Studwork & First Fix

Studwork & First Fix

by | Apr 10, 2012 | Studwork & first fix

Internally most of the walls are blockwork, but the timber

stud partitions also started going in after the roof went on.

The plumbers and electricians also started first fixing the

services, before walls and ceiling are plasterboarded.

 

Building the linen cupboard in the bathroom showed us the size of the bathroom and adjacent bedroom. Concealed in the back of the cupd. is also a vertical service duct that allows pipes, cables and ventilation ducts to travel between the different floors. We are also having under floor heating to the first floor, so the pipes are clipped to the floor before being insulated from below and covered in screed.

The engineered floor joists (also by Truss-Tech) make it much easier to run sevices through

the floor, and even the soil pipe runs up inside the building

hidden in our service riser.

It’s out of sight but accessible if necessary.

 

Hot and cold water pipes are clipped to the blockwork, ready to

be plastered over. We’ve chosen to build most of the walls from

blockwork which will be plastered. Although drylining is quicker

and more popular these days, we wanted the feeling of solid walls

which are easier to fix into. Our Architect also convinced us that

the heavy thermal mass will be better for storing heat, than a wall

with a plasterboard lining with an air gap behind.  Lightweight materials tend to

heat up and cool down quicker, where as heavier ones tend to vary less keeping the

interior of a building at a more constant temperature.

Tiling the roof

by | Apr 10, 2012 | Tiling theroof

Felting the roof and inserting rooflights was a big milestone

as it mean’t we were a step closer to being weather proof.

Next the chimney for our wood burning stove was built up

to ridgeheight, and a metal flue liner dropped down the

inside and the voids backfilled with vermiculite insulation.

Another exciting stage was fitting a reclaimed chimney pot ! Not only was this

physically the highest point of the building, but it also used to have

flowers in by our front door so it was nice to re-use something from

our old house.

Our black clay roof tiles are a similar colour to the slate on both

neighbouring houses, but cheaper to buy than real slate.

The interlocking design of the tiles also means that

they can be used at much lower pitches than slate, so we can

use the same tile on the roofs over our sunroom which is

only at 20 degrees.

 

As the tiling progressed outside, the roof was being insulated and

trusses boarded to create a rigid structure.  We’ve crammed as much

insulation into the roof as possible to make the most of the heat

from our ground source heat pump.

 

  On the lower roofs, the builder ran the felt across openings

which will have roof glazing fitted at a later date. This will

keep the worst of the weather out until the windows are

delivered, and allow work to continue internally.

 

 

 

Roof Trusses

Roof Trusses

by | Apr 10, 2012 | Roof Trusses

With the blockwork up to wall plate height, the next big

delivery was our roof trusses.  To maximise the use of space

within the roof space, we had specified attic trusses which

provide clear space in the attic for two extra rooms.

 

Arriving pre-fabricated from the manufacturersTruss-Tech on a large lorry, the

trusses were lifted straight onto the building by crane.

The first truss was the most difficult to stabilise, but as others

were added they were all fixed to each other and became more

secure.  Once the main trusses were in position, we could really

see the overall design taking shape. The steep roof pitch of 52

degrees not only matches the neighbouring properties but also

provides lots of headroom inside.

   With all the trusses in position the front

and rear blockwork gables were built up,

and areas of traditional rafters constructed

with openings for the rooflights.