Hit by reality on the ground

I have suffered from the reality on the ground by the plasterers regarding insulation. I specified expensive sound screen R2.5 for all walls and ceilings. I knew the insulation would fit. However the plasterers could only get their hands on R3.o, so they got R3.0. Unfortunately it didn't fit and was causing the plaster board to bow. So they ended up splitting the insulation into 2. So I having paid for R2.5, I effectively get R1.5. It started off just a little bit here and there which I shrugged off as not that important and then it degenerated into most places. There was not much that I could do since the plaster had already been hung.

The moral of the story is do the insulation yourself. I know tradies "can" do a better job, but they are constrained by the need to perform the job efficiently and economically. Sadly the end result to a customer is all too often a worse outcome than doing it yourself.

Insulation is pretty much a exercise in trust. It is one of those things that you can not effectively tell whether a good job has been done or not.

What I am really annoyed with is that I allowed this to happen. The other thing is that I can't really justify getting it changed. This is because with the high ceilings, tree shading, very wide eaves, excellent ventilation, etc, etc I think we will have a very thermally comfortable house. It is very frustrating that I get home and my minds eye bends the whole issue into a huge injustice, but when I get the the work site, I realise it really will not make a significant difference. My wife and I have decided to use a product called thermilate which apparently will increase the R value by 50%.

plaster board, bath defect and insulation

The bath has a defect and I'll need to get it replaced - groan.

More gyprocking in underway. I'm putting sound rated insulation into all walls - internal and external

The plasterboard has started

The plaster board work has started. The guy thinks it will take between 2 and 3 weeks. Arg - it is going down to the wire.

Stairs and Glass

My glass for my fixed windows arrived today - yay! We started to put them in. Unfortunately one of the panes blew out and smashed before the beading was put in. But fortunately for some reason I got two extra panes so problem solved. The glass is special "comfort plus" and has a low U value (or high R value 0.28). It is really expensive at $250 per square metre. It reduces heat loss by over 30%, reduces voice noise by 15%, blocks out 99% of UV. It also lets in 82% of the light - which is good. Most of the windows have been reduced in size due to being made out of timber and having the jambs made out of 45mm thick timber. Technically I should not have to use energy rated glass, but I'm hoping that I will save on energy.

I have noticed that the acoustics have changed since installing the glass.

The stairs are in and they are great.

Here is the status of the kitchen windows. The glass has been ordered, the sashes have been built, the electricity, gas, plumbing have been roughed in. The kitchen has been bought. The gyprock people have being arranged to start next Wednesday or Thursday. The only thing left to do is install the fixed glass, sashes and a bit of oiling.

The carpenters will return on Monday to finish a few more things off.

First Two Sashes

I installed the first two window sashes today. They have no glass yet. I'm going to try to install the glass in-situ. Of course I spent the first 7 hours of the day getting W2 right and only half an hour putting in W3.

The window sashes are an unusual design. They are not glued, but held together using a loose mortise and tenon with a bugle screw. They are suprisingly very strong.

8th attempt at window sash w2

I routed the groove to hold the glass pane in the sashes today.

I attempted to first do this with the window frame all held together as a rectangle. Somehow I lost my grip and the window frame kept on bouncing off the router bit like a pool ball on a pool table (except it was the pool table moving). It made a complete mess of window sash W2 - ripped it to shreds. Not to mention that I almost dislodged my router - it was hanging loose and at an angle - which made it even worse. Fortunately the router was ok and the bit was also fine. Really scarey though - I was shaking a little bit. The router bit is around 5cm in diameter with 4 teeth and the speed of the router is 22000rpm. So the angular velocity is a cool - wait for it- 44.6 m/s or 160 kilometers per hour!

I'll redo W2 for the 8th time on Monday.

We went to IKEA today to buy our kitchens. We spent around 5k and got exactly what I wanted - very boring but very practical (kind of). Liz is "ok" with it, but she would have prefered a solid wooden kitchen. I'll do the upgrade in 25 years when the warranty runs out.

Sashes

I had spent most of the week playing around with making the sashed for my windows. I tried to do a double loose mortis and tenon and it just would not work. I didn't fasten down the stops in my jig so everything was all over the place. I though to my self "stuff it" and I'll start all over again this morning. I managed to complete all of the low window sashed in just a day. I ended up doing a single half inch wide loose mortis and tenon and fasten them using a bugle screw.

Here is a trench I dug for the the services.

Progress

The cladding is almost done.

Cladding Finished and Roofing Sheets Up

The cladding is basically finished and the roofing sheets are up. The carpenters and taking cup day off. I dug the trench for the services. We have water! (to the house)