Roselea

Category: Phase 4

Construction of External Skin of House: External Walls, Roof and Skylight. Slate tiles on roof and timber cladding on walls.

  • Completed Setting Up of Brackets for Fascia Boards

    Today, under a superb blue sky and brilliant, very hot sunshine, we continued the task of fixing up support brackets to hold up our Fascia Boards at the exact positions.
    It was very interesting to appreciate how the liquid level tool is influenced by all sorts of environmental factors. It took at least half an hour for it to settle down and acclimatise to things like air temperature affecting the tubing (making it softer and increasing the internal volume), the liquid expanding because it was getting warmer and the different heights of the barriers we had to go over!

    But once we got a handle on its idiosyncratic behaviour, we had full confidence to carry on in doing the task of getting up these “L” shaped wooden brackets, positioned at the 12.550 meter point and we kept on double checking backwards, especially when we had to go out a different window or door.
    We arrived back to the beginning, around on the front of the building just past the front door porch and we measured the very first one we did on Saturday and hey presto, it was the same height!! Yippee!

    L-Brackets-installed-on-end-of-each-set-of-rafters

    L-Brackets-installed-on-end-of-each-set-of-rafters


    The other little job we did while we had this liquid level device out and working well, we duplicated our reference point we have been using (which is situated on our number 5 steel leg) and went all around the whole internal walls (and the other six steel legs too) copying the reference mark. We now can be reassured that if we accidentally block off our main reference mark, we will have lots of other ones to take comfort from accurate duplicated reference marks.

  • Proceeded With New Liquid Level Device to Get Ready for Fascia Boards

    Today, we unpacked our new liquid level device and spent several hours getting it sorted (putting liquid in the 25 metre clear hose, without any bubbles takes time and patience!!), we proceeded to start work on setting the height of our Fascia boards. We are using “L” shaped wooden brackets made earlier and using this new liquid level to position a pair on all the sections of the roof to the precise Height of 2.55 metres above ground level.
    It was very interesting in how this very old technology (the Romans probably invented the technique!) is still useful and how sensitive it is to the slightest changes in where the 25 metre hose pipe was positioned and what obstacles it had to climb over (like windows or doorways).
    It was a case of running back and forth between the reference point on our “5” steel leg which had one end of the level mounted up at the exact 2.55 metre point and the other end going across and out to the edge of the roof.

    Water-Level-on-steel-post-@-2

    Water-Level-on-steel-post-@-2

    Water-Level-on-post-details

    Water-Level-on-post-details

    Water-Level-on-eve-end

    Water-Level-on-eve-end



    We managed to get six of the fifteen sections we are setting up done, and on Monday, we will continue with the task, until we have done all the way around. We wanted to get ready the whole job of where to position and mount up the Fascia boards, before we actually start putting any up at all. We will (we hope!) see that we arrive back to the start and find everything is nicely aligned up!

  • Final Black Finishing Coat of Glass Fibre Resin Applied to Downpipe Channels

    This morning, we finished off sanding and cleaning up the work we did yesterday on the Downpipe Channels, by removing excess glass fibre here and there and preparing them all for the final “top coat” resin layer.

    Downpipe-channels-finished-with-Black-resin

    Downpipe-channels-finished-with-Black-resin


    The deep black resin is a special formulated resin with a bit of wax added. This causes the surface of the resin to “pull” itself into a very smooth finish which is ideal to make the rain water flow as quickly as possible.
    The next job is to use our new liquid level device and set out our “L” wooden brackets all around the whole building to get the Fascia boards to be aligned at the same height everywhere!

  • Glass Fibre Resin Coating for Downpipe Channels

    Yesterday and today, we have been preparing and starting the process of putting on a fibre glass resin surface on the insides of the Downpipe Channels. Yesterday, we filled in all the right angle joints with filler to make a smooth curved transition so the glass fibre can fit more easily.

    Downpipe-Channels-inner-corders-radiused

    Downpipe-Channels-inner-corders-radiused


    This morning, we rubbed all the filler to take off any sharp bits and then started the glass fibre coating. The first layer was a medium grade glass fibre mesh to provide the core strength to bind and reinforce the resin, and this was followed by a second layer, just on the bottom base board, is a tissue glass fibre to smooth out the ripples.
    Downpipe-channels-glass-fibered

    Downpipe-channels-glass-fibered

    We then waited for the resin to set a bit then trimmed all the excess fibreglass off and sanded thing smooth.

    Downpipe-channels-glass-fiber-trimmed-and-sanded

    Downpipe-channels-glass-fiber-trimmed-and-sanded


    Tomorrow, we will give the whole thing a final layer using a special “top-coat” resin, in a solid black colour, this will give us our glossy smooth finish inside our guttering to encourage the rain water to flow nicely down to the plastic pipe and beyond.

  • Setting Things in Place for Fascia Boards

    A bit of a catch up blog entry for the last few days of work which has been a bit interrupted…

    We cut the 10 pieces of fascia for the outside diagonal corners ready to attach to the end cut previously.

    Outside-corner-pieces-for-facia

    Outside-corner-pieces-for-facia

    We then made a heap of ‘L’ shaped plywood pieces so that we can measure the position of the bottom of the fascia using our laser level and then clamp a ‘L’ Bracket in place to rest the fascia on. We then started by putting up 4 brackets on the E & F eves.

    Later we returned to the job and we double checked these ones previously set to make sure that they were still in the right place. We wanted to make sure we could repeat the measurements and get the same results. And No We Cannot!

    Further analysis seems to show that the laser can only find the same level within three to four millimetres each time we placed it down in a slightly different place. This would be ok for the more general site surveying tasks and even positioning certain building elements in and around the structure but when our Fascia will do a complete circuit around the whole house, travelling some seventy-seven metres in total, we were not confident that the laser will bring the two ends together within a few millimetres. We didn’t want to take that risk.
    So a change of plan and we have ordered an old fashioned liquid levelling system using a long hose pipe and clear plastic tubes at each end and we will set one end at our reference point and move the other end right around the perimeter and fix our “L” wooden brackets everywhere first before putting up a single Fascia board. We will have to make a load more of these brackets but that is a small cost to achieve a consistent and clean result.

  • Last Three Downpipe Channel’s Made, Corner Eves Cut and Fascia Boards Acquire Bevelled Edges

    This blog is a rather long catch-up report of the last few days of work. On Saturday, we made the Sixth Downpipe Channel, this time for the one connecting up the “G” section of the roof next to our Side Door. It is a straight one, all aligned up with the edge of the “G” Fascia but it will still have an extra 45 degrees added on to provide an enlarged collection area to catch the rainwater running down the valley slope of the roof.
    Then, in the morning of Monday, we had a go at installing a rubber membrane inside one of our Downpipe Channel but it proved to be very awkward and we couldn’t get the rubber to fit smoothly down inside on the base of the channel and down into the plastic pipe too. We had to abandoned this idea and switch over to applying fibre glass and poly-ester resin to paint the the inside surfaces in our channels to make them fully water proof and not let the wood rot (We have ordered the materials needed and will finish them when the stuff comes) .
    So instead, we carried on making two more “temporary” downpipe channels, for the point where our Conservatory will be when we get to build that part of the building later on. These temporary channels are just made from plywood pieces and not oak. That was completed by early afternoon on Monday and we spent the rest of the day doing some Charity work making thin wooden Basket weaving bases for a local VI  Craft club in Yarmouth.

    Temporary-downpipe-channels-for-PQ

    Temporary-downpipe-channels-for-PQ


    Yesterday and today, we tackled the job of trimming the ten external “outside” corners of our house and its roof. These corners have long sticking out LVL diagonal rafters and we needed to trim these off at the point when they meet the Fascia board which is coming around the corner at a 45degrees angle. We made a template to allow us to hook it up onto the ends of the two lines of eves (coming off the two sections of the roof that meets at these corners) and marking where to chop off the excess amount.
    Trimmed-corner-of-EF

    Trimmed-corner-of-EF

    And finally, this afternoon, we gave all our Fascia boards (41 of them + a wide one too) a double 45degree angled bevel edging so this forms an “interesting” bottom edge of the Fascia when it is all up.

    Chamfered-edge-of-facia

    Chamfered-edge-of-facia

    The next job is to analyse all our Fascia segments, working out how long each one is, what angle of saw cut we would need and matching that requirement with our 41 ready-made lengths we have. We will need to be careful not to waste too much wood as we don’t have an endless supply – grin!!

  • Fifth Downpipe Channel With Pipe Inserted

    A short session only for today. We drilled the large 110mm hole in the Downpipe Channel we made yesterday and fitted the plastic pipe into position. Everything was glued and now curing.
    Tomorrow, we will see how well the rubber has glued together but also we are considering making an mould so we can fold the rubber membrane up around the outside of the mould which will be much easier to do.

  • Rubber Membrane Ordered and Fifth Downpipe Channel Created

    This morning, we analysed the plans to work out the total length of the rubber membrane we would need for the guttering and the valleys in the roof. There are eight valleys in our roof structure (our roof also has twelve hips and five ridges too) and about eighty metres of guttering. This adds up to just over 150metres in total and our supplier has 20metres rolls so we ordered eight rolls!
    The afternoon was spent building the fifth Downpipe Channel for the diagonal corner between Bedroom 1 and the Great Room. We didn’t stick the rubber membrane into the previous channels we made yesterday as we realised that we needed to do a test of our glue sticking two layers of the rubber material and we wanted to make sure the glue will cure properly while being sandwiched by these two impermeable surfaces. The glue may need access to the air or moisture to set the chemical reaction going and cure the glue properly.
    So we measured and cut the pieces for the fifth channel, took it outside to set it against the real world and proceeded to complete it by late evening to dry and cure overnight.
    The last proper channel we will make is for a straight one for the Side Porch which we will do on Saturday and then we can start putting up the Fascia boards.

  • Downpipe Channels Acquire Plastic Pipes

    Today, we carried on with the creation of the Downpipe Channels by having a large 110mm diameter hole cut into the base boards at the bottom of the sloping drainage channels. We took some left-over plastic rain water underground pipes and cut them up into about 180mm long pieces so it will stick downwards underneath these chutes and connect to the main downpipe that is going down into the rain water collection pipework.
    But we had to reinforce the surrounding area around the large hole (with another 20mm thick half circle of Oak) so the plastic pipe will be securely held by the glue and survive being push about when we connect all the pipes together.
    We also got out some spare left-over rubber sheet and cut this up into two strips of 500mm wide by 3metres in length. Using a spare smaller piece, we tested to how small a hole in the rubber we could go down to and still push in a modified plastic ring (cut from more of the same 110mm plastic pipe but also a vertical chunk missing so it becomes like a springy C clip) which allows us to squeeze the rubber down inside the main pipe and securely hold (with friction and glue) into the top of the downpipe.

    Pipe-sticking-down-out-the-channel

    Pipe-sticking-down-out-the-channel

    The-hole-is-as-far-into-the-end-as-possible

    The-hole-is-as-far-into-the-end-as-possible

    Rubber-lining-with-Hole

    Rubber-lining-with-Hole



    We finished off the day by having all four of our wooden Oak channels fitted with their little plastic pipe segments.
    And tomorrow, we will stick down the rubber membrane inside these channels and that will be that!

  • Four Downpipe Channel Created

    The last two days have seen the development and creation of the first four Downpipe Channels or chutes. Using our lovely Oak timber we planed last week, we made the base boards with a 44° and 46° angled “arrow” on one end, then took them outside with some straight metal bars (to act for the Fascia boards) and measured the real world situation regarding exactly where these Downpipe Channels are positioned in relation to the main Fascia boards and the gutters.
    Then, we made a simple plywood end caps, and sliced a compound angle of 45degrees and 1degree angle on both ends of each side wall of the channel (another Oak timber piece).

    Corner-gutter-channels-assembled

    Corner-gutter-channels-assembled


    The biscuit joiner was employed to help keep the two side walls neat and locked into position and then all was glued together using our brown silicone glue. Everything was clamped together and left to dry overnight.
    Tomorrow, we will drill a large 110mm wide hole into the base board right at the bottom end of the channel and then wrap and glue a piece of rubber membrane inside surfaces to provide the waterproofing layer for the wood. We are using rubber as it is far more flexible than fibre-glass resin as any timber constructed building will have a bounce and movement in its structure and hard resin will crack eventually.