Buildlogue #21 - It’s A Wrap!

Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 July 2014 representing Construction Days 27 and 28 present us with two days worth of clear weather. Clear but very cold.

Monday consisted of a number of lesser tasks in preparation of the KCDC inspection visit. The inspector was suitably satisfied with our conformity to all the requirements in the building specifications, and gave the green light for continuation.

(Above): Workers start cutting, trimming and stapling Tekton wrap fabric along the outer walls of the extension.

Tuesday has seen the soffits being addressed and the wrapping of the external framework to be completed. Tekton Building Wrap is a synthetic breather-type building wrap for use as a wall wrap and air barrier under fixed wall cladding on timber and steel framed buildings. The product is a coated spun-bonded polypropylene, and is approximately 0.6mm thick. It allows trapped water vapour to escape from the woodwork where required, but prevents rainwater from re-soaking our structure.

(Above): The eastern facade of the building completed, ready for the windows and external timber cladding.

(Above): The western side, with the French Windows to the bedroom in the foreground.

Buildlogue #20 – Roofing

Friday 25 July 2014 Construction Day 26, marks seven months since we touched down at Wellington airport at the close of Xmas at midnight on 25 December 2013.

(Above): The view of the roof above the bedroom – the plywood sheets being fitted to the first half of this area.

(Above): Fitting the supports for the metal roofing along the western side of the bedroom above the opening French Doors.

(Above): The view of the bedroom from the sitting room. On the right, just beyond the orange broom, is the bathroom door and a bit past that, the dressing room/ walk-in wardrobe door. On the left next to the panel of plywood, is the opening for the French Doors.

(Above): A view of the ply-clad “flat roof” area nearing completion as seen from Tyler’s upstairs bedroom window, and (below) as seen from the ground floor standing in the bathroom-to-be.

(Above): The framework stands bathed in bright afternoon sunshine, in preparation of a scheduled inspection by KCDC next week. Possibly the sunlight is a promise of better weather to come?

Once we have passed the upcoming inspection, cladding of the open skeleton can commence and the building will start taking on a proper character of its own… 

Buildlogue #12 - End of Phase 1

Wednesday 2 July, Construction Day 11. The morning is partly cloudy, looking brighter in the west towards the coast and the Tasman, but dark threatening clouds to the east over the Tararua mountain range. Builder John and his men are optimistic that they will complete the required tasks to be ready for the inspection eyes of the KCDC (in future I’ll call them ‘the Council’) to be given the go-ahead to cast the concrete floor slab.

There has been one change on the site: The men have brought a portable radio. It is set to a local talk/ music station, and seems to have brought the workplace to life. One of them is (sort of) singing along to some of the tunes being aired.

The work being done today is not all that photogenic (photo-worthy) : it consists of doing all the fiddly bits, seemingly little things like tying your shoe-laces, straightening you tie, scratching your eyebrow and blowing your nose. None of them earth-shattering or noticeable, but very important, in the long run. There will probably be similar days in future to be recorded in our Buildlogue, like painting a ceiling, or nailing down some skirtings, I suppose – like Grand Design’s Kevin McCloud having a mug of hot Milo with us, looking through the window at the mess of timber off-cut waste and pile of broken bricks lying in what used to be a pretty rose garden…

One last item on the to-do list was the removal of the dining-room windows. The skies looked good, so the carpenter decided to take the plunge:

(Above): The frame of the large window is cut loose all round. It still fits snugly into the framing and needs a lot of persuasion to vacate its long-time home.

(Above): the window frame and its glass proves to be tons heavier than one would imagine and all hands are needed on deck to shift it away.

(Above): A short while later, the carpenter has vertical framing fitted and fixed at 600mm centres. Here he is doing final checks on his work.

(Above) Gib Standard TE board is internal partitioning with a gypsum-type filler. These boards were manufactured at 10:40 on 06/06/14! (Because this information is imprinted on it!). The new laundry will be behind this “new” wall.

(Above): Next, the Strawberry Lane cat-flap window gets the same treatment.

(Above): As the workmen scrub up after a day’s graft, the two windows have been securely boarded up for the effects of the cold weather.

(Above): One of the three footing stays which will be concreted in, to provide anchorage for the soffit support posts.

(Above): With the exception of a few smaller jobs, the site is ready for inspection by the KCDC to-morrow, and if approved by him, for the delivery of concrete on Friday.

Buildlogue #3

Day 28: 10 June 2014 – The rainfall during the past 24 hours ending 8:00am was 28mm

(Above): This morning Bianca kindly collected the Building Consent from KCDC in Paraparaumu. You can imagine our surprise at the presentation. The complete set of documents are packed in a stiff wallet/folder, which is sponsored by a number of full-colour adverts.

(Above): Unlike anything I experienced with The City of Cape Town building department when we built at Strandweg and Hamerkop Road, the Kapiti Coast Council is extremely thorough, possibly to the point of becoming anal. The covering letter guides you through all the requirements, leaving no doubt as to your responsibilities.

(Above): All important points and amendments are printed on the appropriate documents in red, with some of them high-lighted in yellow print-marker. It is your responsibility to ensure that each and every inspection is done by the appropriate officials. They must make not two, not three, but guess how many….  Yes a dozen!

Buildlogue #1

Just as we have had a travelogue describing blow-by-blow details of a travelling holiday, we now have a Buildlogue (a term which I have just coined)

Buildlogue Day 1:  14 May 2014, a letter of confirmation has been sent today by our architect to the contractor John, advising him that his tender has been accepted, and that he should commence work after receipt of the Building Consent from the KCDC. No news from the Council yet.

Among the personalities we are likely to encounter on this project besides Barry and John, there are John’s staff, Bryce O’Sullivan who will be doing siteworks and preparation, Roofing Direct, Happy Plumbing, PCE or 2Connect Electrical, and Rylock Windows.

Project Strawberry Lane

Every project should have a name. The construction of the extension wing of Chartwell, consisting of our bedroom/sitting room and bathroom, with a workroom/ laundry for general use, should also have a name. The entry passageway to this ‘North Wing’ was called “Strawberry Lane” because of the potted strawberries which have been growing there.

Therefore, I would reckon that this building project could aptly be known as  Project Strawberry Lane.

Like Col. John ‘Hannibal’ Smith would like a plan to come together, Barry, our architect, called earlier in the week to deliver the ‘final’ preliminary plans for the extension, for us to check over, with the news that he will now start on writing the specifications on which the prospective builders, electricians, etc will be able to base their quotations.

Our job at this stage is to shop around for bathroom sanitaryware, light fittings and those sort of items for which the builder will simply allow pc amounts.

Earlier, we met one of Clayton’s contacts (a Saffer) who has set up a electrical contracting business in Waikanae. If possible, we will naturally appoint him to do the electrical work. He will also put forward the names of a couple of guys who might be interested in quoting for the building work.

Whilst the project progress of Strawberry Lane has been rather slow (just on two months since our initial enquiries), I think that the work completed has been done thoroughly, and hopefully the rest of the project will proceed in the same manner (that is thoroughly and not slowly!)

When Barry has completed the specifications, we will have the required application forms completed, with the final proposed plans and specifications, submitted to the KCDC (Kapiti Coast District Council) in Waikanae for planning permission to commence construction, a process which is supposed to take about 20 working days (give them a month). Whilst waiting for this, we can get the prospective contractors to work out their tender prices for us to make a final decision.