Welcome to our blog.

This blog will follow the ultimate in home improvement: demolish and rebuild!

This is our starting point: a 1930s bungalow. While not a bad house; it is too small for us with three teenage children so what should we do? A full storey extension versus complete rebuild - ultimately the stronger eco-credentials and more certain finances of a new-build helped to guide our choice.

For a number of years we've been trying to find the right route for us to build an eco-friendly, low energy home. We tried various architects and building companies and have eventually settled with a German prefabricated build. The new house will be nearly to passivhaus standards (but not quite due to budget constraints). In any case, the house will be heavily insulated and airtight.

As a family, we have not built a house before so everything is new and exciting but the risk of making a mess of things is quite high!

This blog aims to outline the day to day steps involved in our build.

Sunday 6 June 2010

The construction team finish

The construction team continued their work even on the weekend. Saturday saw them finishing up the jobs inside the house. For example, they covered the brackets with Fermacell. The bottom part of the bracket will be covered as we build up the floor. They also covered the floor panel sides on the inside of the house with Fermacell. The team worked hard to finish their part of the build.

All the points which break the airtightness of the house have to be sealed, so for example; the exit point for the soil and vent pipe is already waiting in the ceiling upstairs where it has been sealed. After the pipe is connected from the bathroom downstairs, it will be boxed in by local trades. The black pipes next to it are the solar thermal pipes that come through from the panel on the other side of the roof, that Neil and his team put in on Friday.
After the pipes go down to the ground floor they are waiting coiled up until they can be fed through to the utility room.
The beautiful staircase is wrapped up to keep it clean until the work is finished.

The sitting room part of the open plan living area (sitting room/dining room/kitchen).

The kitchen which is also part of the open plan living area. It is already being used by everyone for their coffee breaks!

Upstairs! It's amazing to have an upstairs after being in the bungalow.

Finally, the team sealed the green vapour barrier around the skylight window. There work was done! The team finished after lunch and took a small break before leaving early Sunday morning. As soon as they are back in Germany they will be starting another house! FANTASTIC work guys; thank you Michael, Stefan, Tobias and Alex.
Next week the company rendering team will start!

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