*Treatment stage* Fen Cabin Studio - Build Diary. UK

Hi Guys, Not much progress at the moment due to lack of build time, but here's a pic of the outside after caulking, refitting of breather membrane and battening ready for cladding. I've got a family of bumble bees residing in the ventilated roof void at the moment, so I'm leaving them alone at the moment and will finish cutting the epdm and fitting the facias and soffits later in the build. I'd rather not kill them if I can avoid it. Dan

I've got a family of bumble bees residing in the ventilated roof void at the moment,

:shock: Wow! Hope you can get that lot out without any problems! And clearly you are going to need some good bug screening on your ventilation slots into that area, so they can't make a comeback. - Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

:shock: Wow! Hope you can get that lot out without any problems! And clearly you are going to need some good bug screening on your ventilation slots into that area, so they can't make a comeback. - Stuart -

Yep. I've done some research and this type of bee only lives in colonies of up to 100 bees and can't survive the winter. So they will die off naturally soon enough (After pollinating my garden beautifully :wink: ). If they become a problem I might have to get some spray, but I'm in no rush at the moment. I'm going to be using a continuous soffit strip for ventilation that is similar to this: Which has slots too small for bees etc. Bumble bees are becoming endangered in the UK so I'm keeping them around the best I can.

what happened to this? Was really enjoying this thread

buttermuffin wrote:

what happened to this? Was really enjoying this thread

Is still in progress. I've had a few busy months as I'm changing jobs so have been interviewing/doing overtime etc. The progress has been slow and involved work that is behind the membrane so it doesn't seem like it's moved on. I had a few hours on it today finishing off the external caulking, and almost finishing the battens for the cladding. Then the work turns back to the inside, so will see more tangible results over the next few weeks hopefully(TM) :lol: Dan

Ok, so exterior sealing finished and battens fixed for cladding. Now I've turned my attention back inside. I've caulked all of the ceiling OSB3 layer and I'm just running around inspecting the walls and caulking where it needs it. I've got the ceiling plasterboard arriving Monday morning, so providing I can get a pair of hands to help me lift I should get started on layer 2.

Looks good! :thu: - Stuart -

Ceiling plasterboard layer 1 has begun!

More pictures :D !! Keep up the good work.

Waka wrote:

Ceiling plasterboard layer 1 has begun!

Not preserved: boarding layer 1 plasterboard.jpg

Is the silencer going to be on the inside of the room? I don't understand why you couldn't have it inbetween the outer and inner leaf and just have the sleeve penetrate the inner leaf.

buttermuffin wrote:

Is the silencer going to be on the inside of the room? I don't understand why you couldn't have it inbetween the outer and inner leaf and just have the sleeve penetrate the inner leaf.

There are two silencers for each airway. 2 for inlet, 2 for extract. My ceiling/roof design is 3 leaf as it allowed roof ventilation and was simpler to get building control approval. The photos above show my first silencers penetrating the middle leaf (the outer sealed leaf), the inner leaf will be an "inside out" design and be 200mm below the middle leaf. The middle leaf being attached to the roof joists with a slight incline (for water run-off) means this raises to 300mm at the highest point. I originally had designed for the inner leaf silencers to just about squeeze between the middle and inner leaves, but when fitting the outer leaf silencers I had to push them further into the room to be able to attach the fan and filter box, which pushes the inner silencer towards the lower end of the slope and has left me less than the minimum required 240mm gap between the leaves to squeeze the box in. So a redesign is in the works to put the inner silencers beneath the inner ceiling between the joists (remember it's inside-out) which would still be above the soft ceiling and hidden.

Ok so I've finished plasterboard layer 1 on my middle leaf (outer sealed leaf) and have started caulking it. I'm covering my silencers with a layer of plasterboard too whilst doing this. I have to wait for the caulk to dry before I can put the side pieces on to fully box them and the dropped ceiling bits in.

Did some more studio today. All sealed and ready for the next layer. Walls almost all sealed ready for it's plasterboard layer. You'll notice above the noggins near the ceiling that the gap between the studs is quite tight, I'm struggling to caulk inside there. The reason the noggins are there is because, when I was framing I forgot to account for the depth of the head and sole plates and my sheathing came up short. :oops: I bought an extendable/adjustable sealant nozzle to try and reach in there, but because my caulk is in 900ml tubes they come with the nozzle built in and it can't be replaced by the adjustable one :x I'm leaning towards getting a different sealant for these areas with a removable nozzle. Any other ideas?

Ok after 2 weeks and redecorating our downstairs bathroom I finally got someone to help me fit the second ceiling plasterboard layer! :yahoo:

Hi all, just a little update. Ceiling middle leaf is all sealed, have started fixing the plasterboard between the studs of my exterior walls. I'm about 2/3 way through the large lower sections. I'll get some more pics but here's the start:

Hi, how is this project going? Really interested as I'm about to start pretty much the same thing up in Cheshire, UK. Your photos and updates are excellent. Hope it's going well. John

UKJohn wrote:

Hi, how is this project going? Really interested as I'm about to start pretty much the same thing up in Cheshire, UK. Your photos and updates are excellent. Hope it's going well. John

Hi John it's going slowly. I've had a busy September/October. The plasterboard mass layer is finished between the studs. It's taking huge amounts of time to caulk around these boards (longer than even fitting the boards). If you can avoid having to put the plasterboard between the studs, by putting an additional weatherproof/structural board on the outside you will save incredible amounts of time. I chose to place the mass on the inside between the studs entirely based on cost. 15mm plasterboard is about £5.50 per 8x4 sheet whereas cement board 12mm or OSB3 18mm are both around £30. Tl;dr So if you have the budget, but less time/want it to go up quicker definitely go with an extra layer of exterior/structural boards for additional mass instead of between the studs. I should be uploading some more pics this week. Dan

Hi Dan Good to hear you're making progress and thanks for the tip. I'm going to create a new thread for my project. I was going to convert my garage but decided - literally at the last minute - to ask my builder to make a new structure in my garden. My budget won't run to a brick build so I'm looking at timber. I'm concerned at this point that for the outer layer he's talking only about pine cladding onto joists, membrane and then kingspan rigid insulation - no boarding - before the gap between this leaf and the inner room leaf. I feel this isn't enough mass. It sounds like you're saying the same. I see other people have used OSB sheets on the outside. Apologies if my naivety is showing here! All the best John

UKJohn wrote:

Hi Dan Good to hear you're making progress and thanks for the tip. I'm going to create a new thread for my project. I was going to convert my garage but decided - literally at the last minute - to ask my builder to make a new structure in my garden. My budget won't run to a brick build so I'm looking at timber. I'm concerned at this point that for the outer layer he's talking only about pine cladding onto joists, membrane and then kingspan rigid insulation - no boarding - before the gap between this leaf and the inner room leaf. I feel this isn't enough mass. It sounds like you're saying the same. I see other people have used OSB sheets on the outside. Apologies if my naivety is showing here! All the best John

Yep your cladding on the outside won't be sealed, so it won't provide much isolation at all (how much isolation do you need?). You can't just put a layer of osb underneath the cladding as the pine cladding needs a 50mm ventilation gap behind it. My cladding is going to be fixed to the 50mm battens screwed to the exterior sheathing allowing 50mm behind it for ventilation (yes this is a third leaf, albeit unsealed). You may want to ask the builder to quote for a cement boarded wall rendered and painted. This would be much better isolation. You could do 2 layers of cement board for better isolation on your outer leaf. Or you would almost certainly need to do similar to me for pine cladding (exterior osb boarded, 50mm battens, pine cladding, inner leaf plasterboard on completely decoupled inner framing), if you only need 40dB isolation ish you might get away with resilient bars for the inner leaf instead of additional framing.

Some more pics. Finally got back to studio construction. Finished caulking the large lower sections. I've got to caulk around the top bits, and the sole plates, then I'm ready for insulation between the studs and my inner leaf framing.

Cool! Don't you just LOVE caulking? Isn't it FUN!? 8) :lol: - Stuart -

Ha! It's getting tedious now. My only solace, is that I don't have to caulk nearly as much on my inner leaf walls, just caulk the OSB layer and then plaster/dry line the plasterboard layer. The inner ceiling is inside out though so I've got quite a bit of caulking to do there, which I'm trying not to think about :lol:

After two busy weeks at work, I've done some more studio. I've started putting my cheap fluffy insulation in the outer leaf. I used standard Isover Spacesaver loft roll. About 10kg/m3, I needed 80mm so used 100mm nd compressed it as it's so light. I'm using insulation netting to keep it in place, as it's not self supporting. I also am checking all of my chalked edges as I go in case any were underfilled. Some had loose powdery plaster board cut edge to seal, so had thin hairline cracks near the surface where it hadn't fully adhered. I'm sure it's fine lower in the joint, but I overcaulked those again before adding the insulation just incase. I'm going to caulk the inside of the sole plate when I'm finished insulating the walls and have hoovered.

needed 80mm so used 100mm nd compressed it as it's so light.

You shouldn't compress insulation! It won't harm the insulation itself, but it can damage your isolation, for two reasons: 1) It changes the acoustic properties of the insulation itself, greatly increasing the GFR, and 2) It can create flanking paths between the leaves: compressed fiberglass can become stiff enough that it can conduct some sound from one side to the other.... 20% compression, as you did, is maaaaybbbbeeee OK, but I'd check to be sure that you didn't cause any problems like that... - Stuart -

Soundman2020 wrote:

needed 80mm so used 100mm nd compressed it as it's so light.

You shouldn't compress insulation! It won't harm the insulation itself, but it can damage your isolation, for two reasons: 1) It changes the acoustic properties of the insulation itself, greatly increasing the GFR, and 2) It can create flanking paths between the leaves: compressed fiberglass can become stiff enough that it can conduct some sound from one side to the other.... 20% compression, as you did, is maaaaybbbbeeee OK, but I'd check to be sure that you didn't cause any problems like that... - Stuart -

Yeah, I know this, but I'm sure it is fine here. The GFR is only around 5000 rayls, and like you said, it's only 20%. I was expecting some increase and accept it. I don't think we have a problem with flanking it's still very bouncy, not stiff at all.