Wow, just wow. :D

Where would the fun be in that! :D

And it has only taken nearly 3 years!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618161898.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618161928.jpg

Job well done, I enjoyed following your progress.

That's a beautiful job! I'm sure your neighbors appreciate the great effort you made to keep it all looking so natural and native.

Posted on the 10 June 2019, I've slowed progress just for you :D

Decided before we started I wanted to do the majority of the work myself. Not the quickest or cheapest option by a large margin but definitely the most enjoyable and satisfying option

Many, many posts from now I'll reveal my man cave centre piece to be built into one of the garage walls which will in many small ways explain why my own projects always take so long to do ;)

Lol

The reworked windows do look much better.

I’m guessing it was a wtf moment when you noticed the incongruities.

Not really in the grand scheme of things...

Could have easily left the top of the windows where they were and no one would noticed other than me but I couldn't just leave it ;)

Was more a 'dang, that's not good enough, just gave myself another job!' moment

Think I mentioned in a previous post years back that one unique feature of this build is the upstairs walls are twice as thick as the ground floor wall

Sounds strange :confused: but I went for the extra work and cost for a couple of reasons. My man cave gained an extra 2ft in both width and depth, maximizing the limited build space. More importantly the extra thick walls upstairs match the original house walls thickness so I'm hoping it will be impossible to tell half of the upstairs is not 250 years old like the original part of the house.

Garage window cill with 1ft thick wall

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618778858.JPG

Upstairs window cill with 2ft thick wall

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618779019.JPG

Part of the aspect of this build I really enjoy doing is making the new look old, or adding a bit of old character with some tasteful fakery, devil is in the detail!

Off the shelf concrete lintel and steel beams are cheap and do the job perfectly but do nothing for adding character so a little extra work is needed

I try to use 4" thick reclaimed oak when I can find it for a reasonable price, just can't beat a few centuries of age for creating that old look. Reclaimed oak is very expensive and getting hard to find so occasionally I cheat.

The middle section of this rear window lintel is only 1.5" thick but had some great splits as it was sawn off cut from a larger beam, This is the top unseen side

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618779188.JPG

This is the lower seen side and when fitted on one will know ;)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618779312.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618780060.JPG

Before

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618779456.JPG

After and starting to look a quarter of a century older

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1618779556.JPG

To finish it off I will use either a 4" thick oak slab or 3" thick flag stones for the internal window cills

Still working on the front windows and the way I do the internal lintels will differ slightly

Another week and a bit more progress

Was a good week as our structural engineer came out to check all 18 steel beams, 2 steel columns and the steel truss. She seemed impressed which was great as without her help we couldn't have built what we have.

Built my 1st stud wall, used a 9" x 2" horizontal timber to add a bit of side stiffness to the 8ft tall 3" x 2" vertical timbers as this wall will go to the full roof height.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1619388355.JPG

Started insulating the roof with what I believe to be the best stuff out there :confused: a horrible job chopping up 3" thick PIR (polyisocyanurate) insulation panels to snugly fit between the joists, 11 sheets down, 40 something to go :( Roof insulation is 6" thick, should do the job.

Out of interest what are the roof insulation requirements for the colder parts of the USA or Canada?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1619388484.JPG

Also some keyhole surgery through the 2ft thick house stone gable end wall so I could measure where the old inner wall is relative to the new inner wall to work out the right width for the upstairs hallway

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1619388570.JPG

With Mrs Ahab's words of 'Don't destroy our only bathroom' ringing in my ears a gentle approach was required to only remove one 2" square tile

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1619388662.JPG

This week it's more insulation work :(

Some great work you are doing , enjoy watching the progress .

I think current requirement in Nova Scotia is R60 in ceiling/roof spaces,
R30 in walls.
We live within a few miles of the ocean, so that is a bit more than our house, which we built 40 years ago(at the time, R40 and R20 respectively). But go a few miles inland and it is not unusual to see -35 C in late January/early February.
You won't see any outside bathroom drain pipes around here!

Enjoying the updates.
Best
Les

Thanks Les,

Been a while since the last update, busy doing lots of small jobs and tidying up the place

Utility room door frame and step done, vertical door jambs are 7" x 4" oak with a 4" thick stone threshold step, built to last :cool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1621799655.jpg

More stud walling and roof insulation, 32 insulation 8ft x 4ft sheets cut up, fitted and done, well over half way now but still have the high scary part of the roof to do

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1621799746.JPG

Tidied up the garage, crapola it's long way down and I don't like heights so will go very carefully when doing the ceiling work on this side

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1621799850.JPG

Mrs Ahab has been busy lowering the driveway in the under pass entrance area. This part of the driveway needs a gentle approach as there are sewer pipes, waste water pipes, water pipe and electrical cables all waiting to be found. We also spent a very soggy day in the pouring rain hand loading another 5 tons of diggings onto a farm trailer

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1621800028.JPG

Well worth the effort as I can't remember the last time I was able to park on the driveway. Perfect timing too as my son was giving it a detailing session in readiness for a Retro Car show next weekend

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1621800180.JPG

Most of time has been spent getting the building and myself mentally prepared for a building control inspection 😟

These inspections at key stages are required by local government authority in order for the building to be officially approved as built to the required building regulations

This one is one of the major inspections to sign off all the steel work, floor joists and roof joists ie basically the main structure

My local inspector has been quite pedantic and not very helpful with advice during his previous visits so I was fearing the worse. Maybe he's taken pity on me and my amateur efforts as this time he went away very satisfied and even offered advice on a few areas I wasn't sure of how to go about doing.

Result! http://forums.pelicanparts.com/suppo...s/beerchug.gif Now it's full steam ahead, again!

This is one of my fave threads, just wondering Captain, what's a 2x4x8' worth from your local supplier? Over 10 bucks with taxes here, thats Pine and Hemlock, not Fir.

Thanks, glad you're enjoying it

C24 grade which is a high grade timber and treated is $15 US for the same size timber

Building materials have gone up in price and in some cases shortages due to a combination of Brexit and COVID :confused:

Def one of my favorite threads - thanks for the update!

Thanks David,

Tried buying some insulation boards today, got the last 2 in stock and bags of cement are being rationed :(

Have plenty to do so the material shortages aren't holding me up just yet ;)

We aren't having any concrete shortages at the moment. In fact, our component of homebuilding has had the least amount of increases. But builders are having trouble with every other material in So Cal (and most of the US from what I've heard). And don't get me started on the price increases...
Glad to hear you've got other stuff to keep you busy!

You know the meth head that loads 50 sheets of plywood from Home Depot on the roof of his sedan until the suspension collapses and those COVID toilet paper hoarders

Well I was a combination of both of those characters yesterday ;)

My local building supplies company had a fresh delivery of timber and insulation boards in so I loaded up my truck with as much as I could carry

Also ordered another 20 insulation boards for delivery next week as my tie down straps weren't long enough :D

Even managed to get hold of 5 bags of rationed cement as Mrs Ahab needs some for a small side stone pizza oven project she starts this weekend

Total weight was over 525kgs or 1100lbs of building material goodness, uprated rear springs are the best invention after snow tyres as the truck drove well

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1622238607.jpg

A million dollar load!

The load was worth more than my truck, saying that I'm sure the loose spare change behind the rear seats is worth more :D

That left rear tire looks a tad low on air there Capt'.
Glad to see this is continuing. Keep up the inspiring work!
More pictures!

Thanks Scott,

I've had a productive week and about to start creating some period style fakery using some of my left over reclaimed 17th century timber ;)

Promise I'll post up some pics early next week

I may have missed it, but what was the original use for this building? Was it a home in the 1700s?

The original part of the house is from 1740 and I believe it has always been a house but the roof would have been thatched

The separate building we knocked down and have replaced with the new build extension I'm not sure of the age but pretty sure it was a small barn for livestock

That composite of before/after-current pics speaks volumes as to the amount of work you've done Capt.

The sun came back out again this weekend :cool: after a long cold, wet winter and spring so Mrs Ahab has started work on her latest garden project....

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1622479839.jpg

That's your new brick oven, right? Gonna be the coolest thing in the yard.

Make that the hottest....

Yep, it's the inner wall for the base of a stone wood fired pizza oven :cool:

Will all be Mrs Ahabs work to her own design

I'm just interfering with suggestions and unasked for advice :D

Thanks Scott, sometimes when I look back at updates, they just don't show the amount of work and time involved

Like this update, for example, I've spent 2 weeks full time on this, it's the type of job a client would say 'how ****** much!':eek: and the builder would say 'it's going to be really expensive, are you sure' :confused:

As I'm both and love doing this type of fakery, we get to have what we want, which is for the house part of the extension to blend seamlessly with the original house ie looking like it was built 250 yrs ago :cool:

This is the vaulted half of the ceiling for the master bedroom, the easy option would be to keep the full ceiling flat and just screw up plasterboard/plaster or dry-lining board

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623190944.JPG

Instead, I spent a long, hot afternoon sanding down a dozen 17th century re-claimed oak 4" x 3" floor joists. They're left overs after I'd finished the driveway entrance ceiling oak beam/joist fakery.

Then day and days, lifting, measuring, more lifting, individually cutting spacer blocks to fill the fixing area gaps between the warp/twist old beams and straight new roof joists, lifting, secret screwing (no visible fixings) metal straps to hold them up to the new roof joists, yet more lifting.

My 'bingo wings' (Goggle that if req'd but would not recommend veining images) are quite taut now :D

Old joists fixed but easily have few more days of work left to finish but the extra work I've given myself should be worth it when it's finished

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623191088.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623191147.JPG

Mean while in the garden Mrs Ahab has been busy on the pizza oven, she expertly handles the small 4.5" angle grinder with diamond cutting disc like a pro! Won't touch the big grinder though, think she learnt the easy way after my A and E visit to have my leg stitched back on

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623191791.JPG

Next on my job list is to insulate the last part of the roof which is over half of the garage area. Need to chop up and fit 20 sheets of 8' x 4' insulation boards and will also build another storage area into the apex of the roof so need to do more timber work

I'll be working about 6 meters or 20 feet up so spent the afternoon building a sturdy work platform I can easily move about as I work my way across. Even put in a guard rail to stop me falling out the window.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1623192316.JPG

I tried it out today, rock solid but I don't like heights so maybe tomorrow I'll try standing instead of crawling around on my hands and knees :D

So what you're saying is the next time I need help hanging steel on the gable end of my barn, I shouldn't ask you? :D

Seriously Capt., I love the work you and the. Missus are doing. If I ever get back to the UK...
Keep up the good work.
Best
Les

sounds like this project is now joints vs. joists...

Hey Captain A what is it like getting planning permission to do all this with the local authorities?

Les, if you're ever in the UK, please let me know and thanks for your words of encouragement

recycled 60, planning permission was surprisingly easy, our house is in a 'Conservation Zone' within our village which makes it harder to extend a property.

The building materials we used have to be approved, ie stone, roof tiles etc. As the stone and roof tiles were salvaged form our existing building we demolished then there was no objections

Despite the size, we tried to be sympathetic to neighboring properties by making it a similar aspect size ie tall and long

The process is quite straight forward, submit plans to the local authority, the village parish council review them and submit their recommendations, the Conservation officer reviews the materials used, then the local authority planning committee review and approve, reject with recommendations for approval or outright reject.

Letters are sent out by the local authority to all neighbors informing them of our building proposal and any replies are considered by the committee.

We have a good relationship with all neighbors but one neighbor lodged an objection with regards to their privacy being compromised so we had to frost the glass on a couple of windows. Also I had to make a few minor alterations on the rear aspect as a door way porch was visible form the road and altered the roof line.

If our house was Grade 2 Listed as is the house opposite us which is designed to protect historically important buildings then there would be zero chance of having our alterations approved.

The above affects only really the external look of the building and it's use. Internally we can do whatever we want as long as it abides by the building construction control standards

Hopes this answers your question

Heat and pollen have given me a good beating this week :(

Roof insulation all done above the garage, think I've used more than 40 sheets of 4ft x 8ft 3" thick insulation boards so far and I'm not done yet

More concerning is I reckon I'll use well over 1/3 mile :eek: of 2" wide silver foil tape sealing all the insulation board joints. That's a heap of cold drafts direct onto the back of the plasterboard if I hadn't taken the time to do it

Also added a useful extra storage loft area using 6 x 2 timber joists at the top that can be accessed via a loft hatch from the house part. With 2ft thick walls our house has never had any storage space so this area will come in very handy

Thought having a 20ft high vault above half the garage space was a more than sufficient ceiling height as I may run out of stuff to fill it up with ;)

Welcome to my 'Church of the Lightweight' :cool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624121441.JPG

Mrs Ahab has made great progress on her pizza oven, She's now waiting for me to chop up the stone slab for the base of the oven. Then it's onto making the oven dome, I must order some fire bricks

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624121616.JPG

I have rough priority order in my head for doing all the work but sometimes something crops up that needs immediate attention

For example, like running out of heating oil and not having hot water. My hand was forced, so time to plumb in the new oil tank. While I'm at it may as well move the boiler to another temporary home out of the elements and way so I can finish off the ceiling above the entrance opening

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624121740.JPG

Boiler must weight easily over 350lbs, so Jr. Ahab was roped in, between the three of us we spent an hour levering, sliding on rollers, dragging and me cursing, fighting it off the driveway and into the garage

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1624121820.JPG

It's not even the end of the weak and I'm all worn out!

I bet you're happy those insulation boards are relatively light compared to some of the things you've moved around with this build.

3 years in on this build, really should have made more progress, maybe have done less work ourselves (that's just a stupid idea, where would the fun be in that!) and not let my work get in the way :confused:

Then, I think back and 4 years to the day, I was in a coma, packed in ice after I suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at home while in my sleep and went over to the wrong side of alive for 10 mins :(

I'm still alive and all is good and there are many more updates to come :cool:

Congratulations on another year of looking at the green side of the sod.
Glad you pulled through, otherwise many folks would have no idea of construction built to last.
Good for you and the missus.
Best
Les

Really glad you’re still here and, it goes without saying, you’ve accomplished a huge amount.

I still think you should’ve rented more equipment for the digging and other unpleasantness...

:D

Been watching a lot of British TV shows lately, I sure wish we had your pubs over here.