Foundations

The building has started with the foundation base filled with crushed metal (stones), levelled and compacted, it's very hard to see but the site has a slope towards the East so we had to put a lot of extra fill to build it up to the correct level.

The weather has been really bad, rain, hail, wind and snow, the only thing we didn't get was locusts and pestilence...

Our big tank arrived last night, so we have another challenge of moving it around to the back of the site and putting it in a hole so the water will be able to fill it to the top.

Yes I made an error in my calculations and didn't take into account the height between the space between the edge of the roof and the top of the tank -oh bother! and other words like that.

It's dawned a beautiful day, so I should be able to finish of the foundation form-work, so we will be able to sort out were we will put the pipes under the concrete slab, you only get one chance of getting this part of the build correct..

RIP

Today I accidentally washed my cell phone, it didn't seem to like the heavy duty cycle on the washing machine, I even put in some fabric conditioner.

It has been blow dried but it still refuses to come back to life.

It's very clean...

Starting the Dig

Today it is planned for the digger man to start the excavations, first he will have to scape the site of all the topsoil, then I will be able to construct the boxing ready for the concrete foundation to be poured (placed?).

This time I am going to increase the pops required to 600mm centres rather than the 1200mm recommended, this will make sure there's no movement.

Investing in 'Boys Toys'

I had to have a new saw, the old one has come to the end of it's days, with the safety features becoming unserviceable, plus the off/on switch has broken in half, which makes working with it a little interesting especially when it refuses to turn off.
The new one is a De Walt double bevel compound miter saw (more power!) made in the US, I think but probably came from China, like most of the things we buy now.
Also bought the bench that it goes with it, so no excuses for wobbly cuts.

Building Consent

Great news, we have received our 'Building Consent' from the district council, so we can now start on with Stage 2 of the build.
We set the profiles out and 'shot' the levels with a laser level that a friend kindly lent, it's great to know people that have all the right equipment.
Mrs DIY and I spent a happy 20 minutes setting the levels in the gathering gloom on Sunday night.

What a Difference a Day Makes

I know it's a line from a old song but the heat pumps working like I hoped it would, it's amazing what a difference a competent air conditioner engineer can do.
The weather has be really miserable but the pump is keeping up with the change in temperature. mmmm waaarmmmmm...

Moving Right Along

The heat pump is now 'fixed' again (watch this space).

As a little light relief this weekend we set the profiles of the new house out, waiting for the approval from the local council, this is before we can start digging the hole for the foundations and turning this green an pleasant land into a sea of mud.

To help stop this happening we will scrape all the topsoil off around the house and put down some base course metal, we will be paving these areas so it should stop Oscar from tramping too much mud inside, well that's the plan, I have discussed this fully with the dog (Oscar) His suggestions of more food and walkies will be considered as a bribe.

Home Heating

As I wait for the nice man from Fujitsu to appear and repair our heat pump, it would be a good idea to give you my thoughts on heat pumps. (reliability of the unit aside)

The things that the manufactures don't explain fully is "with air-source heat pump systems, it is not generally a good idea to size an heat pump (EES) to provide all of the heat required by a house. For maximum cost-effectiveness, an EES should be sized to meet 60 to 70 percent of the total maximum "demand load" (the total space heating )The occasional peak heating load during severe weather conditions can be met by a supplementary heating system. A system sized in this way will in fact supply about 95 percent of the total energy used for space heating". (reference Canadian govt)
Note: these numbers are arrived at under a perfect lab test environment and as far as I can figure over a whole year, so it's another game of playing with figures.

In the real world this figure covers days when its warmer and days when its colder so if you have 2 weeks with cold temperatures, a time when you really need heat, the pump cannot met your needs.
We put this system in as a test in our office studio area, if it didn't meet our requirements we would not have to 'live' with it in the future.

Would we put another system in the house?, we may, but it would not be a air system but a underground loop system that takes the heat from the ground ( usually the ground temp only changes by a few degrees during the year, so system works more with more consistency and effectiveness)

Recommendations:

• make sure you get a written commitment from your supplier on the repair response times,
• who you can turn to if you need to escalate the call out, if the service agent doesn't perform.
• make sure the warranty/guarantee covers transfer of service agent (servicing and change of ownership) 'we still having problems in this area'

Heat Pumps (Fujitsu)

Don't believe everything you read, they aren't as great as they are cracked up to be, our new Fujitsu ASTS18LDC Heat Pump (May 2008) has now failed us twice and just at the time when the weather takes a dive.

They really are not that efficient when the temperature drops to below 5 deg C and even though the area we are trying to heat is insulated to the max thickness bats, plus double glazing we still have to bring in the trusty old gas heater.

I think all the hype you hear is a little like that children's story of 'The Emperor's New Clothes.

Now all the unit does is blink red and green lights at me and blow cold air.

Plus that I have just had a call from the nice man at Mitre 10 to tell me that it will be 4 days before they can get someone from Fujitsu to service it, oh, the joys of living away from the city ....................!#$%&!

Done...

At last the plans are completed, printed (3 sets, what a lot of paper!) and delivered to the council, fee paid and copies delivered to M10 and Carters for a quote on frames and roof trusses, already have the price for the windows, phew.
Now I can have a few days Off...
Before that, I really must finish the stairs in the barn, or maybe I could play with the old platten press I bought.