Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build

waxinggibbous · Apr 17, 2023 5:35 pm

I finally got around to covering the roof downpipe. It certainly neatens up the back of the house.
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I also installed another gutter on the area between the shed and Bed1. I had to fashion a spout for this as a drip chain would not have worked.
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And then.....I started my first attempt at gyprock (plasterboard/drywall). First went in the insulation
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and the gyprock
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I have also decided to use a shadow line profile around window and doors (I'm not a fan of architraves.), where the ceiling meets the walls and where the walls meet the skirting boards. Also - skirting boards are flush with the walls. It's more work but it'll be worth it.
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waxinggibbous · May 04, 2023 5:02 pm

So just a bit more gyprocking in the bathroom:
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Had to extend the window reveals, and cut the exhaust vent through the walls:
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Didn't have a hole saw big enough! And simple vent cover outside;
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The bathroom is being tiled on only two walls - these have villaboard fibre cement sheeting, the other two have a water resistant gyprock called Aquacheck (it has a bluish hue):
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And i have just begun the base coat taping:
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And I bought a kitchen - doesn't look much flat packed.
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Last weekend I found a wombat on the road bridge near my place. I stopped to try and move it away so it wouldn't get struck by vehicles. Normally they will run away from people.This one was a stubborn bugger and wouldn't budge. I had to resort to putting my boot gently on its rear end and pushing. It pushed back and growled a lot!! (It is healthy - but has some river mud on its back and nosed!)

It eventually moved off at its own leisure!
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waxinggibbous · May 19, 2023 5:27 pm

More gyprocking, faffing around trying to keep insulation in place while I add glue to studs and hold up the gyprock with one hand whilst applying screws with the other. Always fun!

Bathroom ceiling in:
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Started on the kitchen:
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Temporarily hung the range hood so I could add some support noggins (Blue is a protective film )
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I then assembled the flat pack kitchen so I could check spacing and make sure the range hood lines up with the stove top.
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The cabinet doors and drawers have the ability to be adjusted to lessen the gaps between them. But I like the gaps and will leave them - it echoes the expressed joints on the house's facade cladding and by co-incidence the tiling of the kitchen splashback wall as in my Sketchup plan:
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The bathroom wall tiles, like the kitchen, are 600 x 300mm - exactly the same as the drawers on the cupboards.

Also bought a new kitchen tap. The previous $10 bargain one will now become the laundry tub tap and will match the one on the bathroom vanity. The kitchen sink is a deep square stainless steel type.
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Here just checking it doesn't interfere with the window.

Also needed to extend the kitchen window reveals so they jut out a bit further than the gyprock.
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waxinggibbous · Jun 04, 2023 5:14 pm

So the gyprocking continues!!

Main bedroom walls are all up:
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And this finally closed up the back of the two large loungeroom cupboards which used to allow me to walk through for convenience:
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Lounge/dining walls are mostly up:
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Currently waiting on ceiling batten clips - waited 3 weeks for them to arrive only to then find they had sent the wrong type. So now another 2 - 3 week wait.

The 2nd bed and bathroom do not have battens, only the lounge/dining, kitchen, and main bedroom.

Also have been mucked about by the tiler. After accepting his quote and declining the others I pressed ahead and lined the bathroom walls ready for him to start. (I am not allowed to waterproof myself so to make it worth a tilers while, I asked for them to also do the screed and tile the floor and I would do the walls.)

Once ready, I contacted him and he has since ignored all my calls. So now I am in a position of having to find another tiler - awkward as I already rejected two others. I don't feel comfortable re-approaching them.

waxinggibbous · Jun 13, 2023 3:47 pm

With the long weekend over I realised that I have now been working 7 days a week for 2 years straight except for 3 days off for Christmas (the one before last!) No wonder some mornings are hard to get out of bed 😆

Here's a few update pix - most of the walls are now gyprocked and all the metal beading too.

Main bed window:
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Lounge-room windows:
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Here you can see the original reveal, reveal extension and the shadowline bead in place.
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battens up for the kitchen ceiling:
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I need to 'box in' the kitchen ceiling beam before I can start putting up the gyprock. This is still a WIP. The large gap between the white timber form-work is because I have to somehow fit a 600mm wide 3 bar down-light in there.
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Here's a pic of my poor old workbench and its surface - so battle scarred! (The hole is where, in a fit of anger, I attacked a staple gun with a hammer because it wouldn't staple!!) I found this table outside the neighbours on the grass verge 2 weeks after moving into my rental and just as I was about to start the build. Was meant to be.
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Lovely clear winters day today - early this morning:
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waxinggibbous · Jun 19, 2023 5:54 pm

Last 4 days at the house (2 were in the classroom!) since my last post and I managed to get the kitchen ceiling up. The battens certainly made it easier to put the insulation in.
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I had some fiddly gyprock cutting around the 3 bar down lights that will be above the kitchen island.
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I also lined one of the two large loungeroom cupboards and finally put the bathroom cavity door latch in - a small job I've been meaning to do for ages.

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waxinggibbous · Jul 01, 2023 5:56 pm

Main bedroom ceiling now sheeted. I'm running low on insulation for the lounge/dining ceiling so have ordered more along with other odds and ends (doors for the hall cupboard, door reveals for the barn door, more 2x4;s,and I think I'lll need more shadowline bead)

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And made a start on battening the lounge/dining ceiling (the last to do) - it is fiddlier than the others as the container roofs on 2 of them are a little battered and uneven so I need the battens to adjust the height differences to make the ceilings all level with each other. The laser level has been getting a good workout.

Went for a boundary walk the other day - I don't often get to see the house from these directions:

View from the North boundary fence:
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View from the West boundary fence:
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View from the South boundary fence:
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View from the East boundary fence:
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waxinggibbous · Jul 13, 2023 8:24 pm

I'm still waiting for the order mentioned in the previous post - over 3 weeks now so I have no batten clips or insulation to finish the lounge room ceiling.

Bu there is still plenty to go on with.

This photo shows the difference in levels of parts of the lounge ceiling. The top blue line shows the bottom edge of the ceiling joists (which follow the two edges of the containers). Because they are a little worse for wear, battens were necessary to level up the ceiling. The bottom blue line shows the batten where the actual ceiling level will be.

2 of the 3 containers had this lopsided roof - the other was fine.
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I had enough batten clips to do 2 of the three ceiling sections.
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I boxed in the steel support beam that runs across the kitchen/lounge division:
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Then I did the same for the two beams in the lounge:
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I added the corner beads today. It taught me a lesson NOT to shop at the hardware store without my glasses. I bought another supply of corner beads and couldn't work out why they looks so messy and wouldn't sit neatly along the edges.
I had inadvertently bought internal corner beads instead of external!

I have also gyprocked the wall behind the (main bedroom) barn door. Then cleaned out the hall cupboard which was full of shelving and housed all my tools and building supplies, so I could prepare it for lining and adding doors:
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I had a tiler come out to check out the bathroom to give me a quote. He picked up on the fact that the plumber had not centred the drainpipe in the centre of the wall so the strip drain would butt right up against the tiles on one side and leave a gap of about 10cms on the other. This would have driven me crazy!

So I set about repositioning the pipework. Fortunately there was ample 'give' in the pipe in the direction I needed to move it:
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waxinggibbous · Jul 30, 2023 8:12 am

Quick update - working away steadily as usual on lots of little things mainly taping/plastering, putting up some fibre cement panels on the ceilings outside, ceiling battens (yes my delivery finally arrived), door jambs and the waterproofer/tiler has been and completed the waterproofing.

The plan now is to complete the things I need to do in order to get the plumber back to attach all the fittings such as shower, sinks, toilet etc and the electrician to attach all the powerpoints, switches, lights etc so I can move in to finish off everything else.

There is still so much to do but once i can live there I will have longer working hours and save money on rent, electricity and petrol which means I can buy more materials.

Battening all done:
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Ceiling outside kitchen door:
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Main bed door surround:
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Villaboard for the bathroom floor:
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Waterproofing compound:
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In order for the plumber to return, the kitchen sink needs to be plumbed in - so the wall needs to be painted and the kitchen cabinets installed and the sink and cooktop holes cut into the countertop. This is my first attempt at top coat plastering - messy but a bit of sanding will make it right!!
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Mid winter browns:
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waxinggibbous · Aug 18, 2023 5:12 pm

Bathroom is moving along.

Screed down:
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Floor tiles:
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Tile up close:
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I grouted them Tuesday:
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Today the wall tiles went up and I will grout them tomorrow:
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Outside ceiling painted:
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Kitchen wall sanded, and 2 undercoats and 2 top coats:
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Temporarily installed kitchen cabinets so I could cut out the sink hole and line it up with the floor waste ready for the plumber to connect, and tomorrow I will cut out the hole for the cook-top - I put the range hood up so I could line up the cook-top position (no it isn't blue!! That's the stainless steel protection)
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The window reveal still needs sanding and painting.

I set up a panel for the electrician to mount the main circuit board. I will build the cupboard around it later:
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And apart from this there has been copious amounts of plastering and sanding happening when I haven't been teaching!!

7am greeting this morning:
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waxinggibbous · Sep 08, 2023 4:20 pm

The plumber returned today and installed all the kitchen, bathroom vanity, toilet, shower and laundry tub plumbing. It is all usable now (except the shower which needs the hot water tank electrical work done.) It seems a bit unreal to have a functioning bathroom! I love my unusual shower rose and shower shelf!

The bathroom ceiling needs painting, the shower screen installed, the light and extractor fan installed (when the electrician return on the 18th), and a little bit of detailing and then it is complete!

I plan to move in after the 18th and before the 28th when I have to vacate my rental flat. There is still quite a bit of gyprocking, plastering and painting to do but once I'm living there I should manage to get it done much more quickly. I feel confident that everything will be complete by the end of the year.

Bathroom vanity
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Stainless steel shower shelf
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Rain shower head
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Laundry tub will be enclosed with washing machine in a cupboard
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Kitchen sink installed and functioning
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Kitchen box beam is now painted
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Bathroom ceiling needs sanding and painting
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Learned a handy tip (from Youtube) for painting skirtings without taping: using my 30cm plastering blade I run it along the floor with the paintbrush on top. Very quick and no paint on the floor!
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Last morning of winter and mist on the dam
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waxinggibbous · Sep 20, 2023 6:34 am

The electricians came on Monday and finished all of the electrical work. All of the lights, switches and power-points are operational and so too is the hot water tank. (Electric heat pump)

The bathroom still needs a cupboard built around the laundry tub and washing machine, plus an architrave (ughh...unavoidable because of the cavity door) but it is pretty much complete and usable.

Such a great feeling to be at this stage
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Lights for over the kitchen island
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Main bed ceiling fan
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2nd bedroom fan
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Hallway halo light
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Kitchen still needs the oven, fridge and kickboards to go in
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Bathroom from kitchen
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Bathroom from 2nd bedroom
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There's a pattern forming!! 😆
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Warm early Spring mornings - out on my morning walk before starting work
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waxinggibbous · Oct 15, 2023 7:38 am

Three and a half weeks living here and I'm loving the quiet (except for the occasional distant cow conversations)

Solar is holding up exceptionally well. First time I used the oven during the day (new oven so it was recommended turning on max power for 45 minutes to burn off residue). I checked the battery level before I started and at the end and there was practically no difference. So that is encouraging.

Have been doing a lot of minor things as well as plastering and painting.

I moved into the main bedroom (gyprocked but unsanded and not painted) while I concentrated on finishing the guest bedroom:
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I've ordered a small single wardrobe, plus I need a dressing mirror on the wall, plus a double bed - but the room is basically done.

So now I am sleeping in the guest room while I finish off the main bed.

The bathroom is now finished except for the cupboard enclosing the laundry tub and washing machine. This isn't urgent so is further down the 'to do' list.

Window frame and architrave are painted, towel rail, robe hooks and mirror installed:
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Kitchen has the kickboard installed, and an old bookcase being used as pantry shelving until I build the floor to ceiling shelves for the cupboard in the same spot.

The toaster and coffee machine and temporarily situated until I build the cupboard to house them.
The fridge will also be in a door-less cupboard with storage overhead.
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What to do when you haven't built a wardrobe yet 😆:
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And the halo light really does take on a halo quality when lit:
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Neighbour took some drone footage for me. (Recent rain has now greened everything up):
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First evening I spent here when coming back after returning the removal truck, I was greeted by around 80 -90 kangaroos all around the house and this sunset.
A nice welcome I thought!
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And a strange albino rainbow (!!) on my morning walk a couple of days ago:
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waxinggibbous · Nov 21, 2023 2:57 pm

As mentioned int the previous post, I had been sleeping in the guest room while I plastered, sanded and painted the main bedroom:
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A strip of sand paper taped to my plastering blade made a great tool for sanding up inside the shadowline profile:
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With windows on three sides, the light creates very interesting shapes and shadows:
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I painted the wall behind the bed charcoal as I planned to hang my 3 new Indigenous paintings there. I saw it in a gallery once and thought the colour worked really well with the colours used in Aboriginal paintings.
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Before I could install my new paintings I had to frame them as they came rolled up in tubes.

I use 42x19 pine with quarter dowel around the edge - this lifts the canvas away from the frame and stops the inner side of the frame showing on the painting:
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Once painting was finished I moved back into this room
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I found a small wardrobe for the guest room and a wall dressing mirror:
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Every time I buy something largish for the house the cardboard goes on the floor to help protect the Tasmanian oak floorboards - I swear the ceiling is looking a lot closer!
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Then I bought a bed and side tables (which are not what I want but I haven't yet found what's in my head in a shop!!)

These cube stands were only $11 each and were narrow enough for the space (320mm) and will suffice until I find what I want.

The artwork above the bed is by a good friend of mine in Norway, the little steel shadow boxer on the side stand is one of mine made about 30 years ago. Now the room just needs carpet and the blind to go up.:
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Then it was back to the final area to finish - the lounge/dining area.

Lots of gyprocking, plastering and painting to do here.
Currently putting up the ceiling gyprock:
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One section to go and I ran out of insulation. I am teaching the next 2 days so I can pick up some when I am in town.

It's as dry as here ATM. Very little rain over the past 3 months. The ground is brown and the grass is getting crunchy underfoot as it did 3 years ago during the drought. Last night a terrific storm blew over, dark ominous clouds, lots of lightening and... 1mm of rain😒

But the callistermons have been fiery this year:
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And the 'roos haven't deserted me!!
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waxinggibbous · Dec 01, 2023 11:55 am

In the past 10 days since my last post I haven't managed to get a huge amount done. Four of those days were teaching (and a day at school is way more exhausting than 8 hours labouring on the house - if you know any casual/substitute teachers ask them what it's like in a low economic area state school!!)

And of course there are always those irritating chores to do like shopping, cooking, cleaning and laundry which tax my time!

But I did manage to get the last part of the lounge/dining ceiling up and all the joins taped and screw holes plastered. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅
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And routed guide channels in the four sliding doors destined for the lounge cupboards:
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I also hung a couple more artworks in the finished main bedroom. It makes me feel like the pace is turning into a home.

The first is an oil on canvas painting done for me by a good friend - the detail is quite extraordinary. The kangaroo detail on the tea bag label is about 3cm high., and I swear the Tim Tam biscuit looks like you could pick it off the painting and eat it!!
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The other image is a digital artwork I created about 18 years ago. It's a re-interpretation of a well known Australian photograph called "Sunbaker' by Max Dupain from 1937.

I used around 4,500 digitally altered pix of skin cancers to replicate the image, subverting the original meaning with a contemporary context.

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Detail:
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Apart from the ever present kangaroos outside the windows, recently I spotted a wild deer 50 metres from the house (they are a noxious pest and do a lot of damage.) and only the second snake of the season - a beautiful red belly black snake just off the front deck:
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We have had a drought going on this year and the prediction for a long hot and very dry summer this year due to El Niño being declared. So it was a bit of a surprise to have a massive and sudden rain event a couple of days ago. In 24 hours the storm dumped more rain that the total November rainfall on record.

Luckily there was little damage from it, and on the positive side it filled my dam to overflowing - before:
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And today:
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This will be handy for when the heat and dry of summer does occur. And as a bonus, it put 20,000 litres of rain in my water tank - with my estimated daily usage, it's about a years worth of water 😁

Well...back to the plastering!

waxinggibbous · Dec 27, 2023 4:00 pm

Well a month has passed by quickly. I have been busy working every day but there is not a huge amount to show.

School thankfully finished for Summer 2 weeks ago so I have more time (and energy) for the house build. It doesn't start again until the beginning of February next year.

One of the first things I did was to redo one of the lounge room beam covers:
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When I finished the plasterboard cover the first time, and base-coated the shadowline beading in I noticed that one of the sides was not quite straight and had a slight bulge along it. At first I thought it was not significant enough to worry about, but every time I looked at it I couldn't NOT see it!!

So I had to rip it all off and redo it. I'm so glad I did as I am much happier with it now.
It, and the other one have their top coat of plaster and need a light sanding before painting.
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The other part I mainly worked on was getting the 2 lounge room cupboards built. I am running out of space ATM to store things in so I really wanted these cupboards finished first so I could hide a lot of the stuff that is getting in the way. It will make finishing the lounge a lot easier.

This is how they were:
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First, block in the top:
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Install the sliding doors:
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Remove the doors to paint:
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Then after insulating and lining the ceilings, I've just finished the plastering and sanding and have begun painting them.
One has both undercoats done, then I ran out of undercoat, and after a quick trip to town this morning for more paint, the other has the first undercoat.
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You can see the mess I am working around in the lounge:
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On top of tool shelves, scraps of plasterboard, ladders, work table - there is also the kitchen island and a very large box holding 2/3rds of my new sofa (the other third, plus new coffee table, new dining chairs and rug are currently choking up the guest bedroom!

I had thought about a month ago, that I would be basically finished by December 31st. (Not completely finished as there are quite a few small things that are not urgent - like carpet for the bedrooms, small cupboards to be built etc) All the messy stuff (plastering and painting would be done and I could lift the cardboard from the floor and put in the sofa, coffee table, rug, more artworks etc. This is the point at which i would consider I've finished. Any other work could be done outside on the deck so as not to make a mess indoors.

But we are having an extremely wet Summer. Lots of storms and rain, 100% humidity at times - and this has slowed me down as the plaster is taking longer to dry as is each coat of paint. But I am still optimistic of reaching that finishing point in a couple of weeks.

I shall, of course, keep you posted!

waxinggibbous · Jan 12, 2024 5:10 pm

Once the lounge cupboards were done, I was able to fill them with stuff that was cluttering up the lounge. (Most of my tools are now temporarily in one of them).
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And then I put up the door reveals and temporarily (they need to come off and be painted and have handles put on them) hung the doors on the hallway cupboard.
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This gave me more storage to de-clutter!

The next task was to do all the lounge/dining area and hallway 2nd and third plaster coats on all the ceilings and walls. Then came sanding the final coat of plaster, followed by the 3-in-1 (primer, sealer and undercoat in one paint).

Up to today, all the ceilings and all of the walls have been sanded and undercoated, except the North facing wall with the huge windows. This will be done tomorrow morning and then I can begin painting the whole lot another two times!

Previously i was doing 2 undercoats and 2 top coats but have been reliably told this is overkill, and one coat of 3-in-1 is sufficient. It will certainly be cheaper (as another 15L buckets would cost another $250.) As it is, I will have just enough undercoatcto finish the job.
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Within a few days i should be able to take up all of the protective cardboard from the floor, and get all the furniture in.

The end is nigh!!
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Watching me eat breakfast!

waxinggibbous · Jan 24, 2024 1:01 pm

Busy couple of weeks with lots of painting done. Once the hallway was painted I set about reinstalling the sliding container panel barn door.
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The red colour of the door is the same as the original colour of the shipping containers.
I attached a handle matching the hallway doors.
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The rest of the lounge/dining room with all coats of paint.
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Now I was able to install the ceiling downlights - made easy these days because they come with a plug attached.
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Next came the moment I'd been greatly looking forward to for a long time - the lifting of the cardboard protecting the Tasmanian oak tongue and groove floorboards (which I hadn't seen for the past 16 months).
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(Above: still sweeping the floor of plaster dust and yet to mop!!)
Once the floor was washed (3 times) I could unpack the sofa, coffee table, rug and chairs.

Sofahenge!!
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Coffee table.
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To finish setting up the loungeroom I unpacked the Barcelona chairs that I bought (and kept wrapped) years ago. Also the kitchen island, a stainless steel tool trolley also bought years ago. Plus I hung a large abstract painting by a recently deceased good friend of mine, plus a small collage by one of my 13 year old ex students
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I still want a large rectangular artwork or diptych (2 panel work) for the wall behind the sofa.

Also put up the blockout blind in the guest bedroom - the morning sun through the glass doors can be quite fierce in summer.
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Couple of pix of the house model I made in 2011 when I was first starting to plan the house (this was even before I bought the land.)

Not too many changes since then (bathroom has been reconfigured and the water tank moved, and solar panels moved to ground level).
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Next is carpet for the bedrooms. I ordered it yesterday and waiting to hear when they can install it.

waxinggibbous · Feb 10, 2024 7:25 pm

My Arne Jacobsen Egg Chair has found its rightful place now the bedrooms have their carpet.
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By no means an adventurous choice, the 'Peppered Borneo' (truly - that's its name!!) is a neutral choice carpet in the budget range (like everything in the house!!)

I'm very happy with it - and it really finishes off the bedrooms.
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From nailing the carpet nail strips, taping and stapling the foam underlay to laying and joining the carpet in the 2 bedrooms, the carpet layer was finished in about 3 hours.

Mmmm...gotta love that new carpet smell 😁

And I have just begun to tile the kitchen splash-back. Just the grouting to do tomorrow.
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waxinggibbous · Mar 09, 2024 11:08 am

I am still plodding along getting some of the little tasks done such as random gap filling, building the pull-out pantry and planning the main pantry and bathroom cupboard (so I can order all the materials for a single delivery)

In the meantime - here are some "Then and Now" photos!
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