Monday, December 7, 2009

Solar power and other trimmings

The 3.2kW bank of photovoltaics is now on the roof and supplying power to the construction team during the day. This will provide all of the household energy needs and hopefully a surplus to sell back to the grid.Rainwater tanks have some water in them and a few of the stormwater gullies take the diverted, not-quite-warm-enough hot water back to the rainwater tanks for reuse (see the small black pipe behind the downpipe).
Ceiling fans are now installed and some of the compact fluorescent recessed downlights.Doors in solid hoop pine have been hung.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Grinding

The first pass of concrete grinding is underway, with the floors and sitting ledges transformed with the white aggregate (chosen to improve light reflection) exposed. The stair screen in the Entry and Gallery is now being lined with the original house hoop pine flooring and small bands of hardwood.
Some splashes of colour...

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Screens and joinery

The locally produced planatation hoop pine doors and windows to the exterior have now been hung, giving a better sense of the spaces.
The Entry area is almost complete with recycled hoop pine flooring to the ceiling, sustainably source ironbark batten screen to the garage and soft finish of the natural limewash render to the blockwork.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Limewash paint to blockwork is now finished.
Fences are almost complete, all constructed from parts of the original house. The rear, west boundary uses the hardwood t&g flooring from a more recent addition and the courtyard screen featuring the original verandah posts is now complete. The front feature fence will reuse the narrow chamferboard cladding.

Hardwood flooring before...
After...
Hardwood verandah posts before...After...
Chamferboards before...Stay tuned for next week's entry for "after"

Monday, November 2, 2009

A splash of colour


Cheerful, singing Rudy and his team of painters is now adding colour to the interiors.



Blockwork internally will receive a final coat or three of natural limewash paint. The lower floor is now complete but the main floor is next.

The soffit lining to the entry is a combination of the original home's hoop pine flooring and black-stained hardwood.