Photos at Slating stage

Felt on Roof-Slating starting

I haven't posted in quiet a while but none the less work is still on going.
Finally got the roof timber on and felt on the roof. We got the chimneys capped and the dormers ready for plaster. Decided to go for Cupa 3 heavy natural slates (20x10) which hopefully will start tomorrow. With 5 dormers, 3 veluxs, 1 roof window, 2 chimneys and 2 main valleys it will take some time to get it covered.

Windows
We decided to go with Gradys windows from Charlestown. Went for treble glazing in light oak and having a composite front door. Windows are getting fitted next week so that will keep things a bit dryer. Was extremely happy with their price and the spec (0.8 U-Value) of their windows. Hopefully i'll be as happy when they are in place.

Need to concentrate on the plumping and electrical first fixing now as we can get started on the chasing of the house. Plan to get an Aerothermal heat pump to heat our underfloor heating, so need to know the layout of the utility room for the chasing.

I will look into getting the concrete stairs in place in the coming weeks aswell.

I plan to take some photos at the weekend.

Starting the Roof

After a few weeks of bad weather from high winds to heavy rain, the weather has finally improved to be able to finish off the slating of the garage (which seemed to take a long time due to the bad weather during the xmas break). After doing that we can take the scaffolding from the garage to use for the roof for the house.
I got the timber from Glynns in Claremorris as they were the best priced. Need to source 3 velux windows.
We've sent on the house plans to the window manufacturers Gradys, Munster Joinery, Dalgan, Senator and Doyles. Waiting to see who is priced the best. Not sure whether to go for double of treble glazing. Need to weight up the the specs/cost/etc...Once we decide the company we'll get them out to measure up.
Need to take some more recent photos and post them next week.

Hollow core up

Got the hollow core up yesterday. I had a bit of tidy up to do before the 2 artic lorries came at about 11. They took about 3 hours to get all of the slabs in place using a mobile crane. They had a bit of cutting for doing around the chimneys. It all went off without a hitch despite the weather being a disaster with driving rain and strong winds.

Grouting
After that was done, the hard job of grouting the joints needed to be done. We did it the following way in which we managed to do it without killing ourselves up and down ladders. While the slabs were being lowered onto the house we went to Westport to get a trailor fix of sand, aggregrate and cement. When the slabs were in place and the crane was free, we filled a large container with the mix and got the crane to lift the container onto the slabs. Then we emptied the container. We did this 4 times until the trailor was empty. We shovels and a brushes we filled in the joints with this dry mix. Fortunately, it started to rain heavily and the rain that fell allowed turn the mix into concrete. A hard job done quite easily.

Propping the slabs
We had to prop the slabs downstairs for the long span to support the blocks for the upstairs. We put in place a temporary stairs for the moment.

Whats up next?
Upstairs blocks are starting today so, lets see how much will get done before xmas. Plan to start the slates on the garage next week.