2008 November | Oxley Woods Living

Archive for November, 2008

Creases and pops in the walls

November 4, 2008

Due the way the houses at Oxley Woods are built, it seems there are a few “features” that are par for the course. These include creases in the walls, and nail/screw head “pops” coming through the paint work, on walls and also woodwork.

When we moved in, some of the heads were pretty severe and obvious, especially around the skylight on the top floor, by far the hottest part of the house during the so called summer months. We didn’t appreciate this was an issue, but our site manager (who really has been very patient and helpful, even when it seems the house and his workforce are going against him!) called for these to be skimmed and painted over, the results were fantastic, pops gone, and they haven’t come back.

Reading more into this (internet forums, so the accuracy in unclear) it seems we should not have any nail/screw heads popping or blowing at all, which is not good news, as the house has several of these in numerous rooms. Apparently we shouldn’t expect cracks from settling to be there when we take possession either, but there were plenty?

The “creases” in the wall are apparently a side effect of the way the walls are (not) plastered. To save time, cost, money and improve eco credentials (so we’re told) the walls are not fully plastered or dry lined. The boards are applied, and then the gaps and screws are feathered over lightly, which does mean there is a slight “bulge” at the join (could this also explain the “popping”?).

Anyway, for the most part this doesn’t show, but our large corner window in the kitchen floods light onto the wall beside it, and this has probably the largest bulge/crease/fold in the property. Once again, our reassuringly fastidious site manager was unhappy that this should look that way (we were too preoccupied with leaks and such to worry about cosmetics at the time) and he requested the skimmer, who is amazing to watch and has done some fantastic work elsewhere in the house, try to fill out the area to smooth things down, to them be cut back and painted by the painter.

This was delayed due to the hole cut in the facing wall to try and find the source of rain water entering the downstairs living area, not point making two trips, but when the work was carried out, unfortunately, despite a couple of goes, it looks probably worse than ever.

Today though comes the news that, with any luck, a dry lining expert will be around to voice his opinion on possible solutions. This will no doubt involve the wall being worked on and a lot of disruption again (this is our kitchen/dining area remember), but the untidy join is extremely irritating, especially when the sun casts shadows on the wall due to the bumpiness! Fingers crossed we get a resolution on this soon.

Tags: decoration, eco friendly homes, eco friendly houses, eco hat, eco home, eco homes, eco house, eco houses, milton keynes, nails, oxley park, oxley woods, paint, Problems, screws, skimming, snagging, taylor wimpey, wood newton, workmanship
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Meetings that never happen and a house stripped and redressed

November 3, 2008

Due to the problems we have been experiencing since early July with rain water coming into our Oxley Woods eco home, it was decided by someone at Wimpey that a meeting should be held with several important people present. We’re not entirely sure who was supposed to be at these meetings with us, but the list included as many people as a CAD designer from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, one or more directors/managers from Wood Newton, and senior manager(s) from George Wimpey.

The meeting was originally organised for Tuesday the 14th October. We were told that the workmen would be in early to strip the house, and then people would come and discuss possible problems and solutions with us and each other. This was cancelled the day before, and rescheduled for a week later, apparently because some of those due to attend could not make it.

Tuesday 21st October came (and I called the day before to confirm it was still on) and first thing in the morning the all too familiar sound of the cherry picker making it’s way over signalled the start of the panel stripping process.

Unfortunately, the meeting didn’t happen then either. In fact it was apparently never due to happen then, but the following morning. So again we waited for the meeting. We said that one of us would have to take our Son to school and would appreciate it being held after about half past nine, so we could both be there.

So, Wednesday came, and first thing there was a gathering of people outside the house, staring at the property and bringing out some materials to work on the house with. I set off for school and back as soon as possible, only to find that the only member of management who did arrive, John Green from Wood Newton, had left, despite being asked to stay by one of the team on site from George Wimpey, as requested by myself. He had other things to do it seemed.

Nobody from Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners or management from George Wimpey attended. So quite why the previous meeting had been postponed we do not know.

John did speak to my wife in my absence and seemed to be confident he had the solution to the leaks , and he assured her the work would be done in a day.

The fix basically involved stripping off all the Trespa panels (already undertaken for the examination of the house) some of the batons around the glazing, and other areas, and applying some sort of sticky breathable waterproof tape made by Tyvek to the house, using some dark, sticky resin applied to the breathable panels on the house.

We were concerned by the amount of tide marks on the side of the house. These, we are told, are perfectly normal and to be expected as the panels are themselves waterproof and are designed to breath, so water should be able to get behind the trespa and then just run down them and off into the French drain below. The horizontal tide marks seemed more of a concern, and it was these areas, as well as around all the glazing, that efforts (and the waterproof tape) would be focused.

All batons were them treated to a bit of mastic for good measure, not that the water should get in behind those anyway, and then the trespa panels re-applied. The work should be invisible behind the panels, and, finally, waterproof.

We were also assured that while the house was leaking, apparently far worse than any other house on site (although we get the impression we’re not alone in experiencing some rain water coming through), it WAS built to spec. This raised the concern that the house isn’t faulty by construction, but by design. Which would mean in turn that every other house on the Oxley Woods development has the potential to suffer the same problems. The reason, we’re told, we’ve had so much suffering is our relatively exposed positioning compared to other properties. This could be a blessing in disguise, as getting wet, and (we hope) getting fixed could be better than getting damp, and never even realising it.

The work that John from Wood Newton had assured would be carried out in a single day did, not surprisingly given the scale of the task, take the workers through until Saturday afternoon before they had the side of the house back together. The front and back of the house will also need to be checked and taped where deemed necessary.

The work was noisy, and very disruptive, we had a hell of a week. Our eight month old daughter suffered through disrupted sleep and we all suffered as a result. Having the workmen come in an extra day on Saturday to put the house together was a surprise (we found out Friday evening they’d be in), and it was good to see them working to get it done, but it caused further disruption and upset.

When all was completed, we were not happy with some of the panel fit, and some panels have been damaged in the process with small chips and scratches. But it does look much neater, and feels like a more complete solution than taping and covering a few patches as before.

The photographs below show various stages of the work, we have literally hundreds more, all on my Flickr page if you’re really that interested to see.

Tags: Architecture, eco friendly homes, eco friendly houses, eco home, eco homes, eco house, eco houses, faults, george wimpey, leaking, leako home, leaks, mastic, milton keynes, oxley park, oxley woods, Problems, repairs, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, taylor wimpey, trespa, tyvek, water, water ingress, window, windows, wood, wood newton, workmanship
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Flexible housing at Oxley Woods

November 3, 2008

Probably not quite what was intended when the term “flexible housing” was coined, but one thing that concerns us is a “weak” step on our lower flight of stairs.

We had a visit from Nuiare some time ago to work on our temperamental eco hat, and one of the guys, who isn’t small by any means, said that we had a crack in one of our stairs, and it moved under foot. Sure enough, the step (which stood out from all others by having filler at the back of the step, against the riser for the next step) was moving and also had a small crack actually going across the board.

We, of course, reported this to the team on site at Oxley Woods and they came around to take a look and sort it out. The fix was, as you may have guessed if you’ve followed this blog at all, to use flexible filler to sort it out. We had to avoid using that stair for as long as possible.

At the time I was sceptical how filler could work on something that has to take a humans weight as they carry themselves up and down the stairs, and it appears I was right to. Recently the stair, now painted over, when “crack” and again is moving quite freely and looks terrible. It doesn’t feel right that a stair should have this much movement, especially when every other stair on two flights feels very much solid and secure.

Take a look at the photos below to see what you make of it, the paint covers the crack in the actual deck/step, but the separation between stair and riser at the back illustrates the kind of movement that’s there, and that’s just me walking up the step, not bouncing, jumping, or applying extra force.

We have been assured it’s safe, but it doesn’t feel safe, doesn’t seem good quality, looks terrible, and I’m sure the back should be secured by more than flexible filler?

Tags: decoration, eco friendly homes, eco friendly houses, eco home, eco homes, eco house, eco houses, george wimpey, milton keynes, oxley park, oxley woods, Problems, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, stair step, taylor wimpey, workmanship
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It isn’t all doom and gloom at Oxley Woods

November 2, 2008

While the discovery another damp area, and finally witnessing first hand a leak we’d seen the effects of last night were certainly depressing, it hasn’t been all doom and gloom around these parts lately.

Recently the temperature has really dropped, and we have had the heating on now for limited times, we’re experimenting with using the heating as little as possible, no point living in a high insulated eco house if you heat it up like an oven. Might have to get some slippers though, the rooms that are yet to have any floor fitted get chilly underfoot for sure.

Anyway, it’s been Halloween and we’ve had some snow, so I thought I’d share some photos of the season to lift the mood a little. Among them is a shot of the skylight, which is just fantastic, wouldn’t want to be without one now we’ve got one! Also for Halloween we ran a load of LED christmas lights around the French drain to uplight the house in a “spooky” way. It reflected really nicely off the silver Trespa panels, and we’re seriously considering doing something similar on a full time basis when we replace the standard light-house powered outside light the house came with!

Also shown is a photo of our lawn, which is the one and only good thing to come from our seemingly never ending list of problems at the home. As a goodwill gesture, George Wimpey arrange for the lawn to be turfed (they come with just mud as standard) and they also laid a patio around the rear of the house, and fitted a gate so we can get to the back garden without traipsing through the house. Very much appreciated, certainly saved me a lot of work!

Tags: eco friendly homes, eco friendly houses, eco home, eco homes, eco house, eco houses, garden, george wimpey, halloween, lighting, milton keynes, oxley park, oxley woods, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, sky light, snow, taylor wimpey, wood newton
Posted in Architecture, Eco living, Good stuff | Comments Off

We have more water in yet another location

November 1, 2008

When term “leako home” came to mind after first discovering that our house wasn’t rain proof back in July, I would never have imagined that come November we’d still be waiting for repairs to be completed on some of those initial leaks and the damage they caused, let alone be discovering ever more locations where water is coming into our home, but sadly, it seems we just have.

In our Son’s bedroom he is fortunate to have a fantastic corner window that currently offers great views out into the distance over Oxley Park and Milton Keynes. Unfortunately, it appears this window is faulty, and lets in rain water. Not good, not good at all.

We had another paranoid, nervous scout around the house following some quite heavy rain and witnessing our leak above the kitchen window first hand tonight, and, as has all too often proved to be the case, this lead to us discovering yet more water coming into the home from outside.

This appears to be different from other leaks, most of the other leaks have appeared on the walls and ceilings first, while some have been diagnosed as problems with the windows themselves, and others have had to have several attempts and a complete strip down and resealing of one entire side of the house (so far), this one seems to be coming through the window itself, and running down the seam between the two pieces of glass.

We wiped the water away after first discovering this and taking the following photos, but very soon the area was just as wet again. We were hopeful it was condensation, but the speed with which the wetness returned seems to rule this out. We cant see or feel any particular dampness on the wall above the window, which is usually the case, and these windows do not touch the ceiling, as the top floor has taller, sloped ceilings. It really does seem this is coming through the window itself, which is nothing if not an unwelcome change from the usual modes of entry.

I’m writing this not long after finding this latest leak, and I have to say that not for the first time I feel absolutely terrible, fed up, distressed and quite drained by this whole affair. Horrible wet evening, again. I’m so tired of this every time we get bad weather, even if we don’t find a new leak, or one coming back, the stress it causes to just see rain outside is exhausting.