The Build - Wk 24

This week more rendering happened all around the house, with around half of the outside receiving it’s first coat of cob and an extra helper was recruited to assist us, our neighbour Matt.  Graeme and Phil set to work skinning the carport ceiling and verandah ceiling with cement sheeting, whilst Toby worked on more internal framing.

On Saturday we were very happy to welcome around 20 neighbours from the local community group, Grow Share Eat to come up and see the build.  We had a fantastic array of food – wonderful salads, kebabs, snags and Sarah’s fabulous homemade berry custard tarts – yum! All this wonderful food was washed down very nicely with two brew of mulled wine and some Tassie sparkling.  We have all decided to re-name the group Share Eat Grow…. :)  Once the food was served, the favourite spot for sitting was the sunroom.

The Build - Wk 23

Monday evening saw all the bales in place and the rest of the week was spent compressing, beating the straw..., trimming (with a chainsaw and whipper snipper) and wedging straw into little gaps all around the house.  Fine aviary wire was set into the door frames and window frames to allow the curved shape that strawbale houses are known for and you guessed it, more straw was wedged into these gaps.  Two days were spend glueing on little squares of cement sheeting above and below the straw all around the house and wire was then attached to that.  This is a key for the render to attach to.

Mark, our latest recruit, started to attached a cob mix to the windows to create a good key for later render.

The Build - Wk 22

Early this week, all the strawbales were relocated from the shed to the carport and went close to filling it!   Only one mouse nest was found and all the ratsak had been eaten!  One pesky mouse was found to have chewed away through the expanding foam Graeme had sprayed all around the exterior of the shed…the smell of the straw was too much to resist!  Prior to putting the strawbale in, a runway was put in place on the verandah to allow for easy access.  Next job was to feed all the straps under the ladders for later compression of the bales.  Also the ladders were filled with Perlite, a type of absorbent bead.

Late Wednesday morning I arrived home to find the first strawbale wall in place in the fourth bedroom….it looked great. By the end of the week a good proportion of the walls were in place.

The Build - Wk 21

This week the carport got walls…skinned with tin, so they say! A lot more work done on internal framing, particularly in the sunroom and the kitchen. Also a lot of the rooms had window bucks fitted.  Tedious job for the week was all the plywood bracing required on many of the internal walls requiring clouts every 50mm apart. That’s a whole lot of hammering!  Phil finished off the verandah joists, which look like lovely tree patterns now J

Also the electrician was back on site a few days this week wiring up for powerpoints and lights.

The Build - Wk 20

The roof is on. Still to be done are the flashings and the gutters, but it looks terrific. Also achieved this week was some more internal framing and more blocking out. 

Twenty five truckloads of gravel (!) arrived this week two to be laid on the new driveway.  The builders are loving this, because with all the little bits of rain we have been having lately, daily arrival on site was a bit of a cross country climb. Now they can drive straight up the house site without fear of being bogged!

The Build - Wk 19

This week the roof started to go on…yay! By the end of the week, we had all the verandah roof, the carport roof and the tall southern side of the roof in place.  Phil told me when he ordered the roofing material, the supplier asked him to double check the verandah measurements as there was 70 meters of tin required for the verandah alone! So to my friend Justin at dancing…you were asking me where the dance floor was…seems to me the outside verandah is looking very good for summer tea dances J

A timely visit from the engineer on Monday and he advised that every baton had to be fasted down…with the wind we have been having lately, I understand why. So Graeme spent a few days up very high ladders, you guessed it…fastening!

More cooking on the Weber Q...

A nice little combination I made up this morning...well, it was pantry permitting...Banana & Chocolate Friands... Yum!

1 cup hazelnut meal
1⅔  cups sifted icing sugar
½ cup plain flour
½ tsp baking powder
5 egg whites
140g melted butter
2 mashed bananas
handful of chocolate bits

Mix all together and spoon into well greased friand tins. Cook 25 minutes on 180°C, or until golden.
Makes 12.