets on the bottom in a snug fit.

The gap between the polystyrene needs to be shut at the door and window openings, lest the concrete pour out!  Another piece of polystyrene slots between the 2 layers facing into the gap.  Some ICF systems just use wood either, and this has the same effect, the only difference is that the polystyrene sleeves have a better insulation, and it's at the door and window joins that you get a lot of issues with cold-bridging and drafts.  Drafts can be sealed with an expandable foam insulation, but cold-bridging is harder.. its where a conductive material (such as metal) runs from the inside where its warm to the outside where its cold.  This creates a conductive bridge between the 2 environments that bypasses the insulation layers, and leaks heat at a high rate.  It's tricky as where components join it's very easy to create a bridge unknowingly.. an example might be if screws from the inside were to connect to brackets that hold in the windows, and the bracket were to be on the outside.  Its the detail like this that can turn a warm home into a cold one.  In designing the house, there are lots of places these can creep in, and then all it takes is a tradesman to take a short cut and you leak heat (and money!)

So this week should see the build and pour of the basement sections.  I managed to procure a number of ducts from the HRV supplier to place into the walls before we pour the concrete, we'll also add a couple of other 6" or similar ducts to allow electrical cabling and the central vacuum to route through.  This will save drilling through the concrete later (if we've thought of everything).

So far we only have some of the walls complete, waiting on confirmation of the window sizes to properly construct the walls.

The weather right now is fantastic, long may it continue!!  In other news, the bank has re-approved our mortgage and once we re-sign updated documents we should be able to start accessing the money - a massive weight lifted off my shoulders on reading that.

Floor poured, 1st Walls up!

After being away for 10 days, the site looks very different again.  Before, we had a layout on the ground and had to imagine how it would look as we went.  Now that floor is concrete, and with the rear walls of the basement up it's gone 3D.  The rear walls are huge to stand beside - over 3.5 metres tall.  A typical room with reasonably high ceilings is about 2.7 metres tall, so we're a metre again up.  For a totally useless piece of information, the weight of just this section is about 340 tonnes!  Also completely useless is the fact that if you had a big enough crane, you could actually lift the entire structure up - the radon barrier completely separates it from the ground underneath.

There is an access panel for brining in the live ESB - it comes in at the base, in the floor, up through the wall into the meter box, then back through the wall up to the top of the wall.  This can then route into the suspended ceiling that will hang from the roof and route in the far corner in the picture (left most corner) - it comes in from picture right.

The wall itself is watertight (due to the amount of cement in the concrete) but the back of it nearest the wall needs to be tanked - that is made watertight (more so).  This involves placing a layer of waterproof membrane all along the wall and bonding it to the Radon barrier that is also waterproof. You can see the tight space that lies in here

The radon barrier is cleaned off and wrapped up tight to the wall and the membrane overlaps it.  Also in here we need to place a drain, as even when it's dry as today the back wall is weeping water.  A layer of drainage stone goes in, another of the yellow land-drainage pipes goes on top, and we fill in with more stone to above where the wall is damp, about 1.2 metres.  Where this picture is now will eventually be right under the main house itself.

We marked out the internal ICF walls as well, these will start to be assembled on Wednesday, and will form the rest of the outer walls, as well as some load bearing internal ones.  By Saturday, we're likely to be ready to pour these with concrete, and we'll have the first section of the house structure complete.

Before we pour, there are a number of services that need to transit through these walls, and we'll place pipes where they cross through before pouring.  This prevents us later having to drill though the mass concrete. All in all, now most of the tricky stage is complete, and with hopefully a few weeks of fine weather that you expect as all the poor students sit down to write exams, we can get cracking and make a good push on the build.  Finally - our nutritious grass and diesel fumes are having a positive effect on the local wildlife with a new lawnmower gambling about, no fear of our grass getting out of hand.

Radon-on

The weekend sees the floor coming along - the Radon barrier is down, steel cages are all in and the first set of pipes have been placed by the plumber.  With the radon barrier providing a sharp contrast in colour, the house outline is even clearer to see

On the left-hand side is where the basement bathroom will be, and the 2 long pipes in the center allow for cables to be run from the back where the electrical switchboard will be to the front for whatever purpose - outside sockets, gate intercom etc.  Great idea from the engineer and will save us a lot of bother in future when we wish to add or change any such cabling.  Of course, all I can think of is that it'll be the perfect way for Rats to get in as well, perhaps we should have made the diameter big enough to flush them through with a cat every so often.

With Monday being a bank holiday, realistically it will be Wednesday when the floor is poured.  With that finished, we'll have finally reached a stage where we can access our mortgage, and fingers crossed that it will still be there.  We have all the application signed and returned, but until you draw the funds it's still a little up in the air, and since we signed in January (with 30 days to draw down) its a little bit of worry in case anything has changed.  Our broker & bank have it on hold, but who knows.  It's a funny way of providing a build-mortgage, but you don't get any money upfront to start the project.  As you build (and add value to the site) then the bank pays you in arrears for that value.  This leaves you having to manage a tight cash flow, and all the unforeseeable extras serve to tighten the screw.

So by Wednesday I hope to have another milestone reached.  Again the clock here is to get weather-tight by the end of September (I won't say Summer) to allow us to work inside over Winter.

Shuttering the floor

With the pads in and ready, the surface to the pads has been flattened and shaped for the raft to be poured.  Yesterday, the shuttering outlining the area of the raft was constructed, today steel cages are being positioned into this as well as pipes for the basement bathroom/electrical conduit etc.  The radon barrier also has to go in, but we require 1-2 fine days for laying this.  Once all this is set up we can pour the first substantial concrete mass, and the first floor of our house is there.  We'll be able to see the outline of the area and see the real size of the living areas, especially as the walls start to be built onto it.

The notch in the middle of the photo outlines where the front door will be.  Aiming for this to be filled with concrete early next week, all going well.