Week 2 - a hole of a problem

Week 2 – The hole gets bigger.

The hole is getting bigger which is causing quite a bit of speculation amongst the parents at the primary school. Then quite suddenly there is a noticeable line in the soil.  One side of the soil was very noticeably different to the other.  Apparently, everyone thinks that the rock was quarried out a long time ago and backfilled.  We what can you do?  Get angry?  Nope, I’ve been frustrated enough with the PV panels at Mill on the Brue to last me a lifetime!

Met with Nigel the QS who seem like a good person to have on board. He’s going to talk to Dave and Garry and Andrew next week in order to get the detail.  Well I just hope he comes up with a figure that we can afford, as it’s too late now.

The hole situation has meant that the building works has had to stop on Thursday.  The structural engineer came out to see and discuss the matter with Dave and Garry plus Harry.  He’s approached two companies that specialize in more difficult ground works.  Garry said that if the cellar hadn’t been excavated then they might have never known the true difference of the soil.  The worst case scenario would have been to see the houses’ back break if and when the foundations on the weaker ground subsided.

Centre of image the distinctive line marking what is thought to be the boundary between old quarried backfill (right of line) and virgin soil.

And they're off!

It could actually be happening...

It's amazing how after over two years of waiting it still comes as shock when this morning Gary, Dave, Gareth and JJ started shifting the sawn logs still sitting on the ground from the chainsaw massacre only a few weeks ago ... ok the laylandi trees (?) were taken down.

Lots happening including most importantly the QS is meeting up with us (Harry and I) on Thursday which the wrong way around as it was supposed to be done with the greatest of urgency but there you go we've started.  I've decided that the first part of any building project is the best (finishing is great but time luckily softens the enviable pinch points) as we all feel good and excited about staring without having to write a large cheque for that pleasure!

Polly & Isla on the top soil mound

Digger taking out the old foundations

Week 1 – Ground breaking with diggers!  It was great to finally get started changing the garden to our building plot.  Garry, Dave, Gareth and JJ worked hard and enthusiastically.  We decided or I persuaded Flora that if we were going to ever have a cellar then this was the time.  I think about the German houses most of which have cellars and well frankly they’re a more pragmatic nation that we will ever be.  I looked up fences, portaloos and steel containers for hours on the internet but luckily we were saved probably quite a bit of money just getting accepting that the Gary / Dave combination was going to get a better price!  Not a problem John Griffen and Sons transported the large amount of soil and stones into two piles in the old archery field.

Start date - Monday 14th 2012

We all met up yesterday on a cold damp May afternoon at the Ropewalk a far cry from the sunshine and warmth of that week in March. Monday 14th May there will finally be builders at The Ropewalk. Still it's been agreed that Garry and Dave are going to project managed up until the shell has been built where Andrew will take over. Very soon I may actually have some interesting images to post rather than ones of a tatty garden. Depending on the weather this bank holiday weekend we may try and burn the huge pile of branches in the first real attempt to clear the site. Things to do include talking to Celtic Solar - after lots of debate we're going to have a cheaper back boiler rather than a gasifier which will be connected to the thermal store which in turn will be also connected to solar thermal panels. I'll see about PV panels. I think it makes sense to use the one recommended companyI just hope they can come up this far. Talk to farmer John Griffen to book him to move any soil into the old archery field at Mill on the Brue.

Signed off & waiting for paperwork

Apparently after 7 months of waiting, 1 objection and a reduction of size the build has been approved (subject to paperwork)

I went up on Sunday and luckily had a few dry hours of making a pile of wood logs and making the bonfire even bigger.

Another update

Spoken to planning and something positive may be happening soon which is good news for us but not those in what has been given the name the "fly trap". I choose my words carefully as this blog has been quoted in a recent letter concerning our planning application which has caused me to think long and hard about communities and being part of one. I don't have any issues with people not agreeing to our plans but I do have large issues with people quoting this blog (Flora said I should have never started one)when they should at least have the decency to talk to us. We live in a small community where people on the whole sort things out face to face rather than in large cities where sending a letter of complaint to the planners is probably more acceptable and certainly less confrontional. Actually I feel rather amazed that someone would want to trawl through these pages maybe I should have included more derogatory comments about people with too much money inflating the house prices by buying second or even third homes.

Anyway less of the rant. I had an interesting conversation with Kensa ground source heat pumps. www.kensa.co.uk I said that despite the company always being very helpful when we've had a problem with our heating system in the Longhouse I wouldn't consider installing another at The Ropewalk. His response was if you lived in a place without mains gas there's a good argument for having GSHP. However apparently the return doesn't stack up when you have an efficient gas condensing boiler. So bugger here we go again! We like the idea of a renewable heat technology but we're literally be paying for it. Apparently the governments Renewable Heat Iniative is swaying towards paying people for installing either bio-mass or GSHP if they're not in a mains gas area. In a short time we've moved from investigating building with hempcrete and other natural materials to kingspan high density insulation and mains gas! Have we sold our souls? I think I'm swaying towards the arguemet that out house will require a really small amount of energy to live in therefore it's overally carbon foot print will be pretty small.

Fundamentals

I feel that we've gone around and around trying to choose how to build this house. From the more obscure hempcrete to zeigal blocks (they cost quite a lot and don't really have enough insulation) right the way to more conventional, cheaper mass produced materials. Finally Harry, Garry and Dave (builders), Phil (environmental consultant) and Andrew (joiner) and me sat around Harry's dining room table with tea and biscuits to discuss how to build the house. I couldn't help feel excited and nervous at the same time as it's been such a long time since we bought the Ropewalk. So either we get concerned with the house being breathable and use more expensive more natural materials or we don't and use Kingspan high density insulation. So we're going to go with the mass market stuff. This possibly isn't what I thought we wouldn't have done 2 years ago but in terms of performance it's the most effective way to achieve a house that requires very little heating. It's a compromise as things always are and I'm afraid we might be able to afford a better kitchen and a cellar if we go down this route! Harry's classic line of the meeting must be remembered "triple glazed windows are very un-British". Well that's ok but I can understand that they don't want to look unrefined and lumpy.

Key points Garry and Dave should be able to start early May.
They always take September off so by then the other trades will have to in a position to start.

We're meeting David Cragie on Sunday afternoon to discuss and design our kitchen. This should be the fun bit .... Ok the end result will be really good if it turns out well.

Chipping

Last Wednesday the chipper came to the Ropewalk. After 5 hours and lots of help from the MoB team we had cleared the site wow it looks so different. But doesn't stop there as the pine along the north wall has still got to go and a few more smaller evergreens in the corner. Apparently the plans are going to be approved soon but when you consider how long it has taken I'll believe it when I see it!

I've got to set up a meeting with Harry, Garry and Phil Neve to talk about the finer details of the house.