Category Archives: Build Progress

Outbuildings: Week 39, Day 1

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Outbuildings: Week 39, Day 1

Good progress on the plumbing today, with the pipework now completed in the Ground Floor Store Room which is the ‘hub’ for the plumbing installation – though it still needs insulating (especially since the store room will remain unheated). With this pipework completed, there is now mains water coming into the Outbuildings (via the blue MDPE pipe in the photo below) and harvested rainwater in both the Outbuildings and the House (coming in from the submersible pump in the underground tank via the flexible hose connection into the black and yellow pump controller, and going out to the House via the black and green MDPE pipe, running into the same duct as the blue pipe).

Mains and Rainwater pipework in the Ground Floor Store Room

The diagram pinned to the wall is a schematic I drew for the plumbers, showing how the components needed to be arranged – reproduced below.

Schematic for rainwater harvesting pipework

I’ll write more about the rainwater harvesting system in a separate technical article, since it’s a relatively unusual thing to incorporate in a domestic property and I’m pleased with how it’s all come together. The Wisy Multimat pump and controller (in the photo with a temporary plastic bag rather than the supplied cover) are impressively very well-engineered. While they weren’t cheap they seem good value. The pump and controller are both critical components of the rainwater supply system and it’s not at all easy to arrange for a mains water backup if one of them fails, due to the regulations about protecting mains water supplies from contamination from “Category 5” liquids (since rainwater is considered as ‘bad’ as raw sewage).

Outbuildings: Week 38, Day 5

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Outbuildings: Week 38, Day 5

More tidying-up of the site and completing a few outstanding jobs inside but mostly finishing off the temporary, shallow ramp that provides access to the block-paved parking area. That needed two lorry-loads of recycled aggregate, on top of the larger-sized stone installed yesterday.

Recycled stone ‘ramp’ connecting the block-paved parking area by the Garages to the main driveway

This is ‘temporary’ in as much as nothing more permanent was included in the scope of the build contract. In due course some block paving will be brought further towards the House, but the extent of that paving and the choice of materials is part of the wider landscaping scheme for which the design is not yet confirmed. Overall it’s quite a large, flat area that could probably do with breaking up with some planting – perhaps in containers?

The digger, dumper and roller used for the drainage and driveway works have been off-hired and will be collected early next week.

This marks the end of the main work for the prime contractor but there’s still some subcontract work to complete:

  • The external staircase is getting a custom-made safety handrail which has been fabricated and galvanised and should be ready to install next week
  • The plumbing work needs another day or two of work to finish off, again expected next week
  • There’s about another day left to fully finish the vinyl flooring in the Utility Room and wet-room Shower Room

There are also a few items of work not included in the main build contract:

  • The wall needs tiling around the shower, before the shower fitting itself can be installed
  • The window sills need installing on the five square windows around the Courtyard, together with some adjustments to the doors and their seals
  • The alarm system needs some finishing touches, including installing the radio link to the House system and its monitoring station
  • The ventilation system needs commissioning (adjusting the fan speeds and vent openings) and the ‘external’ ducts need insulating
  • The kitchen units need installing in the Utility Room

It’s therefore close to the time when it’s appropriate to suspend these regular daily updates. For now, my thinking is to leave them running until the Architect declares ‘practical completion’ and Building Control are ready to issue their final certificate, which will probably be another week or two. I might delete the daily updates on days when there’s nothing to report.