THE WALLS AND ROOFS TAKE SHAPE
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Having a highly insulated and airtight home was a priority for Craig and I from the outset. We opted for Oakwrights’ Wrightwall encapsulation system for the walls and roof, which was designed in conjunction with our oak frame. This meant the detailing worked perfectly, and the encapsulation system would fit like a glove when installed with the oak frame on site.
Having Oakwrights design both elements came with the huge advantage that our dormer windows could be built by their teams off site in a dry environment, along with the rooflights and the rest of the windows, which were pre-installed into the Wrightwall panels to save us time when erecting the walls and roof on site.
Two weeks prior to the erection of our oak frames and encapsulation panels, we were all delighted to be invited up to Oakwrights’ workshops to see our timbers being cut to their exact measurements, and the ‘putting together’ of our frames. This was a pinch-me moment for myself, Craig, Charlie and Helen, as we were able to see such a big part of the end product in the flesh. It made us even more excited to see the culmination of our efforts.
Back on site, we worked hard to prepare for all eventualities before our oak frames arrived. We laid a tarpaulin for the tractor entrance to save the road (along with our oak frames, encapsulation and joinery) from any mud, and put down hardcore where the crane would sit between the two plots.
Thankfully, we were blessed with a beautiful summer’s day when the big day finally came. While I’d love to say the erection of the frame and panels all went smoothly, unfortunately Craig and Charlie had missed clearing some rubble from underneath the tarpaulin, which resulted in Craig breaking his leg after he stepped off the trailer barely five minutes after our oak frame arrived on-site. (We only discovered it was broken the next day, when I finally convinced him to take a trip to A&E!) Our advice to other aspirational self-builders: lay hardcore at your entrance, it’s much safer! Despite the initial drama, seven days was all it took for a core team of six to take us from groundworks to having two large wind and watertight oak frame cottage structures erected — an impressive feat, I’m sure you’ll agree!