External walls 2: Blockwork

More blocks arriving on site. It can be quite hard to work out exactly how many are needed because of cutting and wastage.




Lots of blocks.




We hit a slight snag when it came to fitting the lintels above the windows. The battens that the timber frame erectors had used were too wide to allow the lintels to sit correctly. With time so short we worked fast to try to correct the situation so that the blockwork could continue.




With 26 battens to sort out, we set up a mini production line. Alan removed all the battens...




...whilst I removed all the old spray foam and cleaned the silver membrane...




...and Nick trimmed the battens to the correct size...

...then Alan refitted all the battens.

The plastic makes its unwelcome return to protect the windows from falling mortar as the blocks are laid.




Alan and Gary fitted the lintels above the windows.

Space for the electricity meter box.

Like every aperture in the blockwork, the meter box needs its own lintel to support the weight of the blocks above.




The first row of blocks laid on the lintel.




Alan made wooden supports to help brace the lintels while the mortar dried.




The supports for the windows were trickier as the sills sat in the way.






With the lintels all in place on the ground floor windows and doors, the blockwork could finally continue.




Having lost half a day sorting the problem with the battens, Alan helped Gary load out all the blocks up onto the scaffolding...in lieu of being charged for any 'extras'!

Some fancy blockwork going on under the porch.

The steelwork around the feature window needed to be insulated before the blocks went up.




Cutting and fitting the insulation was relatively easy.






Once past the lintels the blockwork went up a lot quicker.






A view of our house from across the field.




Spot the house.

Fitting the lintel above the porch roof proved a bit fiddly.

Wooden supports were fixed in place across the full length of the porch so that the lintel could sit securely.






The blockwork is almost at the top.

Nick lays the final row of blocks at the front of the house.




The firesocks are tucked in behind the top row of blocks.




A small gap is left above the top row of blocks to allow for movement as the timber frame settles.

Alan tied empty firesock bags to the scaffolding poles to use as makeshift downpipes.

Just the gable ends to go. Nick worked one side...

...whilst Gary worked the other.




Hooray! One more block to go, Nick looks relieved.

Done.

External walls 1: Blockwork

With the blockwork due to start the coming Monday, we spent the weekend preparing the site. One job that needed to be done was finishing the sides of the porch. For reasons unknown these sections were never included with the timber frame.

This big gap shouldn't be here. Alan cut some battens and fitted them around the perimeter.

He cut some plywood to shape and attached it to the aforementioned battens...

...and covered it with some leftover silver membrane.

Nick and Gary, who did all the brickwork for our foundations returned to build the external block walls. Alan prepared the corners of the cavity tray (the black plastic 'petticoat' seen below) and they began laying the first row of blocks around the whole perimeter of the house.

One row down...many more to go.




The 50mm cavity between the timber frame and the external blockwork wall.




Damp proof course was laid on top of the first row of blocks.




All the corners were then built up by four rows.








Once the corners were completed, laying the blockwork inbetween was relatively straightforward.










Stainless steel wall ties were nailed to the timber frame to help support the blockwork. These ties have to be fixed to the timber studs that are hidden behind the silver membrane - luckily the factory marks out their location using lines of black plastic tape.









As per the building regs, Alan and I stapled the black DPC around every window to prevent water and damp getting in.










A view down the cavity showing the wall ties and our DPC around the window. The warranty inspector complimented us on our clean cavities - ahem.




Uh -oh. The site inspector is here.




With so many windows needing DPC we got a good routine going as we worked our way around the house.










As the blockwork reached the top of the windows we re-covered them all in plastic to try and prevent them getting splattered with mortar.






After seven days the blockwork had reached the top of the windows all the way around the house.