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Armouring up with corten
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…
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Slat my shack up
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…
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Filling in the gaps
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…
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The shack stripped bare
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…
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Home sweet home
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…
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Make no haste
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…
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Tribute
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,…
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Permission to occupy
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…
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And so it continues… on another Spring Equinox
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…
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Let there be light
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…
