Eco Houses

Well, what an interesting month or so. Some trades have surpassed themselves and some have been a big let down. I have always given people a chance and in some instances, several chances against my gut feelings. Not any more!

I now judge people on their ability to work hard, problem solve, being efficient with their time and getting a lot done on a daily basis. Mistakes are inevitable. But mistakes that show a lack of care or an inability to grasp the concept of the project are not acceptable. I have had to let some of the workforce go because I was constantly disappointed with their attitude and approach. My only regret was that I put up with things for longer than I should have.

The stage of the build is now at first fix in most areas and on the top floor the dry lining of the voids has started! How exciting is this? It is starting to come together. The exterior stonework is finished and looks amazing. This team of workmen are true artists. The windows are mostly fitted but we are still waiting for the glass to go in the large doors tomorrow. The original glazing firm who were appointed, were a real disappointment. The salesman came out and promised the earth, reassured me of the quality of the professional service that they could offer and then fitted the windows incorrectly! They are blaming the lack of fixing instructions, which is partly true, as these should have been supplied by the window firm. The glazing firm also used steel nails to fix the beading. Because these weren’t  galvanised or punched through and wood filled, they started to rust straight away. I think the firm thought that I might not have noticed. But I said

‘If you were unsure of the way to fix the glass, why didn’t you ask me? You told me you had fitted windows for thirty years’,
‘We have!’
‘What, wrong! Am I the only client to have objected?’
‘Well, customers don’t seem to know that much about glass and windows’.
………..uhm….there in lies the problem!

That’s this months summary! The under floor heating is in and the dry screed mix has set. The stone work looks amazing and the first fix plumbing and electric has started. The visqueen membrane and lats are giving the inside an eerie green tinge!

We had the most spectacular rainfall at just the wrong time. The flat area of a roof garden was like a swimming pool! We were fitting the heavy-duty membrane very late at night, having been lulled into a false sense of security by the good weather. The next day was a disaster! We were on site at 6am in pouring rain mopping and trying to secure the membrane again with duck tape. A squad of screeders arrived before seven; jumped out of their van and started to prepare for the screed at 8.00am. 300 wheel barrows later they were done. The main man dropped the squad home and then wait for this, he came back to do the garage concrete. This involved using a power float to create a smooth surface. Easy? Not when it had to be done every 2-3 hours all through the night! Now that’s dedication! Lee slept in his van on site in between the power floating and left at 6am after his last polishing……..amazing!!!

Masses seems to be happening on site. We are rushing around like loonies and yet time seems to stand still….strange.
The quest to get the right cavity stops took a whole day of phone calls and chasing around Tyne and Wear like a treasure hunt, for a fire rating of 130 minutes for the cavity stops. It was only spotted very late on by the builder, that these were exceptional and had to be specially made which takes 6 days. We didn’t have the luxury of 6 days because the stonework was flying up and the windows were being fitted. We had fortunately located a cancelled order of rock wall fire stop material that can be cut to size which considering the changes in the cavity dimensions was perfect!

‘Cavity trays’ are another sore point, as these were also over looked in one area where apparently they aren’t normally needed. One wall had to come down in order to fit them. I want this project done right, even if it means that walls have to be re-done.

We look drained and have been let down by two major suppliers. Although we have no choice but to stay with them for my build, I do not intend to use them in the next builds. Disorganised suppliers have cost me money. One phoned me back, promising the earth, apologised for the inconvenience and then still missed the next deadline that they set, with no phone call to me. ‘Actions speak louder than words.’

Leaders by Example was the title in the June edition of North East Life.

When on site daily, the progress seems slow, but people that visit every two or three weeks are surprised at the speed of the build. One local property developer that I have a great deal of respect for, came for the first time last week and said he was amazed at the concept and delivery of this project. He was very complimentary about the cleanliness of the site and said ‘I really take my hat off to you!’

 I never think of this project as being extraordinary. When you live and breathe something, it becomes ‘run of the mill.’ I would describe myself as being exceptionally ordinary and with few skills, apart from the vision to see projects in small steps from an initial idea to completion. To achieve this, I work with other people’s energies. One man came on-site to give me a quote for some work. He showed no interest in the methods used or recognition of the skills of my workmen. I found him draining to be with and not up beat enough to overcome the day-to-day issues. Attitude is king! I couldn’t see him fitting in with the others, so he didn’t get the job. Another tradesman came on-site, was keen to find out more about the development, looked to fit in and overcome the normal constraints of the construction world. He also had a good understanding of the big picture and the importance of each individual person’s contribution to make an effective team. Who would you pick???

This sums up the last few weeks. The progress has been slow and too bitty for my liking. Ideally, I would like all roofers on-site, then off; all brickies on-site then off; all stone masons on-site then off. This has been impossible due to the sequencing of things and challenges beyond my control!

The solar panels are fitted prior to the slates, on the rear elevation of the main house. We ordered these but they didn’t arrive! The roofers had to leave the job until these were installed then come back to fit the slates. The PV panels have brackets that go onto the SIP roof directly, and are then slated around (not an easy job). The PV panels then sit on top of the tiles.

The scaffold needs to come down to allow the rest of the block work to be finished. But it can’t come down until the solar PV has been fitted; the facias have had their second coat of stain and the guttering has been fitted. It has been too windy to paint. The dust on-site would have spoiled the finish. One thing has a knock on effect on everything else.

The stone masons are up to cill level and don’t want to go on until the windows are in. The joiner is saying that he can’t fit the windows until the stone masons have fitted the cills and the quarry are saying that the cills won’t be ready for another 3 weeks!!

The enormous glass atrium arrived on a lorry as two separate units; the aluminium support structure and the individual panes of glass.
This is one of those stages in the build that can either go very well or be problematic from the start.

The atrium was planned to be fittied into the profile of the apex created by the SIP design. We had to fit a purpose made galvanised steel ladder support system, that sits proud of the SIP panels, before the atrium could be attached. This was to give a platform for the block work (brickets), which straddled the two large pillars either side of the open void at the entrance to the building.

The steel triangle sat on two horizontal pads of brickets and was then securely fastened using huge bolts and scaffold tubing through the SIP panels. This tricky manoeuvre took 5 strong men over three hours, to negotiate the obstacles of narrowly placed scaffold bars. Health and safety is paramount. The bars are fixed across any voids to minimise accidents, but the men are telling me that this makes their job much harder, because they can’t freely access the points that they need to. Watching them all planning, organising and communicating effectively with each other in high winds, to ensure the successful landing of the heavy lintel, demonstrated the skills of this team chosen for the development.

Easy so far, you say, well not exactly! The external leaf block work cannot be built until the house has settled and taken the full weight of the roof. This is to allow the wall ties to be attached from the block work to the SIP panels in their final position. The wall ties could become stretched if this sequence is not followed. The cavity has to be as close to 58mm as possible and all internal sides must be kept clean from waste mortar to prevent any thermal bridging. This would be ok if the SIP panels hadn’t moved! When they were constructed, they were plumb. They now have as much as a 15mm difference from the ground floor to wall plate level.

The brickies have come into their own on meeting this challenge! They have to build block work walls that are plumb, that maintain the required cavity and in doing so have had to ignore the SIP panels. This meant that the atrium could fit into its slot relatively easily.

Where do I start to tell you about my new set of roofers?! They are outstanding!
The boss arrives on site at 7.45am, gets out the van and up the ladder in 45 seconds. Now that’s impressive. He and his team are well organised, highly motivated and good-humoured. They even wear their hard hats, without me having to lay the law down. The quality of their work has been commented on by all of my team. One of the roofers is very young but has been well trained and is gifted for this type of work. Laying slates is an art.

That led me to an observation. A couple of the labourers I have seen working, are not cut out for the role that they play. Horses for courses! Morale on site is affected by the dynamics of individual’s on site at any one time. If one individual is dragging his feet, working begrudgingly, sitting down and reading the paper after 30 minutes of work, then this silently irritates the other workers and becomes difficult to tackle without confrontation.

The roof slates are on the front elevation now and look splendid! I love the texture and the smooth grey finish that seems to change colour, as it reflects the sky throughout the day. I love the uniformity of them, standing in straight rows and yet the streaky, contrasts of the grain coming through to make each one an individual. The amount of decisions that had to be made to get to this stage has been time consuming. I didn’t realise how many options there are to roof systems and how each decision on the ridges, verges, venting, gullies, gutters, flashing kits for the roof lights, array of solar panels, have to all work and be synchronised with the approval of the roofers, solar installer, design team and the planners. To get to this stage has been another milestone on the build. At least all the decisions being made on the first house will carry through to the other plots.

The house is starting to have a personality now, as the roof rooms are watertight. I just long to be able to make a rich smelling cup of coffee, sit enjoying the views of the crops growing and the occasional deer galloping across the fields!

What a frustrating week and a real eye opener into the minority of workers in the construction industry who give everyone a bad name.
I have yet to find a roof firm that I feel happy with. The current one came recommended but I think they were used to smaller houses/extensions.

We agreed a price for the job. The main guy had been on site twice to see the building and had the architect’s drawings for 6 weeks. We agreed to buy the materials needed and arranged for them to be on site ready for the start day. Two blokes arrived and were slow to start as this was a different roof structure to normal and they needed clarification as to the construction of the lats and counter battens. They were hoping to use split lats and to nail these in place. This method isn’t appropriate for SIP roofs. The battens have to be bigger to allow for ventilation under the tiles and the nails won’t hold the lats in place because they don’t grip the OSB and polyurethane infill. The tyvec membrane was the first job, which I suggested they cracked on with, whilst I organised the spax screws for them.

I watched them working and realised how much they could get covered in a short time. This included them having regular phone and fag breaks. They then disappeared off site very early. The next day, two arrived on site, late, and sat in their van drinking tea, watching the two joiners and a scaffolder working. I asked them if they had everything they needed to start. They said ‘yes’ but they were waiting for the gaffa. This always confuses me. The two men seemed to know exactly what to do. Why don’t they get the job done and work efficiently without distractions to get their wages as soon as they can??? The main gaffa arrived. They all sat for a further 45mins then both vans drove off. I phoned the gaffa, immediately.

Telephone conversation:
‘What’s the crack, John?’
‘Well, I was going to give you a ring tonight to say that the job isn’t worth the money.’
‘But you agreed the price.’
‘Yes, but that didn’t include the gullies which we realised when we started the job, was a lot of work’.
‘Why did you give me an incomplete quote, then? You must be a millionaire to turn down this amount of work in the current climate. If you don’t think it was a lot for the work, why didn’t you work efficiently, instead of turning up late, being slow to get started then leaving 3 hours after?’
‘If you paid us more we would have worked like that, but it wasn’t worth it for the money!’
‘I don’t accept that comment from a skilled professional. In my job I get offered different rates of pay. I don’t work at a slower pace for the lower paid jobs or produce lesser quality work, because I have pride in my work and always want to do the best.
Why do you expect a better rate of pay to the other skilled men that you see on site working now and who have been since 8 am?’

What is it with roofers???!!

This working attitude drives me insane! I am a very reasonable client. I give a good wage but expect a high standard of workmanship and a good work ethic from all on site. When I see any worker slacking, even if they are on a price, I am not happy, because there will always be a knock-on effect. Trades follow on from one another. Time is money.

New roofer due for on-site meeting today…….watch this space!

Spring is finally here!

The winter has been a dark struggle with the build. The light at the end, is now here! I can feel the energy of Spring and now just want the calm, peaceful views of the uninterrupted countryside to be mine.
I watched the farmers from a distance ploughing an enormous field. Tiny red dots, trundling behind each other in a sea of rich soil. The team work, observed by a stranger like me, had a real connection to life and my own build project. Everyone who has been a part of my big team has worked with the utmost care and unspoken respect for each other. Some work has been dangerous and reliant on the team’s sixth sense and experience to protect the individuals.

The positivity of visitors and the construction team has been really uplifting. Passers-by are stopping and staring; trying to mentally work out the unusual angles or the intricate roof design. Time out of a busy lifestyle is crucial to balance the destructive nature of too many thoughts, pressures, responsibilities. This morning was a golden sunrise, not a breath of wind. I stopped, stared and listened in the middle of a walk. The continuous sounds of the birds chattering, a distance train, the gentle tinkling of the scaffold railings being moved by the joiners, was all could hear. Peace and tranquillity, so rare that I now make a point of capturing these moments.

We have gone round and round in circles searching for the ‘magic’ formula for a balanced, not ‘over designed’ recipe for sustainable energy. We want these houses to be carbon negative. This is a pretty tall order but necessary to reach code 6. The SAP’s calculations have worked against us big time as they have taken into account the large square area of the house, allowing for the possibility of numerous people living there.
The calculations also don’t seem to allow for the fact that we will need hardly any heat.

This is the other daft thing about the project. We are having to put in an oversized biomass boiler even though we know we won’t need this! Wet under floor heating will be used downstairs only, sourced by solar hot water and the biomass as a back up. Upstairs will have electric under floor heating in the wet rooms only. The passiv solar gain from the windows is calculated to be significant. The glass has a U-value of 1.1. The mechanical ventilation system and heat recovery unit will transfer the heat through flexible ducting, to the rooms needing heat. The plan of the ducting had to be changed in light of the direction of the ‘I’ beams. We are now happy that all rooms will be accommodated.

Solar PV panels will be used to produce over 2kw/h and will be integrated into the roof, even though these are on balance less efficient than the evacuated tubes, they are more aesthetically pleasing.

The wind turbine will produce 6kw/h and cost around 20k to install.
This overall, will mean that we calculate our usage to be less than 4kw/h. The surplus energy produced by the solar PV and the wind turbine will be sold back to the grid. An inverter will be used to change the current from DC to AC. The electric will be 3 phase electric produced by the wind turbine. If anyone is costing out a wind turbine for themselves, I would advise to make sure there is no nasty hidden extras like ground works, foundations, inverters, cabling, connection to the grid etc!