Christmas 2011

                    So it's not the Griswald's this time just the best we could do as a last minute effort.
                    The joint still looks like a loft style gazebo but at least it's good for barbecues.

Well it's been ages now since I last updated the blog for a few reasons.Primarily though the project has been significantly delayed from a lack of straw bales, well none to be more accurate. It was pretty disappointing to find that the one thing we thought was organised,without risk, was the straw. However for reasons yet to be explained no bales were forthcoming from the local farmer (who promised to supply it) so that by the time we accepted the situation we were at the wrong end of the year to acquire them from elsewhere. So now we await the new wheat harvest and the lovely fresh straw bales that follow.

Apart from that at this time of year we're flat out dealing with weeds (good crop this year), long grass and regrowth fire hazards but at least daylight savings and the long days make it easier to get time after work to get stuck into them a bit.

We've pushed on with window buck frames to accept the window frames and only have the dormer frames to finish. I've left them for last as was learning on the run starting with a small toilet window and making the inevitable mistakes and solutions there. Curiously there are few detailed instructions for doing buck frames for aluminium frame windows out there on the net so I've developed my own system by adapting various "normal" approaches. Well I hope I have anyway as I have decide which way to do the flashing to my satisfaction and mortar in the sills securely. We have to have aluminium windows due to our bush fire risk here (BAL 19) which is about mid range in the risk level. The sills are going to be fired bricks on edge at, about a 20 degree angle, for the most part. Ceramic tile would be easier and a folded colourbond sill would be another alternative (just dont let the colourbond touch the aluminium to avoid electrolysis issues). A little further down the track I'll photograph the buck frames and present them here ... if they work :).
I've just started making the bottom boxing for the bales so this will get the same treatment and you'll find it on this blog soon.

In the meantime we wish you a merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.

Oh yeah butter woudn't melt in his mouth. Let me assure you otherwise. You may notice a slight lack of decoration on the tree as the tree fell over due to a sudden gust of wind, we think, the two dogs suddenly were showered with lots bouncy, CRUNCHY, shiny new tennis balls. Christmas come early for two dogs in a manger!

A bit of better butter makes the bitter batter better?

Aaron from Well Hung Roofin' (well there is a rope) practising for the birdman rally or a role in the Flying Nun we're not sure but will take advice. 

Been a little while since the last update on the project so to briefly summarise the builders have practically finished on the frame with the upper internal stud frames going in and some indoor aerial work by Craig from Skyla Homes fitting some bracing to the ridge to stiffen up the roof structure.
In the meantime Aaron the plumber (Well Hung Roofin') is finishing off the verandah flashing (colourbond over timber) & guttering and the dormer roofing. We're leaving the verandah roofing until the rendering is completed to avoid mucking it up with mud and plaster.
So then it's more or less up to us barring wiring, plumbing and tiling. We've started off by mixing up a batch of hydrated lime putty and here dear punters is a tip: It's harder than it looks! Admittedly we started off with a 500kg bulka bag of lime and tried to mix water in as we went. Pretty easy at first we thought but the further we went the harder was to mix consistently without lumps  Anyone who has made pancake batter will understand why lumps are bad so spare a thought for a 3/4 tonne batter. We tried (and succeeded) using various tools to hand mix and found most success with a rakehoe and a light concretors hoe and gut busting lump lifting with a post hole shovel used carefully to avoid breaking the handle. The problem lies, it seems, in the creamy batter clinging tenaciously to the tools making them heavy and inefficient.
For the next mix we intend to try an electric plaster stirrer so we'll let you know how that goes.

This is not the nasty decapitation scene it looks like howevever we prepared a lime pit just in case!

The idea is to mix the putty with clean, sharp sand in a specific ratio (more on this later) to form a plaster that goes over the earthern render especially in the weather exposed areas such as the gable ends. The lime putty improves mix improves the longer it is kept under water we are told with 2 weeks being about the minimum but the literature is not consistent on the subject.

Calvin and Hobbes taking instruction on the do's nd dont's of lime putty mixing whilst preparing my bath.

The books suggest 'sifting' the hydrated lime into water but with foul weather imminent we pushed it a bit harder than that with a bit (understatement) of glugginess resulting. We sorted it out with muscle power but this may not be the greatest method. In the end end you should wind up with a firm, creamy but heavy mix with no dry powder in the lumps. Make sure that you leave a layer of water on top which should happen as it settles overnight. We had heavy rain and wound up with an extra 40mm on top which is ok as the lime putty settles under that quite happily. Don't let get dry as carbonation starts which can't be reversed. 

Putting a lid on it (a working title)

So once again a little bit of preSpring blue sky break saw the job kicking on towards the next milestone whereby the roof starts to get its colourbond skin. We truly hope it stays on for a long time. Aaron and Adrian the happy plumbers (and the cowering apprentices) worked hard to line up the long sheets and pin about 2/3rds of them on by Friday plus fascias and gutters.

White slavery at Callignee the dirty truth: Starving apprentices flogged with roofing iron as punishment for collapsing from lack of food. Later revived with chocolate muffins but something must done to stem this evil.

We're far to impoverished to afford a gargoyle for the roof straight off so Adrian has offered to stand in as one while we save up. We had him painted black and nailed his hand to a post to make sure he stayed put.

Most of the tin on the North side of the house on a beautiful blue sky day. The lovely day has made the house dozy and it hasn't realised that is being stalked by a savage young dog using "eye" technique. As soon as the house moves the dog will strike.

Beam me up!

Ok so the dormer beams became problematic to lift into position so we reverted back to an earlier idea to use a crane to save the time  it would take to man handle them into place. More importantly though was potentially dangerous cosequences to spines, fingers, blood pressure and assorted hernias that would make a balloon artist proud were eliminated. Our bank balance received a nasty contusion but in the scheme of things we were very happy with the resulting speed and relative safety of the operation. I'd like to show you  the photographs of the carpenters all wearing their fall arrest harnesses but somehow we missed those shots, maybe next time.
Cheryl did snap some nice pics on Friday  to show me how it went (I was at work spending most of my day in a fall arrest harness as it turned out) which pretty well summed things up. It's worth noting that the whole crane operation to get eight beam/rafters into position took about two and a half hours.

The guys from Boon crane hire setting up. The sticky out bits on the side must make overtaking interesting.

Cheryl was very impressed with the professionalism and friendly service from the local Boom Logistics crane hire guys. Also the nifty steering on the truck.

One of the local wedge tailed eagles soared in to keep an eye on the operation. They are well known for cleaning up carrion and might have been waiting for an opportunity to arise.

The right tool for the job!

As we didn't have crane access on the South side of the house and no time to prepare an area this crane proved the right piece of plant to lift the beams over the ridge.
In addition, as we have become great weather watchers of late, we have decided that the house needs a weather cock. The gentleman below offered to trial a few locations by acting as a cock at no extra expense. We found his work exemplary if lacking a little indicating experience as we didn't find "up" a useful wind direction.

Stand in Weather cock at work.

Mick really loves his work. Or were his fingers caught? I must go out and see if he is still out there.

Getting a bit of perspective.

A little Spring in the air?

You know how it is. Seeming weeks of rain and wind and then a couple of warm, sunny, blue sky Winter days and there you have it, green shootsof grass and daffodills popping up here and there...a bit like builders really. I came home today and the scaffolders had been hard at it putting up scaff (what else?) for the carpenters big push on the roof this week.

We're really looking forward to those rafters going up (they arrived on Friday the 29th also a nice day). Anyway the height of the scaffolding spun Cheryl out a bit but I'm sure that will pass soon..... once we get the cherry picker in.

North view of the frame with the scaffolding up to faciltate the rafter pitching.The rafters are in the foreground.

Ok so there are just too many opportunities to be rude and uncouth sometimes so let's let it go and just say that the height of the scaffolding left Cheryl feeling a little breathless (faint and nauseous work here too).
 Anyway she took a shot of the ...structure for posterity (you thought erection didn't you? tsk tsk).





 So all this scaffolding resulted in a, justifiably, shaky knees start for the carpenters putting up the first problematic pair of rafters. They were pretty sneaky too with the method they used as the ridge beam had still to go in between at the apex as shown in the next photo.
It's worth clicking on the photo to see the trick they used in prespacing the ridge beam gap (well I thought it was clever anyway).

Bet the guy supporting the rafters had an itchy nose.

 Anyway they soldiered on with the result on Wednesday evening being this. Which is really great to see when coming up the road now.
So see what I, mean it must have been a touch of Spring in the air. Plenty more to go with heavy laminated beams to go in for the dormer window loads. I suspect that more than the sky will be blue tomorrow as the beams are going be awkward to manhandle.

All the ridge beams up along with the common rafters.

You know I reckon the young carpenters will thank us for the opportunity to work on a 'stick frame' raftered building. Or I might just get my tyres slashed instead :)

Too much for Calvin and Hobbs though after all that running around and barking orders.

Soggy sessions.

Joist about right I think (apologies to all).

 SO a wet fornight finally out of the way and not much opportunity for the carpenters to work. However on the odd day or two they managed to get the big beams in place in the living room and a lot of the upper floor joists pinned down as well.



Fine weather  looks set to  prevail for a few days next week so, with luck, I won't have to put things like puppies into the blog (unless demand warrants otherwise).

Calvin and Hobbs checking that footwear is properly tied.

Progress of sorts

Not a lot happening this past week with rotten building weather for most of it and the carpenter, sensibly, interstate on r&r.
Starting to think we might change our plans and establish Callignee's first Quidditch field (pitch?).

Anyone for Quidditch?

Lift Off!

The frame erupts in late Autumn sunlight.

We've got wood (steady deviates) standing on the slab in some sort of order, courtesy of carpenters Mick and Luke. The chippies put in a solid three and a half days this week and achieved a heck of a lot in that time. Progress will be interrupted with their non appearance on Friday and fast approaching wet weather but I'm sure they'll be back into it later next week(ish).

Specification 50x50x5 bracket. We changed to 50x75x50 for most of the others.

I think I gave Mick the carpenter a nasty start when I reminded him that the roof pitch is intended to be 40 degrees instead of the 30 that was on the original plans (a long story) but he has the updated drawings now.
I am in know doubt as to what he thinks of this goddamn hippies ideas of house designing but rest assured folks as I'm sure I'll rue the day when we come to filling in and rendering the gable ends.

The plans have been tricky to interpret (I thought it was just me) and I think a different cross referencing approach would simplify things... just a lot. I've given the carpenters, more than a few, blank looks to their queries only to sneak off for a check of the plans for the relevant details and then taken receipt of their blank looks with my answers (I think that's what the looks were but it's so close to contempt sometimes isn't it?).
Still things are moving so we're happy people as a result.

Our new apprentices Calvin (L) and Hobbes (R).

Some people have enquired about the views from the house site.This is the view on Sunday with rainy weather building in the North. Mt Baw Baw in the background (and weeds in the foreground).

Still pretty quiet on the building front as rain has called a halt to it to some degree but we may see the carpenters this week. The Kordon termite protection went down on a dry day and we spent a fair part of Saturday cutting and taping lengths of polyester strapping onto the Kordon to ensure it was down before the bottom wall boxing is positioned (as it can't be done later). It seemed like a five minute task but it took considerably longer, still it was nice in the afternoon sun without even a breeze to disturb the strips of poly...or the decending cloud of  mosquitos that joined the party with a rapidly arriving dusk (the days are getting short eh?). A good indication to wrap up for the day.
Sunday and a change in the weather back to rain but I finally found the opportunity to start making post brackets which, as the name suggests, will be used to secure the posts to the slab.
Which is a timely reminder for me to add that we are going to have a post and beam frame for this project, mostly to allow us to have roof over our heads to protect the straw bales during constuction. The straw bales are perfectly able to be load bearing in their own right and this is more cost effective (cheaper) than going down the frame route as we are. It is also, arguably, easier to get a framed design will have an easier path through the plan approval process but I don't have enough experience to make that call.
Brian Hodge in his book Building Your Straw Bale Home covers these issues particularly well and I anticipate that I will be making reference to this publication quite often down the track.

Kordon termite defence on the slab perimeter (bale width) with strips of polyester strapping shown. The reason will become clearer later on.

Well someone had to do it. Cheryl cutting and knotting the straps. Her hat is on the corner of the slab and you can makeout her mode of transport also on the slab (oh I do live dangerously).

Easter bbq on the slab.

Easter saw us having our first dinner party on (in?) the house with a few good friends around who have stood with us through the thick and thin for some good time now. We have many more friends that we wish to have around for a barbecue (or that's what we'll tell you anyway) by the way so please don't feel left out as these were were just some the local riff raff after all that forget to bring tools and work clothes...still they are actually wearing clothes this time so we can't complain.

Calligneeites and wannabes in their natural habitat. Please note the predominance of black attire being worn here. Does it imply a predominance of Melbourne expats or are there dark forces at work in these hills?

Enough of that anyway...so as I was saying we were enjoying a sunny afternoon barbecue when a mad man arrived and planted small chocolate eggs on key points of the slab in some kind of arcane pattern where, by all appearances, a Spring fertility rites meets a black magic pentacle. We tried hard to keep the salt and chicken pieces for the hotplate but I think I spotted Bob wringing out  a chicken leg out in an attempt to sprinkle a little blood however only managed to encourage the marinade to run down his arm in the end and soon gave up and had a beer instead, but there you go that's Callignee for you.
Still the wine was good, the food was great and the weather was kind. The photos may say something about the guests I suspect.
On the actual building front there has been something of a hiatus but I'm assured it won't be long now until things liven up with the frame timber on order and the chippies getting ready to make a move on it.

Locals Pam and Bob. Pam is bravely not showing signs of panic here but look carefully at Bob and you'll undestand her concern.

A bouncing baby slab!

It'sbeen a long time coming but we are now the proud parents of a new slab. Like a good sibling the old slab is propping up the the new one on it's shoulders.
 The work started early, before the sun was up, when the concrete pump arrived and before my alarm went off as it turned out but I didn't mind. However I'm not sure what the guys on the pump made of a bleary eyed old hippy stumbling out of a shed to move his car  past the  truck....(just enough room left).
Hot on their heels was the concretor Kevin Ryan of Warragul and his merry band of men (well they didn't throw rocks at me) followed by more concrete trucks than was decent. I got the hell out to the safety of work and left Cheryl to admire builders cracks by dawnlight.

Start of the pour... and a nice morning to do it in.

We said it was early. Still a couple of burnt out trees to be seen.

Well underway and the weather holding still.

A bit of rain and possibly a strange man caught in the concrete. We freed him with a couple of sharp shovel blows at gumboot height.

Job well done and most of the blood hosed off. Note the simple rectangular shape.

Three blokes were just packing up when I got home that night to find the slab was complete. So after a quick yack to be polite they left and the  place descended into peace and quiet again.

Building Starts!

Kevin and Luke take a well earned break in the morning.

Trenches dug for the footings around the old slab and the plumbing rough in completed.

Whod've thunk it? The concretor started today (14th April 11) on the slab. It is strange after months of delays of one sort or another waiting for the right alignment of the stars, ducks and bureaucracy to have something actually happen. Of course this coincided with a couple of the wettest days this year which saw, amongst other things, the water tank overflowing (hasn't happened in 2 years), me bogging the backhoe twice right next to the old slab and mud everywhere.
 Kevin the concretor took it in his stride though with him and Luke the excavator / backhoe sidekick putting in a big day resulting in the packing sand and fill (I knew those piles of clay nearby would be handy one day) going down and the slab trenches excavated. Kevin will be back on site next Tuesday for boxing up and getting ready for the pour.

Step by step of the building of our straw bale house in Callignee

The Last Post. The only post remaining after the Black Saturday fires, on the old slab, from our post and beam muddie project. We took it down minutes after this shot.

Just starting this blog so bear with me while we get organised. Our building permit is finally in the mail so that should be the final piece of paperwork before commencing our project.
We hope to put in a fair number of photographs on the way.
Cheers,
Allan