Site Preparation.....
09 November 2007The day we open the site. And accept the first delivery of type one which will be used to form the access road into the site. We need 50 tonnes in total. At last something to do!
11 November 2007
Farmer Porn! A big shiny tractor appears on site to make the road. A bit faster than me! Ian sinks the first spade into the ground as we make our first construction....a safety "goal" to protect access to the site from the over head power lines.
Farmer Porn! A big shiny tractor appears on site to make the road. A bit faster than me! Ian sinks the first spade into the ground as we make our first construction....a safety "goal" to protect access to the site from the over head power lines.
Our first piece of construction!
14 November 2007
Today sees a start to an entire week of activity! SSE are to move the transformer over the course of the next few days. So its diggers on site to sort out the track to underground the high and low voltage cables and take the transformer out of sight! As soon as its moved the builder hits the site.
23 November 2007
Whilst there ain't much action on site, behind the scenes things continue to be busy. Late on today we have ordered our windows. For such a big glazing project we have entrusted our business and hard earned cash in ADW Limited from Cumbernauld. A visit to their factory took place for a meeting and an order placement. We are going for Alu-clad windows and have also ordered some sexy bi-fold doors for the dining room and sitting room. Its a key part of our project with so much glass in the building. So far their support and technical knowledge has been excellent..lets see how it goes through the project! The pressures on you now Graham and Stuart - my wee world of web site visitors is watching you :o) More info and link on the Technical Information page...
24 November 2007
Time for a wee fire to burn the rubbish before the site is cleared for foundations....Emma and her mum show us their wellies and Ian singes his eyebrows :o)
A wee seat made for Callum so he can watch the build in comfort, if we ever get started!
Today sees a start to an entire week of activity! SSE are to move the transformer over the course of the next few days. So its diggers on site to sort out the track to underground the high and low voltage cables and take the transformer out of sight! As soon as its moved the builder hits the site.
16 November 2007
Transformer Move Starts! Lots of earthmoving at long last..
Transformer Move Starts! Lots of earthmoving at long last..
17 November 2007
Some manual labour at last...the farmer has cut down some trees from his side which have fallen onto ours. Since he is letting us dig up his field to put the cables in, the least we can do is chop up the tree and dispose of it..So its off to work with a chainsaw (manned by Big Dave). The McGregor family build the bonfire!
Some manual labour at last...the farmer has cut down some trees from his side which have fallen onto ours. Since he is letting us dig up his field to put the cables in, the least we can do is chop up the tree and dispose of it..So its off to work with a chainsaw (manned by Big Dave). The McGregor family build the bonfire!
.
Later on the site foreman appears...Wendy comes with the tea break essentials...
Always on guard!
Final task for the day is to prune the trees...then its off to the pub to watch Scotland v Italy....COME ON SCOTLAND !
19 November 2007
Rain, rain and more rain! SSE are here to run the LV and HV cables in a very muddy track and now a burn, which is as high as it ever gets! As a result the job is now delayed and will not happen tomorrow as planned. New date of December 11th for the transformer move...its never straightforward :o(
19 November 2007
Rain, rain and more rain! SSE are here to run the LV and HV cables in a very muddy track and now a burn, which is as high as it ever gets! As a result the job is now delayed and will not happen tomorrow as planned. New date of December 11th for the transformer move...its never straightforward :o(
23 November 2007
Whilst there ain't much action on site, behind the scenes things continue to be busy. Late on today we have ordered our windows. For such a big glazing project we have entrusted our business and hard earned cash in ADW Limited from Cumbernauld. A visit to their factory took place for a meeting and an order placement. We are going for Alu-clad windows and have also ordered some sexy bi-fold doors for the dining room and sitting room. Its a key part of our project with so much glass in the building. So far their support and technical knowledge has been excellent..lets see how it goes through the project! The pressures on you now Graham and Stuart - my wee world of web site visitors is watching you :o) More info and link on the Technical Information page...
24 November 2007
Time for a wee fire to burn the rubbish before the site is cleared for foundations....Emma and her mum show us their wellies and Ian singes his eyebrows :o)
A wee seat made for Callum so he can watch the build in comfort, if we ever get started!
02 December 2007
Builder is on-site to mark out houses for scraping of site tomorrow. Followed by a quick check of levels. Its a cool 3 degrees centigrade. Not the best of building temperatures ! Action starts tomorrow.....
03 December 2007
Well what happened today I hear you ask? How are our intrepid heroes getting on in their lifetime quest to build their own houses?
Its fourteen months since we started the project.. Was it a landmark day today as we break soil? NO CHANCE ! I took a days holiday today to witness and document the digger starting work..... and what happened I here you ask...absolutely nothing !!!
Message for Ian.....
Digger onsite,
digger onsite,
digger onsite,
digger onsite,
DIGGER ONSITE,
DIGGER ONSITE
09 December 2007
It's a mud bath up on the site....- Tuesday sees the transformer move and a temporary electricity supply will be set up. So Jimmy is on site with a spade digging a small track by hand to accommodate the electricity meter. At last a bit of action. Moves are also afoot to become a fully fledged tree hugger and spend a little bit more than intended on our central heating. A move away from fossil fuels and because the gas company has ignored our requests for a supply quotation, we are going for a wood pellet boiler. This gives us an A rating in the environmental / SAP report . Lets hope it saves us money in the long term because the install won't! Gone also in this project is the heat recovery system after being let down by a few of these suppliers in their failure to give us a credible / working design. I won't name and shame them but they know who they are !!!!
11 December 2007
Its the day for the transformer move - 2nd attempt ! The powers off and the new poles go up. A new transformer is fitted, which is just as well because........the crane to remove the old one didn't turn up ! So.....there will be a transformer move 3 !!! Just like the movies, its never as good as the original.
The guys on-site worked like trojans to get power back on and at 4.50pm, whilst working in the dark the village was given power again.....civilisation !!!
Transformer move 3 means they will be without power sometime in the near future again to remove the old unit. Its never easy !!!
Well what happened today I hear you ask? How are our intrepid heroes getting on in their lifetime quest to build their own houses?
Its fourteen months since we started the project.. Was it a landmark day today as we break soil? NO CHANCE ! I took a days holiday today to witness and document the digger starting work..... and what happened I here you ask...absolutely nothing !!!
05 December 07
Message for Ian.....
Digger onsite,
digger onsite,
digger onsite,
digger onsite,
DIGGER ONSITE,
DIGGER ONSITE
09 December 2007
It's a mud bath up on the site....- Tuesday sees the transformer move and a temporary electricity supply will be set up. So Jimmy is on site with a spade digging a small track by hand to accommodate the electricity meter. At last a bit of action. Moves are also afoot to become a fully fledged tree hugger and spend a little bit more than intended on our central heating. A move away from fossil fuels and because the gas company has ignored our requests for a supply quotation, we are going for a wood pellet boiler. This gives us an A rating in the environmental / SAP report . Lets hope it saves us money in the long term because the install won't! Gone also in this project is the heat recovery system after being let down by a few of these suppliers in their failure to give us a credible / working design. I won't name and shame them but they know who they are !!!!
11 December 2007
Its the day for the transformer move - 2nd attempt ! The powers off and the new poles go up. A new transformer is fitted, which is just as well because........the crane to remove the old one didn't turn up ! So.....there will be a transformer move 3 !!! Just like the movies, its never as good as the original.
The guys on-site worked like trojans to get power back on and at 4.50pm, whilst working in the dark the village was given power again.....civilisation !!!
Transformer move 3 means they will be without power sometime in the near future again to remove the old unit. Its never easy !!!
14 December 2007
A visit to the site - digger is almost finished his work - 4 hours on Saturday will see his work done. the race is on to get the tracks shuttered up to pour the concrete before the Christmas break. Will we make it??? I wouldn't dare guess! The foundations are incredibly deep. I will get a photo of someone standing in them so you can relate to the scale....Has someone cocked up? The digger spins the rubbish off his wheels before leaving the site to keep the mess down. Jimmy still goes over the road every night with a brush to reduce the risk of someone being hit with a stone picked up by a passing car....
17 December 2007
Its the diggers last day onsite as the foundations are ready for shuttering up and pouring of concrete. Both houses will be done on the same day with a pump but not before Christmas now....oh and the temperature has just dropped to below freezing so things may slow up a bit. Talking of cold we are chasing prices for our wood pellet boilers. I must have contacted twenty potential suppliers already. So far I have one ballpark price...the rest are sending me glossy brochures (which I can already download from the net) and nobody is giving me prices! It makes it rather difficult to order!!! How do they sell their products????
Some bigger pictures below show the final dig and just how deep the foundations are.. Ian and his kids Ryan and Callum are there for scale only they certainly are not there to beautify the picture! I still fully intend to have my Christmas dinner on the site and obviously a photo shoot will take place. There won't be much action between Christmas and New Year but I will add the photos! Merry Christmas to you all - all I want for Christmas is a pellet boiler - I'll even pay for it!
07 January 2008 HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL
There's plenty to do in the way of planning but I would rather see some action.....surely we will get the house built this year! 15 months and counting! To 2008 - the year we move into our new house....
13 January 2008
Been to see Sips Industries and took some photos of our house...which is in bits obviously! Taken on my phone so not great quality but you can see the piles of steel. The engineering that has went into the glulam.... which had masses of work done on it to accommodate the valley gutter. Its an absolute beast.
The monster glulam with a steel T plate fixed through it... This will form the basis for the valley gutter. Remember this picture ..next time you see this it will be holding the roof up! The beam will be the other way up though !
A visit to the site - digger is almost finished his work - 4 hours on Saturday will see his work done. the race is on to get the tracks shuttered up to pour the concrete before the Christmas break. Will we make it??? I wouldn't dare guess! The foundations are incredibly deep. I will get a photo of someone standing in them so you can relate to the scale....Has someone cocked up? The digger spins the rubbish off his wheels before leaving the site to keep the mess down. Jimmy still goes over the road every night with a brush to reduce the risk of someone being hit with a stone picked up by a passing car....
17 December 2007
Its the diggers last day onsite as the foundations are ready for shuttering up and pouring of concrete. Both houses will be done on the same day with a pump but not before Christmas now....oh and the temperature has just dropped to below freezing so things may slow up a bit. Talking of cold we are chasing prices for our wood pellet boilers. I must have contacted twenty potential suppliers already. So far I have one ballpark price...the rest are sending me glossy brochures (which I can already download from the net) and nobody is giving me prices! It makes it rather difficult to order!!! How do they sell their products????
Some bigger pictures below show the final dig and just how deep the foundations are.. Ian and his kids Ryan and Callum are there for scale only they certainly are not there to beautify the picture! I still fully intend to have my Christmas dinner on the site and obviously a photo shoot will take place. There won't be much action between Christmas and New Year but I will add the photos! Merry Christmas to you all - all I want for Christmas is a pellet boiler - I'll even pay for it!
21 December 2007
Well its nearly Christmas and work has all stopped on the site. It was minus 5 degrees today which is pretty damn cold for us folk in the country....so forget building...its party time instead and Jimmy's on the red wine, whisky, shrek, beer and cheepo vimto!! Getting ready for Christmas day and my oldest daughters birthday.
Regardless of the weather on the 25th December I will be on the site dressed in my kilt eating my dinner....to all who are watching the site but too shy to add a comment ... MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all.....
To Martin S ...
Today I received two bottles of your finest Duropak packaged Grappa all the way from Austria. Thank you very much and see you in April....!
To the rest of you from the Constantia Academy ....
France, Germany, Austria, Poland, USA, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic see you all then also if not before... Hae a Merry Christmas.. Slazenger !!! :o) Missing you all ...... you need to practise your Kung Foo Fighting and YMCA routines,.......
Check back on Christmas day !
Well its nearly Christmas and work has all stopped on the site. It was minus 5 degrees today which is pretty damn cold for us folk in the country....so forget building...its party time instead and Jimmy's on the red wine, whisky, shrek, beer and cheepo vimto!! Getting ready for Christmas day and my oldest daughters birthday.
Regardless of the weather on the 25th December I will be on the site dressed in my kilt eating my dinner....to all who are watching the site but too shy to add a comment ... MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all.....
To Martin S ...
Today I received two bottles of your finest Duropak packaged Grappa all the way from Austria. Thank you very much and see you in April....!
To the rest of you from the Constantia Academy ....
France, Germany, Austria, Poland, USA, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic see you all then also if not before... Hae a Merry Christmas.. Slazenger !!! :o) Missing you all ...... you need to practise your Kung Foo Fighting and YMCA routines,.......
Check back on Christmas day !
07 January 2008 HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL
Well..... thought I should write something for the first time this year!
As expected its not been a great start with Frost, Snow and Rain and then a bit more Rain! The result is Jimmy and Ian spent Saturday afternoon digging a track from the foundations to the burn to get rid of all the water!
Its not going to upset us, as its only really to be expected at this time of year...but its not funny I can asure you! So in the meantime we have at least had a meetng with a plumber to get that side of things sorted and continue to research pellet boilers and potential suppliers to see what is best for us. Now that everyone should be back to work, its time to get on their case!
As surprising as it might seem.......We still don't have our warrant yet ...but maybe someday!
There's plenty to do in the way of planning but I would rather see some action.....surely we will get the house built this year! 15 months and counting! To 2008 - the year we move into our new house....
13 January 2008
Been to see Sips Industries and took some photos of our house...which is in bits obviously! Taken on my phone so not great quality but you can see the piles of steel. The engineering that has went into the glulam.... which had masses of work done on it to accommodate the valley gutter. Its an absolute beast.
The steel work that will frame the glass on the south elevation.
The monster glulam with a steel T plate fixed through it... This will form the basis for the valley gutter. Remember this picture ..next time you see this it will be holding the roof up! The beam will be the other way up though !
20 January 2008
No pictures from this week and no activity on the site. Our building site is basically shut-down until the weather improves. It has virtually rained every day over the last few weeks. Hopefully we will get started soon.....All we can do is continue to gather prices for all the bits and pieces...
27 January 2008
No pictures from this week and no activity on the site. Our building site is basically shut-down until the weather improves. It has virtually rained every day over the last few weeks. Hopefully we will get started soon.....All we can do is continue to gather prices for all the bits and pieces...
27 January 2008
Will it ever stop ???
We have lost almost the whole of January to high winds, below zero temperatures and its been raining like a very rainy thing.....for a very long time now.....
03 February 2008
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri
03 February 2008
Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri
Yup.. It's getting boring now. Yet another week of almost constant rain which has seen the site flooded again. It's now 45 days since the builder was last on-site. The whole of January disappeared without any progress at all and February hasn't exactly got off to a flying start! I may have to change this website into a weather station for our village! What's the forecast for this coming week???? Monday Rain - Tuesday Rain - Wednesday Rain
It supposedly rains 154 days a year in the UK so we must be due a really nice summer !!!!
The last couple of weeks have been spent looking at kitchens. Ian has now bought his and Jimmy is talking to a few different companies about a design and solution. Had an active cooking display and got to play with an induction hob and very impressed by its control, speed and safety....since we are not bringing in mains gas (even though it passes our door) it seems like the way to go. We could use LPG but don't want any ugly bottles sitting around outside my house. This was at Callum Walker Interiors In Perth.
Also still looking at Pellet Boilers - an incredibly confusing solution ! Read Grand Designs magazine which has an editorial feature about the problems surrounding trying to buy one of these and get the applicable grant...Reads as if it were me who wrote it ! The person is as fed up as I am trying to buy one.....
09 February 2008
THE RAIN HAS STOPPED !!!! It's been dry for 2 days now with the forecast showing good weather for at least the next week....can we start? Do we dare be that brave???? Watch this space!
Been back to SIPS and added these pictures... Here is the our steel ready to go...
Someone else's panels ready to go... here lies a house! Look blue sky!! :o) Its always sunny in Scotland........
Finally, here is a demo cross section showing how to construct using SIPs....for those that don't understand it .......
It supposedly rains 154 days a year in the UK so we must be due a really nice summer !!!!
The last couple of weeks have been spent looking at kitchens. Ian has now bought his and Jimmy is talking to a few different companies about a design and solution. Had an active cooking display and got to play with an induction hob and very impressed by its control, speed and safety....since we are not bringing in mains gas (even though it passes our door) it seems like the way to go. We could use LPG but don't want any ugly bottles sitting around outside my house. This was at Callum Walker Interiors In Perth.
Also still looking at Pellet Boilers - an incredibly confusing solution ! Read Grand Designs magazine which has an editorial feature about the problems surrounding trying to buy one of these and get the applicable grant...Reads as if it were me who wrote it ! The person is as fed up as I am trying to buy one.....
09 February 2008
THE RAIN HAS STOPPED !!!! It's been dry for 2 days now with the forecast showing good weather for at least the next week....can we start? Do we dare be that brave???? Watch this space!
Been back to SIPS and added these pictures... Here is the our steel ready to go...
Someone else's panels ready to go... here lies a house! Look blue sky!! :o) Its always sunny in Scotland........
Finally, here is a demo cross section showing how to construct using SIPs....for those that don't understand it .......
19 February 2008
Action on the site! A weekend of clearing out the fallen in trenches and the target is to get concrete in before the rain comes back .. Latest Forecast is Thursday before it rains... The race is on.... Today the steel reinforcing arrived and the plan is for the first batch of concrete tomorrow!!! Time To Close This Page And Start Another !!!
Action on the site! A weekend of clearing out the fallen in trenches and the target is to get concrete in before the rain comes back .. Latest Forecast is Thursday before it rains... The race is on.... Today the steel reinforcing arrived and the plan is for the first batch of concrete tomorrow!!! Time To Close This Page And Start Another !!!