Tag: Render

Exactly a week ago, the third (and final) coat of render took place on the eve of the Leo new moon. Matty and I woke up at 5:40 am on Saturday July 22nd, worried for the upcoming day; little did we know then that we were to be blessed in almost every way.  Sipping our morning coffee half an hour later,  we spotted a silvery crescent moon sitting atop the house, a position of the moon we had never witnessed whilst living on the property for over a year.  To us this was a blessing, and it lifted our spirits to no end.

Render prep

Matty and I spent a week in preparation, masking up windows, kitchen cabinets, doors, door frames and the new fireplace. In addition, the gaps around the windows and doors had to be bondcreted and pre-bogged with render. The whole process is a mammoth task, and we are indescribably happy that it never has to be repeated again. Our hands, skin, energy levels, morale and enthusiasm have all been compromised. I am not making these statements to put anyone off from owner-building, but simply painting a realistic view of the situation.

Windows masked

Front doors and north facing windows masked, fireplace covered up

On the day

By 7:30 am, 8 helpers (friends of ours), Mark (the render man) and his son Robbie, Matty and I began on what was a 11 hour render mission.  We made an awesome team and got the work completed on the same day; something that Matty and I were striving for, but unsure whether enough time and day light hours would assist.  Matty and I cannot thank our friends enough to give up their weekend time, and do hard physical labour just to give us a hand; this support is never to be forgotten by us. I am sure the helpers will never forget either… it isn’t pleasant work, and don’t be fooled by anyone who tells you so. A big shout out to Ron, Luke, Chris, Sam, Val and Benny Boy! This house is no doubt a labour of love, of perseverance and support.

The weather gods had blessed us tremendously with no rain on the day, and no frost the following morning either.  The third coat of render is heavily dependent on the weather as it is the final finish.  There isn’t much to say about the rendering process as it hasn’t differed from the first two coats, except the ratio of the ingredients. This time round the render mix consisted of 75% sand, 20% lime and 5% clay and was 10 – 20 mm thick (similar to the first coat). Aesthetically, the major difference also lies in the render finish which is now smooth.  Our undulating wavy strawbale walls are softened, corners seem to vanish and the play of light and shadows is simply stunning.  We love the earthy, organic presence of our future home; it is exactly what we were after.

Eve of the Leo new moon

Third coat begins on the east wall

Eastside mayhem

Southside works

Val striking a pose

Work on the west wall

Exterior nearly finished

Awesome teamwork

A week later

Post render clean-up was the task for the past week, which included taking all the plastic cover sheets off, taking staples out of wooden surfaces, scraping the floor, plasterboard and cement sheets free of render, cleaning window frames and then wheelbarrowing the debris into a hole in the ground. Now that we are here, the next phase can begin.

Third coat waves

Smooth yet textured walls

Cleaning out the door rails

The real, ‘really-real’ finishing touches phase

A new tiny surge of enthusiasm seems to be filling our hearts again; as we are truly at the finishing stages now with Matty plastering next week, myself picking up paints and slowly but surely getting there. Matty and I are over the build process, but the end result will be worth it all.

We have started to realistically imagine living in there. It may seem strange to you, but when you start the build process, you have an idea and run with it (the creative stage). Then the task of making it into a reality begins, and you get so caught up in how to build the damn thing, you kind of forget what made you get here (the physical stage). I think we are the tail end of this now…. the third phase is simply living in it.  Your creation that you have thought of, is a solid, supportive and tangible home, one that speaks to you and the surrounding nature.  This is the culmination of our dream and hard work, with the support of friends and family. It is a strange and beautiful thought, of living in a dwelling that has had so much energy put into it.

Anyway, enough of my philosophical musings; spring is on its way and that in itself keeps us going…

The house got to bathe in the Libra full moonlight with its freshly covered second coat on April 11th and 12th.

Mark and his assistant (the professional render team) arrived on the morning of April 11th, along with our friends Val, Charlotte and Benny Boy to help us with the second coat. Matty had envisaged the whole task taking about 8 hours each day, but thankfully we finished up around 1 pm on the second day; giving Matty and I time to celebrate this special milestone.

The second coat had to be followed by someone trowelling by hand after the render pump (unlike the first coat), and this trowelling started to give the walls a somewhat zigzagged, yet smoother finish. This time round the render mix consisted of 75% sand, 15% lime and 10% clay and was 30 mm thick (triple the thickness of the first coat). This thick coat is so important in terms of creating that waterproof barrier; the third coat will also assist in this but it will be heavily focused on the aesthetic appearance as opposed to this functionality. The thickness also means that 99.99% of all straw is now covered, leaving no loose material for fire to catch on to. There are still some minuscule lips of straw sticking out, but these will be covered by the third coat of render.

Val moistening the walls before second coat

Second splat!

The interior back wall rendered and trowelled

Charlotte the trowell queen

Three stages of the second coat: pumping the render, render on the wall and trowelled render

Me sieving the render up

Back stage

Me trying out trowelling

Second coat complete

View of the kitchen with the second coat of render

The morning after the second coat

Precoat and postcoat

The walls needed some extra patch up work before the second coat, and we had some helpful hands then as well.  Matt’s business partner/best friend Joe assisted with this task whilst visiting Melbourne.  This patch work was needed to smooth out any large dents or grooves from the first coat, and also ensured that the second coat would have a much more consistent finish. During this time, Matty also carved out the niches and holes in the walls where the glass blocks will be inserted. These were the humble beginnings of the house’s aesthetic features, and it is nice to visualise the finishing touches.

Friends from Sydney visited us during the Easter break to have a holiday and see Melbourne for the first time.  Ani and Mimi helped clean up the second coat mayhem, and hopefully we helped impart some info regarding owner building as they are keen on doing something similar someday.   Matty and I are very thankful of their time and contagious enthusiasm.

As winter is near, Matty and I are now on the fast track to get the windows and external doors in, only then can we start on possibly one of the most exciting stages – the internal fitout!

Joe helping Matty with patching up

Matty and Joe patching up the walls

A patchwork brown

Niche and glass block window

Ani & Mimi on their working holiday

Ani & Mimi cleaning up post second coat

The house finally got its first layer of skin yesterday, thus marking the beginning of the longest milestone. The third and final coat of render will not be applied till all the internal fit-out is complete, which we estimate to be late winter/early spring.

To say that this past week has been hard is an understatement. Thankfully everything went smoothly on the day, and all the hard work was worth it all, especially for the view of the house from the driveway.  As the Grand Design peeps love to say: “it blends into the environment”, and for once Matty and I seem to think so too!

Render prep

Prior to the render going on, all the timber frames, lintels, posts, top and bottom boxing had to be covered by mesh and then stuffed with straw; bondcrete also had to be applied to any other exposed timber areas that couldn’t be meshed. These two processes were to ensure that the render sticks to it and also creates a marriage between the two surfaces (the timber and the straw), so that the render can bind to both. The meshing and straw stuffing is monotonous work, but thankfully Sam and Benny Boy came to the rescue and helped unburden some of Matty’s workload.

Sam meshing around

Meshed up!

Professional renderer

We hired a professional (Mark) who specialises in rendering strawbale buildings; Matty had met him at the strawbale workshop he attended last April, and thought it wise to use his services.

Five people (inclusive of Matty and myself) worked for over eight hours yesterday, completing the inside and the outside strawbale walls of the house. Mark used a render pump, essentially something similar to a concrete pump that pumps out render onto the walls; the render mix is made on site whilst the pump is going.

Render pump in action

East side not yet complete

South side – render mixing and pumping

Matt troweling by hand to improve the bonding capacity

View of the kitchen from inside

West side – round 1 complete

Natural render

The natural render mix consisted of the following ratio of ingredients: 75% sand, 15% clay and 10% lime. We had to do test patches with various ratios about a week before to ensure that the render will not crumble after drying. The first coat should also crack a little once set, which is a sign that it has bonded well to the walls. The consecutive coats of render will have increased amounts of lime and less amounts of clay.

The clay in the mix is the bonding ingredient, and helps the mixture stick to the strawbale walls. The lime hardens the mixture, and the sand is the showstopper. The colour, texture and quality of sand is what gives the house its final colour, unless of course you want to add an oxide which is purely there for aesthetic purposes. I was initially pro oxide use, but now that I see the somewhat finished effect, I have changed my mind and want to go all au naturale. This is Matty’s preferred option for two reasons: 1) the oxide mix cannot guarantee that the finished colour of the render will match expectations 2) oxides are very costly and will definitely blow our budget.

Second coat

The second coat of render will take two days to complete, this is because it will be about 30 mm thick compared to the 10 mm thickness of the first coat. Mark and the render gang are due to meet again for the second coat in a fortnight from now, giving the first coat ample time to dry and set properly.

The house currently looks a bit like play-doh, lumpy with straps and mesh sticking out.  We will fill the uneven surfaces with cob and staple the mesh in to ensure a flatter surface between now and the next round. Nonetheless, Matty and I are proud parents, patiently waiting to see the house blossom after its awkward teenage phase.