Words of Wisdom

I read this recently and wanted to post it as a reminder to people who want to renovate or build,  but always have to choose the cheapest stuff, and the cheapest option. It is not always the best way to go and could well end up costing you more in the long run or end up with a result that is piss poor compared to what it could have been with a little less penny pinching.

I understand if money is really tight but if that is that case go for second hand quality rather than new cheap. 

There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person’s lawful prey. 

It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. 

When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. 

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can’t be done. 

If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.

_________________

More notes on Insulation

Going back to the insulation there were a couple of shots I missed that really show well how the thick stuff is suspended under the chevrons with the thinner stuff in between.
I hope they make up for any deficiency in my written description.

Return to the Little Bog Window

MrsB has been at the stonework again after we made this frame for the downstairs toilet/shower room window



it was then fitted but there was a gap underneath seen here



So we needed to fill in the gap to blend it in better and now it looks like this.



Lovely Jubbly

You've got some FRONT

After much deliberation we decided on getting bespoke hardwood windows made for the front. One of the main reasons was that none of the windows were the same size and we wanted to harmonise the look of the front .
Our carpenter Mick, who has been involved in three of the major “WOW factor” works in the house so far measured them up and used his mates workshop in the UK to fabricate them in the traditional style 


Front of the house started like this when we bought it 



and then after the roof was done with the dipped dormas looked like this 



and then with the stonework complete and joined up looked like this 



MrsB had always loved the kitchen door and wanted a new one made in exact replica. I always said that if we had a new door made wouldn’t it be better to have one without all the gaps and rotten wood. I wanted there to be a bit more glass in it because the kitchen is a tad dark (as these old places so often are), however MrsB was adamant and we commissioned Mick to make the door, which to be fair he had said he would really like to do on several occasions through the build. 
When you have a gifted, artistic carpenter who understands your vision it does make life easier. He first produced tis doorway as the new portal between the kitchen and lounge after aphone call with MrsB when I was at sea and he said he had an idea that we would probably like. She ssiad go for it and this was what he produced.



Then when we were discussing the stairs he said that to use some of the old beams we had taken out of the kitchen would make a stunning set of stairs and given the go ahead and with me as his eager assistant he hand crafted these beauties




So as you can imagine we were expecting something pretty good and both of us just happened to be hovering about up near the front when his van arrived loaded with the windows and door.

Here we are unloading 



Here is the kitchen window and one of the dipped dorma windows 



Here is the new door being fitted with me doing a special yoga pose 



And here it is in situ form various angles









And from the inside





And some detail work
It is double rebated with draught exclusion fitted. The outside will be painted and the inside oiled once all the pegs are in place. 
The windows are hardwood they will first receive a double coat of “aluminum hardwood primer”, then two coats of exterior undercoat (each one sanded after drying) and finally two top coats of exterior gloss. You will have to wait for the finished colour shots as that wont happen until May 





So next in went the kitchen window and the studio window. 







There was then a little bit of jiggery pokery to get the dipped dormas in place



And then there they were





So now it was a case of fitting the balconies we had a local blacksmith/artist make to measure a couple of years ago 













And then we had to work on the peddys above the dormas to neaten them up and weather proof it. This is all done in 30mm thick oak feathered by hand and fitted bespoke to each peddy.





And the finished result is this









As I type MrsB has completed the stonework under the little window to blend it is. The green door is going to have a bigger higher window opening cut into it with a double fan light above to match the one above the kitchen door. I will obviously pop up a photo when that is done 
It has taken a little time and I still have the galvanise down pipes to do and sort out the land in front of the house and do the painting but as you can imagine MrsB and myself are as chuffed as nuts because we have come from this 



And with plenty of mutual imagination, agreement, disagreement, hard work, positive energy, love and the inspiration help of a gifted carpenter it now looks like this

 

Stand by for the next episode

Harry Chuffer

I mentioned earlier about anew addition to the Bentley family and here it is. 
We are now the very proud owners of a 1959 Renault D22



Ok OK It might need a little tlc and a respray etc (its original colour would have been orange and we will probably return it to its former glory) however as this thread shows we have a tendency to buy old relics and breath new life into them. 
On the now named "Harry Chuffer" the hydraulics work, the pto works, it sparks up first time and it is a 3 cylinder Deutz (I think) air cooled diesel so pretty much indestructible.
I think you can tell by my smile that I am already besotted and even though she is very slightly reluctant to admit it, so is MrsB

My Little Puppy Dust masks

I was playing with my lego bricks when I had a thought about the insulation 



I forgot to mention how you cut the thick stuff (125mm) as a knife is no use at all. 
I use a normal general saw which does it a treat, but you must mark it well either side and then make sure you are sawing to the lines on either side. 
You also need to cut in the beveled angle where it meets the ridge beam. This prevents any gaps for the warm to dash out of although any gaps you cant plug using off cuts you can use a bit of expanding foam if you are careful with it.
Just use a normal angle measure, that any carpenter would use, and then apply it to the edge you want to go to the ridge beam. Use the edge of the board as one line and then make your angled cut line and follow it with the saw, keeping level with the end of the board. ???? Hang on 
Reading through that I can see that I will need to do some photos when I get back home and post them in explaining it better. 

There is not much mess although you need to clean off the cuts with a stiff brush as the dust can be a pain when positioning the slabs. 
The dust can stick in your throat a bit and give a dry cough so I would strongly advise wearing a dust mask when cutting and installing the thick bits, as well as something to keep the worst of it out of your eyes.

The dust mask modeled below from the "my little puppy" range proved adequate. 

The little Bog Window

We had to sort out this small window space to the upper right of the bright green door as it is for the downstairs toilet/shower room. I haven’t sorted out the door frames yet so was unsure what to do with it but as the carpenter was coming to fit the new main windows I thought if I had it prepared he would be able to install it very quickly.
What was important was that it fitted seamlessly into the façade, so we decided on a small wood pillar which was an off cut of the one form the other side of the door.
I cut a rebate into the back to act as a reveal.

Before 
 

And after

 


(you can see Richard (the thermal store) in the background) 

We didn’t really need to get a bespoke window for this little opening as it will hardly ever be seen and is only about the size of one pane of glass of the main windows. WE came across a 45 euro job in Castorama and took it home to receive “the treatment”.
First I sanded off a load of that orange guff. Then gave it three coats of xylophone followed by a coat of wood preserver, followed by a two coats of wood primer (5 coats on the end grains) Once fitted it will receive two more undercoats and at least two top coats which should protect it from most major disasters. (can you see my braces under my belt?) 
I haven’t posted the pic of the window in place yet as that will come with the story of all the other windows going in which will follow this.

_________________

Installing Insulation whilst insulated from the cold

So here we go 

Having unloaded the Quinn Therm (same stuff as Celotex/Kingspan) into the master bedroom for storage it looked like this and nearly filled what is a bloody big room. 



We decided to start insulating up in the top of the mezzanine which is over the bathroom and opens out onto the office.
We cleared the bathroom floor and set up a cutting station there. 
The chosen item for cutting was a “Green River” deck knife with a stainless steel blade that was very well sharpened.
The other equipment need was a 2 meter straight edge and an easy to see tape measure.


Due to the space we were to work in and positioning of the Purlins we decided to do the 30mm (between chevron) insulation in 1200mm lengths. We went up into the space and measured between the chevrons. One measure for the top and one at 1200mm down. The chevrons were laid with 40mm centers so the gap between them was usually about 360mm. although it could be several mm difference over the 1200mm.
Cutting them 2mm oversize was the idea so that they fit into the gap firmly, neatly, with no air gaps and stayed in place with friction.
Once we have half a dozen to cut we went down and laid the straight edge over the sheet to be cut. Made our marks and then knelt on to the straight edge and made the cut. 

Here is MrsB demonstrating the technique.









You don’t have to cut all the way through as once you have gone over halfway it will break neatly along that line as long as the line is the full width of the board. Then just stand the board on its side bend it along the cut and then just cut through the silver foil form the other side and “voila” there is your ready to install board. 

This is where they had to go and as I mentioned earlier it leaves a 33mm gap behind the insulation and the membrane to allow for airflow and therefore no condensation problems 




First few bits in





These bits have been put in at the bottom first as it was easier to pup the top bits in over the top so they slipped up into the gap in the ridge and then we could bosh the bottom ones up to meet and get a good join ready for taping 





Here is the trimming process in action making sure you get a tight snug seal. We cut the bits a little oversize then cut a taper into the board. Then you fit it in and apply a bit pressure and lines made by the chevron will show you where to trim the rest from. Simple and effective.


 


Here we are coming to the edge so I have insulated over the gable and then cut a piece of 30mm so that when I put the big stuff up under the chevrons it fits against the gable as snug as you like and allows for no draughts or gaps.




Here are a few more bits further down the roof into the office and hopefully show the taping and how important it is to get into every gap, as fiddly as it can be. 













Here is a close up of the thick stuff on next to the Velux. 
You can see the counter batten holding the big bits up (at 30mm centers) and how tight and snug it is to the insulation around the velux itself.





And this is what it looks like when you have cut and fitted 
the big stuff over the top and counter battened ready for the placo to go on. 






.

Here we are making a start in the master bedroom using the tower scaffold to get it into place



You can see the air gap between the Insulation and the membrane and you can see my foil sandwich

that is to prevent draughts from the gable end.  




This is what it looks like when it is all taped up and ready to take the big stuff





And here you can clearly see the taping which is important to stop draughts. 





At the outer gable I have used multi foil with taped edges and two layers thick stapled to the outer slate holding chevrons and then I cut a piece of 30mm and laid it against that so that when I slide a big piece in against it, it forms a secure draught fee seal. You cant see that detail on here but it is there.

This is what it looks like after the first big piece goes up and if you look at the gable you can see some of my extra insulation there





The odd sized piece is basically the first one up to hold it in place while I get the proper batten ready and put in. 
We have marked the purlins in line with the middle of the chevrons so we know that when we drill through we will always find one. We then have a piece of wood with 30mm marks so that it makes lining up the screws easy.
The batten is offered up plain then marked, predrilled and countersunk. Finally it is offered up again and in go the 180mm screws which tighten everything up. 

At the moment we have done about a third of the roof and yet used half the material so I will have to get some more over here later but as spring and summer approach the insulation will be rainy day job. That said we will have to get on with it as we will have plenty of visitors coming soon    .