Step 1 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING DOOR HARDWARE

Step 1 - This video looks at the components of the door handle and their functions

Step 2 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING DOOR HARDWARE

Step 2 - This section looks at measuring out the location of the hardware on the door.

Step 3 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING DOOR HARDWARE

Step 3 - This looks at drilling in the large hole that the handle will be attached through, on both sides of the door.

Step 4 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING DOOR HARDWARE

Step 4 - The first of the the video's explains the drilling of the hole for the latch.  The second video explains the process of inserting the latch into the drilled hole & marking out where the latch plate sits against the door frame so that it can be chiseled out to form a recess that the latch can sit in so it is flush with the door.  The last video looks over the chiseled out section & fixing it in.

Step 5 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING DOOR HARDWARE

Step 5 - The first video explains the process of attaching the handle onto the leaf of the door, the second video actually shows this being done, and the third video shows the finished handle all attached and things to look out for/check once completed.

Step 6 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING DOOR HARDWARE

Step 6 - The first video explains the process of attaching the striker onto the door jamb (that the door latch will sit in) and the second video shows the actual installation to finished status.

Additional step is to install a door stop on the skirting of the wall where the door swings up against.  This is important as it stops damage occurring to the wall from the handle swinging into it.  

The best way to measure where it goes is to swing the door so it is sitting against the wall and line up the stopper so it sits low enough of the skirting so that the screw that will hold it in place will drill through the bottom plate of the wall.  Mark a temporary line where this is to go, then pre drill and attach stopper.  The stopper itself should split into two parts so that you see the screw section inside and then can put the top on so the fixings are hidden.

You guessed it... Finishing lines again!!!!

We are all working really hard to get all of the finishing lines today, in preparation for starting on the door hardware (handles, stoppers and the like).

I was mainly concentrated in the hallway finishing off outstanding architraves around the doors and also the skirting.  Some areas were skipped out as Ola is still putting the shelves in the wardrobe so the door frame has not been added yet.

I also did the skirting and skotia's in the lounge area as well, which kept me occupied for the day.  The skotia is pretty much done, except for a small section as we are waiting for the kitchen cabinetry to be installed before doing.  It was the first time I dealt with having to join lengths of skotia timber together to cover the long runs of the room.  

A mitre cut was used and was done whilst the timber was standing on edge.  When attaching the two lengths together, glue had to be placed in between them to provide additional adhesion but also help seal the join and keep it as tight as possible and not so reactive to movement of the structure.

The skirting was straight forward, and the same as how things had been going throughout the rest of the house.  There was a section however that was not sitting flush with the door frame.  On discovery it was found that the gap between the gib and the floor was larger than normal, so that when the skirting was leaned up against this area, the ridge on the back of the skirting wasn't substantial enough so the whole bottom section of the skirting sat at an angle inwards.

To fix this, I had to place a packer 10mm thick (gib thickness) so that the skirting would hit against something and sit straight against the wall. 

Some architraves gave the appearance to be protruding in comparison to the skirting as well, this was due to the fact that the bottom section was not fixed securely enough.  With the addition of panel pins these were all aligned.

More finishing lines!

Today we tried to get through as much of the finishing lines as possible, although a few people were given the job to insert shelfing into cupboards or attach the vanity in the bathroom and ensuite.

Not much therefore learnt today as we kept on with things we had already had some exposure doing.  

One thing that I did pick up today, is doing the skirting for exposed corners within the interior of the house.  The way around this was to get a mock piece of skirting and to draw a faint line on the floor, where the skirting runs when held hard up against the wall sections that the corner will be fixed to (as it would sit if being fixed to the wall - usually on edge).  

This will give a cross section of where the mitre join should sit.  The length from the wall out to the edge of this marked out section is then taken and this is the length that the mitre cut is cut to.  The same step is repeated for the the other length of wall that the corner is present on.  Once attached, it will join up neatly together.

Architraves & Skirting

Back into the architraves again today.  Rich had me in the laundry concentrating on the hot water cupboard so that the hot water cylinder could be installed.  Did the skotia and architraves fine, and then learnt how to do the skirting.

With the skirting, the same principles are followed as doing the skotia, so the back wall is the first to have the skirting attached (both with straight cuts).  From here the side lengths are done. The end butting up against the already fixed skirting will have to have a 'fake mitre' done to give the appearance of a mitre join, but not really being one.  The reason this is done, is to allow for movement where no matter where the timber goes, it always looks like a mitre and won't show any gaps (as it would if a mitre was really done & movement occurred).  The other end of the length will just have a straight cut.

To achieve the 'fake mitre' the end requiring it needs to be cut at a 45 degree angle (to create an actual mitre cut).  The timber is stood on edge and cut at this angle, and then a hand saw or the drop saw is used to cut straight down along the edge of the mitre cut (which will create a straight edge).  It is best to have this cut slightly undercut, so rather than setting the drop saw to '0', it can be set to '1/10' to create the undercut automatically.  The cut should be done so that it is approximately 1-2mm away from cutting off the beveled edge.

From here a coping saw is used to cut thinly across so that it leaves a thin triangular shape on the beveled edge of the skirting which when rested against the already fixed skirting will give the appearance of a mitre join.

Once done, the skirting can then be fixed using 40mm finishing nails or panel pins, at regular intervals of approximately 200-300mm & also where needed to hold it hard against the wall.

Before attaching the skirting, its important to check that the nails and screws that will sit underneath it are flush against the gib so it doesn't cause the skirting to jut out.

This process is continued until all of the skirting is done.  

All About Architrave!

Everyone carried on with doing the architraves and skotia today.  

I have been concentrating on getting the two rooms done that I have been working in, which has been Bedroom 3 & Toilet.   Yesterday I had done the skotia's in both room, and had almost finished the architraves in the toilet, so today I spent the most of the day in Bedroom 3.

Everything was much the same process, however learnt how to do the architraves for the doors, where the gap between the architrave and the corner of the wall is too small to fit the standard architrave timber in (40 x 10mm).  

Even though the timber does fit in the gap, it only leaves a tiny space to the corner, making it difficult for the stopper to get in to finish off the area.  As a result, the skirting timber is used and is ripped back to fit the whole space from the 3mm quirk to the corner.

To do this, the door should be taken off the hinges so that easy access to the area can occur (more so if fitting the wider architrave to the hinge side of the door).

Next the piece of wider timber cut to a 2.1m length is held in the space, hard up against the corner of the wall (so that the straight edge is against the corner of the wall, and the beveled edge is on the overhang), a ruler is used to ascertain where the largest overhang is present.  Once found, the rest of the timber should be fixed to this overhang amount along it's whole length, for example 7mm.

Once fixed and the overhang is double checked to be the same throughout the whole area, a packer must be found that is 10mm (the 7mm + 3mm quirk), which is run and marked out along the edge of the timber that is closest to the corner of the wall.  

This mark will show where the timber needs to be ripped to.  Once this line has been cut out, then a planer needs to be used to slightly undercut the edge and then it should be able to fit up against the wall.

Once done, this is checked and held up into the space to see if it fits, making modifications where necessary.  It should now fill the whole area between the door frame and the wall and still allow for a 3mm quirk.

For the top section of this length where the mitre cut is, it will need to be cut out flat by marking the section where it overhangs the already fixed 40x10mm timber for the top architrave, this way it will all sit flush.

Skotia & Architraves

Attached the skotia's today for the most of the morning, after learning how to do it last week on Wednesday.

Was quite a easy process, but you really had to concentrate when cutting the skotia that you had made the correct measurements firstly, but also that the right angle for the join is made.  The edge that is exposed to the open should be sanded back so that it isn't too sharp and doesn't have the possibility of injuring the gib stopper when they come.

A tip that Rich gave for long lengths of wall when working on your own, was to measure one part of the wall to a easy measurement eg. 1000mm or 1500mm, then turn tape round and measure up this point (rather than trying to do the whole length).  

For external corners, Rich also went over how to mark this out today for the skotia.  Firstly we had to wait for the slimline to be stopped, this is because it will be covered up by the skotia and the plasterer will only be able to stop up to the skotia (but not the whole length)

Once done, cut off's of skotia are used to lay at each angle and is marked out on the ceiling.

The point where the two lines cross will indicate where the length of the skotia needs to go up to in order to form the join.

This measurement is taken and the length is cut out from a skotia with a mitre cut on edge done so that the two angled skotia pieces will meet.

We also got started on the architraves today as well.  The first step when doing this, is to check that none of the fixings on the gib are protruding out, or expandable foam or packers on the openings frame edge either.

Once all clear, a 3mm quirk can be marked out at each corner, which act as a guide for the architraves to be lined up against (as pictured to the right).

Once the quirk has been marked out, the first length of architrave can be cut out.  This should be the top length, and is a measurement of the width of the opening is taken with a good 100mm additional added to this to allow for cutting out the angles required.

It is a good idea to mark out on the timber the direction that the mitre cut is to go, as because the timber used is a single bevel it means the straight edge has to go against the back fence of the drop saw (which can start making the cut a little confusing).

Once a rough length of timber has been created, one of the angles on the end is cut out and then lined up on the opening to the quirk line, the opposite end can then be marked out on the architrave by matching up with the quirk, and can then be cut out.

Next the lengths can be done, with the same process followed. When attaching these lengths to the already fixed top section, it's edges are glued to provide additional fixings.

The last length to be completed will be the bottom length, with the same steps.  The overall result will be a architrave with beveled edge facing inwards & straight edge outwards, witha  3mm quirk.  

Fixings used are 30mm pins through architrave to jamb, and 40mm pins through architrave to gib using a finishing gun.  These are done in couples in even intervals that are sufficient enough to hold the architrave in place.

It may be necessary to bring the architrave forward so that it is flush with the other fixed lengths of architrave (sometimes the gib may not be flush).  In these cases a chisel is used to prop out the troubling piece until it is siting correctly, and then it is held into place by a panel pin being manually driven in (as pictured right)

For lengths of architrave down the sides of doors, the bottom section will be cut straight to go in line with the floor.  

A quick way to get where this cut should be, a 2.1m length should be cut out with the top mitre cut done so it can sit in flush with the top length.

This piece of timber is then stood upside down and leaned up against the top fixed architrave.  Where the top of this fixed architrave meets the upside down length, is where the cut should be made (as seen on drawn picture to the right).

When trying to work out the quirk for the door area where the hinge is, it is very difficult to get measuring equipment in, however, if the architrave is fixed hard up against the screw, this will allow for the 3mm gap required.

Finishing off the bath & moving on to skotia's

Finished off installing the bath today.  

Mark had finished the cradle that it had to sit on (as pictured), and was done so that the top section was only at a 20mm thickness so that it could sit in the lip of the bath ok.   Aluband then had to be placed around

the edges of the bath that would sit against the walls to provide additional water proofing for area.

Once all attached & backing taken off, the bath was then sat in position so that it was against the wall and sitting on top of the cradle created for it. 

Before putting in place, liquid nail was applied to the floor so that it would have further fixing to area it is sitting in. It is very important to have the bath sit securely, due to the large amount of force that is placed on the area once water is added, along with the weight of a person.

Next Rich took us through the steps of putting the skotia up.  The first thing that needs to be done, is to ensure that all of the fixings are securely in and are not protruding in any way, as this can damage the timber of the skotia if something is sticking out.  

The first length of wall to be done is the back wall from the main entrance.  This is because if there is any shrinking of the timber over time, the gaps created won't be as noticable when you walk in the room as it will be hidden by the angle it is fixed at.  The length of the back wall is measured & the skotia timber is cut to this measurement with both ends having straight cuts.  It is best to add a couple of millimeters to this length, as it is better to have a really tight fit & the bow caused from the length being too long is easily straightened out when the finishing gun fixes the skotia into place.
The skotia is fixed to the wall in a double nailing pattern atleast every 200-300mm (& elsewhere if required) with 50mm nails, alternatively panel pins can be used.

From here the sides of the wall are measured out in length.  Again an additional 2mm is added to this so that it is tight.  These sections of skotia will need to have one angle cut (so it sits up against the skotia already fixed to the back wall) and a straight cut for the other end.

Once all done, the last section of the skotia can be done, the same processes are followed, however this time both ends will need angle cuts to sit up against the already fixed skotia that is there.

When doing the fixings, there are no spacing requirements, so long as it sits hard against the wall and ceiling.

Step 1 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING INTERIOR DOORS

Step 1 - This video looks at aligning a interior door for the Hot Water Cupboard, by first gathering measurements and finding the right pre-made door for the area.

First step is to refer to the plan to see where the door is going to be fitted, what side of the door frame is going to have the hinges hung on it & which way the door swings.

Next step is to measure door frame, then the door to make sure you have right one, along with work out the gap that will exist between the door jam on either side & the door frame.

Step 2 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING INTERIOR DOORS

Step 2 - This video looks at checking the floor levels & what it means if it makes the hinge side higher or lower (if it is not plumb).

Step 3 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING INTERIOR DOORS

Step 3 -  This looks at undoing the leaf so that it can swing backwards & forwards, by removing the nails that is holding it shut, then reusing these nails to make temporary door handles until hardware is installed.

Also deals with adding packers at hinge points that are the predetermined thickness (door frame measurement minus the door jam measurement, which is then divided in two).  In this example it is a 17mm difference, so packers will need to be 8.5mm along hinge side of door.

This video also Investigates how to use a level to ensure the packers on the vertical will make the door jam sit plumb.

Step 4 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING INTERIOR DOORS

Step 4 - Positioning the interior door into place, and fixing it on the hinge side of the door along the jamb.  

Checking that it is flush, before nailing in with jolt head nails, and discussing the nailing pattern.

Step 5 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING INTERIOR DOORS

Step 5 - Fixing the opposite side of the door jam (where the hinge is not present) using fox tails to adjust the distance between door jam & leaf itself. 

Also discusses where the foxtails should be located, & why, along with fixing the top section of the door as well.

Step 6 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING INTERIOR DOORS

Step 6 - This video looks at locating where the door stoppers need to be fixed onto the door jam, and the marking out process of this.  

Step 7 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING INTERIOR DOORS

Step 7 - The first video talks about how to fix door stoppers to the door jam, and fixing requirements, the second video is a quick demonstration of the finishing gun in action

Step 8 - BUIT 4545 PRESENTATION, Q12: INSTALLING INTERIOR DOORS

Step 8 - This video goes over finishing touches of cutting away fox tails & other materials used during hanging of internal door frame.

Also just a last look at the door stops & their final fixings explained and how it allows the leaf to sit flush against the jam.

SlimLine & Bath Cradle

When doing the slim line it is very important that it is handled carefully, as warping it's shape in anyway will cause it to loose it's ability to do it's job & will not be useable.  The slim line is placed on all external corners within  the interior of the building & are needed to provide extra protection to them (as they are often knocked into & the plaster that is added is not enough to keep it strong & intact.  The slim line is a metal corner angle that will be eventually plastered over.  When inserting it should run

from ceiling to floor & have the top and bottom end corners sniped at an angle so that they don't bend back.  

When ready to fix in place, clouts are used at approx 300mm spacings along length of slim line.  You must take care not to hit or dent the metal as this will affect its integrity.  If parts of the slim line are not sitting flat against the gib, then an additional fixing can be placed in to get it sitting right.

With the bath cradle, the area that the bath was going to sit on was marked out onto the particle board by holding bath upside down & scoring a line  This point will indicate where the foot of the cradle will need to sit along, as pictured on left, and this footing for the framework will sit 20mm inwards from this line (to allow for the nogs to sit inside the lip of the bath).  Under the bath lip, a nog also needed to be placed at either end, to provide extra support to the bath (as a lot of weight is added to it, once water & a person are in it).

Where the length of the bath sits against the wall, the nogs are checked out so it sits inwards.  This will allow a gap from the gib down to the edging of the bath, which is to take into account if tiles or similar are placed on the wall to provide the extra space.

For the cradle itself, it is intended that the foot will provide the base that the nogs are placed along that run up from the floor 

and into the inside lip of the bath.  These will need to be cut so it is 20mm wide at the top for the length of the nog, and the corner of this cut may need to be shaved to account for the angle that the bath reclines at.

(Refer to drawn picture on left)

Walls, Walls, & More Walls!

Just carried on with the walls today & trying to get the gib finished throughout the house.  Finally finished up in the lounge area, but had a bit of a delay as Rich had to pack up one of the nogs by 20mm as the wood used wasn't the right size.

As I had a bit of time whilst this was being done, I headed into the laundry area and started helping Mark to gib the hot water cylinder cupboard, however this came to bit of a stand still as Rich discovered an issue with the wiring that the sparky's put in.

Basically there shouldn't be a electrical wiring within 90mm of a braceline element, and this is not the case with the space for the light switch.  This may mean having to do the lounge wall again, as the gib has been weakened with regard to its integrity as a bracing element in the house as the opening is too close.  This is important to get right, as if it's wrong, then it means we won't pass inspection.

Rich will follow up and we will look at it on Monday.

Walls & Shower Tray

Still working on the walls, but we also took some time out today to learn how to insert the shower tray into the house in it's intended area.

The first step was to check the manufacturers specifications that arrive with the shower and it's other fittings, to check that the dimensions provided, coincide with the details we had on our house plan.  Also these spec's had to be read over, to ensure that we follow all of the instructions correctly, as otherwise it can comprise the warranty if something should go wrong.  Once clear on all of this, it is time to measure the physical space where the tray is to go, against the dimensions of the tray, if these match up, then the tray is then placed into the slot to double check physically.

From this point, a pencil is used to mark out the circular area where the plug hole/draingage hole for the tray onto the floor below, along with a mark along the edge of the tray (so we know where it comes up to on the floor).

The tray is then removed, and a square is drawn around this circular mark out with a clearance of at least 20mm from it.

This square is then cut out, along with the sisilation that falls below it (as pictured to the right).  This is a good point to check that the joists and nogs below it have been done correctly to support the shower tray above, by reaching through the square cut out & reaching around to double check they are present.  If these have been forgotten, this can be a very time consuming task, to go beneath the house to get these in... much better to do this from the beginning to save time and effort.

Nail glue is then run along the floor (up to the line previously marked out to show the edge of the tray) so that the tray is held down when finally placed on top of it.

Once the tray is placed on top of the glue, it is important to weight it down so that it makes good contact with the glue and sticks into place.  

The cardboard box that it was delivered in, should be cut out to firstly cover the tray (to protect it from any damage of subsequent building around it), then heavy buckets or water or a brace from the ceiling should be used to hold it down for at least a 24hour period.

Once this is done, then the Aqualine gib can be inserted 10mm above the tray line & up to the ceiling, after a silicone bead is placed onto of the lining to fill this gap.  Once all the gib is in place, then the shower lining is inserted so it sits on top of the aqualine gib & runs over the tray with a sufficient overhang.  An additional two silicone beads are placed on this overhang, as additional barriers towards capilary action (as pictured below)

More Walls...

Carried on with walls today but was able to get a lot more done as was working with Afi.  Just followed the same procedures as yesterday, but today, we also got to put up Standard gib as well as brace line gib.  

It was quite an interesting process, as with the standard gib, the spacings were every 300mm, but could also use the same braceline fixings of 50/50/50/150 if it was stipulated that the area was GS1.

In this case, although the same nailing pattern was used (as you would for braceline) this was done with the screws rather than the Gib Braceline nails.  

When cutting out the different openings from the gib, I also found that when measuring out, it was best to take the measurement up to the stud in which the frame sits in (rather than hard up to the frames edge).  This was because the wooden packers often got in the way of the gib & caused it to splinter & damage the gib when it was being held hard up against the wall.

Also, it is a really good idea to double check the frames first before lifting the gib sheet up as often the expandable foam needed to be trimmed back to allow the gib to sit comfortably.

A good tip from the gib book was to use a drink bottle lid at the end of the glue's nozzle as this allowed for good distribution of glue onto the studs where the sheeting sat. 

When placing the gib up, we sometimes found that it didn't sit comfortably in the gap, so a quick solution to this, was to use the rasp to sand back the edge a bit.  This was a quick method to shave a few millimeters off the end & then a piece of gib could then be held against the sheet trying to be fitted in & lightly tapped with a hammer to tap it the rest of the way in.

Wall Work

On site today I worked on my own in the lounge area putting up the gib for the walls.  Had already had a go at doing this during the holiday, so was quite happy to go off and do this on my own anyways.

I started off with the corners where it required bracing elements in the form of 'braceline' gib sheet.  This is much stronger gib that has been mixed with fibre glass, and is distinguished as it has a slight blue tinge to the colour of the boards paper.

When cutting this sheet, the same principles apply using a craft knife (or sometimes a saw if it is cut outs for window frames - as pictured above and to the left).  Glue is also used in the middle sections of the gib where no screw or nail fixings will be.

         Once cut out & ready, the board was held as tight up near the ceiling gib as possible & then braceline gib could be held up onto the wall temporarily using a screw nail gun.

This is the part where it is critical to check against the plan to ascertain what size of the bracing element is required.

When this measurement is known, for example 1.2m, then markings with 50/50/50/150mm from each corner is carried out along 1.2m of the braceline gib, with the rest of the intervals for the gib line brace nails all at 150 cr's (photo below of nails).

It is important when hammering down gib line bracing nails, that they are flush with the surface for when the gib stopper comes (as it makes it easier for them to smooth out with their plaster).   For the rest of the sheet that runs over the 1.2m bracing element requirement, standard fixings with the screws is done, every 300mm along the edge.  When putting the fixings on, it should not be less than 18mm, as this can cause weakness to the board & it eventually breaks away.

As the sheets are run horizontally on the wall, the height of the building allows for two sheets to fit easily along the wall.  When placing the sheet on the top section of the wall, it is important to ensure the SE goes against the ceiling gib & the TE inwards, & for the bottom the SE runs along the floor line & the TE inwards.

When aligning the bottom sheet, it was helpful for me to have a crow bar to help push it up from the ground so it was tight against the top sheet already fixed in.  It is better that there is a gap at the bottom than between the sheets, as often this will be covered with skirting boards.

Changing the Ceiling for the Better!

Back from holidays today, so making a genuine start to get work done with the gib.  Didn't really get much done over the holidays, just the ceiling gib for the two back rooms, along with some of the walls, so theres plenty to carry on with. 

As a class, we got underway with concentrating on the ceiling gib for the lounge area.  This gave everyone the opportunity to go over the procedure of cutting the gib to length, where to fix the glue & also fixing in with the screw gun.  The added bonus was that there were numbers available to hold the long lengths of gib so that it didn't snap whilst we were lifting it up.

Once the length had been worked out the ceiling gib could be attached.  When measuring the length, we had to make sure that the sheet fell in the middle of two cavity battens. 

The measurement is then transffered to the sheet, along with any measurements for cut out sections (for wire that might be for a light fitting etc).  Once ready to be fixed, glue is placed on the ceiling batten approximately every 200mm to provide extra fittings for the areas that would not have screws holding it in place.  Once this was done, the ceiling gib was held in place and adjusted until it was sitting hard up against the wall edge & the other sheet of gib it was sitting against (if applicable).  It is important to remember the SE is against the edge of the room's ceiling & the TE is on the inside sections.  As this ceiling area spanned a fair distance it meant we required Standard Gib TE/SE & Standard Gib TE/TE.

Once fixed, a sheet of gib 300mm wide & the length of the sheet (1.2m) was cut and glued in place (as pictured above), to provide extra support to the sheet that was joining it.  The sheets were laid out horizontally across the battens to provide regular fixing points.

The same process of gluing gib to provide extra support, was also done along the length of the sheet fixed up (which would help support the join of the gib adjacent to it).  These pieces only had to be as long as the width between each cavity batten (approximately 300mm) & 200mm thick.

This process was repeated until the whole ceiling was done.  Where there were joins present, we also nailed a few piece of timber across the join temporarily & inserted nails between the timber & the gib to push the gib in at the join (as pictured below).  The reason for this was to create the same concept of a tapered edge, so that when the gib stopper comes, the joins are not so apparent as they can be sealed over more effectively.

A a shot at the big time... I mean gibing.

As the house got a bit behind last term due to bad weather, Marty & Rich called for us to come in during the holidays.

Came in to work today as a result, so did a bit of ceiling gib & wall as well with Mike S & Rich.

Was pretty easy to cut the gib to length, basically used a craft knife to run along the length of the gib along a straight edge.  Once done, the gib easily bends along this scored line, & a craft knife can then be used to cut the last remaining bit attached.  When taking the measurement you can take off a 10mm amount to allow a gap at each end for adjustment.  Also needed to take into account the location of wiring for lights, as holes needed to be cut out for them to drop through.  To cut these holes, we used a gib saw.

When fixing it on to the ceiling, it ran along the ceiling battens so it can be attached at each point with the gib screws, and also every 200mm cr along the edge as well & through the middle.  Glue was also placed through the middle where nails were not placed.

When laying out the gib, it was important that the SE gib was on the outside edge of the ceiling, with TE meeting each other in between.  

For extra support to join the TE together cut bits of gib are placed with glue spanning the distance between the ceiling battens with 100mm fixed onto the existing ceiling gib & the other 100mm will overhang to be glued to the next bit of gib being attached next to it.

Was good to have a few people, as whilst some were holding it into position, the other was fixing it to the ceiling battens.  Really makes the job go quicker.

Last Day Before HOLIDAYS!!! Whoop Whoop!

Bit of a clean up day today before heading on holidays.  Some of us were outside cleaning the frames of the houses as a lot of stain had flicked on to them whilst doing the second coating on the weatherboards.

Some of the boys cleared out the interior of the house for the delivery of the gib sheets from the company.  It's important that nothing is left on the ground, as the slightest bump can damage the sheet when it sits on it.

 When carrying the gib you had to be careful to lift it properly as it can break really easily.  Best to have at least two people holding it at each end, and for the longer lengths (like the 6 meters) to have someone in the middle, so it doesn't warp.  This is because it easily breaks if twisted the wrong way.

When laying the sheets down, they were held on their side and then left to drop down on their own.  As each sheet is laid down, it was also really important to make sure the edges were lying flat and in line.  This is so that it won't be broken on the edge if bumped up against or stood on.

When stacking the sheets, its good practise to lay out all the same lengths & types together, so they are easier to get at as you need them.  For us we had four types of gib delivered:

- Standard Gib, TE (tapered edge)

- Standard Gib, TE/SE (tapered edge, square edge)

- Aqualine Gib, TE/SE (for wet areas)

- Braceline Gib, TE/SE (for areas that require additional bracing elements as per building plan)

We also double checked all the insulation was finished, as this will have an inspection done tomorrow, so that we can start on the gibing when we come back from holidays.  Little gaps were filled out with the green stuff, along with any outstanding areas in the frame work.

The interior walls do not require insulation as once the outer barrier is sealed, it will be effective for all of the interior.  The only type that may be put in the interior walls is for noise insulation throughout the house.

Finishing off insulation & wall cladding

Continued on with insulation today, just had a little bit of the ceiling to do, but the most of the installation was for the walls.  For this, we used R2.2 wall pads made from polyester (like the ceiling ones).  It comes in 580x1160mm pre cut pads that are 90mm thick.  These were cut in the same way as the ceiling ones were, with sections cut out to accommodate any wiring or pipes.  Yesterday we had some of the boys help us out from the other house, so Rich had us go over a few of these as there were a few gaps present that he wanted closed up.  

This got all finished up today, so we cleaned up the window frames by cutting back the expandable foam & also just gave the interior a sweep out  preparation for the delivery of the gib sheets that came today. 

Some of us were outside doing the rest of the weatherboards that are left to do.  We didn't quite get it done, but it should be finished up easily by tomorrow as there is only a couple of runs to go.