The roof comes off

In the last couple of days we have made real progress in both demolition and site preparation

With both rooves removed the house is being taken down brick by brick

Just before the second roof section was taken down the team pointed out a huge wasp nest - well over a metre high - situated above the ceiling of the main bedroom.  Built with precision from slivers of wood wasps build a new nest every year and the workers die off in the winter so this one was unoccupied.

Large wasp nest in roof space

The new build will be sited between the old house and the grain barn and slopes South-North and West-East so using a theodolite (below) we have to create a level area.  

This involves moving tonnes of top soil in order to reach a firm subsoil base on which to construct the foundation slab.  Although not seeking passive house certification we are closely following passive house building principles.  This uses a lot (300mm) of polystyrene (ESP) with specially shaped L shaped pieces around the perimeter to avoid thermal bridging where the walls meet the floor slab.  More details on this later once we have decided which company to work with.

So it is now possible to begin to see where the house will sit and how it relates to the surrounding countryside. Though longer, the new build is significantly lower than the old house so should blend well into its surroundings.

Tomorrow we meet with Lime Technology and English Brothers to work out how the outer brick wall can be tied to the timber frame through 300mm of hemcrete.