Roselea

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  • Final Wet Mortar Is Shoved In

     This morning, we mixed up the final load of mortar to finish off the last 15metres or so of the Inner Wall Footplate.

     We also went around tightening down all the concrete screws on the section that the mortar is set. We had only some trouble with holes where the rubbish has fallen in so we got out the compressed air blaster (just a tank of compressed air) and cleared out the holes. Most were successfully tightened down, with only about 3 needing more drilling (we only use the battery powered drill driver to disturb the rubbish) and then air blasted it again. That did the trick.

    Inner-footplate-all-mortared-and-mostly-screwed-down

    Inner-footplate-all-mortared-and-mostly-screwed-down

    Tomorrow, we will tighten down the final section we did this morning and then start with the second layer of timber on top of the concrete wall, this time, a complete loop of 89mm CLS timber on top of the 100mm wide timber already there. We will use our old supply of wood “weather proof” glue that has been sitting in a large pressure bottle (that was an old garden sprayer) for 5 years or so. Amazingly, the glue inside was still liquid. Wow!

  • Leveling and Fixing Footplate Almost Done

    We had a long day of adjusting and setting the exact height of the wooden Inside Footplate for our External Wall. We decided that we would plane and trim the pieces of Footplate to accommodate the rise and fall of our concrete floor.

    This morning, we hauled out our planer machine outside in the lovely sunshine and passed through it several lengths of our timber we had already put into place yesterday. Some of the pieces were planed down by only 5mm, but some of them were reduced by 10mm and one piece was reduced by 15mm! We generated 4 bags of shavings!

    Then after lunch, we mixed up two loads of mortar and went around putting underneath the footplate the mortar and using our laser level gadget, to set the height  so that all the timber pieces are set exactly the same.

    Inside-sole-plate-mostyly-mortared

    Inside-sole-plate-mostyly-mortared

    The two loads of mortar almost allowed us to complete the full circle of fixing the footplate into place, we have only 15 metres to go to finish the job.

    The next job is to put a second layer on the concrete wall, this time a 89mm wide CLS planks, and then the third  layer would have slots cut into it (this also includes the inner footplate as well) and then this layer will be fixed down in exact positions so that the slots would receive the vertical wall post in a controlled manner without us having to keep measure where the next one will need to go.

  • Inner Wall Footplate Screwed Down

    Today, we went around fixing into place the bottom layer of the Footplate timber pieces that makes up the inner structural leg element of the External Wall.

    We drilled a 6.5mm diameter holes through the 38mm by 63mm CLS treated timber (it is nice and green colour!) which provided a pilot hole for us to then drill down into the concrete floor using our heavy duty SDS drill machine, using a 6.5mm diameter drill bit. We went down about 80mm into the concrete itself so that there is plenty of room for the concrete screws to tap into (allowing space for the little bit of broken bits of sand and granite to fall down into). We then drilled a clearance hole in the wood and drove in the concrete screws but we left a gap underneath for the mortar.

    Inner-footplate-drilled-fixed

    Inner-footplate-drilled-fixed

    The next job, is to mix up some mortar and then put it under the footplate and laser level it to an exact height.

  • The Router Table Is Adapted

    Today, after a couple of days of interruptions and doing other maintenance jobs around the house, We have adapted the Router table to become a sliding module for the new modular Workbench system.

    Using a brand new Router Machine, we now have the ability to do very controlled operations to pieces of timber wood, sheet materials and other jobs that needs a large flat area and a long fence guide to bring in the work pieces that needed trimming  or shaping in some form or other.

    The final module to be made will be the Chop Saw for doing lots of cuts at fixed angles to the fence like 90°, 30° or other angles we might need.

  • The Inner Leg: Marking the Position and Cutting the First Layer of the Footplate

    This afternoon, we went around the whole perimeter and finished marking out where the footplate is going to go. We used a can of spray black paint and an old length of CLS timber as a ruler and paint guide.

    Inner-footplate-alignment-marked

    Inner-footplate-alignment-marked

    Then, we pulled out 16 lengths from our new pallet of treated 63mm CLS timber and laid a complete circuit of putting down a layer of timber to form the footplate for the inner leg of the wall structure.

    Inner-footplate-cut-to-size

    Inner-footplate-cut-to-size

    We had only a small collection of left over pieces from the 16 lengths!

    Five-pieces-left-over

    Five-pieces-left-over

    The next job is to drill pilot holes in the wood, then drill masonry holes in the concrete and start shoving nice wet and sticky mortar under the timber and set them at a constant height.

  • Last Chunk of Material Finally Arrives

    Early this morning, the last of our building material arrives! At 8:51am, the lorry came reversing down our Loke, loaded with all our timber planks! They were: 4 large pallets of 63mm CLS treated timber (2 pallets) and 89mm CLS treated timber (another 2 pallets).

    Lots-of-CLS-Timber

    Lots-of-CLS-Timber

    Plus also delivered loosely, 20 lengths of the 150mm by 50mm planks, 2 lengths of 75mm by 50mm planks and 34 lengths of 100mm by 50mm planks, all of which are untreated.We moved all the odd sizes over to our timber storage yard (our swimming lane!) so they are now under cover from the weather.

    Some-100-x-47mm-timber

    Some-100-x-47mm-timber

    Some-150mm-x-47-timber

    Some-150mm-x-47-timber


    It is interesting to note that the treated timber pieces were done on the 22nd March (shown on a label stapled to the packs), but we ordered the timber way back on the 14th March. The treatment plant was up in Hull of all places! We assume that the liquid chemicals (which contain Copper, Benzalkoniumchloride & Boric Acid ) which were vacuum impregnated into the timber needed to be dried hence why it took 2 weeks from treatment date to delivery today.

  • Surveying The Inner Footplate On Concrete

    This afternoon, we made a measuring tool to allow us to survey the height of the concrete floor around the base of the External Wall, log the results down on the printout of the plan and spray black paint to mark where the inner footplate will go.

    Concrete-Level-survey-Overall-view-of-tool

    Concrete-Level-survey-Overall-view-of-tool

    WE used our digital spirit level attached to the outer leg and switched on the audio feedback feature (it provides a beeping tones, one pitch for leaning over backwards and another pitched tone for when leaning forward and the speed of the bleeping tones to how close to perfectly vertical, the faster, the closer) this is useful so we didn’t have to keep looking up and trying to see the bubble whilst adjust the angle of the post by winding a foot in and out with a spanner. Then, we attached our talking tape measurer down near the bottom of the 2nd inner leg so we can measure the relative height of the concrete when we managed to balance up the whole contraption to be vertical. We just simply pulled out the tape down to the concrete surface and the male voice would announce the distance in millimetres. We also sprayed a bit of paint alongside the wood on the concrete to mark where the inner wall’s footplate will go.

    Concrete-Level-survey-Level-Measure-and-mark

    Concrete-Level-survey-Level-Measure-and-mark

    We started about 1:30pm and by the time we had finished, we were rather chilled by the cold wind and the sun dropping down behind buildings so we were in the shade during the latter half of our surveying task.

    The quick summary of the results were that quite a lot of the concrete is in the 90mm to 95mm range (the number is arbitrary and measured downwards so larger numbers are lower concrete), but we got some that were quite high at 76mm, and 85mm (mostly in corners where the concrete would have flowed into) and a couple of lowest spots where we got 105mm (where the concrete didn’t get push evenly around).

    Concrete-Heights

    Concrete-Heights

    This means that we have a height difference of almost 30mm from one spot to another spot on our concrete floor! Phew! Normally, we would take that difference and bed the wooden footplate on to a layer of mortar to even out the “bumps” whole way around, but when there is such a marked difference, it would mean a great deal of mortar to mix and lay down. We may do it in independent sections and adjust the length of the vertical legs within the wall structure to cope with the different heights. We haven’t quite decided yet – Phew!!

    Concrete-Level-survey-Dashes-showing-wall-line

    Concrete-Level-survey-Dashes-showing-wall-line

    Finally, we now have a complete line of dashed blobs going right around and these markings will keep us on the straight and narrow when we come to put down the 63mm CLS treated timber and drill pilot holes into the concrete for the concrete screws to tap into, through the timber and holding it into place.

  • All Tidied Up!

    This afternoon, we finished off the tidy up operation around the base of the External Wall, clearing the last small section of the concrete floor of leaves, dirt and rubble.

    We also went around the outside of the perimeter wall, collecting up lumps of mortar that dibbled down and landed on the sandy soil.

    So in the end, the total amount of “stuff” was about 5 bags worth!!

  • Tidy Up Day 2 of Clearing Rubble and Leaves

    Today, we carried on with the tidy up operation around the base of the Perimeter Wall, to remove leaves, rubble and dirt that has been blown in these last few months.

    Cleaning-up-inside-the-walls

    Cleaning-up-inside-the-walls

    We managed three quarters of the way round so far and have filled up 3 heavy duty rubble sacks. Tomorrow, we will finish off the last little bit and then we can start marking out the line where the inner wooden footplate will be bolted down to the concrete floor. This inner footplate will hold and lock down the second leg of the wall structure which is connected to the first “front” leg. When we have one made, a photo will describe this particular structural element with a bit more clarity!

  • Final Tightening Down of Footplate and Tidy Up Around the Wall

    Today was spent tightening the concrete screws on our Footplate on the External Wall. We had to make sure the screws went down and gripped firmly the timber plank into place. There was only 4 that didn’t do a proper job so we re-drilled new holes alongside and this time, successfully tightened very nicely.

    Then, it was the tidy up job of sweeping the leaves and rubble that has collected inside the footprint of the house bounded by the external wall and also knock off blobs of mortar and concrete off the walls and floor. We got a third of the way around the perimeter, collecting up enough to make a bag of rubbish.