Christmas Eve Eve

Everything is looking sparkly and almost nearly finished. Timber floors are being polished today and the concrete floors were revealed from under their protective plastic sheeting - beautiful and cooling on a hot summer's morning.

The building team has been working flat out and will continue until the end of today when they collapse in a big heap.
Living RoomKitchen - not yet finished! Clear and stained hoop pine solid ply joinery with reconstituted stone benchtops.Sunny central courtyard. There will be grass between the pavers to filter rainwater into the tank below.All limewash rendering is now finished to the blockwork.
Blackbutt stairs on painted steel stringers are now almost complete - just waiting for the decorative screen and handrail.

At the 11th hour

Although the whole house and landscaping won't be complete for Christmas as hoped, the inside should be sufficiently there to appreciate how the finished house will look. Here are photos from this morning - 2 days before the team has a rest after working 6 day weeks.
All concrete polishing is now complete. Entry pavers and slab show the difference between the internal concrete (and pavers, below architect's feet) and standard Portland cement with bluestone and hand-scattered coloured aggregate.
Stairs are going in today - no more ladders and steps made of salvaged ply and timber.
The floor and wall tiles (recycled content, glass and glazed porcelain) are complete.

Nearly there!

Narrow chamferboards salvaged from the previous house have new life as fence palings.
Daniel, fitting the translucent roof over the Plant Room
The Entry has a outer, battened enclosure to allow for secure airflow through the house from or to the north.

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.