Cladding!

Cladding is starting to go up around the house. Recycled weatherboards used for the majority of the lightweight cladding, with FC sheeting used in selected areas for visual contrast.

Awnings are going in also, a unique slimline detail carefully designed to maximise the winter sun & eliminate summer sun in all cases.

Mitred corners to the street facade have a more striking affect from the street and are worth the extra labour to construct them.

The cantilevered beam is in place for the retractable screen to the river terrace which, when in place, will add to the flexibility of the space, allowing direct solar gain deep into the building during winter and eliminating it in summer.

Roof!

Finally another post, after an extended transition period between authors. My apologies. The roof is now on, spirits are high, and the spaces internally are really starting to take shape.

The gallery space, with roof sheeting on. Once lined, this space will connect the two halves of the house and draw ventilation through the house through the louvre windows on the right hand side.

View looking north at from the ensuite. The galvanised roof is a traditional sturdy option, with high reflectivity. And it simply looks great.


Traditional ceremony to celebrate the roof going on, a branch is placed at the highest point and a drop of beer is poured down it!


All rainwater products are of gal. The ends of the corrugated sheets are open at the top and the bottom, alowing the cavity between the rafters to ventilate and reduce heat gain internally.


Miniorb soffits look fantastic.


The zig-zagging roof profile from afar.

After the rain

Brisbane received 1/3 of its annual rainfall last week, which clashed with the planned installation of the roof sheeting.













Plumbing and electrical have gone in, however, with copper piping for internal water supply. The alternative was recycled poly pipe but copper prices had dropped since the start of the project and is 60% recycled, with a long life-span.

Site foreman, Oliver, has been fabricating the sunshading awning frames on site. These awnings, to all windows without adequate roof protection or needing extra shading, will be topped with painted compressed fibre cement sheeting.
The base of the steel stand for the greywater treatment tanks was cut out of the centre of a diamond-tipped saw blade.

Concrete, pre-mixed, comes in fairly large minimum quantities. As the pool edge coping only needs a little, all of the landscaping pavers will be created by the Builder. Also, by reworking ground levels around the Pool Terrace, we have been able to delete almost 7 metres of balustrades and a stair (lots of materials and embodied energy), replacing it with two insitu concrete steps to the side garden, using more of the concrete load.

Colours are being tested out with VOC-free paints and renders.

Fin walls to the west will provide sheltered glimpses to the river, scoop in river-cooled breezes and provide spaces for sitting or displaying objects or artwork. Framed sturdily in pine from the old house and braced with masonite, the carpenters removed a significant amount of steel (and embodied energy) originally engineered for the walls.






Hardwood decks are now finished and sealed.

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is going up to help
with the roof finishing and cladding. The pressure is on to finalise colours!






Ironbark decking is being laid to the rear, fixed with stainless steel nails (pre-drilled) which will fit neatly within the galvanised channel structural border. This new timber (and the roof batten material) comes from managed Australian forests who meet required standards of sustainable practice.

Ready for roofing

All framing for roofs is up and fascias are going on. The builder's suggested a layering of treated pine fascias to protect the end grains of the very deep fascias will work well and create an interesting stepping edge detail, starting with the oversized galvanised steel gutters.

Having the rafters in place gives a clearer idea of the expanse of rainwater collection area to fill the 70,000L of underground water storage.
Rafters were lifted into place by hand rather than with a crane truck, resulting in both financial and environmental savings and a great team-building exercise.





Masonite bracing was used in preference to plywood as it is thinner and is composed of sawmill waste material. Most bracing plys used in Australia are 4mm, made from Asian rainforest timbers. Australian-timber bracing ply is much thicker (starting at 7mm).