Balcony

Getting a juliet balcony installed had become a bit of a headache. We'd spoken to a number of local glazing firms, but the general response was one of sucking teeth and tutting, before proceeding to reel off a list of eye-watering prices. It felt like we were asking for some kind of engineering miracle, rather than to bolt a sheet of glass to the outside of the house. Apparently the window was 'too wide', the fixings 'could not be supported' and the glass 'too heavy'. One company wanted to add £1000 on top of their fitting charge for one day's hire of a mini-crane (i.e., for a tool that costs no more than £100 or so to hire...) It was maddening.      

As is often the case, we found the solution was to directly approach a specialist company, in this case one which solely manufactures and installs glass balconies. After months of everyone telling us why it couldn't be done, it was so refreshing to hear someone saying it wasn't a problem and wouldn't cost too much either. We sent them photographs and dimensions and within a few weeks, they had built us a balcony to our specification that could be bolted directly to the steel frame that supports the large feature window.

Although they were based quite far from Cornwall, they were scheduled to come down for a big commercial job further south, so after some friendly negotiations, we managed to get a cut-price deal for them to pop in and install our balcony on their way back.

On the morning of their arrival, we hit a slight hitch. The fitters thought we were providing them with a scaffolding tower; we were led to believe they would be bringing their own tower. And the company boss thought they could do it off a pair of ladders... they were not too enthused about that idea, but after much cursing of their boss decided to give it a go anyway.

After marking out, the first step was to install heavy duty bolts into the wall to help support the centre of the glass. These studs are very securely anchored into the wall using epoxy resin glue. Back when the walls were constructed, we installed a large steel lintel across that area so it was certainly strong enough.

Although our house is skinned with blockwork, those outside walls are not structural as such, since they are only attached to the timber frame using (relatively) flimsy wall ties. Also, unlike a solid stretch of wall, the area around the window is made up of two vertical columns of block that aren't interlocked together. Nevertheless the balcony company thought the walls 'might' be up to the task, but we had always insisted that the balcony rails should be hung directly from the steel frame that supports the large window. As far as safety goes, it doesn't hurt to have a belt and braces approach.

Inside the main bedroom, we hadn't glued in the panels over the steel frame and these were easily removed to allow the balcony fitters access to the steel i-beam.  

The next problem was that because our walls were covered in cement render, any drilling had to be done from the outside. Drilling from the inside of the steel would have been much easier and more accurate, however would have also smashed the render to bits, so the fitters had no option but to drill outside off the wobbly ladders (cue more cursing about their boss).  

Phew! The bottom hole for the balcony rail only just fitted onto the steel (the hole below the bolt in the picture). There was only just enough room to get a nut on there.

Once the holes were drilled through the render and into the steel i-beam, large threaded bolts were fitted with locknuts and the two stainless steel balcony rails lifted into place.

After getting lucky with the bottom bolts just managing to fit onto the steel, things went awry with both top bolts. Blaming both the ladders and/or the icy-cold rain squalls, the fitters managed to put a couple of drill holes in the wrong place. They filled them with epoxy resin to prevent any moisture getting in, but it left some unsightly blemishes on our previously-pristine render... (we did get some money knocked off the price to compensate, but repairing the render invisibly was not going to be easy - Grrr!)  

After a sunny start to the day, the weather had turned decidedly wintry and was suddenly blowing a mini-gale. Fortunately the glass did not have to be fitted off the wobbly and-now-slippery ladders, but could be lifted onto the balcony rails from the inside of the room.

Brackets for the glass being adjusted and tightened up. 

Naturally, as soon as the fitters had completed the job, the sun came out again.

This kind of thick, safety glass is pretty expensive, especially if you need one long pane of it. Using the balcony rails allowed us to have a shorter piece of glass that only covered the door opening rather than the full width of the window. It certainly saved a lot of money and if we ever wanted to fit a larger sheet of glass or install additional panels either side, it wouldn't be difficult to do.

From inside the bedroom, the width of the glass panel was designed so that the edges are obscured by the aluminium door frames and it all looks like one complete piece.

And yes, back when we chose the windows we did remember to order doors that opened inwards!

Once the balcony was completed, we could permanently fit the wall panels. The threaded rods had been ground down, so it was easy to refit the insulation within the steel beam.

After the insulation was in, we could get the electrical box back in position. This will house a switch so we can operate the garden lights from the bedroom.

Next we gave everything a blast with the foam gun to make sure that any gaps were filled.

Lastly the wall panels were glued and screwed into place. As you can see, the view will be a good deal better once we knock down the old house (assuming it hasn't fallen down of its own accord before then...)

View of our house from the north east field.

We call this one 'sunrise with rubble (and balcony)'.

Jointing: walls and ceilings

Having finally completed the boarding of the walls, the next stage was the jointing.

With Fermacell the jointing process is fairly straightforward; unlike plasterboard the sheets are glued together, so compound only needs to be trowelled thinly over the joints and screw holes in order to fill any gaps and irregularities.      

Having used a combination of string lines and lasers to painstakingly line up the sheets when boarding, our walls were reasonably well aligned which made the jointing process a good deal easier.

The Fermacell jointing compound is very strong, but not particularly easy to use. We found it dried out extremely quickly so had to be mixed in small batches and applied fairly rapidly before it became unusable.

We started out by doing a thin pass of compound over all the joints and screw holes.

Once the first layer of compound had dried, we lightly sanded it and applied a second layer. This was done using a wider trowel in order to help blend the joints and make them less visible.

We were relieved that we had decided against using the smaller size Fermacell panels when boarding. All of our struggles to board using large, heavy sheets of Fermacell were paying dividends when it came to jointing, as we had far fewer gaps that needed filling.

We applied two layers of compound to every wall joint in the house.

During the boarding, we had followed Fermacell's instructions and left a 5mm gap between the top of the walls and the plasterboard ceiling. To avoid any cracking in future, Fermacell's technical department then recommended using flexible caulk to fill those gaps (along with similar gaps in the internal corners) but after experimenting with it ourselves, we were less than impressed... even the best quality caulk shrinks as it dries, which makes it almost impossible to get a crisp, internal corner. The fact that caulk cannot be sanded either, made the whole process seem like a really bad idea.

One simple solution would be to conceal the ceiling gap under coving, but that would not suit the clean, contemporary look we were trying to achieve... it was clear we needed to find a better way to do this.  

After working 7 days a week on the house throughout the winter, our enthusiasm, motivation and energy for the build had reached an all-time low.

The boarding had already taken a lot out of us, jointing and finishing 600 square meters of walls was a gigantic (not to mention, rather tedious) task and the prospect of also having to tape and joint another 300 square meters of plasterboard ceiling was making us thoroughly depressed.

It was clear that we needed a boost...

As ever, the internet provided a solution; Alan came across photos of a posh house build on the Cornish coast that featured oval ceilings with some impressive-looking taping and jointing work. A few email enquiries later, he had managed to contact Tony, the dry-lining expert responsible and as luck would have it, Tony's next job had just been postponed, so he was available the following week... A quick site visit to see our ceilings was arranged and after a brief negotiation on price, Tony was contracted to do the work.

We had originally intended to do the ceilings ourselves so weren't sure if we were doing the right thing, but hiring Tony immediately helped solve the caulk problem. Unlike anyone else we had talked to, Tony had experience of using Fermacell and he agreed that their method of using caulk to fill the gaps between the walls and the ceiling just didn't work. He recommended filling the gap using reinforced fiberglass corner tape embedded in plasterboard jointing compound. It was a relief to leave someone else to sort out the problems for a change.    

The gap between the walls and the main bedroom vaulted ceiling would be the trickiest to sort.

Tony began by filling all the ceiling/wall gaps with a thick, gluey compound mix.

The thick compound was just there to act as a base layer; fiberglass corner tape would be added later.

Tony also taped all the ceiling joints and began adding his first coat of compound. He started off by doing all the plasterboard butt joints.

Butt joints in the kitchen ceiling.

The next day, Tony tackled all the long joints and screw holes. He was very complimentary about our boarding and said it was making his job much easier.

Next stage in dealing with the wall/ceiling gap was to apply Fibatape to reinforce the internal corners and hopefully prevent any cracking in future.

Another layer of compound is spread onto the joint and the Fibatape is gently embedded into that...

... then pressed flat using a spreader.

We weren't sure how we were going to finish the area around the stairs, but since Tony was jointing all the ceiling edges, we decided to quickly fit some Fermacell to the metal web joist in the stairwell.

Once we'd fitted the Fermacell panel, Tony put metal corner tape over the joint and blended it into the ceiling.

It cheered us up to see things progressing so quickly; by the end of the second day, Tony had done his first coat both upstairs and down. Even better, the un-seasonal warm weather was helping to dry out all the joints a little faster.  

Bedroom 3

Bedroom 2.

Main bedroom. The light coming in to the south-facing, ceiling-height window could show up every lump and bump, so Tony explained he would be taking extra steps to stop the joints from showing.

As with the Fermacell wall joints, a second (wider) coat of jointing compound goes on next.

Tony used a box spreader to apply the compound to the joints, then levelled it off with a trowel. It was a very neat and quick method. 

Kitchen ceiling is beginning to take shape. It looks so much better once all the separate panels are concealed.

A third coat of compound was applied to all the internal corners.

We had to remove the bottom panels in preparation for the balcony which was due to be fitted soon.

Tony blending the wall/ceiling corner joints with yet another layer of compound.

Err, don't try this at home, folks.

As if Tony's wobbly plank-on-wobbly-ladder trick wasn't bad enough...

... how about this for an encore? Not one for the health and safety handbook.

Luckily Tony survived his high-wire act and went on to complete the lounge.

Once the second coat was dry, Tony applied a third, even wider layer of compound to all the joints. In the  main bedroom, he also added a very light skim coat over the whole ceiling to help conceal the joints even more.

After a couple of days, all the joints were dry enough for sanding and Tony returned to smooth everything off.

Tony brought his son along to help with the sanding.

The finished corner joints look pretty sharp. We were glad we didn't caulk it as Fermacell had suggested...

Having all the right tools certainly made the job a lot quicker and easier. Tony's sander made short of work of smoothing down all the joints. Doing it ourselves by hand would not have been much fun.  

After sanding, the ceiling joints were looking very flat.

Once everything had been sanded, Tony added a coat of plasterboard sealer to all the ceilings in the house. As two different materials, plasterboard and jointing compound can absorb paint differently so using sealer helps provide an even base coat for the paint.

Completing all the work, had taken Tony less than a week and the results looked very good. More importantly, it helped inject a much-needed boost to our flagging motivation. Tony also offered a lot of useful tips about how we should tackle the finishing of the Fermacell walls, so hiring him really felt like money well spent.