SuperSize Skip bin, Floor Boards and messy days.

The Christmas break is giving us a stretch of two and a half weeks to get things moving on the house. A lot of rubbish to be cleared – including the “sacrificial” straw board panels which we have had as a temporary floor during the messy render work. Finishing the internal render throughout is giving us a chance to get rid of this and install the final straw boards. (See the history of our straw panels which were in abundant supply. http://wisionhouse.blogspot.com/2010/03/free-durra-straw-panels.html )

(above) New Straw Floor Panels being painted on the visible side before being laid onto joists. Painted side is seen as ceiling from ground floor.

(below) A few rarely seen shots of the structure/skeleton while the floor panels were being replaced.

(above) we believe in extensive testing - in this case, pushing the limits of our temporary mezannine stair structure.

(below) A very full supersize skip bin.
(below) Red bull gives you wings?

100% Internal Render and 98% External Render Completed.

Phil and team completed the final walls externally. A few window reveals and edges are pending (hence the 98%).

(below) Die Neuffer Fenster looking sexy. Happy with choice of white sand for final coat as it works well against the maranti timber windows and the clear anodised window sills. This is the downstairs kitchen window.

More details coming through.

We have been sleeping on site since December – so installing the newly made curtains on special delivery from Delhi was a top priority. Also note the origami cranes by eddie tran crane company which some may remember from December 2009.

(above) Kitchen partly installed – just in time for having a few friends over for Christmas Eve.

(below) The roof does odd things from different angles. Very cool.

(above) Viewing Window - widely known as "truth window" amongst straw bale builders. will be a ply surround with glass infill panel to show the straw. Recent discussions are veering towards a glass surround to show the layering of render coats. Suggestion of a folded metal surround by a Rusty artist friend is also being considered :-)

And Who is in the detail?

The end (or beginning, depending on how positive/negative we're feeling) is near.

So as we near the end, the details (or lack thereof) are creeping up everywhere...

Ikea of course reigns supreme.

If you're cool and poor, well what else is there really?

Render on corners.

already installed and started using the new washing machine....

and yes - the old apple tree from the scarbs rental is bearing fruit in its new top spot...

65% of External Straw Walls + 100% of Ground Floor Walls Are Final-Coat Rendered

Phil and his boys have done a great job on the final coat. the final texture of lime+white sand will be slightly rough, but looking at them now, its impossible to imagine that these walls are in fact straw. Expecially relevant since there is no cement in any of the render coats.

windows reveals to be finished...

(and yes the downpipe will be put back on)

The C channel (which is our electrical duct) which was used as the formwork to the slab now being cleaned out ready for the electrician.

Discovery of a 'heritage listed' soakwell on site!!

Cuong, our super neat mate came over on Saturday and decided that something had to be done about the mess on site. He helped us all of Sunday to clean up around the site, and separate all the building materials from the waste materials. (Some might think this would be a clever thing to do on a building site....) hmmm.

Here is a nearmap image of the site as of Oct 23rd. Note the 'perfectly ordered' materials distributed across the future garden.
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As the cleanup progressed, and a bit of digging ensued to clean some lime off the future vegetable garden, the boys hit a concrete pad where the red dot is on the map above. They noticed a little slit along the pad.

. We all peered into it curiously and with much anticipation, wondering what mass grave or ancient potty hole may lie within.... We poked a rod through and it went in quite deep......

[A bit of background on the site - The site was the backyard for our west neightbour's house - this was subdivided 10 years ago. No building has ever been built on this plot, except for a small shed which was demolished a long time ago. ]

So - Upon further investigation, and more digging, a brick well was seen....

The two pipes leading into it are terracotta on the west side (Pre 60's) and concrete on our side. It certainly looks like a very old soakwell. (I have been told they stopped building brick soakwells over 40-50 years ago...) Or a very ancient sewage well. (Didnt smell though....)

Further investigations were conducted.

We are not quite sure what to do with this hole. A few ideas are:

1. Garden Sculptural Element.

2. Pond for breeding tadpoles.

3. Rainwater harvesting tank. (No need to dig another hole!)

4. Wine Cellar.

5. Guest Bedroom.

6. Guest Toilet.

Anyone else have a suggestion? :-)

The last straw – the render pump + a very visible milestone!

Dave Morris rendered the last visible straw bales – first floor and mezzanine with a lime render pump. Fantastic progress – extremely even spread in comparision to our hand rendered first coat downstairs!
Now for a 4 week wait for this to cure slowly, and two more coats on these walls.

smoothing over with a hand trowel

render as it oozes out the pump.................

ray of light from west gable...