All in all its just a nother stick in the wall

Ok, I accept that is a poor rip off of Pink Floyd's Brick in the the Wall.  Sorry.  Its hard to be funny at 8.22 in the morning.

The walls are closing in.  But only slightly.  The wall build is starting and it is going both quite well and quite fast.  The photo below shows the first bit of 1 by 2 that went in.

This is a landmark really.  It is the first 'rebuild' piece on the ship.  The wooden frame is going to be built out of 1 * 2 and 2 * 4.  All treated wood to help it last longer.   The uprights are easy to fit as they are replacing existing ones in this space.  The trick though was what to do about the cross pieces.  I could have cut out lots of individual pieces and tried to nail gun them in (hmmm, nail gun, droool) but I thought that this would be time consuming.  

What I have done (further photos to follow) is build the cross beams on top of these which extends the wall thickness outside of the existing metal beams.  The reasons I have done this are simple.

1) The build is far quicker and makes no cosmetic difference as it will all be behind the wood anyway.

2) The speed of build is much much faster and more importantly easier.

3) There is no worry about structural strength.  Unlike stud walls these ones get their strength from the underlying metalwork.  There is no worry about rigidity.  When this baby is built, it isn't going anywhere.

4) The porthole boxes will be easier to build.

the 5th and final reason (which is actually the main reason) is that this extra inch thickness to the wall makes no difference to the size of the room but will enable me to put in more insulation.

The spray insulation is expensive and the reason for using it is that it will insulate and seal the metal from the warm air and stop damp and condensation.  But once sprayed on I can then put in conventional insulation (if I wish) in the outside walls.  I could just keep spraying to the required depth but the foam spray is expensive.

The insulation could then be

Layer 1 metal

Layer 2 foam insulation

Layer 3 rock wool (or similar)

Layer 4 Plastic insulation sheet (its like cling-film and seals everything below)

Layer 5 MDF

Layer 6 Plasterboard

Heat loss should then be minimal and in summer, the place should not heat up.

I preach all the time to people that when rebuilding boats, its worth doing well as redoing it later is hard and expensive.  The layers here may be well over the top.  But if that is the case I will simply have been inefficient £ wise on the build but the result will be extra warmth and lower £ running costs later.  

If I have learnt one important lesson this winter and in visiting other boats on the marina its this.  They are wonderful places to be when warm.  They are frustrating and uncomfortable when you have to fiddle around with lots of wires and fires and heaters and stuff.

Even without the nail gun in action (that is tonights joy) I managed about 2 walls in a day.  This should mean I can get a room done a week in evenings.   The trick will be getting the wood delivered.

Medway builders merchant is a great place to buy wood.  £1.28 plus vat per 3m length of 1 by 2 and they are much cheaper than all other places and they deliver all orders over £50 free.  Thanks to Chris for the great deal on the wood.  Lots more to purchase!