Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Canberra custom KDR 15Nov 15, 2017 9:05 pm The slab ended up turning out quite well - good enough for a polished concrete finish, despite not being spec'd as such (we're going with tiles, mostly for aesthetic reasons). Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Not that you can see in the photo, of course, but there's only three small hairline surface cracks in the entire slab. Not bad, especially for N25 concrete! (the slab looks a bit 'blotchy' in the photo due to residual damp spots from recent rain that hadn't fully dried out when the photo was taken). In the bottom-left of the photo you can also see part of the hand-dug basic trenching system used to drain water away from a couple of spots near the slab that were subject to run-off pooling due to the fall of the land (one of those spots is visible in the bottom right of the photo). This was especially important during the wet-curing process, and given the weather forecast for the rest of the week will probably be just as important going forward! The green 'fabric' around the edge of the slab is the termite protection - Termigreen, which was selected primarily because it's a physical barrier which doesn't form a thermal bridge through the insulation (unlike metal solutions, e.g. Termimesh - another advantage of not using a metal barrier is not having to worry about rusting). Termigreen is actually a combination defence (physical and chemical), with the pesticide being impregnated into the fabric; this means that (unlike many chemical barriers) it won't leach into the surrounding environment and doesn't require regular top-up treatments. Thanks to the efforts of the builder, the schedule is now going full steam ahead, and we're aiming to have the framing completed and wrapped and the roof on before Christmas. It's by no means certain that this will be achieved - but it's now at least plausible, whereas a couple of weeks ago the odds of getting the roof on before the break were looking like zero. Unfortunately, it's already looking like there's going to be more unscheduled delays - the carpenters are due on site tomorrow lunchtime to commence the framing work, but the weather forecast for the next three days is for a lot of rain and possible thunderstorms. We'll see how it goes... In other site news, the resident apricot tree looks like it's preparing for a bumper crop this year! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Canberra custom KDR 16Nov 20, 2017 10:21 pm As expected due to the rain, Thursday was a washout, as was Friday. Then, today, this happened: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Ground floor frames are up! (Mostly, still a bit of finishing off to do). They seem pretty good to our inexpert eyes - generally square and flush, noggins throughout, no timber that we could see with big holes or other visible defects. Without measuring anything, the floor plan looks pretty right on first glance. It was an interesting experience walking around what feels like the first truly tangible signs of the house to be - the physical embodiment of the plans I'd spent so long working on and agonising over. For the first time I could see in full scale how the house works and how it interacts with the surroundings. I could check views from (future) windows, internal sight lines, distances and clearances, movement and flow in real life - fortunately, it's all working out well so far! (Not that that kept me from keeping on double-guessing the plan - should I have changed the window heights again? Should that display niche be deeper? etc. But on reflection and after the initial experience, I still think we've made the right calls). Re: Canberra custom KDR 17Nov 21, 2017 7:04 pm Looking good. It is a great feeling when you can see the house in the 'flesh' as it were. Keeping my fingers crossed for your roof prior to Christmas. Variegated Re: Canberra custom KDR 18Nov 23, 2017 9:20 pm As of yesterday - my precious Posistruts Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Locked together with strongbacks, these should form a very solid base for the upper floor, much sturdier than typical Australian construction. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Here's an overview of the site, showing the garage in front of the house (the garage looks a lot larger in proportion due to the camera angle and foreshortening, it's not really that big!): Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Mind you, there was a slight slip-up with the garage. We'd factored in the trees on our site, but it hadn't clicked that one of the neighbour's trees was overhanging the fence: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A bit of trimming will be required! Re: Canberra custom KDR 19Dec 01, 2017 8:42 pm So, on Saturday the Hebel PowerFloor went on: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And then yesterday the upper frames went up: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The roof trusses have been craned up, but won't be installed until after the Proctorwrap (it gets wrapped over the top plate and then the trusses get placed on top. We then had an official framing stage inspection today with the builder - a couple of minor things to do (which he was already aware of), but nothing major - the framing stage is essentially complete (and invoice issued). It was a very wet afternoon, but fortunately we were able to see the views from upstairs before the rain set in - and it's as good as we hoped for! Getting up on ladders, flying camera drones, and estimating from what you could see on the ground is one thing - being able to finally see it directly in person is very different (and very reassuring, in our case). The existing trees provide privacy from our neighbours' yard (which was a concern for both us and them), and we've got excellent views all-round otherwise. Re: Canberra custom KDR 20Dec 02, 2017 6:43 am Looking good! What function does the proctorwrap serve? Being able to see the view instead of imagining it is a great feeling, and I'm glad that yours has met expectations. Hope the current rain doesn't slow things down for you too much. Variegated Wow I hadn't realised things had gotten that pricey in just a couple of years since I built, that is crazy with how much land is now costing if you aren't lucky enough to… 3 7210 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37552 The biggest challenge will be if you take out a loan and then run out of money - you'll have an incomplete security and lenders do not like this so you can get stuck.… 2 19366 |