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Time for an Update


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This week has been hard work, but for all that, there's a lot to show for it. This post is an update - much more detail to follow when things have settled down in a week or so.

 

First of all, what's the end in mind? Have a look at this.

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Its roughly 10 by 10 with an internal garden (on the left hand side - the dark area is open boarding to allow air to circulate freely) The Piggery (of which more later) is the small (wire-frame image) building on the right of the image.

 

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We are using an ICF called Durisol. This shot shows a corner detail with our (as yet roofless) Piggery in the background. The blue marks show where the blocks were cut to size: and where the gap is a little bigger than finger width. A little foam was injected into those gaps.

 

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Here's a more general shot taken at about mid morning. As yet all hand laid, dry, no concrete. You can see the main contractor  (Dan) framed by the  the front door  framework.

 

The house fairly shot up... Here's where we'd got to by Wednesday

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And here's where we are today.

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A couple more window gaps to make, the final pour of concrete and that'll be it for the main build.

 

Everyone walking past says something like 'Where did that come from then?' I always take the time to talk to anyone who expresses an interest. It's important to explain to locals what's happening. There's a very big anti-build atmosphere centered on the Local Plan - it  has identified the A6 corridor (100 meters away) as the main area on which to achieve Wyre Borough's housing target.  Why the A6? It's a little higher than the local flood plain - ie. the area west of the M6, but East of Blackpool. Lot's of development has already taken place on known flood plain area round here; and justifiably, the LPA is taking stick for it.

 

I'm knackered. Lot's of challenges, lots of hard work, lots of satisfaction. It didn't all go smoothly.

Next post, much more detail and an analysis of what issues we faced and how we solved them.

The good bit? Needing to buy an SDS+ drill. 

(The term 'need' is correctly applied in this instance @Ferdinand )

 

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, iSelfBuild said:

Fantastic Ian! Great to see it coming together, seems like an age ago since that chat in the pub. 

 

Oh God yes....! I'd almost forgotten about that. Off at J33 on the M6, south along the A6 - look for the scaffold 1 mile south, and then turn right for Cockerham. First right into our lane

Drop in anytime.

Ian

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I'll try to find the time, absolutely love seeing peoples builds and I'm really impressed with your methodical approach to it all! My girlfriends parents are using Sam for their house re-build plans and they are very happy.

 

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7 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

Oh God yes....! I'd almost forgotten about that. Off at J33 on the M6, south along the A6 - look for the scaffold 1 mile south, and then turn right for Cockerham. First right into our lane

Drop in anytime.

Ian

I must call by next time we go south. J33 is where we always pull off for the cheap petrol.

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2 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I must call by next time we go south. J33 is where we always pull off for the cheap petrol.

 

And when you do Dave, I'll show you a shortcut back to (and from)  Forton Services. And where to get genuinely cheaper petrol - 3 minutes off the motorway at Sainsbury's next but one stop further south.

If you come off at J33 (south) it takes two minutes to our place. Give me an hour's notice and we'll get the kettle on.

Ian

 

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Any quicker it'd have to have been inflatable! :)

 

I must admit ICF was one of those terms and techniques amongst the many on here I'd kept meaning to investigate. These pictures make it much easier.

 

Is there additional insulation added inside/outside. I assume there's some sort of cold bridging consideration through the "block" bit of the insulated blocks?

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Just now, Onoff said:

Any quicker it'd have to have been inflatable! :)

[...]

Is there additional insulation added inside/outside. I assume there's some sort of cold bridging consideration through the "block" bit of the insulated blocks?

 

No, none. The only cold bridging considerations are with the huge west-facing windows we have. There's a massive RSJ above the west facing window.  Heart in mouth about that (RSJ)  for all the reasons widely discussed here. But we have strategies in place. And we have a 10% risk of overheating. Strategies planned for that too.

 

I haven't been this knackered for a good while. Builder's first time, architects first time, my first time, I was on-station from 0530 to 2030  every day last week; cleaning up, printing out stuff, generally helping, keeping a weather eye on everything, making tea, making my workshop available, fetching, carrying. And making a general mockery of our recent H+S thread. The main builder had questions that needed answers there and then. Owners have no options but to deliver. 

 

@Construction Channel.... and @Stones, at your suggestion I have large time-lapse videos ready for fettlin'. Deb says she'll stitch them together on her machine at work.

We have been lucky with the weather, soooo lucky.

 

More soon. Including a step by step breakdown of what went well and not so well. And how we solved the problems. Yes we had a couple of bursts - and they are nowhere near as dramatic as Kevin Mc WhatHisFace on 'telly would have you believe. Yes, the first time my [...] did [....] just a little bit.

 

Ian

 

 

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8 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

Including a step by step breakdown of what went well and not so well. And how we solved the problems. Yes we had a couple of bursts - and they are nowhere near as dramatic as Kevin Mc WhatHisFace on 'telly would have you believe. Yes, the first time my [...] did [....] just a little bit.

 

@recoveringacademic do you fill as you go with that system then or is there a point at which you get a man and a pump and fill the lot ..??

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30 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

 

More soon. Including a step by step breakdown of what went well and not so well. And how we solved the problems. Yes we had a couple of bursts - and they are nowhere near as dramatic as Kevin Mc WhatHisFace on 'telly would have you believe. Yes, the first time my [...] did [....] just a little bit.

 

Ian

 

 

 

You may well be planning to cover this in your step by step breakdown, but how did you brace the walls for the pour?

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2 hours ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

And when you do Dave, I'll show you a shortcut back to (and from)  Forton Services. And where to get genuinely cheaper petrol - 3 minutes off the motorway at Sainsbury's next but one stop further south.

If you come off at J33 (south) it takes two minutes to our place. Give me an hour's notice and we'll get the kettle on.

Ian

 

Bloody hell how much petrol do you notherners use?!

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2 hours ago, Stones said:

 

You may well be planning to cover this in your step by step breakdown, but how did you brace the walls for the pour?

 

18mm 8 by 4 OSB and a few double threaded screws driven with a normal cordless screwdriver. Not a Hammer or Impact driver. Not all of the walls, just corners and exposed bits. And wall joins.

 

I'll tell you why I know about wall joins sometime later. With piccies.

They say that the harshest lessons are the best don't they?

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Ahem! There's always one idiotic question...

 

What got poured? I'm seeing what looks like stacked up concrete blocks ready to be laid with foam insulation inside them...

 

I'm fundamentally not understanding this though it looks really good.

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14 minutes ago, Onoff said:

Ahem! There's always one idiotic question...

 

What got poured? I'm seeing what looks like stacked up concrete blocks ready to be laid with foam insulation inside them...

 

I'm fundamentally not understanding this though it looks really good.

 

LOL, you're looking at EPS blocks (ICF - Insulated Concrete Form) which are filled with concrete.

I must admit at first glance I thought they looked like hollow concrete blocks.

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They're more interesting than EPS. They seem to be made of recycled wood fibres in a cement matrix with insulation inside the holes on one side, but with the concrete fill towards the inside of the wall. That implies that they should be stronger than EPS ICF, less likely to burst, and the thermal mass (non permitted term) is near the inside of the wall and not surrounded by insulation so has some effect.

 

See the link in the first post.

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5 hours ago, Barney12 said:

 

LOL, you're looking at EPS blocks (ICF - Insulated Concrete Form) which are filled with concrete.

I must admit at first glance I thought they looked like hollow concrete blocks.

 

So what gets poured on site? Assumed they came pre poured and you lay them like normal blocks with mortar between? And then why do you need shuttering?

 

Alles ist nicht klar! :)

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5 hours ago, Barney12 said:

 

LOL, you're looking at EPS blocks (ICF - Insulated Concrete Form) which are filled with concrete.

 

Erm, no not EPS.

 

Here's too much detail

Briefly, here's the point: the blocks are wooden chips with the sugars and protein kicked out of them, dried and then embedded in a cementitious mixture, lightly fried for a bit and then bashed into shape. Ram a bit of EPS or PU into the corners and you have yourself a very well insulated (fire-proof) block. Light, easily stacked and cheap.

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