Constructing a glass and steel cottage ... Westlakebridge: 2008

Constructing the partition walls

Partition walls are being constructed to create small alcoves for kitchen, bathroom and storage, making the most of each square meter.

Vibrant colors

Thought I'd let you enjoy a fall color view.

Little progress to report - just a couple of small things, nothing worth mentioning really.

Three pipes

Three cable pipes have been installed for water, power and telecom.

As there is no sewage network in the area, we need to take care of full sewage treatment ourselves. And being located close to a nature reserve and with the pond close-by, this is to be taken seriously.

Preliminary acceptance

Friday we signed for preliminary acceptance. The steel construction has finally been completed, - except for some minor details -.

It's now three months ...

... since the Cor-ten steel plates were mounted.

Meanwhile the rainwater tank and the domestic sewage treatment plant have been installed.

Just waiting for some final details to be sorted out, before we shift focus to the interior.

It took a while ...

... but the Cor-ten steel walls (and doors) are finished.

Next step : the installation of a domestice sewage treatment plant.

Cor-ten steel (day 57)

Almost 2 months now, since the first Cor-ten steel plates were mounted.

To see how the weathering evolves, have a look at day 1 and day 23.

Or for the latest views, you can start here.

A view from the bridge

While we're still waiting for the Cor-Ten steel walls to be finished, here's a fish-eye view from inside out (stitched using 15 pictures)

Cornered

That's about the overall feeling the last few weeks while waiting for the next load of Cor-ten steel to arrive.

This coming week things should be moving again.

One year

Exactly one year ago, groundworks kicked off. We're definitely not going to win the prize for the fastest construction ever.

Meanwhile, we're glad that the fifth and final door was finally installed last Friday. Our cottage is now windproof and doors are locked - finally.

Inside, the screed floor was covered with a Bolidtop flooring system and the fireplace was installed.

Orange

The Cor-ten steel wall - 23 days old - glows with orange tones in sunlight.

Remember what the wall looked like, just three weeks ago .

Cor-ten steel (day 23)

Some of you asked for more recent pictures of the Cor-ten steel wall, to follow the effects of weathering over time.

You may want to compare this picture with the situation on day one .

Or the view one month later.

And for the latest views, browse thru here.

Royal ferns unrolling their stems

While in the back, preparations are being made to apply a two component flooring system inside.

Shower with no water

Gradually starting with the interior furnishing, although we're still waiting for the outside to be finished.

Mid April

The inside unit of our air-to-water heat pump has been installed last week. (No decent picture taken yet.) Just need to test the system one of these days.

Further on, it's waiting again until the next load of Cor-ten steel arrives to finish the outer wall covering.

Cor-ten steel (day three)

Sunday late afternoon.

Two days of weekend and two full days of rusting already.

Passer-by

Passer-by (interested): What will you guys be putting against these plates ?

Me: Nothing.

P-b (still interested): I see ... What colour will you then paint it ?

Me: We're not painting it. It stays like this.

P-b (worried now): I see ... Won't it then rust quickly ?

Me: It's Cor-ten steel. It's supposed to rust.

P-b (in disbelief): Ah ... Interesting.

Cor-ten steel (day one)

Also known as “weathering steel” was originally developed from a group of alloy steels which eliminate the need for finishing or painting. The product develops a thin skin of rust which actually protects the inner layers of steel from the elements. This skin continues to rust and weather over time and achieves different appearances depending on the environment, location and exposure.

Let the weathering begin.

Working hard ...

... to get the second row of Cor-ten steel plates in place.
Two more rows to go.

Another Christo project ?

Or just an air and vapour barrier.

Blank wall - insulated

Lots of action today.

And now you know where all the rockwool goes.

Blank wall

Have not shown a lot of pictures of the façade yet. But here's one showing the blank wall, as it was up to this weekend.

Rockwool

With all that rockwool that was delivered last Friday, our cottage looks more like a distribution depot for insulation materials.

On-site engineering

Today rain-pipes were attached to the front wall. And seen the amount of rain we received last few weeks, it clearly required quite some maths.

Waiting for the Corten-steel

Hopefully the last view before the Corten-steel sheets arrive.

Stay tuned for further updates by this coming weekend.

Glass, steel and wood anemone

Wood anemones are blooming.

June Berries in March

Steely rain, snow, a sunray or two and some signs that spring is in the air. But no progress other than that.

Sand-cement screed

And here's the result of the screeding.

The floor now needs to rest and dry for several weeks.

Screeding in progress

This Friday, the floor heating tubes got burried under a sand-cement screed.

The Slow Home

While waiting for the works to continue, I ran into The Slow Home. Next to an interesting philosophy to stay away from cookie cutter houses, it provides some nice views of what modern architecture has to offer - especially in the area of residential housing.

And of course : Any resemblance of the title of this blogpost with existing situations is pure coincidence and exists only in the imagination of the reader.