WBC in uPVC ?

[Little John]

+1 ... great job using reclaimed materials and you've ended up with something that looks right ... and if it 'looks right' it probably will be right.

I'll look foward to your take on a 'Long Hive' with some interest .... My next Long hive was going to be clad outside with 5mm 'Stokbord' ... made out of recycled plastic milk bottles alongside other things ... but ... I've just discovered that 'Stokbord' expands or contracts by up to 10mm per metre run per 10 degrees C variation in temperature !!! The prospect of banana shaped hives for up to 8 hours a day has caused me to rethink this as a cladding material !! Pity, it was pretty near ideal in many other respecrs ...

Back to the drawing board !!!

Thanks for the positive vibes.

Suggestion: if you're otherwise completely sold on the idea of using Stokbord (but isn't it rather pricey ?), then could not one way of getting around the expansion problem be to not secure the board to the hive side at all, but rather to let it float instead ?
I'm thinking in terms of a batten fixed towards the lower edge of the hive side, with a similar batten fixed to the inside of the stokbord, about a batten-and-a-half distance up from the bottom. That would then provide a drip edge, keep the battens dry, and allow the outer covering to float several millimetres in all directions, relative to the hive sides. And providing these battens are continuous, there shouldn't be any problem with bees getting trapped - an important factor which VM just raised.

But the expansion of dissimilar materials does indeed pose a very real problem, and you're right to be addressing this now, well ahead of time. uPVC is also subject to thermal expansion problems, although I don't have any exact figures to pass on. The best I can offer is a caution in the Wickes installion guide which reads:
"Fitting cladding and other PVCu profiles should not be installed in temperatures below freezing (0°c) or above 25°c since this will lead to possible expansion and contraction problems."

They also recommend that a 5mm gap be left as a 'floating butt-joint' (my words) between lengths of cladding, for thermal expansion.

Regards
LJ

 

[Little John]

No doubt you will start the bottom lift at floor level ....

I've been considering this overnight - it's a much better idea than I first thought.

The bottom 'lift' would actually be a false base. Dispense with the large ramp. A slot cut into the bottom 'lift' for the corked entrances, with a token awning and ramp glued on, not unlike the classic WBC entrance. Corks should still be accessible, though not visible except to dwarfs and elves.

What I didn't like about this idea at first was the apparent lack of air circulation for the OMF - but - if this lift/base were to be built 'louvre fashion', air will still be able to circulate freely.

Could be a very good compromise. Thanks.

LJ

 

[Russel]

Not wishing to be a party pooper but have you considered ventilation?
WBC's have an air space around them and your design appears to be a very close fit.
PVC will hold in moisture, which can promote wood components to suck in water making the inner hive damp. Other than that looking good.

Sorry seems you have!

 

[Little John]

Russel - you raise a very good point - appreciated.

I've only just started to consider ventilation, as it looks as if the bottom lift is now going to be positioned very close to the ground - and the ground around here is only just above the water table in winter.

So I'll certainly keep my eye on that - if mold should develop, I can always cut large grooves in the internal battens to increase air flow up the sides, but of course those would let the bees pass by, and so an escape would then need to be fitted. We'll see what happens ...

It's all good fun.

LJ

 

[pargyle]

Thanks for the positive vibes.

Suggestion: if you're otherwise completely sold on the idea of using Stokbord (but isn't it rather pricey ?), then could not one way of getting around the expansion problem be to not secure the board to the hive side at all, but rather to let it float instead ? .....

Regards
LJ

Yes ... the thought I had was to mount the stockbord with screws running in slots so that it was attached to a timber frame but able to move (at least laterally with the length of the hiive).

But ... I'm rapidly moving back towards timber for the outer skin ... I have an almost limitless supply of pallet wood and a planer thicknesser and I'm thinking of planing them down to about 7mm to save the weight but still provide an outer skin to the Kingspan. Cheaper ....and probably easier in terms of allowing for expansion.