Some weeks, despite plenty of lads on site (no gals I’m afraid) you see nothing, however at the end of last week it was the opposite .. huge steps forward were visible. All the corten-clad areas have been insulated, battened and measured to cut/fold the corten. The accoya-clad areas have been mostly insulated and covered. Two weeks ago there was relentless rain (see pics) but since then we’ve had 4-6 joiners on-site each day and no delays for weather. We’ve arranged with the Joinery company (Jimmy Lazenby) so lads can work inside in poor weather .. and of course having arranged this we’ve not needed it.
We’ve had a plasterer for a few days who’s done most of the parge coating to the (inside of) the external walls ..suddenly they more like rooms .. and its made the services room such that we can faff inside it. Next job is to board the first-floor ceilings.
Windows were measured up a couple of weeks ago, and, despite some frustrations, are now due in another 2-3 weeks.
I’ve tidied up the elecs a bit so the first floor is in a clean state, done a bit more studwork and installed some toilet frames so we can stud around them. I’ve also bought the garage door (a simple grey door rather than corten) and have spent a few happy hours working out how to integrate the door into the home controls system. Also ordered the (five) pocket doors.
I’ve concluded that its simpler and cheaper to use solar PV for hot water rather than solar thermal so am going to provision some cables for doing this in the future. Despite doing this myself with string and magnifying glass it’ll cost a good grand .. which is a good many years of gas heating. It remains the case that you pay a premium to be an eco-warrior such as moi.
Finally, despite it only being a garage, the Africa Twin has moved into its new home, yeah : )