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

[Gregwor]

How is your HVAC working so far?

[Waka]

Hi Greg,

It's not been installed yet. The electrician is coming when I've finished the walls (he needs a surface to surface mount to ). So he'll wire the ventilation at the same time. Then the AC guy will install the mini - split.

Dan

[Soundman2020]

Then the AC guy will install the mini - split.

You probably already know this, Dan, but it doesn't hurt to remind: the bundle of pipes and wires that link the indoor unit to the outdoor unit cannot run directly across your wall cavity in a straight line, for obvious reasons... I hope your HVAC guy is aware of that?

- Stuart -

[Waka]

Hi Stuart, I was aware of that. I am considering the best method of achieving this. I assume they can just add a couple of 90° bends to the pipe work right?

I've not fully fixed the OSB yet, I've just screwed it in place. So I'll be able to remove a section to put that pipework in.

That has reminded me that he does still need to come back and put the pipework in before the OSB is finished.

Thanks Stuart.

Dan

[Soundman2020]

I assume they can just add a couple of 90° bends to the pipe work right?

You can't bend the HVAC pipes very much, only very gentle curves. If you try to bend it too tight, it will kink.

One way to do it is to have a gentle curve across nearly the entire wall cavity depth, then run the pipe bundle parallel to the wall surface across at least one stud bay (preferably two), then curve it gently back the other way, to go through the outer leaf. Make the second penetration a little lower than the first, so that the condensate pipe slopes down always, never up (unless your AHU has a condensate pump on it).

- Stuart -

[Waka]

Thanks Stuart,

I'm not doing the work myself, but I'm going to be there to let him know what's acceptable to maintain sound isolation and reseal the vapour barrier and put the OSB in place when the pipes /wires are in.
He's been good, he's going to chat to me about later so I'll pass on the info you gave me.

I'm waiting for the electrician to drop off the SWA, so I can put it through the (offset) entry point and reseal and put the OSB over it. Then he'll come and wire everything once the plasterboard is done.

When it comes to caulking the entry points, I'm using flexible conduit. Does this method sound good: I caulk around the outside of the conduit first to fill the hole, then caulk all around the wires in the conduit once they're fixed in place?

I'll keep you guys updated.
Thanks,
Dan

[Waka]

Question about locking my external door.

I need to lock the studio (for obvious reasons) and I'm thinking of the best way to do that whilst also meeting safety regulations.

I'm required to be able to unlock the door from the inside without a key (makes sense).

My plan:
Internal door:
No latch, no lock, door closer holds tight against the seals. Surface mounted handle in room, push plate in cavity.

External door : Surface mounted handle on the outside, push plate in cavity.
A single dead bolt in the center of the door with external key and internal thumb - turn, like this:

complete-room-lock-deadbolt4_1 (1).jpg

No latch, door closer holds door tight against seals when in use.

The deadbolt doesn't need a big hole being cut and it seems to place a large amount of steel through the holes it needs. I understand I need to be careful not to get caulk in the mechanism when fitting this.

Have you guys got any other/better suggestions?

[Soundman2020]

I caulk around the outside of the conduit first to fill the hole, then caulk all around the wires in the conduit once they're fixed in place?

Sort of, but it needs a bit more than that. Yes, caulk around the outside of the conduit on both sides of the drywall, but then when the wires are in placed, push a piece of slightly twisted-up insulation down the end of the conduit, as far as you can get it (twist it up into a long thin worm shape), and allow it to untwist and expand again to fill up the gaps around the wiring, then caulk over the end of the conduit, and maybe a 1/4" inside. That way, if you need to replace the wires in the future, or add more wires, you can pull off the caulk fairly easily, then fish out the insulation.

Also, when you run the wires, always leave an extra piece of "fish tape" in the conduit for the same purpose: so that you can pull through new wiring if you have to.

By the way, I usually don't use flexible PVC conduit, as it is very light weight, and brittle. I use ordinary electrical conduit, heated up then bent into shape. That conduit has thicker walls, and is tougher. I also terminate it in a distribution box with a cover plate, on the room end of the conduit, and caulk around that too. It's certainly not the same mass as the drywall, but it's the best you can do.... unless you feel like using metal conduit!


- Stuart -

[Soundman2020]

The deadbolt doesn't need a big hole being cut and it seems to place a large amount of steel through the holes it needs.

Yep, that should be fine. As long as there's plenty of mass, and you seal the end plates well, that will work.


- Stuart -

[Waka]

Hey guys,

I've got some more pics for you!
I've put in the cables etc. for the electrician, and caulked the outside of the conduits but not around the wires yet incase he needs extra length etc when installing. I'll do that when he's finished.

The AC guys came to install the pipework today. The engineer was good and took on board the information I gave him about studio needs.
An example: usually they put a continuous run of lagging through the hole in the wall with the pipe, I explained that lagging has no mass so he agreed to terminate the lagging at the hole and I caulk the hole and then continue lagging inside the cavity.
So I was glad I was home to keep on top of it.

We ended up agreeing on the pipe work running down inside the cavity between the leaves with the outer leaf hole about 1m below the inner leaf hole. The two copper pipes and condensate hose as well as the cable all went through the one hole. I wish the hole could have been a little smaller though, so I'll have to use a ton of caulk to seal it. I think I'll surround the pipes in the hole with backer rod and caulk both sides in stages maybe, to allow the first layer to cure before adding another layer of caulk.
Sound good?

Pics!

external AC pipework_crop_534x450.jpg

AC pipes hole.jpg

electrical conduit.jpg

SWA and network conduit.jpg

[Gregwor]

Bad ass! That hole is no match for a ton of caulk! You'll be good to go for sure!

Greg

[Waka]

The holes are all caulked and dry now, the OSB is secured and the bottom gap is caulked and drying.

The cool thing is, the leveling compound will provide additional mass over the caulk and raise the floor height a few mm. So now, when I attach the plasterboard, the gap underneath will be a little offset giving a really good floor to wall seal.

My Dad is coming to level the floor for me either tomorrow when I'm working or Saturday morning.

I'll keep you updated dudes.

caulk that hole.jpg

leveling compound.jpg

[Waka]

Floor leveled.
Ceiling modules started!

ceiling module.jpg

[Waka]

Spent the day building frames for the ceiling modules.

6 more left to build (more materials arriving tomorrow morning)

Two layers of 15mm plasterboard to go on top of each module.

Dan

ceiling modules frames .jpg

[Waka]

Sorry for the delay in posting updates guys.

I've made some progress.

The ceiling modules are all finished. Most of them are installed.

I've plasterboarded all of the walls, caulked my corners and a plasterer skimmed them yesterday. It's finally starting to look like a room.

Next jobs:
Friday I'll be installing the last of the ceiling modules and caulking them.
Then boxing in all of the joists with plasterboard.
A couple of coats of white emulsion on the walls, then the electrician and AC guys can come finish their jobs.

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