Hi everyone,
I am writing this at the end of week 39, frustrated and bored ... and with no activity update to share. We've done absolutely nothing onsite for the last 5 weeks. The whole AC Yule debacle has left us way behind schedule now as our builder has only just finalised the roof glazing design and found an alternative supplier. Although this is massively disappointing and annoying, nothing we can do about it so we just have to hope we can maybe get something done before Xmas ... but I'm not holding my breath! Fingers crossed for quick delivery and good weather!!
Friday, 16 December 2011
Monday, 14 November 2011
Weeks 33 & 34 - Wiring and insulation ongoing ... but no glass!
Sorry folks, a bit of a delay for an update on weeks 33-39!
Very little productive activity happened over these 2 weeks (33-34). The sparkie pretty much got as far as he could with first fix and the insulation was fitted to most areas also. Stuck now before we can move onto plasterboard and further internal works as we need to get the big roof glazing sorted and fully watertight. Big shocker as AC Yules have gone into administration this week so we're struggling to find a structural glass supplier in Scotland who can meet our needs!! See photos - builder was playing around with the construction of the glazed hall (wk34) to see how best to construct the wooden support beams and position the glass.
Very little productive activity happened over these 2 weeks (33-34). The sparkie pretty much got as far as he could with first fix and the insulation was fitted to most areas also. Stuck now before we can move onto plasterboard and further internal works as we need to get the big roof glazing sorted and fully watertight. Big shocker as AC Yules have gone into administration this week so we're struggling to find a structural glass supplier in Scotland who can meet our needs!! See photos - builder was playing around with the construction of the glazed hall (wk34) to see how best to construct the wooden support beams and position the glass.
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| A temporary door into the main extension! |
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| Trying to show where support beams would be positioned |
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| View of the front door area - not sure if we're having a glass overhang yet |
Monday, 31 October 2011
Week 32 - Starting on the fireplace!
Hi everyone,
This week has seen more of the same on the wiring front with Booths and the electricians pretty much completing first fix. Insulation has also now been installed in most of the extension areas in readiness for plasterboard going up. We're still waiting on the large roof windows to be delivered, so until they turn up we can't get fully water tight, nor can we move to the next stage internally. They have managed to start the construction on the large brick fireplace however .... glad we went for the smaller sized one now! I know it looks like a BBQ pit at the moment!, but we think it will look great once finished all the way up to roof height. A nice mix of old and new as it will house our extremely funky Hwam glass fronted wood burning stove (http://www.hwam.com/products/insert+selection/hwam+i+3055)!
Away from the build site, we did manage to make some more decisions this week as we've now picked all our tiles for bathrooms, kitchen and dining spaces. Now just need to pick wooden floors and carpets! It never ends!!!
This week has seen more of the same on the wiring front with Booths and the electricians pretty much completing first fix. Insulation has also now been installed in most of the extension areas in readiness for plasterboard going up. We're still waiting on the large roof windows to be delivered, so until they turn up we can't get fully water tight, nor can we move to the next stage internally. They have managed to start the construction on the large brick fireplace however .... glad we went for the smaller sized one now! I know it looks like a BBQ pit at the moment!, but we think it will look great once finished all the way up to roof height. A nice mix of old and new as it will house our extremely funky Hwam glass fronted wood burning stove (http://www.hwam.com/products/insert+selection/hwam+i+3055)!
Away from the build site, we did manage to make some more decisions this week as we've now picked all our tiles for bathrooms, kitchen and dining spaces. Now just need to pick wooden floors and carpets! It never ends!!!
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| View from living room to fireplace .. and kitchen/dining space beyond |
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| Fireplace and Mill opening both using same reclaimed red brick |
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| View from dining space back to fireplace and living room ... wires everywhere! (Points for those that can spot Abbey dancing in the background!) |
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| Cable runs in the utility room .. looking through to entrance link |
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| Some Oak samples for floor ... Grey stone material is Caithness slate - we will use this for the glazed hall, inside and outside |
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Week 31 - Scots Slates, Big Doors, and Decking Posts!
Hi folks,
A busy time onsite this week. The old scots slate roof was reinstated on the North side of the Mill - reusing all the old slate. What a difference getting rid of the bright green roof! This sort of slate work is amazing as it is quite a talent working with all these different sizes. We still have the South side to do but will need to finish the roof glazing on the extension before we can do this.
We also managed to see the big corner sliding doors being installed on Friday. Big heavy things so glad I wasn't helping :-) ! They look really great in place and will be great for open deck access from kitchen / dining room in the summer (if we ever get one again!).
The decking foundations were also progressed with the steel structural posts getting anchored down. Wiring also continued with the electrician joining the wiggly worm (Abbey's words!) party for his first fix! Amazing how many lighting decisions you have to make when building a house, even at this stage!
A busy time onsite this week. The old scots slate roof was reinstated on the North side of the Mill - reusing all the old slate. What a difference getting rid of the bright green roof! This sort of slate work is amazing as it is quite a talent working with all these different sizes. We still have the South side to do but will need to finish the roof glazing on the extension before we can do this.
We also managed to see the big corner sliding doors being installed on Friday. Big heavy things so glad I wasn't helping :-) ! They look really great in place and will be great for open deck access from kitchen / dining room in the summer (if we ever get one again!).
The decking foundations were also progressed with the steel structural posts getting anchored down. Wiring also continued with the electrician joining the wiggly worm (Abbey's words!) party for his first fix! Amazing how many lighting decisions you have to make when building a house, even at this stage!
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| North facing roof with original slates replaced - looks great |
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| Closer view - we didn't clean the slate so that it all looks "as was" |
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| Big corner sliding doors arrive onsite |
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| Doors installed! .. not an easy job in such high winds |
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| Structural posts for decking are fitted in place |
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| Wiring ongoing! - note the outline of big red brick fireplace on the floor |
Week 30 - Heat recovery ventilation goes in ..
Hello,
This week the mechanical heat recovery ventilation system eventually appeared and first-fix installation started in the Mill and main extension areas. The unit itself is a bit of a monster actually, much bigger than we were expecting! It sits up in the small loft space that we have above the first floor landing. The ducting then branches out from there to the various rooms. By design it will extract from "wet rooms", recover that heat, then use the same heat to warm fresh air before pumping it back into the other rooms - basically giving a constant change-over of the air in all rooms without losing heat. It should be pretty much silent but we will be surrounding the loft and bedrooms with acoustic insulation just in case!
First fix plumbing also started this week. Spaghetti junction wiring continued also!
This week the mechanical heat recovery ventilation system eventually appeared and first-fix installation started in the Mill and main extension areas. The unit itself is a bit of a monster actually, much bigger than we were expecting! It sits up in the small loft space that we have above the first floor landing. The ducting then branches out from there to the various rooms. By design it will extract from "wet rooms", recover that heat, then use the same heat to warm fresh air before pumping it back into the other rooms - basically giving a constant change-over of the air in all rooms without losing heat. It should be pretty much silent but we will be surrounding the loft and bedrooms with acoustic insulation just in case!
First fix plumbing also started this week. Spaghetti junction wiring continued also!
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| A monster in the roof! |
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| Plumbing getting under way ... |
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Week 29 - Staircase - oh, suits you sir!
Hi folks,
WOW ... we have a staircase .... well part of one at least! A small thing in the grand scheme of things but an amazing transformation inside the Mill as no longer have to clamber up stepladders to the first floor and it almost looks like a house now. Abbey thinks they are the coolest thing ever and has yet to stop talking about them or wanting to show people!! This week has also seen Booth's make a start to the wiring for audio, data and TV throughout the house. Plan is to wire most of the rooms for ceiling speakers and data/TV, but not all will be connected initially, just the rooms used most will get connected now. Here's hoping we can start the electrics next week and pick up pace on the schedule now!
Later ....
WOW ... we have a staircase .... well part of one at least! A small thing in the grand scheme of things but an amazing transformation inside the Mill as no longer have to clamber up stepladders to the first floor and it almost looks like a house now. Abbey thinks they are the coolest thing ever and has yet to stop talking about them or wanting to show people!! This week has also seen Booth's make a start to the wiring for audio, data and TV throughout the house. Plan is to wire most of the rooms for ceiling speakers and data/TV, but not all will be connected initially, just the rooms used most will get connected now. Here's hoping we can start the electrics next week and pick up pace on the schedule now!
Later ....
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| Staircase! ... solid plaster balustrade to be added later |
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| Bedroom 3 - one of the kids bedrooms |
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| Bedroom 2 - another one of the kids bedrooms! Upstairs family bathroom will be to the right hand side of this picture |
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| Looking down from 1st floor landing - this will be left full height with granite exposed |
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| Carnage of lots and lots of data cables! .. CAT5e and CAT6 being used |
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| Cable boxes being used |
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| A view from riverside looking back at the soon to be glazed link / hall (note: block work has now been smooth rendered) |
Week 28 - Insulation starting to go in ...
Hello bloggers,
This week saw the insulation starting to be installed in the roof of the main extensions - cosy! We're still waiting on the mechanical heat recovery ventilation (MHRV) system to be installed so can't make a start to first fix electrics until week 30 at the earliest as we need to run the ducting first ... what you can see in one of the pictures is a part section of the ducting for the MHRV where it will transfer from Mill to extension. Still a bit stop / start at the moment.
Until next week :-)
This week saw the insulation starting to be installed in the roof of the main extensions - cosy! We're still waiting on the mechanical heat recovery ventilation (MHRV) system to be installed so can't make a start to first fix electrics until week 30 at the earliest as we need to run the ducting first ... what you can see in one of the pictures is a part section of the ducting for the MHRV where it will transfer from Mill to extension. Still a bit stop / start at the moment.
Until next week :-)
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| Main extension - acoustic insulation is in the roof above the "tinfoil" (ducting for MHRV is in the top left of this picture) |
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| Loose ends to be finished - nice view! |
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| Another view looking towards big window |
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| The roof inside the office/utility extension |
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Week 27 - A couple more windows and some insulation!
Hello again,
The past week has been one of only a few little jobs .... but not many! We had to cancel the sparkie and sound system folks this week at the last minute as we still need to wait for the heat recovery ventilation to be finalised and delivered. Should be around +/- 10th October for that to be installed, so we’re told. Once that is in, we can get cracking with the first fix wiring. We're not complaining too much as it has allowed us to find and get a lighting specialist involved from Edinburgh and he is in the process of redoing the entire lighting scheme for us. I think this will turn out to be a blessing in disguise as we think the lighting he is proposing will be much better and more effective than what we had in the original plans, especially when trying to light the granite areas and large spaces.
You can see from the photos that the insulation has arrived on site now. We will have a mix of thick solid Kingspan in the walls and the amazingly thin Triso-Super 10 material in the roof (to give extra void space for ceiling speakers etc) along with Earthwool acoustic insulation. The Triso stuff looks like something from the space shuttle ... very thin layers of materials all sandwiched together [http://www.actis-isolation.com/produits.php?p=3&l=3&rub=41&gamme=0] ... yes, I am a sad engineer who is impressed by things like that!
The past week has been one of only a few little jobs .... but not many! We had to cancel the sparkie and sound system folks this week at the last minute as we still need to wait for the heat recovery ventilation to be finalised and delivered. Should be around +/- 10th October for that to be installed, so we’re told. Once that is in, we can get cracking with the first fix wiring. We're not complaining too much as it has allowed us to find and get a lighting specialist involved from Edinburgh and he is in the process of redoing the entire lighting scheme for us. I think this will turn out to be a blessing in disguise as we think the lighting he is proposing will be much better and more effective than what we had in the original plans, especially when trying to light the granite areas and large spaces.
You can see from the photos that the insulation has arrived on site now. We will have a mix of thick solid Kingspan in the walls and the amazingly thin Triso-Super 10 material in the roof (to give extra void space for ceiling speakers etc) along with Earthwool acoustic insulation. The Triso stuff looks like something from the space shuttle ... very thin layers of materials all sandwiched together [http://www.actis-isolation.com/produits.php?p=3&l=3&rub=41&gamme=0] ... yes, I am a sad engineer who is impressed by things like that!
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| Front elevation with windows in and pointing complete |
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| Inside the main extension |
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| Earthwool acoustic/thermal insulation blocking the huge window! |
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| Triso cluttering up the TV room! |
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Week 26 - Windows in!
Hello everyone,
This week has seen a fair bit of progress with the installation of most of the windows in the mill and extensions. I didn't take many pictures as I was in a rush, but uploaded a couple that will show the look of some of them inside and out - I'll upload better ones next week, including the massive 4 metre riverside one that Tracy had the nerve chattering pleasure of watching being installed!! The windows are wood / double glazing painted in a grey colour - still have a final coat to go on. The colour should work well with the granite and the larch wood cladding ... or so we hope!
This week has seen a fair bit of progress with the installation of most of the windows in the mill and extensions. I didn't take many pictures as I was in a rush, but uploaded a couple that will show the look of some of them inside and out - I'll upload better ones next week, including the massive 4 metre riverside one that Tracy had the nerve chattering pleasure of watching being installed!! The windows are wood / double glazing painted in a grey colour - still have a final coat to go on. The colour should work well with the granite and the larch wood cladding ... or so we hope!
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| Kitchen window ... |
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| Looking at the office windows (right) and store room window (left - up high) |
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Week 25 - Boo hoo ...
Hello folks,
Another week down with zero progress ... pretty disappointing but not much we can do until the builder gets back onsite. On the plus side, my work buddie Tony dropped past at the weekend and took some nice pictures of the place. They are really cool despite the very poor light and awful weather conditions last weekend! See the link below. Take a browse through some of his other pictures too, they are fab ... and for sale (plug plug)!
http://www.pbase.com/mcgarva/little_ennochie_mill
Hopefully some progress to report on in the next week or two ...
Another week down with zero progress ... pretty disappointing but not much we can do until the builder gets back onsite. On the plus side, my work buddie Tony dropped past at the weekend and took some nice pictures of the place. They are really cool despite the very poor light and awful weather conditions last weekend! See the link below. Take a browse through some of his other pictures too, they are fab ... and for sale (plug plug)!
http://www.pbase.com/mcgarva/little_ennochie_mill
Hopefully some progress to report on in the next week or two ...
Monday, 5 September 2011
Weeks 23 & 24 - Now't much happening ....
Hi everyone,
First post in a couple of weeks ... and a boring one at that with no photos or progress! Nothing has really happened and we came to a bit of a grinding halt at start of week 23. Most of the Mill has been repointed now but builder took off onto another project as we were a bit delayed in getting electrical and plumbing information finalised. Had a site meeting last Friday with everyone so hopefully we will now see some action again onsite this week (week 25). On a positive note, we did pick all our bathroom tiles at the weekend however ... hurrah, one less thing on the long list!!
Until next week .....
First post in a couple of weeks ... and a boring one at that with no photos or progress! Nothing has really happened and we came to a bit of a grinding halt at start of week 23. Most of the Mill has been repointed now but builder took off onto another project as we were a bit delayed in getting electrical and plumbing information finalised. Had a site meeting last Friday with everyone so hopefully we will now see some action again onsite this week (week 25). On a positive note, we did pick all our bathroom tiles at the weekend however ... hurrah, one less thing on the long list!!
Until next week .....
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Week 22 - The big roof goes on and boulders arrive ...
Hello folks,
This week we now have an entire building with a roof ... well almost! The large extensions now have all the roofing boards on and the big bank of four velux windows are in place. It certainly looks like our house now! There has also been some sample pointing of the granite stones with lime mortar. We had to check this and get this approved by the planning folks, so now that is done we will go ahead and repoint the entire building with this lime mix. The builder has also started placing the giant granite boulders along the river bank. We sourced these in Banchory from a Bancon site (for a very good deal!) and the plan is that these will provide protection against river bank erosion and also allow us to build up the bank a little to contour the site. Even John Paul Sigmersson would struggle to carry these babies! Apologies for the photos, it was really dark when I took these so focus and light is not the best.
This week we now have an entire building with a roof ... well almost! The large extensions now have all the roofing boards on and the big bank of four velux windows are in place. It certainly looks like our house now! There has also been some sample pointing of the granite stones with lime mortar. We had to check this and get this approved by the planning folks, so now that is done we will go ahead and repoint the entire building with this lime mix. The builder has also started placing the giant granite boulders along the river bank. We sourced these in Banchory from a Bancon site (for a very good deal!) and the plan is that these will provide protection against river bank erosion and also allow us to build up the bank a little to contour the site. Even John Paul Sigmersson would struggle to carry these babies! Apologies for the photos, it was really dark when I took these so focus and light is not the best.
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| Looking south-west from the lounge |
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| Looking inside from the kitchen - sorry, it was dark outside! |
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| Looking up at the full height hallway roof inside mill - four conservation velux now installed |
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| View from the front - shows how discrete the huge extensions are from the farm road |
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| Down at the riverside - oh, that digger looks a bit lopsided! |
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| East extension with roof on - the two high windows are into store and cloakroom |
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| Doorways from glazed hall into cloakroom (left) and utility room (right) |
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| A full view looking east - roof on! |
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| Small sample of lime pointing |
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| These are big boy bits of granite! |
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| Boulders in location at river bank |
Monday, 15 August 2011
Week 21 - An extension, wow!
Hello again folks,
This week has seen some real progress on the extension and ... wait for it ..... our first windows! Roof structures went up really well considering the foul weather that has been hitting us recently - so much for summer! We think it looks amazing now and the general shape of the structure is hopefully apparent for all to see. The first windows that are going in are on the mill roof, with the conservation velux windows. These are a planning requirement due to the historical nature of the building. All the other windows are onsite now and have been painted the grey colour we picked - should look great against the granite and the wood when finished. The extension roofs are obviously quite large and will be finished in profiled metal sheeting in case you were wondering (to keep the old building look) ... mill will be re-slated with the Scots slate we reclaimed from the old roof. All in, one of the most visually satisfying weeks for us since we started!! When can we move in again??? :-)
This week has seen some real progress on the extension and ... wait for it ..... our first windows! Roof structures went up really well considering the foul weather that has been hitting us recently - so much for summer! We think it looks amazing now and the general shape of the structure is hopefully apparent for all to see. The first windows that are going in are on the mill roof, with the conservation velux windows. These are a planning requirement due to the historical nature of the building. All the other windows are onsite now and have been painted the grey colour we picked - should look great against the granite and the wood when finished. The extension roofs are obviously quite large and will be finished in profiled metal sheeting in case you were wondering (to keep the old building look) ... mill will be re-slated with the Scots slate we reclaimed from the old roof. All in, one of the most visually satisfying weeks for us since we started!! When can we move in again??? :-)
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| View looking east - the extension |
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| The extension again ... we're not disappointed by the size! |
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| The south-west corner .. these will be sliding doors opening to deck |
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| Inside the main extension - looking from kitchen towards lounges |
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| Photo from lower level looking up |
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| South-West corner again ... this will be a fab opening from the dining room / kitchen |
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| East extension roof going on ... there will be two windows facing north |
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| Looking towards office and store room |
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| Looking towards utility room, cloakroom and plant room |
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| A roof beam being secured into the main mill wall |
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| One of the conservation velux windows now fitted |
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| The rest of our windows on site ..... ready for fitting |
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