Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum Re: Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build 382Apr 15, 2024 7:23 pm I've slowed down a fair bit lately - even taken time off to read a book, look at the view, go for walks. But there are still some things to finish. This was the last thing I posted - tiling the kitchen backsplash. Here it is finished Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ As I've probably mentioned - the tiles (leftover bathroom wall tiles) happen to have the same dimensions as the large kitchen draw fronts - which is a nice bit of serendipity! This is how the counter will look once the toaster and coffee machine are in the 'mini butler's pantry', And the ugly draining board will sit in the sink when not in use. The next thing on the list was the pull-out pantry. I decided to have a go at making one of these once I discovered I had a narrow space in the kitchen which would suit one really well. All the tall ones online were super expensive, so I thought I'd have a bash at making one. This was the SketchUp design i made: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ There are two industrial sized draw runners attached to one wall and the shelving unit at the top and bottom. It is now in place and being used (really useful for the myriad different sauces, spices and herbs I have!!) even though the false front hasn't been added, nor the handle. I still need to make the surrounds, and I put my old IKEA Billy bookcase where the butlers pantry will go temporarily as it's also really useful for storage. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The purple fountain grass I planted a year ago has settled in nicely. It is now about half its finished height. The colour of it blends really nicely with the rusted steel planter box. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I really need a low piece of furniture to hide the back of the sofa as it is very visible. I am after something in old pine with some open fronts to store books Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Something like this but without the cupboard fronts: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Then I can display my new (old) African antelope headdress from Mali. I've wanted one of these since the '80's when I first saw one. I had it sent from the States and made the base for it. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The lounge/dining room in the late afternoon sun: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I also bought a couple of ottomans, one for each bedroom. Handy to sit on when donning shoes and with useful storage in them Main bedroom: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 2nd bed: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Great place for brekkers! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ My banksias have gone from a single flower last year to quite a lot this year (and my callistemons have bloomed 3 times since Spring which is quite uncommon. Twice is usual) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And not so long ago I heard a noise on the back deck late at night and discovered a sugar glider having a nose around. First one I've ever seen! (about the size of a European squirrel) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Currently I'm starting to build the main kitchen pantry and I've bought sheer nets for the big windows and need to install them. Re: Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build 383Apr 27, 2024 10:22 am Time for net curtains. NOT, I might add, for privacy! But I've realised that at this time of year, when the sun is lower in the sky, and the days can still be warm - the house can get really stuffy with too much sun coming in. So the nets help filter some of the heat. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I close them around 2pm and reopen them at sunset. This way the house heats up and remains warm inside all through the night. (E.G. last night at 6pm it was 5.8deg outside but still 26deg inside.) And I imagine the same will occur in early Spring. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I have also begun the big kitchen pantry. I made things easier by buying the shelving instead of making it. Good old 'Billy' bookcases (with top extensions) from IKEA. Saves me a lot of time. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I've also ordered (and am waiting for) the timber and gyprock for the surround and doors. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I also bought a shed! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build 384Aug 11, 2024 5:16 pm Council recently graded our dirt road and kindly dumped about 30 tonnes of clean fill on my doorstep! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ It is a nice mixture of silt and road base - which means nice organic soil to grow grass, and the road base (gravel) means it should drain well. I've used it to raise the ground level on two sides of the house which was always the plan, to hide the foundation piers and make the house look as if it is sitting on the ground. First was the back of the house: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Then on the side of the house I constructed a low retaining wall from timber sleepers, stained it the same colour as the timber slats on the front of the house and the water heater cupboard, I also dug a 300x300mm trench on the outside of this wall into the mainly clay surface, and back-filled it with soil so I could plant a row of low, flowering Wax plants. (I also made temporary frost covers to get them through til Spring and added wire netting to keep away the bunnies and roos!!) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And added a couple of steps - one at the kitchen end and the other outside the 2nd bedroom: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The plumber left the outside drainage pipes high as I told him I was raising the ground level. He told me when I had done this to just cut the pipes down to ground level. For the time being, both this raised surface and the one at the back will just have grass sown. I had originally planned on making 2 big sliding doors for the bookcase-pantry I put in. At the last minute i changed my mind when I discovered IKEA make doors for their Billy bookcases! The only things I was not sure about were the 'country-kitchen' look of the doors (no choice for a plain white door!) and the doors for the extensions on the top only came with a glass front. But I am slowly getting used to them. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I am now in the process of framing in the shelving, and plaster-boarding around it. Currently I have applied the base coat of plaster and have 2 more plaster coats and three of paint to do before it is finished. Allowing a day for each to dry, I expect to have it finished by Thursday. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ My neighbours dropped off a housewarming gift - a door mat with the house name made into it! (The name of the house is an amalgam of the first 2 syllables of my late partners surname and the last syllable of mine.) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ One more thing - a few weeks ago I made the decision to give up my 40 years of casual teaching and retire early!! I was hating the job, Casual teachers cop so much grief from vile little students, I was so tired of the verbal abuse and disrespect (which somehow seems far worse since their Covid stay-at-home period) I worked out I can survive on my Super til the pension. This means I can (FINALLY!!) return to my art career which has pretty much been on hold during the building adventure. The whole point of this build, moving to the country and ending up with no mortgage, electricity or water bills, and growing most of my own food, was to put myself in the position of needing very little money to live on and returning to art making, but (for the first time ever) full-time. I still have my shed/studio to build, so sculpting (my main format) will have to wait a bit longer as I don't really have the space. I'm returning to making 2D work and have eked out a little space in the lounge for the time being. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build 385Aug 11, 2024 7:22 pm FYI. The ground around the building needs to be lower than the ground under the building and slopes away from the building, so stormwater doesn’t pond under or around foundation that could cause ground movement and cracks in house and uneven floors. Also you need to leave at least 400-600mm clearance under the floor for maintenance and inspections in addition the subfloor needs to be well ventilated and timber shouldn’t be in contact with ground (unless it’s H5 treated) to prevent mould growing and timber decay. Re: Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build 386Aug 11, 2024 7:40 pm Eng. B A FYI. The ground around the building needs to be lower than the ground under the building and slopes away from the building, so stormwater doesn’t pond under or around foundation that could cause ground movement and cracks in house and uneven floors. Also you need to leave at least 400-600mm clearance under the floor for maintenance and inspections in addition the subfloor needs to be well ventilated and timber shouldn’t be in contact with ground (unless it’s H5 treated) to prevent mould growing and timber decay. Thanks for your input. Council approved the 300mm high concrete and metal piers that the containers sit on. The subfloor has adequate ventilation as both the front and back decks run the length of the building and the gaps between the decking boards allows ventilation to flow under the house. Also, there will be no timbers touching the soil (at the moment it looks as if soilis very close to the deck joists but I'm expecting settling to occur. All the foundations of the house are concrete piers formed inside metal tubing. Re: Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build 387Aug 29, 2024 9:16 am Brief update - work on the house moves slowly on, but I did manage to finish the pantry. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Now the surround is complete, I am warming to the 'Shaker' style cupboards. The narrow cupboard doors are really great, and make getting supplies really quick (once I memorise where things are!!) I am really glad I didn't go with the sliding doors idea. Next thing on the list was the TV. Not a big TV watcher - my last TV died (17") about 2 years ago and I didn't bother replacing it until last week. I am also not a fan of TV's as room furniture, so I bought a telescopic support which allows me to put the TV away into the cupboard when not in use. As it also swivels, it permits a screen larger than the door opening. I ended up with a 40" as I wasn't game enough to risk a larger one fitting through the door opening. Though I think now from use I could possibly go to a 46" in the future if/when this one dies! I still need to finish inside the cupboard - hide the studs and build shelving under and around the TV arm. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Currently trying to get the long neglected veggie garden back into shape ready for Spring plantings in a few weeks. Though we are having a week of horrible windy weather (up to 80+kph winds 😒so I am not inclined to go outside to do any work! Re: Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build 388Sep 29, 2024 10:45 am Well it seems to have been one of the windiest Septembers I can remember since being in this region. More than any other weather phenomenon - I hate wind the most! As the house is now a home, i am loathe to do any messy building work indoors as the dust and mess will get into everything. So this is currently my workshop: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ So the wind has impacted on what I can and can't so. One thing i love about my bathroom is being able to gaze out of the window as I shower in the mornings and watch the 'roos, ducks on the dam, and brightly coloured birds in the trees. I can see out of the house in three directions. Through the shower screen and open door to beyond the kitchen and the big window at the front of the house: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Directly through the bathroom window: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And thirdly, the reflection in the big bathroom mirror through the window which reveals another different perspective: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ But during the past year a few visitors have expressed surprise that one would be so 'exposed' while showering!! It has never concerned me as it is so quiet out here, but thinking about how visitors who stay over might feel, I decided to add a roller blind for privacy. It may also be useful for minimising the morning Summer sun which shines straight though the window from sunrise until about 11am. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I've been watering the grass seed twice a day and it has started popping up: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This side of the house gets morning sun every day - at the back of the house, much of where I have sown grass seed is in perpetual shade until well into Summer when the sun is higher, so it has taken about 10 days longer for the seeds to sprout. (I used a shade tolerant variety.) Being Spring, when it wasn't a howling gale, I would duck outside and work on the veggie garden when I could. I put up a climbing frame across one of the beds and have planted snow peas and climbing beans. Rhubarb is always in, as it mint and chives. Plus a few tubers of yacón - a South American root which is sweet and crunchy (like a Nashi pear) and can be used in fruit salads, salads and cooked. (I put it in stir fry's and on my breakfast cereal.) I've also sown a row of coriander and one of capsicum seeds. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The rest of my veggies will go in sometime in mid October when the soil warms up more. I know the soil needs mulch, but there is no point until the bad winds stop as it will just end up being blown off the soil and up against the fence! I then decided to tackle the mess under and around the veggie garden water tank - a dumping ground for all things gardeny! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I plan to enclose 3 sides under the tank and add a shelf. Then I can store fertilisers, plant food, pots etc there. On the outside I'll attach wire mesh and grow some climbing purple Hardenbergia there, Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hopefully I can get it to cover the water tank. One positive of all the wind and being housebound is I've been able to spend a lot of time resurrecting my dormant art career - my little working space has spread a little. A large piece of polystyrene packaging has been useful as a back 'wall' - great for protecting the sofa and as a pin board. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I really do need to crack on and get my studio built! Re: Tondelver House - Shipping Container Build 389Nov 09, 2024 10:06 am Spring means focus is shifted to outdoors. I'm back to my regular weed rambles, where I take a bucket and secateurs and wander around my 25 acres looking for weed outbreaks. The main weeds this years appear to be small outbreaks of Patterson's Curse (Echium plantagineum) an invasive non native plant which spreads like wildfire. Fortunately outbreaks on my property remain small and easily managed. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ They have shallow roots and are easily pulled up and chopped up if already flowering. Experience with some weeds (especially thistles) is that sometimes uprooting a plant with flowers doesn't always stop them from spreading seeds. I've seen thistles uprooted only to come back a week later to find the plant in its death throes has managed to continue feeding the pollinated flower until seeds were formed and released. So I cut off thistle heads and store them in the bucket where they are put in the rubbish. The rest of the thistle is uprooted, chopped up a bit and left in place. This year it looks as if P.Curse and Thistles (Scotch and Saffron) are the main problems. I've covered about half my property and collected no thistle heads - none had yet begun forming flowers. I'm doing the other half this afternoon. I finished tidying up around the water tank, and planted the Hardenbergia vine on 2 sides. Off cuts of fibrous cement have enclosed 3 sides and further stabilized the structure. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Next is the veggie garden. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ (This pic was taken 2 days ago - by this morning they have doubled in size! Same with the zucchini.) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I also have capsicums, mint, climbing beans and yakon growing (no pix) It is also Callistemon (Bottlebrush) time - love the vibrant red of this variety: These bushes went from one or two flowers 5 days ago to this today! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Unusual flowers on this tree!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Lately there have been huge flocks of these raucous beautiful cockatoos - I estimated around 90 - 100 the other day - and their screeching is deafening. Spring also brings out other native animals - though I've yet to see a snake this season. Here's a very cute echidna I happened upon a few days ago waddling along my driveway. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Something occurred the other day when I happened to lay out two of my right angled rulers. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ One of them is out!! I've been using these for years - so there are possibly no right angles in the build!! I initially cursed 'cheap Chinese rubbish' until a closer inspection: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ German products are usually so precise! Finally, having now lived here for more than a year I thought I'd give a brief update on my solar power set up. 3.12 kW panels Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ New Victron 5kW inverter Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ 2 x 5kW Li-Ion batteries Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Around May this year my Growatt inverter died and I was left without power. Typically, it only came with a 2 year warranty. It lasted 2 years and one month. When I contacted my solar company they told me they stopped dealing with Growatt 18 months prior, as they had lots of issues with them and dealing with the company. (When I bought mine they had just started using Growatts as they were very popular at the time. Soon after they realised the issues and stopped selling and dealing with them.) They said I could contact the company myself and see if they could do anything, but they didn't fancy my chances as it was out of warranty! So I needed a new inverter, and the company I had used offered me a big discount on the Victron (extremely good reputation) So I've had that installed and since then (touch wood) all is going swimmingly At the onset of winter I noticed my batteries were getting extremely low, with the heat-pump water heater being the main culprit. But after reading the water heater's manual I discovered it had a built in timer, plus the hybrid mode (where it draws heat from the atmosphere to heat the water and boosts it with electricity) switches to 100% electric heating mode when the ambient temperature drops below 5 deg C. (which it often does here in winter). So once I set the timer to turn the water heater on at 10am, when the sun is up and the temperature has often climbed above 5 deg, I have not had power issues. In fact, almost all of the time, my battery levels do not drop below 75% full. When using the hybrid mode, the water heater combined with my fridge plus separate upright freezer uses only around 440W to power all three. (Which at the moment is using all the power directly from the sun and none from the batteries.) Heating has been almost unnecessary. On sunny days, when the outside temp is just above zero (and the 'feel-like temp can be in in the minus 5 - 10 range) it has reached 29 deg inside due to the passive solar heating. And the insulation means this heat stays in the house so that by 10pm it can still be 22deg. Of course there were 2 or 3 instances where there were 3 - 4 consecutive cloudy days with virtually no sunshine. So no heat was coming in and it did get down to around 10 deg inside. So I have a kerosene heater which I put on for an hour at a time when I'm sitting still. Once I'm moving about and wearing a sweater, cold is no longer an issue! So as a result of this, I do not feel the need to have a wood burning fire in the house as i originally planned. I've stayed in places with them, as as nice and atmospheric as they are, I wasn't keen on the finding of firewood, the cleaning involved etc. At some point if the cold does become an issue I think I could probably install a small reverse cycle air-con for some heating. It gives me a huge amount of pleasure not to have to pay electricity bills ever again!! Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 56801 hi guys. Please be nice. First time home builder in Qld. I would like some feedback please on whether I should build my granny flat first before my main house at the… 0 18589 Semi-regional I guess? Northern NSW, coastal. A lot of the volume builders are building homes that are more for towns/suburbia. This is going to be on a farm and that… 2 7172 |