# Forum Forum Help Desk Introduce Yourself  Hi All, Renovating Newb here...

## Netix

Hello!   :Aus:   My husband and I are in the process of buying our first home, which happens to be an old rammed earth house.   :Smilie:  
You will probably see me lurking in a few sections of the forum, doing lots of reading on how (and how not to!) set about doing things.  Things like repairing cracks in rammed earth walls, sanding and varnishing floorboards, to perhaps the full on demolition of a very old extension.  And perhaps posting a few vents on things not going quite right!

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## phild01

Welcome, should get useful tips here.

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## Led

Decisions decisions decisions.....my wife and I are coming to the end (interiors at least, start exterior in spring) of renovatins a late 50's modernist house.
9 months so far. I can't wait till the day I wake up and don't have to make a decision about something..
Good luck, enjoy it and take heaps of photos, even small things are good to look back on later. Also helps as a reference
when you occasionaly feel like you are getting nowhere.

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## Netix

Thank you both for the welcome. 
I am currently trying to work out how old the house is...  No easy feat!  I may have more luck when I get a copy of the title, someone at the council has offered to search the first owner's name for me, and possibly get a date from that, somehow.

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## Led

Hi, your local council should be able to search the last building approval at your address which will give you the build date give or take 6 months. You can order a copy of the title and various other things from Landata - https://www.landata.vic.gov.au/, for a small fee and you will get a pdf via email within 5 minutes.

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## chriskamen

Netix wow a rammed earth house sounds amazing, I'm sure it will be an adventure but I'd love to have a house with rammed earth. Or straw bale, that would be ace too. Either would be warmer than my cold stick built house. Where in Vic are you? In the bush?

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## seriph1

Eltham area is lovely  :Smilie:  
your home will thank you for the loving effort you put into it

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## PlatypusGardens

Welcome! 
Rammed earth, hey?
Interesting.   :Smilie:     
Oh, and at first I read your name as "Netflix"   :Unsure:

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## Netix

Hi, I am back.  Well, I was never very far, but unfortunately my computer has not been talking to me for a while (got it fixed now though!), so I could only read all your replies on my phone, I could not not reply. 
Thanks Led, I was trying to see how far I could get with finding out the age of the house for nix, but guess I will have to cough up some dough, as I have not been able to get anywhere. 
Chriskamen; we are in the Mallee, where the climate is very dry (I could never go back to Melbourne, the humidity is horrendous!), and even though it reaches the mid-forties in summer, the nights are cool, and I have read that rammed earth houses will keep to an average temperature over twenty four hours.  So hopefully, we will be able to get away without any cooling for the majority of the house.  Only the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and laundry, which are part of a very old extension, *and* at the North end of the house, will need cooling, which I am thinking will be a reverse cycle thing up on one wall, which would be at one end of the living room, and would blow through into the kitchen as well.  Ha, we can open the louvre windows between the kitchen and living room to let more air through!  The bedrooms and lounge will (fingers crossed) stay at a comfortable temperature.  Lol at the cold stick house  :Smilie:  
Seriph1;  Yes, Eltham is lovely (I spent many years there growing up), but our new house is not as famous as Montsalvat.   :Smilie:   Our house is feeling much brighter every time we go there and just have it open for a while, so I can just imagine how great it will be when we have finished it. 
PlatypusGardens; Yep, it is interesting.  If you knew us, you would fully expect us to buy a weird house like that  :Smilie:   Lol, Netflix...

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## OBBob

Missed this ... spent a bit of time in Eltham at one stage and own a 120 year old violin that was restored by violin maker at Montsalvat. Did you manage to get the age of your house?

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## Netix

Oh wow OBBob, that sounds an impressive jewel to have had!  No, no update on the age yet, actually have done very little, new-house wise!  Though have found what seems to be a great online shop for repro fittings, locks, etc, including the kind of door locks we have (but we are without keys).

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