Floorboards and countdown

We now have a partial floor down, and the douglas fir tongue and grooved boards look lovely.

We decided after much discussion to nail through the top of the boards instead of 'hidden' nailing them as, although the nail heads are visible, it means the wider boards are held more securely and less likely to 'cup'. We have used 65mm lost head nails on our 25mm thick boards.

Becky, Alix, Mike and Octavio have all been helping scribing and nailing up the bitroc boards under the floor and filling in the subsequent recesses between joists with the warmcell.

An unanticipated material, cost and process that occurred through this was taping the joins between the boards and around the beams and posts. We ended up purchasing a product called Isocell Airstop and it's very, very sticky! As the name suggests, it is designed to reduce air movement through any open gaps. It was easy to apply provided it didn't get stuck to anything else before it contacted the boards!

This entire process nevertheless has created another of those moments where yet more of the end result is visible, and the excitement of it all is evident in the enthusiasm of all of us working on site.

The countdown to the bale course is now on and we're going to be pushed to get everything done. Although some of the tasks can happen during the first stages of baling, much still needs to be in place in order for it all to go ahead smoothly. No let up for a while then, so I'll try and keep going with the blog...!
As always, feel free to feedback.

Regards,

Anthony