Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 41Jan 06, 2019 1:07 pm Hi All I did write another post before Xmas but that was the night of the big storms here in the Port Macquarie region and in Sydney. Not long before the power went out and the internet down (I use mobile internet here, no fixed connection yet), I sent the post. However, somewhere in the ethernet, things must have already died, so it was lost in transit. I am now back in beautiful Kew/Lakewood/Laurieton so I will catch up. Hope everyone had a great Xmas and New Year - I certainly enjoyed my relaxing time in Canberra. My New Year's resolution is to do more regular updates, so here goes. The rest of the frames arrived after a couple of false starts. Also, large packs of beams, both steel and laminated wood, as well as fasteners of various kinds, props and more. My mate Joe from Canberra had called by on his way back from QLD helping renovate his brother's weekender in the hills behind Brisbane, ready for more hard yacka. But our friends from Canberra were waylaid by family and health issues, so it was just us two. After trying gamely to lift some of the larger frames, we realised we just couldn't do it with two. Many are quite tall because of the skillion roof and have heavy structural beams in them. The height also made them difficult to control as we tried to lift them. So, being late in the day, we retired to the Metal Mansion (the shed) to ponder our dilemna over beer. As it was a big dilemna, we had a couple more. And retired to bed. Next day, over brekkie and coffee, we scratched our heads more, but no brilliant answers came. I was feeling a bit despondent and wondering how I was going to get started. My other friends wouldn't be available until well into the New Year. Until......... This bloke comes up the driveway in his ute, steps out and says "g'day, was just passing and saw what you were doing. Need help with anything?" It turns out Mick had lots of experience in the building game. Though not a tradie, he's self-taught and had worked on various projects over many years. Mick does small and medium size building and general maintenance jobs, all by word of mouth. One of those knockabout people who can turn his hand to most things. So we chatted for a while, and I said I would think about it. Lacking any other options, I rang him later that day, discussed a few things and agreed to hire him and a mate the next day. Bang on time, Mick and Trevor arrive next day. Progress at last. We started with the granny Flat, just finding the right frames and placing them near where they would be stood. Turns out Joe is also an enthusiastic and proficient stapler of waterproofing strip to the bottom of frames! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 42Jan 11, 2019 6:57 pm The hot weather made it a bit of a challenge and certainly we deserved a beer or two at the end of the day. Did I mention rain? Of course, living in the sub tropical mid North coast is always going provide some changing weather. And so we got rained out a couple of times and work ground to a halt. And started again. The "front" of the house, lounge/audio room closest, ensuite and and main bed on the left, front door part way along on the right and the dining room after it, then the laundry, bathroom and bedrooms wing tucked back a bit. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is the view from the "rear" corner, the side which faces the bushland and mountain view and what the house really focusses on. https://forum.homeone.com.au/u/82822_1547196046.jpgLike ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The Granny Flat from the bushland side - with large windows to feel airy and take in the view from the two bedrooms. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The view of of bed 3 from the bushland side, bed 4 behind and then the al fresco area. You certainly realise how high the ceiling will be when you are up there on a ladder nailing things together. And the rook of the al fresco will continue the line and exxtend well beyond the concrete edge. I think it will be about 5.6 meters high at the outer edge, supported by two long, slanted hardwood beams. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The trueing and plumbing of the frames took some time, probably made a bit more difficult because they had sat out for a couiple of weeks in the open while we got under way. It is a tricky job which requires some knowhow, it is not as simple as I had thought, but thanks to the experience of Mick and his "tricks of the trade" we kept at it and got it done. But the frame is not finished yet, there is more to do .......... Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 44Jan 14, 2019 7:55 am billybman - thanks for the question. Yes, I did have some bowing and twisting, unfortunately. It was limited by the fact they were stacked but still some occurred, in a few cases quite noticeable including on one or two of the big beams - we fixed these by propping and weighting. We have been able to remove most, almost all of the frame issues in the process of erecting and truing to the extent it is no longer a problem. It did take same hard work and extra time, including use of large ratchet straps and various methods of pulling them into shape. Tricks of the trade, with the help of Mick's experience. It would have been better if the frames could have been put up within days of arrival, but circumstances prevented that. Everything it fixable, I guess, it is just the time and perhaps cost if you are paying for labour that is a problem. Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 45Jan 14, 2019 7:59 am I had similar issues. Had to use metal bar in some areas as well as extra bracing to push and pull out bows in the tops of the frames. I found adding the ribbon plate helped to straighten things out a bit as well. I finished my wall a few days ago and today we start on trusses. Here is a pic of my project. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 46Jan 14, 2019 9:01 am billybman I had similar issues. Had to use metal bar in some areas as well as extra bracing to push and pull out bows in the tops of the frames. I found adding the ribbon plate helped to straighten things out a bit as well. I finished my wall a few days ago and today we start on trusses. Here is a pic of my project. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hey looks great billyman. Have you done this before or are you a first timer like me? Your site looks a lot more difficult than mine. How will yours be clad? Once I finish the dynabolting I will do a final check and nailing and then get on to the ribbon top plate which, as you say, should also help get/keep things straight. Some of those are chamfered to account for the the skillion roof at each end of the roof and some have twisted quite a bit. I have just come in from the heat to get a drink and changeover batteries in the hammer drill. Luckily I have plenty of batteries as drilling into concrete works them hard, particularly when you hit reo. AEG, Bunnings and I are best buddies! Do you have a blog on here I can follow? Good luck with your build. I will be keeping the blog updated more regularly now. Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 47Jan 14, 2019 9:58 am Ive done heaps of renos before but nothing to this scale. First time doing something like this. Been solid at it for about 3 weeks. I’m adding a 2nd level and had a crane drop in all the beams, lvls and I beams that make up the floor system. After that had to quickly detail and install the floor boards as rain was coming. Managed to finish that and wrap it in plastic and that night it poured!!! I got the frames up this week and have been battling the heat to get the bows and twists out. Both the internal and external frames have been warped by the heat up here. I installed an additional top plate on all frames to help stiffen them and will just cut out gaps where the trusses intersect. Start truss work today. I don’t have a blog but use my Facebook to post updates. Too busy for blogging as have been doing this with all the time I can find. I sent my wife and kids away for 3 weeks so I could smash out all the major structural stuff whilw they were gone! Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 49Jan 14, 2019 5:11 pm I have to set some vertical steel poles into the frame as well, mainly for supporting cross beams. Plus the are long vertical angled hardwood posts which are set in steel brackets and fixed to the slab with chemset studs. I am getting some help with those because they need more expertise than I have plus a crane and multiple strong hands to get them in place. A bloke who was recommended to me is coming around tomorrow morning to scope out that work. He is also experienced with Versiclad roofing so I want him to do that too. I still have a bit more work to do yet before i will be ready for that. Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 50Mar 10, 2019 12:08 pm Another few setbacks. A couple of health issues, the intense heat (no roof means no shade to work in) and some other commitments that had to be sorted mean some further delays. Bringing my two old Jaguars (crappy ones, project cars for when I finish the house - ha!) up from Canberra took some time. If it could go wrong, it did, apart from crashing and destroying the Jags. But one is here now and the other resting part way after a problem with the tow vehicle awaiting fixing. There will be time to restore them one day - hope springs eternal. I have another project on the go too. There's nothing like overcommitting yourself and creating challenges to see if you can meet them. It relates to the excess of land I have here and what to do about it. More news on that as it progresses. But that and commitments with the local Men's Shed, plus the other things above, really slowed things down. A bit of a push this week has seen me finish all I can do on my own for both the granny flat and the house. Final truing. Just some top rails to go on, which I cannot do myself due to the heights so I need a second person to assist, and I will be ready for the team with the crane to install the beams. Then the Versiclad roofing can be ordered and the same team will install that. I also need to work this week on the electrical plan with the Sparky as he needs to chase any leads through the roof panels(for overhead lighting) while the roof is being fitted. While it is possible to do it later, it is much harder (read, time consuming and expensive. Once that is done I can wrap the frame, clad it and then get the plumbing and electrical rough done. But at least things are moving on. Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 51Mar 17, 2019 9:32 pm Today we have some good news and some bad news. Such is the life of the owner builder. The good news is that I have bought a tractor! No, I am not a frustrated farmer. It is a Kubota L35 which has a backhoe on it and a 4 in 1 bucket out front. This is me proudly sitting on it, pretending to know how to operate it! Gets delivered mid next week. I have a few small jobs which need doing with the backhoe and moving some fill so it will be put to use immediately. There will be a lot more work for it over time so it made sense to buy a good used machine, look after it and then sell it when the build and landscaping are finished - probably years down the track! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The bad news is that the person I had lined up to do the beams and put on the Versiclad roofing called me to say he is now tied up for some time so will be unavailable. That's a real bummer as there are not many people here with the required experience in doing this type of roofing. He even checked fellow roofers who he trusted but they are tied up too. So it is back to square one again. I started looking again Friday and I am hopeful the guy who built the slabs and shed may be available. Awaiting a call back once he has checked his schedule. He is very reliable so if he say he can, he will. Otherwise I'll be starting all over again. People are still very busy up here, the really hasn't been any cooling off in the building industry in this area. Still raining here though and probably will be tomorrow again, so not much happening onsite. Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 52Mar 31, 2019 4:53 pm Turns out my slab/shed builder isn't available either, he is busy. He checked out a couple of his mates with appropriate experience and commitment, but they are busy too. He did pass on a name though to try, well recommended. Called this chap and he said he might, or might not be able to squeeze it in and would come around in a couple of days with his site manager to check out the job. A couple of days later he dropped in with a couple of mates, sussed out my job and they all said, "sorry, a bit to big to fit in with all the other work we have on. But they did pass on another name to try, and one of them turned up trumps. Came around quickly, talked through what was required and agreed he could be available. I would need another 8-10 days before I had finished the truing and final bracing. "no worries, I have a few small jobs I can finish." Much relief, at least I have someone to do the next stage. But it wasn't to be. Aaarrgghhhh! He rang me a few days later and apologised profusely. "Sorry mate, but I was told last night I had won a quote I put in a while back, and they need a fast start." In despair, I wonder what I am going to do while my frames sit out in the sun and rain, starting to deteriorate. If I don't get a roof on soon, they will end up damaged. An hour or two later, while talking to my designer, I mention my woes. He says "I have someone for you. Very good local guy, just lost a big unit development job and rang me last night to see if I knew of any work going. Has a very good team available too." So I ring him straightaway, and sure enough, he is raring to go. Happy to wait a week to finish a few small jobs, coming round tomorrow to scope the job. Versiclad roofing is currently being specced by local supplier, takes about three weeks from order date to delivery currently as they have heavy orders and a backlog. The building trades are very busy here so it is realy hard to get people who are available soon. Here's hoping........ Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 54Apr 02, 2019 6:20 am Ardo - Thankfully I have a good head of hair still. But I try to keep philosophical about all this. I am retired, my shed is comfy, I have no fixed timeframe or work to return to, although i am getting concerned about my exposed frames and just go with the flow. Plus I have other things I can do if I can't build. I could be working with the tractor to get the veggie garden and other parts done, or various inside tasks. But it would be difficult for the average owner builder who may be concerned about family in rented accommodation or a shed, needing to get back to work to earn money etc. And to add to the challenges, since I now need to finish the truing etc this week so the builder can hopefully come in next Monday, today it is raining. I hope it will clear as I do now have a deadline of sorts. Fingers crossed. Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 55Apr 13, 2019 9:52 am I have lost count of the changes but the latest builder and his team are lined up now. So now it is April 13th and I have confirmed with the builder that he and his team are coming in Monday. They will focus on the beam work and the steel posts, starting with the small ones, as well as helping finish off some of the truing and plumbing that Steve and I haven't been able to get done. We have got most of the top rails on but a few have required packing and finishing to get right. The ones on the front and rear have been chamfered to account for the 10 degree roof slope but are not all even, so some have required a bit of planing, plus we are doing cutouts for the nail plates at the top of the frames below. I have mentioned before, while this is a simple house in concept, it is actually quite complex in its engineering, given the very tall frames and skillion roof with very long spans. We are building this house to a higher standard of accuracy and strength than a builder would, so it takes time. I haven't been putting up pictures since it doesn't look much different, but here are a couple with Steve in it working hard and the yellow LVL beams in over windows and additional bracing.. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 56Apr 19, 2019 5:06 pm This week has seen some great progress with the building team onsite 4 days. They have focussed on getting the steel posts, wooden beams and windows in, as well as preparing the large (200x200mm and 3, 3.6 and 6m length) posts that support the roof on the granny flat and house. Those big hardwood posts are very heavy. The smaller ones are almost all in place. 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 ⋅ The large steel posts and beams for the high wall which contains the large sliding door pack and the windows over - about 4.4m high - required a crane to lit the cross beams in. But careful placement of the viertical steel posts and measurement of the heights of the plates they rest in saw it all happen in minutes each. The vertical steel posts in the middle supporting the upper rails also slipped in easily. The team has done a great job in getting everything set right to accept posts and beams. I haven't been much help this week owing to having some kind of bug and being really, really tired. Best I could do was run to the local building supplies place for wood, screws etc and up to Port Macquarie for bigger stuff at Bunnings and Fastplast. I also got the measurements fully checked for the roof and got the final schedule for materials checked, signed off and the Versiclad roof ordered. It will take about 3 weeks to arrive. So progress is good. The team are taking the next week including Anzac Day off, as am I. I have friends coming to stay and will relax with them for a little while and get over this bug. Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 57May 16, 2019 6:15 pm The week after Easter was a rest period and I had visitors to the Metal Mansion. The team who would help with the roof were also taking a break. In the week after that, Steve and I did some more prep work on the Monday and then the rest of the team came in on Tuesday. There is still plenty of work to get ready for the roofing. More prep work is going on, finalising truing and plumbing, top rails and prepping the tops for the Versiclad. These roof panels require a flat, finished and smooth surface to sit on. This is the big sliding door in the living area going in. It is huge. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The big door fits!! Woohoo!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Then the Versiclad panels arrive, thoroughly well packed with lots of foam in between and around them, and covered with very think plastic. Lots of it. And lots more, and more, and more as I found out later trying to clear it away. Two full semi trailer loads all the way from Sydney. Some of the 150mm thick panels are 13.2 metres long and weigh 140kgs. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 58May 16, 2019 7:47 pm So we now have the Versiclad panels on the ground, securely wrapped. Next step is to book the crane, organise the team and get ready to put it all up on the top of th eframes. So final prep is done and the big job I have been waiting so long for begins. 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 ⋅ Re: Am I crazy? OB near Port Macquarie 60May 18, 2019 2:57 pm As I promised here are more pics of the roof going on. 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 ⋅ The last one is the placement of the beam on top of the leaning hardwood posts which support the roof for the outdoor eating area. That beam is at almost 6 metres high. Well these guys are not looking good... I sent them a written enquiry last week and they have not yet replied. If they cannot respond to a simple… 4 11010 It is in lake macquarie area and dimensions are width 14 m and depth 8 m and the slope is 1/5 going down from the road. 1 7736 I looked into it a few years ago and my conclusion was to just build a carport that will support panels and get a system installed separately. The company I looked at had… 1 6661 |