EcoStay building project

Back to the curved mudbrick wall. Now working on the top half.



Slow going as we're working higher up and also having to make the jarrah boxes and then lay the mudbricks around them.

Big front sliding doors have eventually arrived and are now installed. That should keep the weather out.





Also have the bathroom windows in. Floor to (almost) ceiling glass for the shower and toilet.



Low-e glass on all these.

A bit more wall to complete and we'll be at "lock-up".

And the curved wall is finished.

The Jarrah boxes will be double glazed and have genie bottles in them.



Very pleased with the result.

You should be very pleased, it looks fantastic!

With the outside walls now complete, we've been working on the mud plaster finish of the internals walls. Also built the stud walls for the bathroom






and pantry.





But my favorite is this wall behind the fireplace. It's built from hollow concrete blocks filled with concrete and is 6m high, running from downstairs right up to the ceiling on the top level. It serves to support the heavy fireplace and the solar hot water system on the roof.



We've gathered up some nice granite from the paddock and will build a plinth for the fire place and clad all the concrete, right to the ceiling.

All the genie bottles are now installed. Glazed on both sides. All 23 of them. We cut all the glass ourselves, mostly from recycled windows

.

Our new build Eco Stay and previous builds Art Studio are being promoted during this year's Sustainable House Day. So, if you're interested to have a look, book for a free tour and check it all out.
Sunday Sept 15th.

Sustainable House Day

The fireplace plinth is now complete. Very pleased with the result and it provides much valuable thermal mass right where we need it.

There's plumbing inside the wall to connect the hot water system to the fireplace. At the top of the wall are two vents that will pipe warm air into the bathroom behind this wall.

We've also completed the stud wall in the kitchen complete with recess and ventilation for the stove.



And the pantry wall / doorway.

Working on the bathroom plumbing and the hot water system today.

We've laid the bathroom floor tiles.



And the flooring throughout the upstairs area.



Onto the pantry shelves next.
Really feeling like a house now.

I love your project! It looks homely and warm, and the details you've added have so much character!

Thanks Amilelka. One of the great benefits of actually doing all the work yourself is that you can constantly modify and customise every single aspect to suit your hearts desires as you progress. So rather than having to pre-plan all aspects prior to commencement we can see how things feel and fit and modify to suit as we go. We can also take great advantage of materials we come across (such as specials or recycled items) along the way and make changes to include them.

This is our stair hand rail made from an old awesome newel post someone gave us and a branch from a lemon scented gum growing in the paddock.

It looks beautiful!

We've now finished tiling the bathroom walls



Including the shower stall.



Just got a couple of connections to complete for the waste pipe and we'll be able to shower.

Attached to the back of the house will be a studio space (somewhat larger than the house). Now that summer is well and truly upon us we've gone back to the mudpit and we're making more mudbricks.



And building the walls in the studio.



We're using some recycled doors, on their side, as windows.

This is so cool

Working on the west wall of the studio now.

A few years ago a friend gave us a round jarrah window frame. We've been looking for a spot to fit it into the build and this is it! This is a 3.5m high wall and the window is just 800mm in diameter so we were worried it would be dwarfed by the sheer size of the wall. So we've created a mudbrick feature around the window. With some measurements and calculations we created a special mudbrick mould that would make a keystone shaped mudbrick and made enough mudbricks to encircle the window.




Laying them around the window was quite a challenge as they are tapered inwards as well as from side to side.



But the end result exceeded our expectations.





Not sure yet what we'll glaze it with, we'll see how it feels once the rest of the studio is built.

Well, the rest of the studio is now built. It used a lot more mudbricks than originally anticipated due to sizes of doors, windows etc. But the weather has been good for making more, so no problem there. The internal walls have been plastered with white clay, the stone wall backing the fire place has been built and we've polished the concrete floor to reveal the glass we added when it was poured.





Just got to complete a bit of trim work around the ceiling and windows, fit the doors and a couple of bits of glass.

It's a beautiful space, light, airy, with high ceilings and right there at the back of the house.

This looks amazing! I love the attention paid to the brickwork around the round window, and the polished concrete had come up great!

We've fitted all the doors to the studio area and it has transformed the area into rooms. That might sound obvious but previously it felt more like a shed

.

These double sliders are the front doors leading into the studio proper.



This door with awesome side panels leads from the studio into the tool-room.





Then these two are the back doors leading out from the tool-room. They open right out against the wall to give good access in and out of the tool-room.

All these doors are recycled, we've been collecting them for some years now. So good to see them back in use once again.