Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 81Jun 28, 2015 3:04 pm Good to see the local residents keeping an eye on your place whilst you couldn't (pun intended). My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 82Jun 28, 2015 7:00 pm Removing that corner post has certainly been a challenge, but I think there may be more challenges for you on your enterprising build. Getting the new steel beams up and fixed in position will be your next hurdle. You probable will need additional labour to help you do this. I also have kangaroos on my property. They seem to have worked out my routine. They can tell the difference between me leaving in my car to say visit a neighbour and when I pack the car to return home in the city. As soon as I start to pack my car they immediately move in closer. I can see them in my rear view mirror as I leave hopping down my drive, but if I just get in my car and leave (without packing) they keep their distance. Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 83Jun 30, 2015 11:56 am I never get tired of seeing the 'roos. Mine are really skittish but I hope eventually they may get used to me being there when I finally move in.
Was delighted yesterday to see (for the first time) a flock of around 15 - 20 Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos - one of my favourite native birds. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ They were creating havoc with the pine cones dropping them like bombs from a B52 (which I don't mind as I don't like the pines on my property and will eventually replace them with natives.) These are reasons I'm happy to have left life in the inner city! Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 84Jun 30, 2015 1:50 pm Oh wow they are just beautiful. I hope this means that there are becoming more around as only last week I saw a flock of them near my property for the first time ever, we are only 1.5 hrs south west of you. My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 85Jun 30, 2015 8:47 pm waxinggibbous I never get tired of seeing the 'roos. Mine are really skittish but I hope eventually they may get used to me being there when I finally move in. Was delighted yesterday to see (for the first time) a flock of around 15 - 20 Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos - one of my favourite native birds. They were creating havoc with the pine cones dropping them like bombs from a B52 (which I don't mind as I don't like the pines on my property and will eventually replace them with natives.) These are reasons I'm happy to have left life in the inner city! They are just beautiful aren't they - I love their calls Build thread http://tinyurl.com/llgc7yk Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 86Jun 30, 2015 9:21 pm My apologies if I put a damper on this thread, but some cockatoos that looked very similar to those posted above destroyed my timber balcony handrail in less than an hour. I hope there are plenty of trees near Tondelver House so they don't develop a taste for steel shipping containers. Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 87Jul 02, 2015 12:19 pm Sorry to hear about your cocky destruction Beetaloo- apparently they love soft woods. If you paint your railing white apparently they don't like white. Or rub in Chilli oil.
In Sydney Cockatoos destroyed the facades of heaps of the cheaply built M****** apartments because they used painted polystyrene for their external facades and details. Whilst on the wildlife subject - I've just discovered another fresh wombat hole: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ That makes 4 active ones so far - but I haven't been there at sundown to see them yet. I'm fortunate to have a rocky area on my land which they seem to love. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ In other news - I now have all of my windows delivered but not nearly ready to install them! (Why order them then I hear you ask? Well in the 18 months since I had my first quote the 4 big windows alone had gone up $1,000!) These are the 2.1 sq metre ones for the front of the house. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The rest of the windows and sliding doors I changed from custom sized to premade and saved a motza - ended up getting them from The Big Green Shed. Can't vouch for the quality - will let you know one they are in. (Economy at this stage sometimes wins out over quality.) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 88Jul 03, 2015 10:16 pm Better than being ready for windows and having to wait for 8 weeks or so. Oh I wish I had wombats, but my fences probably don't! My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 89Jul 03, 2015 10:21 pm Love your little rocky outcrops! Will be interested in your feedback on the windows Build thread http://tinyurl.com/llgc7yk Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 90Jul 12, 2015 10:13 am My next step was to cut channels through the corner blocks that were above those two corner posts I removed.
Each container has 8 of these, one at each upper and lower corner. They have holes in them to attach hooks for lifting. They are thick. Very thick. Tony Abbott thick. And were just as stubborn to listen to reason and good sense! I invented a few new expletives getting this task done but eventually, grinding away a chunk at a time, I created two channels wide enough for the 'C' beams to pass through. Off-cut pieces seemed to be around 12-15mm thick. It wasn't pretty but it did the job! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And so the first beam is up - this one is just shy of 5M. It is firmly wedged in place and doesn't want to move but it will be welded in. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And then I went back to removing more of the wall panels. Down to the last few: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The red panels are the last to go - the two in the far background remain as they will be hidden inside the entrance cupboard and lounge wall. I tip for the thrifty - I went out to the Big Green Shed to get a ladder plank (in above pic). In the ladder dept. they had a 3M long laminated plank for $75. So I went to the timber section and asked for a 3M length of LVL (Same width and length as the plank) and was charged $47.30. This is the area being opened up: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Alas yesterday my angle grinder bit the dust. When I first moved here 2 and a half years ago my first ever visit to an Aldi store I went in to get bread, eggs and cheese and came out with an angle grinder. (Aldi is dangerous that way) I thought at $29 it might last 6 months and do some of the preliminary light jobs until I could decide on a proper one. Well bless its little heart - it has done everything so far, foundation tube cutting, all of the pre and post welding clean up and every wall panel cut-out. And what finally stopped it wasn't the motor (around 1140W) but the little button on the wheel locking mechanism to tighten the disks gave way. So I now have a Bosch. Nice and light, slimmer body so easier to hold. The Aldi one is still useable but changing a disk is a lot fiddlier and time consuming now. My mate came up to visit and planted a dozen rhubarb plants that he split from his own garden, as well as some mint. He used some pier tube offcuts sunk into the ground to stop the mint spreading like a weed (which it tends to do). Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Today we are heading for a top of 4 degrees. I'm staying home under a doona to watch another 10 episodes of Breaking Bad!! Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 91Jul 12, 2015 6:04 pm Well that's a clever idea for mint . We also had a similar forecast, since it was going to be so cold I was at least hoping for snow but just got miserable windy drizzle My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 92Jul 13, 2015 3:21 pm It's really coming along and looking great!! Sad to hear your little angle grinder died, I have been through a range of grinders over the years, still have a few I got a plasma cutter a while back and it has opened up a world of wonder to me They are amazing tools, they make controlled lighting!! I can't help but think your life would be soooo much easier with one. Keep at it, it's going great!! 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: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 93Jul 13, 2015 9:12 pm Thanks Steve - going slow but steady. Been watching your thread for updates - how's that second pavilion going?
I was considering the plasma cutter but currently being only on a generator and needing the plasma cutter AND a petrol compressor - cost was a factor which made me decide against one for now. Though down the track I think I would love one for my sculpting practice. And YAY!! Finally all the wall panels have gone and I get a clear sense of the space. (Blue posts are temporary props until the 2 x 7M beams go up.) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 94Jul 14, 2015 7:09 pm After your steel beams go in, what is your next task. Are you going to continue to work inside fitting out the interior or are you going to install windows and clad the outside? Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 95Jul 15, 2015 11:45 am Beetaloo - once the steel beams are in and welded I intend to work on the roof and back verandah (as it forms part of the roof area) and get it connected to the watertank. Then I will probably continue with the exterior cladding before heading inside to work. But don't hold me to it!! Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 96Jul 15, 2015 1:38 pm Quote: I was considering the plasma cutter but currently being only on a generator and needing the plasma cutter AND a petrol compressor - cost was a factor which made me decide against one for now. Though down the track I think I would love one for my sculpting practice. One of my neighbours used to make tin animals out of second hand corrugated iron and other bits of salvaged steel using just tin snips, angle grinder and other basic hand tools. It was nothing more than a hobby until she invested in a plasma cutter. Almost over-night the quality of her products went up and the work effort and time went down so that now it is a profitable business. So keep saving for your own plasma cutter. Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 97Jul 20, 2015 9:13 am I don't know if anyone else saw it but we watched an episode of Grand Designs last night where a guy built a container home in Northern Ireland. He built it on his parents land on a sloping part of the property and he was both a farmer and an architect. He didn't do much of the build himself and just used lots of tradies. The all up cost was £130,000. It turned out pretty schmick and Kevin McLeod was suitably impressed ( as were we ). Dunno about the £16,000 hammock bath though. Stewie Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 98Jul 20, 2015 9:28 am Actually I also saw the episode and was thinking about this thread too. Very impressive but the bath was a bit over the top. My build thread: Custom build on 40 acres viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75656 Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 99Jul 20, 2015 10:53 am Yeah, £16,000 for a bath ( only seats one ) equates to $33,709 aussie dollars! It looked pretty good in the showroom and the sales guy said something like it is totally supported by the walls. True, but then you have the waste pipe sticking out the bottom of it kind of ruining the look or did he have the same setup as this where the waste just empties over the top of the floor waste? http://www.cnet.com/news/carbon-fiber-h ... i-fi-soak/ Stewie Re: Tondelver House - Southern Highlands 100Jul 20, 2015 8:41 pm I got to see the episode - great looking place in a beautiful environment. Wished they'd shown a bit more of the inside. Can't believe that more than 12% of the entire cost of the house went on that bath! I'm not even having a bath in my place!! 1 10488 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 17628 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 4596 |