Week Twenty-one

Week beginning 24th October.

We’ve had a fantastic few days because our wonderful grandchildren, Niven and Caitlin, came to visit with our son Eddie and we were joined by Zadjil and Carolyn on Saturday.

It’s very important for us that Niven and Caitlin, and the rest of our family, enjoy our new place and want to be part of it.

They arrived on Thursday night and Caitlin slept in the caravan with us while Eddie and Niven stayed at Dalmally Railway Station where Graham and Liz provide very nice and quirky accomodation.

On Friday morning after Niven and Caitlin spent some time playing on the swing we went to Oban for lunch and to pick up extra supplies and the ladder for the mega-shed attic space. By the time we got back we only had time for a wee bit of quiet time before heading off to the Tyndrum Inn for dinner.

On Saturday morning Pete showed Eddie and the kids how to use the power tools and encouraged them to try things out.

Then it was time to get down to some work so Pete and Eddie set about assembling the loft ladder while Molly, Niven and Caitlin did some landscaping and tree planting.

We promised to go for a swim at the pool in Oban after lunch and just as we were getting ready to eat Zadjil and Carolyn arrived.

While Eddie, Zadjil and Carolyn wandered around Oban the four of us went for a swim. We had a great time and the youngsters had lots of shots on the flume as well as a bit of swimming and general water based fun.

Then we all met up and climbed the hill above the town to McCaigs Tower where there is a great view over the bay out towards Mull and some of the smaller islands close by.

Then it was off to Bar Rio for some excellent pizzas.

When we got back to the caravan and our half built home it was already dark so we decided to have a wee social in the mega-shed. Caitlin decided she wanted to call it a barn party. We had a lot of good chat and snacks and a good few glasses of wine. Since this was their last night Niven wanted to stay in the caravan and Caitlin went to the railway station with her dad.

Everyone left on Sunday at lunch time and we were sad to see them go but very happy that they came to spend some time here with us.

With everyone gone we decided to go and do our shopping and washing ready for the week ahead.

So here we are on Monday morning reinvigorated to get on with the build. The forecast for this week isn’t great but we are making a task list that includes outdoor work if the opportunity arises.

We are cuttting strips of OSB to cover the gaps under the eves at the top of the gables of the mega-shed. The rain is off for the moment so we are nailing them, standing on Gordon’s scaffolding tower that he brought the previous weekend, and Pete assembled on Thursday.

The weather is holding out for the moment so we are going to try and fit the rainproof membrane on the east roof of the mega-shed but to do that we first have to assemble the other scaffolding tower we have at the south gable end.

With both towers in place we can now stretch the membrane neatly along the roof starting at the top and working our way down. Pete carefully edges along the roof to staple the membrane. This way of doing it gives a much better result than when we tried to rush it last Wednesday.

Now we are fitting the breather membrane to the top of the north gable which is relatively easy because of Gordon’s tower. Thanks Gordon.

Our last task is to cut thirty batons to nail on top of the rainproof membrane ready for the purlins. We have to cut them short because we need to create a roof detail that helps rainwater run off.

That’s it for today, we are well pleased to have got one side of the roof waterproofed. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we can nail the batons onto the roof.

To get started this morning we need to get the tarpaulin off the east roof and move the roof ladder to that side but it is not proving to be an easy task and Molly is up on the roof trying to push the plastic and tarp off.

It’s taken a bit of time and effort preparing to do the batons but now we are ready to start and Molly is up the roof ladder with the nailgun and Pete is at the bottom of the roof making sure the batons are in line with the rafters. It’s going really well and we are half way along so are swapping roles because it’s quite tiring doing the roof work.

The batoning went much better than expected and the weather is holding out so we are going to completely remove the tarpaulion from the west roof and get on with doing the rainproof membrane on that side.

With the tarp and plastic off that side of the roof we can see that last Wednesday’s attempt at putting the membrane on was a bit rushed and shoddy so we are going to take the staples out and reattach the sheets we have already done then add more to complete the job.

Unbelievably the rain is staying off, apart from a bit of drizzle every now and again, so we are bashing on and getting the batons on the roof. Our system for doing the batoning is really working and we are steaming ahead, we’ll surely get this done today!

We’ve done it and we still have time to finish fitting the membrane on the south gable. What a day!

It’s Wednesday morning and it’s pouring, and the scaffolders are meant to be coming, and Andrew is coming to show us how to fit a window. It’s not looking like we’ll be able to do much outside today and Andrew has just messaged to say he’s on his way. He also says, “Hoping the sun pops out!” Pete is thinking, ‘Aye right!’

The rain has stopped quite unexpectedly!

The scaffolding lorry has arrived and Simon the boss is driving. He’s reversed the lorry in and is introducing himself. He is very apologetic about the delay and is offering us a handsome discount for the inconvenience. We accept gratefully and are happy that we are now going to have scaffolding to get on with the build. With luck, the scaff will be up by the weekend.

Andrew has just messaged to say that he is stuck in his seventh roadworks and it is taking him much longer to get here than it should.

The sun has come out!

In anticipation of Andrew’s arrival we have taken the black plastic sheet off the pallet of windows so we can see what we have. The other pallet is hidden behind piles of insulation and larch cladding and is difficult to get to (this was another rookie mistake on Pete’s part, when these deliveries arrived he wasn’t thinking through where to put the pallets and ended up creating this block). We aren’t completely unwrapping them in case the rain comes again.

The sun is still shining as Andrew arrives, an hour later than expected. We are getting straight into it and we unpack the windows ready to move and fit one of the bedroom windows.

This is a big heavy window, at over 115kg, and we are using all our strength to lift it onto the piano trolley Andrew has lent us. We are carefully wheeling it round the site, avoiding all the trip hazards, until we are in place.

With the window off the trolley, Andrew is ready to screw on the brackets which will secure the window to the building but we don’t have small enough screws to attach them without risking breaking the glass.

Molly has just left to go to Oban to get the appropriate screws (30mm x 4mm) so we are going to fit the kitchen window. This is possible without the shorter screws because the kitchen window doesn’t open and so has a thick frame all the way round, unlike the bedroom windows which do open.

Andrew is taping a special airproof cloth tape to the sides of the kitchen window, this will allow us to tape it onto the frame once installed. The airproof tape allows the building to be airtight, which is a crucial part of the whole passive style system.

Our windows are triple glazed and are made by Nordvest. We ordered the ones clad in aluminium on the basis that they will not need painted as frequently as wooden ones and so over their lifetime they will use less paint and need less maintenance.

Making decisions about materials and products is very difficult when you want to be environmentally sustainable. Often it is a dilema which product gives the best balance and it is almost impossible to always get it right. For example the land surveyor reecommended we have a concrete slab foundation and concrete is not a sustainable product, yet. On the other hand we have mitigated that by having a lot of insulation under and around it but the insulation is expanded polystyrene which is not a sustainable product. To try and balance these comprimises we have decided to use our concrete slab as the finished floor, in that way we are not using up additional resources to floor the house. So, as is obvious, making decisions about products and materials is complicated by compromise and dilema.

Molly’s back now with the shorter screws so we are going to fit the first big bedroom window. All the prep has been done so it’s ready to get lifted into place. Luckily for us Andrew is an experienced builder and knows how we can lift the window up onto the sill without breaking our backs.

We have created two ledges to rest the window on and are lifting each side a little and putting blocks in one at a time to raise the window to within a few centimeters of the sill so we can manage the lift without hurting ourselves. It is working really well and we have the window fitted in no time.

Andrew is leaving now having fitted the two bedroom windows and the kitchen window. Thanks Andrew you’ve made this a day to remember and thanks also for teaching us how to fit windows and giving us the confidence we need to keep going.

We’re going to fit the three small windows that were also on that pallet. We are taking our time to make sure we do everything correctly and get our measurements right before fitting the windows. These ones are much lighter and more manageable so we are confident we can fit them.

It’s been a fabulous few days, what with a wonderful family visit, the forecast rain staying away, getting the mega-shed roof rainproofed and having a house with six windows. We are a couple of very lucky and very happy self builders.