Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum Re: About to step off the edge...... 101Apr 25, 2010 9:29 pm Here're some pics: Soak Wells Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The soak well installers were so taken with my dunny Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ that they've offered to buy it!! As soon as the last large job - paving - ends next week, I'll disconnect and sell it. Fence: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ There're some problems with painting. Volvox paint's great, but..... it seems to require a truly perfect plaster underneath. It's supposed to be applied without any undercoat/priming and that works well, at least for Gyprock. Our plastering is unfortunately average and all scratches and imperfections are highlighted by this paint with welts and smudges. I've run some tests and putting the Bio paint undercoat fixes the problem. So I'll have to spend an extra $170 on that and some time applying it and sanding the welts off the walls of the one room that's been painted. Kermit was right, it's not easy to be green...... I've had 25 tons (!!!!) of blue metal delivered Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ for paving the driveway. I've decided to have Gravel Cells http://www.porous-paving.com.au/gravelcell.html instead of paving or liquid limestone. It's a bit of an experiment, but I'd like to have permeable paving, besides, this will save me over $3000, significant at this stage. Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: About to step off the edge...... 102Apr 26, 2010 3:03 am wow you must be so excited your nearly there how long till you move in now great job by the way stay safe happy building Re: About to step off the edge...... 103Apr 26, 2010 11:18 am bingoshelley wow you must be so excited your nearly there how long till you move in now great job by the way Hi Shelley! Excited ? Hmmmmm, I don't know, I'm mostly tired, it was a rough ride at times and too long, so I'm just impatient for it to end. No matter what, we're taking off for hols in 2 weeks, for the first time in a couple of years. We'll probably move in after we've come back, something to look forward to on the way back home. I see that your project's moving too, good on you. Best of luck with kicking the habit . Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: About to step off the edge...... 104Apr 26, 2010 11:55 am Really coming along now Kristofw. Can't be too much more to do. Sounds like a holiday is what you need. What are you going to do with your old place? Sell it? Rent it out? demolish it? It might have taken "forever" but its a place you can be so proud of. You've made such an effort to keep the house as eco friendly as you could. grr I don't really like that term but you know what I mean. I will be keen to hear how your windows go over the winter. Re: About to step off the edge...... 105Apr 28, 2010 5:24 pm kexkez Really coming along now Kristofw. Can't be too much more to do. Sounds like a holiday is what you need. What are you going to do with your old place? Sell it? Rent it out? demolish it? DW is dead set on renting, I on the other hand would rather demolish, subdivide and sell. Going by experience I'd say though that we're most likely to rent Now, I've sorted out the painting problems. A coat of BIO wall primer on the plastered walls and joints in Gyprock, before final single coat of Volvox does the trick. Friendly eco-painter did the ceilings and cornices for me (my neck seems to be rather too stiff for that nowadays) and some walls. I'll do the rest, having learned some useful tricks. Yesterday I've had the driveway paved with gravel cells http://www.porous-paving.com.au/gravelcell.html. It's amazing how fast it went in, one shift for 3 guys with a dingo and I could drive over it right away. They'll install concrete edging tomorrow. Mesh delivery Prep work Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Mesh panels go in Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Topping with blue metal Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Result Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The result's OK, after edging/kerbing it should look real well. I've a strong impression that my driveway is the 1-st residential installation for this crew. There're several advantages to this product: 1. Speed and ease of installation. It's very easy to adjust it afterwards too. 2. No need for reo, cement/concrete, etc, so very low on embedded energy. 3. Mesh made of recycled plactic (I hope). 4. Permeable - no need for drainage. 5. Low thermal mass, won't absorb much heat in summer. 6. Cost - I've saved at least 20% over liquid limestone, pavers, etc. Disadvantages ?? I don't know yet, I'll probably learn in the future. Hopefully none. DW keeps grizzling about sweeping off leaves and debris caught in the gravel, but I'll get a blow-vac for that. OK, have to dash now, a few more walls to prime..... Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: About to step off the edge...... 106Apr 28, 2010 5:33 pm Ha, that's a very interesting product! I thought it's a compacted gravel (as you can't even see the mesh in your finished pic), but it all sits inside the little boxes! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... gravell cells 107May 03, 2010 4:14 pm i am very interested to used a similar option for a driveway and a second car park on the side of my home . what is the difference between Gravel cell and bodpave or turfpave? what short of gravel did you use? thank you Re: gravell cells 108May 04, 2010 9:30 pm cathynoosa i am very interested to used a similar option for a driveway and a second car park on the side of my home . what is the difference between Gravel cell and bodpave or turfpave? what short of gravel did you use? thank you I don't know bodpave, but, judging by their web page, it's an almost identical system to turf/gravel cell. Atlantis, the producers or my mesh decided to call the single product by two names, depending on the fill. The only difference between turf and gravel is the fill - soil for turf and gravel for gravel. I've got 12 mm blue metal. It's the cheapest and looks OK. Alternatives were pea gravel (orange/brown) or rainbow stone, significantly more expensive. Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: About to step off the edge...... 109Jul 11, 2010 5:58 pm Here I'm again. After a few week hols in European summer we've come back to the worst cold snap Perth has ever had. And, obviosly to all unfinished jobs in and around the new house. On arrival we've discovered that the house is as warm in winter as promised by the designer. Even on days with 0 C and frost in the night it's about 18-19 degs inside, without any heating. Unfortunately we also found a few unpleasant surprises: 1 - roof leaks in one place into the eaves. I've inspected the area, but it looks OK, so I'll need some expert to have a look at it; 2 - A section of gutter falls the wrong way and we'll most likely need to plonk another down pipe there to take care of that. We're so close to moving in, but there's still a fair bit to do - apply another coat of paint to some walls, touch up ceilings, finish off skirting, install the timber window reveals, fix the handles to the cabinetry, paint the internal doors and skirting and the biggest one - choose curtain rails and curtains. Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: About to step off the edge...... 110Jul 11, 2010 11:01 pm hey chris congrats on being nearly there. i know the feeling of it taking so long but im still excited to finally have it over and done with lol.the driveway looks great a few plants along fence line and it will look amazing congrats once again great job stay safe happy building Re: About to step off the edge...... 111Jul 12, 2010 1:15 pm Chris, hopefully it is not too long now!!! Just hang in there I so envy your double glazed windows in this weather... "The fearless are merely fearless. People who act in spite of their fear are truly brave" - James A. LaFond-Lewis Re: About to step off the edge...... 112Jul 13, 2010 12:05 am HI Chris Congrats on being nearly there! Sure you will get it done soon! BTW I love the colour of your house ... what is it? Kay Re: About to step off the edge...... 113Jul 13, 2010 1:15 pm Thanks for the good wishes! Shelley, I hope that you're getting close to finish too! Littlemoscow I so envy your double glazed windows in this weather... Yeah, they show their worth now. Shame that it's of little good to us, until we move in, the difference between ambience in the old house and the new is incredible. kayandandy BTW I love the colour of your house ... what is it? Dulux Reed Bed Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: About to step off the edge...... 114Jul 22, 2010 12:17 pm Hi Chris, I've just joined the site and have spent the last hour reading your progress. Firstly congrats on a nearly completed project and thanks for the updates. I need a starting point to decide how to proceed with our knockdown-rebuild and I'd love to try the OB path. Your reports both excited me and gave me much to think about. Hope the final bits go well Thanks Again Eric Re: About to step off the edge...... 116Aug 22, 2010 1:50 pm Still not in, but almost there. I've been so busy moonlighting to earn some cash, that I had little time to work on finishing the new place. Had some problems with vibrations from the heat shifter fan, had to make a cushioned platform for it and move it to the top of the brick wall from the rafter, took me a few days to do it right. Managed to finish painting. I'm very happy with the Volvox clay paints. They're real nice and so different from the vinyl bag paints, but a bit tricky to apply. I've bought the Rockcote VOC free gloss paint for the internal doors, architraves and skirts, but have to finish fitting the timber window reveals and sills before I paint. We're also negotiating and order for drapes and curtains. We've moved the washing mashine to the new house and we do our washing in rain water, using 1/2 of the powder. Can't wait to move in, it's soooooooo close, but there's still so much to do.... I'll post the pics of the (almost) finished house shortly... Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: About to step off the edge...... 117Sep 24, 2010 12:20 pm We're moving in in 10 days!!!! I've had to repaint the feature wall, the gyprockers splashed some white stuff on it (cornice glue?) that kept coming out from under the paint I've unveiled the kitchen Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I still need to put on the cabinet handles, but that's lower priority. Made polished Tassie oak sills for my windows: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Installed them: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Fitted the polished Tassie oak reveals around the picture windows: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Then I run into troubles with the frameless shower screen that I bought on E-bay for $800. I spent 2 days on the phone trying to find someone to install it. All glazing outfits I called wouldn't touch it. One glazier living in the neighbourhood deigned to come out to look it up, pawed the bits and instruction for 1/2 hr, hummed and hawed and finally said that it's very hard, would take 2 blokes 2 days to install, ra, ra, ra, hundreds of dollars, ra, ra, ra..... Another outfit agreed reluctantly to send someone out to check it, and maybe quote, for a modest $95 call out fee. Finally I've struck gold, when I called a glazier in Osborne Park, who, without any fuss, quoted me $80/hr, for a 2 -3 hours job. After flat refusals from 8 glaziers, it seemed too good to be true, so I told them that I'll call back and started sniffing around. The company was listed, had a web page, so I called them again, described in detail what I wanted done, just to make sure that they understood the job, they cheerfully confirmed that they'll do it and offered to send a crew that very afternoon. I made a date for the next day, they showed up punctually and in 2.5 hours I've had my lovely shower screen installed: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ In the meantime I've cleaned, and lubricated the windows to make them ready for curtains that'll be installed next week. The only jobs left inside are painting the skirtings and doors and fitting those kitchen cabinet handles, but I can do that at leisure, after we've moved. There's much more to do outside though. The driveway needs kerbing, patio needs decking and something has to be done to the sandpit. Looks like I'll have to do lanscaping and planting on my own, DW, who's a green thumb plant expert, goes shortly to the hospital for reparation of the damaged tendon in her shoulder and will be laid low for at least 6 weeks. So we're getting to the end of our house building adventure. Looking back on it, I'm deeply sorry that I didn't have the knowledge I've got now, when I started. It would've saved me a lot of anxiety and grief and a fair bit of money. Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying Re: About to step off the edge...... 118Sep 25, 2010 12:52 am Oh wow Chris ... that looks so amazing. You must be so chuffed. Your windows look awesome. I think I will do window sills now I have seen yours. My chippie is going to be a very busy man!!!! We are going to move into ours a work in progress - you are very lucky to do what you are doing. Well done! Re: About to step off the edge...... 119Sep 25, 2010 12:20 pm Chris, thanks so much for documenting your build. I love the detail of the window sills We've used Bio paint in one room reno, and Volvox clay paint in another room, and also found the clay paint was so much easier to apply. Our veggie bed thread: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=38476 Re: About to step off the edge...... 120Sep 27, 2010 5:16 pm Thanks kayandandy and lonnie for the kind words. kayandandy You must be so chuffed. I am! But it's bittersweet. I'm a perfectionist and I know and remember only too well everything that's not quite plumb or level, all cracks and ******* bits, etc, etc. I suspect that project builds are no better, but at least the owners don't know what's under the paint. Chris My father rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flies in a jetliner, his son will ride a camel.Saudi saying the step up is 30mm and wanting it to be flat . how much does the concrete have to be lowered .we plan on removing bath and lenghten shower and adding seat. the old bath… 0 11794 Do I need to concern about this pattern of crack? Is this crack showing some signs of bigger problems? Thanks for any suggestions! 1 1895 Take a pick with a level sittingo n the slab and a pick with a level sitting on the sill please. This will help us diagnose the issue and therefore a solution. RE,… 8 9356 |