The first few steel bits of the frame go up

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The first few steel posts go up. These are to support steel cross beams in areas where Glulam beams would have been too thick in terms of total building height.

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In the above photo you can see Bitrock has been applied to the outer edges of the frame to complete the external layer of Bitrock for those bits of the house that will be up against the retaining walls.

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The footing for the east garage wall and boundary wall alongside this has also been poured.

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This includes steel rods that have been epoxy bonded into holes drilled into the previously poured (and now set) footing to the rear garage wall.

Digger Hydraulics

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Compared to digging, smashing, bashing and moving material about by hand the hydraulics of diggers etc. on site is amazing.

Look at what this kid has done with syringes, and pipes. Maybe air not liquid in the pipes, but probably not.

Excavator+made+of+wood+and+syringe

First bit of the frame has gone up

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That’s a big set square !

The site is laid out with the steel cross beams in rough position:

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These are the feet that bolt the wooden and steel frame to the ground:

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OK, from outside this office doesn’t look like much:

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But check out the view !

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Glulam checks & other bits

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A lot of wind so far this week. All with a touch of “north” in it, so it’s turned cold. Occasional very heavy rain down pours.

Despite that, the ecofab team are making good progress checking all the Glulam frame bits of wood, one by one, before they start. Otherwise a section being wrong, when the frame is half up, could apparently be a complete screw up! So far all the checks have been fine. There have been a couple of bits that they’ve had to make some very minor tweaks to, but so far nothing has had to go back to the manufacturer.

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While that has been going on, the rest of the site team have finished the top slab pour (see above and below):

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This went into the site space that had the site cabin, which has now been replaced with a smaller one:

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The team have started on the groundworks for the eastern boundary wall and eastern garage wall footing:

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The frame construction prelims

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OK, so the bungalow demolition, dig out, retaining walls, foundation pads etc. were also project stages to get this far, but they weren’t the start of a clear up, frame Glulam by Glulam check to see it’s all as it should be, so the frame can start going up this week. All being good (the rest of the week wind and rain forecast is lots of both, which isn’t ideal) the frame will start to go up on Wednesday.

Having 9 of the ecofab team on site certainly makes quick work of any site jobs.

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By the early afternoon the garage area was a tidy collection of most of the site material.

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and the last concrete slab steel work was ready for the pour (which should be tomorrow, Tuesday the 19th).

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The last retaining walls are in

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The SE corner (back left if you have your back to the sea) corner of the site has had the shuttering for the last section of retaining wall and the boundary wall finished this week:

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The concrete has been poured into the shuttering.

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Shuttering has been taken down (and not yet tidied up, that was later).

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Above the retaining walls the site is levelled out for the section of the first floor that extends here.

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More Glulam beams have been delivered.

 

 

Groundworks are almost done

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The last site update I did was on the 20th of October, so almost 3 weeks ago !

The stainless steel elements of the frame had been delivered and the site had had it’s last big concrete pour, for the west side retaining wall. Great to have got to those retaining walls up an in place with no problems to the neighbouring property.

The rest of the frame, which is wooden Glulam beams, have arrived on site:

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In the above photo, you can also see that the site is covered in a black poly sheet that is then gravel covered. There to prevent plants growing up under the house.

Before that was put down, the shuttering on the retaining walls was taken down and further footings have been poured. You can also see the start of the replacement wall between Silver Spray and Ramoth.

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At the back (south) of the site, they are in the home straight putting up the last bits of retaining wall:

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The small section of the west retaining wall, that is being built up with blockwork, is also almost done:

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UK Fire Hearth Rules

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I’m putting in a lounge fire, in the form of a contained log burner.

These are the rules I’ve found regarding a hearth.

From http://www.stovefittersmanual.co.uk/articles/hearth-regulations/:

  • Stricter rules if a stove into a fireplace recess Vs a freestanding stove.
  • Freestanding stove rules (NOT in a recess):
    • assumes stove  is independently certified not to heat the hearth underneath it to more than 100 degrees centigrade;
    • 12mm thick non-combustible superimposed hearth onto the floor
    • Minimum size 840mm x 840mm
    • Minimum 150mm each side and behind the stove
    • Minimum 225mm in front of the door. Best practice is 300mm.

If it’s a stove going into a fireplace recess, also look at http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/stove-hearth-size.html.