Paint and plaster

I managed to put the first coat of paint on 3 of the outside walls over the weekend. The colour is Scandanavian Grey. Looks good. The plasters continue inside with scaffold to reach the high areas. Looks like they will be out well before christmas and I hope to get the garage door in.

Plaster is here

The plaster arrived today and work will start tommorrow oon the hanging. I expect the hanging to be done by the weekend or monday then it is just let the plasterer to work on his own to do the finishing. Out by christmas ready for us to paint over the holidays.

Ready for plaster

Been busy lately with insulation and wiring. Manhole spaces are ready and all the plumbing and wiring are in. Now it is wait for the plaster. We still have the eave lining, external painting, downpipes and cleaning up to do. Took one load of rubbish to the tip and have a load of scrap steel for next weekend ready to go. Must mow the grass as well this week due to the spring growth.
Planning and pricing the kitchen and laundry cupboards as well at the moment.

Services are roughed in

The plumbers have finished roughing in, all the electrical wiring is in, the ducted vac is finished and the insulation has started going in. Plasterers are a couple of weeks away to give us a chance to ensure we have everything behind the plaster that we need. Once the plasterers start it will take about 4 weeks to finish so I will have work outside to go on with including downpipes and painting. Groundwork can be done anytime other jobs are not required.
The gas meter will end up in a better place than I thought of originally and we have wired and plumbed for a spa. Look forward to that if the money allows.

This sucks

Spent the weekend doing more wiring, finalising some timber battens and supports for plumbing fittngs and installing the ducted vacuum piping and wiring. We went to the art show on friday night and saw a great painting that might have suited the house but it is way too early to buy such things. Saturday I did all the supports for the plumbing and shower screens. This will allow for the plumber to do the rough in next week or so. Put the bath in the location and fixed the frames that support it.
Sunday was all vacuum fitting. Ran all the pipes and fittings. The AussieVac system was good,less the 600mm of pipe left over and some extra wiring that I have used for for the intercom power. Still waiting for a couple of rolls of figure 8 wiring to arrive to finish some security wiring.

Wiring weekend

SWMBO is going to Melbourne with our daughter for her birthday. Im on call so am spending the weekend running wires, data wires, security wires, camera wires, tv antenna wires, multi room audio wires, lights, fan and electrical wires. Today I have run over 1000 mtrs of wires and will do more tomorrw. No glorious pictures when running wires. It all needs to be done and it is a good weekend to do it if I don't get called into work.

holidays draw to a close

As another 2 weeks of holidays finish, I look back to see if we achieved what we wanted to acheive in the time. I would have liked to be at lock up stage. We have all the wall cladding on, the 3 swing doors in place, the garage door on order and the mounting spaces clad ready to have the door fitted. I have chossen a platerer and need to make a few calls to confirm this. We have started the kitchen process and paint selection. Bath and toilets on order.

Things not completed: Steel wall cladding and roof trims not finished, eave lining not finished, data and other wiring not finished. Inbsulation not started.

Oh well more to do later.

Grand final day

A tie in the AFL grand final so they have to do it all again.
Me, well I fitted the garage pedestrian door with locks and then undercoated all 3 door I have and fitted the electric lock to the front door frame. All took time and slow work to make sure it was right.

Paint samples

The roofers came back and spent half the day finishing off some of the flashings and bits and pieces. It is still not all finished so I will need to chase them up next week. They did finish the garage ready for the door to be installed. I will need to let the contractor know.
My putty Princess continued to patch up the screw holes in the wall cladding. Getting ready to paint the cladding. We painted 2 sections with sample pots to see how it looks and I painted the eave sheets before installation. I also installed the sisalation in the garage.
A good weeks work in all but still not to lock up.

Lots of little bits

The roofers have not been back to finish off the sheet work. I ran the last bit of sisalation on the upper wall today while the wind was very low. SHMBO has been filling screws in the wall sheets andI have clad the inside of the garage wall ready for the flashings and then the garage door. The door is on order. I expect it in a couple of weeks. Waiting for the plasterer to get back with a quote and I have cabling on the way for security and data etc.

Wall Sheets on

The roofers returned today as promised and fitted most of the wall sheets. A couple of minor issues but most of the sheet is on and the walls look good. I did a few other jobs including the last of the cladding screws, packing timbers for the tv mounts and where the toilet roll holders will be. Started putting in the wall plates for powerpoints and other electrical bits.

More Cladding

I finihed the large sheet cladding today. I have a few small areas to complete and under all the windows. The roofers came back and did some of the flashings ready for monday to fit the wall sheets. Getting very close to lock up.
The weekend will see work to tidy up the last of the cladding and other bits ready for monday.
We need to look at filling holes and sanding ready for painting the outside. I want to have this all done before the inside as it will look better and protect the screw heads from rust. I have started getting plaster prices and have ordered the garage door.

Door Frames

Got a few little jobs done today. I am upto cladding the south wall but the sheets are 3 metres long and just a bit heavy to lift alone so I prepared the wall ready for when I have help tomorrow.
I fitted the 3 external door frames, 2 in the garage and the front door. The first 2 are steel frames and the last is double glazed aluminium. The front entry looks great and was easy to fit once the sliding aluminium strips came out. Had trouble with one. I also measured up for the stainless steel sections I need for the doors.

North Wall Cladding

I have finished the cladding on the north wall.Bit by bit it is happening. I still need to do the south wall and a couple of bits in the alfresco. The weather has been great and the sunscreen is in use again. The other day while it was raining I installed the last cavity slider frame. It is a 1020 wide door so should be plenty wide enough. Bit the final couple of bits for the west/front wall. Prediction for rain tomorrow but we will see. I have ordered the eave lining and have data cables and antenna cables on the way if the rain comes in.
I have left the corners of the cladding for SHMBO next week as it is a job that can be done anytime. I need to order sandpapper. filler and paint for the cladding soon.

Moving along

Spend saturday and sunday working on cladding. Went to watch number one son play in the Reserves Grand final on Saturaday as well. I have finished off the back wall, got most of the front wall on and started on the north wall today. Axe dropped around and measured up for the wall sheeting they need to do. I expect it will be close to the end of the week before I see that sheeting.

Got the first corner section on the north west corner. The rest of the week will see more cladding weather permitting.

Weather predications were right

Saturday was raining on and off but I managed to get the first 3 wall sheets on. I completed a number of other smaller jobs including mounting the switch board in its final place. I cut the step in the slab and mounted the laundry sliding door in position after replacing the header with a larger one to aloow for the reduced height due to the cut out. Except for the front door and doors in and out of the garage, all the windows and sliding doors are in.
Sunday is father's day and very windy. The day started with patchy rain. A day of no work as I think I needed a break anyway.

Roof on and a bad weekend of weather planned

The roofers fitted the rest of the roof on Tuesday and only need to do the flashing. The guttering is not the flat back half round I had been quoted so we arranged a discount arrangement rather than drill more holes and replace the guttering. The half round guttering was used and this means mounting brackets are visible where as the flat back 1/2 round has internal brackets.
We now have the rain coming down in 6 spots so I need to clad and get some downpipes on to divert the rain off the site and into the tanks and down the drain once they are full. Hole digging needed if the weather is fine.
The cladding has arrived and we can start fitting it this weekend between the predicted rain. I also have a few minor jobs to do around the doors and windows. I have paid for ceiling insulation and it should arrive saturday morning as well.

Some Roof!!

We have the lower section of roof on friday, the rest hopefully will come this week. I moved on and installed the alfresco and the rest of the windows over the weekend. I only have the laundry door to install, which is under the section of roof yet to be installed. We decided to install the living anf family room windows with the opening awnings to the centre of the room. The roof to the portico is done and looks great, the effect of the angles is as planned.

Installing the alfresco door required work to cut the slab after removing the timbers in the slab the concreters had placed at the pour. It would have been easier if they had not used fluted pine for the timber. It would also be better to reduce the size of the timber and cut the hole to the correct size as lining up the frame locations at pour time leave a larger than required hole to be patched later. Good point is that the diamond blade for the grinder is brilliant. We didn't place timber for the laundry door so that will be interesting to cut the step out. With the size changes at the pour time it was not suitable to place timbers for the door. Next weekends job when it is under cover.

The colour match for the roof and windows is good. The shed and house match in well althoguh the roofers have used half round instead of roundline(flat back half round) Phone call monday to see what can be done.

Brick Cleaning

We started the brick cleaning ready for the walls and roof to be done this week. SHMBO did a lot of the cleaning while I carried on with building foli and window fitting. All the back wall windows are in except the sliding door, the eastern sliding doors are in and the ensuite window. I have 3 slidng doors, 4 large windows and 2 small windows left to install. Getting the roof on will be great and the cladding is on order so it should be ready for the 2 weeks off I have in September.

Ready for the Roof.

The last of the outriggers finally arrived monday after the suooly company couldn't work out a transport company and then the transport company held them up for a few days. They have now been installed and the roofers given the word to go. If we get lucky some work might get done this week but we will wait and see. The roofers have promised to do it next week so I can fit more windows and do a few other things on the weekend.

Passed Frame Inspection

The frames and trusses passed the inspection during the week. I am still waiting for the outriggers to finish the trusses and allow the rooof to be put on. Lost in transit at present. Hopefully this week and then I can spend a couple of hours and give the go ahead to have the roof put on.

We started to put the windows and doors in. The kitchen needed to be in so the wall of mini corrugated can be installed with the roof job. The job will also include most of the front wall and the top of the rear wall. Looking forward to getting this done.

We have insulated the cathederal part of the main rooms with foil board in 25 mm we have 2 layers in most places we can so we should get good insulation level. I have also finished off the roof and plaster battens for the skylight area.

Roof this week with any luck.

Ceiling Battens and more ceiling battens

I have spent the last couple of days finishing off the ceiling battens. Just about everywhere is now completed. This finishes off the frames except for the outriggers that have not arived. I am still waiting and would not recommend the supply company based on constant false statements.
Started doing insulation panels today. We are using 2 layers of 25 mm foilboard with a gap between them. These will go in the limited ceiling space over the top of the void with the celestory windows. 75mm top chord is not room enough to use any other form of insulation. SHMBO made up the sandwich packs of insulation and I have been fitting them as well as insulating the walls that will get the colorbond Corrugated iron.

A bad weather weekend

I couldn't get a decent run at the work over the weekend. Patchy rain and storms across the whole weekend. I did manage to finish fitting the roof battens, all the outriggers that were supplied to allow one every second roof batten. I hope to get the answer if this is enough during the week. Cleaned up a couple of other small repair or alteration jobs as well that needed doing. A good day or two should see it ready for the frame inspection and then the roof!
I have ordered the cladding and the windows are ready to go in. Chasing up insulation prices and working out a couple of different sorts of insulation I will need for the different areas. SHMBO and I worked out the kitchen layout so now I only need to draw it up and get pricing. Also means the electrical layout for the kitchen can be done.

The trusses are all up

We spend the weekend finishing off the trusses. Saturday morning SHMBO and I put up about 15 trusses on the south side before she went off to watch football. I spent the rest of the securing them and setting up for the remaining one on Sunday. Today we raised the last 6 trusses with the help of number one son for the heavy end truss. After that was up it was back to a party of 2 to stand the remaining ones. By lunch they were secured and I spent the rest of the day adding roof battens. About 2 more days work will finish off all the little details ready for the roof to go on. So on with the roof battens and ceiling battens over the next weeks.

Trusses Going up

Been working most of the week to get some trusses up. We have managed to complete the north side of the house and am starting to put on the top hat roof battens.
Monday I worked on my own and got a few minor things done. Came to the conclusion that we needed a crame for the trusses just to get them on the roof.
Tuesday the crane came and the driver was great. Gow's cranes in Wonthaggi. She placed the trusses gently and it was a pleasure to be able to work with her. Also placed the high window frames on the pasts that I had no Idea how we were going to get them up. It cost about $600 for the minimum of 4 hours but was worth every cent. We should have had the trusses sorted in order better but the staacks came in the wrong order. Ideally is money allowed I would have a crane for the whole truss operation. Maybe next time.
Wednesday was a write off with the weather very poor and SHMBO working.
Today I covered the family room and we covered the last of the lounge and main bedroom. Braced with hoop iron and got the first of the roof battens in the lower position.
Tommorrow I will finish the roof battens and fit the eave outriggers while SHMBO is at work again. Might look at some of the back trusses bepwnding on the weather. These should be easier as I have something to fix them to already. Also need to finish off the cement nails for the frames and cut out the door ways. Lots to do.

Frames almost completed

We managed to erect most of the frames by the end of sunday. Just one post and the 2 adjoining walls for the kitchen remain to be stood up. I have organised a ramset gun for the next weekend and now have next week off as well to install the trusses. Made a desicion to extend the portico cover about 200mm to have the posts and brick clear the polished concrete. This will mean a couple of longer beams but a small price to pay for something that would annoy me forever if I didn't do it. Setting up and cutting the posts will be time consuming to ensure I get it right but can be done.
Lots of phone calls and organising this week. Window electric winders and the keys are due at the end of the week. I need to order the skylight in matching colorbond to get it in before the roof is ready.

Frames start to go up

We have started to erect the frames today, a couple of small issues with a couple of frames that I can fix. The windows arrived and are stored in the shed. The electric winders are missing and I have contacted EcoClassic chassing them up. A good part of the wiring for the shed is done and will be finished on the weekend. Trade school tomorrow so Barry will not be available to finish wiring.

Squaring the walls has proved easy and the higher walls will need a scaffold to set up and fit the windows into. More hire costs.Still searching for the ramset gun to hire for the frame bolt down. In the mean time I am drilling and concrete bolting.

Shed finished

The shed is finished and will be wired tomorrow. Windows arrive tommorrow and we will start putting up frames. A busy day but it will be great to keep the progress going.

Frames arrive

The frames and half the trusses have arrived, luckily the polisher has finnished and moved his gear off site. More trusses should arrive tommorrow and we will need to man handle them onto the site.
The floor looks great and includes the garage. I will have the best garage floor ever.It was done as an extra due to the pouringg rain as they finished the pour. They were unable to top it correctly and for the added cost, the result is stunning.

Things are moving

A couple of days of good weather on the building site.
The polishing is well underway and looking good. Another day and a half and it will be complete until the walls are plastered. Good news is that no protection of the slab is needed. The floor is already hard and trested and very little will damage it in the normal building process.
I need to hire an explosive power tool for the frame instalation. Frames are dure Monday. Windows are due Thursday. Shed roof and other bits arrived today. I got the windows in and hope tommorrow is fair weather and I will get the roof on. It will be great to seal up the roof and the rest of the walls before monday.
I ordered the rainwater tanks and pump unit earlier in the day after looking at them yesterday. They arrived today and I have used the grinding powder from the floor as fill to make the base for the tanks beside the shed. The tanks will provide for toilets and laundry and drinking water in the house.


In all a productive day. The pest control under the frames is booked for Tusday.

A weekend of shed building

The shed kit arrived Saturday Morning, so I spent the weekend putting up the frame. A few call outs for work on saturday cut the work short. A few things wrong with the was dissapointing. Missing bits, wrong colour roofing, a couple of short pieces due to wrong calculations by the company. I will need to chase them up on monday.


In all we got most of the frame up, Heather did a great job helping on Sunday. The next couple of days should see the wall sheeting go on but who would know when the right colour roof will arrive.

Should see the polisher tomorrow if all goes well. I broomed the slab off so it would be as dry as possible tomorrow.

The ups and downs of house building

We have been SLOWLY building the house. The digging and plumbing went along well. both did a good job and the electricians also completed their work as requested. Then came the concrete, poor weather and the need to bring the mix from far away held the slab up for too long. The mix is called eastern beach with 5% bluestone. This is to be polished and has cost about 10k more thanthe original quote. It is finally down and the shed slab followed a few days later.

POLISHING. We are polishing over 1/2 the floor instead of having floor coverings and after more rain, a small attempt at polishing we still don't have it done 2 weeks after the slab was laid. The polisher has fractured his jaw and is off work for a week so hopefully this coming week will see it done. He has kept me informed all the time so that is good and I beleive the things he has told me.

THE SHED. After being promised delivery 2 weeks ago and paying the final payment we are still waiting for the local shed company to deliver the shed. I keep getting told it is going to happen but they all turn to be lies. I am still waiting and hoped to be putting it up this weekend. He trusting companies is getting less and less. No more full payments before delivery. I would sooner be told it isn't going to happen than being told it is but then it doesn't happen.

The FRAMES. We decided on steel frames with a mid state company and were promised 4 weeks delivery. We are now going into 6 weeks and again the stories turn out to be untrue. It is hard to trust trades companies when they don't tell you the truth until you have made all the plans. I have planned holidays and allowed extra time just in case but have been dissapaointed again.

Pissed off at this stage. Moving soil will be the work of the weekend again.

The house is underway

We are building a new house. It is local so easy to check up on. We are owner building and doing the eco thing. 6.6 star rating, double glazing, north windows, high insulation levels. Hope to complete in about 18 months.

Long time quiet

I have been busy for sone time and probably a bit lazy.
Still enjoying my bent riding around Gippsland. I tend to ride the Attack on road more and more. The trike is used for work commuting and the road bike hangs around for a ride about once a month or sundays with the riding group.
I broke the trike before the last GVBR with the hinge failing. I returned it to Greenspeed and they did a good job repairing it ready for the GVBR. I should get it re powder coated but cna't bear to lose it for long enough to get the job done.
I removed the rear rack off the Attack to lighten it and layed the seat back a little more. It goes like a rocket and I have had it up to 80 km/hr. That was on the Fruit loop ride coming down off the strathboggies. A good ride and another good show case for bents. Rode with a loose group of BV forum riders and had a good ride. 200km in a total of 9 hours. My longest single ride to date.