Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum Re: Hill House - far south coast 61Sep 15, 2011 4:54 pm Thanks for the positive feedback Kim. I have learnt a lot building this house so far, many of the skills I have had to teach myself 'on the job' which can be both extremly rewarding and difficult at the same time, not for everyone but I am pleased that I am doing it. The driveway is quite a job, we had to get an engineer to design it (condition of our DA, it is a 1/5 slope). The building process involves cutting down a meter to the decomposed granite base then packing in road base (decomposed granite mined on site). The gravel is wet out then packed (multiple layers) with a lamb’s foot roller to a depth of over a meter and 6 meters wide. We have a large drain (geo textile, gravel, drain pipe, more gravel topped with geo textile, soil and grass) extending down the entire uphill side of the road to take water away from the base. This drain will have silt traps every 150 meters of so. There are to be 4 culverts to divert water. Top coat (gravel stuff) is shaped to shed water (lots more wetting and packing) then it has two coats of blue metal and hot asphalt. Well that is my understanding of it, I have contracted this one out I believe the key is keeping the water out of the road base. We looked at lots of options but the expensive one was the best for a long-term solution to access to the site. It will be about 25 to 30 grand...hence my kidney and soul on eBay I will get some more pics of it as it takes shape. Steve Re: Hill House - far south coast 62Sep 16, 2011 9:52 am Love, love, love your build! I love that you are not just doing a standard boring brick house and are going outside the box to do this build. Its going to be amazing once finished. I look forward to seeing more updates. Re: Hill House - far south coast 64Sep 16, 2011 9:15 pm Well Steve hats off to you. I only got on to your thread today after a few other posts you had made, but so glad I have taken time to read through it all. Even picked up a good tip for myself what you did with your decking boards and overlapping when screwing down so thanks for that. This is a true "Owner build" adventure as raw as you can get but you have put together a real piece of Beauty there. Congratulations to you, you should be very proud. I look forward to following the rest of your journey a lot more closely but you sure are building a little piece of heaven on earth https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=44762 My Owner builder journey extending a 1930's Bungalow Re: Hill House - far south coast 65Sep 16, 2011 9:38 pm Wow Steve, that is awesome!! Like Docker Rob I just found your thread and read it from the beginning and having done an OB can relate to the work involved. We didn't go as far as you have, even though that's what we would have liked, but having a young family at the time we needed to get it to a habitable stage as quickly as possible and moved in after 11 months. I found convict bricks and proceeded to clean them by hand, water blasting was almost too much for them even though I had the PSI turned way down. The barter system came in very handy as that got us the plumbing, electrical and a chippie for a few days when it came time to pitch the roof as like you, we didn't have any prior building experience either but learned really fast. Anyway I'll follow the remainder of your build as I love houses that have some real thought put into the whole process. Btw, if you don't already know it....your view is to die for!! ROFLMHO!! Re: Hill House - far south coast 66Sep 17, 2011 7:27 am Thanks again for the lovely feedback on our place, it makes sharing this long process enjoyable. The words of encouragment really do motivate me so thanks. We have been going for 3 and a 1/2 years now and I would think we have another 3 years to go before the whole house is complete. The idea of finishing this first pavilion in the next few months is quite uplifting and extremely exciting. It is great to be doing jobs that I have done before (as a serial renovator) as it cuts out all the reading and research that filled my evenings for the last few years. We are into the fun stuff now so I will enjoy the next few months very much. Steve Re: Hill House - far south coast 67Sep 28, 2011 5:27 pm The road works have progressed and we are now just waiting for the local RTA sealers to come and apply the two coats of hot bitumen over blue metal (10 mm first then a layer of 7 mm on top). They are due Friday so the road will then be complete. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/P8230068.jpg It has not been without major drama though. The contractor ended up having to spend an extra week undoing some very badly done 'earthworks' that we had done on the cheap a few years earlier. The previous rough earthworks contractor had mixed up all the topsoil and gravel base (hundreds of tonnes of it) when he bulldozed our original access road; this had to be removed, as it would not make a suitable road base. This has cost us many thousands of dollars extra. Also the engineer had not allowed enough culverts to move water from the uphill side of the road, so we had to install and extra 3 culverts at a few grand each. The RTA quote for sealing was a lot more than we expected also, so the road has proven to be a huge financial set back. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/P8230066.jpg Regardless of the massive budget blowout it will be a big asset to the farm and we will not have to deal with it again for many years to come. The lesson I have learnt is that I should have done the road properly from the start rather than going for a quick fix, the ‘cheap’ option cost me 8 grand to start with but at least another 10 grand to fix! An 18 thousand dollar mistake and a lesson hard learnt. I will post a few pictures of the completed road when the bitumen goes on. We have had the plumber here for a few days doing the first fit, he is a good tradesman and I have saved a few dollars by providing my labour for him drilling the holes, running pipes etc. He needs a few more hours and he is done with the water and gas. I have been busy fitting insulation and getting ready to finish off the internal cladding. Lots to do in the next few weeks, need to work a bit harder at saving dollars now though Steve Re: Hill House - far south coast 68Sep 28, 2011 6:11 pm But what a wonderful looking road it is! SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Hill House - far south coast 69Sep 28, 2011 6:58 pm That's one long, steep driveway...I thought one we had in a previous house was steep but your's takes the cake. Totally agree with getting it done properly as during heavy rain that would wash away quickly. A great billycart run!!! LOL Re: Hill House - far south coast 70Sep 29, 2011 8:55 pm Well, extreme billy-carts it is as my road is done!!! The RTA guys turned up this morning ready to lay my road a day earlier than scheduled! They hooked in and in just 4 hours had it all done. They did a lovely job and were terrific to deal with, very helpful and professional, a great crew of guys that were a pleasure to watch as they crafted a beautiful finish. I can see the value and quality in it and I am feeling so much better about the road now it is done. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/P8280071.jpg http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/P8280073.jpg Spent the afternoon planting trees (one of my favourite pastimes) With seeding the gutters and batters and reveging the earthwork areas I have got a lot of planting to do over the next week or so Steve Re: Hill House - far south coast 71Sep 29, 2011 9:21 pm Wow that's some Highway (woops Driveway I mean) The photo taken looking down the Hill could pass for a Picture of Mt Panorama Race track in its early days! Now you'll just have to block the local Boy racers off at the pass before they get through the gate! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=44762 My Owner builder journey extending a 1930's Bungalow Re: Hill House - far south coast 72Sep 29, 2011 9:44 pm Rob, the (almost) funny thing is that the council road that comes from town to our gate is a very ordinary pot-holed dirt road, council still saw fit to insist on an enginered paved driveway as a condition of our DA .... I am the local boy racer Re: Hill House - far south coast 73Sep 29, 2011 10:04 pm Woohoo!!! That's fantastic. Hey, maybe you could run a hillclimb on the weekends, entry fees would pay for the driveway!! Council's have some crazy regs, don't they? Re: Hill House - far south coast 75Sep 30, 2011 1:52 pm Wow that's a huge step forward in your project but an expensive lesson learnt ... ouch! That's why we have just spent $14k on having our paving and driveway done properly - who wants to go back and do it again - do it once and do it right and boy you sure are doing it right!! Great stuff!! For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Hill House - far south coast 76Oct 01, 2011 8:48 am Thanks folks, We have a good amount of rain predicted for today and for the first time I am not at all worried about getting up the hill to the site, mabye I can sell my 4 wheel drive to recoup some of the cost!!...actually that is not a bad idea Steve Re: Hill House - far south coast 78Oct 27, 2011 10:29 pm Things are tracking well, we will be inthis pavilion for Christmas I think, I will update the thread in a few days with some more pic of progress. Steve My building project - Hill House viewtopic.php?f=38&t=13537 Who you have in your life is more important than what you have Re: Hill House - far south coast 79Nov 15, 2011 1:32 pm The push to get in for Christmas lunch continues and progress has been steady. My lack of paid work is a concern as the piggy bank no longer rattles when shaken but it allows time on the build, which is more fun than working. Many pennies went towards paying a plumber to work his magic, he was happy for me to provide labour as a cost cutting measure which was great as I picked up quiet a few skills and tricks from him and he is a fun bloke with some colourful yarns to share. Solar hot water went on, tubes on the roof with the tank down below the floor and instant gas boost on the outside sub floor. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/PA120031.jpg I like seeing the PV's in the background of my solar HWS, the sun is such a handy thing, electricity and hot water from one source http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/PA120023.jpg We finished of the sub floor grey water lines and installed the grey water filtration unit (Nature Clear) and the grease trap. This simple system is gravity feed, has no pumps or moving parts and only requires a change over of the pine bark (top filter) once a year, low tech at it's best. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/PA120019.jpg We spent this morning digging and fitting out the grey water trench, it has been filled in now and seeded up. This is 50 meters down the hill from the house as it was too steep up closer. It was a much larger trench than we really needed but council insisted on it being so long, it appears they have not yet adapted to water saving technologies that reduce the need for expensive and over the top trenching http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/PA120005.jpg The first of the salvaged composting loos (Rota-loo) also went in, once again a very simple system with no pumps etc. just one low amp 240V fan. The use of dry composting toilets in our house saves a lot of water and removes the need for a black water treatment system altogether. I still have to fit the pan but it is pretty straightforward. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/PA120006-1.jpg I have also finished lining the walls with boards and some Gyprock, also almost finished the lining boards on the ceiling. This has been a long job as each board has to be cut and fitted individually, my arms are getting pretty strong..... My wife has started painting and oiling the various surfaces, she will be doing it for a while to come yet I would think. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/PA120006.jpg There are a lot of fiddly timber connections to get nice joins but I wanted to avoid using too much trim etc. to keep the lines simple and clean. http://i480.photobucket.com/albums/rr164/Fishdejour/house10/PA120016.jpg I have to finish off the last bits of the ceiling etc in the next week so I can clear the place out and allow time for the flooring to be sanded and oiled. My lovely wife has been busy organising the kitchen cupboards, bench tops and splashback etc, she has been chasing down the best deals on the stove, ovens dishwasher etc also it is all coming together and the kitchen will be installed on the 5th December allowing enough time for the sparky and plumber to complete final fit before Christmas. I also have to fit out the bathroom at some stage, I am going to be a busy boy for the next month. Steve My building project - Hill House viewtopic.php?f=38&t=13537 Who you have in your life is more important than what you have Re: Hill House - far south coast 80Nov 15, 2011 1:50 pm Love it, love it, love it ... I always say it's such a waste to use water to flush the toilet - even though we now have rainwater tanks for the purpose in our new house but that's only to one toilet. Love your ceilings and your clean lines - I'll be thinking of you both on Xmas Day enjoying the rewards of all your hard work. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! The OP has gone The latch and striker are definitely not aligned but there was no point trying to help the OP understand that. Hence the reason they are no longer with us. 12 5678 Howdy all. I am looking for feedback on what people would do to maximise and make an area as flat as possible. First, out the front of the house is a sloping hill, pretty… 0 20152 I brought terry road box hill in June 2022 House was meant to be completed Nov 2023 That did not happen I had to chase them so much to the land Registration and… 0 2511 |