Withington Co-operative Eco-house - electrical

Beginning external wall insulation

Robert — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 19:13:36 +0000

The builders have now started fitting UdiReco to the external rear wall of the house:

Note that the right-hand wall (with the bricked-up window) has deliberately been left, as the insulation is on the inside there. The job is waiting for scaffolding now.

The smaller basement door has been inserted, as can be seen in the photo, but the larger one (which would be off-camera to the left) is awaiting arrival of RSJs.

Meanwhile the builders have been preparing the remaining rooms inside for skimming, with plasters due on-site next week.

I have been concerned at lack of progress with the electrical installation, but a new electrician is coming in tomorrow, so we shall see.

Insulation again

Robert — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 22:21:07 +0000

Today I went to the house because I'd agreed to meet the electrician on-site, to go through a few issues regarding cable routes etc.

Whilst I was there, I noticed that the builders had completed the insulation in the front attic room, ready for beginning the taping on Monday morning (the back rooms still need another layer). However, although they had mainly done a good job, where they had stuffed the void behind the purlin with quilt insulation, it had pushed up the 25mm PIR boards, compromising the air gap for ventilating the roof:

Something to take up with them on Monday, no doubt. They've also taken delivery of a pallet-load of 9mm plasterboard, which seems a bit premature to me considering they haven't even started the taping yet, and still have the bottom layer of PIR to put on at the rear.

Meanwhile, the costs are in for the VIP - significantly cheaper than Spacetherm. I've been reading various things about VIP and the main concern (apart from vulnerability to puncture both during installation and in service - both of which I think we can mitigate on this project) is degradation in performance over time. Need to clarify the situation with the suppliers on this issue.

More insulating

Robert — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 23:02:09 +0000

Today has been all about insulation. The builders have been making good progress with the PIR in the attic - more on that below. I've just ordered another £180 worth of air-tightness tapes and sealants from Green Building Store, which should arrive tomorrow, ready to start taping on Monday. And I've also been costing out the VIPs (that's vacuum insulated panels) for the internal walls in the ground and first floor rooms, at the front. VIP is the only thing that can get us the required U-value in minimum thickness, but not without difficulties, in terms of needing battening (recommended in phenolic foam, but still, relatively, a cold bridge) and danger of puncture (ruining performance) both during installation and by occupants of the building. Hopefully the costings should come through by the end of tomorrow.

As I mentioned, the PIR installation has been proceeding: they've got most of the first layer (25mm between rafters) in, started the second (75mm) layer at the rear, and completed this and on to the third (75mm) layer at the front. The builders came up with an unusual-looking, though effective method of holding the third layer up to the second, whilst the adhesive cured:

Overall, both Andrew and I are pleased with the standard of the insulation work. However, there have been a few issues, the worst of which is this:

Needless to say, I need to have a word with the electrician when he comes back on-site on Saturday!

First fixing

Robert — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 20:35:35 +0000

I haven't updated the blog for a while... things have been progressing though. The sprinkler first fix is done, and the electrical well on the way. WIth the electrician in particular, it's a challenge to make sure people don't just put their pipes/cables wherever there's an available route now, without considering the other elements of the design (especially the insulation!). But everyone on the job seems to respond positively when I point out to them, as I regularly do, that something is in the way and needs to be moved or changed - for which I am thankful, because some people might be more challenging in such situations.

The builders have also done some miscellaneous brickwork and joinery items. All the studwork for the suspended ceilings and partition walls is now in place. Some more ripping out has been done; there's now a large mound of waste material in the garden, and the builders are complaining that the United Utilities work on the street is preventing them getting a skip in.

Weekend activity

Robert — Sun, 07 Jul 2013 21:18:04 +0000

Got back from Wales and decided to have a quick check on the house. The work on the chimney has been completed as expected, and looks good.

But for some reason the builders decided to start on the electrical first fix, in the attic - which I wasn't aware would be happening. Some of the cable routes chosen compromise the fitting of the roof insulation. I was a bit cross about this so I called the main guy and told him so; no doubt we will have a conversation about this tomorrow.

Velux smoke vent system

Robert — Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:17:48 +0000

Today we took delivery of the Velux windows (and additional slates, to replace broken ones).

There are two electronically-operated opening windows to be installed at the top of the stairwell, these will be connected via a Velux-supplied control unit to the fire alarm - and also switches to enable the people in the house to open and close the windows (pretty much like electric windows in a car).

What I didn't realise until it arrived was how big and heavy the control unit is: looks like it's built to withstand World War Three!

It was good that we found this out before the meeting with the electricians; I told them that the box would be going in the plant room, and they'd have to run cables up to the roof from there, as it would be too big and heavy to put on the wall at high level, as originally intended.

The rest of the meeting with the electricians went well - I just need to confirm a few details with them ahead of them starting on-site a week on Monday.

Incidentally, Velux provided stickers for the smoke vent control box in numerous European languages, the etymology of which I found quite interesting:

Withington Co-operative Eco-house - electrical

Beginning external wall insulation

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Insulation again

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More insulating

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First fixing

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Weekend activity

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Velux smoke vent system

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