We have fixed the last piece of cladding on the south elevation – as you can see the elevation is not finished, but we need to now get the scaffolding removed and the lower roof built before we can finish completely. So it’s a bit of a false dawn, but an important milestone as we can finally get to see what the house looks like without it’s metal overcoat. It will be more difficult to work above the roof, especially without the safe and secure scaffolding, but we will be able to use the roof as a work platform and, hopefully, borrow the roofer’s lightweight scaffolding!
We are now painting all the cladding already fixed – giving it the final coat. The corner and window/door details are also to be given their final coats while we still have a safe access – close up it looks brilliant, just not so easy to photograph!! We have also completed the final mastic joint between the aluminium decorative trim that covers the windows and the painted timber surrounds. The gap varied considerably, so we used a high spec mastic from Tremco Illbruck – their SP525. It is easy to use, doesn’t harden completely and can be painted – although, not surprisingly, it isn’t cheap!!
Just to pass the time – especially when it is raining! – we have been fitting the insulation into the frame on the inside. We bought relatively cheap glass-fibre insulation which is not easy to fit. Having said that we completed the first floor in two days and the ground floor is half done – it takes longer as we have to keep moving all the spare materials away from the walls!! It is good to see work progressing at last on the inside and it appears that it may be a lot quicker than the cladding has been on the outside!! We will be celebrating the anniversary of the start on site early next month – let’s hope we are living in the house before the next anniversary!!