Off grid house build Orkney

Thank you so much for all of this. You’re completely right and I’ve talked to the joiners and made sure they don’t do anything with it just now until we receive confirmation from them. I’m hoping threatening them with the billing of the joiner’s time as well as making sure they ensure the warranty afterwards will force them into coming out to look at them.

We had some major winds last night, about 50mph overnight with gusts of up to 70.. all coming off the sea so directly at the back of the house, every frame allowed water in again so I got videos of each and sent them off this morning. If I don’t hear a solution from them tomorrow I’ll be giving them a wee call..

The polytunnel survived too which I was well chuffed about!
Went for a wee walk along the shore at lunch to see if anything good had been swept in by the weather, unfortunately not, but anyone fancy some scallops?

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Any worries about the storm tonight?

Haha there’s been a good few days of worry so far! 70 overnight on Friday, 60 and a ton of rain Sunday and and last night and think it’s meant to hit 50mph again at least another twice this week.. pretty stressful but a good test to prove that the frame itself is at least structurally solid!

There has been some water in at places with the guttering not in and the wind forcing the water off the roof back up and in at points but every bit that’s got wet can dry out without any impact. The frames are still an issue but the company have now said they’ll pay for all the joiner’s time for putting them right and we can choose whether we want to redo all unaffected frames or just the ones impacted so far.

Had to buy stuff for the plumbers arriving (might be next week as boats to our island are sporadic and not guaranteed with the weather..) so we had exact dimensions for the first fix. We spent this weekend looking at way too many shower trays online.. worked our way through it and have ordered all the shower stuff, the bathroom tap and waste to go with that sink as well as the kitchen sink and tap. Took advantage of the end of as many January sales as we could! Going white ceramic and brushed steel in the kitchen and white with black fixtures in the bathroom.

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I have loved reading your story.

My wife and I visited Orkney in September and stayed in Kirkwall. One day we took the ferry to Shapinsay and went for a walk. From looking at the pictures I think we must have gone past or near your new house, or building site as it was then.

Good luck to you.

Thank you @Peter_Carter, very kind of you. Small world, had you seen this thread first or have you just come across it? Yeah that will have been us, we’re the only building site on island this year. Did you do the coastal walk round past the castle? Quite the wee spot isn’t it?

It got proper chilly up here recently, this isn’t snow though, just loads of hail! Really chuffed with how well the drainage I dug around the polytunnel is working. There’s been so much rain recently that the wee path we’ve made walking down there is a wee stream, none has found it’s way into the tunnel yet though, yet..

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That your accomadation on the last pic? Looks cold....

(just a joke obviosuly)

Haha here don’t knock it, a couple blankets and you’re all set! It actually keeps heat not too badly, we’ve got kale, spinach and chard growing away in there just now.

Feeling nice and sturdy now we’ve got the cement on the corners as well too, just stole spoil from the turbine foundation pour but it works a treat to add some weight to the side the gales hit.

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Stand up to the wind?

Yes, we did the coastal walk . Past the castle and then along the shoreline. It was on one of the still days in mid September. Ended up by having a picnic outside the shop with items we'd brought there.
I think I'd read some of your thread before going but only made the connection today. Noticed that you can see gun battery from your home. We spent our last day on Orkney doing a tour of Scarpa Flow with Kinlay from Orkney uncovered so saw even more batteries and coastal defences.

Here's Hoy

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And Shapinsay

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Surprisingly, yes! Digging the holes was a pain in the arse last summer but well worth getting it rooted deep.

@Peter_Carter Oh nice, you caught a good one, it’s such a lottery! Were the seals still about when you were having lunch, there’s loads hang about in that wee harbour most times of year! I kind of knew all the history before but was surprised by just how many turrets there were dotted around, there’s others built into the cliffs just round the corner from those too.

I’ve still not been across there! 2020 was a write off and last year we were too busy with the house starting and my partner having to be around for commissioning that turbine. Haha maybe this summer, but if that’s when we’re moving in I’m going nowhere! You can see from your photo why so many houses were built of stone up here. Just sheets of material to break up and use!

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Haha my mate Phil lives just to their left in that photo. That’s the hill I’m up and down when I’m cycling to the ferry, a killer in the wrong winds!

I can but imagine!

Apart from our last day, which we spent looking at gun batteries, the Italian chapel, and abandoned air fields, there wasn't too much wind. As you can see in the picture, there are some trees on Orkney.
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Only read briefly about the situation with the windows. I'd be wary of letting someone other than the window company fix them. Considering the environment you're in and the pressure that puts on all materials I'd want everything present and correct from factory, not bodged together. A fix that'll last 10 years in a city might be kaput in just a few months where you are

The frames are still an issue but the company have now said they’ll pay for all the joiner’s time for putting them right and we can choose whether we want to redo all unaffected frames or just the ones impacted so far.

I'd be wary of letting someone other than the window company fix them.

I've done some warranty work for a couple of companies based down the central belt, as it's a long drive to adjust a door that's settled after installation, or replace a broken part. Generally an hour or two work... not a full house.

If it there wasn't an obvious cause, like gaps in the external corners of the glazing gaskets or drain holes being blocked by the glazing packers or being obviously too small, I'd be wanting confirmation of what to cut/drill etc. Or which alternative gaskets to fit. Or I'd hand it back to them to sort.

If it was a full house, I'd be more inclined to hand it back. That way I'm not inadvertently giving them a way to void your warranty.

Also, if one side of the house hasn't leaked, id assume it's going to at some point in the future when faced with an unusual storm direction.

Surviving up there?

I’ve been bad at this recently, a cold knocked the shit out of me and then just nothing has happened for a bit.. plumbers still aren’t out for first fix 4 weeks after promised.. been a combo of bad weather and other jobs running long. Stopped in at their offices today and we’re “next on the list”

Sparky is all booked up for coming across tomorrow and Friday and I’ll be helping him run the cables which should be fun.

@user69121 thanks again for this! We’ve made sure that they’re providing detailed drawings of what’s required, all the materials for doing it and they’ve guaranteed all warranty and guarantees will remain in place.

@dbr thanks for your thoughts! We did thanks, we were north enough that we dodged most of it. The day of Eunice it felt like the sky’s energy was all being used elsewhere so we had a sunny day with no wind at all, bizarre.. still consistent 50mph+ winds and lots of rain but that’s just how it is up here..

It’s been one of the wettest winters ever locals are saying so some of the field is getting a bit marshy. Spent the last few days digging some drainage trenches which will hopefully help. Tried to give it as many nice curves as possible and stop them being straight runs down. Trying to channel it all to an eventual pond at the bottom. Going to build up the back side of it and have it sitting above the pond you can see in some of the photos just inside our fence line.

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still consistent 50mph+ winds and lots of rain but that’s just how it is up here..

A grand drying day. Maybe a four pegger!

Did you dig all that by hand? Thats some workout if you did.

Hahaha exactly!! Apparently with our population density it needs to be 100mph+ for it to be considered a red warning up here.

@tallsam yeah uh huh, had a free couple days. It was really soggy so none of it came out easily, phew..

Had the first day of the electrician here yesterday, got a fair bit of progress done

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Can we get this fella to do the grand opening of your place whilst he’s there?

https://twitter.com/orkneycouncil/status/1497116208348413952?s=21

Would tie in nicely to the forum thread.

Haha, I wonder how we could organise that? I met him once, super nice guy! He’s the ambassador for a mental health charity I used to work for. I supported someone I worked with to an event where he spoke and after he came round table by table and made time to speak to everyone individually.

Was away visiting folks for a bit last week and grabbing some scaffolding boards for shelving. Fucking cracked the Volvo windscreen coming back up the road when I had to slam on the brakes to avoid a stag running across the a9.. everything was in and packed tightly, just the boards added more pressure to the front with their momentum..

Before I came back up the plumbers had started on their first fix (just waiting for their sparky to wire the thermostats) and I finished wiring the house with the sparky on Friday. Spent the weekend taping all the wires together in the loft spaces to keep everything tidy and cut all the noggins and bracing for sockets/switches and some other bits before the plasterboard goes on.

Had some pretty fucking stunning northern lights on Saturday as well! I always thought this is what you saw but it’s much more of just a faint glow without a ten second exposure on the camera..

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