Strawbale – Cooinda's Nest

Home sweet home

Posted on March 9, 2018August 13, 2020 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…

Matty modified the woolpress so that it is now a storage area as well

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 December 2, 2017August 11, 2020 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 October 12, 2017August 12, 2020 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.

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 October 7, 2017August 12, 2020 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:

it’s the right time of the year to do it (spring has sprung)
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

And so it continues… on another Spring Equinox

Posted on September 23, 2017August 12, 2020 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:

give us some advice with non-wet areas so that Matty and I can complete them
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 ;)

Let there be light

Posted on September 6, 2017August 12, 2020 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

Plaster and paint, oh my I might faint…

Posted on August 27, 2017August 12, 2020 by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

Since the last coat of render, Cooinda’s Nest has been going through a slow and steady transformation. Who knew painting the plasterboard walls and ceilings could make the house look more like a home? Well I didn’t, but it is my first time building, so let’s excuse my ignorance. Matty and I have to keep reminding ourselves that there is yet more work to be done, till we can truly call it a day… or a year really.

Plastering joy

Matty used to be a plasterer for about 12 years, so this phase of the project ran pretty smoothly; albeit the frustrations of simply doing it. Within a week, Matty completed the base coat, first, second and last coat of plastering as well as sanding it all back.

Picasso will be impressed

Matty and I considered hiring a professional painter to give us a hand, as we are quite over the build process and just want it finished. Though as time ticked along, it seemed more prudent to do all the interior painting ourselves, and outsource only the exterior fascia and eaves. Help came from a painting/dirt-bike riding friend of Matty’s, Luke (aka Beefcake), whose expertise has helped us throughout this process. He was also generous enough to come for half a day to help Matty with the last coat of the ceilings. It’s taken 10 days to do all the interior painting, including undercoat, first and second coat. All render surfaces will remain as is, and the external painting will be completed in late spring to ensure that the paint dries well (the temperature cannot drop below 10 degrees to allow for this).

We surely didn’t feel like fainting from the paint fumes, that’s because there weren’t any! The Rockcote Ecostyle range is quite impressive with its zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs) certification. Colours come out beautifully too, and the texture is velvety. I didn’t think I could talk about paint like that before. Stop me before I become one of those <insert item> connoisseurs!

Windows prep continues

During this time, I have been cleaning window frames and sills in preparation for another coat of oil (interior) or varnish (exterior). This seemingly simple task took the following attempts to remove the render sticking into little crevices of the timber:

wiping them down with two types of sponges and water to remove any render (x 3 times)
wire-brushing areas to remove any sticky tape residue (once)
wet tooth-brushing (x 4 times)

There is still sanding to be done prior to applying the oil or varnish as well. These windows and sills had better look as if they have had at least 100 hours of labour put in them! I’m no domestic goddess, and this house is probably getting cleaned more now than it ever will be in its full lifetime. No joke.

9 (ish) week countdown

We have a rough estimate as to when we would like to move in, it is 2 Nov 2017, exactly one year since the slab pour. We don’t know whether this is feasible as there is a lot of bespoke work to be done. In somewhat of an order, here are the remaining tasks:

final fix electrical
tiling
final fix plumbing
grouting the crazy paving tiles
oiling the windows and window sills (interior)
varnishing the windows (exterior)
complete the in-ground fish tank
complete the open fire chimney and flue
full bathroom fit-out
full kitchen fit-out
painting the fascia boards and eaves
making the cabinetry for the walk-in-robes in both bedrooms
making our bed frame
making the bookshelves
building the pergola
landscaping

It’s quite an extensive list, but I feel more enthusiastic when I think about how far we’ve come in a relatively short period of time. Spring is on the way, and so is our home… can’t get sweeter than that :)

Raw timber against the warm white

Play of lights

Fireplace grande

Hidden bursts of colour

Teal is coolest colour

Undercoat

Precarious scraping

Dotty plaster

Stiltman plastering

Mask up, bog down, render right around…

Posted on July 29, 2017August 13, 2020 by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

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…

Winter warming sunlight streaming through the front door

Winter is here

Posted on July 8, 2017August 12, 2020 by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

Without trying to sound all negative and stuff, but it is winter.. and I can’t shake the cold off. The time has come for when the world slows down and allows you to recuperate and reenergise, just through simple rest; something that I feel we may have forgotten how to do. Thankfully the build stage agrees with this seasonal change, and gives us a chance to slow it down and go with the flow.

The last few months have been a whirlwind of major structural work, and the tasks were all BIG! Now, as winter settles in, the attention goes inwards.

The open fireplace

One new addition of Cooinda’s Nest is the open fireplace. Matty and I had a cast iron wood heater in mind to do the job, but we were seduced by an outing to the local pub, where we sat in front of the open fireplace with Dad and Di (aka Mum). The ambience of an open fireplace is something hard to come by, or to match; so we opted for the better option instead.

To avoid the painstaking task of bricklaying (Matty shuddered at the thought of the besser block wall), we decided to hire a professional bricklayer with some experience in making open fireplaces. Thankfully we found someone local who was fit and available for the job. All that remains now is to attach the flue, chimney, cowling and damper to finish the fireplace.

Besser block ‘crazy’ paving tiles

The next big addition is the ‘crazy’ paving tiles that have been laid on the besser block wall in a half-moon shape. They serve a purely aesthetic purpose, and were placed on both sides of the wall, meaning they are visible from the main living area and the bedrooms.

The fireplace takes birth

The internal structure

Nearly finished

Brick masonry work complete for the open fireplace

Fireplace structure complete

First row of crazy paving

Crazy paving wall finished

Other bits and bobs

Besides these two changes, it may seem that no major changes are happening. However, we now have completed some essential tasks such as getting the plumbing prepped up, and doing another round of electrical work. Our bedroom fan units were mounted along with the bedroom reading nook cabinet now being complete with doors and latches. All other doors in the house now have door handles and latches as well.

A lot of sanding and varnishing is now complete, with the kitchen benchtops and brekky bar slab, as well as the timber worker’s bench vanity table all ready to go in. All 10 window sills are also complete after much sawing, wire-brushing, sanding and oiling. Niches now have shelves, the bookshelf spine is now erect and the laundry divider can be installed after the third coat.

Friends from overseas (Ron, aka Girly Man) and interstate (David, aka Shorty) lent us a hand with third coat prep and stuff and that! Thanks for being awesome mates :)

Bedroom fans installed

Bathroom fan plumbed in

Downlights cut out

Doors complete with handles and latches

The day bed copying the doors

Paint stripping the kitchen benchtops

Sweet sanding

Oiling the window sills

Niches are nicer with shelves

The bookshelf spine erected (the timber against the bathroom wall)

The laundry divider mounting area

Girly Man prep filling for the third coat of render

Shorty thoroughly enjoying cutting the foam back :D

Still having too much fun…

Where to next?

The third coat of render is booked in from a fortnight from now, giving us enough time to prep for it. Everything that needs to be protected must be masked up thoroughly, Matty estimates this taking up to 3 days. Once the render is complete, we reach the final ‘finishing touches’ phase, including painting and tiling. We’re on the ~~home~~ Hume run baby!

It runs in the family

Posted on May 14, 2017August 12, 2020 by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

It has been an inspirational and exciting four weeks since the last post, getting so much done and being fortunate enough to receive much-needed (and appreciated) help from family.

Matty’s father and his partner, Di flew from New Zealand to give us a hand with cabinetry and other timber related features of the house, like the breakfast bar and the bathroom vanity. Both Matty and Dad got to play their talents whilst spending quality father-son time, which was really what it was all about :) Dad used to be a builder/carpenter back in the day, and Matty had wanted his help even before we bought Cooinda.

To top off all the achievements with Dad and Di, in no particular order:

Kitchen fit out and cabinetry – Dad and Di retrofitted the second-hand kitchen to suit our new home…but first we needed to move it from the main shed to the house. We all were happy to find that the kitchen fit our space like a glove, with some cutting and nailing of course ;) The timber surfaces still need the finishing touches like sanding and varnishing, but other than that, they’re good to go. The kitchen island, breakfast bar and bathroom vanity had to be taken to the main shed as we need to finish tiling first. Our neighbour Ken was kind enough to lend us his tractor for some of this heavy lifting.

Precarious moving tactics by Dad and Di, moving the kitchen from the shed to the house

Piecing it all together

Chookens in the kitchen

Second hand kitchen retrofitted

Breakfast bar in progress

The Breakfast bar is an old wool press about 100 years old, that needed some remodelling to suit our needs

Kitchen Island and Breakfast Bar

Brekky Bar with red gum top, the red gum top belonged to a bar prior to serving in its new home

The vanity table complete, this is an old wood working bench retrofitted to fit the bathroom space

Moving the wool press back in the shed for storage

The moving fun continues with Dad taking the stride

Internal and external doors – Matty constructed all three internal doors from recycled timber floor boards, he also made the door jams and frames and fitted in the one external timber door.

Matty and I cannot thank Dad and Di enough for taking 12 days out of their busy lives to come give us a hand. Not only did I get to meet the old man for the first time, but we all got to spend some quality family/ building time together. We can’t wait to see them both at our wedding next year! Yipee :D

Lock up

Less than a week since Dad and Di left, we also managed to get all the windows and main door (which is a double sliding door) mounted. This means that we are now sealed from the wintry frost and winds. We placed insulation blankets at the bottom of the back door and closed all windows and doors, to get a glimpse of the sound insulation properties, and we were not disappointed. Most if not all of the Hume Highway traffic was drowned out, a massive bonus! We are super happy with how the windows turned out, the Vic Ash timber varnished with natural oil really is stunning (I still need to do another coat of varnish) and the double glazing has definitely paid off :) Honourable mentions go to neighbours Cam and Benny Boy, whose help meant we got to reach lock down mode on Mother’s Day.

The only outside tasks that now remain are mounting the cement board sheets for the eaves and painting the fascia boards, and of course the third coat of render, but let’s put that one aside.

We are now at the precipice of the ‘finishing touches’ phase, and perhaps this part will take the longest…I know I know, there are things like plumbing, electrical work, tiling, painting, making window sills etc.; but some of these are the ornaments of the house, and we can’t wait to adorn her…