Hello again after another week has passed in a flurry of activity. The weather has changed significantly for the better and it has been dry for nearly a week which is quite remarkable after at least a month of driving storms. We spent a lot of time outside at the weekend, I was planting bulbs and Steve was building the climbing frame. With the advent of fine weather after such a long spell of hibernation it seemed that many of our local friends were out for walks and cycle rides so popped by for a viewing and it was a real pleasure to have so much progress to show people.
The big event of last Thursday was the switch on of the heating system and by Friday the builders were over warm and had all the windows open. We were mightily relieved and feel quite chuffed that it is already performing so well - partly because some observers are unsure of our reliance on renewable energy so its good to have an early positive response and mainly because we're desperately looking forward to living in the house. The system is being commissioned tomorrow. It will be interesting over the course of the first full year in the house to see how the comfort levels change and what running costs we encounter.
We need to have paint colours decided and bathroom tiles purchased by the end of this week for the upper floor so feel slightly under pressure. The bath and washbasin are fixed in the family bathroom and most of the other goods are in our en-suite if not actually plumbed in. I'm collecting an alternative shower tray tomorrow whilst on the way to order the kitchen and utility room cabinets.
Externally the brickwork is complete and I think the rendering commences next week. There appears to have been a change from the early days when Steve and I thought we were getting a smooth white render and the current drawings specify wet dash. I think this is being resolved but to be honest I can't remember where we're at with this..........just about sums things up as we juggle house building needs with the business and family. Plenty of evenings of work for us and lots of scraps of paper and lists here and there.

Getting there....

The final window in the house has been fitted and is this triangular piece to the south west corner of the master bedroom window. This is one of those architectural details which just adds something a little more to the overall scheme. Originally it was to be 50% larger and would have been the better for it but it is still a refreshing detail. One of the balances in self-build is to order goods in sufficient time to avoid delays so we had ordered (and now own) the original 50% larger window. Unfortunately it transpired that the architect's plans did not concur with the timber frame manufacturer's and...the client picks up the tab, hmm. We have thought to use the spare window in one of the holiday lets but its not a great idea to design a whole building around one window just 'cos it happens to be spare...but we'll see if it fits somewhere.

We're keen to make progress on the holiday let plans but the architect hasn't moved forward with these since our meeting before Christmas which is a bit disappointing.

We've measured the areas for wall tiling in the two upstairs bathrooms as the plumbing work there is well on the way and the plasterboard is due to be taped at the end of this week. It brings to focus the need to have some idea of final finishes upstairs. The painting will commence in 2 weeks so colours for the bedrooms are no longer a distant thought. After so long on the detail of the build its quite a prospect. In certain areas we've got very clear ideas and aspirations, in others the blank canvas seems daunting! Last week I went up to Perthshire and sourced the midnight black slate which will cover most of the ground floor. The tiler is coming this Thursday to help me (and 3year old Finlay) measure the area.
The master bedroom has two areas for wardrobes/cupboards etc which will probably need some made to measure kit. We spent a couple of hours last evening working out what could go where - we know how to spend an evening in!.
The final picture today is of the holiday let we're enjoying. We managed to have a children's party here on Sunday to celebrate Molly's 5th birthday. Aside from the usual birthday stuff it was just very pleasant to have friends 'round, something that isn't easy in the caravan

Heat pump installation

Work started on installing our heat pump last week. We have specified a Nibe 1240-5kW - the smallest capacity they make - with integral 'tank-in-tank' hot water cylinder. It 's a very neat unit, being the same size as a 1.9m tall fridge freezer. The pipework next to it will be ultimately enclosed in a cupboard which will still have some storage space at the front, whilst allowing access to the pipes at the back if need be.
Specifying a heat pump uses the opposite logic to specifiying a combustion boiler, as it must be just undersized to operate at its most efficient when taking into account the building's heat loss and anticipated peak heat requirement. The reason for this is that heat pumps dislike being 'cycled' - switched on and off - and actually benefit from running for longer periods at a time than conventional boilers. In extreme circumstances where, say, there is significant heat and hot water demand (eg. Christmas with visitors!) then the heat pump employs an electrical element to supplement itself, but the trick is to set things up so this hardly needs to be used at all, electricity being a relatively high-carbon form of energy.
The unit is being installed in our utility room where all the pipes from the ground loop, hot and cold water, underfloor heating and 1st floor radiators/towel radiators terminate. The guys are making a neat job of connecting this spaghetti together and hopefully by late next week we should be in good shape to switch on and get some heat into the 40 tonnes or so of concrete which forms the floor slab.
As it happens one of the founders of the heat pump supply company - Ecoliving - popped round yesterday to look at our windows (he's building an extension to his own house!) and he told me that the heat pump even had a setting to dry the floor slab out over a four day cycle, this will be important before we fit engineered board flooring.
Anderson Floor Warming of Glasgow are doing all of the plumbing in the house using a German plastic/aluminium pipe system. Hot and cold feeds are fed to manifolds from which each tap is fed, thus reducing pipe runs. Also the hot water feed is circulated from and back to the hot water tank at peak use periods (controlled by a timer) such that when a hot tap is switched on, hot water appears almost instantly.
Apart from the plumbers, the rest of the guys on site have never built a house with a heat pump in it and we are all waiting in anticipation for switch on!

In amongst the quagmire, building rubble, scaffolding and general building site detritus we have signs promising the return of life to the land. There is very little planting to speak of here (so far) but the rhubarb last year was gigantic and gorgeous so its exciting to see new growth. If I get my act together I'll get some buckets over a couple of plants to force some early crop. However as its driving rain and howling wind just now and there's a huge dump of snow forecast it'll certainly not be happening this weekend.

Inside the building the heat pump is being installed. It is a heavy piece of kit and took everyone here today to move it into the utility room. We've agreed its final position and from there Steve and I can order the utility room cabinetry. In a few days time the heating will all be connected and set to work. It'll take quite few days to come through as the pipework is deep in the slab but this will help dry the concrete before we look to putting flooring down. It'll also help to warm the rest of the house. Before the electrician left earlier he switched the heat recovery system on as it is now in place. We're pleased to report it is silent in its operation.