update from the house site

I went out over the weekend to check the place out (without Cath cause the car is broken and the only one with a car seat) and took some snaps on the progress.  They are making good progress with the exterior cladding and the sliding doors are in.  We will be out there one the weekend (car permitting) so we can finish the cleats and tidy up behind the shed in prep for all the gardening equipment to come out there.  We worked out we have about 8 weekends before we go to Canberra and there are a lot of things that need to be done from our side.

Hoping that Paul will start trimming up the walls so we can get going with the cobbing

Installing cleats

When we went back to Paul and asked him to quote for the whole job there were a couple of things we excluded.  Preparing the soil (which with all this rain has become a major headache - hopefully resolved by the stuff that was taken out of the biolytix hole).  The sanding and finishing of all floors, and installing cleats to the steel joists.  We decided that screwing the decking to the steel would take too long and was valuable labour time we did not want to spend.  We came up with the idea of installing pieces of timber along the joists so the decking can then be nailed to the timber - making it a quicker process.  This will also make the decking hopefully end up in line with the internal flooring making it seamless.... well that's the theory anyway

Site Supervisor - you just gotta have them!

Thanks to everyone that came out on the weekend to help - we managed to get all done bar the pool table area and the northern breezeway - and that was because the doors and scaffolding were on them.  We'll get back out there this weekend and hopefully some of the decking will be down.

Biolytix, Kitchen is in

With the first dry week for a long time occurring we have been able to get the Biolytix installed and the irrigation in place.  This filters all Grey and Black water from the house without having to worry about a separate system. 

The irrigation area is closer to the shed than I thought, but Rod has built up around it and once we move all the soil from the bottom of the envelope up to the fence ( creating an area so water will flow away from the house) then we should not have an issue with run off.  We will plant some shrubs in the are to help soak up the water and a week after we move in Rod will come back and put the worms in.

We also had the kitchen installed.  A little earlier than we wanted, but we had no choice as we had to line up with the kitchen's schedule.

We are really happy with the look of the kitchen - Paul assures me that the proximity of the end near the straw is not going to cause any dramas with the rendering process.  If it does become an issue then we may put gyprock where the kitchen buts up against the straw.

The island bench looks really great - though it is a pity that I wont be able to cut directly on the surface - but I will just make a big board to cover the area.

One thing that did come to light is that the depth of the fridge space is too shallow - Lucky we picked it up now and not when we were moving in!!!  Paul said it can be fixed... cheaper than the cost of a new fridge I hope.

straw is in

All the straw is up and complete - compression is under way. We went out there last weekend and took some photos

Granny flat outdoor area

2nd Bedroom, bathroom, master bedroom

Looking North, 2nd room, bathroom - you can see the bath

Kitchen, living room wall - spiral staircase up to loft

From the master bedroom there will be sliding doors through to the living room

Outdoor area.
The Electrician and Plumber have roughed in, materials are onsite for flooring, decking.  I think its a push now to get the kitchen ready as that will be the next thing to get in - doors and windows should be arriving soon....