The Build - Wk 14

Lots of preparation for pitching the roof this week…joists have been cut for the roof and for the verandah ready to go once the beam arrives on site.  Scaffolds around the central posts are now in place and the posts have been cut to size to fit the roof.  Also lots of time was spent drilling holes to anchor posts around the verandah. 

On Friday night we had strong winds and on Saturday we discovered that the framing for the carport was blown to the ground, despite all the bracing!  No major damage, but we are becoming more aware of the very strong winds up this way.  A short this week and next due to Easter.

The Shed - watertanks

A few weeks ago the two 10,000 litre water tanks were installed behind the shed. With all the wind we have been having lately, we paid to have them partially filled so they wouldn’t blow away…then it rained overnight. Sods law!!

The Build - Wk13

All the internal wall framing is finished.  This week was spent placing the ceiling joists in the rooms with conventional ceilings, ie: kitchen and the bathrooms and bedrooms.  All the celery top pine verandah posts were also put in place around the house.

This next week will be spent pitching the roof…

The Build - Wk12

Things as taking shape so quickly that I decided to do a midweek update!  The frame is going up so quickly this week, we can now walk around the rooms.  Also the boys are starting to put in place the feature celery top pine posts, particularly around the living area.

The jarrah timber decking arrived this week – it looks lovely.  This will be the next job to do one the framing is secured in place this week.

The Build - Wk11

The floor was finished this week and on Friday afternoon, Phil mapped out the room layout.  This was great because now you can visualise the space and how things will work.  Our original plans had included the use of a compressed straw board for some of the internal walls which was about 30% thinner than regular stud walls, allowing us to buy some extra space in the bedrooms. However, after a very frustrating phone call on Friday, it appears that the manufacturers no longer recommend its use in residential builds!  A different story to the one we had a couple of years ago.  So on the weekend, we spent a bit of time shuffling around the walls by a margin here and there to get the best use of the space. 

The little ladders you can see on the floor is where the straw bales will be positioned.  Lots of lovely thick walls to keep us warm in winter/autumn/spring....

The power is now ready to go on the house site. All we need to do know is wait 10 days for Aurora to come and connect us!  At least we will get our little generator back to the shack once the power is on…I am missing it and I will never get used to the noise of the large generator.  Just like that scene out of The Castle…”ah, serenity….the sound of a two stroke engine on full bore!”

On Saturday our plumber came to check out the floor plan and I madly compiled a list of things to buy…let’s go shopping.  Funny how the prospect of shopping for taps and toots does really fit into the usual retail therapy category!

The Build - Wk 10

This week has been pretty exciting, after the inactivity of last week, with lots being achieved.  All the bearers and joists are now in place for the house floor and half of the flooring is complete, including installing underfloor insulation.  We also have word that electricity will be connected to the property next Tuesday, which will make life on site a whole lot easier

The Build - Wk 9

It was one of those frustrating weeks where nothing much seemed to happen.  The timber for the frame and the remainder of the bearers did not arrive until Friday and Saturday, so the only thing that happened on site was Graeme and Craig finished de-barking all the posts.  Annoying that such a good weather week was wasted.

Also the some of the guttering on the shed was fitted and will hopefully be finished next week.  And Graeme managed to get some time to re-fit the awning to the shack, with the help of Craig.

Hoping for a bit more activity next week…