Frames, Sills and Panes

It seems an awfully long time since the windows were signed off, and even longer since we agreed what they should be.  The order was placed on the understanding that they could take up to 4 weeks, but would usually be ready in 3.  It wasn't long before it was clear that 3 weeks was not achievable and 4 weeks looked doubtful.  Eventually 4 weeks became 6!  Even with the delayed windows we were assured that the builders would still be on course to finish by the end of July.
Yesterday, the first of the windows finally arrived.  We have a few triangular windows to fit into the sloping ceilings, and they were all delivered first, together with the sills for the ground floor.  All the ground floor sills were fitted together with some of the frames.  It was important to fit the sill for the patio doors in the kitchen yesterday as today, the kitchen fitters arrived (as planned) to fit the floor, and the sill was needed to get the levels correct.  Apart from the sills, the frames were fitted to the kitchen, cloakroom and study windows.  The actual window panes are fitted later, but we have some of them already on site.  Today, the remaining frames, sills and panes were delivered.  Most of the panes which arrived today have integral blinds operated by magnets which will avoid us needing curtains in some of the rooms.

Odd shaped window openings

Odd-shaped windows frames

First finished window in the Study

Staircase window

Bi-fold doors waiting in the wings

After a few weeks of moderate activity, this week is turning out to be manic on site.  Bathroom fitting has continued apace throughout the week, but is now being held up by the lack of water to the actual house.  We are waiting for the builder's plumber to return and make the final connection between the mains provided by Thames Water, and the house.  Whilst waiting for the plumber and for the windows to be fitted, the opportunity was taken to bring the awfully large en-suite shower screen through one of the window openings rather than trying and manhandle it up the stairs when the windows went in.

Today, the re-enforced steel bars were delivered for the garage foundations.  This is used to bridge the gaps between the piles which are then held together with another 600mm of concrete which should be poured on Friday.  Whilst this is a lot less than the main house, it is only for a single storey garage, and still seems to be an overkill, but it's what our local council are insisting on.  The locals are very suspicious that we are going to build a block of flats on it!  All this means that blockwork and brickwork can start early next week.  In the meantime, the bricky has returned today to continue the terrace wall down to the canal.

The fitting of the windows should be completed this week which means that the larch cladding can be fixed to the first floor overhang and then, at long last, the rest of the scaffolding can come down!.  It makes sense to mount the aerials on the chimney before the scaffolding is removed, so the aerial fitter is booked for Friday.  Cropredy is not in a good reception area and this necessitates the use of a 10ft pole above chimney.  All our neighbours have the same arrangement.

So, we're still on course (apparently) to move in at the end of July.  Fingers are still tightly crossed!

Piling at speed

A short blog entry!
I put the time-lapse camera on the remaining scaffolding to capture the construction of the 5 piles.  The following video compresses one-and-a-half days of work into 54 seconds.
If only building a house was always this quick!

We have piles!

Last week, we took our boat up to Crick for the annual show there.  Whilst we were away, we got a message from our site manager explaining that he had a surprise for us when we returned.  He appeared to be alluding to something positive which is quite unusual when house-building, so we were intrigued to say the least.  After a few more days cruising, we returned to find that the scaffolding had now been removed from the south side of the house.  This was expected, so this couldn't possibly be what the surprise was.  All became clear when we walked up to the site office and found that the builders had borrowed some of our topsoil and created a small garden in front of the site office.  In the centre, a small white board stands proud, waiting for the house name to be emblazoned upon it.  Well, I suppose we have to start somewhere!

Our 'surprise'

This week, the main focus of work has shifted outside.  It is a condition of planning that in order to protect the roots of nearby trees, the garage foundations for the garage must be based on piles rather than the more traditional (and cheaper) trenches.  A piling contractor was commissioned to install the required 5 piles.  This is done using a large auger which although is not a quiet operation, it is significantly more neighbour-friendly than hammering columns into the ground.  The auger drills a 300mm diameter hole which in our case has to be 10m deep, or until solid rock is encountered.  The hole is then filled with a steel cage and filled with grout.  A 'ring beam' is then fitted to the top of the piles and the garage is constructed on top of that.

 

Steel cages ready to be lowered into the holes

The drilling rig is not quite the size you might expect to see in the North Sea, but the operating principle is the same.  The bit is drilled into the hole, and then another section of drill bit is hoisted up and connected to it, before drilling further down.  In order to get to 10m, up to 10 one-metre sections are needed.  A mini-excavator is needed to move the spoil away from the hole.

The Drilling Rig is hidden behind the excavator.

The following video shows one of the drill bit sections doing its stuff.  Initially progress was good, but as the ground got tougher, progress slowed considerably.

At the end of day one, 3 of the 5 piles have been created.  Tomorrow, the remaining two will be put in place.  We then need to wait 4 or 5 days for them to cure, at which point the piling contractor will return and test the strength of each pile.  Hopefully, then construction of the garage can commence.