Friday, 20 January 2017

Green roofing


Today it is all go with green roof being craned in and laid out inn all its multiple layers finshed with Sedum and pebbles around the perimeter.

Down below the plumbers are finishing the first fix, much delayed since mid December, and  builders are constructing the supporting boundary wall.

Whilst the joiners are working on the external cladding which is almost completed.





Stepoc boundary wall
 A view of the green roof

 The pink north wall
Cladding finished by front door

Friday, 23 December 2016

External finishing of render and cladding

 Here are some images of the finished lime render, taken in a rainstorm, but showing something of the tones. The garage/studio is in off-white, whereas the house is in pink, to match the stone that is widely used around and about.
 The external stairs will now be pre-cast in the Lochton cement factory, and will arrive in late January, but the structures to support them are now in place.






 And here there is plasterboarding in progress in the lounge
 and in the hall


 whilst outside the cladding is going on the walls to the south and west






Strengthening the overhang and cladding with Scottish larch




Here are some pictures of the overhang, a feature of the main house. The engineer required it to be strengthened to support weight above, so it has become quite busy.
The framework is sthen covered in mesh to keep the flies and wasps out.
And finally it is clad in Scottish larch, using Stainless steel nails and with airgaps between boards to allow the space and indeed the whole roof to breathe.

Thursday, 10 November 2016

Ventilation system - MVHR 1st fix

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I have been busy this week putting in radial pipework for the ventilation system - Mechanical Ventilation and Hear Recovery = MVHR. The pipes go in the void between ceiling plasterboard and roof.
 See in the pics the long lengths of red 75mm pipe that either supply air to, or exhaust air from the house
 Some have double pipes to increase flow, esp if they are further from the machine that pumps air in/out. Bathroom and kitchen also have double pipes to enhance performance.
 It was quite tricky finding a place to run the pipes in some parts.
You may also see that Darren the sparkie has been in and run 1st fix cables everywhere, for electricity and data.
Here is an image of the large skylight bringing buckets of light into the centre of the house.

Saturday, 29 October 2016

Wind and watertight

 Here the ply roof is completed and the large Fakro skylight is visible [1.2x2.4m].
 Bill excavated thetracks for the drains and other service ducts from the garage to the roadside, where the specialist contractor took over.
The drains were linked out to the road services - a specialist contractor dealt with the road connection for sewer, water, gas and electric. They had a permit to close the road for 2 weeks, tho actually managed to complete the work in a week. The postie was pleased to be able to walk peacefully up the road, but I am sure the rest of Banchory population was less excited.

Wednesday, 5 October 2016

Void and roof construction

On top of the insulated roof, there is a ventilation void and a ply deck which will be the base for the waterproof layer and the green roof. This element also provides the 'outriggers' that offer shading from the mid-day sun.

The other unseen jobs were to attend to strapping of the timber frame to the foundation, and to fix in the large windows on the South side. The smaller windows had been installed in the factory when the timber frame was constructed.

 The skylight is strapped to the frame, to ensure that it does not blow off in a gale! Hardly likely given that it is triple glazed and weighs heavy - a four man lift.


And my contribution today was to take a large bag of rubbish away to the dump. Followed by another load of brash from the Lime trees whose basal growth I had been trimming back.
Also to organise BillG to remove a large pile of excavation from in front of the garage. However after one of 3 loads with tractor and trailer, a puncture emerged in one of the trailer tyres, so the other two loads were deferred.

Monday, 3 October 2016

Roof fitted - day3 30 Sept 2016

On the third day...
the roof was fitted.
Nice calm day at last, so less risk.
Meantime all the windows, doors and plasterboard  were located within the house,
ready for action.

 Roof cassettes constructed from Steico I-beams filled with wood fibre insulation, with a layer of wood fibre board over, to make a warm breathable roof.






 Laminated ringbeam surrounds the roof cassettes