Overboarding bathroom

Back on the studwork this weekend.  Overboarding the straw walls in the family bathroom to provide something to fix pipework to and joinery, vanity tops etc.

Tiling!

A break from studwork this weekend to tile the utiity room ready for the heat pump and cylinder to arrive on 30th November.  First off setting out...

Then setting the aluminum angle which forms the edge of the mat well.

Starting laying, using a lime mortar (2:1).  We weren't sure how wet to make the mix, so we started with it quite dry.

The first bit complete!  It took us ages to do this tiny bit...!

Timber overboarding to kitchen wall

The clay plaster is now dry and so we started building the timber stud wall which sits infront of the clay.  We are only overboarding a few of the straw walls - this one will have all the kitchen units and cupboards fixed to it (it would have been difficult to fix into the straw).

The Self Builder

Our first article published in The Self Builder with Nu-Heat, who are supplying all our underfloor heating, ground source heat pump and solar thermal panels.  Check it out!

Designed to Breathe in The Self Builder

Studwork to the entrance lobby

We made a start on the studwork to the entrance lobby, there will be a built in cupboard against this wall for coats and shoes!

Plastering the kitchen wall

I forgot to say earlier that before we plaster onto the straw walls (with clay slip coat on them already) we wet them down.

We set ourselves a massive task today of plastering the whole kitchen / stair wall.  So we got busy...!

I am pleased to report we managed to plaster the whole wall...

... and in addition we also managed to plaster  the lobby wall!  Well done everyone!

Teasels

The garden is full of teasels at the moment!

Back on the clay

Some cracks have started to open up on the first section of wall we plastered on Tuesday.  We think this was to do with the straw substraight - it is very uneven and there are areas that are slightly more springy.

We are trying pushing the cracked area of clay in...

... and plastering over it.

The wall plastered today is in bedroom 4.

Break from the clay!

The flooring slate arrived today

It took us a long time to unload and store it.

Plastering the bathrooms

Next up is the ensuite...

Then the family bathroom.

First day of clay plastering

We have soaked the milled clay from Cambridgeshire Brick and Tile for over 24 hours.  This is the soaked clay.

Add water...

Mix into ...

... a clay slip...

add sand...

...mix...

lastly...

mix in chopped straw

buckets of clay ready to go!

The first wall to be plastered is in the master bedroom- this will be behind the wardrobe

The first wall complete!

Preparing for clay plastering

Some of the straw walls are going to be overboarded, for example behind the kitchen units, where we need to be able to fix cupboards etc.  The plan this week is to clay plaster the walls that will be overboarded.

One of the challenges is how to get the clay up to the first floor... so we built a hoist!  It is made of a timber frame, on which we fixed yacht pulleys...

We constructed a small platform which would fit up the stair void next to the ladder (without having to remove the ladder).  Chains fixed to the platform hooked onto the hook on the hoist.

Time for a test run...

The hoist in action!

Landing studwork

We completed the landing studwork and framing out the recessed bookshelf this weekend and also finished off some other odd bits.

The majority of the basic studwork is now completed.  On the main landing wall we have the ductwork for the MVHR ventilation system running.  The idea for this wall is to build it out (to make it a thick wall) and in the centre there is going to be a recessed bookshelf.  This weekend we started framing out the bookshelf and building the studwork on the other side of the ductwork.

More studwork

This weekends task was the partition between two of the bedrooms.  We are hoping to complete the studwork soon so we can post some more interesting photos on the blog!

Back to the studwork

After a brief break from studwork last weekend we were back on it this weekend - framing out the ensuite, including the shower (pictured above).

Plywood flooring

This weekend we focused on laying the plywood flooring upstairs and putting in the floor noggins (we did not complete these all - there were a lot to do!).  The 'smart ply' will form the base of our first floor build up.

Ductwork for the MVHR

The main supply and extract ductwork for the mechanical ventilation heat recovery system runs within the landing wall (the wall will be extra thick).    The supply pipe runs along the top and the extract underneath.

The ventilation system is required to provide the background ventilation because we are hoping to make the building very airtight and therefore would not get enough from drafts etc.  We also do not have any heating upstairs and are using the MVHR system to redistribute the heat around the house.

The MVHR system will supply air to the 'dry' rooms (bedrooms, sitting room, lobby etc) and extract air from the 'wet' rooms (bathrooms, utility room etc).  By undercutting the internal doors air will move from  the dry rooms (where it is being supplied) to the wet rooms (where it is extracted).

A short section of flexible ducting will be used to connect the main rigid ducts to the supply and extract grilles in the rooms.

More studwork

We finished off the studwork to the landing wall and doorway into the second bedroom.

Visit

Cambridge Carbon Footprint are arranging a visit to look round our house on 1st October, details can be found on their website.  Click here for more information.