Our timber has arrived

Yesterday the first truck load of our timber arrived from Bowerbird Timber.  Our house is of a post and beam construction, so instead of the typical pine framing stud walls that most houses are built of, this house will have 20 posts, and then beams between them.  As its a circular house, the posts are arranged in two circles and there will be a central collar where all the beams meet in the middle. 

The timber we bought is Coastal Grey Box and its a very durable and heavy timber.  The timber is quite large, the posts being 200mm x 200mm, and too heavy to lift (approximately 150kg each).

So the next challenge will be building some lifting gear to lift these posts, and the beams into position.  That and cutting all the slots into the timber (and doing it accurately!).

Mud and wheelbarrows - the footings

We were incredibly fortunate to have a small group of helpers (both family and friends) to assist us with our first concrete pour last weekend.  We were incredibly unfortunate to have ALOT of rain the night before the pour, so after concerns about it being too hot to pour, we had concerns it would be too wet!!!

Our stirrups - these things are built to last!

We spent most of a week preparing the site, and having our site inspection (which we passed!).  To make sure that all our stirrups would be lined up perfectly and would be easy to get right and check once the concrete was poured, we spent many nights discussing and brainstorming how to make it work on the day.  We decided on bolting 2 pieces of timber to each stirrup shank, tight enough so that it would not move.  This timber would sit on the ground, and the height could be adjusted by loosening off the nuts, and pulling the stirrup up or down.  This meant that the height would be right.  To make sure the exact location within the hole was right we set up a string line with marks on it, and once they were all 'perfect' we sprayed the ground and the wood with marking paint, so that the position was clear, even if the stirrups were removed from the hole.

How we braced the stirrups and lined them up ready for the concrete.

As it turned out, we had enough people so that some were to push barrows full of concrete, while 2 would stand of the timber supports to hold the stirrup in place as the concrete was poured in.  The 'holding person' also was able to help with tipping the barrow.  Although the stirrups and the supports got a bit in the way, the whole thing barely moved, so it was just a matter of going through and double checking them all after the concrete was poured, and reduced the stress levels considerably, as we didn't have to stuff around putting stirrups into concrete and lining them all up afterwards.

Pushing wheelbarrows full of concrete through the mud, not an easy task.

We had 20 holes all up (so therefore 20 stirrups), in two circles, which we call the inner circle and the outer circle.  At each of these we will fix our posts and then the beams will radiate around to a central collar.

double checking the distances after the concrete was poured.

Our concrete pour was a fun day.  It was muddy and difficult (the mud clogged up the wheels of the barrows, so they were really hard to push or control), but there is a sense of comradery when doing a task like that with a group of people, especially when everyone can work well together as a team.  We are indebted to all that helped us that day.  It was all over within an hour or so, but it was fast paced and challenging at the time. 

How the wheel of a wheelbarrow looks after numerous trips through the mud.

Next step - the frame!


A huge thank you to Paul, Grant, Pete, Karhen, Claude and Margit for your help!

Site preparation

Preparing the site was the first step.  We hired an excavator/bobcat operator (we hired him before to do our driveway a few years ago), and it took him 3 days to complete the job.  Its incredible how much soil has to move, even when a site looks pretty level. 

The work involved leveling a pad for the house to sit on, putting in some drainage to keep run off away from the house, drilling 20 holes for our pier footings (the posts for the house will sit on these), and creating a turning area for trucks and cars to turn around (very important for a building site to have good all weather access for delivery trucks).

Its quite amazing to watch a good machine operator, the ability to do such fine detailed work with such big machines.  Our little boy was mesmerized by the work, he could have sat there for 3 days straight, and would still have been sad to see him go!

 

So step one is complete, next step - see what the inspector thinks!

The begining

Five years ago we designed our house, as part of our planning permit application.  We had been interested in alternative energy, sustainable lifestyle and natural building type stuff for quite a few years, and we were enthusiastic to start. The design was for a modest home, not too big, well insulated, practical and a bit different. 

Earlier this year, we made a start on getting the our plans to the stage we could get a building permit.  The process took 5 months, and was not the most enjoyable experience.  So many steps along the way, soil tests, bushfire assessments, engineering reports, energy ratings, and final plans.  Each one of those comes with a price tag, and you just want to close your eyes sometimes, it hurts the bank account!

It probably didn't help us that we weren't building a run-of-the-mill brick veneer home in the suburbs...  Little mistakes like the building designer/draftsman getting the size of strawbales wrong, to them not understanding the concept of a 'mud room' and that we actually wanted the back door to come through the laundry!

We thought alot about the design to make it as energy efficient as possible (no doubt there are mistakes in it that will become apparent once it starts to take shape), small windows except on our north side (south for those in the northern hemisphere) were we have a sunroom and lots of glass.  Orientation is the easiest thing to get right in designing a house, and the hardest thing to fix once its built.  It has big impact on how livable a house is (we lived in a poorly oriented house for 8 years), and yet has little if any impact on the energy rating that a house has to get to be approved. Other important features of our design that had no impact on our 'energy rating' were the thermal mass in the walls and floor (that help even out the temperature), and the fact that the house will be running on solar power!  Hopefully some day these things will be incorporated into these energy ratings, and perhaps the rating will actually reflect the true energy efficiency of a house.

So as of October 2010 we are now owner builders, with building permit in hand.  We have built the house of paperwork, now for the fun to begin!