# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  Tondelver House - Southern Highlands Self Build

## turnstiles

Now that I have reached the stage of having all my plans and permits approved I thought it about time to start my own thread. 
I  am building a house from shipping containers. I also plan to do as much  as possible by myself. This includes all house designs, plans, permits  and construction.  
There were several reasons why I chose to use  containers - one being ease of construction and the second cost savings.  As I will be doing this on my own most of the time I had to seriously  think about the actual construction. And doubting my own abilities to  build structurally sound and load bearing walls, after lots of  considerations (such as looking at flat pack/kit homes, pre-fab granny  flats etc) I hit upon the idea of a container home.  
This was  several years ago and before I had heard of such creatures. It was only  once I began researching the idea that I discovered a lot of other  people had come up with the idea before me. Kit homes still required  numbers of people onsite as all of the ones I had seen being constructed online  involved building walls etc on the ground and then raising them - a  group effort.  
I also looked at costs of having a steel kit home  made - but both the costs and the ordinariness of the designs put me  off. The idea of having containers placed onto piers would then  basically entail me cladding the structure internally and externally -  something I could envisage doing by myself. 
I chose the name  Tondelver House after my partner of many years passed away about 6 years  ago. We were in the early stages of looking at buying our first house  together - so the name is an amalgam of parts of both our surnames and  acts as a sort of memorial.  
I have been a sculptor for most of  my life so I am hoping the skills developed in this career will help me  in my building work. My biggest sculpture yet! 
I haven't gotten  very far as yet but I will make a few posts with pictures to bring this  thread up to the point at which I am now currently at.

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## turnstiles

LAND 
Almost 3 years ago I purchased 25 acres near a little village called Bungonia, on the edge of the Bungonia National Park. 
It is about 20 minutes from Goulburn and a little over 2 hours from Sydney.   
A former sheep farm, it was recently sub divided into about 12 x 100  acres lots - with two smaller remaining, a 39 acres and mine. 
The first two photos below are looking North-West, and the last is looking North - this will be the view from the large front windows at the front of the house.

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## turnstiles

DAM 
One of the first things I did was to have a dam built. 
It  is approximately the size of an Olympic swimming pool and my neighbours  have told me to expect to wait about three years before it fills  completely up. As it was - it stayed completely dry for the first 4  months as we had a very dry summer.      
The dam builder did a bang up job and  finished a couple of hours early. So he asked me if there was anything  else he could do while he had all the equipment on site. 
So I had him do  the site scrape for me as well as a level platform for my second water  tank a little down the hill.

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## turnstiles

HOUSE DESIGN 
I spent a long time working on my house design. 
I  discovered the joys of SketchUp and soon embarked on a series of  different designs, learning about the CAD style programme and about my  own interests and desires for the house as I went. 
The earliest designs were very simple and lacked a real understanding of what could and what could not be done with containers. 
Below is one of my first designs which combined 40' and 20' containers, stacked on 2 levels.   
This quickly changed when I discovered the engineering problems involved  in second floor containers at right angles, AND that 20' containers  were almost the same price as 40' ones.  
Also a friend asked why, when I  have 25 acres, would I possibly want stairs? I hate stairs so a very  good point. So two stories went bye byes as did 20' units. 
After about a dozen designs, I started to seriously think about architectural styles and what would lend itself to containers. 
Then I remembered one of my favourite Modernist houses - Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe:  
This seemed to lend itself perfectly to the dimensions and proportions of containers.  
Embarrassingly  - my first effort was an almost complete copy of Farnsworth House. (At  least from the facade.)  
But more importantly, it got me thinking about shade  and orientations as it was evidently not appropriate for our climate.   
It also, by way of another 14 or 15 designs, led me to my final house design:    
Container configuration:  
Main Bed and Lounge looking East:  
Main bed and Lounge Looking West:  
Bathroom:  
Guest Bedroom:  
main Bedroom  
Main Bedroom study nook with window. (Can be hidden behind folding doors)

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## turnstiles



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## turnstiles

CONTAINERS 
Then of course came the containers. 
I found a very good deal through Hamburg Sud and the last of the containers were delivered around mid May this year.

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## turnstiles

And that brings me up to the present. 
I am currently ready to dig my pier holes and have the containers craned onto them. 
Engineers  have specified I only need 300mm deep and 400mm above ground with 2400  spacings. The soil is very compact, the site is on a hill, and the house  structure (by standard houses) will be comparatively light. 
Pier peg markings:   
Sorry for the image inundation!! But there will be fewer far between from now on!

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## Teriwrist

WOW!!!!!!! Cannot wait to see this ongoing project come alive...  :Biggrin:

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## toooldforthis

like yr style turnstile  :Wink:

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## shauck

Would love to be doing something like this. Very interesting.

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## OBBob

Nice spot!

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## Uncle Bob

Awesome!
Are you going to be on the tools yourself building this? You could really have fun with a Plasma Cutter  :Biggrin:  (2nd thought, could make great artwork too)
It would be great to get some detail shots during construction. IE, how stuff connects to the steel containers.
I'd be watching with earnest  :Smilie: 
Cheers Bob

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## rod1949

I'll watch  :Construction:

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## Renopa

Pleased you joined this forum T.  The photos look great as does the floor plan.   :Biggrin:

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## Uncle Bob

Oh is that a helix wind turbine I spot in one of the Sketch Up pictures? That might need it's own thread  :Wink:

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## turnstiles

> Oh is that a helix wind turbine I spot in one of the Sketch Up pictures? That might need it's own thread

  If you mean on the roof of the very early design? No - that is a Noguchi sculpture!!!   
I had the idea to turn the roof in that design into a small sculpture garden!! (In those early SketchUp days I did tend to get a bit carried away with details....) 
Though speaking of wind turbines - where I am is very windy (I have an 'N3' rating) and down the road I would certainly think of one to boost my solar if necessary. On those cloudy windy days it would probably take over power supply from the solar cells. But at the moment budget constraints means it's on the back burner.

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## turnstiles

> Awesome!
> Are you going to be on the tools yourself building this? You could really have fun with a Plasma Cutter  (2nd thought, could make great artwork too)
> It would be great to get some detail shots during construction. IE, how stuff connects to the steel containers.
> I'd be watching with earnest 
> Cheers Bob

  Sorry Uncle Bob - missed your comment. But yes I hope to be doing everything I possibly can myself. 
This is about the journey as much as the destination. Just getting this far has been a steep learning curve.
I'm a great fan of Belair Boy and Sundancewfs's threads and their attention to detail, and  their photographic records on here is something I hope to emulate. 
As for artwork - I'm going to have a lot of steel wall segments left over when I finish and plenty of exhibition space ("Bungonia Sculpture Park" in the making perhaps...lol)

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## turnstiles

Typical - had to pick the day of wildest weather all year for the delivery of my foundation tube forms.  
Winds  with gusts up to 84kmh and rain verging on horizontal and the DINGBAT  who delivered the tubes failed to call me when leaving Sydney per  arrangements (so I had time to get out to site) and just left them  outside next to my containers. 
First thing I see driving up to my front gate is a 4 metre metal tube more than 200 metres down the hill!  
They   must weigh around 40kgs and it was a struggle on my own to drag it  back up the hill and get it inside one of the containers in the wind.  The other 11 weren't a lot easier either!   
broken tube - hopefully I can still use a lot of it.

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## ChocDog

This is going to be interesting! I love seeing people do stuff like this.

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## Uncle Bob

Any updates Turnstiles? 
Don't be scared of image overload, we luv 'em  :Wink:

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## turnstiles

Hi Uncle Bob - not a lot happening ATM - was held up because of a faulty generator I bought, so I went and hired one for the day. 
The following are some details about the foundations. Engineers required the shipping containers to be welded to the piers:  
So I have had some metal plates made up for me (they should be ready in the next couple of days).   
And these are the piers that need the plates set into the concrete before it sets - just where the outside edges and corners of the containers touch piers:  
So today's task was to measure and cut the 12 x 4m metals tubes into 800mm lengths. These will be set into 300mm holes, rise 400mm above ground and filled with concrete. I have cut them 100mm longer than required to allow for fluctuations in setting them out. 
The plan is to get them level in the holes and then mark them at 400mm above ground level (using the hose-with-two-pieces-of-clear-hose-either-end method!).  
I will then use the angle grinder to cut two vertical lines through the metal and bend the cut piece outwards. This will allow the pier tubes to be filled to exactly the same height across all piers (any excess concrete will simply spill out of the hole I created).   
Hope this makes sense. 
All cut!  
Next week I hope to have the pier holes bored, tubes in and levelled before I get the PCA out to approve them. Then I'll have the concrete delivered and poured. 
Around the same time I am having a 76,000L colourbond steel water tank delivered so I have to have the 9m dia. pad ready.

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## Uncle Bob

Thanks for that update turnstiles. I think there's a few of us watching this thread with earnest  :2thumbsup:

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## phild01

Bit surprised of the welding requirement for so many piers, quite an exact requirement.  I take it the containers are difficult to bolt down.

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## turnstiles

> Bit surprised of the welding requirement for so many piers, quite an exact requirement.  I take it the containers are difficult to bolt down.

  Phil - the engineers originally specified bolting them down but the construction of the bottom rail of a container makes bolting through them extremely difficult - and the corners pretty much impossible. I took the idea of the pier plates from a container build I was following in the states.

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## phild01

> Phil - the engineers originally specified bolting them down but the construction of the bottom rail of a container makes bolting through them extremely difficult - and the corners pretty much impossible. I took the idea of the pier plates from a container build I was following in the states.

  I imagine the difficulty of a flush fit to each plate when the container is placed, maybe some large angle brackets at the ready for any error.  Are there more than 4 piers for each container?

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## turnstiles

Each container sits on 12 piers - you can see their layout in the plan above (the one with the red dots the grey shaded area being where the 4 containers are placed.) 
Each container corner should fit flush - but along the sides I will need to pack as the bottom rail is about 10mm higher than the corner blocks. I might consider floating these pier plates on top of the concrete piers instead of embedded into it as the metal plate is 10mm thick which would make up for the shortfall.

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## phild01

With 58 piers your task is to ensure the level of each plate is accurately achieved during the pour.  Just wondering if you have a technique to ensure this goes smoothly.

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## shauck

Wow, that's going to be hard to do. Not only level but inline and square. Can you set up a system similar to hanging stirrups over stump holes with bearers attached. removing bearers later. Make sure you've got plenty of hands on deck on the day and get them to barrow while you keep going round tidying up the surface of each pier and fixing and checking that nothing has moved.

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## phild01

My take is that the container weight should be enough to be secure without a need to weld to each plate, even with an N3 rating.  I would be thinking of different ways.  Maybe pour 8 intermediate piers and crane the container onto these and pack out.  Then do another pour later on for each corner with tie rods secured to the containers and embedded into these.
Don't necessarily let the engineer come up with the concept, devise one you know you can do and then seek the engineer's approval, otherwise you may end up with unnecessary heartache.

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## turnstiles

Shauk - From memory the pier plates will 'float' on the concrete because of the  latters density. (I will be getting advice from the concrete company on  this) There are only 22 pier plates so I am anticipating it not being  too much of a problem. As each pier that needs a plate is poured I will drop a plate onto the wet concrete and tap it down with a mallet until it is flush with the concrete. I will use a small spirit level to check it is even before moving onto the next. (Hopefully my partner will be onsite to help out!) 
The metal form tubes, once placed 300mm into  the ground and as vertical as possible, will be backfilled on the  outside making them rigid, then the concrete truck can (hopefully) pump  into each tube avoiding any barrow work. Being only 400mm above ground and 450mm wide they should be very stable. 
I've already marked out the  pier positions and double-treble checked them all!! Unfortunately  "plenty of hands on deck" is always going to be a problem. All of my  friends live in either Sydney (200kms away) or even further. And I don't  know a soul down in this neck of the woods. (Even my partner currently lives 250kms away!!) But - I've always enjoyed challenges. 
Phil - Not sure I understand your suggestion: "Maybe pour 8 intermediate piers and crane the container onto these and  pack out.  Then do another pour later on for each corner with tie rods  secured to the containers and embedded into these." How do I pour for the corners AFTER the container has been craned on? This sounds very difficult. Also there are 4 containers in all sharing piers and some corners are inaccessible once the containers are hoisted into position. I do believe pouring all the piers at the same time is the most practical and cost effective method. 
Of the 58 piers only 22 have plates in them. I chose this method because it is one that I feel confident I can do. (I've seen it done on another container house.)  Basically I HAVE provided the engineers with a different method to the one they suggested, and they accepted it and then tailored it to suit the conditions, regulations and specifications. I'm not prepared to countermand engineers with regard pier numbers - it's their job to work these things out and that's what I'm paying them for. With regards welding - you'd be surprised what N3 wind can do - someone I know of in this region had to have 28 chains fixing their house to the foundations because of wind force! 
Also I think the number of piers allows for shallower foundations. I was surprised they only needed to be 300mm deep with no reinforcing rods. I'm happy with this configuration - I have read reports of containers on only 6 or 8 piers having some 'bounce' in them.

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## Uncle Bob

> I've already marked out the  pier positions and double-treble checked them all!! Unfortunately  "plenty of hands on deck" is always going to be a problem. All of my  friends live in either Sydney (200kms away) or even further. And I don't  know a soul down in this neck of the woods. (Even my partner currently lives 250kms away!!) But - I've always enjoyed challenges.

  I can come and help out, though one of my arms is playing up a bit (Dr says it a rotator cuff injury). Maybe some other Renovateforum Canberrans may help out?

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## turnstiles

Thanks Uncle Bob! Cooma would be a bit of a hike for you!! And I can sympathise - I have a similar rotator cuff injury (as well as a collapsed lumbar disc that required spinal surgery a few years back) I was in Cooma a few months ago - spent a couple of nights in Yarrangobilly Caves House and visited a friend in Berridale. Beautiful landscape around there.

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## Uncle Bob

Haha, I'm not in the real Cooma, just the Canberra Cooma - Tuggeranong  :Smilie:

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## turnstiles

LOL - had to look up Tuggeranong on the map. Now I see!

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## OBBob

I found the water in a tube trick a bit of a pain when levelling stumps,  although I was working alone. Hiring a laser level was much better and really didn't cost much in the scheme of things.

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## turnstiles

Agreed - I wouldn't be attempting the water method on my own - real headache. 
I first saw this levelling method on an episode of Grand designs and loved its brilliant simplicity, and always wanted to try it! 
Still, if cheap enough, a rental laser level might be the go. (I own a laser level but it's an indoors one - not strong enough for outdoors daylight use.)

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## OBBob

Cool... I'd just check you can find clear tube in the length you need cheaply enough and then have a play in advance.  It's a pretty popular method,  so it may just be me... ha ha.

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## shauck

I reckon laser level is great, especially if you are working on your own a fair bit, like I do (and you, by the sounds of it).

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## turnstiles

I already have a laser level - the Bosch PLL 360 Line Laser level   It's great for indoor work - but when I tried it outside I couldn't see the line after 2 or 3 metres (unless their is a trick to it that I don't know about.) I don't fancy stumbling around in the dark of night getting it to work! 
I was wondering if you can buy a generic 'receiver'? I was reading about outdoor levels and they can reach huge distances with a receiver. It could turn my Bosch into a functioning outdoor level. 
Shauk - would you mind telling me the make of outdoor level you use?

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## r3nov8or

I don't know exactly what they are called, but I saw a fiberglass pool installer using a level/dumpy that beeps at different speeds and then beeps continuously when the set level is perfect with the height of the staff's sensor. Must work on radio waves or something?

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## OBBob

Yep,  the one I hired has a sensor and beeps... still laser operated.  There may be a sensor you can get?

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## Renopa

Put a few drops of food colouring in the water when using the water/tube level...makes it so much easier to see.  I've used Red or Green with great success.  
Watched some concretors pouring a house slab and they had a wireless/laser setup too...it continually emitted a low frequency beep, then would speed up and increase in volume.  I would expect it would be an expensive bit of gear though and probably not feasible for a one-off, might be able to hire them though.  Never tried so no help there, have only ever used the water/tube method.   
Good luck, hope the weather stays dry and a bit warmer.

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## turnstiles

Thanks for the replies (very good idea about the food colouring Renopa!) 
Researching levels online I've found the beeping is the 'receiver' I mentioned. However I'm not sure if you can buy them separately and whether they work on all laser levels.  
This one seems very reasonably priced at $349: Manual1Kit by Level1Lasers - Manual Levelling Rotating Laser Level Kit with Tripod and Staff   and viewing the video on their website shows how the beeping receiver works.

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## OBBob

The issue I had was that they were a lot more expensive a few years ago and you really only need to get the floor level... then you build everything off there. How long are you really going to need it and will you use it after that?  
... of course,  you can never have too many tools.

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## shauck

> Shau*c*k - would you mind telling me the make of outdoor level you use?

  My laser level is a Redback brand. I did a lot of research before buying and spent a fair bit more than what you are looking at.  
Of the mid range quality, it offers more for the money than it's rivals. I compared it to Topcon in the same price bracket as a good comparison. Topcon is a recommended brand. Redbacks warranty is better (5 years) and it's accuracy is on par or better for the same price range.  
You can set them to beep or not. I turn off the beeping as it annoys the c*@p out of me. I also prefer to attach the reader/sensor to a tall spirit level rather than the rod so I know if I'm holding it vertically plumb. The sensor has it's own level as well so you can use both to hold it plumb in both planes.  
It has a sensitive setting and a less sensitive setting which is great for some applications that don't require perfection, otherwise you'll go mad trying. There are many types to choose so one that suits the uses you'll most use it for is the way to go.  
You can spend hours researching but in the end, go for better quality. I started a post in the Tools sub-forum so search that for laser levels and you'll find info that I and others were coming up with at the time. I wouldn't trust anything in the lesser price brackets and just forget a green line laser level as it increases the cost by a lot but may sacrifice the other functions to keep it in lower price brackets. Otherwise they'll be the most expensive ones if they are green line laser and good quality in other functions.

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## turnstiles

Thanks for the detailed info Shauk. I have been thinking about what OBBob said in the previous post - how much use will I get out of it? And once the house is finished I doubt I will have need of it again. (I recall someone on here used theirs to trim their hedges in a straight line!) I still have my indoors laser which I can imagine being useful. 
I think I will try the water level first (Archimedes will be so pleased!) and if that isn't satisfactory then I can hire a decent outdoors level. I could buy one and then resell it afterwards. But I wonder how inclined people would be to buy a second hand level? I know I wouldn't. Engine/machinery items I would but not technical equipment.

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## Uncle Bob

The water level trick can be done solo, it's just a bit harder as you need to fix the end of the pipe(s) to something like a post or jig. Blocking off the end of a pipe with a thumb stops the waters going up and down and spilling out the end.
Another tip, you don't need one piece of transparent pipe, on long runs, I use a garden hose with a transparent pipe on either end.

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## phild01

> Another tip, you don't need one piece of transparent pipe, on long runs, I use a garden hose with a transparent pipe on either end.

  The problem with this is that air bubbles can't be seen and these affect the readings.

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## Uncle Bob

> The problem with this is that air bubbles can't be seen and these affect the readings.

  That's true, though I force water thru the hose blowing out any bubbles

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## intertd6

I would like to know how your going to weld the containers to the base plates, you only have 400mm of clearance, so that is going to be a mongrel of a job & your not going to be able to see the weld without a mirror.
normally HD bolts are cast into concrete and a container lock is bolted down after levelling & positioned accurately.
for levelling a day or twos hire of a laser level would suffice,  a reo bar driven to concrete height inside the tube would be the reference height of the concrete & independent of the formwork in case of movement.  
regards inter

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## ajm

Turnstiles, what is the white panelling at the left of the windows? Is it a privacy wall? 
Se

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## phild01

I reckon Colorbond Monument for the doors if the sun isn't too hot on them.

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## turnstiles

> Turnstiles, what is the white panelling at the left of the windows? Is it a privacy wall? 
> Se

   Do you mean this panelling?   
It is one of the kitchen walls. (There is container wall behind it)

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## ajm

Yes, that's the one. Couldn't find your layouts from ages ago to work it out. 
S

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## turnstiles

> Yes, that's the one. Couldn't find your layouts from ages ago to work it out.

  Here's a quick recap on the layout!

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## turnstiles

I've finished all 4 coats of the front. Now the masking tape between the panels has been removed, the grid effect is more obvious.         
Currently working at catching up with more painting on various parts of the house (1st and 2nd top coats mainly) and cutting, sanding and staining the slats for the front.

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## turnstiles

It's been a long time coming! Front of the house is pretty much done,  just a few small jobs like front door handles, shed door on the left to  be hung, and a small panel replaced on the right.  
I'm glad I  went with the slats - it breaks up the mass of white. Timber is stained  with Japan Black.by Feast Watson. It may need another coat - not sure so  will live with this for a while before deciding.

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## r3nov8or

Looks awesome! 
Apart from the door, any passive ventilation on the front?

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## turnstiles

Thanks r3nov8or - no, the big windows are fixed. The sides and back all have opening windows and doors. We get fearsome winds down this way and they mostly always come from the north-west. That's why originally there was not going to be a usable deck out the front. My neighbours have a large patio on the north side of their house for socialising. They've told me they rarely get to use it because of the winds.

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## turnstiles

Nothing much dramatic to post lately - I've just been finishing a few small and sometimes fiddly jobs. 
Plus kids (and yours truly) are back at school. 
Also I have started trying to get quotes for a small (3.6kWh) solar power system with battery (off grid) ground mounted. 
I've only had 2 responses so far and I think they're pretty stupid!! The first - $25,000! And the second said "off the top of my head you'll be looking at $30 - $40,000  :Eek:  I've priced individual components and I get around $10 - $12,000. Surely labour can't be that much. Are they just making up numbers??!! 
Well back to the small jobs - first I put on the front door handles:   
A lot of people like to make a feature of their door hardware - not me!! 
I also hung the two shed doors and made architraves for them - and 4 coats of paint for all:   
(I still have to make 2 pieces of matching skirting as a bit of bad planning on my part had the height of the shed wall at 2450mm - 50mm taller than a standard sheet of fibro!) 
I put up a small missing panel on the west end of the facade - but didn't get a pic - this was before:  
And I lined the east shed with insulation - this will house my solar batteries, circuit board and my upright freezer:  
I also used insulation off-cuts to line the west end wall inside the house in the main bedroom. This wall is comprised of the three door ends of the 3 adjacent containers. Because of how they are made there was extra space between the actual doors and the timber frame. 
So as it was west facing I thought it wouldn't hurt to throw extra insulation in. There will still be fibre batts set into the frame:  
It might seem like overkill but when is too much insulation ever a problem?  :Biggrin:  This is the wall schematic: 
__________________________________________________  _____ 
I've had to tackle some serious mowing  :Biggrin: :  
And a fair bit of time getting my summer veggies in (rhubarb, red and white onions, bok choy, spinach, zucchini, dwarf beans, rocket, coriander, chives, radish, basil, capsicum, pumpkin, and mint) 
It's greening up nicely:  
I have quite a few Grass Trees growing on my land (they are neither grass nor trees!!) This is the only one so far with flower spikes on it. I'm not sure if these are the species that grow trunks.
. 
From the road:  
From down the road:

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## Uncle Bob

I'm guessing that the battery was a major component of that solar price as I got 13KW of panels and a 10KW inverter installed for $11K. I'm holding off on battery storage until the price gets cheaper (which it will as Tesla are improving cell size and chemistry and the others will need to catch up at some point).

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## turnstiles

Batteries are expensive - especially the lithium-ion ones. But the gel type should cost around$1,000 a kWh. I apparently have to get a PV inverter plus an inverter/charger which combined will cost over $8,000 (from the $25,000 quote)  and the pc/phone monitoring system is over $500, 2 grand for wiring....... 
I guess it's a bit like taking my car to the mechanics - I have to take their word for it that what they offer is what i have to have! 
I'm going after 6 quotes and will have to settle for the lowest.

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## phild01

> Batteries are expensive - especially the lithium-ion ones. But the gel type should cost around$1,000 a kWh.

  I have no idea how these batteries get rated but comparing lithium with wet needs careful comparison. With rv type batteries lithium iron probably ends up cheaper than say an AGM, you can run them down much lower and get far more cycles. The bigger configurations for home application will have heavy demand and lithium might well come into it's own.

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## Uncle Bob

> I'm going after 6 quotes and will have to settle for the lowest.

  I hope ECG Electrical quote up there. They did mine and my workmates installation and did a nice job. I also hope you have looked into Tesla, they are the leaders in this tech (and soon to be the worlds most valuable company just as a side note).

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## Moondog55

I'm thinking that NOT using "Glo-in-the-Dark " paint was a mistake.
But there's still time

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## turnstiles

> I hope ECG Electrical quote up there. They did mine and my workmates installation and did a nice job. I also hope you have looked into Tesla, they are the leaders in this tech (and soon to be the worlds most valuable company just as a side note).

  Thanks Uncle Bob - I've included ECG in my list. They are preparing a quote for me. Unfortunately Tesla are out of my price range - in fact all Lithium-ion batteries are - still too pricey compared to Gel type.

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## turnstiles

Schools over until the end of Jan so I can work on the house every day. 
Since my last post, we had the wettest November on record. Now, records falling don't really tell you much - if the highest temp. on record for December is 41.5, you cannot be certain that there were not a huge number of December days that got to 41.4 degrees. 
But November's rainfall was 10mm less than DOUBLE the previous record! 
And December is close to doubling the average for this month. So it's been WET! (Not that I'm complaining after several years of drought.) 
Work on the house has continued slowly with many small tasks being ticked off. One thing I've been meaning to do for ages was to finish painting the exterior. Quite a lot of it has needed one or both top coats. So in between the rainy spells I've sorted that out. Weeding 25 acres has also taken considerable time, as has the veggie garden. 
I ended up getting about 7 quotes for a solar panel and battery off grid system of around 3-3.5kWh. I really wanted a Lithium Ion battery as they have a far superior discharge rate than lead acid or gel batteries. But they are pricey. 
(Uncle Bob - ECG got back to me - they don't do off-grid.) 
I received several quotes of around $25,000 - and they were with gel type batteries. 
And then a Victorian company quoted me $12,850 WITH a Li-Ion battery!! 
So I've paid my deposit and the gear is being sent up early January and the installer has been organised for late January. So I'm very pleased and excited about that. It comes with 8 x 390W panels. 
(One company I emailed for a quote called "On Grid Off Grid Solar" wrote back saying 'Sorry - we don't do off grid'!!?? Errrmm - it's in your company name?!!) 
One thing I needed to do however, was to make the solar array stand for the panels. To get one made I was looking at a couple of grand. Fortunately I had some 100mm square tube left over from a facade "fail" project which turned out to be perfect. All I needed was several lengths of angle iron, concrete and paint. 
Optimum panel inclination is the same degrees as the latitude of location - in my case 35 deg. Plus facing true north.  
The old steel supports - repurposed!       
Coat of metal primer: 
And then a colour coat of metal paint ('Mangrove' - to match the water tank)   
Next I need to poison the grass underneath, lay some builders plastic and gravel to stop regrowth.

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## Moondog55

Can't wait for the housewarming photos :Clap:  :Clap:  :Clap:

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## turnstiles

> Can't wait for the housewarming photos

  Well at least I can say with some confidence (touch wood...) that I will be moving in this year!!

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## turnstiles

I had Xmas Eve, Day and Boxing day away visiting the grand-kids, and the following day entertaining friends from Qld who dropped by for a quick catch up. They were my first days off work since the June long weekend, so I needed the break!! 
I finally made a start on putting up the ceiling panels on the back verandah. I've wanted to do this for the longest time as birds persistently and continuously try to get into the roof space. Even with netting and insulation foam around the edges, they would peck away at the foam trying to get in, not to mention crapping all over the wall and deck.  :Mad: 
I had to resort to some serious deterrents:   
I also needed a run of windless days which are hard to come by down this way! 
I got to use my panel lifter (bought new in April 2018 for under $180 and never used!!) for the first time - and boy, did it make the job easy! It gave me some practice for when I gyprock the inside ceilings.      
It doesn't have the battens yet to hide the joins between each panel (they'll be the same size as those on the wall)
Also the edges will have 18mm  square moulding. (as soon as the hardware store gets some in!) 
This pic shows the first undercoat - but today I finished the 2 undercoats and 2 topcoats (didn't get a photo but it doesn't look much different to this!):   
My neighbour took this pic of the house from their place next door:

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## Moondog55

That last photo really shows what a statement this house is. What are the future plans for landscaping? Sculpture park?
Possibly a Henge??

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## turnstiles

> That last photo really shows what a statement this house is. What are the future plans for landscaping? Sculpture park?
> Possibly a Henge??

   LOL - I LOVE the idea of a henge!! (Have you seen Car Henge?!) 
Not sure if you were joking, but I do have ideas to create large outdoor sculptures in the future! 
And once the house is done I will have a lot of time to concentrate on landscaping. It's already begun with some planned planting.

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## plum

Love your dope plants. Most people try to hide them!!

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## turnstiles

> Love your dope plants. Most people try to hide them!!

  Ha ha - I wouldn't try smoking it! It's Horseweed (Erigeron canadensis) and along with mullein (Verbascum thapsus) is this years noxious weed outbreak.

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## Uncle Bob

> LOL - I LOVE the idea of a henge!! (Have you seen Car Henge?!)

  The Shining? ;-)

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## r3nov8or

A crashed Cessna always pleases. Here's one once on the Geelong Ring Road...

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## Cecile

> A crashed Cessna always pleases. Here's one once on the Geelong Ring Road...

   :Biggrin:  I think they finally removed it.  If memory serves me right, it was from a movie set

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## r3nov8or

> I think they finally removed it.  If memory serves me right, it was from a movie set

  Could have been. Would you believe I had to go back to 2010 on streetview to find it!?!

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## Uncle Bob

We're getting a bit OT but here's another that's still there..

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## Moondog55

CarHenge only pictures but I've seen SteelHenge from my time in the UK.Yes I was very serious about the outdoor sculpture park because I've been to your website and seen your work which I do admire and can never afford
Here in Geelong I think we need a FordHenge to commemorate the demise of Australian manufacturing

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## turnstiles

I've only dabbled in large outdoor sculpture (storage and cost always an issue unless it's a commission) - this is one I did years ago based on my fingerprint: 
"Id-Entity" Steel (about 4m high)
University of NSW 
And a piece from my first Norway solo exhibition influenced by the 19th C. locomotion photo's by Eadweard Muybridge and the gates from the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo:  
"Walking Man" 
 Steel c. 2.4M high           
Gates - Frogner Park, OsloG. Vigeland, Steel.  
E. Muybridge 'A Man Walking' 1887  
This work got me interested in shadows and I made a few 'maquettes' (small models for larger works) based on the shadows caused by a figure on different backgrounds. Perhaps I'll get the chance to make them full sized?

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## Moondog55

I have just been given an older Cyclone gate to use in my vegie garden fence. A vision of several such large gates erected in concentric circles just popped into my head. 
A FenceHenge.
Those gates are stunning

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## Moondog55

https://clonehenge.com/tag/bed-henge/ 
My sister is here from NSW and telling us about all the old cast iron beds available cheap around her area and I just had another vision. Cast-Iron Bed Henge

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## turnstiles

> https://clonehenge.com/tag/bed-henge/ 
> My sister is here from NSW and telling us about all the old cast iron beds available cheap around her area and I just had another vision. Cast-Iron Bed Henge

  I think you're beginning to sound a little un-henged... :Hahaha:

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## turnstiles

Finished the trim and battens on the verandah ceiling and everything had their 2 undercoats and 2 topcoats. I have to say, after so long looking at the trusses it now looks nice and schmick!  
No more birds roosting in the rafters and turning the deck into a Jackson Pollock!! 
And recently I made a start on the 'Barn Door' style main bedroom door using a container panel off-cut. 
I bought some 40x40mm angle iron, cut the panel to fit and now needs to be cleaned up, painted and a handle applied. 
I've had the roller mechanism waiting for almost 3 years!!      
I intend painting it the original colour and adding a few decals of container text to it.

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## Bart1080

Looking great.
I bet being out in the country, with the lining now all complete you also wont miss the constant ingress of spiders in the open trusses  :Smilie:

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## turnstiles

> Looking great.
> I bet being out in the country, with the lining now all complete you also wont miss the constant ingress of spiders in the open trusses

  The spiders I can handle (except the red-backs underneath almost everything I pick up!) it was the incredibly persistent starlings that did my head in. Almost every attempt at keeping them out of the roof space failed. Let them try now - mwahahah  :Eheheh:

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## ajm

When can we expect to be able to book on airbnb? It's looking fabulous. 
alk

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## turnstiles

> When can we expect to be able to book on airbnb? It's looking fabulous. 
> alk

  Lol - thanks ajm - I've a long list of impatient friends waiting to visit once the place is habitable!

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## turnstiles

Back teaching 5 days a week for almost the whole term as I need to replenish the coffers.  
But getting some small stuff started. Being impatient, after finishing painting the steel door I just had to install it to see how it looks. I'll leave it there so it's not in the way but it'll have to come down when I gyprock the walls. 
There are some dents in it which I like as the containers I used for the house were lowest grade and retired so they were also a bit battered and worn. I also put up a 140 x 45 header above the door as it has to carry a lot of weight.       
And on the rollers!   
Put some more skirting around the base of the house so I can back-fill up to the top of the piers.   
Got the 600mm deep trench for the solar cable (here it's only half deep).   
And I noticed some nice textures that appeared on the facade's vertical slats after staining:   
And of course there has still been weed control, mowing and veggie garden needed doing, and all the usual household chores at my rental.  
Can anyone tell me how to get an 8th day in the week??  :Rolleyes:

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## Moondog55

You will get some run-off from the solar panels, do you have plans to harvest it somehow?

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## Uncle Bob

Under the solar panels would be a good place to keep a lawn mower, it's just the right shape :Redface: ) Could also be a nice shelter for livestock.

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## turnstiles

> You will get some run-off from the solar panels, do you have plans to harvest it somehow?

  I'm only getting 8 panels so I don't think I'll worry about trying to harvest the water, it won't be too much. I'll direct it down the hill towards trees I've planted - it'll benefit them!   

> Under the solar panels would be a good place to keep a lawn mower, it's just the right shape) Could also be a nice shelter for livestock.

  It will certainly be good for something under there. I will think about possibly enclosing it at a later date - perhaps the lawnmower idea would work - easier to get out than from the west end shed where I was planning on having it. I could keep some other gardening stuff there like weed chemicals etc.

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## turnstiles

Teaching 5 days a week is so tiring that I am not getting value out of my weekends at the house. (9am - 3pm in the classroom is more exhausting than 8-10 labouring on the build!!) 
So I have taken this coming week off before I begin a 6 week full time stint for a teacher on sick leave. 
So not much building work done during the past fortnight just finishing off some small details here and there. (More trim, all the steel skirting around the house is done, and I've ordered steel plate to lay in front of the facade on the eastern side to pick up and install on Tuesday.) 
Quite a lot of time has been spent outside either on weed patrol or in the disaster of a veggie garden. 
Each year seems to present one or two weeds that go crazy. This year it has been the mullein plus the horse weed.  
Mullein, I believe, is sold in European nurseries as a decorative plant. Here it's a PITA!! And some of it grows to over 2 metres high. 
Horse Weed has also gone a bit crazy this year. Good for nothing, and annoyingly it leave dead sticks poking up everywhere when it dies which hang around looking untidy for months! 
I also spend quite a lot of time wandering my 25 acres with secateurs and a bucket collecting thistle heads (Scotch, Milk and Saffron) as the seed/flower heads will continue forming seeds even if you uproot the plant. (And they can stay viable for up to 9 years.) 
A combination of apathy and constant cloudy, wet weather with almost no sun all spring and summer has resulted in a miserable veggie garden this year. Despite lots of fertiliser, lime, compost and seaweed extract, most of my veggies have struggled. Plants and veggies are a shadow of their usual selves. 
My usual 12 pumpkin holes (usually sewn with 5 seeds each, and thinned to 2) didn't germinate after 3 weeks. So I put another 2 seeds per hole. When they finally sprouted I ended up with only around 7 seedlings in total. And they have struggled ever since:   
The wet was great for weeds, and after sewing onions and beetroots, the weeds took off, and the veggies struggled to keep up:  
This was the harvest:   
(I still have around 80-100 pickling onions to harvest.)
The beetroots were all different sizes and only provided these jars of pickled beets: 
In a normal year I should have had 4 times as many. 
And don't laugh - the capsicum plants are only knee high (instead of waist) and are giving me these: 
Green beans, rocket, rhubarb, cos lettuce, green and purple basil, even zucchinis (usually hard to kill!) have done very poorly this year. 
My solar installation was delayed - it now looks set for Feb 28-30th. 
Hopefully this coming week I can get a bit more done.

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## doovalacky

> I ended up getting about 7 quotes for a solar panel and battery off grid system of around 3-3.5kWh. I really wanted a Lithium Ion battery as they have a far superior discharge rate than lead acid or gel batteries. But they are pricey.
> And then a Victorian company quoted me $12,850 WITH a Li-Ion battery!!
> So I've paid my deposit and the gear is being sent up early January and the installer has been organised for late January. So I'm very pleased and excited about that. It comes with 8 x 390W panels.

  I suspect you are going to regret this in the longer term and will find the system undersized.  
Not sure what brand/model you are getting but hopefully you can pick up some second hand panels and add another string at least to take it to around 6kW.
Do make sure there is some protection/cell management on the Li-ion battery. They will die very quickly if you drain them past the lower voltage point. 
They are do have many advantages such as faster charge rate however. I've been running a lithium set for close to 8years and don't regret the early investment.

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## turnstiles

> I suspect you are going to regret this in the longer term and will find the system undersized.

  I discussed my needs in great detail with the owner of the solar company who assured me that my system is above my needs. As a single person using gas instant hot water and gas stove top cooking the electrical needs are basically lighting, fridge/freezer. He has an identical setup on his holiday home and they have never been short of power as a family of four even after spending 4 weeks there. A 6kW is standard for a family unit using elec hot water and cooking etc. And, being off grid, any excess power I produce is waste.

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## Uncle Bob

I thought 6KW was a bit frugal. But if it's only for lights and a fridge/freezer then I suppose it would be enough. What's your heating plans Turnstiles? Wood heater?
BTW, I've got 13KW of panels on the roof with a 10KW inverter and are exporting a butt ton of juice to the grid. Soon to add a spa so the export will take a hiding.

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## Bart1080

Wow, despite the weeds you got some nice veg.  We too had some good beetroot this year (first year I grew them) and are great roasted with a sprinkling of herbs, salt and pepper 
Your scotch thistles, I do the same with the seed head (chop them off)  if they are will formed and definitly if they are flowering as they will continue to seed.  Other than that, ive a sharpened shovel and just chop them off at the ground.  As they are annuals, they wont come back next year.   
 After 7 years, this year was the quickest "maintenence" year with only a couple of sessions spread 4 to6 weeks apart and are definitly seeing a massive reduction in the number of scotchies growing each season....which unfortunitly includes me jumping the fence to do the same with one of the neighbores on the north side (prodominite winds blowing seed to my place) as he has zero care factor and lets them go to seed.  
...and your 6Kw solar will be fine as you *r* running all the power hungry appliances on gas (hot water & cooking) and have battery storage for all the surplus power to run your lights and fridge 24/7 off solar.  You will likely find that you will still have excess solar that will go to waste but better that than sitting in the dark!!!  :Smilie:

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## doovalacky

I did say suspect for a reason as I was not certain if it holiday or intended fulltime. Requirements are going to change on if you are living full time and what appliances you have. 
A standard fridge can use between 1.5-2kWh a day alone and head towards 3 in a hot house. While an 40L Engel is somewhere around the 0.3kWh mark. 
Winter can wreck the output. I've had days where my 6.6kW array has been lucky to make a 1kWh total. During the day you need sufficient excess power that not only are you covering the load but charging the battery.
While I am not saying race out buy more panels ensure there is protection on the batteries or keep an close eye on discharge.

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## Bart1080

> Winter can wreck the output. I've had days where my 6.6kW array has been lucky to make a 1kWh total. During the day you need sufficient excess power that not only are you covering the load but charging the battery.
> While I am not saying race out buy more panels ensure there is protection on the batteries or keep an close eye on discharge.

  Good point  :Smilie:  
I'm only looking at it from my zero battery storage and 12.9 Kw system all electric house including 4 pumps, HW x 2 and oven/stove with the massive amounts of solar excess going to waste in "peak" generating season.  Will be keen to compare our winter output experiences.   :2thumbsup:

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## phild01

> Also I have started trying to get quotes for a small (3.6kWh) solar power system with battery (off grid) ground mounted.

   

> I ended up getting about 7 quotes for a solar panel and battery off grid system of around 3-3.5kWh.

   

> I thought 6KW was a bit frugal. But if it's only for lights and a fridge/freezer then I suppose it would be enough.

   

> I discussed my needs in great detail with the owner of the solar company who assured me that my system is above my needs.

   

> ...and your 6Kw solar will be fine

  
Ummm...think he is sticking with 3.6kW! 
 I would go more especially as panel cost has dropped a lot. At least get a larger Inverter if you change your mind.

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## r3nov8or

Same inverter, but more (double!) panels to increase surface area for the winter months, would be my 2 cents

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## turnstiles

Quick update. Still waiting for my solar - promised it will be one day next week! 
So I got a good start on the planter boxes at the base of the east facade. 
As I decided to put in planter boxes late in the planning (ie I had already built the bearers supporting the facade!) I had a fair bit of tweaking to do with the timber and with the boxes I made to drop into position. 
This is where the planters will go:   
I thought for quite a while as to what material to use on the surface. It needed to be strong but thin (I didn't want it covering any of the facade panels) so I settled for steel plate. 
I went for 4mm 'black' (ie ungalvanised) steel as I want it to rust. That way the colour will sit better with the decking and blend well with the surrounding. Once it has achieved its patina I will coat it to slow down the rusting process.    
I will be raising the soil level around the house to the top of the concrete piers so they will not be seen. 
After the steel went into place and I went home, it rained overnight and rust is already forming!!  
Each of the four 700mm x 700mm boxes had to be bespoke to fit within the bearers and joists.   
This is one (upside down with drainage notches) is covered with a couple of coats of a below-ground waterproofing membrane. 
The planter box will sit on a layer of gravel, have the lower half filled first with some largish rocks then gravel, a layer of geotextile, then soil. 
I am thinking of having native swamp foxtail grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) in them all:   
I'm quite pleased as during the week I put in my very first piece of wiring. And a homemade grommet!! (An electrician mate advised me on the correct type of wiring to buy.) I needed to cut through the container wall. It's for the outside light above the backdoor and will have a modern flattish rectangular bunker light when I find one that's right!

----------


## turnstiles

Well the good news is.....I have:      
Yes it's a small system (3.12kWh) each panel is 390W but all the solar calculations show this should be quite enough for me for the time being (a single person, with instant gas hot water and gas cooking.) The beauty of this system is it is easy to add to. 
And I love the tiny Li-Ion battery (bottom right sitting (temporarily) on a milk crate! Its 500 x 380 x 125. 
But as this house is a super budget build - I can add later if/when it is needed. (Who know - an electric car might be in my future.) 
Once I am living here I will save so much money (I'm currently a renter) I should be able to save quickly. 
I was on site for the installation and was able to help out. It was beneficial for me too as I was able to observe, ask questions and understand a lot about the system. 
Solar panels and house (the panels face true north but the house is about 11 degrees west of T.N so that my big windows do not look directly at the neighbours house.     
I was also able to get a couple of other tasks done, time has been short as I have been teaching full time for the last few weeks. 
I finally roofed the space between the house and west shed - it needs lining (after I have wiring to the shed run through the beams) and guttering, but at least it helps protect the doorway from rain.    
I put in a back deck light (not connected yet) it's 1420 lumens (about 100W incandescent equivalent) and uses 15W.    
The planter box steel is already taking on a lovely patina:   
And for the past few years water run-off down the drive have created gulleys in the road base:   
So I installed a drain. It doesn't get masses of water, but like the Grand Canyon, once a fissure starts it keeps getting bigger over time!   
I've packed 1.5 tonnes of road base in the gulleys so far and will probably need another half tonne. 
Another issue at the gate is that it has dropped. The gate is 4.5 metres long and such a large cantilever has caused one end to sag over time. It was starting to drag on the ground. 
So I attached a small wheel and buried an off cut from a PFC beam into the ground. Problem solved!    
And March being the wettest on record, the mushrooms have started appearing. They are large and taste amazing!    
And today I went wandering in the paddocks to de-head thistles and found this beauty:   
At half a kilo I will get a couple of meals out of it. 
This morning at 7am:

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## r3nov8or

Thanks for the update.  
Have you had heavy rain on the planter boxes? Wondering if you'll get rust stains on the white walls. Regardless, I'm sure soon to be filled with plants to cover any sins  :Smilie:  
And mushrooms. I have no idea which ones to trust, so rely on the shops  :Smilie:

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## turnstiles

> Thanks for the update.  
> Have you had heavy rain on the planter boxes? Wondering if you'll get rust stains on the white walls. Regardless, I'm sure soon to be filled with plants to cover any sins  
> And mushrooms. I have no idea which ones to trust, so rely on the shops

  Hi r3nov8or - yes I was/am a little concerned about heavy rain splashing rust onto the white panels. There hasn't been any pelting rain yet and I am hoping to seal the surface soon as it's almost how I want it.  
These are the only type of mushrooms I'm game enough to harvest. They are the easiest to identify and are unmistakably field mushroom like the ones you buy at the supermarket. I've got some I think might be slippery jacks but I'm not certain so I leave them alone. And there are plenty of fly agarics which are poisonous and look it!!   _fly agaric _ The half kilo one from yesterday I cut the cap straight across and made "_Mushroom Steaks_" with them! Pan fried in garlic oil with cracked black pepper and a light sprinkle of chilli and they were great for dinner.

----------


## Bart1080

> And there are plenty of fly agarics which are poisonous and look it!! _fly agaric_ The half kilo one from yesterday I cut the cap straight across and made "_Mushroom Steaks_" with them! Pan fried in garlic oil with cracked black pepper and a light sprinkle of chilli and they were great for dinner.

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFe9...FoodintheUKLtd
...does contain poisonious compounds and apparantly is classed as a non edibale mushroom but less toxic than other "Fly Agaric" species.  https://gallowaywildfoods.com/fly-ag...-distribution/  https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/tre...ns/fly-agaric/
Famous, enchanting and highly toxic. Fly agaric is the home of fairies and magical creatures and a lover of birch woodland, where it helps trees by transferring nutrients into their roots, but if eaten (RAW) can cause hallucinations and psychotic reactions.

----------


## turnstiles

The electrician who installed my solar suggested that, as I had a trench already dug as far as the solar panel stand it would be a good idea to extend it to the water tank and lay a power cable for the water pump.    
Bought 40 metres of conduit and a roll of cable, then ran the conduit into the 600mm trench, filled it to 300mm and lay in a warning tape before back-filling the rest.    
The tape looks shallow on the right as this entire area will be having 300mm of clean-fill and top soil. 
The cable runs under the house and up into the electrical shed:   
I bought and installed a 2nd bunker light the same as on the back deck:    
But I'm already not happy with it - it looks wrong. So it's coming down and I've ordered a different style. This one will go outside and above the 2nd bedroom door. 
Now I had the cable for both lights and power-points, I ran both cables into the west end shed:   
I'm also nearly ready to start laying my floors. So I needed to bring in my floorboards that have been sitting outside for more than 9 months! 
I was a little concerned about possible damage despite covering them as best I could. 
When I opened the package there were lots of slaters, a lizard or two, 120 generations of spiders and _something_ had made a nest!!   
Whatever it was, it was super house-proud as there was no sign of droppings or pee staining. 
Once I unloaded the first few layers the wildlife stopped. The timber was in great condition. 
It's is now stored in the main bedroom areas as it needs to acclimatise for a couple of weeks before laying.   
I also bought myself a new microwave and kettle, so brought the two old appliances to the house so now I can at least have some warmed food and hot tea over winter.   
Going for walks, I get to see my place from different perspectives:       
And of course yet another one from the front on a sunny day as there have been so few of them!!

----------


## Uncle Bob

Looking great Turnstiles!

----------


## turnstiles

Thanks Uncle Bob - progress looks slow ATM as I was teaching full time for almost the entire first term to build up the bank balance a bit (took a bit of a hit paying upfront for the solar) But term break now and when school goes back next week I will be doing just 2 day a week.  
Nervous but looking forward to starting the floor boards. (Watching a lot of youtube clips - SO useful)  
I discovered it was almost as cheap to buy myself a pneumatic floor stapler and compressor as it was to hire these for 2 days! And once the floor is done I'll on-sell them as nearly new for half price and still come out ahead!! 
Still have to find me a plumber and sparky.

----------


## METRIX

> Thanks Uncle Bob - progress looks slow ATM as I was teaching full time for almost the entire first term to build up the bank balance a bit (took a bit of a hit paying upfront for the solar) But term break now and when school goes back next week I will be doing just 2 day a week.  
> Nervous but looking forward to starting the floor boards. (Watching a lot of youtube clips - SO useful)  
> I discovered it was almost as cheap to buy myself a pneumatic floor stapler and compressor as it was to hire these for 2 days! And once the floor is done I'll on-sell them as nearly new for half price and still come out ahead!! 
> Still have to find me a plumber and sparky.

   Looks good, I probably would have gone for Black on the panels to give it that real modern look, especially against the rusting steel. 
The floor stapler is easy to use, you will need to top nail the boards closest to the walls as the stapler wont get in there.
Did you buy a decent floor stapler such as Bostitch ?, these are the ones used by all the hire places because they just work forever, also don't buy cheap no name staples as you don't want to chance any jams as they are real hard to remove once in. 
Best way to start is to run a string line down the middle of the house where the longest run will be, then work from both sides of this.
As you have to nail through the tongue you will need to cut a double tongue for the first board when you work the other side of the first board, this is because you need to reverse the boards to work on one side of the string.
ie: You need to butt two grooves together for the first board one one side only when working off the other side of the string line, glue the tongue in for this board. 
Screw some blocks in along the string line, then install the first board against these, the blocks will ensure the board wont move once you hit it with the stapler, make sure the blocks are dead straight and very secure, as any deviations will show for the rest of the floor. 
Once you have a few rows down you can remove the blocks and continue until you start hitting walls. 
Then work in reverse off the other side, also some glue is a wise idea to ensure the boards are fixed down well, you can pickup liquid nails direct stick for around $11 in sausage form, use to be $9 a few months ago.
Make sure to watch how you stagger the joins, and try not to repeat a join any less than 4 boards, unless the boards have been end matched you will need to trim the boards square, make sure to do any adjustments on the saw to get it cutting perfect before starting anything.

----------


## turnstiles

Thanks for the info METRIX - some I'd just learned about from YouTube. The bit about reversing direction is something I will be doing but I've been having trouble finding suppliers of what you called the 'double tongue'. I'd heard it called a 'spline', but a search of that didn't turn up much (except rubber ones for flyscreens.) Do you know its proper name or where I would find such a thing? 
Thanks for the recommendation for a flooring adhesive as I was wondering which one to use.  
Not a fan of black as a decorative colour - reminds me too much of the '80's where we all painted everything black!! I love white - my ideal home would be an art gallery  :Biggrin:

----------


## METRIX

> The bit about reversing direction is something I will be doing but I've been having trouble finding suppliers of what you called the 'double tongue'. I'd heard it called a 'spline', but a search of that didn't turn up much (except rubber ones for flyscreens.) Do you know its proper name or where I would find such a thing?

  I don't know where you would buy it, I just make it on the table saw, takes a few minutes to knock up what you need.
Do you have a table saw ?, surely you must doing all the work you have done there, It's an essential tool for any reno work I do, probably the most used tool after cordless drill, especially when it comes to internal fitouts. 
I'm using a De-Walt nowadays, fantastic saw, it's a portable saw but can handle Dado stack which a lot of them cant. 
Prior to that a Bosch, it was alright but the fence system was inaccurate.
Prior to that a Triton, it was ok, but was bulky and a bit cumbersome to use and messy, because there was no inbuilt dust extraction. 
The DeWalt rack and pinion for the fence is a game changer, I would NEVER consider another portable saw without the rack and pinion system, it's 100% accurate every time. 
You could also make it using a circ saw and planer to get the exact dimensions just a bit more fiddling around.   

> Thanks for the recommendation for a flooring adhesive as I was wondering which one to use.

  Plenty of them out there to choose from, personally I would use Sikabond T55, or 58.   

> Not a fan of black as a decorative colour - reminds me too much of the '80's where we all painted everything black!! I love white - my ideal home would be an art gallery

  Yes I would to, I have always liked the minimal look for interiors, easy to keep clean just hard to achieve, hidden storage is the key.
My mates misses has so much clutter / trinkets and crap on every horizontal surface in the house it drives him nuts I can only imagine the cleaning nightmare to get around it all. 
Currently doing a big cleanup, have been carting a lot of un necessary stuff from house to house, as this place is coming to a close in the next few months I don't  want to cart it to the next place to just sit in boxes, Facebook Marketplace has proved a good place to get rid of a lot of it.

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## turnstiles

"I have always liked the minimal look for interiors...My mates misses has so much clutter / trinkets and crap on every horizontal surface in the house it drives him nuts." 
I grew up in a house with a mother that liked to cover every inch of wall and surface with crap'n'clutter! (In the '70's we had two double sliding louvre doors into the lounge from the L shaped hallway. She made my father fill one in as two doorways robbed her of too much wall space to fill!!) 
I'm building two large cupboards in the lounge which will house the TV and shelves for books etc - but there will be sliding doors that cover it all up.    
I'm also making shelves/cupboard so all the kitchen appliances can be left plugged in but out of sight - I don't want all the usual stuff on counter tops.

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## turnstiles

Not a lot of news on the build front. Been doing lots of sorting and cleaning - getting stuff out of the lounge/dining area in preparation for laying the hardwood flooring. 
One thing that has taken up a fair bit of my time is online research and shopping for a multitude of different things. 
As mentioned before in my posts, this is a super budget build. And this is a big part of why it is taking so long. 
I had a medium sized inheritance years ago which gave me enough money to buy the land outright. (I was living in inner city Sydney at the time and the money would have bought me nothing there because of the insane real estate prices!) 
But after paying for the land and the legals, engineering fees, having the dam built, buying the water tank and the 4 containers - the inheritence lasted long enough for me to construct the foundations and have the containers craned onto them. It also paid me a minimum wage to cover rent, food and petrol etc while I got started with the build (plus almost every tool I've needed.) 
But shortly after I began cutting out the container walls the money ran out so I returned to casual teaching. 
So for the past 7 years I have been juggling teaching and house building. Not too much teaching so I still have time and energy to build, but enough to cover my rental flat and buy building materials. 
And over those 7 years my annual, before-tax income has worked out to be $36,500 a year (just above the 'poverty line'!!) 
I've also had a long-distance relationship which has taken me away from where I live for 2 months in total each year. On top of that there has been numerous holdups due to illness (eg heart surgery), bad weather, delivery delays, and some days where I just couldn't give a f***!! (Oh - AND I managed 3 overseas trips totaling 10 weeks during that time...) 
So hopefully that goes some way in explaining why the build is taking so long. 
So - I am very assiduous in searching out bargains. I also cannot always get what I would like, but rather what I can afford but which also looks ok and suits the build. 
Here's a couple of examples of savings I made by doing some online research before buying. 
Identical outdoors light but with a different name:    
Buying a floor stapler and compressor was less than 3 days hire - it also means I can take my time and then resell them after I finish.   
This is the sort of savings I've made over the years totaling (probably) tens of thousands. 
Another favourite option is to take up Bunnings Hardware on their "find it cheaper and we'll beat it by 10% off". There is a local online hardware company that I use that often has the same product at a cheaper price. So a snapshot of their ad taken to Bunnings and they beat it by 10%. On one original order at B's my $6,000 total came down to $4,500 by doing this. 
Need to organise the sparky ASAP to do the first fit in the house so I've been stocking up on electrical items. Here's some of them:   
The 2nd bed fan is only 760mm across - perfect for the narrow room. 
I've also ordered double powerpoints, light switches, a couple of dimmer switches, a 3 bar-light for above the kitchen island, and the through-wall bathroom exhaust fan. 
The planter box steel has rusted enough nicely so (after online research) I discovered that a great sealer is WD40. 
I did a trial a few months ago on a piece of rusted steel in the yard and it seems to do the trick.   
And the female roo with her joey that has been hanging around over the summer is still here and gets a lot closer and is less bothered by my presence. Here I am only about 10 metres away. I love these interactions with the wildlife.   
I've also been considering what to fill the 250mm gap below the external cladding that goes around 3 sides of the house. Thinking of a dark charcoal grey in flat colourbond type steel - did a photoshop mock-up to see. Surface in fill soil will go to the bottom of the grey.

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## Uncle Bob

A bit of paintshopping going on with that last picture ;-) 
The place is looking great!

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## turnstiles

Thanks Uncle Bob - Photoshop gets a good workout from me and I often use it to help visualise what I want to do before I go ahead and do it. 
If only the actual back-filling of that outside area would be as easy as doing it in Photoshop!

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## turnstiles

The rectangular light for above the front doors arrived so I've installed it even though house wiring isn't done yet. 
I think it looks better than the oval one:   
I also had a problem with the new floor stapler - the firing pin jammed during the first few practice runs so I've sent it back for a replacement. I can't really complain as I've bought so many tools and other items online and rarely ever have issues with them. 
But I'm really impatient so I made a start on the Tasmanian Oak floorboards, secret nailing by hand!   
Some of the boards have a slight lateral bowing so a little leverage is necessary:   
The boards come in a variety of lengths from 60cm to 3 metres. In the above photos I have been using a lot of the smaller lengths as this area will be covered by the sofa, arm chairs, floor rug and coffee table so will rarely be seen. Saving as many of the long pieces for the open, exposed areas. 
There are also slight variations in thickness but the floor will be sanded back and treated when finished. 
Currently just finished the first 2 metres width (and 7 metres in length)  
I've also been wondering if it is possible to have my wood heater installed in one of the large cupboards in the lounge so once winter is over I can close the doors and not see it! I would cover the inside walls with a fire resistant lining of some kind. Anyone know if this is possible/legal?  
I have decided to try and do without gas so have bought a heat-pump water heater. I realised i would not be using much power in the house during the day so the heat pump can use this power to operate and boost the water temperature. My neighbours have one of these and swear by it!  
Mum and baby still hanging around:  
Autumn views 'n' hues:

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## METRIX

Did you start the floor in the middle of the room, on the longest run ? 
I hope the replacement stapler is ok, you really get what you pay for when it comes to certain tools, a floor stapler falls into this category.
Make sure to push the boards really tight if manually doing it, as the flor stapler will smash the boards together leaving zero gap. 
Did you buy it from Edisons, looks like it from the add ?, they are the worst company I have dealt with, I would NEVER buy any tools from them.  https://www.renovateforum.com/f216/e...-money-129820/I kn 
I know you are on a budget, but I would have bought the Bostitch floor stapler, as I mentioned earlier, these run Forever, and are the standard issue at hire centres for a reason $499 you will probably sell it for $399 when done, have laid floors using thousands of staples and not a jamb, there are some things you can save money on, a floor stapler is not one of them IMO. 
A compressor, the Ryobi Airwave one from Bunnings is not bad at $279, probably sell it for $150 if you didn't want to keep it, although I find a compressor is a good tool to have. 
I have one of the Ryobi ones as one that sits in the corner of the workshop and gets dragged around to do various jobs in the workshop or onsite, it's actually not a bad machine, and is very quiet.
It was going for years, then one day Bunnings issued a recall as there was an electrical fault, I had already used this one for 6 years, the recall was for units from 2015 to 2020. 
I took it to my local Bunnings, they just exchanged if tor a new one no questions asked.

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## Bart1080

> I've also been wondering if it is possible to have my wood heater installed in one of the large cupboards in the lounge so once winter is over I can close the doors and not see it! I would cover the inside walls with a fire resistant lining of some kind. Anyone know if this is possible/legal?  
> I have decided to try and do without gas so have bought a heat-pump water heater. I realised i would not be using much power in the house during the day so the heat pump can use this power to operate and boost the water temperature. My neighbours have one of these and swear by it!

  Will be interesting how long the heatpump HWS will last as in the past, there has been quite a few issues I beleive.
Perhaps another option to consider is either a wetback wood heater that circulates water from your HWS to the heater and returns it hot.  WOuld be great in the winter and these systems are common in NZ and Europe.  Another option is to perform a DIY with copper pipe aroind the flu or look at the "Axeman" flue baffels.

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## turnstiles

Floors done! I'm pleased with the result as it's my first floor laying experience (and my last.) 
After all the nailing of the floorboards I hired an orbital sander (rather than the drum type) as I'd read it was easier to use with less chance of mistakes albeit a lot slower. Also, the big plus was that you can use it across the grain which made it possible to sand the floor in the hallway (boards go across the narrow width - impossible to get the drum sander in.) 
The floor was then given 3 coats of satin water based polyurethane, one coat per day as I had to wait until after lunch for it to warm up over 10deg (as we had freezing mornings here - down to minus 8 on one day) I bought the no sanding variety - more expensive but worth it not to have to sand between coats. 
Using a sheep wool pad on a pole (like a mop) it was really easy to apply.    
Next I needed to build a base for the water tank before it was delivered. The whole thing will be encased like the exterior of the house and the ground level raised to the top of the besser blocks.The timber slatted base will also be waterproofed)   
The tank is situated right outside the bathroom to minimise water waste when waiting for hot water to start! 
I made 4 door threshold plates - iron-bark comes up a beautiful colour when sanded and polished. 
Front door (from inside and out):    
And the plumber has done the bathroom and kitchen rough-in.
Kitchen sink:   
Bathroom sink, washing machine and laundry tub:   
Shower, water tank inlet/outlet   
Looking forward to all the external plumbing work being done. (Hopefully sometime in the next 4 weeks.) I still need to buy a water pump before then. Trying to decide what sized pressure tank to have with it. (This keeps a certain amount of water under pressure so the pump doesn't have to start up every time you turn on a tap.) 
Currently I am painting the white surround of the 'barn-door' black as the white looked odd. Not a fan of black inside houses (very '80's!!) but the door furniture is black so it might suit it better. Will load a photo when it's finished. 
Also I'm having a go at making my bathroom vanity cabinet. The doors will be faced with the same boards used on the floor (they're the half inch thick variety) Again, will load a pic if it looks any good! 
I am also trying to get the veggie garden back into shape after I let it run down after summer. And weed spraying has begun once again (serrated tussock has reappeared in places.) 
The mum and baby wallaby have been hanging around a lot. This morning I drove up to park and they were only 5 metres away from the car and they didn't bolt.

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## r3nov8or

Floors look great! Well done. Love the updates  :Smilie:

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## phild01

Floors do look great but more care needed with wall linings etc though!

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## Uncle Bob

:2thumbsup:  Hows that solar going?

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## David.Elliott

Wood heater in cupboard is no issue. Most brands stipulate a 100mm space from any flammable materials so all good there.
What I would suggest from a guy that runs a wood heater continuously all winter, ie: it does not go out apart from the odd time, that so much heat comes from the sides you will lose quite a bit of it's effect by having it in a cupboard. 
Wetbacks are a great idea. But to hydrosiphon the hot water there are some restrictions on length and angle of pipes.
Neighbour has one on her wood heater and it's fantastic. Her heater is pretty much directly below her solar water heater and she does not run her booster at all.

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## Bart1080

> that so much heat comes from the sides you will lose quite a bit of it's effect by having it in a cupboard.

  
I'd agree on that one.  We have a wood heater suited for 30+ sq within a 24sq well insulated house and although it does a great job, it does have to be run hard to feel hot.  When I go to the neighbors place, they have a smaller free standing heater running at much lower wood consumption rates and the difference is very noticeable.  ie: its running low but can easily strip down to a tee shirt and still feel hot (temperature  :Smilie:  )  
I'm happy with our zero clearance "look" but not the overall performance

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## turnstiles

> Wood heater in cupboard is no issue.

  Thanks  David good to know. I had thought of a fire resistant wall cladding and  a sloping roof to channel the rising heat out.  But to be honest, I am  hoping (if my double insulation on every surface works) not to have to  need a heater most of the time and it's use would be more for  'atmosphere'!! And I'm hoping to get a really small one around the size of a big microwave. 
A wetback system would be really impractical due to the distance of the heater to any water.   

> Hows that solar going?

  It's going well thanks - not getting a lot of use yet - but it's a treat to be able to run power tools without having to drag the generator outside. I've also been able to heat up lunch on cold days in the microwave and make hot cups of tea.   

> Will be interesting how long the heatpump HWS  will last as in the past, there has been quite a few issues I beleive.

  My neighbours have had one for the last 7+ years with no issues so I'm not too worried.

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## METRIX

> Floors done! I'm pleased with the result as it's my first floor laying experience (and my last.) 
> After all the nailing of the floorboards I hired an orbital sander (rather than the drum type) as I'd read it was easier to use with less chance of mistakes albeit a lot slower. Also, the big plus was that you can use it across the grain which made it possible to sand the floor in the hallway (boards go across the narrow width - impossible to get the drum sander in.) 
> The floor was then given 3 coats of satin water based polyurethane, one coat per day as I had to wait until after lunch for it to warm up over 10deg (as we had freezing mornings here - down to minus 8 on one day) I bought the no sanding variety - more expensive but worth it not to have to sand between coats. 
> Using a sheep wool pad on a pole (like a mop) it was really easy to apply.

  TS the floors look great, although it would have been better to have wall linings on first so they could be attached to the bottom plate, you might find some gaps when lining the walls with no bottom plate to hold the gyprock nice and straight. 
Definitely give it a go to, make your own vanity, I make all my own as you can make them any size you need, Insides usually out of black HMR or solid timber (depends on the look), doors from some sort of veneer then finished in a colour, or from solid timber if that's the look I need. 
If you want timber tops, you can pickup slabs reasonably priced, and it's not too hard to make a flattening jig to get them perfectly flat, below are a few I have done.

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## METRIX

> I'd agree on that one.  We have a wood heater suited for 30+ sq within a 24sq well insulated house and although it does a great job, it does have to be run hard to feel hot.  When I go to the neighbors place, they have a smaller free standing heater running at much lower wood consumption rates and the difference is very noticeable.  ie: its running low but can easily strip down to a tee shirt and still feel hot (temperature  )  
> I'm happy with our zero clearance "look" but not the overall performance

  I also like the zero clearance look but know the heat output suffers, so I prefer the look of these types, modern and either on a concrete plinth or one from the manufacturer.
These types looks sleek and no sacrificing output.

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## turnstiles

Hi Metrix - I soon realised the issue of losing the bottom plate a while ago when the yellow tongue subfloor went in. It's one of those issues that occur because i couldn't see that far ahead in the build! It means I'll need to go around and put noggins all around the base. Not a major drama! 
One of the reasons I did the floor first (I researched and found the views on walls or floor first split 50/50) was that I wasn't ready to gyprock as the electrics haven't been done and I was twiddling my thumbs a bit (and I already had the floorboards delivered months before.) Also not having the walls finished meant I could get right to the edge of the floorboards with the sander without worrying about damaging the gyprock. The entire floor now has been covered with large cardboard sheets to protect it until the walls are done. 
That first and last pic of the wood heater I'd already seen and absolutely love. It's so simple and neat. Naturally, it's one of the most expensive you can find!

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## METRIX

> Hi Metrix - I soon realised the issue of losing the bottom plate a while ago when the yellow tongue subfloor went in. It's one of those issues that occur because i couldn't see that far ahead in the build! It means I'll need to go around and put noggins all around the base. Not a major drama! 
> One of the reasons I did the floor first (I researched and found the views on walls or floor first split 50/50) was that I wasn't ready to gyprock as the electrics haven't been done and I was twiddling my thumbs a bit (and I already had the floorboards delivered months before.) Also not having the walls finished meant I could get right to the edge of the floorboards with the sander without worrying about damaging the gyprock. The entire floor now has been covered with large cardboard sheets to protect it until the walls are done. 
> That first and last pic of the wood heater I'd already seen and absolutely love. It's so simple and neat. Naturally, it's one of the most expensive you can find!

  If you left enough room between the floor and frames you might be able to drop the gyprock in there. 
With the fireplace, you can find manufacturers with the clean modern look and reasonably priced.
Don't fall for the Bunnings Scandia scam products, read the reviews these are rubbish and not fit for purpose. 
Made from poor quality flimsy steel in the country where most poor quality flimsy products are made.
Common problems seem to be the firebricks only last a year before cracking, internal components rust and twist, doors coming loose and jamming, door seals falling apart, but apart from those major issues they are ok  :Biggrin:   :Biggrin: . 
Bunnings should stop selling this poorly made product, a Slow combustion should last 10 - 15 years without too much upkeep. 
Bunnings do have exclusive models from Masport Made in Australia, these are the Bowden range, they offer a 10 year firebox warranty, and look pretty nice at reasonable price.
Check them out to compare to others on the market, there are heaps of places that sell slow combustion nowadays, so you should find what you need. 
Scandia also have many bad reviews for customer service (or lack of) I can give feedback for a customer we did a job for and they had the Scandia product, the customer service was the worst I have ever dealt with when there was an issue (even worse than the shonks at Edisons, or OSMO) it took more than six months to get answers from them, yes you read correct more than six months, waste of time dealing with them. 
There was total lack of communication, lack of reply, being passed between one person to the next with no answers from any of them.
I like the look of their products but would never purchase one of them. 
You can't go too wrong with the ones made in Australia and NZ at reasonable prices. 
Below are the Masport Bunnings exclusive models, these are very similar to the regular models not sold through Bunnings, saying that you are better off buying from a specialist  outlet rather than a hardware store.  https://www.masportheating.com.au/en...ings-exclusive

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## David.Elliott

I have an Arrow purchased 16 years ago, still going strong..came with two sets of grates and side plates. Best thing is the ash tray can be removed and emptied while the fire is burning. Recently had to move it to build a brick hearth under (SWMBO request) Too heavy for two men to lift, ended up sliding onto a wheeled dolly.  Fan forced too https://arrowheaters.com.au/
Last year I gave it a birthday, new seals, paint job, new glass, looks like new again.

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## ForeverYoung

> Fan forced too

  My place has an inbuilt Kent, about 10 years old.
The fan certainly makes a difference. Even for getting the fire started it seems to help a lot with the draft.
I know cause last winter (my first with it) I couldn't use the fan much cause it was too noisy, before this winter I got in and gave it a clean and it makes a good deal of difference to heat disbursement and how well the fire burns. It is a built in, in an old brick fireplace which is still quite warm to touch well after the fire goes out, so radiant heat - yep.

----------


## turnstiles

A couple of things from the past 6 days (or 4 days, as 2 of them were spent teaching!) - here's the door surround painted black. As I said before, I'm not a fan of black as interior decor but something didn't sit well with the white. At least the door will go with the interior front door handles!!   
I've been meaning to fit some sort of locking mechanism to the right hand front door (the one without the lock.) I was toying with a barrel lock but I didn't like the look of a lot of them and it would have probably meant more black! 
So I went with the hidden sliding bolt - much fiddlier to install but overall far more satisfactory:     
And a sneak preview of the bathroom vanity progress with the doors using leftover floor boards!    
The doors are just sitting in place for the photo - and the (fixed) central board is to hide the drainpipe. The cabinet will be wall hung with a wider shelf extending 400mm either side of the cabinet on top, with the sink on top of that and overhanging the edge (it's a big sink!) so the plug hole is set quite far forward. 
Still needs hinges (I bought the wrong sort - they need recessed, soft close hinges and not the regular sort) and I haven't decided on handles yet.

----------


## turnstiles

The past few days I've taken time away from the house to try and get the veggie garden back into shape ready for spring planting. 
Last spring and summer were terrible for growing. So much rain and so little sun. The ground is super saturated which lessens its oxygen content (makes the worms rise!) Most of my crops were abysmal. Now we are getting our third La Niña in a row - only the third triple on record, but lets hope this spring and summer will be a bit better, 
I let the veggie garden go to ruin last autumn:   
So have spent some time turning the soil and adding agricultural lime (I have quite a bit of clay):    
Recent rain washed it in and I got half the garden done today:    
I still need to dig in compost from my compost bay and then top with horse manure for mulch. I've begun planting seeds in pots ready for spring planting. 
I have also made a bin full of cow manure tea for extra fertiliser.    
Also had my water pump and pressure tank delivered. I bought a 50L pressure tank but the company rang to say they had sold out and a new shipment would be a few weeks. Did I want a 60L for another $30? I thought why not! (And I'm very impatient!)    
And the bathroom cabinet now has hinges - and when I bought them I realised they came with 'push' openers - so no need for door handles! Happy about that.

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## Uncle Bob

I like that cabinet!

----------


## turnstiles

> I like that cabinet!

  Thanks Uncle Bob. Still haven't worked out the plinth that will sit on top and hold the sink yet. Either white or timber around an inch thick I'm thinking. 
Back to the veggie garden and I emptied my compost bay and spread it over the garden.   
Next came the mulch layer of horse manure - free from the local trotting stables (and an endless supply!)   
In the next couple of days I'll get another load and add another layer. 
Next I started to construct the enclosure for the water heater. Fortunately the hardware store has started to get some 90 x 45's (2" x 4") after a year of timber drought! 
Cut and nailed some of the pieces inside (you'll notice the entire timber floor has been covered with layers of cardboard to protect it.) and nailed some of it together then hauled it outside and put it up. 
I'm leaving a couple of the noggins out on one side to make it easier for the plumber to attach the heater to the pipe work. 
The front will have 2 doors on the lower part to get at the tank. The upper part will be fixed. (Unless I decide I want to use it as storage - haven't decided yet.) 
The sides will have painted white fibro like the rest of the house but the front will have a dark timber slat with gaps for ventilation. (The heat pump works by drawing heat from the air so it needs to be able to "breathe"!!)      
And that's as far as I got!

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## r3nov8or

Loving the updates  :Smilie:

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## turnstiles

I was hoping to have more progress than I have by now, but anyone reading this who lives in NSW, Australia will understand when I say it has been WET!! The third La Niña in a row continues to produce drizzle, storms, and endless sunless cloudy days. 
As much of what I want to to do ATM is outdoors this has slowed things. Also it means the plumber has been delayed in returning to do all of the outside work. 
When I can get outside i have been continuing to work on the veggie garden. I have planted a variety of seeds of which many are starting to appear. It can be tricky as September is an unreliable month temperature wise and we can still get frost. (2 years ago in Sept. we had snow!) Currently have pumpkins, beetroots, spinach, zucchini, bok choy, and red basil sprouting and waiting for the capsicums and onions to come up. These will join the rhubarb, chives and mint already growing. Later will come lettuce, radish, rocket, beans, tomatoes, coriander and whatever else I think I might want! 
Building work wise I continued with the housing for the water heater:  
(Photographed here on one of the rare sunny days...)  
Screws epoxied, sanded and 2 undercoats and 2 top coats applied.  
I also welded some 30mm sq tube to make two doors. I don't know why I chose to do them in metal, after I made them I thought wood would have made a simpler choice!! They are currently being painted black ready to be attached. I also want to line the inside with insulation foam (I have left overs from the outside cladding.)  
I temporarily hung the bathroom vanity I made to keep it out of the way - I still have to decide on the counter top material to go on top of it. But I sat the sink I bought about 5 years ago on it to see how it looks scale wise. Yes I know it's big but when I bought it from the warehouse in Sydney it didn't look very big at all! 
Then I saw for the first time why I am not going to use it. *Can you see why? 
I have looked at this sink quite a few times since buying it, I even took it out of its box at the warehouse to make sure there were no glazing faults, and never saw the problem.  
So I am going to buy a different (and smaller) above counter sink! 
And this was yesterday (and what I have to deal with!)    
*The sink slumps to the front right.

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## r3nov8or

Why? I reckon the basin deformed in firing, dropping at the right front corner, but it could be the camera  :Smilie:  
(I wrote this before I saw the footnote!)

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## Moondog55

Call it a design feature and tell all your visitors it was chosen deliberately for its quirky visual appeal

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## turnstiles

> Why? I reckon the basin deformed in firing, dropping at the right front corner, but it could be the camera  
> (I wrote this before I saw the footnote!)

    You're right* r3nov8or* yes it has deformed in firing (I'm a Ceramics major so I'm familiar with this problem  just ticked off I didn't notice it!!)

----------


## turnstiles

> Call it a design feature and tell all your visitors it was chosen deliberately for its quirky visual appeal

  Lol - it would do my head in every time I used it!  
Oddly enough I only noticed it when I was looking at the photo - I didn't see it when standing looking at the actual sink.

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## r3nov8or

> You're right* r3nov8or* yes it has deformed in firing (I'm a Ceramics major so I'm familiar with this problem  just ticked off I didn't notice it!!)

  I'm a veteran of The Great Pottery Throwdown  :Biggrin:

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## Uncle Bob

It's where the overflow goes  :Smilie:

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## turnstiles

The big wet continues much to the annoyance of this bedraggled wet wombat I came across last week. It's unusual for them to be out in daylight hours so perhaps its burrow has been flooded.  
Sometimes things seem to go well but then don't quite work out! One such example are the doors on the water heater enclosure. 
Having welded and triple painted them, once I started trying to attach the hinges (I should have welded them on!) I began to see the inherent difficulty I would face using metal - I could see attaching all the wooden slats to them becoming a real headache. So...it took me less than an hour to knock up wooden replacements!  
I'm sure down the track I will find a use for these metal ones. 
Fortunately, as the rain and windy weather continued I found some work I could do indoors. (Any periods of sunshine/no rain found me dashing outside to weed spray or plant seedlings in the veggie garden) 
I bought a couple of sheets of 17mm structural ply and set about cutting them into the slats - 44 in all (each 50mm wide.)  
Then sanding and 2 coats of stain with varnish ('Black Japan')  
Then 3 coats of satin varnish on the front and sides, and 2 on the backs.  
I should be able to start putting these up shortly. 
Then I painted the front timber black so I wouldn't see the blue of the timber in the gaps between the slats. This is being varnished today.  
Continuing with my bargain hunting skills - I felt really fortunate to find these mixer taps at my local hardware (Big Green Shed). They usually sell for around $100 - $160 each. There was a box of about 5 'end of model' discounts priced at $10 each !!!  
They are very plain and simple, and whilst not my first choice, they fit my budget and I can always replace them years down the track with something I prefer. So I nabbed 2, one for the on-counter bathroom sink and another for the kitchen. If I was smarter I could have bought all 5 and sold 3 with a mark-up on eBay! 
And while having a longer than my usual 10 minute lunch-break - I whipped up a bird nesting box from scrap timber. I want to make quite a few more. I have blueprints for different types for different birds. The roof should've been sloping, but it has3 coats of varnish all over (except a 10mm gap around the edge of the hole in case birds chew there) and should be water tight.  
But school is back from vacation, so I still need to work to pay for all of this!

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## METRIX

Few problems I can see happening here. 
If that was regular plywood, it won't last outside, no matter how many coats of paint you put on it, it's not designed for outdoor use, it will be worse if you put them on their flat so you are exposing the ply layers up to the weather.
The frame you made is also not suited to weather exposure, Blue T2 timber can only be used undercover because it's no more weather resistance than untreated pine 
If you put the timbers on as slats, water will get onto the frame through the slats when it rains, it will then get trapped and rot everything out, no matter how many coats of paint you put on it.
I have seen this happen on many occasions when stuff was built by DIY thinking it was treated timber, which it is but only for inside / undercover use.   https://www.hyne.com.au/framing/t2blue/faqs

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## Moondog55

Nice to see nesting boxes for native birds. If you can put up a couple of really tall poles [ +3000mm above ground] narrow sleeping boxes for micro bats will help with keeping insect populations under control.
having said that my own micro-bat boxes do not as yet have occupants

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## turnstiles

I'm not too worried about the gates - they'll be practically 'inside' the water heater enclosure! They'll have 4 coats of varnish and the only bits exposed will be the small gaps between the slats. Also this is the most protected side of the house (East facing) - gets very little bad weather, and morning sun. 
The ply is structural grade - designed to last longer outside - and each slat has the equivalent of 5 coats of varnish on the front, sides, top and bottom. I'll be happy to get 10 years out of them!

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## turnstiles

Moondog - Somewhere on my computer is an improperly name PDF with about 8 different nesting box designs to suit different types of birds (who knew they were so fussy!!) When I find it I'll knock up a few more - I plan to put any others high up in trees on my property. For the one pictured I had thought of finding a piece of flat bark and gluing it on the front to make it look more like a natural tree hole. Overkill maybe  :Biggrin:

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## r3nov8or

Any port-hole in a storm  :Smilie:

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## Moondog55

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...tw6GFzvVd4ZqH7 https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...J21AiWJxKiabqi

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## turnstiles

[QUOTE=Moondog55;1140915]resources/QUOTE] 
These are great - thanks (The anti-Myna bit is particularly good!)

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## turnstiles

Well the rain continues (more than doubled the monthly average already - and it's STILL raining!!) which meant I was in and out of the house trying to finish the water heater enclosure during the brief dry spells! But it is all done now (except the left side lower panel which is temporarily unpainted and in place so it can be removed when the plumber comes back to hook up the water heater - except the ground is still so wet he can't return for fear of getting bogged.)       
Bought a new sink - much smaller and I will offset the tap to about the 2 o'clock position. This way the sink can sit closer to the wall - better for a small bathroom - it means I can have a narrower vanity countertop.  
The countertop is laminated pine 32mm thick. Unfortunately it is not the right colour so I will stain it. Possibly with the same 'Japan Black' used on the outside slats. It will reference the streaks of dark resin in the floorboards of the cabinet. 
It also needs to be trimmed 60mm off the long edge so there is only a 50mm overhang on the cabinet. 
As you can see the counter is too pinkish to go with the cabinet.   
Testing stain application on an off-cut:  
I am also toying with the idea of asymmetry - with the basin and/or the cabinet not central to the countertop. 
It is greening up nicely with all the rain:   
This is not proper lawn - just a mixture of natural grasses - all I have done is remove as many weeds as I can. 
I love my view - sometimes I think this looks like a triptych painting!!   
And of course the wet weather brings out the roos.

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## turnstiles

The plumber was booked in for Monday 14th and was all set to go as there had finally been some rainless days beforehand to dry out the ground a bit. 
Sunday evening we got hit with 45mm of rain, more predicted the next day with wind gusts of over 70kph   :Shock:  
Plumber cancelled. 
Finally, last Wednesday he made it out to the house and started work. 
Hot water tank connected:  
Outside tap, vent and sewerage inspection pipe:  
a couple more:   
Septic in:  
Absorption trench dispersal pipes:  
Geotextile laid:  
and back-filled:    
Pressure pump and water pump installed:   
While waiting for this to be done I have been spending a lot of time on Big and Little weed maintenance. 
Big refers to wandering around my 25 acres and pulling up acacia seedlings, tea-tree seedlings,horseweed, mullain and 'heeling' up thistles. 
Weed numbers are fairly manageable now so there is not much need to use spray poisons. 
Small weeding refers to the veggie garden. Being so wet the weeds in the freshly turned soil can go nuts! 
As there hasn't been much warm weather this Spring (3 days ago we had a 'feels like' temperature of minus 4.7  :Cry: ) the veggie seedlings have been slow to take off. Here's a few of what is growing (brought home the first zucchini today):    
Rhubarb (a favourite!)  
I realise the soil doesn't look well mulched - unfortunately with the winds I get, the mulch gets blown away. 
Here is the bathroom vanity temporarily attached to the wall to keep it out of the way. The surface stain is lighter than it looks (more like the front edge) and I'm fairly happy with it.

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## Uncle Bob

Looking good Turnstiles! The backseat plumber in me says the copper pipework needs more lagging. Especially if it's going in concrete.

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## turnstiles

Hi Uncle Bob - the ground copper pipe as well as that in the hot water tank enclosure is having lagging - I'm doing that tomorrow before I back-fill. It isn't going into concrete.  
The entire area in pix 1 & 2 is having about 300mm of clean-fill and then topsoil. (Up to the top of the besser blocks.) 
Do you think it is worthwhile lagging the hot water plastic pipes (like those behind the bathroom vanity in the last pic) inside the house to prevent heat loss or is that overkill?

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## Uncle Bob

> Do you think it is worthwhile lagging the hot water plastic pipes (like those behind the bathroom vanity in the last pic) inside the house to prevent heat loss or is that overkill?

   It wouldn't hurt. I reckon you can't have too much insulation, especially up here.

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## turnstiles

I took on more teaching (3 weeks full time) as we are about to enter  Summer hols (6 weeks without income  :Cry: ). So not much house progress as,  besides all the usual shopping, cooking, cleaning and laundry to do I  also have my 60sqm veggie garden to manage.  
Some plants are  beginning to produce food - have quite a few zucchini already, and the  basket shown below has them, some chives, mint, beetroot leaves,  coriander and cos lettuce so I can begin having salads for dinner!  
Capsicum are slow at taking off as are the squash. I should get my first red onions in a week or so.  
Veggie growing is so satisfying  :Biggrin:  
Here's a quick veggie update!!        
It has been miserably cold recently - like a late winters day. I was wearing a coat and knitted beanie 2 days ago! 
The  cool Spring effect on vegetation is noticeable - my native Cedar trees  (one of the few Australian deciduous trees) are only just showing signs  of new leaves. 
But Spring is such a beautiful time of year:

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## Moondog55

I bet that the white house looks spectacular against all the green backdrop of lush growth.
Is that mint is a bucket?

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## turnstiles

Hi Moondog - when the veggie garden was established back in mid 2015, I planted the first sprig of mint (pic 1) within a steel offcut from my foundation tubes (pic 2) 
This stopped it spreading for years. But it escaped in the last couple of years and has spread a little on the outside of the fence. 
I will endeavour to remove these in the near future!     
The above pic also shows the very first thing I did in the house construction - cutting down these large tubes to make foundation pier concrete forms.
Little did I suspect then what the future would hold  :Shock:

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