The floors received a (rather noisy) wire-brushing from Timber Care, which scrapes away any soft wood, leaving hardwood behind for durability and the smooth finish of floorboards.
Archive for the ‘Interior’ Category
Wire-brushing the floors
Electrical Wiring
Over the past few weeks there has been focus on the electrical side of things, with wiring being installed on all four floors by The Torus Group.
This electrical stage has been more complicated at FivebyFour than the average build because a number of extra products are being installed, including an energy monitor, DAS Home Security and Yingli Solar Panels.
It’s a slow and difficult process. Not only dealing with large amounts of tangled wiring but also working with the delicate membrane of the wall systems in an effort not to effect the airtight factor of the building.
Oils and wax
Timber Care came and experimented with a number of stains. We finally settled on using the darkest stain for our kitchen bench tops and floors, which is made from vinegar and steel wool stain.
For the eco-plywood cabinets, Timber Care used a white diluted concentrate as an undercoat to ensure the oil wax did not yellow the colour of the wood.
After the stains, hard wax oil is applied to make the wood waterproof. This is particularly important for the bathroom, which has wooden benches. Unlike varnishes, the hard wax oil does not need to be sanded to be renewed.
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- The white stain looks stark against the natural wood when it is first applied
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- The stain is rubbed in to create a more subtle colour
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- The difference of the white stain becomes obvious when viewed side by side with the unstained eco-plywood.
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- Timbercare uses Fiddes and Sons products
Bathrooms and Tiling
The all-important bathrooms are being installed and tiled. The en-suite bathroom is now beginning to look like a bathroom, having been kitted out with a shower head, sink, taps, and a toilet. The downstairs bathroom is a complete wet bathroom, meaning that it is waterproofed and tiled all the way up to the ceiling.
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- Wet-room tiling
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Kitchen and Cabinetry
Chriscol Kitchens have started installing the kitchen cabinetry on the second floor.
This is made up of FORMrite Plywood from Carter Colt Harvey, with a black finish and an exposed edge.
The raw look of the plywood on the black finishes look fantastic, and is just waiting for the wax treatment to finish it off.
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- Top Cupboards
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- Skirting
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- Kitchen corner
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- Draws
Chriscol Kitchens prefabricated the cabinetry, and then came on site to install the kitchen on the second floor, and prepare the site for the the rest of the cabinetry. (more…)
Stairs
The crew from Just Stairs came around to install the hardwood stairs.
Just Stairs have worked with the 5×4 Team to first design and construct these three sets of stairs, working with hardwood timber that ASH supplied.
Once cut and shaped, the installation team from Just Stairs fitted these custom made flights whilst Grand Designs watched on.
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- Some minor adjustments were made when it came to the installation process.
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- Clamps and glue were needed to make it all fit ‘just right’.
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- Planing and smiling for the camera
With our small footage and tall height, these stairs are very important for the accessibility of the house, but also aesthetically, as they take up a almost a quarter of the space within each room.
Interior Insulation
The insulation began to be stuffed in around the frames on the inside of the building.
The first layer of insulation inside was the insulation batts. We had a mixture of RAMS’s part-wool-part-recycled-polyester batts, and GreenStuf’s 100% recycled polyester batts.
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- Interior insulation
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- Insulation batts
Once these were in place, a layer of Phase Change Material was stapled over the top, for extra climate control.
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- Phase Change Biopcm
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- Phase Change and batts
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- Phase Change installed
For more information on the Phase Change Material and insulation process, see our Wall Systems section in The Build.
Meeting Cameron Comer– Interior Design
Cameron Comer came for a chat about interior style options, taking into consideration our very limited space and the need for practicality. We discussed various options for our interior finishes, including wood treatments and materials.
