The second house at the end of the sixth week
In the original schedule we were due to reach substantial completion by the end of this week. This is unlikely to happen until the end of next week as there were some delays, particularly around the external cladding work as there was a last minute change to the choice of finish and readjustments to both scaffolding and roof lines were required. As the tenant from the second house was due to return from holiday today a special effort was made to complete as much as possible there, leaving more work to do at the first house next week.
Work completed this week included:
- External wall insulation continued boarding out at both houses
- Brick effect render applied to the lower half with dash to the upper half of the second house
- Dash render applied to the outbuilding at the second house
- External fixtures such as the satellite dish etc put back at the second house
- Scaffold removed at the second house
- General cleaning and tidying up internally at the second house
- False ceilings added to the outbuildings at both houses to hide heating pipe work
- Wattbox and data monitoring systems installed at both houses
Midway through the creating the brick effect
Close up of the brick effect finish
The pace of work seemed to slow somewhat this week. This was mainly because some of the work we thought was complete actually needed redoing or adjusting in some way. This was true for the scaffolding which was inappropriately designed for the external cladding work and required adjustment. Similarly we had to rework the roof line extensions as they turned out to be inadequate. And we had to drain and recommission the solar thermal system in order to complete the heat meter installation. All of this extra work could have been avoided with better planning or forward thinking. Not only does this impact on the schedule but it also breeds an air of discontent amongst workers on site, managers off site and tenants alike.
Work completed this week included:
- Scaffold adjustments
- Roof line adjustments
- Heat meters installed
- Concrete front door canopies broken off – this was done to minimise the risk of thermal bridging and new canopies will be provided
- External wall insulation boarding out
Boarding out the front of the house
Boarding out the rear of the house
External wall insulation and cladding materials waiting to be installed
This week saw a last minute change to the choice of decorative finish for the external wall cladding. This caused a slight delay as new materials had to be ordered. Then when Transcast arrived onsite to deliver materials before starting work they pointed out several problems with the scaffolding. It emerged that the scaffold currently in place is not appropriate for the nature of the cladding work. A compromise had to be reached in order to minimise the extra costs associated with scaffold adjustments, nevertheless a number of adjustments will have to happen.
In the midst of these discussions the following work was completed this week:
- New showers installed at both houses
- Solar PV system installed at the second house
- Pyranometers and water meters installed at both houses
- All new window and door installations completed at both houses
- Heating pipes lagged where necessary
Bowater installing one of their new "Smart Sash" windows
Installing the pyranometer on the chimney to monitor the solar irradiation
A good pace of work has been maintained this week and tasks completed include:
- New windows and doors installed at the first house (ongoing)
- Commissioning of both wood pellet boilers
- Solar thermal installations completed at both houses
- Solar PV installed at the first house
- Ongoing work to extend roof lines, move drains and soil pipe at the second house
- Electrical preparation work required for Wattbox heating controller and energy monitoring systems
New windows and doors waiting to be installed at the first house
Solar PV system waiting to be installed at the first house
Installing the boiler
Installing the boiler flue
The second house during the second week
Work started on the second house this week and as we were repeating work that had already been done at the first house everything seemed to proceed very quickly. Although the tenant in the first house is remaining in her home throughout this project, the tenant in the second house has decided to go and stay with relatives for summer holidays. We are hoping that the majority of work will be finished before she returns home at the end of August.
Work completed during the second week included:
The roof lines had to be extended in order to accommodate the external wall cladding
- Scaffold up at the second house
- Existing heating systems removed at both houses
- Outbuilding reconfiguration
- Drains and soil pipe moved
- Roof-line extended at gable
- Lintel reinforcement completed at the first house
- Heating pipes rerouted in preparation for new systems
- Hot water cylinder installed at the second house
- Radiators installed at second house (not required at the first house as we are bolting on to an existing central heating system)
- Wood pellet boilers delivered (along with 1 tonne of bagged pellets)
- Wood pellet storage and other storage solutions delivered
- Pyranometer and heat meter delivered to site
We had some difficulty getting the boilers into location inside the outbuildings at the rear of both properties. The boilers are a lot larger than their gas counterparts and could not be brought through the house. Access around the side of the house was straightforward at the second house but we had to bring the boiler in through the neighbour’s garden at the first house. The neighbours very kindly allowed us to temporarily remove a fence panel in order to get the boiler through.
Wood pellet boilers delivered to site
1 tonne of bagged pellets was delivered with the boilers (1/2 tonne for each house). These pellets had to go straight into storage as the bags they come in are not waterproof and it was a bit rainy that morning!
After all the investigations with the lintels we decided to install new concrete lintels where necessary at the first house. The window openings at the second house were in a better state of repair and so we decided to leave them as they are.
Midway through putting the scaffold up at the first house
We have started work on the first of our two houses. Work will start on the second house next week. Work completed during the first week included:
New hot water cylinder waiting to be installed
- Skip delivered
- Scaffold put up
- Outbuilding reconfiguration (ongoing)
- Drains and soil pipe moved (ongoing)
- Roof-line extended at gable (ongoing)
- Investigations into state of existing lintels above windows and doors (ongoing)
- Heating pipes rerouted in preparation for new systems (ongoing)
- Hot water cylinder installed
We had to move the soil pipe in order to make room for the external wall insulation. This proved most problematic and in the end new connections and a new manhole cover was required. Part of the problem was caused by other work taking place in the outbuilding. Here one of the doorways had to be removed and a new wall built in its place. Unfortunately the new wall happened to be directly over the connection point for the soil pipes. So it would have been much easier to move the soil pipe if we hadn’t already bricked up that doorway. At the second house we plan to move the soil pipe before the wall is built!
New connections for the soil pipes
We had to move all of the drains in order to accommodate the external wall cladding
Kinetics’ builders were onsite from 8am this morning to start work on some of the demolitions and constructions at the first of our two houses.
Skip installed at the first house
A large skip was delivered and placed in the front garden and work began on the outbuilding which requires some remodelling of the internal space in readiness for the boiler installation. The outbuildings are currently used for storage and as a utility area so all appliances and stored items had to be removed before the work could begin. Items were stored in a gazebo in the garden and put back again at the end of the day.
Further discussions were had between Kinetics management team and their builders regarding the lintels. We are all hoping that the work on the lintels won’t cause too much disruption to the schedule or to the interior decor.
Discussing the lintel problem with Kinetics
Visited then tenants today to give a final briefing before the construction phase starts next week. We went through all the jobs that are likely to happen in the first week and I gave them the most up to date schedule of work. Its unlikely that we will stick to the schedule exactly each day but at least it gives them an idea of what to expect each week and they can tick jobs off as and when they are completed.
Another hectic site visit today as I met with Warwick District Council, Bershe Rolt (lintel specialists), Bowater and Kinetics in order to discuss and evaluate the lintel problem. Bowater were also there to complete their measuring up for the windows and doors.
It is unlikely that these houses were built with lintels as they weren’t really needed for windows with wooden frames which were able to take some of the load. But when it comes to retrofitting new PVC-U windows, some extra reinforcement is required because there won’t be enough strength in the new frame.
The general consensus from today’s site visit was that some lintel reinforcement might be required for the ground floor windows where some work has already been done in the past to reinforce the structure. The the first floor window openings are in a worse condition and for these it is likely that we will need to cut back the brick corbelling and instate new concrete lintels.
I met onsite with Bowater today so that they could take accurate measurements for their windows. Transcast came along as well so that between them they could agree on some of the detailing around window reveals and door frames etc. Whilst they were measuring up Bowater noticed some irregularities in the opening shapes and sizes and even some sagging to the brick corbelling above the windows on the first floor.
It is now looking likely that we will need to reinforce or replace lintels before the new windows and doors can be fitted. I will need to arrange another site visit with a structural engineer to confirm what will be required.
