We decided quite early on that we'd like to build using Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs). They have excellent insulation properties, by nature they make for an airtight structure and they are manufactured in a factory and then assembled on site = very quick build time.
Our panels have been manufactured by SIPs UK in Northants. Using the architectural drawings they sketched the house in 3D and designed the panels from this.
3D view from the back of the house.
Nick paid the factory a visit in August. This is the boss man, Nigel, and some panels. They are constructed using two boards of OSB (oriented strand board - looks a bit like chip board to me) - these go in a gig and a polyurethane foam core is blown in between. Some sort of magic goes on and the foam bonds to the board. No glue required apparently. And there you have it: a strong, light, insulating, board and foam sandwich.
The fitting company, Regal, came on site on Monday and have been fitting all this week. There's been a couple of small snags meaning they're a day behind but they've been hard at it and we now have some ground floor walls! It's been brilliant this weekend wandering around the spaces - able to really get a feel for the dimensions of it all.
The Kato crane!
Pesky earth wall dressed in blue.
Most of the joists are in place for the 1st floor. Through the window opening you can see the big pile of bean bag things. They'll be strategically placed when the team are fitting the roof, the idea being if anyone falls off the house/scaffolding they'll have a soft landing!
Work on the second part of the earth wall starts again on Tuesday. It's been lovely to have a break from it this week and not really looking forwards to the last bit - too many anxieties about it all. But ... the first bit went well, looks great and is drying nicely so we're carrying on for the full 5 metres.
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