Wednesday 4th & 5th January:
During the Christmas break all the Jarrah timber for our flooring (which had been unpacked and stacked in the garage) was taken inside the house and re-stacked to acclimatise. We intend to start the ufh to help the process
Monday 9th of January 2017
As I said in my last post, the distance between the loops of pex in the downstairs room was further apart in places than the optimum of 200mm,
I asked Peter Taylor from Australian Sun Energy to send us more pex to rectify the problem, which he was happy to do. So while Nino and Ash were away I redesigned the piping to give 200mm between loops.
I then replaced the three loops of wrong pex we laid upstairs that would be finally covered with either wooden flooring or carpet (it squeaked in the wamboard grooves when walked on)
The Heat-pump/buffer tank Saga
Before Christmas: Rones Plumbing had been and plumbed the heat-pump and buffer tank up to the house, and connected the pex to the manifolds.Shaun Collins, from S&E Electrical, had wired in the thermostats and control centre and given power to the heat and circulating pumps.
The system was going, but not working properly, we were having difficulty with alarms triggering shut downs and restarts from the heat pump, and it seemed it was all to do with overheating. I tried the temperature sensor in both ports in the buffer tank, labeled as such, no joy with either. Despite numerous requests (from when we first received the equipment) for a detailed diagram to plumb the specific products we were supplied with (i.e.the model of Heat-pump and buffer tank) all we received were generic drawings which were no help at all. Neither of the two pieces of equipment had any documentation with them whatsoever. Nothing relating to installation, user manuals, plumbing possibilities, error messages, online help… nothing, nada, nix, nought. You would usually get more info with an electric can opener.
The buffer tank has seven inlet/outlet ports, we needed four. And two places to insert a temperature sensor, we need one.
Not really knowing what the inside tank configuration was, and to the best of our ability with no documentation and safety first being a priority. Below is how the tank was initially plumbed. The inlet from the heat pump and the outlet to the house were plumbed into the ports which had “circulation inlet “and circulation outlet” stickers on the ports.Two other ports had no labels, a third had “drain”, another had DHW, and another had two labels, “safety valve inlet” and “cold water inlet”
Initial heat-pump buffer tank plumbing (Wrong)
Didn’t work, called the plumbers back, who obliged without hesitation, and asked them to plumb it my way, so no responsibility on them. Plumbed the supply to the house into the DHW port at the top to get the hottest water into the house. It worked but of course the heat pump was on most of the time as it was continually heating the water coming back from the house and not heating the buffer tank as was the purpose of installing one in the first place. So, Didn’t work. To make matters worse all unused ports are capped and locked in with locktite. Not an easy problem to overcome either without damage, as the heads of the caps do not protrude enough past the casing of the buffer tank to put a spanner on, let alone put a lot of pressure on to break the seal.☹️ Another phone hook-up and I think the problem has been solved, it means getting the plumbers back a third time, I will post the results when they are finished. Just seems sometimes, once you have sold a product and have your money, then you don’t have to worry about customer service anymore.
Nino returned to work and started tiling in the wet areas as the cabinet maker was due at the start of February and all floors needed to be in. Ash was due to return on the Thursday, so a one man operation it was, and walls first. Another pivotal moment in the build, nearly a B-B-Q moment surely!
Ash returns and the attention turns to the Jarrah flooring. No sooner had Ash laid the first couple of boards Nino was testing it out as a dance floor. Verdict… fantastic.
Ash continued over the weekend and had most of it done by Monday.
I was away in Perth on Monday the 24th and received a phone call. They had pierced a loop of Pex. With three boards to go to finish laying the hardwood floor …. Whoops!! We had decided lay the timber floor the same way as the pex in the hallways to alleviate offcuts and realising it would still be OK aesthetically. The first hallway at the other end of the house no problems, however the final few pieces ….
One damaged length of pex
Cut the water off. Joiners required. We don’t have any. Call the plumber, Call Peter Taylor . Don’t panic. Sourced some joiners from “Rones Plumbing” and Pete is sending some from South Australia. We will join it all up on Monday, relay the hardwood planks and finish the Jarrah timber floor. It looks fantastic raw and will look better once it is sanded and sealed.
Kitchen outlook (damp outside)
Back to the tiling: First we put down a backer board over the warmboard in readiness for a 4:1 screed which will enable a fall for water and bed for the 600mm x600mm tiles. Notice the lines indicating where the pex is located under the tile board
Nailing the tile board down
Just need to waterproof joins
Nearly Ready For 4:1 Mud Mix & Tiles
A few pics of the house from above tend to give a better view of what we are doing
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Lets see what damage we can do this coming week.
First things first. Wednesday 4th & 5th January: During the Christmas break all the Jarrah timber for our flooring (which had been unpacked and stacked in the garage) was taken inside the house and re-stacked to acclimatise.
Working the Interior First things first. Wednesday 4th & 5th January: During the Christmas break all the Jarrah timber for our flooring (which had been unpacked and stacked in the garage) was taken inside the house and re-stacked to acclimatise.
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