Supply chain problems

Didn't do much on the gites today because we used up nearly all my screws, nails and wood supplies in the last two days, so today I've been shopping all day. As well as fixings I also needed a new hand saw, new circular saw blade, another pair of slightly taller step ladders, ... The list went on and on. I did buy some materials earlier than I needed them before, but after moving the same stack of chipboards around three times I've been trying the just-in-time ordering system. The slight glitch is it's now a just-too-late system.

I think the shopping part is harder than the actual work, especially when you are keeping an eye on the cost.

Now the roofs are finished and rain proof Ian and I have resumed upstairs, finishing off laying the floor on Monday. The plan was to put in a suspended plasterboard ceiling upstairs from one end of the building to the other then erect the dividing wall between the two gites and then various walls for each of the rooms. However a search on Google for soundproofing meant building two distinct dividing walls that don't touch each other for good noise isolation. A common ceiling would transmit noise between the gites. Density + Disconnection = Sound Insulation.

As I've learnt from various websites, the problem with studding walls is one plasterboard side turns the sound into energy (vibrations) which is transmitted through the screws and studwork onto the other side where the plasterboard acts like a huge drum skin !! The solution is to have two independent walls, preferably filled with a dense media.

So now we have two skeletal stud wall stuctures from floor to above the ceiling height separating the two gites. We actually are going to extend the wall right up to the roof to help prevent any noise progressing through the roof space, and additionally it will act as a fire break should a fire start in one of the gites. With the wall in place we could lay horizontal timbers just above the finished ceiling height and have started to fix on the metal rails at right angles to which the plasterboard is screwed.

There was quite a bit of head scratching and discussion before putting up the ceiling rails. It's something neither of us have done before, and we have the added complications of an old, un-level, un-square building with portions of sloping roof to contend with. A real baptism by fire.

 9:17:12 PM   Supply chain problems