Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 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 10629 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 7088 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 6481 |