Author: oneflewovercooindasnest

Northern wall with some sections of weathering showing through

Armouring up with corten

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in Renovation La Shacka

The cladding material was delivered in early September, a mighty 2 tonne of corten steel (with some checker plates).

This beautiful material turns into an amazing burnt orange rusty patina after being weathered, and is a non-combustible material without looking like a work shed. Given that bushfires are a real threat to this area, we needed to be very careful as to what material we used on the outside. We thought of using cob, but we are keeping that one for a future project ;)

As daylight savings started, Matty began to cut, measure and place these 45kg sheets into place, thus giving the shack its outer skin. Some sheets of checker plate have been randomly thrown in the mix to break up the corten, along with a couple of narrow feature walls lined with rough sawn manna gum boards.

The corten requires weathering before its beautiful colour shows through, but for now, we are enamoured with this black beauty.

Northern wall with flecks of the orange patina showing through
South facing wall with one checker plate on the western side
Eastern wall cladded up, only the solar box remains to be fitted out in checker plate
South-west corner with a well weathered sheet
Before and after corten weathering
North east view of the kitchen and front door, with timber slats and building paper in place

Slat my shack up

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in Renovation La Shacka

The shack has slowly been morphing into its new shape over the past few weeks. Matty has been busy putting up the timber frame and installing windows.

We were very conscious of the timber used for the framing as the site is prone to termite infestation, a problem we discovered whilst stripping the shack down. As such, all timber framing has been done with H3 grade timbers which are treated for moisture and insect resistance.

The windows and main door arrived about two weeks ago, and Matty has installed them into position already. These beautiful windows match the ones in the Nest, and are simply gorgeous. Being a hardwood timber frame, these will be oiled in early November so that they get weathered first.

The new section of the shack, i.e. the sleeping nook and bathroom/toilet now has a roof over it also. The bathroom is noticeably larger and will include a laundry section as well.

Matty has already started to wrap the external walls with building paper and timber slats so that the cladding can be installed. We’re getting a good sense of the amount of space and light available in this new design. Fingers crossed the external cladding will not disappoint!

North view of kitchen window and front door
North east view of the kitchen and front door, with timber slats and building paper in place
Eastern view of the kitchen and lounge, with timber slats and building paper in place
Bathroom, bedroom 3, lounge and kitchen windows on southern and eastern walls
Bathroom and bedroom 3 windows on southern wall
Bathroom and bedrooms 1 & 2 windows on southern and western walls
Inside view of lounge and kitchen area
Front wall view
Bedroom 3 and bathroom/toilet now has a roof
Bedroom 1 with window in place
Bedroom 2 with one side of the wall covered in building paper
Bedroom 3 with timber framing and roof
Toilet and laundry area with window and roof
Bathroom slab and reading nook after - south view

Filling in the gaps

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in Renovation La Shacka

Since the shack was stripped back, we have been busy filling in the numerous gaps that were a result of poor concreting done by the previous owner/s.

This shack has had a few modifications over the years, and the original concrete slab that was part of the work shed is fine, however the additional concrete poured around this slab was not connected via reo bars. This disconnection has meant that the concrete floors for the bathroom and bedrooms have slumped over the years, and are a gateway for creepy crawlies to enter through. The slump has also meant that the floor steps down as you enter these areas.

We filled in those gaps to ensure that the shack is sealed properly, and levelled out the step down as much as possible. We also used this opportunity to make the bathroom space bigger, and introduce a reading nook as there is concrete in place already. Learning from our predecessors mistakes, we drilled in reo-bars into the existing concrete slab and poured concrete on top.

Part of the strip-down was taking off the old bedroom roof sheets, which had to be replaced as they leaked. These have now been replaced and the insulation bats have no more rat or mice poo in them. YAY! Bom chica bom bom!

It is Piscean full moon today, and my dearest mother in law’s birthday. Springtime is here and we feel more energised already, perfect as there is a lot more work to be done on the shack :D

Gap in the north facing wall – before
Gap in the north facing wall – after
Massive gap at the doorway of main guest bedroom – before
Massive gap filled in at the doorway of main guest bedroom – after
Benny boy drilling in holes into the existing slab for placing the reo-bars
Matty checking over the formwork
Bedroom roof sheets being secured and formwork for slab pour complete
Bathroom slab and reading nook after – south view
Back of the shack – before (south view)
Back of the shack – after
New roof sheets and insulation in the bedrooms – view of guest bedroom 2
New roof sheets and insulation in the bedrooms – view of guest bedroom 1
Northern view of the shack, or what's remaining of it

The shack stripped bare

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in Renovation La Shacka

Our first home on the property was loved (and lived in) by many; including mice, rats, huntsman spiders, humans, dogs, and even a micro bat! It was our humble home on the land while we built ‘The Nest’, and beat living in a caravan any day!

It was originally a work shed predating three owners before us; the bushfires of Black Saturday in Feb 2009 however changed this. The main house at the time burnt down and this shed was eventually turned into a makeshift home by a latter owner. This ‘man-cave’ boasted a lounge, kitchen and two modest bedrooms when we purchased the property. The bathroom was taken down due to breaching council regulations, but it was clear that a family of three or four lived here prior to us. We suspect that the two bedrooms were added in 2013 as the timber studs removed from here had the year marked on them.

Back in 2016, Matty and I spent about eight weekends at Cooinda prior to permanently moving here. We would spend weekends tweeking up the shack and making necessary modifications such as adding a bathroom and a makeshift composting toilet. The outside dunny was a 50 metre walk from the shack, as it was connected to the septic tank that existed from the old house on the property. A brave pilgrimage given that temperatures can drop to -7 degrees celsius in the middle of the night.

Our project is to turn this ramshackled living space into a much more attractive one. This shouldn’t be hard given the fake wood panelling, fraying filthy carpets, graffitied walls and blue coloured corrugated iron don’t stand as much competition. The layout will remain pretty similar, except for the kitchen and lounge areas swapping over and we’ll add another sleeping space, the new bathroom will also be slightly larger. Hopefully all our efforts in sealing the place will ensure that creepy crawlies can’t stray inside.

La Shacka Grande will become our self contained guest house, complete with 2.5 bedrooms (one bedroom is just big enough to house a single bed), full kitchen, bathroom and a proper composting toilet. Like any renovation project, our journey begins with stripping out all the unwanted crap. This means removing everything except the metal frame, the roof it supports and the solar panels that sit on top of it.

On Monday 20 July 2020 (on our four year engagement anniversary), we began with stripping off the floor coverings, internal wall coverings, cabinetry etc. We had power to the shack disconnected (for obvious reasons) prior to any work starting. The next month was spent stripping off all the layers that made this space up; including years of mice/rat poo laden insulation bats, termite eaten timber studs and all windows and doors. We will reuse any timber and corrugated iron sheets where possible, depending on their condition.

We have a rough schedule of 6 months to complete, and a budget of $25K. This project is a quarter of ‘The Nest’s budget with half the time to complete. This time around, we are making sure to stop and smell the almond blossoms. Here’s some photos (a bit too many) to show the progress.

 

Internal views

Main living area and kitchen – views to the front

View of the front whilst living in there
Filthy fraying carpets being removed
Partition wall still intact, with wallpaper removed from the windows
Main living area being stripped back
Front wall completely stripped back

Front wall view

Front wall intact
Front wall being dismantled
View of the front wall (or lack thereof)

Main living area and kitchen – views to the back

Views of the old kitchen whilst living in there
Carpets and underlay being removed
Partition wall starting to be removed
Partition wall partially removed
Bathoom removed
Back to bare bones

Internal partition wall

Internal partition wall starting to be stripped back
Most of the partition wall removed
Partition wall completely removed, along with the external stud work

Guest bedroom 1

Guest bedroom 1 before any work began. An amazing array of textures, colours and materials. Tell me you love it!
Guest bedroom 1 – off with the fugly carpet
Internal wall panels off, Aisha was very helpful!
Guest bedroom 1 – external walls off
Roof off
Guest bedroom 1 stripped to the core

Guest bedroom 2

Guest bedroom 2 – wall panels off
Guest bedroom 2 – only stud work remains
Guest bedroom 2 – back to barest bones

 

External views

Northern views

10 cubic metre skip for our first skip run
View from north side, prior to any renovating work.
View from north side with everything stripped back

North-east views

North east view with bedroom corro removed
North east view with all corro removed
North east view with all external bedroom studs removed

Southern views

South view prior to anything removed on the outside
South view with the bathroom and toilet totally dismantled and bedroom rooves taken off
South view with back and all side walls removed
South view of totally stripped back

South-west views

South west view prior to any external work
South west view with bathroom and toilet being dismantled
South west view with bathroom and toilet totally dismantled, and bedrooms stripped back
South west view of bedroom external stud work removed

South-east views of the eastern wall

South eastern view prior to anything being removed
South eastern view with windows removed
South eastern view with eastern wall removed
South east wall when all is stripped bare

South-east views of the southern side

South east view prior to anything removed
South east view with eastern wall removed
South east view with back wall removed
South east view of southern wall with all external studwork removed

Western views

Western view prior to anything being removed
Western view of bedroom walls removed
Western view of bedroom windows removed
Western view of bedroom external studwork removed

Eastern views

Eastern wall starting to be dismantled
Eastern view with all external stud work removed

All windows and doors

A collection of all mismatched doors and windows, now all gone to another home

 

View from the NE mulch bed Sep 2019

Home sweet home

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

It’s been a while since the last post, and I have very good reasons. 1) Settling in takes some time, and 2) Matty and I got married (on the property)…YAY!  Now that the dust has settled (literally), I bring to you our very last post for the build.

Nesting life

We moved in on Saturday 9th of December 2017; exactly 1 year, 1 month and 1 week since the slab was poured. Our first night sleeping in the house felt like we were in a hotel, we weren’t used to such luxury. We can honestly say that the house has exceeded our expectations. The space was made to suit our functional, aesthetic and philosophical needs, and it has excelled in all three. It is easy to live in, and life has become serene; the house brings with it a calmness that is hard to put into words.

We have experienced a scorching hot 41 °C  summer day and a cool 7 °C autumn morning, and the temperature remains within 22 °C and 26 °C without any air-conditioning or heating. The colder months are yet to come, but with the fireplace going I think we will be ok. I suspect the stable temperature does something to your nerves and senses; it is subliminal and soothing. I never know how hot or cold it is outside unless I check the weather monitor or step outside.

Building retrospection

Owner building is daunting, though not an impossible task. It worked out well that Matty is extremely handy and practical, not to mention a fantastic Project Manager (that’s part of his job role so it makes sense). I will also add that I am a very good sidekick, rant listener, food maker/feeder, choresperson and all-rounder helper. We make a good team. But why owner build when we could contract a builder? We had a few reasons:

  • Being part of the build process

I have always felt that when something is done for personal reasons (with love and care), the thing created has a charm that no amount of money or expertise can create. I’ve lived in many shared houses in my time, and the places that were the most ‘homely’ were the ones where the owner had done something personal to the place, and worked on it with their own hands. Sounds very new-agey I know, but there is no scientific way to express it.

Matty grew up in a family of builders, carpenters, and other handy tradespeople. It was inevitable that he be succumbed with the idea of creating a home of his own one day, and leaving a mark on the Earth that he so wants to protect and nurture. It was an idealistic dream for the both of us.

  • Learn skills

Building a shelter for yourself is one of those archaic skills that we don’t seem to be bothered by anymore, but this is something I felt I lacked as a human being. Plus, learning a new skill generally does not hurt anyone, though I doubt we’ll ever endeavour grouting sandstone tiles again.

  • Save money

We didn’t want a massive mortgage, so moving rural and building our home ourselves was the logical option. Some of the ways that we saved on costs (beyond the obvious) are as follows:

Buying as many second-hand and recycled materials as possible; including cabinetry, furniture and appliances. This of course is not just a cost saving exercise, but also ties in with our sustainability and anti-consumerism principles.

Matty being ‘hands on’ even on contracted jobs such as concreting, plumbing, electrical, roofing and guttering, and buying as many of the materials himself. For example, we saved about $12,000 AUD  during the slab pour stage by Matty assisting the concreters by setting up the site. The cost saving is based on the quotes we received for doing most of the work leading up to the slab pour ourselves, versus how much it would be if we relinquished all responsibility to the concreting mob.

Show me the money

We spent approximately $110, 000 AUD for the build; this includes all building materials, paying contractors and final fit out. We went 10% over our original budget but we were anticipating this anyway, watching all those Grand Design episodes prepared us :D

I should add that ‘time is money’. Matty and I had no time to ourselves outside of the build, excluding work and family. Though $110, 000 AUD is a relatively small amount for a build, the mental exhaustion and lack of social life needs to be factored in.

The end, kind of…

We are over the moon that we are finally nesting; but the property and this house is a never-ending project, so the journey has just begun. I have thoroughly enjoyed documenting the build process, thank you for being part of something so close to home :D Ha!

Lots of love from our nest to yours xo

Lounge and fireplace
View from the fish tank area
Bookshelf complete, the awesome music setup lends itself to a great yoga and dance space
In ground fish tank is a work in progress, currently sorting through condensation issues but the water and air pump are working well. No fish as yet…
The best kitchen I have ever cooked in! Biased I know, exaggerating no
Matty has made the Brekky Bar into a hidden liquor cabinet
Master bedroom is now complete with the painting that Matty gifted me
Master bedroom 2
Guest bedroom 1
Guest bedroom 2
Vanity still needs a bit of love, drawers need to be attached and big mirror needs a stand. Joys of op-shopping and piecing together what we want!
Lovely cast iron bath works a treat :)
Laundry located within the bathroom space
Mulch garden beds kicking off, and the outdoor pergola structure is up. Still lots of work left with the stone wall and BBQ area, but we are taking our time…

Make no haste

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

The last few weeks have been incredibly disheartening, mainly due to making our biggest mistake on the build. To top it off, Mother Nature decided that the spring rains can finally wreak its havoc, and it’s been a bleak weekend. We’re not entirely discouraged though, it is 13 months (to the day) since the slab pour and we are so close to moving in!

Ironic that we couldn’t lay the foundations due to the rain last year, and now we can’t move in due to the rain this year. I now understand why the Grand Design peeps always say “It was the worst rain that <insert place> has seen in blah blah years!” I think there is an owner-building demigod who likes to play cruel tricksies on us. Enough of the gibber, so where are we now?

Tiling

You might be wondering what we’ve been doing since we received the CofO. Well, we went on a much needed holiday, and then it has been an endless adventure torture of tiling and other small jobs. All the tiling is now complete, including:

  • grouting the fireplace hearth, crazy paving tiles and kitchen splashback
  • laying and grouting the main living area and bedroom tiles

It is the bedroom tiles where we made our biggest blunder. A piece of advice: do not grout sandstone tiles in a hurry. We didn’t take our time cleaning off the grout from those pesky porous tiles, so of course had to pay the price. In an attempt to move in ASAP, we delayed ourselves even further. It took us around 40 hours to grind/shave the dried grout off the tiles, clean up the mess and reseal them. ‘Make no haste’ is the lesson we learnt, and we vowed to never speak of the ‘g’ word ever again.

It sounds anticlimactic that this was our biggest mistake during the build; not too sorry however as the house is not crumbling down, there are no leaks and the foundation is solid. I think we (and the house) will survive. A big pat onto Matty’s shoulders and the engineers’ :)

Main living area with unsealed slate tiles
Kitchen fit out nearly complete, those colourful tiles were used to replace a cracked beige tile. We didn’t have any spare one of those of course, doh!
Fireplace grande, crazy paving feature wall and hearth grouted
Sandstone tiles in the bedrooms, cleaning the grout off these were a glimpse of hell
Main bedroom WIR tiles
Second bedroom WIR tiles
Bookshelf spine cut out and aircon connected, though we doubt the aircon will ever get used

Are we there yet?

No dear, not quite! We are so close, all we need to do is a massive clean and move in. We’ve decided to live out of boxes and suitcases in Cooinda’s Nest till Matty makes the walk in robe shelves and our bed frame. There’s still some work to do outside, like painting the fascia boards and eaves, varnishing the window frames… but that doesn’t stop us from living in there. Odd jobs inside will keep us busy after we move in as well, but the house is habitable so we’re not fussed.

Here’s hoping that this is the second last post so the spam can finally end! Last post will be after we move in, which could be next weekend, or close to…

Tribute

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

We received our official Certificate of Occupancy yesterday…HOORAAA! I write this today, not as a build related blog post, but rather as a thank you to three aspects surrounding the build.

 

Matt of all trades

Matty’s unyielding determination is commendable to say the least (understatement of the millennium); not to mention inspirational. He may not be the master of all trades, but he sure is the Master Accomplisher. He gets things DONE, and has given up most of life’s normalcies in order to do so.

He has been a project manager, builder, foundation-layer, carpenter, bricklayer, renderer, plasterer, painter, tiler, sidekick electrician and plumber, landscape architect/ earthworks person, cabinet maker, all rounder handyman and client throughout the build; whilst juggling his responsibilities at work as a Business Manager and being a caring partner to me. He has had (in total) only a week off during the past 16 months, with no social life unless people come to visit, and has not been on a motorbike ride even once (his zen pastime).

As gratitude to Matty: building us (and hopefully our future family) a home with your own hands has to be one of THE MOST romantic gestures EVER! Nothing I do or say will ever express my absolute love, respect and admiration of you. Thank you Mama and Dad for creating and bringing such a glorious human into the world.

Land of the Taungurung people

Cooinda resides in the north central region of Victoria previously home to the Taungurung clans. We are forever indebted to this little piece of paradise for allowing us to call you home. To the land and its traditional owners, we pay our respects to you.

La Shacka grande

One of the reasons for choosing this property was that it came with what the real estate ad called a ‘man-cave’. It is now a ‘human-cave’ as I am indeed a woman, though sometimes questionable (I can’t multi-task to save my life). This little dwelling has given us refuge and shelter, and is more spacious and habitable compared to a caravan, especially during the winter months and the long duration.

La Shacka
La Shacka grande

The shack isn’t at all grand; it is a corrugated iron shed outside and a country cabin inside. We have been living in a makeshift livable space for the past 16 months, and it has taught us to be more humble (eloquent way of saying we are hobos). To this little dwelling, and to the previous owner/s who renovated it, thank you!

That’s all for today, there is progress on the house but as I said earlier, this post is not about the build. Till next time, be well.

Matty watering in the newly planted seedlings

Permission to occupy

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

This week has been exhausting, working 15 hours/day on average and even pulling our first midnighter on the build. Thankfully we did work tirelessly as the occupancy inspection got moved 48 hours earlier than expected! It was scheduled for Monday, 9th of October, but we got a call from the inspector this morning asking if he could come today, as he was in the area. He arrived 10 minutes later, did the inspection and….we PASSED!!!! Meaning that we can officially move in! Though we won’t as the house is not yet complete, mainly due to the floor tiles.

Before I go into the nitty-gritty of the build, Matty and I want to thank a few people who have helped us get this far. Their support, advice and expertise has meant that we now have our dream home. In somewhat of an order, here’s our gratitude list:

  • Family – Mama & Mal, Dad & Di (aka Mum), Ma & Baba for everything; we wouldn’t have been able to start, let alone get this far on the build without you
  • Workmates – the entire Balance Enviro and Webplace teams, thank you for being so understanding and supportive of us throughout the year of the build
  • Friends –  Joe, Obsie, Ron, Shorty, Ryan, Val, Alex, Charlotte, Chris, Sam, Luke Brain, Luke (aka Beefcake), Anirudh, Mimi, Cam, Ken, Benny Boy and Jayden. Thank you all for giving up your time and energy to help us along the way; your blood, sweat and tears are imprinted into the house
  • Contractors – Trav & Andy – the slab pour team, Jules the sparky, Dean the plumber, Mark & his sons for rendering, Rob and Bert the earthmovers, Michael the fireplace man, Alan Grimes, Ben the strawbale man, and last but not least, Brian Hodges – the strawbale consultant.

I am pretty sure I have missed some names, but if you have helped us directly or indirectly on the build, we thank you from the deepest crevices of our hearts!  Now onto the build progress.

Wet areas fit-out

The kitchen and bathroom were fit out once Dean (the plumber) did the final fix plumbing. We managed to move in the kitchen island bench, bathroom vanity and cast iron claw foot bathtub with the help of Dean. The shower, toilet, kitchen sink, dishwasher, cooking hobs are all installed and functioning! It means we can now cook, poop and bathe in the house :D :D

We first got to use the toilet on the Arien full moon (yesterday)…and no, it isn’t an immature milestone. It was a luxurious experience compared to using the outside dunny or the composting toilet in the shack for 16 months, we may start feeling like ‘civilised’ beings again.

Honourable mention goes to our dear friend and talented craftsman, Oliver MacLatchy (aka Obsie) from Wood Melbourne for his beautiful brass bathroom tap fittings, shower head and concrete vanity sink; his work is exquisite. Thank you for making our home just that little bit more fancy!

Kitchen fit out with hobs, rangehood, dishwasher all connected
Slate floor
Plumber connecting the gas pipe to the hobs
Woodworking bench turned into a vanity
Bath spout and taps with exposed copper pipes
Concrete vanity sink and brass spout
Concrete vanity sink with offset brass taps
Colour splash shower complete with shower and taps

Fireplace

The hearth around the fireplace was laid a few weeks ago, we used more ‘crazy paving tiles’ to sit in a semi-circle shape. It is yet to grouted, but we love how it blends with the wall behind it. Matty also finished setting up the flue and chimney, and we got to test the fireplace out last weekend, thankfully the smoke flowed upwards through the chimney and not around the house. MASSIVE SUCCESS!!!

Fireplace hearth
Fire!
Fireplace flue complete
Flue in mockup stage

Landscaping

Although not specifically required for the inspection, we decided to plant the mulch garden beds out with native shrubs and grasses. There were two reasons for doing this now than later:

  1. it’s the right time of the year to do it (spring has sprung)
  2. it looks nicer for the bank refinancing evaluation if the ‘construction-site look’ is minimised.

We planted 950 plants in one day with the help of mates Ryan, Alex and Jayden! Thanking these guys simply isn’t enough :) The swales are adorned with stones, and the greenery around them is so very pretty. The scent of flowers in the early evening reminds me of jasmine :) These plants require minimal watering as they are indigenous and were planted into mulch beds; we will install a proper water sprinkler system before summertime.

Swales and plants
Planting bee in action 1
Planting bee in action 2
Chimney, guttering and rainwater tank complete

What’s next?

Words cannot express what we feel right now, being allowed to live in the house is just surreal. Here’s something to bring us down to reality – the remaining list of tasks… we aren’t quite there yet, though ‘yet’ feels a lot closer than it ever has!

Before moving in After moving in
Tiling the kitchen and laundry splashback Painting the external fascia boards and eaves
Finishing tiling the main living area and bedrooms, including around the fish tank Varnishing and cleaning the window frames (exterior)
Grouting the crazy paving tiles and hearth Making the bookshelves
Making our bed frame Building the pergola
Finishing the cabinetry for the walk-in-robes in both bedrooms Completing the landscaping including fences and gates
Installing the roman blind that separates the laundry from the bathroom

 

Western view of the house

And so it continues… on another Spring Equinox

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

One year. One year since we started this journey, well the idea was conceived before then but practical work started exactly one year ago. Cooinda’s Nest was fertilised. Rightly so, the earth where the house would sit was dug up and the entire place smelt like cow poo. It was fertilised alright! :D :D

Fast forward one year, and we are on the brink of completion. The last few weeks have been filled with a variety of tasks; different elements are integrating and turning the building into a livable space.

Kitchen makeover

The second-hand kitchen we purchased a while back had an orange veneer on it, too reminiscent of the kitsch 70’s era. Naturally, Matty and I didn’t want to go for the ‘spray tan gone wrong’ look, nor did we want to be reminded of Oompa Loompas every time we laid eyes on the kitchen. So what to do?

We thought of applying another layer of veneer, though this would have been tricky. After much research and thought, we thought repainting it would fix it. Matty came across Alan Grimes, a specialist in unique timber finishes and stains, we heeded his advice and are so happy for it. Look at the pictures and see for yourself! A natural grey stain seems to have modernised it.

The rangehood was erected with the help of our dear friend Shorty. It reminds me of a top-hat, apparently floating mid-air. There is no flue connecting it to the ceiling as creating another gap in the roof and ceiling would have meant additional work. We opted for a recirculating rangehood that contains a charcoal filter as the alternative. The copper rangehood is second-hand too; we love its rustic look, and it complements other elements in the house. Kitchen and laundry tapware were plumbed in, and the electric oven was connected also.

Kitchen – before and after
Rangehood calculations
Benchtops varnished
Brass tapware

Landscaping

Matty spent 15 hours on a hired dingo after Rob (the Earthworks guy) did his magic. Holes have been dug for future fence posts and gates, as well as trenches for ag-pipes to be placed in. These ag-pipes will help direct water away from the house and into the numerous swales that have been dug up. The swales will also function as mini water features which will house native and indigenous plants to attract wildlife.  The following ingredients were thrown in the mix and have been used in a variety of ways:

  • oversized Lancefield rock
  • Bullalo river rock
  • oversized river pebbles
  • Donnybrook toppings

There are now paths leading from the carport area to the front and back doors of the house; the gate and fencing will be done later. These are not required for the Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) inspection, so we are in no hurry.

Déjà vu – earthworks again
Dingo took my baby
Swales
Lancefield rocks it
Wonky path to the back door, trench ready for ag-pipe

Shelving

Shelves around the house have been sanded, oiled or just screwed into place in the bedrooms, walk-in-robes (WIRs), kitchen and main living area. We’re starting to have some storage space.

Little shelving
Main bedroom WIR shelves

Tiling

Neither Matty nor I have done tiling before, and we didn’t want to make any mistakes with the wet areas. So we hired a local tiler, Laurie for 2 days to:

  1. give us some advice with non-wet areas so that Matty and I can complete them
  2. do the wet areas so that they are ready for the CofO inspection.

We’ve only just started, and think it will take about 2-3 weeks to finish the whole house. Only the bathroom floor has been tiled thus far.

Do not enter
Bathroom floor

In-ground fish tank

The glass for the fish tank was finally ready, so Matty picked it up last week and did the preliminary work of placing them into position, putting on a rubber seal and securing them with tile edges.

Fish-way channel glassed

Windows

Once the bane of my existence, the interior windows are now finally complete with oil (including the window sills). I hope I don’t have to do anything beyond look through them for the next several years.

COUNTDOWN Continues

Our desired date of moving in remains to be 2 Nov 2017; however we have booked in the CofO inspection for the 9th of Oct. Not every task needs to be completed for this, so here’s a breakdown of work to be completed before and after.

Before CofO inspection Before moving in After moving in
Tiling the kitchen and bathroom Tiling the main living area and bedrooms, including around the fish tank Painting the external fascia boards and eaves
Tiling the fireplace hearth Making our bed frame Varnishing and cleaning the window frames (exterior)
Electrical work for rangehood and aircon Finishing the cabinetry for the walk-in-robes in both bedrooms Making the bookshelves
Final fix plumbing  Grouting the crazy-paving wall tiles and hearth Building the pergola
Full kitchen fit-out with island bench and hobs Completing the landscaping including fences and gates
Full bathroom fit-out with toilet, vanity and bath
Completing the open fire chimney and flue
Finishing off guttering, grey water treatment system & rainwater tank setup

There’s a lot to be done within 2 weeks, but thankfully our energy and drive have skyrocketed; being so close to the finish line has its benefits ;)

The house has electricity!

Let there be light

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

It is Piscean full moon tonight, and I feel like Diwali has come early. The final fix electrical was completed yesterday bar the rangehood and aircon connections…. and now we can see what the interior looks like (in something other than sunlight or spotlights that is).

A few months back, Matty said he had a surprise for me. I was curious at the time, but eventually forgot about it (my bad!). Two nights ago I came home from work, to be told that my surprise is ready!

He took me into the house and turned on a switch that I wasn’t fully aware of. Three lights slowly started to get brighter from within the central Ironbark beam (the beam that runs across the main living space and over the fireplace). He had run a cable through it in December when the Ironbark beam was placed into its permanent position… long story short, he never ceases to amaze me.

The effect of the dimmable lights is of course romantic, and cosy; casting enough light to be sitting in front of the open fireplace with good company…and perhaps some good wine! It is hard to capture the ambience of it via screen, so I don’t have any good photos of it.

Other work is progressing on the house; but let’s leave that for now and enjoy the glow…

Western wall
South west corner
Temple in the making
Intentionally asymterical
Bedhead lights
First PP, not MS PowerPoint