Porch roof

One gable end is up now, with internal walls and support beams a lot of progress has been made.

The porch roof is progressing well.

Ground floor is up!

So after 1 full day and 2 mornings we have the ground floor panels all up after some jiggling and shimming.
It was probably a little easier than I expected as all the panels are numbered and it is just a case of lifting them into position, levelling them and nailing them down.
However, some of the panels are extremely heavy and without the JCB to lift with we would have needed a crane.
We found today we are missing a part, the lintel across the large windows at the front but a quick phone call to the suppliers and this will be delivered Tuesday along with the missing Velux windows.
One or two bits of information are missing from the drawings but again, always solved by a quick phone call.  maybe it is our inexperience but the questions are always answered quickly and politely...so far:)

Tomorrow we start on the roof!

Progress

We have spent the last 4 days, leveling and filling the foundations with hardcore then compacting it all.
Today Paul came down to help Iain and David start putting the kit up.

It was at first light that they started.

Also still very muddy!

Some of the panels are heavy.

Not sure what they are going to do with it now!!

The first panels are up.

More Progress. Now to nail it all together.

The Unloading

Arrival of the second truck, which had the insulation on.

The orange box in the foreground is a chimney.

All unloaded.

The croft is now full of insulation!

Arrival of the kit

arrival of the roof trusses

The Kit

Our timber frame house kit arrives Friday 14th January. Our neighbour Paul is taking a couple of days off work to help. One of our other neighbours, Sam (he's a blacksmith) has a telescopic forklift 4 wheel drive vehicle and is going to offload the kit. I will be out with the camera so pictures will follow.

Mild weather

We had a brilliant Christmas and New Year in Scarborough, it was good to see family and friends.
Now the work has started again. Iain had dug a trench before we went and put a drainage pipe in but couldn't fill it in as the soil had frozen. He's filling it in now as the weather is very mild today, he's trying to get the water to drain away from the entrance to the site so that the kit can be delivered. The kit is being delivered this month!!!

caravan insulation

It never occured to us that the caravan would have walls that got wet!
We expected the windows to have condensation (they have and it freezes in this weather) and the shower has mould problems. Caravans need ventilation, we've just taped the wall vents up as the wind was blowing the snow through them, we had snowballs on the roof, which then melted and dripped onto whatever was under that vent. Anyway we have thermal linings to all the curtains which keeps us warm and thats the main thing.
We have a cupboard in the main bedroom that we store the suitcases in and the ironing board, washing and anything we can fit in. When we got the suitcase out to go away with we found everything had mould growing on it and the walls of the cupboard (that are external walls) were wet and going mouldy. The wardrobe in that room also has an external wall and that was wet at the bottom.
So we have lined the walls with 2" polystyrene and now we're hoping that works. We've also put the polystyrene under the dog's crate as her bed is damp on the bottom and she's not had an accident!
So if you're going to live in a caravan in the winter, consider the cupboards on external walls, the point that there will be a lot of condensation, there seem to be drafts all over but they are necessary if you tape up all the vents it will be a lot worse.

update third row

The third row of the heavy blocks is finished!
Now there is the outer 3 rows of smaller blocks to do. Also all the filling in, hardcore, damp proof membrane, rebar then concrete. So just a small amount of work before the kit gets here in January!!!!!

third row

Just the porch to do the third layer on and that is the blockwork finished.

Just a little waterlogged now!

muddy site

Rain

I don't know whether to cheer because it is raining or not! On one hand Iain can do blockwork as the temp is well over 4C and on the other hand the site is a quagmire! We have rivers, ponds, streams and mud lots and lots of mud.
So Iain is out in the rain and wind laying blocks, and tomorrow he'll be laying blocks and hopefully that will be the third layer finished. Then the hardcore can be packed into the middle.

Our mortgage company are happy with the valuation and have told us what our first payment will be and it's nearly enough to pay the kit manufacturer, GM Timber Systems. Just have to sign on the dotted line.

We're not in the caravan this week. Our portaloo supplier couldn't get here to empty the portaloo and even if they had it was frozen. Water pipes freezing, being in 2 feet of snow, having to put on more clothes to go to bed, trying to get out of the drive on foot (not a chance of getting the car down the drive), none of that bothered us, but we cannot manage without a toilet, so we've rented a holiday cottage in 'The Seaboard Villages' and are enjoying central heating, baths, washing machine and walks on the beach, inbetween coming up to site every day.
The portaloo supplier is coming on Tuesday so we'll be back in the caravan, but in the meantime I think I'll have another bath.

snow and more snow

The valuation guy has been and taken a picture of the snow!
He will give his valuation to the Mortgage company and they will offer us our first installment based on that. Hopefully it will be enough to pay the kit manufacturer so that can be delivered in January.
Our foundations aren't finished but with the snow there is nothing we can do. There is always the possiblity that the temperature will rise above 4C for a long enough time so we can finish the foundations.
At least we are not the only builders with the same problem, the Valuer has seen quite a few that had planned on getting the kit up before Christmas and the snow has halted everything. Kind of reassuring really.
The temperature dropped to -10 yesterday so we stayed in and kept warm. It's about -2 today and has snowed a bit this morning so looks like Meg gets her walk this afternoon.

no work today!

We're going to have a big electric bill, but as you can see from the icicles we're retaining some heat cos they're not melting.

Today we went for a walk, the foundations are at a standstill in this snow, it might be possible to do some digging for the drainage but that will wait until tomorrow!

snow photos

This is when the snow had first started.

This is today!
Iain has started wacking the soil down and is going to add hardcore hopefully later today, so that's the porch started just the rest of the house to go :-)

It's snowing

It's snowing!
The digger tyre is fixed, Tim (wonderful man) found a used tyre and fixed it on Sunday for £110.
The third row of blockwork is halfway round, but I think the snow and temperatures may hold that up now.
Next is to level the soil inside, run the wacker over it then top with hardcore, run the wacker over that. Then maybe the temperature will be above 4C so that Iain can finish the blockwork and we can lay the concrete.
There is lots of other work to do as well, such as take the top soil off round the site so it's not as muddy (maybe). Dig the hole for the septic tank. All stuff to do in the digger!
Hopefully the mortgage people will understand if the weather delays us!

The digger

The digger is causing problems yet again!

The rear tyre has split, so call out charge to have someone look at it £40. If it's repairable they'll take it away for a week to 10days, so thats not an option, we can't fill in the blockwork with hardcore without the digger. A new tyre is £245 + call out + vat and I haven't asked yet how long that will take, as it would have to be ordered and things don't move quickly up here.

2nd row

That's the second row nearly half way round.
Once the second row is all the way round, we can start to fill in the middles with hardcore and think about ordering the next lot of concrete.

photos

The channel Iain cut in to drain the water from the trench, but he had to break the ice in it first this morning.

Here's our very muddy site!

The first of the blockwork!

small update

Iain has got all the way round the trenches now with the first row of blockwork, he's now doing the 2 crosspieces in the middle. He says now the first row is done the rain shouldn't be a problem to laying the blocks. So hopefully the blockwork can get finished so the filling in can start!

Rain

Living in Scotland rain was to be expected, but I have to say we expected to have the timber frame up by now. The building warrant took 3 months longer than expected which has been the main delay.
The delay of course has caused mortgage issues, as in it's now been 6 months since we were awarded the mortgage and as we have not completed the foundations they were going to restart the mortgage application from scratch, but they have given us 1 months grace!
So now we are on a deadline to get the foundations finished so a valuer can come and then the first draw down of the mortgage can happen. Only it keeps raining. Iain has had difficulty lining up the blocks as the footings aren't exactly level, thanks to advice from a family member that was solved and he started the blockwork, but we don't know how to work in the rain, with the trenches flooding. Any suggestions would be welcome at this stage!
We also need a porch on the caravan to store the boots and coats, it is very muddy onsite now. We had a nice drive and a gravel path to the caravan but the concrete wagon put great ruts in the drive and so now it's muddy and wet!
At least while it's raining it's not freezing :-)

blockwork started.