Well after a slightly dodgy start today, it's ened up being very productive. The dodgy start was me waking up from an absolutely horrible dream. I very rarely dream, or at least very rarely remember dreaming, but this was vivid, getting lost in interminable hotel corridors. Horrible.
However, the build was much better.
I wanted to get the door frame in place, as it is sitting around just asking to get damaged. I've already damaged the door slightly, it was leaning up against the front wall and blew over. Another victim of Bertha, I think.
The frame needs to be installed flush with the front laths, but I can't put them on until it is membraned, so I set to with the scissors and stapler. I'm quite inclined to throw the staplers (I bought two from Aldi/Lidl) into the bin and go and get a decent one from Cromwell. I think I waste more than half the staples. I did find my old hand stapler, a Kinzo, and although the staples themselves are not as substantial, it never ever misfires. It was much easier to use around all the window corners. It was fiddly work, I have to ensure that all areas are covered and that the upper layers always overlap the lower layers.
Around the doorway itself I had a problem. My stud is slightly off vertical and the sheathing is very slightly off, too, but in the opposite direction. The result is that the OSB does not line up very well:
So I sawed it off and put in the missing piece of OSB:
I needed a length of half-width membrane, which was a real challenge as it was blowing a gale this morning. So I held the membrane down as a sandwich between two boards:
When I got to the windows it was time for some patchy work to maintain the upper-over-the-lower technique:
So now I could put in the door frame, or so I thought. I assembled it and put it in place, just the right amount of clearance all round, looked good, until:
One side was square to the cill the other was not, by quite a way. I couldn't work it out, until I got my tape out. The distance between the mortices in the cill is 36" exactly. But in the head it is 36 1/4". So the top is 1/4" longer then the bottom. So I could do with some advice here, I might give Cowboy Builder a shout. Do I alter the mortices to make them both 36" or both 36 1/4"?
Or indeed split the difference?
The door is 36" exactly and will need a bit of clearance. But is 1/4" too much? It's quite a few years since I've hung any doors and it was never something I was very good at, to be honest. They always seemed to be OK but not quite perfect. I just don't do the job often enough to get good at it. Yes, I think I'll call CB.
So with most of the front membrane in place I finished the day by putting some cladding on the area to the right of the door. For every layer of cladding, I have an offcut of about 650mm, so these were perfect for this area. It means that I can measure the waste of cladding in inches per length rather then feet. That is very satisfying.
So this is where I am at:
I'm very pleased with my day's work. The only cock-up I've made is losing the lens cap to my camera. I usually put it in my pocket, but today I have lost it. The trouble is that if it is on the grass somewhere it could lie there for a very long time. I need a scythe to cut the grass.
Edit: I've just been out and found the lens cap - it was in the ditch around the concrete base. Hooray!