Roselea

Category: Walls

  • Cutting Slots on Top of Cement Panels Continues

    Also today, we were continuing with the task of cutting the vertical slots that will allow the rafter top flange to come through to form the support for the eves.

    Removing-a-nail-before-routing-a-slot

    Removing-a-nail-before-routing-a-slot

    Routing-slots-in-top-of-the-wall

    Routing-slots-in-top-of-the-wall


    We finished wall L and Wall J and I. Then around to wall E and finally wall D, a total of about 15 slots in all.

    After lunch, the template was adjusted for the next size and angle of the roof which is 40 degrees which means the bird mouth has to be bigger hence the slots needs to be deeper down the cement panels to allow the rafters to fit properly.

    Wall-P-with-rafter-slots

    Wall-P-with-rafter-slots

    We then continued on Wall H and Wall N and finally finishing wall P, a total of another 20 slots. Tomorrow, the template will be changed again to the last setting, ready to do the roofs which have an angle of 45 degrees which are the two back extension (wall K and wall O) facing the swimming lane.

  • Building Inspector Comes and Approves Our Walls

    Our building control inspector came along this afternoon to take a look our new walls. He was curious about our cement panels and what they were made of and we reassured him that they are made of wood chip mixed in pure cement and compressed into flat 10mm sheets. He also wanted reassurance that we are fire proofing the necessary cladding along the back walls which are the nearest to the boundary line. We said we are already looking into various methods and options.

    He had a look inside for a minute or so and that was it!

    He was happy and we are happy too!

    Lovely!

  • Slots On Top of Walls Started Today

    After finishing off the clearance of the openings this morning, we then switched over to the other router, we tackled the next job of slicing 38mm wide vertical slots at the top of the walls to allow the roof rafters to come through. Using our specially made template (which hooks around a vertical post) to guide the router in the exact locations where there are vertical posts which is where we want each of the roof rafter come down and sit directly on top of the solid post for maximum strength and load bearing.

    We managed to do wall B and Wall A (along the front of the building) and then Wall M and half of wall L (along the back of the building).

    These rafters are coming down at an angle of 32 degrees which means a bird mouth of 37mm deep cut into the top flange of the rafter and hence the amount of cement board needed to be removed pass the line of the top-plate. This is to allow the rafter to lock onto the top of the walls in a very secure fashion and have plane of the roof exactly 60mm above the top-plate and also the edge of the cement panels (these are coming up to meet the roof boards).

    Birds-Mouth-Cut

    Birds-Mouth-Cut

    Sits-on-top-of-wall

    Sits-on-top-of-wall

    and-passes-through-the-cement-board

    and-passes-through-the-cement-board


    in-a-Slot

    in-a-Slot

    On Monday, we will finish off the remaining walls that has these same 32 degrees sloping rafters (wall L, J, I, E and D). then the template is adjusted to do the next walls that has the 40 degrees angled rafters and finally the 45 degrees angled one after that.

  • All Doors and Windows Are Now Neat and Tidy!

    This morning, we finished off the task of removing the excess cement boards overlapping the openings. We had another three and half to go to complete  all 15 openings. Again, wearing eye protection, dust mask and safety helmet, went long the front of the building to conclude the slicing the cement sheets away from the three Windows and one Door, the front door and the windows for the Kitchen, the little Hall window and Entertainment Room.

  • Remove Overlapping Waste Cement Boards on Windows and Doors

    This morning, we sliced up one of our cement boards into lots of 110mm wide strips and went around gluing and nailing them under all the windows to complete the covering up of the timber framework.

    Strips-added-to-bottoms-of-windows-and-doors

    Strips-added-to-bottoms-of-windows-and-doors

    We also did the small vertical bits of the doorways too, two each side of the door right down at the bottom section of the timber framework which was still exposed.

    Then this afternoon, we routed the waste overhanging cement boards around all the openings, 15 of them, around the house. Using a straight cutter with a ball bearing little wheel at the tip of the cutter, we ran the machine around the edges of the windows and doors, using the inside surface of the timber framework to guide the little wheel on the cutter.

    Bearing-guided-cutter

    Bearing-guided-cutter

    Shaun-in-Action-trimming-around-window

    Shaun-in-Action-trimming-around-window


    The cutting generated a lot of dust, Shaun had both a breathing mask and goggles on to protect him. We managed only to do eleven and half of the opening before the end of the day, with a delay of an hour to repair the router machine.

    Tomorrow, we will finish off the remaining three and half openings (three windows and one door – one of the windows is half done) and the next job is to cut the slots in the top of the cement panels on top of the walls.

  • Third Line of Cement Panels is Completed At Last!

    During the last two days, we continued putting up the cement panels to complete the third line on the external wall. We did Wall M, L, K and J yesterday and today we completed wall I, H, E and finally wall D to finish the whole circuit.

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Wall-M

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Wall-M

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-K-L

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-K-L

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-I-J

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-I-J


    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-DE-H

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-DE-H

    It was hard work doing this third line, as a full sheet of the 10mm thick cement panels weighed 38kg each and we had to lift it over 6 feet up!  This is why we had our handy wooden mini platform to hold the sheet half way up – phew!

    The next job is to do the narrow strips under all the 12 windows to complete the covering of the framework around the window and narrow vertical strips down on both sides of the 3 doorways. Then, we will slice off all the overhanging waste parts of the cement board and we will then complete the wall.

    The-amount-needed-to-trim-from-windows

    The-amount-needed-to-trim-from-windows

    No hold on a minute, we also have to cut slots in the cement boards at the top of the walls where each rafter is coming down from the roof, as it will need to project to form the eves beyond the walls!!

  • Third Layer of Cement Panels Progresses Around the Building

    Today under a very hot sun and not much wind, we continued with mounting up the third layer of the full size cement boards onto the external walls.

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-A-B

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-A-B

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Wall-P

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Wall-P

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-N-O

    Cement-boards-Finished-on-Walls-N-O


    We now have completed wall A (the Kitchen and Great Room) and wall B (the side window of the front door extension) which are the walls facing the Loke. We then completed wall P (the long side of the Great Room) and turned the corner to do wall O, now going along the back of the house. We finished off the day’s work by completing wall N which is the side wall with a window in it and still part of the Great Room.

    We made a helpful little wooden platform, made of two legs with triangle bracing corners and a 89mm CLS laid flat on top. This tool allowed us to hoist the cement panels up 4 feet and then get the ladders and equipment in place so we can then carry on hauling up these heavy cement boards up the final distance into place (You can see it in the last Photo).

    We have used up all our prepared sheets so we will need to cut more grooves into the remaining boards on our pallet, which there are 19 sheets left. We hope that is enough to complete this job!!

    Now there will be a short break from any further work while we have to do other tasks for the next few days.

  • Started on the Third Line of Cement Panels on Walls

    This morning and slightly later stopping due to other commitments, we started putting up the third line of cement panels on the External Wall.

    Cement-Boards-3rd-Row-Day-1-1

    Cement-Boards-3rd-Row-Day-1-1

    Cement-Boards-3rd-Row-Day-1-2

    Cement-Boards-3rd-Row-Day-1-2


    These panels were the pre-formed sheets with the groove and tongue on the two long edges and these 7 sheets went up on the Front Door extension and also up in the Conservatory next to the Great Room. These had the extra tongue edge on top so we can put up another line of cement boards to fill in the gable ends of the roof porch and extensions. We put whole sheets across the windows and doors for maximum racking strength to stabilised the building against wind shear forces.

    Tomorrow, we will continue around the rest of the building using the 13 remaining sheets with just the groove cut in it. All is working quite well indeed!!

  • Top-Plate on Wall Doubled Up

    Today, we went around sticking down the second layer of the top-plate on the wall. It is the 89mm wide timber to sit on the outer post that forms the exterior wall structure. We used the 3D printed glue applicator we made last week and it worked very well!

    Second-top-plate-glued-on

    Second-top-plate-glued-on

    Then after that, we took 20 sheets of cement boards and one by one, routed a groove into one edge on 13 of them and then did both a groove and tongue edges on the next 7 sheets.

    They are all now sitting on our trolley ready for installation tomorrow.

    Cement-boards-ready-for-last-row

    Cement-boards-ready-for-last-row

    We had a a surprise discovery this morning when we came across a nest balanced rather wobbly on a small heap of loose planks of timber, high up inside our exterior wall. It was an open twiggy type of nest with one small pure white egg about 15mm long in it. There was no noticeable bird hanging around but we made sure we didn’t disturb the nest too much and left it there. We hope the bird (possibly a Dove) will come back.

     

  • Second Strip of Cement Panel Now Up On Wall

    These last two days, we have created lots of narrow strip of cement boards, and then nailed and glued them up on the exterior wall to build up the second layer of the weather and fire resistant cement panel coverings.

    Cement-board-strips-cut-and-routed-one-edge

    Cement-board-strips-cut-and-routed-one-edge

    Second-row-of-cement-boards-up

    Second-row-of-cement-boards-up


    We first took 7 sheets of cement boards, sliced them down into 275mm wide strips (producing 28 pieces), and then passed them through the router on both long edges to form a groove and tongue edges respectively. After that, we went around starting at the front of the building in the Utility Room corner, and then worked clockwise round the perimeter of the building, skipping the doors and windows as before. We finished with just one complete strip left over and lots of smaller pieces – that was close!

    Tomorrow, we will go around gluing and nailing the second layer of the top-plate timber on top of the wall, both the 89mm width timber on the outer leg and the 63mm width timber on the inner leg, and at last, we will do the third line of the cement panel to complete the whole wall.