First Fixing Photo's

Just for interest, some pictures of the plumbing and electrical first fixing. The plumbing is mainly being done in half inch "Qual-Pex" plastic pipe, although we have to use copper for the first ten feet or so coming from the stove. The electrics are being done in something called NYM-J cable which are a little more expensive than the normal grey 'mains' cable you see, but the NYM has extra fancy sheathing to protect it from all manner of degradation by nasty chemicals in the plaster, insulated foam, paints and so on. The main hub for electrics has become known as Electric Avenue and the main hub for plumbing, which will be the airing cupboard ("hot press" in Irish)is known as Plumb Central. Plumb central has all the red 'gate valves' in the photos.

All very technical
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Thermal panels and First Fixing

This week has been all about plumbing and electrical first fixes. These plumbers and electricians have their work on a house split up into fixes because there are bits they need to do before other tasks are done and bits they can only do nearer the end of the build. Running cables from room to room and pipes from where the stove will be, up to the roof and down again to kitchen, bathroom, utility room etc, can most easily be done BEFORE the ceilings are in place and the walls plastered. Wiring in sockets, switches and lights and plumbing in sinks and the stove can only be done when the rooms are nearly finished with floors tiled etc. Hence 'first fix, 2nd fix and sometimes 3rd, 4th etc.

This week Sparks needed to run his cables and pipes from room to room. Dad was on hand to do a lot of the drilling of holes through joists where pipes and cables would be run 'across' these rather than up and down between them, but was also 'stood down' from the fixing due to lack of knowledge of wiring and plumbing (In short, he'd have just been in the way!) Luckily we were also at the stage where he could start fitting the 4 inch thermal panels (sheets of dense plastic foam with tin foil coverings) into the gaps between rafters. This is the modern way to stop heat loss upwards and keep the house snug. The panels are easy to cut - an ordinary wood saw goes through them like a hot knife through butter but in this house the rafters are not evenly spaced or particularly straight or parallel so he had some fun measuring the sizes of the 'holes into which they'd slot' You also have to have a good eye for a 3D puzzle when you're cutting out bits to cope with roof trusses at funny angles. With practice though, Dad has become very proficient at this and in 2 and a half days work has pretty much completed the slabbing.

This kept him out from under Sparks's feet so he was able to crack on with the first fixing and by Friday we not only had a almost-fully insulated roof, but also wires and cables snaking around all over the place in bundles or neat arrays, all neatly inscribed with marker pen, finishing at blank cut ends where sockets will go, or lights, the stove, water tanks, kitchen and bathroom fittings etc. We even got the 2 water tanks into the loft space, connected them up, filled them to test for leaks.

Good going
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Back to it (and forwards)

Mum and Dad are back in touch with "Sparks" over the weekend. Today we'd been all due back up at Roscommon early hours for Sparks to look at our progress on stripping out ceilings and stud walling and to tell us what was next, but a technical issue has delayed him and he can't now make it. However he does tell us that if we want to start pulling up the living room floor (the only floor we have to get rid of completely, the rest are, all being well, floor board patching jobs) then that would be a good idea. He tells us that we can continue with skirting boards and removing any old wiring or plumbing as this is all being renewed and he also announces (ta daaaa!) that he will be joining us on site all week next week to do the electrical "First Fix".

Electrical installs in houses are done in a series of phases or 'fixes' because it's easier to do some bits before the plasterers or ceiling guys, for example, have done anything, and other bits have to happen after the plasterers or other tradesmen. Sparks will be laying the ring main(s) and any other big grey cables around the house, under floors, above ceilings and between rooms while there is no-one to get in his way. That will be the first bit of construction we have seen so far, after all the destruction, so it will fell good and positive, like we have turned a corner and passed a milestone.

Looking Good
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