Now let me bring you up to date with what's happening on my owner build project since 2012 dawned ....
We started the new year with our complete set of house stumps (steel) standing tall in their concrete, which had been curing nicely over the christmas/new year period. Our most important task during that time was to keep water out of the hollow posts. Water because we were now running into what we had planned to avoid...the onset of the wet season. With all the hiccups during our planning and approval stage we lost a valuable 3-4 weeks at least in our planned schedule. My hope had always been that I would have the build progressed at least to having the frame up and roof on before the wet season got underway. Given the household will be totally dependent on rain water I needed to harvest this season's rain to set the house up nicely for its first year.
Meanwhile, with fingers crossed that the rains would not start yet, we taped plastic bags over the top of each stump. Annoyingly, the magpies and crows just kept pecking holes in the plastic so after many re-tapes we gave up and put rocks on top of each stump. The birds came to perch anyway.
I was also feeling on top of my project management task as I was going into the build having already chosen, from among the requisite three quotes I'd collected, both my roofing contractor and my plumber. I had been collecting quotes for the supply of floor sheeting, timber decking boards and internal and external cladding materials and decided on the best deal. I had also been liasing with an extremely helpful guy at a glass company in Brisbane about reglazing my second-hand windows and doors. By the end of 2011, that dilemma had been resolved and I was happy with the solution and the cost. And, very importantly, my projected budget was looking good.
January 10th was the big day! The framing gang arrived, Mark (the foreman) along with Tony and Brad. Their first task was to 'level' the stumps, which meant using a laser to project the floor height across all the stumps and then........ cut the stumps to their appropriate size allowing for the changing levels of the ground. The plans specified adjustable stumps were to be used because of the highly reactive soil on site.
One of the most longed-for sights was the house frame being delivered. I could hear the truck engine as it laboured up the last bit of our mountain and I'm sure the drivers did not expect a photographer to be waiting around the bend.
The first of many loads to come....
My flat pack house ready to assemble!
During the excitement of all this activity, I was not idle. I had decided to try a long shot and get a fourth quote for the supply of floor sheeting, external and internal cladding materials and timber decking boards. It paid off and the deal was better than any I had got to date. I locked that in. I was also getting quotes from suppliers of rain water and septic tanks and making a decision on that front. Importantly, I was also mindful of keeping the roofing contractor, plumber and excavator operator for the drainage updated on the build progress to ensure no time would be wasted in having each of them come in at the right time.
Satisfied they had the subfloor just right, the guys then sheeted the floor with Green Tongue Termiflor. The sheets must be in place in order to erect the walls although other floor surfaces can be laid on top. Something I am planning to do provided the budget doesn't blow out on other fronts.
It was amazing to be able, finally, to get a feel for the height of the ground floor, which was at its minimum 400mm from the ground. I was also concerned that the 'space' was adequate although a real test would come when the walls were up. And there wasn't long to wait...
At this stage, the third week of January, the weather is great and the guys are going great guns. With the first section of wall going up, I am starting to see the suggestion of a house....
....and, more than a suggestion, a house with rooms....
....and then a house that has the beginning sections of the upper floor - my studio! My favourite times during these couple of weeks are early morning and evening when the builders haven't arrived or have just left and I explore the build. I take up countless positions throughout the space appreciating the framing of the landscape through the design. I am so very pleased with my design - it's exactly as I had imagined and painstakingly worked over on paper. When I stand in that frame I see exactly what I dreamed and planned I would. It's perfect.
The bracing goes on and, unusually, on the inside as specified by the engineer.
There is so much bracing in this house (over 100 sheets) that the guys reckon nothing will move the building. Uh oh....look at that sky, not looking too good.
It's the third week of January and we were exceptionally lucky to date in terms of the rain. So optimistic was I that nothing would impede our progress I informed the roofing contractor that the time line looked okay for them to start the middle of the fourth week of January. I also ordered the delivery of the rain water tanks for the fourth week.
I was too optimistic given that, in that third week, each day the clouds would build up all morning and at around mid-afternoon right on knock off time we could see the rain coming in over the valley. So far so good because the guys were still getting in a day's work.
I must admit that, increasingly, the sky was looking decidedly ominous and, while luck had been on our side, the wet season was on our tail.
And then....
....this! The rains came. Everything came to a halt.
Each day this fourth week, we would talk with Mark by phone about the weather forecasts and the possibility of a change. The delivery of the rain water tanks had to be postponed and phones calls to the plumber and roofing contractor had to be made. Thursday 26th seemed to fine up a bit and Friday the 27th looked good so Mark, Tony and Brad got back to work. But....lunchtime down it came again. And that's where it's at!
It rained solidly for two days and Sunday afternoon started to clear up again. Fingers crossed for this week! I want the rain to hold off just until I get my roof on (second week of February) and then it can pour down as much as it likes because I'll have 104,000 litres of rain water capacity waiting to be filled!
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