My man cave build - UK edition

[Scott Douglas]

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!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

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

[thor66]

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

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by thor66

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

[Scott Douglas]

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

[Captain Ahab Jr]

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

[Zeke]

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

Make that the hottest....

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Zeke

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

Will all be Mrs Ahabs work to her own design

I'm just interfering with suggestions and unasked for advice

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

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

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!' and the builder would say 'it's going to be really expensive, are you sure'

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

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



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

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





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



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.



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

[oldE]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

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

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?

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

[thor66]

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

[recycled sixtie]

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

[Captain Ahab Jr]

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

[Captain Ahab Jr]

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 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'



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



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



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



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

[Scott Douglas]

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

[Captain Ahab Jr]

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

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

[oldE]

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

[javadog]

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...



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

[Evans, Marv]

This thread has been a pleasure to watch. Just think how happy we all are that you didn't kick the bucket and deprive us of it.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

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

Hey Cap'n - greetings from across the Pond!

Re: your wife's upcoming task, I think some Italian dude from the 15th century had a few ideas about such, but I'd bet Mrs. Ahab could make a few mods and show him a think or two....