Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Feb 22, 2012 4:26 pm Hello, Firstly, please bear with me as I am a novice in the forum arena.....I will no doubt learn as I go along. Our journey begins almost 12 months ago. My husband and I undertook the task of owner building the PAAL's design "Camden" which we had slightly modified. This is my husbands 3rd owner build so we went into it confident that we could pull it off......you might say we had stars in our eyes. These days we are much more educated and wise. 5 years ago we travelled to Emu Plains to look over the PAAL display homes and I (the wife) fell in love with the Camden.....fast forward to now and remember that a woman's determination knows no limits and here we are building it........We both wanted to owner build as we saw the benefits both in cost savings and control over the quality of work (plus the Camden was the design I had my heart set on). It has been a lot of hard work - we are currently at lock up stage - and I will endeavour to trace back through our journey. We stumbled upon a block of land in the lower hunter valley. It was 1800sqm and had a 30m frontage - the estate covenants meant we had to modify the design to incorporate a double attached garage and also we were not able to build within 5 mtrs of each side boundary. On the advice from Doug Young at PAAL we set the house back 15mtrs off the front boundary and plonked it right in the middle of the block - advice in hindsight that was spot on. The estate has a large project home display village and we are bucking the trend by owner building. It has been an eye-opening experience watching the project home being built around us, and it has reinforced our decision to owner build. We poured our waffle pod slab in March 2011 and when our first delivery from PAAL arrived in April we began to stand the frame. We employed a fixer to mark out the slab and tack in the wall panels, all of which took him 2 days. After that we plugged along on our own. The framing system PAAL provided us with is targeted at the "handyman" and as long as you follow their very detailed instructions and put in the hours - are half handy with a drill, spanner, spirit level and can climb a ladder - eventually the frame will be built. I must stress that TIME and PATIENCE are virtues with this system......plus the helping hand of a good wife !! I'll sign off now - will try to upload our plans and then carry on our story with photos as I can. Thanks, Lyndall Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 2Feb 22, 2012 6:09 pm Wow Lyndall, sounds like you've been putting in heaps of work and you'll really have an intimate relationship with your home once it's complete. You'll know ever screw, nail, and bit of steel in it. We are also owner building at the moment doing most of the work ourselves, so I understand how totally consuming it is. Can't wait to see some pictures! Maybe you could also put this thread in the Owner Builder discussion forum as more owner builders would read it there. I'm not sure how you would move it though, I'm not very experienced at posting either! I look forward to following your story. TamK Our owner-builder journey - viewtopic.php?f=38&t=45187 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 3Feb 22, 2012 10:00 pm Hi Lyndall! I'll get one of the moderators to move you into Owner Building. Uploading pics: create an account with an online photo-sharing site eg. tinypic or photo bucket (I have used both and prefer photo bucket), upload the photo/s you want and then copy the IMG code and paste the code into your thread. The photo will then show up for us all to see. BTW hubby and I used to live in the area, we had a house in Woodberry. Have in-laws in Thornton and Telarah. Love the area. RF Build: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=34534 Flooring: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=39733 Chat: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=53303 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 4Feb 23, 2012 11:06 am Front and rear view plans. (Still working out the kinks in uploading pics) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 5Feb 23, 2012 11:20 am Our slightly modified floor plan - we added an extra side veranda and also a double attached garage. Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 6Feb 23, 2012 12:03 pm I don't think your dropbox folder isn't a shared folder so you will not be able to post the pics unless you have them in a shared folder. Our Building on 118 acres in South Gippsland thread - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=54556 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 7Feb 23, 2012 12:08 pm my parents just finished building a paal home up here in qld it had to be shipped up. finished building 40 square home on 5 acres with perry homes.working on the landscaping just finished pool deck with ://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=2217 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 8Feb 23, 2012 2:11 pm OK.......hopefully this picture will show.... Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 9Feb 23, 2012 2:54 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ During the February heatwave of a weeklong 40-43 temperatures we built the lap and cap fences with our neighbours - we figured it was an initation that we had survived. The block was then cut ready for the slab. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ With the drainage in we then needed more than 90 pier holes under the slab poured first. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We poured a waffle pod slab with the garage section non-wafflepod. The verandahs had to be done in a second pour several months later (when we tracked the concretor down) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A sunny day for the pour Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We were really happy with the slab....it was next to perfect and hasn't shown any signs of cracking !!!! (unlike us!!) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Hubby surveying the the job with a coldie on hand! Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 10Feb 23, 2012 3:23 pm Are the pictures there? Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 11Feb 23, 2012 11:10 pm No. RF Build: viewtopic.php?f=38&t=34534 Flooring: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=39733 Chat: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=53303 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 12Feb 29, 2012 4:03 pm Our first delivery from PAAL arrived in April and we got stuck into it straight away. With a couple of days help from a fixer we suddenly looked like we had a house half built.......it was only afterwards that we realized we'd only scratched the tip of the iceberg!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 13Feb 29, 2012 4:05 pm The garage just seemed to float.....we ended up buying some used acrow props to secure it. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 14Feb 29, 2012 4:07 pm We hired a shipping container to lock our gear away - mainly for the cedar windows as I laboured over oiling them. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 15Feb 29, 2012 4:18 pm The cedar windows: a good idea at the time!!! If I'd known how much work was involved in preparing the windows I probably would have just gone with aluminum ones. After asking around and getting various professionals advice we got some wattyl water based decking oil. I didn't like the "Natural" look of it and took it back to get a merbau tint put in it.......this made my job a whole lot harder, the oil had to be applied very carefully and neatly as any imperfections would leave behind brush marks that only got more noticeable with each coat. Needless to say I became very skilled at applying it. It took me all winter on every day off to get them all done. The end result is exactly what I had pictured but BOY - it was a long, thankless job!!! Windows arrival Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ First one done - only took me 2 days!!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A bit further into it..... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ About half way done. It was a real squeeze working on the container, having to flip them over to do the back. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Here is a "selfie" of me in my deepest, darkest moment - notice the crazy look in my eyes....actually - all the life has gone out of me by this stage.....I just knew that I had to finish what I'd started. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 18Feb 29, 2012 4:36 pm Yeah I can't see the pics either because of dropbox restrictions. Only people logged in with their own dropbox account can see the pics. Try getting a account at photobucket its very easy to use. Our Building on 118 acres in South Gippsland thread - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=54556 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 19Mar 01, 2012 7:30 am Drat! And I though I was going along so well.....could see the pictures on my page. I'll try photobucket. Thanks. Owner Building on 1800sqm Sanity Intact so far Locked up March 2012 Re: Owner Building a PAAL Camden in the Lower Hunter Valley 20Mar 01, 2012 11:48 am Yeah you would be able to see them because you have a account but everyone else would be blocked. Our Building on 118 acres in South Gippsland thread - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=54556 Hi there, We’ve recently had plans approved to add a 1st storey addition to our existing house for a growing family in Sydney. With the current cost of building… 0 4742 I am looking to design an entry door to a lower ground basement that has 2200mm between the external entry height to FFL of the ground floor. This door will provide an… 0 12399 thanks guys! yes this is how I've exactly raised it with the builder. still awaiting response. 12 6280 |