# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  ICF extension project

## sundancewfs

Well to start with, here is what it should look like when completed....

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## sundancewfs

The existing house is 106 m2 brick veneer built in 1966     
these pics are taken from down the backyard looking back towards the house, they are a progression of clearing the site ready for the build. We had to relocate the sewer line as it was right under the footings line. The second pic shows the start of the cut for the new shed on the right hand side.       
Site clean-up is definately something to factor into any build! No matter how tidy and clear you think your site might be.......... We took out nearly 80 tons just to get it to this point.

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## seriph1

coooool  -  will definitely be following this one!

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## sundancewfs

One of the (many) issues we have with our site is access. The driveway past the side of the house is 2.6m wide and is at a 10 deg slope, from the rear of the house to the front fence. We can only get a 3 cubic metre truck down it, to deliver. We needed to get the driveway roughed in so we could get the truck down to deliver some bedding sand for our stormwater dipersal pit (we have no "legal point of discharge") We are required to contain and disperse all stormwater on site. There was no driveway so in came Close Quarters Earthmoving from Upwey www.closequarter.com.au , and cut out the topsoil and gooey surface mud (all topsoil is being stockpiled for future garden and landscaping use.) We then filled and rolled the driveway with some of the clean (lower strata) fill from the dispersal pit. them the truck was able to get in and dump the sand. Then we put 12m3 of crushed rock on the driveway, spread and rolled that . All this was done over 2.5 days. This now provides access to tradies so they dont have to park on the street (limited hours parking). When all the building works are finshed and everyone has gone home..... we will resurface and concrete the drive.       
Me on the roller    
This pic was taken looking out the french doors on the back of the house.    
Stormwater dispersal pit. 7x5m 900mm deep. This will be fitted with Atlantis water management, Flo-Tanks. total finished capacity 11600 litres. and covered with 300mm of soil. Our raised vege gardens will be built on top of this. www.atlantiscorp.com.au

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## seriph1

is 300mm enough? Couldn't a shovel or pitchfork easily penetrate this?

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## sundancewfs

300mm is the recommended minimum. It will probably be 400~450mm over all on this hole. The Garden beds above it will be raised boxes, probably about 500mm high, so digging wont be an issue. Even if you did put a fork into it, you would just puncture the geo-fabric wrap, the flo-tanks look like milk crates, so they dont actually hold water, but create a void so it can disperse through the ground.

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## seriph1

gotcha  -  thanks

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## sundancewfs

Here is the pit with a 100mm+ layer of sand compacted into the base and a pile ready to go down the sides when the units are installed.
One of the best tools I have is the self levelling rotary laser. It is used almost daily, inside and out. we levelled this pit when digging with the excavator and then I dropped in the two lengths of 100mm sewer pipe and sand, used the board to screed it along the pipe and bingo! 100mm deep  A bit of compaction, a bit more spreading. and its ready to go

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## sundancewfs

Its been a busy week again...
It seems that the owner/builder/project management job is a very involved one.
I have come to learn that there are a lot more things to consider than you think! From site clear-up, stormwater, sewer, even your proposed landscaping around the building has an impact on things you do right at the start.
This week the Flo-Tank modules arrived, flat packed and ready for assembly.         
Once assembled I laid out the geo fabric and started to install the modules, they are totally wrapped, under, on the sides and top and sand placed on the fabric to stop it blowing around. The hole will now be back filled with sand to 300mm and compacted. Then soil will be put back over that and grass re-established for the time being.     
Yes I am doing the whole process with my two small helpers in  tow  :Biggrin:

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## seriph1

> Its been a busy week again...
> It seems that the owner/builder/project management job is a very involved one.
> I have come to learn that there are a lot more things to consider than you think!

  A smart man once said "you have experiences forwards....but you value them backwards"

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## sundancewfs

The pit is all but complete. All up we put in 16m3 of washed sand to give us our 300mm cover. The input sump/filter arrived yesterday. The plumber will be installing that soon, then we will have an operational stormwater discharge point.

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## zacnelson

I'm really enjoying follwing your progress, keep the photos regularly coming! 
I was amused to see your kids on the site with you, it reminds me of myself!

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## sundancewfs

zacnelson, thats a great shot, Love those earmuffs.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

This weekends job is to demo this bump-out section with the french doors. Oh and support the floor load, and build in a temporary wall to keep out the cold and go to the circus..... no seriously! The kids want to go to the circus  :Smilie:      
Again I come back to the little things one doesn't think about when your doing this sort of stuff ( well, in fact I do,.... but I'll be mentioning them for the benefit/boredom of others) Before you knock down any walls, talk to a structural engineer.We used Leon at GHC Engineering Consultants and he has been great. Easy to deal with, a nice bloke and willing to explain why he had specified certain things without rolling his eyes and saying "sheesh!".
The other thing is, if your wall has light switches, power points, exterior lights, fan switches etc etc... you will need an electrician to de-commission all of that, so you can demo, without cutting any wires etc. I had arranged this last week and Andrew from Elecorp came round and took care of all the white wiggly stuff. www.elecorp.com.au   
The head bone's connected to the neck bone, the neck bone's connected to the back bone....... and on and on... You can pretty well say, if you are going to remove or move something in a house structure, its going to affect something else. This is the lintel section in the main wall, in from the bump-out. about where the darker gutter ends on the left, in the first pic. It will be staying in place for now, as it supports the roof load and we don't need to build the pass-through from old to new just yet.

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## sundancewfs

Another thing I would suggest if your going to take on a large reno project, is to get yourself a  big, solid, decent vehicle. Tough enough to negotiate a muddy building site, roomy enough to carry the wife/husband and kids, big enough to pick up 2400x1200 sheet goods and bags of cement, and stylish enough to turn heads (people look at me in amazment all the time).
I would suggest a......
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Mazda 121  :Biggrin:

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## Gaza

mate, 
love the underground tank i have only seen them on TV before,  
i would have saved the money from building the driveway and brought a small truck or ute for 3k, 
good luck with it, 
what type of ICF are you using.

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## sundancewfs

Insulbrick http://www.insulbrick.com.au/

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## sundancewfs

This week is plumbing and electrical week  
Trenches dug and 1/4minus put in for bedding  
Pipes are laid and bedded in, ready for sewer inspection ( as it turned out, not many are inspected) Plumbing is all handled by James Ring of Far and Wide Plumbing.  
150mm stormwater pipe going down. There are two lots of this, one for surface water and the other for roof rain water. This trench will also carry the 3 phase power.   
Rather than getting underfoot.... I started framing up the temporary wall to replace the bumpout wall that is being demo'ed. This will be clad with brace ply on the outside and plasterboard on the inside, to keep out the cold Melbourne winter weather.

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## myla

hi, 
you doing walls yourself or is Danish putting them up? 
i see Danish around quite a bit and they deliver a great result for people 
thanks

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## sundancewfs

Danish Constructions will be putting up the walls. We did think of doing them ourselves but with my wife working fulltime and me raising two kids, under 3, its a bit too much. The schedule is to have all the walls and framing completed by end of August.

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## sundancewfs

More plumbing
This is mostly stormwater and shed services.       
Electricians come tomorrow to lay 3 phase power and data cables

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## sundancewfs

Wire being pulled. 3 phase from the undergound pit on the boundry, to the meters on the house and then on to a sub-board in the shed. Also two cat5, one alarm, and one cable....cable. The guys from Elecorp got it all laid in a day. www.elecorp.com.au

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## Dan574

is it just my computer or is there only one picture in your first post, that of the garage only?

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## murray44

Must be you computer Dan. I can see progress pics all the way through. 
p.s. keep them coming Sundance, all good     :2thumbsup:

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## Dan574

no I get his progress photos, but in sundances first post are there 3 pictures or just one of a 2 story garage.

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## sundancewfs

Yeh
occasionally they all show up, I have tried to fix it but they don't seem to work...
All the photos are from my picasa album so I just cut and paste the links. I'm not sure why those ones dont show.

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## sundancewfs

Here we go.... Lets see if this works...

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## Dan574

no still cant see them. maybe its just me all i see is a small page icon with 3 colours in it.

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## sundancewfs

Sunday morning.......Awake to the sound of Grieg's "Morning"
Ahhhhhhh.......
Look outside. The last week was just a dream......
Everything is just as it was last Sunday.......     
Wait a minute!!!
Where did all those white pipes come from???? 
That was one serious week of work!
We got the trenches filled in on friday afternoon and saturday morning
Rang up Manna Gum Building and Gardening Supplies and got 18 cubic metres of crushed rock dumped on the driveway, then John the bobcat man did his thing spreading it as I rolled it with the roller.   
I also managed to get the rest of the bumpout demo'd today and clad with ply, it was too dark to take a final picture by the time I had finished, so this one is from earlier in the day.

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## sundancewfs

Here is the bump-out, or ..... here it isn't, I should say....

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## sundancewfs

Well not a lot to report this week.....
The concreters start drilling and pouring on Monday...
I spent the morning digging one of the stump holes for the stumps to replace the Acrow-props in the last pic. They have to be 1100mm deep x 350mm diameter and are in too tight a place to dig by machine. not to mention, as I found out today, rocky.
I dug it by hand with a spade, crowbar, baby formula tin, and a double handled clam-shell post hole shovel. 1100mm doesnt sound too deep, but you try and reach the bottom of the hole with your hand.... :No: 
One of the things that I would recommend if doing a project, is organisation. Always make sure you have thought out what is going to happen next. It pays to leave as little to chance as possible. For example. Our street has "no standing 8am-6pm" on our side. Now to load, unload, park a pump truck, concrete truck etc etc... is breaking the law. Do you take the chance that the parking inspector won't show up? Do you say to the tradies "your problem"? I chose to find out from the city, who is in charge of local laws and contact them. I explained our situation, the length of time we would be needing to park on our side of the street, the reasons why, He was very helpful and we were able to come up with a plan to be able to meet our requirements and maintain the ability for traffic to flow unimpeded. Its amazing what you can get with a friendly chat. The other thing is to see everyone who is involved in your project as a constructive part of a whole. tradies, draftsmen, inspectors, the city, suppliers etc etc... The goal is to build your dream project and you will find it much easier to achieve this by viewing everyone as part of a team. Butting heads and trying to buck the rules is just going to cause trauma. And trust me..... there is more than enough of that on a project that runs smoothly from start to finish....

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## sundancewfs

Mario from DiPaolo Constructions, boring the first of the piers on the house extension. This turned out to be a problem hole as we hit rock at 1.2 metres. As the engineering for the foundations was based on the original soil test (stating 100kpa soil) this wasn't deep enough...
Tomorrow we are getting in another geotechnical engineer to do another soil report so the structural engineer has the correct info on which to revise the pier design. If anything the piers will not have to be so deep.
All these engineers! sheesh! And my wife has a phd in engineering!
These are some of the fun things that you will encounter though as you wind your way down the long and tricky road of renovation.   
This is what a 3 metre deep, 450mm diameter pier hole looks like from the top. Its one of the 27 bored for the shed foundation. You really don't want to fall down one of these!

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## sundancewfs

Piers are all poured now! I now feel like we are getting somewhere! At last the sub soil stuff is done. The base for the entire structure to rest on is in place.  
All up a lot of concrete went into those holes. I think I counted about six of these trucks.    
The next day, all is quiet...... except for the truck with all the re-bar and mesh showing up......" where do you want this?"..... Just put it in the driveway
Now the piers get a couple of days to harden up and then the form work for the slab starts. All of the concrete use on our site has to be pumped in, as the driveway is too narrow to get an agitator down. A big snorkel truck is out too, as we have the overhead powerlines on our side of the street. The small snorkel pump was able to nose into the driveway and unfold down the drive.   
I also took the oportunity to have the new stump holes I had to dig by hand inspected and poured. these hole were 1100mm deep and 350mm in diameter. the stumps are 2 metre long, concrete, with threaded rods. I drilled holes up through the bearer, pushed the rod up through and put on the nut. Put a spanner on the nut and spin the stump tightens it up to the bearer and it is ready for pouring. These stumps extend about 400mm into the hole. The holes were filled with concrete, so its a very solid couple of stumps now!

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## Eastwing

Why did you dig 2 holes by hand?  You could have removed a few bricks from the piers under the existing bearer and slipped in a new bearer to carry the extra load. 
Looks good

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## sundancewfs

There is a new bearer there, 2/90x45 F17.  The two new stumps carry the load from the floor and walls above. They corrospond with the staircase opening that comes down from the existing house,and as such two new walls that will be built in the existing house.
The gap from engage pier to engaged pier, on the brick work, is just under 3.6 metres
I understand that there is more ways to skin a cat.... but this is the way that the engineer and I came up with after looking at it for quite a while, onsite. On any given house reno, you "have to be there" to understand some of the detail not always visible and stated. 
Besides my first job was as a jackaroo, so I've dug a few strainer post holes in my time....  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

One of yesterdays jobs was to form up the pad for the rainwater tank.
I used 110x19mm primed MDF and about 23, 300mm long stakes. The MDF was nailed to the stakes with a framing nailer as it was levelled with the laser. the result is formwork that is level all the way around and very solid.
The concreters have geneously offered to pump the concrete and finish the surface at the same time as they are doing the shed slab (I was going to do it with a minimix truck after everyone had gone home.)
The slab will be 4.8 metres in diameter and 110mm thick. it sits on a 100mm base of compacted crushed rock.
The tank will be a 30000 litre TAO300 Bushranger poly tank http://www.bushrangerwatertanks.com.au/pro5.htm

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## sundancewfs

Not what you see everyday out your back window......    
Today the concreters started preparing the slab sites for pouring.
In the background you can see the site toilet.  ( from 'R' Us hire http://www.rushire.com.au/ )This is a "connect to sewer" type. We were lucky that we had a IO right there and were able to dump it straight in. I like the sewer connect ones as they are basically a normal toilet and basin in a box. Easy to clean and no smelly tank. Even my 2 year old daughter likes to use the "toilet outside" I can't see why you shouldn't make a job site comfortable to be on.

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## sundancewfs

Busy day... for a Sunday.
A lot of diligent work going on. The more I look at these foundations, the more I think, These buildings ain't going anywhere!   
I like the fact that I can almost disappear a 5 ton excavator in our backyard      
The shed site getting its mesh 
All in all, Mario and the boys, and Father, put in a solid days work and now its almost ready for inspection, termite protection, and pouring.

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## sundancewfs

Concrete is in, we're out of the ground! 
Paul from Go Direct Pumping got it all down the back  
For a while there they were lining up down the street....  
Pouring the garage/shed site  
And the house extension  
Finished tank and shed site  
Nearly done on the house...

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## sundancewfs

What a week that was!
We ended up in pretty good shape after the slabs were poured, they did the shed slab first and got it all finished before lunch.
The house slab took a bit longer and with a delay on the last concrete truck, Mario was struggling to get it all in a finished off before the ominous looking clouds gathered overhead..... As it turned out, it started lightly drizzling after they had all packed up and gone home. No big deal, the concrete seemed to be handling it ok, until it started to bucket down!
Next morning, some pitting was evident on the last bit of slab poured, and a lot of effloresance (sp?)
now after a few days to dry off it is evident that is really minor surface stuff and sweeps off with a stiff broom. This part of the building will have floor covering over all of it (floating bamboo and tile on a self leveling bed) so none of the concrete will be exposed anyway. The shed slab looks a treat!  :2thumbsup: 
Thusday I thought I'd clean up around the site a bit and move some of the bore and footing spoil piles. I had arranged that my wife take the day off work to look after the kids so I could drive the bobcat and have an excavator working as well. carting, leveling and smoothing, then put a bit more crushed rock down and spread it out, as all the excavations are now done.   
Then disaster struck........    
Well not really disaster but best laid plans of mice and men....
The excavator driver rang up to say he had twisted his ankle and had blown some tendons, he's now out for a couple of weeks....
So I thought I'd pop down and delay the crushed rock for an hour or so as I was waiting for the Hire firm to deliver the bobcat ( Better rentals just opened a new branch about 3 km away from me! www.betterrentals.com.au )
turns out the small truck that fits neatly down our tight driveway, to deliver the crushed rock, blew its motor! The bobcat was delivered, So all I could do was move some of the spoil and make big muddy tracks everywhere. The rain on Tuesday night had made everything quite slick!
I was feeling very despondant by the end of the day..... 
Friday morning..
Preben, from Danish Construction, came in and got his boys started on the walls and all the ICF insulbrick blocks were delivered today.
Manna gum hired another truck to get their small loads customers back on track ( they have two other larger trucks that won't fit on our place) and delivered 8m3 of crushed rock which I spread around by shovel and wheelbarrow.
Boy do I feel knackered!
But at least the shed is taking shape! 
It feels quite strange to walk around in a space that until now has only been on paper.... :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

The blocks actually go up remarkably fast, We should have the lower floor walls up and poured by next Monday....     
These two pics were taken about an hour and a half apart.

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## sundancewfs

Walls on the house extension are up to first floor level now. Braced up and almost ready to pour. the window and door bucks* are yet to be installed (*the formworks to stop the concrete coming out were the door and window openings have been cut.)  
For those of you that are unsure of what ICF is.... It is a stay in place formwork made from  high density polystyrene. It has re-bar placed in it and is then poured with concrete. Basically you end up with a super-insulated, concrete house. These are the Insulbrick 170, they are 170mm outside to outside and give you about 100mm concrete core.      
While the Danish Construction crew have been putting up the walls I took the time to try and clean up the last of the mud and dirt from the footings dig. We also laid down yet more crushed rock to stabilise the driveway. this time I got in a serious roller to stomp down the surface and give us a solid base.
A 5 ton pad-foot vibrating roller.

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## sundancewfs

I finally came up with a way of showing the plan! Take a photo of the laminated plan I have stapled to an old door on the site. (its a great quick reference for everyone)   
All designs are by Gary Moule of Z-House design www.zhouse.com.au 
He is great to deal with and has been a great source of knowledge for a rank beginner like me. 
As well as the house extension taking shape, the garage has been coming on too.    
Question: what does this site have in common with Grand Designs? 
Answer: Half finished walls, and mud!   :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

The boys are finished for the week. Next Monday the last of the steel will be put in place and the first pour is scheduled for Tuesday. 
Most of the bucks are in place now and the corners are braced.      
One of the other things to go up this week was the lintel blocks. These are basically a u-section block which when poured comes up like a solid beam of concrete. These are placed above windows and doors.    
If you in any doubt as to what these blocks are made from and how heavy they are.....
Here is a pic of one of my two construction assistants (mind you, they do excel at deconstruction!)

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## myla

hi, 
thanks for the photos man. they are great 
myla

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Myla
I appreciate the feedback. 
As those of you from Melbourne would know last night was a bit of a wild one, with wind gust in excess of 100km. The walls stood up to the wind well. All the bracing held well and the only damage was caused by some of the pallets of unopened blocks (1200x1200x2400 high) blowing over and landing up against one wall, pushing a few blocks out of place. Remember there is no concrete in these walls.  
There is a project down the road from here where they are using polystyrene sheets as insulation. They didn't secure them before leaving the site for the weekend. I was driving by there today and its a wreck..... sheets in the neighbours yards, broken pieces everywhere, blown all over... Someones not going to be happy on monday morning... :Doh:

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## sundancewfs

Pouring today!
Thankfully not with rain! We couldn't have asked for a nicer day.
Pumping was handled by Rod from Access Concrete Pumping. 
The pour was done by Preben and the boys from Danish Constructions and they were all done by 2pm.
The mix was 32mpa, 7mm agg, 100 slump (bumped up to 150 with plastisizer).
All in all it went really well, with good filling of the blocks. They ended up a bit short of concrete on the last wall, but that will be picked up on the next level pour.         
Framing starts tomorrow......

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## sundancewfs

When the going gets tough its time to break out the "big guns" to help out.....
This guy drives a pretty mean compactor!  
The lintels for the garage and french doors are in (with some minor hiccups)
and the framing has started with the laundry starting to take shape.
You'll notice the bracing still in place on the wall in the laundry area. Thats the wall that came up short of concrete. the bracing will come down after it has been completely poured.     
I'd love some feedback too folks, so if you have questions, suggestions or criticisms please fire away.

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## Smergen

Mate, I don't have any feedback or knowledge on the subject but did want to just say how much I'm loving the site come together. Really inspiring. It's kinda like watching an episode of Grand Designs as a slideshow! I'm a newbie to this site, after only being a homeowner for a year. Trying to ramp up the DIY'er inside of me, and threads like yours only inspire me further (on a much smaller scale!!) 
A couple of questions, which may have been hidden away in the thread earlier so steer me there if you don't want to rehash information:
1) What was your timeframe from Go to Whoa?
2) What do you do for a living that affords you time to be PM on site? Or have you taken some leave or a nice big fat payout?
3) Do you have a budget for the job and how are you progressing against it? Any blow outs or great savings you'd care to pass on
4) How big is the block? It looks MASSIVE!  :Smilie:  
Loving the photos, the commentary and the information being provided. I think this thread will long become a great source of information and inspiration, particularly for those looking at alternative building methods such as ICF. 
Keep up the good work, keep posting photos and all the best with the rest of the construction.

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## zacnelson

It's hard to tell, but in the last photo, are they big T-bar steel lintels for garage doors?  What are you going to do about them - are you going to lay bricks on them?

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## sundancewfs

I'll answer your question first zac...
the garage lintel will have ICF above it. It will effectively be the door buck for for the wall above it, only it won't be removed after the pour. The gable end walls will be ICF too, as such the slump on the concrete going into them will have to be managed very tightly as it will have to stand up to the 35deg roof pitch. 
Smergen,
The time frame is open, having said that we are setting loose targets for the stages of the build. For example we had to do all the infrastructure and drainage work before we could start the actual build. As we have a contract with the building company, and they have a time frame that they need to stick to ( due to up coming jobs they have) we have been working along their schedule. They are only doing the foundation, walls and trusses (only to the top plate on the garage). When they finish, I have the plumber lined up to come and put on the roof. Also a carpenter, to help me frame up the shed roof timbers. I have all the shed windows here and the house windows are due mid September..... so to sealed up, lock-up, hopefully end of September, early October. 
 Budget wise we started with small plans and a budget of $100000.00 As we have had time to settle into the area and really love the amenities and location we have, not to mention all our neighbours are absolutely wonderful, we decided to go all out and over-capitalise somewhat. This will give us a nice livable long-term family home for our kids to grow up in and the room for many large family get togethers. we hav'nt finalised a budget as such, but will probably be doubling our original estimates. 
Blow-outs and savings.....
Hmmmm.... site clean-up and infrastructure can be a real blow-out, and one you tend not to think about when you are planning to build.
I estimate we spent $11000.00 on site clean-up.
We did consider if it would save us anything to do it bit by bit with a 6x4 trailer, to the dump every weekend...... but we moved out nearly 100 tons of junk. Its cheaper to dump in bulk. All of our waste went to the Ringwood recycling centre Where it is sorted and graded, and anything that can be reused is salvaged.
I'd hate to think how many weekends that would have taken to move on a 6x4...... 
Savings have been in the area of being the labourer (when possible, not all sub-contractors like that).
Negotiating better rates in return for allowing trades to have the whole job. (get to know your people first, interview prospective trades/men and feel comfortable with them, if you don't, keep looking.) 
Buying equipment, rather than hiring it, This one needs a bit of simple maths. Compactor $45 per day to hire, avail off ebay for $550~$900 
for example... http://cgi.ebay.com.au/80KG-CONCRETE...d=p3286.c0.m14 
If you need one for more than 2 weeks.... its paid for its self and you can sell it at the end of the job.
A rotary laser level is a real good idea too.  
My fulltime job is looking after our two kids, Chloe 2 and 3/4s and Elliot 1
My wife has a phd in engineering so works long and hard for me to be able sit around all day on my bum watching Days Of Our Lives  :Biggrin:  
And the block is approx 1730 m2. Great for the kids to run about in.

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## Gaza

> My fulltime job is looking after our two kids, Chloe 2 and 3/4s and Elliot 1
> My wife has a phd in engineering so works long and hard for me to be able sit around all day on my bum watching Days Of Our Lives

  good going getting full time house dads job, wish i could line that up one day.

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## zacnelson

I totally agree with you about the benefit of buying tools instead of hiring them. I'm in the middle of a large project not much different from yours in scale (however bricks instead of ICF) and I have bought everything I needed (I'm actually doing all the work myself so that meant buying a lot of extra stuff you won't need to buy). EBay is very helpful!

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## Smergen

> .... so to sealed up, lock-up, hopefully end of September, early October.

  That's pretty good going considering the amount of work being undertaken. Hopefully the weather can hold to meet those timelines (he says as it is pouring rain outside)   

> Budget wise we started with small plans and a budget of $100000.00 ..... we hav'nt finalised a budget as such, but will probably be doubling our original estimates.

  How did that stack up against demolishing and starting from scratch in the area? Or wasn't that an option given you still needed a bed to sleep in?  :Biggrin:    

> I'd hate to think how many weekends that would have taken to move on a 6x4......

  Very good advice. I think people often forget that the stuff being replaced still needs to go somewhere. I've been landscaping our backyard and have found even on that scale that you often don't think about where this wheelbarrow load will go... so I can imagine on a site like yours we're talking huge volumes....   

> Buying equipment, rather than hiring it, This one needs a bit of simple maths. Compactor $45 per day to hire, avail off ebay for $550~$900

  It's unfortunate that this is the case as it does promote a bit of a 'throw away' mentality and generates more waste (in the long run). But I agree wholeheartedly from a budget perspective. Why hire something when you can buy it for about the same amount or a little more...    

> My fulltime job is looking after our two kids, Chloe 2 and 3/4s and Elliot 1
> My wife has a phd in engineering so works long and hard for me to be able sit around all day on my bum watching Days Of Our Lives

  Nicely done by you! But given your assistants, I reckon you'd be watching a fair bit of Thomas, Night Garden and ABC Kids (I've got 2 under 2...) Maybe a bit of DOOL at naptime though...    

> And the block is approx 1730 m2. Great for the kids to run about in.

  Ahh we hope our next place is something around that size....

----------


## sundancewfs

One of the jobs this weekend is to prepare the central post which will support the upstairs LVL bearer in the shed (this is also the first time I get to work in the new shed Whooo Hooo :Biggrin: ). It is 190x190mm DAR Cypress. I got two 3.6m lengths from Demak outdoor timber and hardware http://www.demak.com.au/home.htm
They ran it through their thicknesser and dressed the ~200mm rough sawn down to a dressed 190mm.
One is for downstairs and the other will hold the ridge beam, upstairs.
Today I am docking the rough end off and routing and mortising out the bottom to receive to floor fixing plate. My sliding mitre saw has the biggest blade of all my saws so its a part cut though on all sides then finish the bit in the middle with a handsaw.

----------


## sundancewfs

It seems to me that while everyone else is working hard to help build our home.......
I'm still pulling it down!  :Doh: 
One of the jobs that needed to be done before the second story walls on the house can go up was to change the roof gutter line. the existing eaves hung over the wall. Not a problem while building the lower walls, but upper walls.... no.  
first step was to remove a row of tiles and push the second row up out of the way.  
Next I took off the fasia board and guttering, the 18v Milwaukee Li-ion rechargable reciprocating saw (Sawsall) was great for this. I cut and moved the batten back up the rafters and renailed it. next came a string line and the rafters were cut off flush with the wall framing. There is a box gutter going in between the two structures.
Notice all the lovely rat poo in this pic.....Yeeeech!  
once they were all cut off I put together a bit of old, new guttering that was left by the previous owner to fill the gap. I still have to put a pop in it and connect it to the temporary down-pipe, lets hope it doesn't rain tonight. :Biggrin: 
As the wall goes up the plumber will come in and fit up the new box gutter.    
Its always important to leave enough time to clean up after you have finished a job. The last thing you want is to have workers back on site on Monday morning, tripping over all the junk you have left laying around.

----------


## Smergen

Hey, was just wondering how the site has held up over the past week with the wild weather we've been having? Hopefully not too much damage done and time lost?

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## sundancewfs

The site has been holding up well, We haven't lost any blocks and the walls are all looking great. Mind you it has been a bit foul to be working in, so the guys have been doing emergency repairs on other sites (and their own homes) until the weather quiets down a bit.
I will spend all next week sorting out the wall between the two buildings (old and new) in preparation for the staircases etc... My wife has been able to take a few days of from work to look after the kids.
This morning I ordered a hot-knife kit and ICF rasp from the USA. Berlands House of Tools, to be precise. Boy did they get a shock when I told them where I was calling from! www.berlandstools.com I used to live not far from their Lombard store.
The knife is used to chase the internal walls to fit the wiring and plumbing. and the rasp is specially designed to level any irregularities in the ICF blocks in preparation for rendering and wall-boarding.

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## myla

hi, 
how is the plasterboard fixed to the icf? or is inside hard plastered 
thankyou

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## sundancewfs

Plasterboard get glued directly to the ICF then finished in the usual way, no screws.
I have also been looking at a USA product though, by a company called GigaCrete http://gigacrete.com/products/plaste...nd-finish-coat

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## sundancewfs

Enough of this laying about relaxing!.... Back to work!
Today our old meter was removed and the new 3 phase one put in.     
I have also started to frame up (well...de frame first) the pass throughs from the existing to the new parts of the house. Its taken a bit of head scratching to work out what the hell the previous owners did when they were "renovating" Its amazing what can be hidden behind gyprock!      
Ah well, hopefully I'll make good progress tommorow as the builders are back on site on Thursday. All the floor trusses have been delivered now too.  :brava:

----------


## sundancewfs

Good progress was made..... I finished cleaning up at 9:30pm      
Basically what I had to do was re-frame the area that forms the staircase pass-through from old to new. There were old lintels in place to hold the kitchen window and the french doors on the demolished bump-out. They were too deep to remain in place and have enough headroom for the staircases. So in went a 2/90x45 KD F17 lintel and double studs (lintel) with an extra stud holding the old lintel ends. the double studs sit on top of the new concrete stumps that I put in under the house. I also put double blocking in place, between all floor joists in the pass-through area. A lot of this I'm sort of winging it, I'm not a carpenter, but with the help of Alan Staine's Australian Home Building Manual, and asking the building inspector, I seem to be muddling along ok.  :Smilie:

----------


## sundancewfs

The guys from Danish Constructions were back again today, Started to put up the flooring joists for the upper level of the garage. When the flooring is on, it will give them a platform to build up the second floor walls.
The ends of the framing members are wrapped in damp-course plastic, to protect the wood from the concrete when the next lot of blocks are poured. The joist ends will be imbedded in the walls, in concrete.

----------


## mail2259

Things seem to be going well,   :2thumbsup:  keep the updates coming. When they put your new electricity meter on did they change your tariff to Time of Use (charged different prices depending on time of day), as they do in NSW.

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## sundancewfs

As far as I know, the new meter is not a full "smart meter" It is a digital one and has the capability to have two different tarrifs. We'll have to see what the next few bills look like.

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## sundancewfs

Friday afternoon, and this is where they got to. Most of the floor trusses in for the house extension and all the shed done.
I have temporarily clad the pass-through with 100mm MasterWall www.masterwall.com.au and the brick-veneer part of the house will be clad completely with this, then rendered  
One of this weekends jobs was to remove all the eaves lining boards. Yes they did contain asbestos so all the nessecary precautions were taken and it was all wrapped appropriately, ready for disposal at a designated waste site.
Mind you.... I think I was much more at risk from the rat and possum poo and the 5 dead rats in varying stages of mummification.    
The other thing I have had to do is get the central support post for the garage ready. On Friday I made the anchor plate. It is made from two pieces of 10mm thick 130mmx130mm steel squares. I drilled the 6, 16mm holes in the plates and then welded them together. Handy tip #1 magnetic welding squares are really worthwhile, even just for holding things while you are welding.

----------


## myla

hi, 
how you going to fix the Masterwall onto the brick? 
thanks

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## sundancewfs

myla,
I have heard of people successfully fixing it to brick with outdoor tile adhesive notched with a 10mm trowel. So I'll probably do that, with some hard fixings as well.

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## myla

hi, 
yes, keep in mind raw polystyrene (one face of Masterwall) has very low absorption rate, also clay brick 
in cooler weather especially noticeable 
therefore "initial grab" may need to be assisted with some props so sheets hold onto wall 
rendering raw styrene or clay bricks in this weather ie. 15 dg days it can take hours for set 
thanks

----------


## sundancewfs

The rate I'm going, I'll be lucky to be cladding the house with Masterwall before February! Should be a bit warmer by then. :Biggrin:

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## zacnelson

Why are you sticking Masterwall to the bricks, when you could just render the bricks as they are?

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## sundancewfs

zac,
1966 B veneer, no insulation, no sarking. Putting the Masterwall up adresses both problems, and give us the existing brickwork as internal thermal mass.

----------


## sundancewfs

Yesterday they managed to get the flooring down on the shed, before it rained.    
I also managed to get the fixing plate bolted down and the big post up and fitted.
This is 190x190mm cypress with four 16x120mm gal dynabolts holding it to the concrete and two 16x150mm gal bolts through the post and fixing plate's vertical tongue    
Standing up top, gives a whole different ranges of perspectives

----------


## sundancewfs

The next step in the process is to start the upper walls. First any bits of concrete that are on the keying, mating surfaces of the top course of the lower wall ICF blocks is chipped off, for the most part you can knock it off with you hands as its only a small amount on the foam and doesn't stick very well. Then the blocks are notched to fit the floor joists and the blocks are slid into position. this forms the base course for the upper walls and will be poured first by hand (and bucket) as well as having starter re-bars cast into them and/or tied off to protruding rebar, from the lower walls (as dictated by the engineering). These blocks will be poured next week and when done will imbed the joist ends in concrete.

----------


## sundancewfs

This weekends job was to remove and replace the old facsia boards on the house. I managed to get three sides done but was beaten by the rain on Sunday morning and the light on Sunday evening. Hopefully I will get it finished on Tuesday.       
Seeing as we had a bit of time on Sunday morning We went and picked up the new (old) compressor for the shed. Reckon if I'm going to have a swish shed I'd better have a decent sized compressor. Its an oldie but a goodie. 15cfm Servex 3 phase. I got it off Ebay for $125

----------


## sundancewfs

Gable end walls on the shed being built. They will pour the upper level walls in one hit rather than filling the first course and then the rest. The plan is to have the upper portion of the gable end wall clad with weatherboard. Cedar would be nice but might be too cost prohibitive.     
Its starting to show its true colors as to its size now!  
View from the bay window of the extension looking toward the shed, over the turn-around.

----------


## sundancewfs

When it goes up, ICF goes up fast! Its a matter of working out what needs to go where, then cut, notch and break out any cut-outs (if necessary) and put it into place like lego, with a couple of taps of the hand.  
Then...... Hey presto!        
The upper floor walls are built.
Well the wall closest the extension has a bit to go as we are juggling the box gutter between the two structures into place, as the wall is built. 
I also finished putting up the facsia boards countersunk and puttied all the nail heads ( I used 75mm gal nails as its treated pine board.) Got them painted with two coats of Dulux Weathershield low sheen, in the Colorbond colour, Ironstone.
That was quite a job! by myself.

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## Smergen

Really shaping up nicely champ. No doubt enjoyed the warmer weather of the past few days. Hopefully this rain is causing you too many problems.

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## sundancewfs

Hmmmm the rain!
All washed up today. AND no gutters!  :Doh:

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## Smergen

Was thinking that actually at the time but didn't want to say anything in case it seemed I was 'rubbing it in'! With more on the rain next week, you may want to get a 'work around' sorted! 
Just hooked up our new tank over the weekend so I'm actually happy for it. 
How does the ICF withstand being exposed to the rain?

----------


## sundancewfs

Being polystyrene the ICF handles all weather. Its waterproof, a bit light if not braced in the wind, other than that, sun is the only thing that really worries it. If left for any extended length of time in direct sunlight it can get chalky. It then needs a quick brush with a stiff broom to get the chalky...ness off to prepare it for rendering.  
New guttering goes up on Monday. Strammit half round profile with external cast alloy clips

----------


## sundancewfs

Here are this week's Friday afternoon pics..
I'm going to start preparing the window openings to put in the windows in the downstairs levels.
My mother-in-law is here for the next two weeks. She is an amazing person and a work-a-holic. She looks after the kids full time for me. This allows me the entire time to work on site.

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## Smergen

Just noticed the beams protuding on the back of the extension mate. You planning a balcony or something similar or are they anchor points for something else (i.e. deck?). Looking great as usual and yep very nice having a M-I-L to call on. Mine's 15000kms away so not always around to help with the ruggies!
I managed to hook up my new water tank over the weekend and do some landscaping so I was also pretty happy with my DIY efforts. I'm not on your level Sundance (actually not even close, not sure I know where your level exists....) but it is great getting a sense of achievement after completing something. Keep focussed mate, because at this stage, the end looks like it will provide an awesome job and something you'll be proud of until the end of days.

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## shed108

Just found this thread, WOW that is some serious work being done. Very interesting to watch.

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## sundancewfs

Smergen,
The cantilever trusses are for a bay window in the master bed. There is a real sense of achievement when you complete a task...... and a real sense of despondancy when things don't go as they should. I've found I need to balance both ends of the scale and keep things in perspective. On the bad days, you can easily make things worse by getting angry...and on the good days, you can be so caught up in the moment that you forget to do something important for the next phase of works. 
I have put the two downstairs windows in the shed now. and they turned out great......With a lot of work! I will explain with pics, later today. 
shed108, glad to see you found our project, sit back and enjoy the ride!  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Boy have I been busy.... Come to think of it.... everyone on site has been. We have been getting ready to pour the second story walls. Today was the day......
But lets not go there just yet.
Yesterday I had a friend of mine, Gunther, came up to frame up the opening for the upstairs window. It turned out great and also acts as the bucks to stop the concrete pouring out of the ends of the blocks in the opening. So it was a job that needed to be done before the walls were poured. The lintel is 2/290x45 KD F17 hardwood. the studs are 130x45 KD F17 hardwood.    
While he was doing that I was setting 12mm all-thread into the foam blocks, to be encased in concrete with the pour. These will hold the ledger plate for the carport on the side of the house. I also cut a 150mm hole for the rangehood ducting, and slid a piece of 150mm PVC pipe with a longways slit in it. into the hole. This stops the concrete coming out, and the slit in the pipe allows you to remove it after it has been poured.  
And then we come to today........              
Everyone on deck for the pour. Tim is holding to hose today. Rod is back, pumping up the grey stuff, and it is all going well.  
And then it started.....
The rain that is... 20mm in half an hour!
And on top of that, at the height of the rain we had a blow-out. For those of you that know ICF you will know that this is not the best thing to happen. For those that don't know, a blow-out is when a block or join in the empty block fails as it is being filled, due to the huge hydrostatic pressure that the wet concrete puts on it, and allows the concrete to escape. I say escape because when it happens it looks like the concrete has tasted freedom and is positively fleeing! Most blow-outs are easy to deal with and can be quickly shored up and bought under control with a bit of wood, sheet or frame blocking. Ours happened in the worst imaginable spot! In the middle of the wall, between the buildings! There is a 150mm gap between the buildings and we had to slide a sheet of Matsterwall foam in there and hammer in blocks of wood to shore up the hole. All in all I raked 300 litres of concrete out from the gap after we had fixed it.  
The rain also splashed concrete everywhere and streaked the foam with dribbles and runs. The shed looks more like an abandoned abbey than a new construction, I was thinking it would look quite nice with a stained glass window in the end....    
The house didn't fair much better......  
There is a lot of cleaning up to do now, and some more hand pouring to do tomorrow, as we didn't get it all the way to the top, thanks to the blow-out and a few leaks.
But at least the rain has let up a bit  :Biggrin:  
10 points for effort today everyone..... pity about the weather.......

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## sundancewfs

I must have been cold and wet when I read the rain gauge....
I meant to say 10mm in half an hour.
Either way it was wet!  :Biggrin:

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## shed108

I can't believe you were pouring concrete yesterday!  :Yikes2:  Boy did it come down. How's the storm water pit handling all the water?

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## sundancewfs

The stormwater pit is handling the water great. Way more than it was designed for, as it is taking all the roof water at the moment as well.....
And that brings me to today.....
Our water tank arrived. Tankmaster's truck turned up at 1:20pm with our 30,000litre tank on the back. I can't described the feelings I had looking at it on the back of the truck..... sort of "Oh my god! What have I done!  :Shock:  " this tank is 4.5metres in diameter and 2.5 metres high. Or as it sits on its side, waiting to be rolled down the driveway (which is a 10 deg slope and 2.6 metres wide), 4.5 metres high and 2.5 metres wide.
Thankfully the boys from Danish Constructions were still on site and weighed in to lend a hand. James Ring, from Far & Wide Plumbing showed up to direct proceedings and with assistance from Phil and Gunther we had eight guys in all.
James drove his Landcruiser down the drive in front of the tank to act as a brake, as we rolled it up against it, and steered it. It just fit! Narrowly missing the nice new 1/2 round guttering James and Phil had spent the morning putting up.
At the bottom of the drive it got a lot easier and we were able to roll it into position easily. A bit of a push and a tug on a rope and over it went onto the tank slab.
whew! :2thumbsup:

----------


## sundancewfs

The rain has gone, the sun is out, and the concrete is quietly curing.....
Time to get on with the next stage!
Danish Construction's framing sub-contractors showed up and .....
started with the top plates.   
Then went on to the wall framing, upstairs.  
They also gave me a hand to lift the shed ridge-beam up into place.  
Meanwhile, I got on with framing the landing platform for the staircase in the shed.  
And then Gunther and I made a start on the rafters for the shed.

----------


## sundancewfs

Too tired to talk........ must go and lie down....mphmmnhfhhmm  :Sleeping:

----------


## sundancewfs

Ahhh thats better! Boy did I need that sleep! I must be getting old, because by the end of a 12 hours day I feel buggered!
Yesterday we put up all the rafters, bar two. One of the dormer rafters (which I pinched for the landing ledger) and one of the end rafters that sits against the wall. I am coming to realise that the ICF concreteing is not an exact science. We will have to cut about 30mm off one side of one of the gable end walls, as it is too high. Also none of the tops of the walls were level, so when the top plates were installed, and shimmed to level, there is, in some places enough space to slide your whole hand under it. In the case of the shed this wasn't going to work for Gunther and I, as we had to pitch the rafters on a straight and square top-plate. So we re-set it completely and pointed the entire thing with mortar to provide a solid base for the top-plate and seal the gap under it. The rafter for the shed went up a treat and are fastened at the top with 7 skew nails and 900mm of strapping over the top of that. At the top plate they are fastened with 2 skew nails and a Pryda triple-grip. Pryda - Home
Today the roof trusses are going up, the tank is being plumbed in and we will be doing more on the shed. Also my new (second-hand) scaffolding will be delivered. 
Another busy day...... and I think I'm getting a cold....

----------


## sundancewfs

Yes I am getting a cold....... :Frown: 
We have all of the dormer framing done now, and the offending gable-end wall, cut down to size.(9"angle grinder with a combo masonary blade) We also managed to get the upstairs central post upstairs, cut and into position. Along with checking off the strapping, nailing and triple-grips to make sure we hadn't missed any. It pays to stop and do this from time to time as its amazing how many times you'll say, "I'll come back to that, after we have finished this....." 
Meanwhile the trusses showed up and the guys started to erect them. 
Next step is to get the facsia boards up on the shed and put on the 12mm structural ply roof sheathing. Then it should be ready for roofing.

----------


## blak

Awesome thread man!

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## sundancewfs

Facsias are up and we are well on the way to having the entire roof of the shed sheathed with 12mm structural ply. This will act as the roof bracing and also be a surface for me to push the R4 batts up to, before the plasterboard goes in on the ceiling. The R4's are about 190mm thick, the same depth as the rafters.
Insulbreak 65 will go under the tin, above the ply and battens. Aircell
In the first pic you can also see the tank now all hooked up and ready to fill
The building inspector came around (at my request) to check out the framing works to date and ok'd it all. Including the house extension, which now is fully trussed and ready to get its facia boards and roof. Hopefully we will have some new roofs in the next week or two!

----------


## Gaza

love the plywood, USA stlye building its a shame not a lot of ozzy builders use the plywood sheeting over roof and wall framing.

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## sundancewfs

Yes Gaza, I did kind of bring the idea back from there.... seems to make a lot of sense when you look at it. I wish someone over here was making SIPs, Structural Insulated Panels.  I subscribe to Fine Homebuilding Fine Homebuilding - trusted articles, videos, books, and magazines on residential construction, home design, and renovation ( they have suprisingly cheap international subscription fees compared to the news-stand price) and its a great way to keep abreast of some of the new ideas in American home building. I lived there for five years. If I had lived in Europe I probably would have been looking more in that direction for inspiration, but the houses I lived in, in England in the 80's were cold and drafty. Definately not what I'm trying to achieve here.  
blak, it seems like awesomely hard work at times! :Biggrin:

----------


## Dan574

So as far as using the ply for the roof do you still have to be a licensed roof plumber to install it or just the outer membrane.   
What product are you using on top?  
Ive seen this type of roof using a normal steel ridge cap, is this what your using as well? 
Its looking good, keep up the good work.

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## sundancewfs

The ply is purely the sheathing and bracing, there will be aircell insulation/sarking/etc...insulbreak, over the ply and then a normal colorbond roof over that.

----------


## sundancewfs

The ply sheathing/cladding is finished. Now I have to paint the fascias and its ready for gutter and roofing.     
The ducting for the HRV system, for the house, turned up yesterday too.
Oh goodie! More work to add to my list.......

----------


## sundancewfs

Oh and if your wondering what HRV is.....
This is the system we will be installing VENMAR - air exchanger, range hood, range hoods, air exchanger, exchanger, ventilation, systems, HVAC.

----------


## AIRMAN

If you don't mind me asking, how much are you paying for the VENMAR unit? 
I work for a company that manufactures the same product (but better :Wink: ), and our small unit that does 100 l/s has a trade price of just under 1k. If you haven't allready purchased it let me know and I'll send you some info. 
Also, how much attention are you paying to get the building air tight? As a normal residential house would have more facade leakage than one of these units is supplying, meaning it's not really doing anything. In the UK and US these are generally used on houses that are very well sealed and get pressure tested to find any leakage. 
We are yet to see much of a domestic market for these in Australia and 95% of our projects are commercial.

----------


## sundancewfs

Airman, We have already purchased our unit... Have you got a web address for the product you are suggesting? Others may be interested.
We are paying particular attention to sealing our building envelope. Air infiltration (drafts) is going to be on top of the list of things to stop.

----------


## Eastwing

> Airman, We have already purchased our unit... Have you got a web address for the product you are suggesting? Others may be interested.
> We are paying particular attention to sealing our building envelope. Air infiltration (drafts) is going to be on top of the list of things to stop.

  Did you import your unit yourself or is it avaliable in Australia? I'm also intrested in Airmans unit PM me some details. 
Thanks 
P.S. Looking good so far

----------


## sundancewfs

> Did you import your unit yourself or is it avaliable in Australia? I'm also intrested in Airmans unit PM me some details. 
> Thanks

  We got our unit from Bernard at  www.air2energy.com.au

----------


## sundancewfs

Roofing the shed today.
James and Phil from Far & Wide Plumbing are back again. 
Insulbreak 65 by Aircell is going down under the tin.

----------


## sundancewfs

James and Phil got one side of the shed done and then started on the battens for the house  (they will finish the shed tomorrow)
Meanwhile Gunther and I started framing up the bay window in the master bedroom. With some help from James and Phil we lifted the window assembly up through the window opening and got it set up, in place.

----------


## sundancewfs

Today I decided to put a couple of windows in the shed. One was the dormer and the other was one of the end windows, in the ICF.
first of all here is the rough opening..... very rough.        
This is how it looked after they had finished the pour and taken the window bucks off. (boards to stop the concrete flowing out of the openings)
I then got to the sill with my 9" grinder with a concrete grinding disc, from Allcrete in Bayswater.     
I then cut the 140x35mm treated pine and nailed up the rough opening timber framing.
I am using plastic damp course flashing to fold a sill pan for these windows.    
The frame is place in the opening, levelled and plumbed, shimmed and fixed to the concrete with phillips head dyna bolts.   
A bead of silastic is run up both sides and across the top of the outside of the timber framing and the UPVC window frame is put into place, screwed up tight. These windows have what is called, a nailing fin, around the perimeter of the frame. it allows you to fix it to  the timber framing with screws every 100mm. The lites (glass) are put in. These are removable for cleaning.
And the job is done, bar the sealing and finishing the interior and exterior surrounds.    
Windows by Weathershield. VISIONS® Vinyl Windows & Doors
supplied by American Homes in Bayswater. www.americanhomes.com.au 
The shed is looking a lot more complete with a few windows and the roofing on.

----------


## sundancewfs

Gunther managed to get the shed front walls in today. I managed to give him a bit of a hand while the kids were having a nap ( they both sleep at the same time, in the afternoon, for a couple of hours) its basically 90x45 stud partion walls with the same 12mm ply cladding the outside. I will then staple Aircell Insulbreak over the ply,foam up the holes and gaps and the use cedar or cypress boards to create the illusion of  sectional garage doors.
Tomorrow we will get a start on installing the side (main) doors. once their in, it's to lock-up. One nearly down...... one to go.  :Biggrin:

----------


## sundancewfs

Its been a bit of a quiet week, this week, with all the rain..... But we have managed to get some work done. Gunther and I prepped and fitted the door framing for the shed. I started to finish the doors, prior to installation. We also got frieze boards installled in the shed to stop the drafts and birds, (they have decided the upstairs would make a great nesting site!) Gunther also got the rest of the bay window framing finished on the master bedroom window. 
door framing  
Cedar veneered doors, these were on special at The Door Store. www.thedoorstore.com.au
I am finishing them with a Feast Watson product Feast Watson - Exterior Clear Finishes - Weatherproof
They will then be glazed with double glazed inserts from Knox-ville glass  
Frieze boards installed and sealed. We used 19mm yellow-tongue flooring for this.

----------


## sundancewfs

I decided to make a couple of door spinners.....
Basically these are four site built saw horses (two pairs, so I can do two doors at a time) with holes drilled through the top so that a 14gx100mm screw can be screwed into the top and the bottom of the door. The hole in the cross-beam of saw horse is large enough to allow the screw to turn freely so that the door can be spun around. This allows you to paint doors on all sides at once, rather than waiting for one side to dry and then turn it over. This also allows you to easily deal with any of those nasty drips that inevitably end up creeping under the bottom edge.

----------


## sundancewfs

Seeing as we are likely to have a bit of a clear spell in the weather, we decided to go all out on the roofing and get the whole project roofed before the weather heats up too much.  Super Safe Scaffolld came in and put up a two plank walkway for us. Welcome to Super Safe Scaffolds
 We got the small roof extension built to mate the existing house up to the new ICF, This also clears the way for us to resolve a headroom issue we had with the upstairs staircase. The roofing has been going up on the extension too. Boy was it warm on the roof yesterday. I'm not looking forward to stripping the old tile roof. Ahhh but that is next week.....

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## sundancewfs

Oh and by the way......
free to a good home, Whitelaw Monier 100 cement tiles, Lots available! see previous pics for condition.  :Biggrin:

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## murray44

Sundance, 
I'm loving these updates. There must be a hundred blokes out here thinking "when do we move in" haha. 
Love the door spinning saw horses too, I have a dozen doors to paint. Why didn't I think of that  :Rolleyes:  
Murray

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## Smergen

Coming along nicely Sundance. As usual loving the updates. Hopefully the weather remains clear enough to get the roof on without too many issues.

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## Gumbymum

Some really impressive stuff so far.   
On the ICF, prior to moving up to Qld (am actually originally from your area) I was lucky enough to work on a project in Oakleigh where the owner subdivided his property and built a new 2 storey ICF home.  My main trade is concreting so know the blow-outs all too well, was 'lucky' to also experience one on the ICF job - not too keen to repeat that one in a hurry though (pour had to stop, part of the wall had to be replaced and a huge clean up started - but no rain at least  :Rolleyes:  ).  What plans do you have for the internal walls on the ICF?  The Oakleigh job had some major dramas with plastering to the foam (initial inability to find an adhesive product strong enough to support the weight of the plaster) , the client was against building an internal frame to hang the plaster from and this is where my time on the job ended, I often wonder what solution was found on that job and how it all turned out. Being that it is now a few years down the track (It was mid '05' then), what options do you have for the internal walls? 
Also, what are your plans for the exterior ICF walls?   
I have really enjoyed reading this thread and watching it all unfold so far, looking forward to seeing the finished product in the not too distant future!

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## sundancewfs

Thanks for the comment guys,
Its been pretty busy at the moment but not the sort of "photo-op" busy that makes for good posts. Lots of tidying up on site, raking, sweeping, blowing rat poo out of the old roof cavity as we have removed tiles for the re-roof.
I did remove 500 cement tiles from the roof on the weekend.... that was fun.  :No: 
At the moment we are waitng for Super Safe Scaffolding to come and move the scaffold to the other part of the house. Canterbury Tiles are going to take the roof tiles and recycle them. Pity they couldn't get to the site earlier than today. It meant I had to take tiles off for Far & Wide to start the roofing on monday and tuesday. 
Gumbymum
I intend to direct fix to the ICF internally with a Sika product. We will have to wait and see how that goes, and render on the outside.

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## sundancewfs

Oh and we have stud partition internal walls.
Here are some pics of the start of the re-roof.

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## sundancewfs

Canterbury Roof Tiles  ( www.canterburyrooftiles.com.au ) are here today, taking all the old tiles off the roof.
Looks like they will make quick work of it!
I end up with all the hip cut, chipped and broken ones in a pile and they take all the good ones. I'll use the broken ones for compacting base under brick paving, as they break up quite nicely.

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## sundancewfs

That didn't take long at all......
now were did I put that tarp?.......

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## myla

hello, 
is that Sikabond or Sikaflex or an alternative? 
keep in mind the polyurethanes have a very long drying time, especially onto styrene as no absorption 
you would need a reasonably fast grab adhesive like the Bostix no nails (sytrene friendly) 
even then some sort of temporary packer on the wall would be required 
just recently completed sticking board onto masonry and temporary packers are a life saver 
thanks

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## sundancewfs

This is a photo I was hoping not to ever take........
Not a sight you want to see when your roof is in tarps.  :Cry:

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## Smergen

Buckle up....

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## president_ltd

boy did it pelt down yesterday too.
will probably do so a few times today too.  hopefully your tarps are up to the task  :Eek:

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## sundancewfs

Time to put tarps over my tarps.....
I have found a couple of holes and leaks... Its not real heavy rain, but its not letting up, just really soaking. Thankfully the wife is coming home early so I can get up on the roof without the kids following me up the ladder! Our one-year-old would be up the ladder and on the roof in the blink of an eye!  
myla, I had been recommended to use Sikabond for fixing the plasterboard, by the foam company that manufactures the insulbrick blocks.

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## Roadhouse

Mate what a fantastic read! Great way to spend the last couple of hours at work...  :Biggrin:  
Inspirational stuff - I have got my reno list ready and thankfully it consists of a lot of smaller jobs (smallish retaining wall, new fences, new sheeting for verandahs etc, bit of mild plumbing work for the tanks). Gotta start somewhere.... 
Looking forward to seeing the end result of your reno  :2thumbsup:

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## Armers

Hey there damn good reno happening there... we're just waiting for the original plans for our house so we can get started on our drawings... so many days to go !  :Biggrin:   
Anyway the question ive got is... you've got ply on the roof of the garage, i am assuming that is another layer of insulation... Why did you not install the same on the house roof?  
The reason i ask is I am looking at removing the tiles off our 1950s weatherboard and replacing it with a tin roof... While the roof is off i am going to seal and insulate is to make it a energy efficient as possible, hence the questions!  :Biggrin:  
Oh btw, canterbury tiles pay a decent price for those tiles? Good idea to re use, as there is nothing wrong with them.  
Cheers for all this,
Armers

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## sundancewfs

> Anyway the question ive got is... you've got ply on the roof of the garage, i am assuming that is another layer of insulation... Why did you not install the same on the house roof?   
> Oh btw, canterbury tiles pay a decent price for those tiles? Good idea to re use, as there is nothing wrong with them.

  The garage has ply on the roof as it has a vaulted ceiling and I didn't want to push the insulation batts up against the sarking (insulbreak) it does add to the mix. Its about 2 deg cooler than just the insulbreak and colorbond. I measured that using a infrared surface thermometer between the extension and the shed .
The house will be a conventional ceiling with batts sitting on top of that. It was quite expensive to do the ply (I did 12mm) and I would have liked to have done the house as well, but I think it will work out without it.
Canterbury tiles took the tiles for free. They were 42 years old and had never been refinished. Monier 100's are not particularly expensive to buy and by the time they pay 5 guys to strip the roof there is not a lot of margin in it. 
I was happy to see them go.... 
I'm glad so many people are finding this an interesting thread. If you have any questions or would like any part expanded on, with more detail, don't hesitate to ask. 
And so to today......
Well last night actually. 
Any of you who live in Melbourne would know that it was a teensy bit stormy last night. We recorded 20mm of rain overnight.
Thankfully none of it inside! Tonight is not looking much better with a severe thunderstorm warning in effect. I did spend some time checking and rechecking the tarps and their tie-downs and all seems to be in order.
Today I set myself the task of putting in the study window, upstairs. Same procedure as the windows in the shed but instead of using treated pine 140x35 I'm using 90x35 KD (kiln dried) hardwood. this gives a slightly deeper reveal on the outside ( request of the wife) The KD is more stable in the smaller cross-section and its much eaiser to find straight pieces. 
As it turned out I managed to get three windows in! Study, master bedroom hi-window, and the ensuite window. I also stapled some Insulbreak up on the bay window framing prior to cladding.   
During the week I managed to get the doors on the shed and the door lock on. So its sort of to lock-up now, except the glazing for the doors....
I used a Gainsborough trilever entry set. Gainsborough Hardware - Product Details 
From the Door Store www.doorstore.com.au    
And here's just an interest shot of the underside of the roof in the extension. It shows the Insulbreak in place, the trusses and the blue metal battens for the colorbond to screw to.

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## Armers

> The garage has ply on the roof as it has a vaulted ceiling and I didn't want to push the insulation batts up against the sarking (insulbreak) it does add to the mix. Its about 2 deg cooler than just the insulbreak and colorbond. I measured that using a infrared surface thermometer between the extension and the shed .
> The house will be a conventional ceiling with batts sitting on top of that. It was quite expensive to do the ply (I did 12mm) and I would have liked to have done the house as well, but I think it will work out without it.
> Canterbury tiles took the tiles for free. They were 42 years old and had never been refinished. Monier 100's are not particularly expensive to buy and by the time they pay 5 guys to strip the roof there is not a lot of margin in it. 
> I was happy to see them go...

  Thanks for all that. One more thing if i can ask, where did you get and how much was the insulbreak? Is it worth it to go that stuff as apose to straight sisilation? I would love to know if the price is worth the benifits? 
I might have to give canterbury tiles a yell, see if they are interested in mine  :Biggrin: ... I think mine are a little fancier then yours though. Heh 
Hope your roof survived the rains last night! 
Cheers
Armers

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## myla

hello, 
great stuff, love the exposed trusses on the eaves, 
how's the budget going? 
thanks
myla

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## jet

What a great read! Very inspirational, was disappointed when i got to the last page as i wanted to see more. Looking forward to following your progress!

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## sundancewfs

The boys are back at it this morning! Bright and early start.....Dark and ominious sky!
Mind you the weather seems to be slipping around us, so hopefully they will get a fair bit of it done today.  
I finally got all the windows installed in the extension. Boy is it good to see it all stitched up nice and tight. Also one thing to consider, when your doing renos or building, its amazing how much space is taken up by stuff waiting to be installed! Windows are a particular hassle. They are heavy and fragile. Care has to be taken that works don't damage them and that the wind doesn't blow them over if they are leaning against the wall. Now all ours are in, there is a heap of space in the downstairs.       
All this free space has come in very useful, as our insulation has just been delivered.
300m2 of Bradford R4.1 batts. This will give us an extra layer in the existing house ( taking it to R9.1) Two layers for the extension (R8.2) and a layer for the shed (R4.1) Add the ~R2 value of the Insulbreak to these figures and we are quite well insulated..... :Biggrin: 
Insulation came from:  *Better Batt Insulation - Bayswater* 
Factory 1/ 405 Dorset Rd 
BAYSWATER VIC 3153 
03 9721 3555  
Imported from the USA. Manufactured in Valley Forge PA
Its very hard to get local product at the moment.

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## sundancewfs

> where did you get and how much was the insulbreak? Is it worth it to go that stuff as apose to straight sisilation? I would love to know if the price is worth the benifits?

  I got the Insulbreak is supplied by the plumber. It is avail at any plumbing suppliers, Reece, Tradelink, Burdens etc... I even saw some at Scoresby Bunnings yesterday.
I think it is worth the extra. It is a 3 in 1 product rather than just a reflective barrier and I also think it adds somewhat to the sound deadening of the roof.   

> love the exposed trusses on the eaves, 
> how's the budget going?

  The budget is looking...... interesting..... :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): 
As most of the major construction works are almost out of the way we will be doing more ourselves from now on and we will be able to save up for some of the things we need.
The truss ends will be covered with eaves boards after the rendering is done, ( they don't look so pretty close up )

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## ramjet1379

Hey Sundance 
An amazing thread. I have really enjoyed following this huge project. It makes our reno seem like a small project. love the  pics and details. 
Congrats on your work so far and I look forward to seeing the final result... again an amazing job well done
Rod

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## sundancewfs

Thanks ramjet1379
Its be some fun doing! 
The roof is nearly complete, a bit of ridging here and there, some tweeks and adjustments etc...  I like the way the roofline has turned out with the new extension blending in quite nicely and adding to the mix.
Having had a couple of days in under the roof on +30 days, it is now possible to see and feel the benefits of the insulbreak and the tin roof. Ceiling surface temperatures are way down on last years measurements and the roof cools off a lot quicker at night.  
As christmas is coming up it is getting increasingly hard to get tradies to stay on site. They are so busy trying to get everyone's jobs done "before Christmas" that they stretch themselves very thin.   
My Mother-in law is back for ten days, so its back out and at it again.
I used some of the Insulbreak offcuts to cover the garage door, wall sections before I cladd it. This uses up what would have been waste, and gives me an extra layer of insulation there. Oh and by the way... the down stairs temps in the shed have been 23 degs on a +30 day with no glass in the doors still. The slab is acting like a giant cooling block.    
I have also started prepping the side of the shed for brick paving.

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## zacnelson

I just love that green colorbond roof!  It is like a new house

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## sundancewfs

> I just love that green colorbond roof! It is like a new house

  Thanks zac, there are a few issues we need to sort out with the roof but for the most part it is now complete and all the ridge caps are on. (some, soon to come off again...)

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## sundancewfs

Why do we do it?   
Why put ourselves through the turmoil and upheaval of turning our cosy homes into a building site? In the wet months, a quagmire of sticky, clinging, oozing mud, and in summer a hardbaked, over-compacted dustbowl. (How on earth will we ever get our garden to grow after this??!!)
Well for some of us, it is a financial choice, a way to make a living. Buy cheap, fix up and sell high. It can be a trap or a gold-mine, depending on the level of organisation, planning and involvement you have.
But most of us do it for another reason, and this is it.  
Family.
This is our daughter's third birthday party. held in the family room of the extension.  
We do it to allow our families to grow and prosper. The extra space for Nana to come and stay,(so she doesn't have to sleep on the couch), the space to be able to have a gathering of family and friends without feeling like, if one more person walks in the door the walls will collapse outwards, the room to get away from each other, when you just need time-out. the ability to go to the toilet, instead of becoming a cross-eyed, cross-legged zombie waiting for someone else to finish.... 
All the while we hope our "improvements" will also compliment the value of our asset, and so increase the wealth of the family.
Its a real juggling act to get it to all come together. It can sometimes seem like an insurmountable task. Many nights waking up suddenly, to think,"I must remember to do that in the morning", hours spend on the phone trying to find where the hell the tradies are that were suppose to be on site at 8am, days and nights spent online looking for products, fittings and ways to do things. etc etc ...
But all in all, I hope, for us that undertake it, the end result increases the quality of life for our family and ourselves. 
I look forward to posting a picture of our daughters fourth birthday party....... in a slightly more complete room..... :Biggrin:

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## Smergen

Love it Sundance... great to add a personal side to the story.

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## murray44

> Thanks zac, there are a few issues we need to sort out with the roof but for the most part it is now complete and all the ridge caps are on. (some, soon to come off again...)

  I noticed that some of the roof sheets in the valley don't line up (your post on 10 Nov). Is that one of the issues?

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## sundancewfs

> I noticed that some of the roof sheets in the valley don't line up (your post on 10 Nov). Is that one of the issues?

  No murray,
that came up ok. They were left long and then trimmed straight after.
The issue is more around a short ridge that isn't quite level, and to where the problem lies. Whether it is a framing, battening, or tin problem. Either way it's been acknowledged as a problem, now its just getting the time to get it fixed during the busy run up to Christmas

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## murray44

Oh ok, thanks, I didn't realise they were trimmed in situ. Makes sense I guess rather than trying to cut them to the right angle on the ground.  
Good luck with the ridge problem. Keep the updates coming, it looks fantastic.

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## sundancewfs

I have made a start on the inside of the shed. The site loo's hire period is up soon so I thought I'd get the one in the shed up and running. This meant putting in the cavity slider door, and panelling the wall of the door. The door went in easily, and the panelling looks the part. It is 120x19 pine flooring that I picked up cheap off ebay. I have enough to panel all the interior, downstairs walls of the shed. At the moment I am only panelling up to 1200mm as the rough in for the electrical hasn't been done yet and I won't be having any outlets, power points etc below that height. The boards are being secrect nailed to 70x35 battens. These are attached to the walls at 600mm centres, with dyna-bolts.  
On the front wall, I filled the stud bays with Tontine R2 polyester batts that I had left over from an under-floor installation, then put up the panelling.

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## sundancewfs

It seems Christmas is rushing up to meet me! I'm trying to get the extension to lock-up before Christmas, and it looks like I might actually do it. Today I thought I'd get the french doors up into position to make sure they fitted and to see how I can attach them to the rough opening. For those that don't know, we use the term "rough opening" to describe the hole in the wall, that a door or window frame is fitted into. It is slighty bigger than the frames to allows some wiggle room. This means, with the help of shims, wedges and or blocks the frame can be levelled (horizontal),  plumbed (vertical) and squared (diagonal measurements are the same) then fixed, permanently into place.  I'm quite happy with the look of the french doors. Its alway a bit hard to tell what something is going to look like until it is actually in place. They are double glazed, low-e glass, fibreglass doors. The two middle ones open, and the two outside ones are fixed.

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## sundancewfs

Just as a small side note.... On saturday and sunday we collected 18000 litres off the new roof

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## Smergen

I was going to ask how you did Sundance on the weekend. How did the site hold up? We filled all our tanks (3500L total) so I was thinking you might start asking Melb. Water if you can supply them with top up...

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## sundancewfs

> I was going to ask how you did Sundance on the weekend. How did the site hold up? We filled all our tanks (3500L total) so I was thinking you might start asking Melb. Water if you can supply them with top up...

  The site is not too bad.... I threw a heap of grass seed around after the major works were completed and that has started to make a difference to the mud.
As of today we are about 3000 litres short of full. 
This week end I got partial power to the shed. YAY! no more extension cords from the house! At the moment we have just two double 10 amp power-points, one exterior 15 amp power-point a one 20amp 5 pin 3phase power-point. I also went up the walls a bit further with the pine lining. It's starting to look quite nice. The major fit out of the electrical and plumbing will be done early in the new year.    
I think I could probably enter the messiest shed competition......

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## Smergen

So what is news? I'm having Sundancewfs withdrawal symptoms! 
How are things tracking with the cooler weather?

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## sundancewfs

Just for you Smergen 
This will be the last post until after Xmas.
yesterday the masterwall cladding arrived. www.masterwall.com.au  This will be direct fixed to the exterior of the existing brick veneer, then rendered. It is 100mm thick and should give quite a nice insulation value and thermal break.  
The last job I did was to put up the hammock. As you can see throwing around a bit of grass seed seems to have covered up most of the mud.
I am looking forward to laying back and relaxing for a few weeks.
In the new year we will start with the plumbing and electrical rough-ins and also start preparing the walls for rendering.
Stay tuned.

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## mattwilliams78

sundance, I'm interested in the atlantis stormwater tank you put in. 
Was it expensive?
Did you do all of the installation yourself?
Where did you get it from? Atlantis directly or through a local distributor? 
I've just come across the product and was interested to hear if many people have used them yet or if contractors are happy to work with them. Difference for me is that I want to use it as a rainwater tank not a stormwater tank so it would have a liner and retain water so I'd have to think about overflow - maybe a smaller atlantis tank next to it? 
Water quality and liner longevity would be my biggest concerns but I would only be using the rainwater for toilet flushing, car washing and irrigation anyway so perhaps no big deal?? 
Going back again would you use the atlantis as a rainwater tank?  
Thanks 
Matt

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## sundancewfs

matt,
the stormwater setup has been a real success story for us.
From memory it was about $5000-5500 dollars for the tank units and the filter. Obvoiusly that doesn't include the cost of digging the hole or disposing of the dirt from the hole.... We were able to spread the dirt around the yard and disappear it that way.
Atlantis do have an office in Victoria. Any product that is ordered, is shipped from their closest depot. They do charge freight costs but .... then again, who doesn't.
The filter works very well and I don't think you would have a problem with water quality. If you are using the water in the house, I would suggest additional filtering on the pump as well.
I have no experience with their liners so I couldn't comment there. Most of the grunt work I did myself under the watchful eye of my plumber, who then did all the piping hook-up and final checks. I had the hole dug by a local excavator operator. 
I would use this system as a water tank, but it is more expensive than an above ground tank. Then again.... if space is at a premium, then the cost can be offset by the fact that you still have a usable area of yard after the tank is installed. The reason we didn't go for it as a below-ground water storage, was that we have more than enough space for a large above-ground tank 
Hope this helps :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Well
Its back into it!
Had a great break with the kids and inlaws but its time to start getting on with the next phase. 
The first job is to evict the rowdy bunch that moved in while we were away! 
Don't you just love possums! 
They sound like a bunch of teenagers coming home at 4:00am, after a solid night out! 
Banging on the walls scratching and howling..... Sheesh!
Seeing as the eaves boards are currently out, they have taken up residence in the wall cavities, between the plasterboard and the brick. Mothballs and sensor lights have no effect.
Exclusion will be the only way to stop them getting in.

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## mattwilliams78

Thanks Sundance, that is really good information. In fact Atlantis quoted somwhere in the region of $300-500/m3 (depending on scale obviously) so that marries up well with what you're saying. I don't need 11m3 here in suburban Sydney - 5m3 will be more than enough but I'm planning on levelling my back yard and I was told the landscaper will be bringing in about 90m3 of fill so I could easily lose 10m3 from my hole in that no probs. 
Your hole was only about 900mm deep? was that for a single level module or did you go for the double? Atlantis are suggesting I go the double for cost effectiveness (30 doubles as opposed to 54 singles) but the local DCP says I can't dig a hole more than 1m deep in my yard. Mind you, as I'm levelling I could perhaps put the 450mm cover over my 1m deep hole and still get the 1.5m overall? Or just do it without telling anyone? 
Matt

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## sundancewfs

The problem.....
No eaves boards opens up the wall cavities for visitors...  
As a result..... The visitor!
A brushtail possum, sleeping on the bottom plate of the wall, having shimmied down past the noggings.
(this was a very difficult photo to take! With a 5 second exposure @f8)   
The solution.....
Aluminium flyscreen, cut to fit between the studs and bridge the gap between the plasterboard and brickwork, This is a backer for expanding foam. It stops the foam from just falling into the cavity as well as providing a physical wire barrier.    
Expanding spray foam is the next step, this fills the gap and expands through the wire as well, basically encapsulating it. It is a good idea to use disposable gloves when using this stuff as it sticks to everything! It is also very hard to remove. Acetone is about the only thing that will clean it up. I am using vinyl gloves here, normally I would use nitrile gloves, as they are much more robust than standard latex gloves and are not affected by most solvents.      
I left the stud bay where our visitor is camped, open. When he/she goes off to forage (around 9pm) I will nip out and put in the final piece of wire and foam it up. come morning (4am), the possum will be looking for a new home...

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## sundancewfs

> . 
> Your hole was only about 900mm deep? was that for a single level module or did you go for the double?  
> Matt

  Matt,
we went with a single layer of single tank units, (100 in all)

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## Smergen

Sundance, great to have you back and posting for the new year. I look forward to keeping up with the progress. Actually did a bit of work over the hols on the deck at our place. Not quite a "Go to Whoa" but I did mention it in the decking thread. For a novice like me it's nice "baby steps"...

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## shed108

> The guys from Danish Constructions were back again today, Started to put up the flooring joists for the upper level of the garage. When the flooring is on, it will give them a platform to build up the second floor walls.

  G'day sundancewfs,  Sorry to have you back peddle, but I have been trying to get information about the floor joists you have used. I've heard them called "Posistruts", "Multistruts", "parallel chord trusses". Whatever they are called, these are what I'd like to use for my floor frame in my 2nd storey extension. I have been told by some people that they can have an undesirable spring, bounce under foot. I have two kids with maybe more to follow. They will have the upstairs section. So bouncy floor is not preferable ( They have a trampoline outside)  :Wink 1:   My Max span is 4600mm at 450cts. The engineer has specified 45*70 MGP12 Chords, 300mm tall. The floor is going to be yellow tongue.  What I think my carpenter is worried about is sideways flex between the top and bottom chord. This then gives the floor bounce. The alternative is hardwood or LVLs. $$$ ! and nowhere to run the services, (Not that there is going to much to run).  What is your opinion on the stability of your floor now that you are a fair way into your reno?  Anyone else have some advice?  :Confused:  
Hopefully I can start my on "go to whoa" soon.

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## sundancewfs

Hi shed108
When we originally put the floor up I was also a bit concerned by reports of bounce.
The span on ours is 3.25m side to side with a 300x65 LVL up the middle. Before we got the central post in downstairs the LVL was spanning 7.5m with the entire upstairs floor on it. There was no discernable spring. With the post in place the floor is more than rock solid.
Our trusses are 250mm tall and the upper and lower chords are 70x45mm. We do have, what are called "strongbacks/batts" (talk to different people and they will call them different names) running perpendicular to the trusses and these will provide stability to the trusses and stop them from twisting. as you can see from the photos below, they can be staggered, and don't have to be continuous. having them staggered allows you to pass large services along the trusses. So if you have any specific services you need to run, it may pay to look at any plans the truss company supplies, as to their intended position.
I think there positioning is determined by the truss company.
 Hope this helps...

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## sundancewfs

Todays job was to cut some of the Masterwall sheets into 400mm lengths, so they can be fitted to the framework above the brickline on the old part of the house. In a house with dropped eaves and no insulation or sarking, the top 250~300mm of the exterior walls are effectively open to the underside of the roof. As that part of the roof is outside the wall line there is no insulation in it. As a consequence that part of the wall can gain or loose a lot of heat. This will also stop the possums pushing the insulation back and climbing into the roof between the rafters...Cunning devils  :Annoyed:    
I wouldn't use your best Lie Nielsen ( http://www.lie-nielsen.com.au/ ) saw for this job.... It can be a bit harsh on saws even though its only foam and fibreglass. 
One thing you can be assured of if you choose to use any form of EPS sheets (expanded polystrene) or ICF, you will end up with foam snow! It gets everywhere and is almost impossible to clean up.  
Once I've cut the pieces of foam to length, I then cut a 25deg bevel on one side so it fits the underside of the roof. I do this on my bandsaw, with an old 1/2" blade. It makes short work of it and the result is a clean straight cut.....and lots of snow.....     
The pieces then have notches cut for the rafters. I use a keyhole saw for that. I have made the notches a bit bigger than the rafters, to make it eaiser to fit them. There needs to be an extra deep cut out at the bottom of the rafter slots to allow you get the foam up and in, over the brickwork. The foam will now be screwed off to the framework with 130mm screws with large plastic washers. the gaps and holes will then be filled with expanding spray foam.

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## Gaza

love the cypress post in your workshop.

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## shed108

I have been watching this thread with only a comment here and there. After heaps of research I am taking onboard all the information and advice you are giving here. Like others I eagerly await your updates, the photos give a perfect overview. . ICF in behind the eves....GOLD :2thumbsup: . Did you come up with that or someone else's idea?  Question and not criticism.. didnt I see the biggest ever *shed dust sucker* going in your shed a couple of months ago? Cant it suck up the snow?? :Shock:  Loving your power tools.

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## sundancewfs

> Question and not criticism.. didnt I see the biggest ever *shed dust sucker* going in your shed a couple of months ago? Cant it suck up the snow??

  shed108, the dust extractor could easily suck up the snow. I would like to use that just for wood dust though, off the machines. I still have to set up ducting for it too. I do suck up most of what is spread around with my American shop vac , running though a 5000watt transformer. Its out of sight in the bandsaw pic but it is connected to the bandsaw and doing duty as the dust extractor. One thing about cutting the foam is that it gets a static charge and clings to everything! The EPS behind the eaves just seemed like a good idea, as far as insulation value goes. It is also doing double duty as freize boards, between the rafters.  
Another point I forgot to mention when you were asking about floor trusses. The trusses in the shed are 250mm high (as per pics). But the ones in the house are 300mm high. They also have strongbacks installed.

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## shed108

Another point I forgot to mention when you were asking about floor trusses. The trusses in the shed are 250mm high (as per pics). But the ones in the house are 300mm high. They also have strongbacks installed.[/quote] 
Ahh 300mm, what are the max span on these? How's the upstairs floor in the house?? I have been doing heaps more research on these, I have a massive spec's data sheet that I'm yet to read, been doing the 2 kid thing. Will read tonight. Do you remember who you got the trussess from? 
Enjoy your Sunday, great day for it. Good luck with the rest of your snow!  :Annoyed:

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## sundancewfs

> what are the max span on these? How's the upstairs floor in the house??

  shed108 the maximum span on the house trusses are 3.6 metres.
Again there is no discernable movement in the floor. The trusses were supplied by Accurate Trusses. We have had no problems with what they supplied. I would suggest talking to a few different truss companies though...  It can be hard to balance value and quality with some products and trusses would have to be one of them. There are horror stories out there of trusses built with lower grade timber, being dimensional inaccurate and poorly assembled... so word of mouth from the people who are installing them everyday is usually a good recommendation of the quality of product, and the level of back-up service offered by a company. Chippies tend to get tired of having to fix up twisted, bowed and badly sized trusses. As with most things in life.... you get what you pay for.

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## sundancewfs

Well I've been tinkering on lately with a couple of things...
I have got some more of the panelling up on the walls in the shed and I'm about to start on the staircase.    
Today I found the time to lay down 720 bricks, as pavers. Over the past week, I levelled off the ground with a rotary hoe and compacted it. Today I spead brickies sand over the whole area and screeded it off, compacted and re-leveled it. Its amazing how many bricks it actually takes to cover a relatively small area! It isn't super duper acurate level.... It falls away from the building and also is a bit higher at the right to stop the water from flowing over the edge and erroding the small slope between the shed and tank. The bricks are ones we salvaged from the demolition of some of the original paved areas. They are old solid red bricks, branded from brickyards all over melbourne, and as such..... are not of a regular size.... That adds to the "rustic" charm.  
Tomorrow the rainwater tank will be plumbed into the house and we will be at a stand-alone level of water, meaning we shouldn't draw any significant amount of mains water ( the kitchen sink and the bathroom basin with be direct to mains still) for at least 60 days. That is if we don't get any rain to replenish what we use.

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## sundancewfs

Tanks plumbed in, Davey Rainbank is up and running. RainBank   
Now all I have to do is build the pump shed....
This pump is really quiet! Not your $149.00 Bunnings rattle-box ( I have one of those too and use it for the garden on our small 2100 litre tank )

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## sundancewfs

Well the Rainbank ran for a day and carked it!
Davey are sending out a plumber to fix/replace it under warrenty. 
Oh well......  :Frown:  
I have started on the staircase in the shed.
It's turned out to be a pretty wide staircase! I suppose after having spent the last 6 months walking up and down besser blocks anything would feel wider...
I must admit stairbuilding seemed like quite a daunting task, but like all things, with a bit of care, some good resources and some helpful advise (Thanks Eastwing) It should come together nicely.
Resources wise, it's hard to go past Blocklayer's building calculators. Stair Calculator - Layout Stair Stringer, Headroom Rise Run Baluster
Another one I used was this DVD from Taunton Press (the publishers of Fine Homebuilding magazine)
Its an easy to understand well presented DVD.  
And so onto the pics... 
So far I have the stringers cut for the sides of the lower staircase in the shed.    
On the weekend I set-out and laid the floor tiles for the toilet area in the shed. These are 400x400mm tiles I picked up from the High Street Rd Transfer Station (dump) At $10 per box of 10, it was hard to go past. All up there was three brand new boxes, so I took the lot.They are yet to be grouted. This room will have the upper part of the shed staircase as its ceiling following roughly along the line of the piece of trim laying against the wall.
There is another riser pipe for the toilet between the basin and the sliding door.

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## sundancewfs

Wednesday and Thursday were wiring days.
The boys from Elecorp Elecorp Home Page were around bright and early to turn off our power and leave us in the dark..... :Biggrin: 
Actually they wired up the new sub-board for the house.
Its a 24 pole Clipsal Slipstream flush mounted board Search Results - Clipsal.com 
This gives us enough circuit breaker spaces for the existing house and the extension.
The old board used to be outside the front door and was a bit of an eyesore . Seeing as we will be putting masterwall over the walls we decided to move it inside, behind the door. Now it looks very neat and is almost unnoticable. 
Here are my two helpers. Cleaning up after the wires have been pulled.
At this stage they are not connected to anything at either end. They have been pulled though and clipped off from the extension, ready for hook up on the Thursday.  
Thusday Afternoon and its nearly all done.
We used Mack combo breaker/RCDs on all the circuits except the oven and cook top circuits for the new kitchen. They use standard 32 amp breakers.  
One of the original power cables was a bit hard to pull back from the old board to the new one so we fed a new cable though from the new board, to the first GPO (power point). When we pulled the old one out.......            
We were given a stark reminder why it is a good idea to keep possums and rats out of the house. This hadn't shorted out, the active insulation was still intact, albeit with a bit of gnawing... but it is a good example of how fires could start in an older home.

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## Smergen

Bloody hell Sundance... good find, and great you dodged that bullet. Do you think that there will be more wiring like this or would this be the extent of it? 
Here's a question, and I'm by no means being flippant, but why do possums and vermin have a penchant for wiring?

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## sundancewfs

Thats a good question Smergen...
I think in this case it was an access issue. When something blocks their path they try to go through it. When that is not possible they will find a way around.  
I have seen rats (in a previous house) try to chew their way through the top-plate, where the wiring for a light switch went through a hole and down into the wall. I assume, to try and gain access to the wall cavity. The rat succeeded in chewing out a large portion of wood and most of the wiring, electrocuting itself in the process and catching fire (no RCD in that old house in WA). Luckily I was at home at the time and smelt the smoke. It was pouring out of the bathroom wall! I had to kill the power and rip a sheet of tin off the roof (cathederal ceiling) to extinguish the fire and remove the barbaqued rat. 
There are two wires that run the perimeter of the house that we will be checking for damage, that could be affected. They will have to be checked with an inspection mirror and a torch. Difficult but worth the effort.

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## sundancewfs

The topic seems to have grown away from the ICF side of the building side of things, as late. So lets see if we can bring it back a bit...
I had a few old half blocks of ICF left over from the build, so I thought I would build a small mock-up wall so we can explore the different ways things can be attached, hung, glued, rendered etc... to it.
So this wall section was core filled with concrete, conduit grooves and box housing cut-outs made, 10mm plasterboard glued to the "interior" side of it with Sika-bond and the "exterior" side, base coat rendered with TRW Hi-impact render from The Render Warehouse ( Render - The Render Warehouse )
 I then installed a powerpoint on the inside. It has a clipsal 155F ( Search Results - Clipsal.com ) bracket, mounted behind the plasterboard on the foam, for the powerpoint fixture to screw to. This gives it a solid base  and won't pull off the wall.
The wall was chased (grooves cut) for 25mm electrical conduit with a Windlock, USA ( Wind-lock : Tools for EIFS, ICFs, SIPs, Stucco, Dow, & Stealth Access Panels ) foam hot knife. It was supplied with lengths of blade material that can be cut and bent to shape, to suit your cutting requirements. It cuts a clean, fast channel. I made another blade to cut the holes for the powerpoint housings. It is 110volt though so I have to use it with a step-down transformer. There are similar foam knives available in Australia too.          
This mock up is handy for tradies as well, as it really does allow you to see inside the wall, at what you have to work with as far as fixing and installing services.

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## Gaza

how does this system go with out having a cavity on either the outside or the inside, i have seen systems like yours but the plasterboard is on 28mm furlin channel not direct stuck to the external wall. 
nice mock up, its like a commerical job.

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## sundancewfs

> how does this system go with out having a cavity on either the outside or the inside, i have seen systems like yours but the plasterboard is on 28mm furlin channel not direct stuck to the external wall.

  I have no idea how its going to go.....  :Biggrin: 
I am steering towards direct fixing the plasterboard to the internal walls, as it won't make the rooms any smaller. I also feel that the plasterboard, when it's so close to the wall is a lot stronger and eaiser to mount stuff to.
There are some issues here which I will need to be asking advise from Rod and Co over in the plastering forum. One issue I forsee, is how to get the plasterboard to hold during the initial  glue tack stage of application. I have tossed around temporary fixings, etc I am also thinking of some sort of sheet bracing frame, I could fabricate and screw to the slab to press/hold sheets in place while the glue is drying.
The external rendering will have to be done before I start on the internals and regardless of a 22mm batten or direct fix of the plasterboard, the electrical wiring will still be run in conduit. 
What prompted the dummy wall was questions by tradies on which way we are going to do things. This allows us the luxury of drilling/cutting/gluing/fixing, and not ruining any of the actual walls  :Biggrin:  
As always, with this project, I'm open to ideas and suggestions.

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## sundancewfs

Davey Pumps replaced the entire Rainbank unit today.
It's up and working again..... Yay!
Lets hope this one last a bit longer.......

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## myla

hi, 
please make sure you/they bed the mesh into the render, dont allow them to use self adhesive mesh, meshing (lath) holds the render together 
with the plasterboard would a temporary screw be able to hold just enough for the glue to set, course open thread screw 
having just completed a Hebel block plasterboard fix using cornice/masonry adhesive it is surprising how many "plates" you actually need to hold the plaster board flat to the wall 
thanks

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## sundancewfs

> hi, 
> please make sure you/they bed the mesh into the render, dont allow them to use self adhesive mesh, meshing (lath) holds the render together 
> with the plasterboard would a temporary screw be able to hold just enough for the glue to set, course open thread screw 
> having just completed a Hebel block plasterboard fix using cornice/masonry adhesive it is surprising how many "plates" you actually need to hold the plaster board flat to the wall 
> thanks

  Myla,
I won't be using the self adhesive mesh. I can see that the render would not be properly set into the mesh if it is laid directly onto the foam. I am even looking at using a second layer of mesh over the pre-meshed Masterwall panels. As for the mesh.... there seems to be various weights and square sizes available. Now all I have to do is work out which one is best and why. 
I will be exploring the use of temporary fixings for the plasterboard. One thing that springs to mind wiould be to use "wall-mates" as temp fixing screws. As they have a large open thread and will bed into the foam quite well. This will be experimented with..... The brace plate idea I had for pressing to plasterboard onto the glue would like something like a Bobcat smudge bar, but obviously of a much lighter construction. Now if I could just work out a way of having it double as a panel lifter for the ceiling panels as well....... :Biggrin:

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## myla

hi, 
i use the 10mm grid and most are around the 145gm i believe, the 5mm grid is a bit too small for the "sand" size of most of the basecoats around 
are you fully meshing the thermo blocks as well? 
with pre-coated board like Masterwall or Ezyclad you dont have as much hang time as it is precoated so meshing the entire wall is a fast and furious process and you go thru heaps more render because have to apply quite thick so render still wet when mesh is applied 
the above is why many many crews use the adhesive mesh 
thanks

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## sundancewfs

As those of you from Victoria might know..... It was a bit of a wild weekend....
So. How does un-rendered ICF stand up to an onslaught of biblical proportions?....
Well big hail at least....  
The right hand side of the window in this pic was cracked by the hail too.     
This wall and the western wall of the shed took the brunt of the storm. To give you an idea as to the size of these impact marks... The blocks are 300mm tall (from join to join.) Some of the impacts have ruptured the foam up to 25mm deep. For the most part though it is easily repairable as it is still to be rendered. In a way, I am kind of glad that it isn't rendered yet as that would have been obliterated. 
And now on to the roof....
Brand new colorbond roof, completed in December, 30 year warranty on colorbond sheeting...... void if damaged by hail. Not to mention it looks like cr*p!    
Oh well, lets see what the insurance company makes of it.....

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## sundancewfs

This weekends job has been to get the lower portion of the shed staircase together.
I got some 32mm vic ash from WR timber in Bayswater ( WRTimbers - Welcome to WR Timbers )
After I ripped the risers to the right height, I bull-nosed the front of the treads with a 16mm roundover bit on my router table.  
 A dry run made sure everything was going to fit as it should, then I glued and screwed it all together.    
The next step will be to putty up the screw holes, give it a light sand and then seal it. Then it will be around the corner and onto the upper section.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

I got to thinking that using putty on the screw holes would look pretty ordinary, so I went and bought a plug cutter from Bayswater Mitre10.
And I'm glad I did. Even though the screw holes are still evident, the quality of finish is so much better than putty.
I gave the staircase a light sand with 240 grit paper, vacuumed it and then gave it its first coat of Timber Care tung oil finish, with a bit of Feast Watson "oak" colour added to it. Two more coats and it will be ready to walk on. :2thumbsup:

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## up_the_gully

Stairs look fantastic.  Bloody right about putty too... 
Hey can you tell us how you went with insurance on the roof?

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## sundancewfs

> Stairs look fantastic. Bloody right about putty too... 
> Hey can you tell us how you went with insurance on the roof?

  We had the assessor around the otherday and they agreed the roof was toast. They have agree to get some roofing quotes for the replacement of the sheeting, ridge and valleys. Basically anything that was damaged. At least the insulbreak insulation and battening is already done for them.

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## sundancewfs

Three coats and they came up a treat!

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## sundancewfs

myla,
I'm going to try and do the base coat on one of the shed walls at easter time.....
wish me luck!  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Whew!
I don't know why I type these when I'm tried.... My arms feel like lead!
this week I decided to start prepping for the rendering of one of the shed walls. We chose the smallest wall with the easiest access. This was my way of working out if it is even feasible for me to do the rendering on our project. At around 300 square metres of walls to render ,the quotes were coming in at around $20,000.
The first thing I needed to do was prep the wall. When the ICF is built and poured it ends up pretty rough looking! There were quite large steps between some of the blocks and quite a bit of concrete smeared on the walls....   
I use a rasp that I got from Windlock USA. Its called an Ugs rasp and has copper carbide chips inbedded on a plate. It is more than capable of dealing with anything in the photo above. It leaves a nice rough keying surface too. As these walls were built some time ago they have weathered quite badly, with the surface being covered with yellow powdered residue of degraded foam. That had to all be scrubbed off too. I used a stiff scrubbing brush for the bits that didn't need rasping.  
So before any rendering can begin there is a lot of prep to do.....
This is what it looked like after the entire wall was scrubbed and smoothed.  
Now, contrary to advice that has been given, and what I said I would and wouldn't use.....I decided to use self adhesive mesh... sorry myla.....
In the end I decided on that because I am doing this by myself. I don't have the luxury of 3 pairs of hands so I have to hang the mesh, mix the render, and do the rendering all on my lonesome. Well not strictly so. My wife stands on the sidelines and cheers and stops the two kids from poking their fingers in the render once its on the wall.
I used aluminium angles on the wall corners and around all the openings.  
I got some 6mm thick pvc trim from Bunnings and attached it to the slab edge to give me a edge to render to and to provide a straight edge look when it is removed.      
I'm not a renderer.... I suppose that is pretty obvious.... All up, to do the rendering part of this (not the prep) it took about three and half hours. I used nine and a half 18kg bags of render. This is the base coat. Next stop the texture coat and then the membrane. One wall down....... twelve to go...... :Cry:

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## Armers

Looks awesome! Damn good job, you're a pro, or will be in 11 walls time !  :Biggrin:  
QUick question, where did you get that movable scaffold from? 
Cheers
Armers

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Armers
The scaffolding is ali No-Bolt I bought secondhand. There is a lot more of it than in the picture. I can have a platform up to 4metres high.

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## Armers

Ahhh good work, i was going to ask you where you hired it from. It would make painting my house a little easier then up and down on a ladder.  :Biggrin:  cheers though! 
Armers

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## sundancewfs

Easter.... A time for chocolate, hotcross buns ,......and render! 
In the lead up to the easter long-weekend I started to prepare the back wall of the shed for rendering. I liken this wall to "The Eiger". Very tall, and difficult to scale.
The first step again was to scrub the wall with an ICF rasp and scrubbing brush. This levels and removes any oxidised surface foam. Any holes and gaps are then filled with expanding foam, allowed to dry, and then shaved level. I use a 100mm broad-knife (scraper) that I have sharpened with a bevel on one side. A side to side action and the foam that is proud of the surface is cut level. I got this tip for working with foam from Fine Home Building magazine.        
Once the wall is prepped I chased the walls for the plumbing. The shed will have a toilet, laundry basin and the old gas hotwater system off the house, a Rinnai 16.
The piping was laid and foamed into place.     
Mesh is then applied to the entire surface of the wall and metal corner beads are glued in place, around the window and down the corners of the wall. 
I have done some destructive testing on a sample of wall with the self adhesive mesh and found, given the chance to dry onto the substrate, that when it is pulled off the wall. it destroys the foam it is adhered to. The conculsion I make from this is that the render is successfully penetrating the mesh and sticking solidly to the foam surface.    
This weekend I employed the help of some friends to mix the batches of render.
I figured that what I lack in ability as a renderer I could make up for by getting a mixer with a PhD in solid state chemistry. ( Australian Synchrotron)
My two friends make a great team with the husband doing most of the mixing and his wife taking the modelling role. (she is the PhD)  
And then on with the render......
What made this wall difficult was the access and the unevenness of the ground. It is squeezed in behind the tank and straddles the pump. We started at the top and rendered down, dismantling the scaffolding as we went. The idea was to start early and get the wall done before the sun got onto it. This wall has a northern aspect and is in sun all day. Unfortunately we couldn't beat the sun. This makes maintaining a wet edge very difficult and is was hard to get back to trowel off the surface before it was too dry.    
All up it took four hours to do this wall. It came up with a better finish than the first wall so it seems I'm improving..... :Biggrin:

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## kriso

Looks great Sundance... Keep up the good work... 
Looking forwards to more posts, 
Happy Easter!!! 
Regards.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks kriso 
One of my friends made the mistake of saying "If the front wall was prepped we could have done that one this weekend too"...... That was on Saturday arvo, after we had finished the back wall. Well..... Sunday I got to, and ..... you guessed it!
They were back today and we bowled the front wall over in three hours.     
Mix Master Drew
All the render (and quite a bit of mortar in the past....) has been mixed by my Milwaukee V18 rechargeable in 25 litre mortar buckets.          
Judging by the speed at which our friends drove off when we had finished......... 
I don't think they will be back for some time..........  
Couldn't have done it without them!

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## sundancewfs

Another weekend, another...... well you know.....
One of the issues we have with this build is connecting the two buildings. I was so flat out at the start I didn't get a chance to install new windows in the existing bathroom and the family room. On Thursday I finally got the family room window in. Saturday it was time for the bathroom.
Both of these windows went behind the the building line of the extension. They had to be replaced to allow us to close up the gap between the new and the old. 
The old window was first removed. standard style of fixing, four nails, two on each side, through the reveal into the framing.     
I cut through the grout around the window with a Bosch multi-tool whizzy thing, with a carbide blade. Then a Milwaukee V18 Sawsall with a combo timber/nail blade made short work of the nails holding the frame in.    
Next the frame was modified to suit the new window and also allow Masterwall to be attached to the outside, to flush it up to the existing brickwork. So instead of using standard 90x45 timber, I used 140x45 for some of it. This bathroom is going to be completely stripped out and re done after the ensuite in the extension is up and running.   
The window was then fitted in the same way as I have previously explained in the fitting of the shed windows.This is a double glazed, low-e, tempered glass window.  
As the entire brickwork structure is being covered with Masterwall, the Masterwall pieces around the window basically takes the place of the brickwork that would have been there if this was the original window size. It will be covered by more Masterwall when we cover the building.  
A little bit of cleaning up to do, trimming the foam dags off etc... and it will be done.
The inside will be completed this Thursday with some cheap tiles to cover the hole.
All this........ and I managed to get it all tidied up in time for the kids to have a bath! :Biggrin:

----------


## sundancewfs

One of the things that bug me is the gap between the rafters/trusses above the wall and below the roof. In a standard setup, this would be left open and the eaves boards would effectively close the roof space off to the outside world. Traditionally the eaves aren't insulated and the only thing that stops cold air coming in between the rafters is bulk insulation batts, which should be laid out to the outer edge of the top plate. (the horizontal piece of wood under the trusses and on top of the wall) 
I'm not that keen on having cold moist air in the roof space, so the solution I have chosen is to install frieze boards. I'm using 75mm thick Masterwall cut to size on my bandsaw (boy am I going to need a new blade!) and then foamed into place with expanding foam.   
As none of the spaces between the trusses (I didn't put them up....) are the same, each piece of foam has to be scribed and cut individually.    
The pieces are then foamed into place with expanding foam. If you are planning to do any large amount of foaming, invest in a foam gun. They give much better application control and are much cleaner to use. You can also leave the can in place on the gun and reuse it as you need to. There is no need to use the whole can in one go.
The corner section you can see over my right shoulder was filled and foamed using the offcuts from the main pieces.  
And the finished product. 75mm of insulating foam sealed in place with (hopefully) minimal air leaks.  
This will also stop the birds from getting in and nesting!  :Annoyed:

----------


## sundancewfs

It might seem I haven't been doing much lately.... Its been a "bitsa" sort of couple of weeks. In the whole scheme of things though I have done some important things.
I have completed the frieze board installation on the existing house, so now the uninsulated part of the top of the walls which is in the eaves, is now insulated with 100mm thick polystyrene. this has had a dramatic effect on the amount of noise getting into the house from outside. The noise generated by the kids, inside the house, has, however, continued unabated!
This has also evicted the two brush-tail possums we had living in the roof, for good. They have no access now to get back in. Yay! 
I also spent a bit of time extending the side fence temporarily up the drive so I can keep the kids contained in the back yard. 
We broke though into the extension and using the old stairs that I built for the original deck on the house when we first bought it, now have access to the backyard with out having to go out the front door and around the house. It is surprising how nice a feeling this is! it has put the focus on the inside of the extension and reinvigorated my sense of wanting to get on and do it. 
The end of the space between the old building and the new has been filled with 100mm polystyrene now too. This has effectively stopped the drafts in the extension. When the masterwall is applied to the old brick it will almost cover the gap again. 
I removed the air conditioner from next to the front door. This was a useless position for it as you would bang your head on it from time to time. We may replace it with a split system at a later date, installed around the back. This also gave me a chance to measure the actual finished wall thickness with a sample of the 100mm Masterwall on the outside of the brick. It makes the walls 380mm thick, from plasterboard to render.

----------


## Smergen

Great work sundance, was wondering what you had been up to. Great to get the house sealed as well prior to the winter as well as I'm sure it will be a damn site warmer doing internal stuff! You must be going through a fair chunk of that expanding foam stuff by the looks of it....  
I also love the strategic placing of the toy at the bottom of the steps. Reminds me of our back door steps... 
Keep up the good work mate and I'll look forward to the updates.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Smergen
The kids love being able to run around in a big dry space.
We have started to rough in the ducting for the HRV system. It proved to be quite difficult to feed it through the floor joists There isn't much clearance for the 4" and 5" ducting with its insulation and jacket on. It pays to make sure you go over the route you are going to take and clinch any flooring nails that may be sticking down from above. Its a good idea to make sure the gang nail plates don't have any bits sticking up to snag the jacket as you pull it through.    
There is a lot to love about autumn..... With the recent rain our tank is now full again. We haven't used any mains water since late February. Taking long showers is bliss! 
The lowest the tank has got so far, is down to 1/2 full. 
The other thing I love about autumn is the colour. I'm really looking forward to laying in bed and taking in these views......      
This is what we will have to look at, out of our bedroom window...... :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Busy weekend?....... 
Yep 
You guessed it!  
Rendering.  :Biggrin:   
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uq1PmT-yqo]YouTube - Renovating 326.mpg[/ame]

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## zacnelson

I watched your rendering youtube video, and I noticed that you are just trowelling the render on, without floating it afterwards.  Is this because of the foam providing such an even surface that floating is not required?  When you do the top coat (ie the texture coat  which is supplied pre-mixed in pails) you will need to float it to get an even texture.

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## sundancewfs

Zac,
I usually trowel on about 1 to 1.5 m2 and then float it off with a diamond faced float. The top coat I do with a plastic float

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## zacnelson

Ah excellent, I'm the same, about 1 or 2 m2 (depending on weather conditions) then on to the diamond faced float.  In my experience that is by far the best type of float for base coats, I've tried all sorts

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## jago

Did you decide how to do your lights for the shed, as you call it? 
 ... I believe you talked about a C bus (try and avoid like the plague) system have you looked at the control4 systems...its a more than lights and can be controlled by Iphone Ipad or their remote (I'm a Mac man, so ity wins hands down) I like it because it is modular and wifi and you dont need a degree in computer science to set it up or fix things...just have a sparky swap the normal light switch for the their wifi switch and plug and play.  
Anyway the link  Control4 Australia - Home Automation

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## sundancewfs

> Did you decide how to do your lights for the shed, as you call it?

  jago, I'm still umming and ahhing about it.....
I'm thinking with the extra expensive, its probably not worth it. I might just get up off my bum and automate my legs over to the light switch.  :Biggrin:

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## jago

Well that would save on Gym fees aswell :Wink 1:

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## sundancewfs

I had a spare 3 hours yesterday afternoon.....
So I did the texture topcoat render on the wall I rendered last weekend.
Now its ready for painting.

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## sundancewfs

Last week the goal was to get 3 coats of Dulux Acrashield paint on the side wall of the shed and get the eaves board framing up in place.
Well the paint went on a treat, very thick stuff and three coats was enough to get great coverage. The colour is Dulux Eastern Gold. I used a longish nap sheep's wool roller for this, as the textured render coat is a medium/rough surface.  
The eaves board framing was next. I did this out of 70x35 MGP10 pine.
I chose to screw this together with 75mm square drive screws, so I could level it up and down easily just by unscrewing and repositioning the hangers as required.
I attached the vertical hanger pieces first, using my laser level with wall bracket to align them to the groove in the fascia board. Then the horizontal batten against the wall was screwed up to the ends of the hangers and the cross bars screwed off to the rafters. the junction of the horizontals will be nailed.   
My wonderful Mother-in law is coming back for an eight day visit so I'm hoping to get the eaves boards painted and up, all the trim in place and the scaffold moved around the corner, ready for the next wall.

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## ibuildbenches

Very neat eave frame. 
No doubt it took a bit longer but you take that extra time on your own house, I know I will be! 
Good stuff

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## sundancewfs

Thanks ibuildbenches,
All up, including cutting this took just under 3 hours for 9 metres.
Its the sort of thing I do while the kids are having a nap.
Having the scaffolding in place makes it a lot easier and quicker.
This wall is 3.3 metres to the eaves.

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## zacnelson

That looks awesome!  The render has made such a huge difference!

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Zac
It does look a whole lot better than the bare ICF!
Its funny though, as when you tap the wall it has a kind of plastic type ring to it. not like tapping blockwork or brick.

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## zacnelson

Even when you tap render on a brick wall it sounds different to tapping brickwork, but I don't understand why

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## sundancewfs

I've had my lovely Mother-in-law here for 8 days. This means I get to go at the house full bore.
Two goals I had were to get the eaves board up and trimmed and the scaffold down on the western wall of the shed. The other was to build the upper part of the shed staircase. 
Firstly to the eaves. 
One tip I can give people straight up, if you are trying to lift eaves sheeting up, get a friend to help you! Its almost impossible (in my case it was) to juggle the board, get the edge of it in the fascia groove and nail it off, with only two hands. Thankfully my wife isn't scared of heights.    
Next up was the staircase. Those of you who have been keeping track of this project will remember when I built the lower part of the staircase. I actually cut the carriages for the upper stair run at the same time as the lower ones but had to save up a bit more money for the wood for the upper stair. The wood for this staircase came from WR timbers again. WRTimbers - Welcome to WR Timbers 
It is standard grade Victorian ash. The treads are 280mm deep and 32mm thick. The risers are also 32mm thick. The carriages are 290x45mm Oregon pine (doug fir). After docking the risers and treads to length I glued two riser boards together to form the top riser and hanger board.      
In a traditional set of stairs the hanger board in conjunction with some form of fixing at the base of the staircase would support the load of the staircase. Because this staircase is built between two walls, the carriages are Dyna bolted directly to the concrete core of the ICF walls.

----------


## sundancewfs

The risers were 190x32 DAR (dressed all round) so they were a bit higher than I needed. I ripped them down to the right height on the tablesaw and then glued and screwed them to the carriages. I used hard wood decking, star-drive screws for this part of the stairs and they worked a treat!   
The treads were docked to length and dry fitted to check everything. Then I bull-nosed the front edge, using a 16mm round-over bit on my router table. Next step was to glue and screw them all down. I used three screws along the front edge of the treads and five into the back edge of the tread, through the riser above.       
Once this was done the staircase was structurally complete.  :2thumbsup: 
But what about all those screw holes?
A plug cutter is a wonderful thing. It allows you to cut a plug out of a scrap piece of offcut and fill the hole with a grain pattern that "matches" the surrounding timber.
You could just use wooden dowel as a plug but you would have end grain instead of the face grain of a plug. End grain absorbs finish differently, making the plugged hole quite obvious. The face grained plug, while not invisible, is a much better match.  
I would advise using a plug cutter in a drill press, as they don't have a central drill bit (like a holesaw) and will walk around on the work piece like crazy if you try to use a hand-held drill.  
The plugs are glued into the holes and when dry, cut off flush. I like using a sharp chisel for this.      
And there we have it. Now its time for a sand and three coats of tung oil finish.

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## commodorenut

It may "just be a set of stairs" but what a beautiful job.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks commodorenut,
After a year, it feels so nice not to have to climb a ladder to get up to the second floor :Biggrin:

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## zacnelson

Wow you have really out done yourself!  Not only have you done a fantastic neat job, but I really appreciate the clarity of the photos and explanations, this is a very comprehensive `how-to' on stair building which will be a great reference for myself and others if we ever need to build stairs.  Bravo!

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Zac. 
Electrical time for the shed.
Andrew and Daniel from Elecorp Elecorp Group Services and Specialities are here this week doing the wiring for the shed. As you can see from the picks chasing out grooves in ICF for wiring is very easy and effective with a hot foam knife.      
I have six lots of power points like this spread around the walls of the shed, a couple of double GPOs over the areas where the benches are going and a 3 phase and 15 amp on the central post also.  
This means I will be able to complete the wall lining in the shed now. 
After a year of having a big pile of wood on the floor. Yay!

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## sundancewfs

More electrical work today.....
The Boys from Elecorp were back at it and by the end of the day the downstairs of the shed was all fitted finished and powered up.   
This is one VERY busy board!
Luckily I didn't heed the advice I was given to have 6mm cable and an 8 pole sub-board. We have 10mm underground cable and a 36 pole sub-board. This is just for the shed. The house is on a separate sub-board.  
The outside lights are up and running too. There are two on the front of the shed and two on the side on either side of the door. They are from Beacon Lighting. they are called Wright, by Lucci. I also used Clipsal sensors.
The lights will be disconnected to do the final coat of render and paint. As that is still some time off we elected to get them up and running now.

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## trevhutch

I love those lights! Aptly named after Frank Lloyd Wright, I presume.

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## sundancewfs

> I love those lights! Aptly named after Frank Lloyd Wright, I presume.

  Certainly are. Very prairie style. Having lived in Chicago for 4 1/2 years and toured through Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park I kind of fell for the style.

----------


## sundancewfs

Electrical rough in is done! Seems like a lot of wire!
This is a view into the kitchen from the family room  
And this is an idea as to what it will look like when completed  
The conduit fits into a chase (groove ) made with the hot knife. By squeezing the sides of the blade together at the top the chase is neatly formed so that the conduit actually snaps into place in the foam ICF. It finishes up flush with the surface of the ICF    
Next stop plumbing rough in and wall battens.  :2thumbsup:

----------


## ibuildbenches

What program did you use for the 'completed' picture?

----------


## sundancewfs

> What program did you use for the 'completed' picture?

  It was Better Homes and Gardens Home Designer Suite 7 
I think I got it from Harvey Norman....

----------


## jago

Sudancewfs looking good can you see the light at the end of the tunnel ? lol 
What size are your floor trusses (ceiling) 1st pic 15th, do you have an idea of L/M $ cost? Are they Posi struts? 
Cheers 
Jago

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## sundancewfs

> Sudancewfs looking good can you see the light at the end of the tunnel ? lol 
> What size are your floor trusses (ceiling) 1st pic 15th, do you have an idea of L/M $ cost? Are they Posi struts? 
> Cheers 
> Jago

  Jago the floor trusses are 250mm posi's. I don't know what they cost as they were part of the inital works down by the building company that did slab, walls, floors and trusses. 
Today it was cleanup day. Our young boy is 2 next month and here he is at his favorite job!  
Now the wiring has been done in the shed it has allowed me to get the pine panelling up the walls in the shed. I still have to complete it and trim it all, but its looking a lot more like a workable space now!

----------


## sundancewfs

I've had a busy week getting all my workshop stuff back in place, after the electrical work was done. I did manage to find a bit of time to finish trimming off the eaves on the back of the shed and was finally able to take the scaffolding down.  
All thats left to do now is to fit window molding and sill ( still haven't decided what ones to use....) and fit the down pipes, rain heads, paint and clip them off to the wall.   
All down, stacked and ready for the next wall! :2thumbsup:

----------


## shauck

Just wanted to say,I love your thread Sundancefws. I read the whole thing in one go, last week and it's quite an astonishing project. Your shed is bigger than my house!  
Cheers, Su.

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## sundancewfs

> Just wanted to say,I love your thread Sundancefws. I read the whole thing in one go, last week and it's quite an astonishing project. Your shed is bigger than my house!  
> Cheers, Su.

  Thanks Su  :Biggrin: 
Sometimes it feels bigger than I can cope with! 
You project is a cracker too, with its own unique set of challenges. 
One of the things I have to accept is that speed at which I can achieve my goals. With the full-time task of raising our two kids, the reality is, I have limited time to spend on the project. Its frustrating to be ready to attack the next phase of the project, but to know that without the time to spend, it will have to trickle along at a snail's pace.
If I had to find an advantage from this, its that I get to check things throughly before the next stage happens. :Biggrin:

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## brooke_mc

Just wanted to say how inspired I am having read your thread over the weekend. My husband and I are only just starting along the reno/extension road but the amount you've achieved in a relatively short period of time is really inspirational. Hats off! 
Particularly considering you're the full-time parent at home too (I can relate to how quickly the days pass when that's your full-time gig) I think it's fantastic. And the fact that you're obviously incredibly thorough and organised to boot - here's hoping we can glean a tonne of useful info from your thread once our construction begins. 
Cheers,
B

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## shauck

> Thanks Su 
> Sometimes it feels bigger than I can cope with! 
> You project is a cracker too, with its own unique set of challenges. 
> One of the things I have to accept is that speed at which I can achieve my goals. With the full-time task of raising our two kids, the reality is, I have limited time to spend on the project. Its frustrating to be ready to attack the next phase of the project, but to know that without the time to spend, it will have to trickle along at a snail's pace.
> If I had to find an advantage from this, its that I get to check things throughly before the next stage happens.

  Totally agree. Lots of small bits of time for thinking it all through, making for a reasonably well thought out plan. Hopefully by the time you get to manifesting the work, you are ready for it and have it worked out in your head. 
Cheers, Su.

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## zacnelson

What sort of window moulding will you be using?  Are they timber or foam or fibre cement?  I'll be very interested in the process involved.

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## president_ltd

> One of the things I have to accept is that speed at which I can achieve my goals. With the full-time task of raising our two kids, the reality is, I have limited time to spend on the project. Its frustrating to be ready to attack the next phase of the project, but to know that without the time to spend, it will have to trickle along at a snail's pace.
> If I had to find an advantage from this, its that I get to check things throughly before the next stage happens.

  if there's any complaint *I* have its that you don't post pics and updates *often enough*!! 
i'm fascinated by the ICF method and would love to hear details of how the sealing up of the place works and how well the heat exchangers work.
its not a common thing in Australia and the more details of it the better imho. 
good job either way.  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

Brooke, Thanks and good luck with your project I'm sure we will all look forward to your regular progress reports  :Biggrin:  
Zac, There are a few option I'm kicking around, foam, timber, aerated cement, square set or a combination of. Getting time to go and see products is an issue sometimes..... 
president, I'm glad you find the project interesting enough to re-visit. :Biggrin: 
I will be detailing the install and commissioning of the HRV including the blower door test. This will give us a definitive answer to how many air exchanges per hour our building has. (how leaky it is)     Blower door - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

----------


## sundancewfs

Another day, another few buckets of top coat render......  
Pre- scaffold  
All done! With the extra scaffold I bought, I can now cover an entire wall without having to move the scaffold. MUCH easier and quicker.  
If your new to rendering and wondering if it makes a mess......
Yes it does! It pays to cover or remove everything that could get render on it. Remember this stuff is formulated to STICK. If you don't clean it off stuff while it is still wet, you will have a hard time cleaning up afterwards..... Its not like mortar.... All the threaded rod, light fittings, sensor, windows etc are covered or wrapped with tape.  
I would have thought by now that my muscles would be getting use to this..... 
Nope...  :No:

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## wolfbunny

Hi Sundance
What you are doing is work of the highest order  :Biggrin:  
I thought when I started reading this thread wondering what ICF was! that I'd skip ahead to what your up to now after a quick glance but your photos along with your commentary has been so detailed and informatative for a novice like me that once I started a few days ago I couldn't put your novel down and wanted to read every page, it's as good as any book I've read.
My only disappointment is now that I've caught up I'm at your mercy waiting for the next installment :Frown:  
I'm enjoying your build so much thanks for sharing and kepp going mate doing a ripper job. :2thumbsup:

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## twinny

i agree, top notch thread and is actually my 'bookmark' for this whole site!

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## sundancewfs

Thanks for the votes of support folks. It is nice to know that there are people that find what I have to write interesting. I sometimes have the temptation to post every little thing I do, but I'm sure that would get old fast and turn people off. So I try to post when I feel I've made some real progress or have completed a significant task. 
Today progress was made. But first a gratuitous pic of a painted wall :Biggrin:   
My Wife and I have been "discussing" ( read: pistols at ten paces...) kitchen design. We had an idea what we wanted at the planning stage of the build, but as a lot of other things, those plans seemed a bit ordinary as the space evolved. Now I have to state here, if you are having a builder renovate or build your dream home any changes you make are called "variations". This loosely translates to " I hope you have a whole bunch of extra money!!!" If you are doing the work yourself though, you are at liberty to change what you like. While this may be more expensive, it may also add to the functionality of a space at an acceptable cost.
In the end we decided to employ a professional kitchen designer. This is an added expense, but having gone through the process, was well worth the money and the effort.
We contacted two designers. The first basically drew up all the ideas I had. This was great for me, as I was able to say to my wife, "Told you so, see even the professional agrees!" As you can probably surmise.... that didn't go down too well...
"I want a second opinion!" was her reply. 
One of the electricians was kind enough to give us the name of a friend of his who designs kitchens.
So it was off to Grandview Kitchens in Bayswater Grandview Kitchens: your dream kitchen built your way to meet Daniel. After having listened to both of us, he seemed to get the idea that we were stuck for ideas. we left him to go to work on some concepts for us. Two weeks later and today we viewed his ideas. He had come up with three different concepts, each meeting our basic requirements. One of them we loved! with a couple of tweaks to cabinetry we have finalized our design. That now lets us nail down exact positions for electrical, plumbing and gas for the kitchen area.  
Daniel and my wife looking over an impression of the kitchen area.   
Daniel explaining to my wife how some of the concepts can be achieved in the design  
All in all a throughly enjoyable process and some great ideas. 
Grandview Kitchens Bayswater.
Apparently there are more cabinet makers in Bayswater, per capita, than anywhere in Australia...  
I suppose one of the lessons from this has been, that word of mouth recommendation usually come from people who have had a good experience with a tradesman or supplier in the past. Although this is not a guarantee of workmanship or quality of service, for those of us who are not in the "industry" and can only rely on the local paper, yellow pages or the net to find trades and suppliers, its a great place to start.

----------


## myla

hi, 
great stuff as usual, 
you putting the batten and track everywhere in the house? is it the best solution for ICFer's do you think? 
a compromise between losing floor space and getting a suitable solution to electricals, plumbing, wall finish (ie. plastered) 
whats happening at the old house?
thanks

----------


## sundancewfs

Myla,
We'll be using the wall battens on the exterior walls only. All the internal walls are stud partion. So in reality we lose hardly any space. Its a lot easier to do than try and prep the ICF smooth, clean and straight enough for direct fix. I have a feeling, after having "lived" with the walls for a while, that a cavity, however small will be a good idea too.
You are right in assuming it makes the plumbing and electrical easier too. Although as the cavity is only ~28+mm the electricals do have to be in conduit behind the plasterboard. But it will make mounting power points and switches MUCH easier.

----------


## sundancewfs

Today I thought I would share how I have been doing the eaves framing (soffit for or USA friends).
I don't know if this is the correct way, but it is the way I have developed to use in conjunction with the ICF. This way allows me to build the framing without having to attach anything to the actual ICF wall. 
First I set out layout marks with my self-leveling rotary laser (mine came with a wall bracket). I attach this to a piece of scrap 70x35, that I screw to one of the rafters with a long batten screw.
I set this to be level with the groove in the fascia board that takes the edge of the eaves lining, then mark the wall accordingly.  
Next I attach vertical battens to the rafters with screws (so I can undo them if I mess up...) I hold a piece of scrap the same size as the horizontal batten I will be using, on the bottom of the vertical batten to establish where it should sit.    
The horizontal batten is then screwed to the ends of the vertical battens  
Once I have measured for the cross battens I cut them to length and screw them to the rafters and also to the horizontal batten. I have this nifty tape measure that has a spot to write things on, and its great for a cut list. www.fastcap.com          
Next up I will be putting the fascia ends on and hanging the eaves lining.

----------


## Gaza

[quote=sundancewfs;806946] 
The horizontal batten is then screwed to the ends of the vertical battens  
you must watch mike homes,  
he would give you the thumbs up for using screws.

----------


## q9

> he would give you the thumbs up for using screws.

  I'm a screw junkie too... :Biggrin:

----------


## twinny

jeesus sundance you cut every bit to size with only 4mm difference?  :Shock:  
you a pattern maker by trade?  :Biggrin:  
surely not a framing carpenter?  :No:

----------


## sundancewfs

> jeesus sundance you cut every bit to size with only 4mm difference?  
> you a pattern maker by trade?  
> surely not a framing carpenter?

  Well my micrometer is broken..... so I had to resort to the tape measure.... :Biggrin: 
Again its one of the luxuries of doing it yourself. I do find it makes a difference though as I can slide the wood into place and it will stay there by it's self until I put the screws in. I'm not a big fan of hammering stuff into position, unless its a wedge....

----------


## sundancewfs

The gable ends need finishing so here is how I achieved that. 
First I cut the fascia board to the correct angle using a site protractor as a saw guide.  
The great thing about doing this is that the off-cut can be used for the next piece in the puzzle. And because it is the other side of the same cut the angle matches perfectly!  
These two pieces are trimmed to length and joined using biscuits and Titebond 2 glue I clamp these on the bench using an angled scrap piece, nailed lightly to the upper angle of the board with a finish nail. this stops the board from sliding when its clamped between the vise and the benchdogs (one of them is visible sticking out of the benchtop behind the board)  
when dry, I pre-paint the piece and attach it to the gable end fascia board, boxing in the end of the eaves. Screw holes are puttied, sanded and painted.
I am a big fan of pre-finishing things before I put them in place. I feel I can achieve a better finished product than trying to paint things in situ. Normally this would be done the other way around, the carpenter/builder would frame and finish the eaves and then the painter would paint them. My approach does require some care, as if you pick up your nice clean painted board/trim etc... with dirty old site hands, it will get dirty and you will have to then repaint it anyway. Take some time and care..... and wash your hands.  :Biggrin:

----------


## andy the pm

Fantastic effort  sundancewfs, I know what you mean about taking time when your doing it yourself. Its nice to have that little luxury sometimes. Although it drives my missus nuts with her going it looks fine and I'm, no, no it just needs a little bit more...

----------


## sundancewfs

> Fantastic effort sundancewfs, I know what you mean about taking time when your doing it yourself. Its nice to have that little luxury sometimes. Although it drives my missus nuts with her going it looks fine and I'm, no, no it just needs a little bit more...

  
Luckily my wife is a scientist. She works in nanometres. She understands me..... :Biggrin:

----------


## zacnelson

I hope the nanometres aren't an issue in the bedroom!  :Smilie:  
Awesome work, I love the detailed progress photos and descriptions.

----------


## jago

> I hope the nanometres aren't an issue in the bedroom! 
>  .

   :Rotfl:

----------


## Armers

> Luckily my wife works in nanometres. She understands

  
Well least his wife understands, should make for a happy relationship!   :Rotfl:  :Rotfl:  
Cheers

----------


## sundancewfs

Its not the size of the unit of measurement, but the order of magnitude.

----------


## jago

> Its not the size of the unit of measurement, but the order of magnitude.

  m6sports at least boasted about 5 inches in the Home Theatre thread but you cannot be good at everything :Rofl:  :Woot: . 
Jago

----------


## sundancewfs

And on we go.... :Biggrin:  
Time to put up the eaves boards..
we have odd width eaves so the boards have to be cut length ways. I'm using a fibreboard cutter for this. It pays to make some relief cuts as you are cutting along. If you don't, you run the risk of having the piece of unsupported waste snap the corner off the piece of board you want to keep, when you get close to the end.  
making the relief cut   
The final piece can then be cut off without breaking the piece you wish to use.  
This is what the weight of the waste can do if your not careful (this is actually the relief cut, so I didn't break the main board...)  
The board is fitted up into position and nailed off.  
All done! Scaffolding down and ready to to go up on the front and final wall of the shed.

----------


## sundancewfs

This weekend I got the front wall of the shed topcoated with render and I put the first coat of paint on today.
here is a series of pics as a reminder....                
All these pics are taken from mor or less the same spot.....
The first pic was taken in Feb 2008 the last Aug 2010.

----------


## sundancewfs

Here is a bit of video of me rendering the topcoat on the shed. The first one shows me applying the dry texture (so named, because it comes as a dry powder, that is then mixed with water.) TRW render to the wall and the second is rubbing/trowelling it off to give the smooth finished surface. I'm doing it with a plastic trowel. It can also be done a number of other ways (with different styles of trowels etc...) depending on the type of finish you are after.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlU1C29e51A]YouTube - Dry texture rendering ICF[/ame] 
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NANK9O2IH5Y]YouTube - ICF rendering[/ame]

----------


## sundancewfs

Finally all the rendering/painting of the shed is done! 
There are a few more things to tidy up and finish off, like the downpipes, porch over the side doors, cladding on the dormer, and the front "door" panels to construct.
Next stop for the scaffolding ..... the house!  :Biggrin:

----------


## sundancewfs

Small job for the weekend in preparation for rendering the first wall on the house.
One of the issues with ICF, is attaching things to it. This poses some dilemmas which can be over come in a number of ways.
Issue 1) is that the outer/inner skin of foam creates a non-structural area which fasteners must pass through in order to be anchored securely to the concrete (structural) core of the wall. In my situation this is a distance of 35mm. This creates two possible problems. One is compression of the foam over time, thus loosening the fasteners. The other is de-rating of shear strength of the fasteners, as they are not supported along their entire length.
Issue 2) Is related to the style of ICF Block we chose to use. The block we are using are "waffle" blocks. This means they are fully formed bocks with foam bridges with internal galleries that are filled with concrete. This is different than the "panel and tie" type of block that has a more solid core. The issue relates to the foam bridges in the block. It is possible to drill into the wall and go straight through the foam and through the wall, with no structural support whatsoever.
The easiest way to overcome this. is to fix at the horizontal joins between blocks. There is a solid beam of concrete every 300mm. If you want to fix at a height which doesnt fall into the 300mm increment, then you can fix into the vertical cores. As you can see from the first picture, some of the fixings are on the horizontal beams and some are in vertical cores.    
In this exterior example I have cut the foam back to the core around the threaded rod that was embedded in the concrete during the pour of the walls. A stiff mix of concrete was then pushed into the void to create a non compressible pad for the ledger board for the carport to mount to. This will now be meshed and rendered in the normal way.

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## Smergen

Looking good my man... How is that overflow pit of yours coping with these rains?? Love the colour of the render as well. I assume the house is going the same way? 
We've moved into our new joint recently. Getting started on some landscaping first and then building up confidence to have a crack at some bathroom reno's, although I'm not sure it's within my capabilities! All you guys on here (Go To Whoa) make it look so easy!

----------


## sundancewfs

> How is that overflow pit of yours coping with these rains?? Love the colour of the render as well. I assume the house is going the same way?

  Hi Smergen
The storm-water pit is coping really well. Because of all the rain, its been hard to keep the rainwater tank from overflowing (even though we use rain water for the whole house) The tank overflow goes in there, and it hasn't backed-up or overflowed yet. Seems our soil has a pretty good absorption rate. The back yard has been very damp this year, but I think that's as much from the amount of rain, as from any ground water.
Yes the extension will be rendered and painted in the same colour. The existing house will be done the same too, so the whole lot will match. 
Good luck with your renos too.

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## sundancewfs

We will be having the plumbing rough in done in October... I had a pile of insulation laying around, stacked in the ensuite. Today I thought I'd move it out of the way. As some of it was for the existing house, I thought I might as well install it as store it.
This is the result. R4.1 batts over the top of R5 batts. Plus the Aircell Insulbreak65, R2, under the Colorbond. This all adds up to R11.1 or if you are from North American and using your units of measurement and not SI units, R63. (divide SI units by .176 for American units)

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## Eastwing

> We will be having the plumbing rough in done in October... I had a pile of insulation laying around, stacked in the ensuite. Today I thought I'd move it out of the way. As some of it was for the existing house, I thought I might as well install it as store it.
> This is the result. R4.1 batts over the top of R5 batts. Plus the Aircell Insulbreak65, R2, under the Colorbond. This all adds up to R11.1 or if you are from North American and using your units of measurement and not SI units, R63. (divide SI units by .176 for American units)

  How do you plan to move around in the roof now?  
Every time I think, I'll never have to go under the house or in the roof again. I need to 
Looking good

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## sundancewfs

> How do you plan to move around in the roof now?  
> Every time I think, I'll never have to go under the house or in the roof again. I need to 
> Looking good

   :Biggrin:  Good point! Suspended crawl-ways is the answer. Yet to be installed, but that's the plan.

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## DenisPC9

Suspended crawlways or duckboards are what I put in the roof space when I built my house in Canberra several lifetimes ago.  I also put in a single GPO and a couple of lights up there.  I dunno about the tradies but I was damned sure I wasn't going to be inconvenienced getting around my own ceiling. 
The whole lot makes a great read and re-inforces that old maxim, "Measure twice and cut once."

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## sundancewfs

With the plumbing rough in imminent, I thought it would be a good idea to sort out where the bath was going to sit, what taps we are going to use, how the wall battens would affect the plumbing, how wide the shower recess is going to be, and any other number of things that affect were the water points need to be located!
First task was to set the track and battens up on the wall and get a sense of what the interior space of the ensuite would be like. I use a self levelling rotary laser to layout where the top and bottom track will go. The pic is for demo purposes only as it was taken downstairs, at night, to highlight the beam. It draws a beam along the floor, up the walls and across the ceiling enabling me to make sure the track is set off the wall the correct distance, to allow for any discrepancies in the wall.    
With the upper and lower track screwed into position, the battens are slotted into place. (they are not fixed to the wall yet with Bettafix clips)
I have decided to use the track under and above the windowsill also as we will be using 32mm thick timber reveals with architraves.   
A bit of Villaboard, a bit of timber... mocking things up allows me to see how different things will work...  The bath is a Lanark Lanark Spas, Hot Tubs & Bathroom Ware
One of the things I have found hard is choosing products out of a catalogue. Its all very well to look at a picture and read specs...... but what is it like to sit in? You can go to the plumbing showrooms, but chances are they won't have the model bath/tap/shower/etc... that you want to look at. This isn't really surprising as it would be impossible for them to keep a sample of everything that was available to them, both space wise as well as cost.
Anda and Joy at Tradelink Tradelink in Bayswater have been great. They suggested we head on down to Decina's and Lanark's factories in Dandenong and ask if we could see an example of the bath we had chosen from the catalogue. It was a great experience with the staff at both places very helpful. We sat in their entire ranges of baths and changed our mind as to the one we wanted.    
This is the view from the bath. Ahhhhhh I'm looking forward to relaxing in here.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

This weekend I spent a bit of time setting the driveway light in place. I poured a hexagonal concrete plinth for it to sit on. The electricians will wire it up when we get the rest of the final fit done. Oh and yes we did put a feed to it when we were trenching, waaaay back when. As you can see it matches the shed lights.

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## sundancewfs

Well that was fun!  :Biggrin: 
We went away for a bit of a break....  
Off to lovely Fiji!     
Ahhh what fun! The kids loved it! 
But now its back to work.
Earlier this year we had a big hailstorm..... remember?
Well the scaffolding company is coming tommorrow to measure-up for the scaffolding so the roofers can finally get on and replace our roof!
This leaves me with a bit of down time as I can't do any rendering with their scaffolding in the way. So this weekend we decided to put in some veges. One of the things we have plenty of in the backyard, are ruddy great piles of dirt! The left overs from when the site works were originally done. I'd like to think there is a grand landscape plan that will magically appear in the yard overnight. The cold hard reality is.... there is probably about another 3 years to go on this project, before we get anywhere close to landscaping. With that in mind I thought, rather than kid myself anymore, it was time to put in a temporary vege bed. It also gave me a chance to move some besser blocks and some old recycled bricks. The pile of dirt in the mid ground (behind the broccoli) is the clay that came up from the bottom of the pier holes from the extension site. It is really heavy and sticky. We have gradually been shovelling it down the yard to level the ground and get rid of the pile. So with a bit of gypsum, mulch, manure, blood & bone and a good rotary hoeing. It came up quite nice. Lets see how it grows now.......

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## sundancewfs

Time to get on with the plumbing side of things....
Today I picked up the toilet for the ensuite and the vanity for the powder room,
The toilet is a Fowler Seido Fowler
The one we are using is wall-faced with a concealed cistern.
I had to remove two of the original wall studs as the cistern needed to be set in a specific sized gap.         
Once the framing was marked up and nailed in place, the cistern is fitted.
Fowler and Caroma are part of the same company, so the cistern is a Caroma.     
When installing these sort of things, it is important to consider the finished floor and walls. If you measured up and installed off the sub-floor and then the tiling goes in, the toilet would be out of position to the cistern due to the thickness of the tiles etc...
Now its all ready for the plumber to run the water point to it and plumb the waste. 
The other thing that showed up this week was our shower surround (hob) 
Its called a Waterstop Simplifying Shower Construction - Waterstop Streamline
One thing I didn't think about when planning the extension was a drop floor in the shower recess area. This allows us to have a small unobtrusive hob with a sloped screed bed inside. The size of this unit is 100mmx1500mm.

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## Armers

How tall is that frame for the shower hob? On the website photos (for the product) it only looks like a couple of mms about the tiles, so either they filled alot of it in, or it looks tall in your photos? 
I am thinking of using the Marmox system looks simple enough  :Biggrin:  
Looking good though!

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## sundancewfs

> How tall is that frame for the shower hob? On the website photos (for the product) it only looks like a couple of mms about the tiles, so either they filled alot of it in, or it looks tall in your photos?

  Armers, its 65mm high overall. the idea is to use the height to lay a sloped screed and tiles inside. This creates your fall to the waste.

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## Armers

I understand that bit, it just looked quite tall in the photo, 65mm isn't that much, it looks a hella lot taller ;D  
I assume the rest of the floor will be bed + tile... so that step should drop to about 60ish... not too bad... I could still see myself stubbing my toe ! Heh

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## sundancewfs

Time for a bit more plumbing prep today. 
I think ICF is great stuff for chasing. Today I chased out the pipe route for the kitchen sink. We are using Sharkbite pex and fittings. Sharkbite - The Australian made plumbing system showing the world how its done 
This allows us to do nice long radius bends. With my hot knife I can chase the perfect curves for the pipe, and because it is supported on both sides of the bend it wont kink. As you can see from the pics, the pipe sits quite deep in the foam. I will use expanding foam over the outside of the pipe, in the groove to hold it in the groove and stop any hammering. It also acts as lagging for the piping.            
Back-plate elbows can be attached directly to the concrete core of the wall. I used green spaghetti and screws. This gives a solid base to screw the stop taps to. As the foam is 35mm thick, its a pretty good setback for the back-plate from the finished interior wall as well.     
Its possible to mount a 35x90 wood trimmer to the concrete core with dynabolts etc...  This will give me a solid, non-compressible mounting point to screw the vanity unit too, without having to worry about if I have hit concrete or foam. I will probably use this method to hang the upper cabinets in the kitchen too.   
I would like to point out that I am not a plumber and any piping is laid for illustration only. I use a licensed plumber for all the plumbing necessarys

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## sundancewfs

Today I had a visit from Rod Dyson. Most of you will know him from the plastering forum. PLASTERING - Renovate Forums
and his excellent website How to plaster, plastering tips, plastering cracks, holes,
He looked over our site and gave me some pointers and tips on all aspects of the plastering side of our project. He was also here to estimate materials for the job as we will be purchasing our plastering and associated materials from his company.
I'm looking forward to getting the walls underway, but feeling somewhat daunted at the prospect.
One step closer to it looking like a real house, rather than a bunch of framework.....  
Rod, taking some photos of our project.

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## Armers

I've seen that man before! jeeeez he gets around!

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## Rod Dyson

See I knew I should have sucked my gut in!! 
It was a pleasure to meet you Sundancewfs,  Don't be daunted by the prospect of closing it in.  You will be more than capable of getting the sheets hung,  More than likely better than 90% of the tradies out there.  Just follow the instructions, you don't get a better job by doing more than is required, in fact you can get a worse job.  Happy to talk to you about all that later on. 
But just a little aside.  When I had my store in Clifton Hill I had a chinese man come in and buy all his materials and intended to do the job himself.  I calculated all the board and accessories for him and explained how to do the job.  Even gave him nice diagrams for the fixing points etc.  After a week he came back for more nails, said he ran out.  I thought thats strange, he should have had plenty. 
Well the following week he was back for more nails, I said, "are you sure you are doing it right". He replied, "well I didn't think there were enough nails to hold the sheet so I put in some more".  Well I thought I better go and have a look. 
I died of shock!! He had nailed every stud about 100mm apart.  His only way to fix this was to tape over the nails top to bottom and set coat the entire wall!   
Note TIP: We DO NOT put nails/screws into the center of wall sheets (they pop).  You use a temporary block every 2nd stud and remove all screws when the glue has dried, (24hrs).  :Smilie:  
Cheers Rod 
P.S Your sugestion for a demo day on your job for forum members was a geat idea!  Now I've done it  :Smilie:

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## Rod Dyson

> I've seen that man before! jeeeez he gets around!

   LOL Where. 
Good I hope.  LOL. Not everone is happy to see me you can be sure of that.  Bodgy plasterers most of all.  :2thumbsup:

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## Armers

> LOL Where. 
> Good I hope.  LOL. Not everone is happy to see me you can be sure of that.  Bodgy plasterers most of all.

  
Yes good... ... well... good for you, it involved quoting me for my little, *MY* Project obiously isn't that memorable.. hehe!

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Rod,
When we get to the point of ordering the plaster-board, I'll do a bit more organisation about an open-day. 
Basically folks ,what we want to do is invite you to a plastering open-day were we will have a look at methods and techniques of hanging and stopping plaster-board. It will also give us a chance to see some of the Rondo product in place.
And of course Rod will be on hand to demonstrate and answer any questions.
As for a date..... the rate I'm going....  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  probably early next year, sometime.

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## Cecile

> As for a date..... the rate I'm going....  probably early next year, sometime.

  We will come, if only to meet everyone and eat food!  What will we bring?  Considering Moondog is a CHEF, we are open to suggestions.  Chocolate mud cake, anyone?

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## Armers

sounds good to me, i hope to have my place done by then but more then happen to come learn some more tricks! 
Cheers

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## shauck

> sounds good to me, i hope to have my place done by then but more then happen to come learn some more tricks! 
> Cheers

  Good on you guys.  
Done my plastering too but don't shine a light on my corners. Could do better and am certain to be there again someday so I may just brave the big trip for such an auspicious occasion. 
Cheers, Su.

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## sundancewfs

I feel a bit more inspired after talking to Rod the other day, and with my marvellous mother-in-law back to take care of kids and home duties for a week, I'm trying to get a lot done.
Today I started to get the Rondo  ( Rondo - Wall and Ceiling Systems ) wall battens up in the laundry.
As I have mentioned before the walls are quite uneven, so rather than direct fixing (gluing) the plaster-board to the walls, we went with betta-fix clips and Rondo wall battens. This allows us to stand off the wall slightly and absorb any of the bumps and dips with the adjustability of the betta-fix clips. 
Firstly I use my laser level to establish a line that the upper and lower track with lay along. Marking a point at each end of the floor and truss, I snap a chalkline on the floor and along the truss.    
The track is then laid along the line and fixed to the slab and screwed to the truss.    
Holes are drilled into the concrete core of the wall at 900mm vertical and 450mm horizontal intervals 
I then hammer and sink with a pin punch, green spaghetti, cut to 65mm lengths  
The betta-fix clips are then screwed to the wall with 65mm screws. this give a solid fixing. (the foam will compress slightly when the screw is done up tight but in general, its well supported.)    
The battens are then slid into the bottom and top track and clipped into the betta-fix clips, by squeezing the sides of the batten together and slotting it into the desired notch.    
The battens can then be adjusted true, by using a straight edge laid across the wall and vertically up and down the battens (to check for bows)
And there you have it! This took a couple of hours to do.

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## zacnelson

Wow!  Thanks for the detailed `tutorial' on the battens, that is tremendous.  If I ever have to use wall battens I will enjoy referring to those great photos.   
I love the idea of the open day, I will definitely come along, even though last week I finally completed all the plaster work for my house (phew!!).  Rod's a top bloke, he's helped me out on the phone a bit, and also on the forum.   
I would be happy to bring some food to the open day.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Zac, not really meant as a tutorial, more of a " this is how I did it, and it seems to work ok...  :Biggrin:  " 
Plumbing rough-in started yesterday. James and Tim got most of the waste in and some of the gas.

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## zacnelson

Will those pipes in the last picture be covered by a bulkhead or a wardrobe or something?

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## sundancewfs

Yes Zac they will be. If you look in the first picture you can see some right-angle Rondo wall tracks with a pink string-line between them. this is a mock up of the extent of one of the bulkheads. This was used as a guide for the plumbers. As it turned out, the bulkheads were going to be there anyway. It allowed the plumbers the room to get sufficient fall on the wastes

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## Belair_Boy

G'day Sundancewfs
Just found this website and your ongoing postings. Great project and fantastic record of your achievements.
I am building an ICF house myself (Insulbrick from Danish Constructions) and I am sure I can learn a lot from those who have gone before me. Please feel free to check out the website of my progress but I am ashamed to say it has not been updated in a while.
I hope to correspond some more with ideas as things progress.
Regards
Andrew

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## sundancewfs

Nice to see there are some other ICF owner builders about  :Biggrin: 
I'd love to have a look at your site, (post a link up) 
I'm more than happy to answer any questions or take on-board any advice.
The great thing, I see that owner/building shows, is there are more than one way to do things.

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## Belair_Boy

Sorry, new here (I just linked my URL in my info).
The link is http://www.users.on.net/~akparrott/
Here is a photo of the current state of play, more or less. I have been trying to get services on and the lower level to lockup before the next big push with the middle level walls. 
I have about 4500 photos of the work to date so need to be selective with the ones to share :Biggrin: 
I will try not to bombard you with questions but the occasional tip would be great. 
I am quite happy to answer questions from any of the forum readers and listen to other ideas and suggestions.

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## Belair_Boy

I see in your posting #216 you have your electric cables in direct contact with the ICF blocks.
Not wanting to worry you but I have come across the following information. 
1: "The plasticisers used to make the PVC insulation on the cables flexible reacts with the polystyrene resulting in the polystyrene appearing to 'melt' and the plasticiser migrates out of the cable making it brittle and causing the insulating properties to break down. The cable will eventually fail, especially if disturbed and this is both a fire and electrocution risk." 
2: "There is the added problem that the cables will get hotter due to the thermal insulation properties of the polystyrene preventing the cable from losing heat. If this hasn't been allowed for in the design of the circuit it too could be a fire hazard." 
I have had a hard time finding out information on point 1 and the only real data I could find was from the general cable website. PVC Cables in contact with polystyrene.pdf 
Using conduit avoids the plasticiser migration issue but is a pain when there is a large bunch of cables. 
Point 2 is valid and I am assuming your electrician has taken this into account as a matter of course. 
Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated as I will be placing cables soon.

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## sundancewfs

I have heard of those issues Andrew, but none of the research I have done has turned up any info on #1. None of the sparkies I have talked to had heard anything about it either. That's not to say it doesn't happen though... There are examples of plasticisers leach out of cabling, but it usually doesn't seem to cause any degradation of the insulation. Bear in mind that cabling for a lot of mining company "dongers", which are now being made from coolroom style panelling  have the cables laid directly in the foam.
Having said all that! All the cabling that is in the shed lays on the surface of the foam in the wall cavity and the cabling in the house is all in conduit. 
#2 is a well know fact, as any cable that is covered in building envelope insulation, be it pink batts, blow-in cellulose, or EPS has to be de-rated to take into account that the cable will not be able to disperse heat as easily.
This has been accounted for in our job. We have 8 power circuits and 5 lighting circuits, compared to a more standard 2 and 2 (we also have 2x 32amp circuits and a 20 amp circuit for kitchen and outdoors) so the loads are spread quite widely, so as to not push a circuit to overload and overheat. Our breakers are all RCBO combo, breaker/RCD s too. 
I suppose the issue I had with the conduit to start with was, that we were going to direct fix the plaster board to the walls. This meant there wasn't a cavity behind the plasterboard and the cables really needed to go into conduit to offer some protection. As it turned out, we are now using Rondo battens on the walls and there is a cavity. I still went with the conduit as we had already purchased it and it was and easy job to chase the walls and place the cable in the conduit. it is possible to fit about 5 lighting circuit wires down a 25mm conduit, but you do have to line the cable up flat and straight. The 25mm conduit will sit flush with the surface when chased in.
Hope this offer up a bit more info...  :Biggrin: 
If you would like to talk about this or any other aspects send me a private message and I can give you my contact number.
Regards Andrew

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## sundancewfs

More plumbing to end the week with...
All the water feeds are now in. 
After much muttering from our plumber, James, he agreed to indulge me and we ended up with 3x 25mm PEX  feeds into the house from our tank. one for the upstairs, one for the downstairs and one direct to the hot water system. overkill? yes, but as my wife would say....... " I've come to expect that from you!"
Also got the pass throughs for the instantaneous gas hot water system done and also started lagging the waste pipes with soundlag 4225c Pyrotek - Soundproofing Solutions 
This should quieten down proceeding substantially.

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## sundancewfs

Deja vu??? 
Roofers are here, replacing the "new" roof, from the hail storm we had in March.

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## Smergen

Without delving back into the depths of the thread, who do you use for the roofing? I might have some work for them. Would they venture out west across the bridge you think?

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## sundancewfs

Hi Smergen,
The guys currently on the roof are a crew that work for an insurance building company. They reckon they have a couple of years worth of work up their sleeve. I would have no hesitation in recommending these guys though. They are fixing up all the past issues, that we never got around to doing because of the hail storm. They will probably have the entire project re-sheeted in 3 days (team of three) I'll ask them and post a contact number up here for you.

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## sundancewfs

Smergen,
The roofers that are currently on the roof are 
MMR McNamara's Metal Roofing
Call Geoff 0429862708

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## sundancewfs

Quite exciting really!!!
Today I put the ceiling battens and sound insulation up in the laundry.
(A friend had some spare 314 rondo clips and 301 rondo battens)
Using the rotary laser level, I set the level of the clips and then screwed them up. Stuffed the insulation ( Accoustic Insulation ) up between the joists and then clipped up the battens.
Job done easy as pie!
It refines and defines the space that little bit more, making it seem more like a room.       
I also picked up a plasterboard lifter off Ebay for $195.00.

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## sundancewfs

Tuesday morning, pick-up my order from Rod's supplier. ( How to plaster, plastering tips, plastering cracks, holes, )
Wednesday, hang the ceiling sheets
Thursday, hang the most of wall sheets
Whew! Laundry almost sheeted!
A couple of things have come to light with regard to plastering and ICF.
Firstly, if you are going to use battens on the walls and are intending to hang cabinets on the wall, it is a good idea to provide a solid base that you can screw them to. I chose to use 90x35 kd hardwood (thicknessed down to 30mm) dyna-bolted to the concrete core, between the battens.
The other issue we now have is the exterior door now has a reveal that is unworkable, in regard to the door swinging inwards. So I will have to remove the door frame I fitted and get a custom made one that is deep enough to span the thickness of the wall. Now 200mm from outside to inside.
If you are wondering why the door looks so short in the picture, its because I put the upper sheet on the wall without cutting out the door opening. This means I don't have any joins on the upper edges of the doorway. I cut the top half of the door hole out afterwards.

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## sundancewfs

The first room of the extension (the laundry) now has all its plaster board hung.
The first pic shows the ICF wall which will have upper cabinets hung on it. Its trimmers bolted up between the metal battens. Taking pictures of these sort of things is a good idea for future reference as to the location of services. Sometimes it helps to lay a scale or tape measure in the photo to make doubly sure of distances. I bought a 20", 3 phase thickness planer and that has been very handy to size the trimmers to fit the depth between the battens.  
And the completed service stack. One point I would make in regard to the wall adhesive for the plasterboard. It takes quite a long time to dry hard, and it is like a magnet to young children, with its bright colour....... Sticky kids are highly probable!  :Doh:

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## pb02

> And the completed service stack. One point I would make in regard to the wall adhesive for the plasterboard. It takes quite a long time to dry hard, and it is like a magnet to young children, with its bright colour....... Sticky kids are highly probable!

  Love reading through this thread and your whole build is amazing. Although I have to confess, sometimes the 'older' children are drawn to the brightly coloured wall adhesive. Whilst it eventually came off my hands my work pants will never be the same again...  :No:

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## jago

Did you as a child use a ruler to write as its too neat! lol its starting to look real, well done.

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## sundancewfs

> Did you as a child use a ruler to write as its too neat! lol its starting to look real, well done.

   No..... But I did find that my laser level comes in very handy for pruning my hedge  :Biggrin:

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## jago

> No..... But I did find that my laser level comes in very handy for pruning my hedge

  Any chance of posting a video as this I would love to see. :brava:

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## shauck

> Did you as a child use a ruler to write as its too neat! lol its starting to look real, well done.

  Way neater than mine. Awesome job.  
Just by the way, when I did my stopping up it was at times not great light and recently I delivered some cabinets to a work site where the plasterer was stopping up in a badly lit room. He used a lantern to shine up on his work as he went, carefully sanding. Wish I'd done that. Next time. 
Cheers, Su.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks folks.... As with everything, photos can hide a lot of things.... 
One of the issues we have with the internal ICF is the rough finish we are left with after the filling of the blocks with concrete. Even though the walls were braced, the hydrostatic pressure of the concrete inside these block does deform them to an extent. It makes the walls quite uneven, with variations of ~10-15mm over the surface. After a lot of thought we decided to go with the Rondo battens on the walls to give us a level surface to plasterboard.
But.............
As the original plan called for direct-fixing (gluing) the plasterboard to the foam, the downstairs toilet was sized as such. To use battens on the wall in here would make the room too narrow, so we are forced to direct-fix to two of these walls.
First up was to establish how far out of whack the walls were...  
As you can see there is quite a bow here. I'm holding a 2.7m straight-edge against the wall. it is contacting the top two courses of blocks and the bottom course of blocks. After a bit of shaving with my Ugz Ever rasp  
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWWlTk5dB0U]YouTube - UGZ Rasp[/ame] 
After a lot of shaving, lots of white snow and lots of muttering... I decided that big globs of glue were going to be the best answer...   
The glue I used was Sikabond Fast ( Sika Australia Pty Ltd | Australia )
The plasterboard was pushed into place, on the wall with a straight edge so as not to create a bow where the wall bows. I then used Rod's bit of advise and screwed some temporary holding blocks into the plasterboard and foam with 50mm laminating screws. These are a very coarse threaded screw that holds quite well in the foam if you don't over-drive them.     
Holes were also cut for plumbing before the plasterboard was fitted. It definitely pays to measure, measure and measure again..... unless you like wasting plasterboard....    
I'm very glad we chose to use the battens on the rest of the walls. The thought of having to clean down and level the foam makes me shudder. Its hard enough to do the outside of the walls in preparation for rendering, although there is a bit of leeway with the render as you can vary the thickness somewhat to soak up the variations. On the inside the plasterboard is less forgiving. A lot of care would have to be taken in the placement of the plasterboard to attain a decent finish.

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## sundancewfs

One of the annoying things about renovating and building is the amount of old building materials and left-overs that usually end up laying around on site for years........  
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. 
One of the GREAT things about renovating and building is the amount of old building materials and left-overs that usually end up laying around on site for years........
Some left-over plastic from concreting and a 30,000 litre rainwater tank make for some good, fun, hot summer days.

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## Armers

Happy to take those bricks off your hands if its "leftovers" :d 
Ooooo slippy slide! 
Cheers

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## Rod Dyson

> No..... But I did find that my laser level comes in very handy for pruning my hedge

  
LOL an my wife laughed at me when I use the laser on my hedge!!! 
She says I'de be the only person ever to use a laser on a hedge.  Off to tell her the good news :Biggrin: . 
Cheers Rod

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## sundancewfs

I did just that Rod.... went off and told my wife the good news. :Biggrin:  
Dusk, warm, balmy evening. Slicing the little red dots off the ends of the stems.... no more red dots, hedge done  :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

One of the many things we are doing to increase the insulation value of our walls on the existing building is to direct fix (stick) 100mm polystyrene foam to the brickwork. We are using Masterwall foam MasterWall: Australia
This gives us reverse brick veneer walls. 100mm foam gives an R rating of about 2.75. Combined with R2.5 wall batts that we'll put in the inside will give us a nice cosy wall system.  
The reason I started doing this now was that we are having a split system airconditioner installed. Hence the small slab in the first pic.    
I was a bit concern that the foam would absorb water, so using some dunlop waterproofing, I painted the bottom 200mm or so of the foam panels   
A 100mm wide PVC starter channel is attached to the base of the wall. Exterior tile adhesive is spread over the entire wall portion to be covered and the foam is pressed into place. I would have fixed it there and then with long screws, but the masonry bit I had was too short to reach the brick  :Doh:  . 
I braced it in place and attached the screw fixings the following day after getting a longer bit.      
The other thing that this corner required is a framework on the corner of the window to support the foam on the corner of the windows.   
Now I have to cut and attach the foam to the framework, fit a corner bead and render the wall before the airconditioner goes into place.

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## Gaza

whats your plan for termite protection, there is nice little void in the between the old brickwork and the back of the foam, they can use as freeway? 
are you using foam window sills / revels aswell?

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## sundancewfs

reticulated piping around the edge of the building

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## sundancewfs

> are you using foam window sills / revels aswell?

  For this sills we will be using aerated cement sill molding from Unitex Uni-Shape Mouldings | Window and Sill 
But that is for another post.... :Biggrin:  
(I've started to do the moldings on the shed....)

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## Gaza

have you had to make your own over sized miter box yet? 
it took us about a day last time to build the mitrebox for about 1/2 days worth of cutting.

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## jago

> whats your plan for termite protection, there is nice little void in the between the old brickwork and the back of the foam, they can use as freeway? 
> are you using foam window sills / revels aswell?

  
Did you use a borate treated EPS to stop boring insects?

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## sundancewfs

> have you had to make your own over sized miter box yet? 
> it took us about a day last time to build the mitrebox for about 1/2 days worth of cutting.

  No, I just use my sliding compound mitre saw with an old blade on....
Makes a bit of dust but cuts well.   

> Did you use a borate treated EPS to stop boring insects?

  I honestly don't know if it is or not. I haven't heard of problems with boring insects and EPS. None of it will be exposed. The base sits in a UPVC channel. The top will be covered by sill molding and the face and edges will be rendered.

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## jago

[quote=sundancewfs;823932
I honestly don't know if it is or not. I haven't heard of problems with boring insects and EPS. None of it will be exposed. The base sits in a UPVC channel. The top will be covered by sill molding and the face and edges will be rendered.[/quote]  
The question actually came about from a couple of conversations I've had about EPS/ICF and the first was from an Texan friend recently over (he owns a chain of pest companies) ants and termites can and will  bore through untreated EPS to nest and or gather food, they treat the ground in US for this much the same as we would. We were discussing US v Oz problems etc. 
Annother convesration was prompted by Belair Boy saying yes I could do a retaining wall system with ICF ...my FIL (brickie) said that the only house he had seen in town with EPS had a big problems with mud wasps borrowing through small holes in the render!! Sounded a bit like an old wifes tale until I started  to Google and there seems to be truth to the old wife... because of borers. I'm sure it's not a general problem but again living in the sub tropics in an area known as Termite Hill has me paranoid beyond belief about adding anything that pest will see as nests  :Doh:   _I think in general it relates to Waffle pod slab systems as the EPS is contact with the damp ground but there seems to some consenus that all EPS should be protected against ..._

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## Belair_Boy

> Annother convesration was prompted by Belair Boy saying yes I could do a retaining wall system with ICF ...my FIL (brickie) said that the only house he had seen in town with EPS had a big problems with mud wasps borrowing through small holes in the render!! _._

  I have had a few mud wasps set up home in holes left from bracing the ICF wall but once they have been evicted and the holes plugged the problem appears to be solved.
It looks like the mud wasp is opportunistic and will take up residence in any hole left behind, be it in timber, concrete, rock, brick or ICF. I have had them in all these materials but it is just because I have left a ready made home for them.
Once an ICF wall is rendered I doubt there will be any problems.

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## sundancewfs

> I have had a few mud wasps set up home in holes left from bracing the ICF wall but once they have been evicted and the holes plugged the problem appears to be solved.
> It looks like the mud wasp is opportunistic and will take up residence in any hole left behind, be it in timber, concrete, rock, brick or ICF. I have had them in all these materials but it is just because I have left a ready made home for them.
> Once an ICF wall is rendered I doubt there will be any problems.

  This has been my experience as well with wasps and bugs to date. As soon as the walls are rendered there is nowhere for them to set up house. The foam in itself has no nutritional value to any type of insect. It could be used as a conduit for them to get to something they like as food though, as they can with most other building materials. We are in a comparatively low termite risk area. My approach to them is to maintain a constant visual inspection regime and treat perimeter areas in a controlled delivery manner. All service penetrations through the slab are treated with termi-mesh. 
A house whether it is brand new or 100 years old ages, weathers and need constant maintenance. If you aren't willing to accept this then you kidding yourself and will find you asset losing value rapidly. 
Oh and apparently Grand Designs Australia will be featuring a ICF house soon http://www.lifestylechannel.com.au/g...isode=9#Videos
This house was being poured at the same time as ours..... no wonder it was so hard to keep the guys on our site !  :Biggrin:

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## Armers

> Oh and apparently Grand Designs Australia will be featuring a ICF house soon Grand Designs Australia - Videos: Episode 9: Indented Head House @|@ LifeStyle Channel
> This house was being poured at the same time as ours..... no wonder it was so hard to keep the guys on our site !

  Episode 8 Also had ICF... but the Zego System.. That house was huge! Can't wait to see the next one!  :Biggrin:  
Your place is looking good too~!... Just as huge.. Comming along well... Quicker then mine  :Frown:  
Cheers
Ben

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## Belair_Boy

> Oh and apparently Grand Designs Australia will be featuring a ICF house soon

  We applied to get our "Grand design" on the show and made it to the second round of selection but didn't make the final cut.  Probably a good thing too, building is bad enough without the added pressure of a film crew waiting for something to go wrong.  :Wink:

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## zacnelson

I'm looking forward to a detailed photographic essay on the process of installing those pre-cast Unitex moldings on the shed.  This is something I know nothing about, and it intrigues me.

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## sundancewfs

> I'm looking forward to a detailed photographic essay on the process of installing those pre-cast Unitex moldings on the shed.  This is something I know nothing about, and it intrigues me.

  Zac, I know nothing about it either  :Biggrin: 
But I'll try to be as detailed as I can...
The way things are heading it will be after Xmas before I get to detailing that...

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## sundancewfs

A bit more on the reverse brick veneer today....
Trying hard to get at least the back wall done so the aircond can go in.
I was a bit lost as to what I was going to do with the windows reveals...
In the end I decided to use a head reveal as well. That way I can use a set width sheet of eaves board and I won't have to extend in along the tops of the windows. (this probably sounds a bit confusing at the moment but it will become clear as I put the eaves up.)
On the driveway side of the house I really don't want to put the foam below ground level. So we set a line which is now the *top* of the driveway slab. That is also the height of the base of the foam. as you can see, to cut down 100mm below the stringline (the thickness of the slab) we will have to take off a substantial amount of dirt. At the top of the driveway though will only have to scrape off about 100mm. This will give us an even slope over the front driveway.   
This time I cut the foam to size, clamped it in place and drilled marker holes through the foam and onto the face of the brick. I then took the foam out of the way and drilled the holes to depth and put in some green plugs.
The wall was then spread with tile adhesive and the panel put back into its place. I was a bit concerned that the plugs wouldn't line up with the holes in the foam, but it all went together beautifully and all the screws went home well, pulling the panel tight onto the adhesive.
the corner framing was clad with foam with all the joints glued with polyurethane sealant. I also stapled up some Aircell insulbreak as a temporary flashing to keep the rain out of the wall cavity.
Next job will be to fix all the angle corners, mesh the walls and joints and......render.  :Biggrin:

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## Belair_Boy

Looking good Sundance, you appear to have had a much more productive week than I did.
I somehow lost two days this week (thinking it was Tuesday on Thursday) and didn't get nearly as much done as I planned. 
The Masterwall should be a lot easier to render (than the ICF) with it's much more regular surface (and your rendering expertise now). 
How do you think exterior tile adhesive would go as the adhesive to direct stick fibre cement sheet to ICF walls? 
It is more or less the reverse of what you are doing now.
I am still deciding (procrastinating) on what adhesive to use for all my direct stick.  With all the walls I will have to line, a cost effective as well as reliable method is needed.

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## sundancewfs

> How do you think exterior tile adhesive would go as the adhesive to direct stick fibre cement sheet to ICF walls?

  The best suggestion I can make would be to try a bit on some leftover blocks... That's why I made my sample wall.
I did find that the foam was totally destroyed if you try to pull the foam from masonry. So it definitely sticks!

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## Belair_Boy

> The best suggestion I can make would be to try a bit on some leftover blocks...

  If I had been smart and thought far enough ahead I would have made numerous test pieces using alternative adhesives right at the beginning of the project and they would have had several years to prove themselves by now.   :Doh: 
I assumed that as ICF is not new, there would be tried and true methods of direct fix that were in common use, but it appears that there is no single solution.  I guess this is common in building however and there are many ways to solve the same problem. 
Better late than never..... time for some test pieces. :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

Belair-Boy,
I sent an email to an ICF builders forum in the USA and the guy sent me back a very prompt reply.
The way they attach in the USA is directly to the plastic webs that tie the sides of the blocks together.  :Doh:  (forehead slapping moment for those of us with full foam block system)
He did come up with a couple of interesting ideas though and I quote...   

> "Ok, I checked your blog, looks like the form system you are using is an “all foam” system, meaning that if you want to attach to the wall, you will have to attach to the concrete.  If you have already poured the concrete, you will need to attach everything to the concrete.  If you haven’t placed the concrete just yet, get out your tape measure and start locating EVERYTHING you would possibly want to attach to the wall.  *There are many ways to attach to these systems, the easiest method is to use “gang nail plates”, the plates that are used to attach the individual members of trusses together, we buy a box of these from our truss manufacturer and use them as “backers” for attaching items later.  These gang nails will stick into the foam with ease.  We then shove screws or nails through the foam so that they penetrate the concrete core, hence they will be permanent when the concrete is placed.*  Check out different screws for attaching to the gang nails., you will want the right thread type and diameter of screw so that they grip into the gang nail.  The other main option is to attach strips of wood to the foam in a similar manner for your drywall attachment."

   

> The second type of ICF system which is an older type system doesn’t have a plastic or metal web or fastening strip, it is an all EPS foam block system.  These are a bit tougher to deal with as they pertain to attaching drywall and any other finish or built ins.   Drywall can be adhesively attached to the EPS with an EPS compatible adhesive.  These adhesives are typically messy and tough to deal with due to weather conditions and the need for temporary bracing and shoring to hold the drywall in place while the adhesive gains some significant tack.  Different adhesives work in different ways, so research on local adhesive availability is the way to go.  Here in the US, this type of system was used for many years until the plastic and metal web styles became the norm due to the ease of use.  *We typically attached a strip of metal horizontally along the top of the wall line by using ring shank nails or long screws that penetrated the EPS into the concrete cavity.  We installed these prior to placing concrete so that when the concrete was placed, these strips would become permanent, then when the drywall stage came about, a person could apply the adhesive and install a few screws into the metal strip to keep the sheet in place while the adhesive set.*  This method was simple compared to the alternative of removing foam to install blocking for attaching the drywall.

  Thanks to Ian Giesler, ICF Homes - Insulating Concrete Forms

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## Belair_Boy

> Belair-Boy,
> I sent an email to an ICF builders forum in the USA and the guy sent me back a very prompt reply.

  G'day Sundance
Thanks for all your input and advice, it is much appreciated. 
The "all foam" blocks do add additional challenges when it comes to fixing to them.  The main disadvantage as I see it, is not being able to easily screw the lining board to the foam while the adhesive dries.  Maybe your "laminating screw" method is suitable here.
I would not use the plastic bridges to secure anything substantial, you do have reinforced concrete 35mm away after all and it is not hard to bridge the foam with a suitable block or spacer. 
I have seen the "metal plate" system used before (OK for some things but I would not use them for structural attachments) and it is good if you have everything planned out beforehand. Things are still somewhat flexible in my case and I wont know exactly where that towel rail is going until I am standing in the room.   
Quote:
"Different adhesives work in different ways, so research on local  adhesive availability is the way to go."
I guessed as much and this need to be done soon, well after Christmas anyway. :Rolleyes:  
Many of the methods discussed requires the insertion of fixings before the concrete has been poured which is somewhat inflexible.  For structural connections I prefer a chemset stud, expanding anchor or a anchor screw (or equivalent), which I have found very effective.  Power fasteners Vertigo Vertical hanger for concrete have proven to be very useful.  I will have to take some photos when I use them next time. 
OK time to get some work done :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Belair,
One of the things that I thought could be explored ( in addition to the glue/screw) was the point he made about attaching a channel along the top of the wall. That would give it solid support at the top. There are any number of different plaster board channel/reveal profiles that are available that might be suitable for this task. They would probably have to be fixed to the wall after the ceiling board goes up though. A thought worth expanding ....

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## Belair_Boy

> Belair,
> One of the things that I thought could be explored ...... attaching a channel along the top of the wall. ...... They would probably have to be fixed to the wall after the ceiling board goes up though. A thought worth expanding ....

  Thanks Sundance
More food for thought. 
In the workshop and toolroom I was not planning on having a ceiling, just use the underside of the Bondek.  I thought I could use bondwedges to hold a temporary batten against the top edge of the lining board to hold it in place while the adhesive dries.
Eventually cupboards and benches fixed back to the wall will help provide a mechanical backup to the adhesive. 
Screws through the top edge of the lining board will be covered by the cornice where there is to be a ceiling so I am not sure the channel is really necessary? Why not fix the lining direct rather than fix a channel ?? 
If I find holding the lining boards in place while the adhesive dries a problem, I have thought about recessing a timber strip into the foam (say 35 x 40) and screwing it to the concrete core.  This would give me something to put a few screws into at minimal extra expense.
Question is, one strip at 1.5m from ground or two (one at 1m and the other at 2m), fixing at the top edge as well?  Note: I was planning to use 3m lining sheets in the vertical orientation rather than the usual horizontal.  Most of the reasons for using horizontal sheets don't apply when direct sticking to ICF. 
OK lunch over ... back to work.

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## sundancewfs

A lot of people have asked why we aren't just rendering the brickwork instead going to all the trouble and effort to stick foam on the outside of the bricks and render it.
Well I'm going to try and give a visual presentation of one of the reasons.
Picture a wall..... (cue ascending harp music )
This is the western wall of our house. Standard brick veneer, with the 100mm foam stuck on some of it.    
These photos were taken at 5:24pm today when the sun was on the wall. This wall spends quite a bit of time in the sun. All of these measurements were taken with a Fluke 62 mini IR thermometer. It takes the surface temperature. The air temperature was 25 deg c. As this wall is on the driveway and the boundary is on the other edge of the driveway there is no option for us to plant any shade trees on this side of the house. 
First the foam. In full sun, with its mid grey primer surface it really shows the heat!   
Next the brick. Lighter in colour and lower in temperature.   
I also decided to throw in a couple of other sample walls as well The first is the western wall of the extension (raw ICF) and the second is the western wall of the shed. Rendered, painted, finished.     
The sun sets on all of these walls at roughly the same time. so I'll give it a chance to get below the horizon and take a second set of temperatures to compare to the first lot. 
Any guesses as to what the various surfaces will measure later?
See if you can post your guesses before I post the second set of temperatures..... :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Well the results are in and here are the pics in the same order and at as close to the same spot as the first lot. Time of photos was 8:05pm, air temp was 21.4 deg c.         
Not very scientific, I know, but it gives some good general measurements.
So, can anyone give me an interpretation of the results? I have my own ideas, but I'd like to hear what others think too.

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## Belair_Boy

> See if you can post your guesses before I post the second set of temperatures.....

  Based on thermal mass I expect the Brick to have retained the most heat, followed by the rendered wall, then the Master wall with the raw ICF last.  There should be a big gap between the brick and the foam products.  
What would be interesting is a measurement of the temperature on the other side of each wall while in full sun and later at night when the temperature has dropped.  The render may have been hot but I bet it was nice an cool inside :Wink:  
The reverse brick veneer should give a good thermal mass inside the building and stabilise the temperature very effectively.  The current building practice of bricks on the outside is completely wrong from a thermal perspective. :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

That is pretty well my take on it too Belair. 
The other points I think come into play are that the brick is absorbing the heat from its surface (basically like a heat sink) hence the lower surface temp in the sun. The foam, ICF and render are not absorbing at anywhere near the rate of the brick. Colour does play a part in the "in sun" temperatures also. As the sun goes down and the surfaces are shaded the surfaces start radiating the heat back out. The brick shows how good a thermal mass it is now by retaining its heat much longer than its lightweight counterparts. Unfortunately it also radiates inward as well, warming up the interior of the house. 
The weather has been too mild to take noticeably different interior wall temperatures, on this wall, but I did have the chance to measure the temperature on the inside of this wall on Black Saturday. That was before there was any foam on the wall. Outside air temp was 47 deg c, inside air temp was 32 deg c and the inside surface temperature of this wall was 37 deg c. Sort of like having a whole wall heater, radiating into the house. This was with a 3.5kw airconditioner set at 19 deg c running flat out in the room.

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## president_ltd

the temperature of the "outside wall" is actually pretty much academic. 
your data shows the thermal mass properties of clay brick versus polystyrene versus render-on-polystyrene - and its not unexpected that lower thermal mass will heat up 'more' in the short term but also cools down a lot quicker. 
be fantastic if you can show the results of the INTERNAL wall temperatures on those walls.  that's where the real difference will show itself for the "reverse cladding" that you're doing to your existing brick house. 
perfect day today to see the marked difference it'll make too!

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## jago

:Iagree: great day to see the internal heats.

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## sundancewfs

I will get some temps on the various walls later on today when the sun get on to them. We do have some cloud cover today so direct sunlight is a bit hit and miss.

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## sundancewfs

So its been an interesting day... quite warm, 37deg c by my outside thermometer, but with substantial cloud cover for most of the day. This equates to shading. Therefore the exterior wall temperatures are less than the measurements taken on a sunny day @ 25 deg c.  
Temperatures taken at 5:08pm  *foam ICF extension wall. Exterior temp 40.2 deg c, interior 24.6 deg c.
Rendered ICF shed wall. Exterior temp 45.2 deg c, interior 24.2 deg c.*
The interior temps match the interior air temp. No aircon, no windows open. 
The foam/brick house wall is a bit hard to quantify as it is the same wall and as such has a shared cavity, so the interior temp isn't a true indication of the effectiveness of the added foam. suffice to say the exterior wall temp were ~45-50 deg c and 24 deg inside. I would also point out that one warm day doesn't give a good representation of insulation effectiveness. It would take a prolonged period of heat to show the benefits. (and hence feel them from a comfort point of view) 
The one thing I did find interesting though was the performance of the double glazed, low E glass french doors on the back of the extension.
For those of you that think that double glazing is only for cold climates...... think again!

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## Bloss

Just looking at your reverse brick veneer cladding and read about you aligning then marking then moving then drilling using plastic plugs and though maybe this might be a really good application for the Raptr screws? See here raptr screws 150mm minipack of 10 incl drive bit - Scrooz online fasteners and tools - The masonry drill would easily go through the ICF right where you needed to have the fixing. They would need to be at a reasonable bulk price, but would seem to offer the potential for heaps of time saved and given there is minimal force needed to hold the panels in place it seems a good technology match.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Bloss,
I think I,ll give them a try.

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## sundancewfs

I always find it hard to pluck up the energy to do much,around this time of the year....
I did ( over the last week or so ) manage to get the wall behind the aircon rendered and painted. It was a bit of a struggle and I should have been quicker about it, before Andrew and Daniel from Elecorp ( Elecorp Group Services and Specialities ) came and installed it. Oh well, they were quicker than I was  :Biggrin: 
Out of interest we got a Mitsubishi 7.1kW inverter split system. It rated second highest in Choice magazine's split-system air-conditioner test. 
My first impressions of rendering the Masterwall (basically flat, 100mm thick polystyrene foam) was good. Its a lot easier to get a smooth even surface when your base is smooth and even. I did put another layer of fibreglass mesh over it (it already has one layer bedded into the grey primer on the foam) so all the joint areas are well reinforced.   
I haven't shown a corner detail pictures before, so here is a close up of the corner of the house. As I am doing all the rendering myself over a period of time I have to stop from time to time. If you stop at the end of a batch, in the middle of a wall, the render will dry and when you come back to finish it at later date you will end up with a very pronounced join mark. (well I would anyway.... as I find it very hard to blend a dry edge to a wet edge.)
My solution to this is to do a wall at a time, finishing at a corner. The corner bead also provides an edge to trowel up to, and therefore maintain a consistent depth of the render

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## zacnelson

How many coats of render do you apply?  Do you do a base coat of normal acrylic dry-mix render and then a top coat of texture coat?  Or do you just straight over the Masterwall with texture coat?

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## sundancewfs

> How many coats of render do you apply? Do you do a base coat of normal acrylic dry-mix render and then a top coat of texture coat? Or do you just straight over the Masterwall with texture coat?

  Hi Zac, I do it the same as for the ICF. Base-coat of acrylic render and then a coat of dry texture, top-coat, followed by 3 coats of Dulux Acrashield ( http://www.dulux.com.au/specifier/pr...l?product=2471 ). Being a lot smoother to start with I am getting about 4-5mm coverage overall. After a week or so, it has hardened up nicely.

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## zacnelson

Thanks, sounds good, I would have done it that way.  I have the feeling with some blueboard places they just do a texture coat straight on the blueboard because the joints are so easy to see

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## Belair_Boy

G'day Sundance
Happy New Year!!   :Smilie: 
Just a quick question, what exterior tile adhesive did you use to stick the master wall to the bricks? 
I am about to start doing some experiments with direct stick and tile adhesive is one option I want to try. I am thinking of amodified cement based tile adhesive but there are many brands and types available.  Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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## sundancewfs

> Just a quick question, what exterior tile adhesive did you use to stick the master wall to the bricks?

  Happy new year to you too Belair.
I used Davco Ultraflex ( ParexDavco: Australia ) it seems to have stuck very well. Any attempt to remove what I have stuck in place would result in the destruction of the foam, and probably a few of the bricks too. The reason I chose this product was...... it was on special  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Well the weather has been beautiful, the beach lovely, I even managed to squeeze in a decent surf! (first time in 10 years  :Cry:  )
Yes..... Its holiday time. We are in Wollongong enjoying time with my Mother-in-law. Those of you that follow this thread will know that she has been a huge help to me, when she visits us. So in an effort to return part of the favor I have been doing a couple of odd jobs around the house for her.
And there in lies a mini go-to-whoa. :Biggrin: 
So.... Pergola with a rotten rafter. the job was to remove and replace the rotten rafter with a new one. The pergola is probably about 25 years old and made of Oregon pine (Douglas fir). 
Fisrt job was to knock out the old rafter. To make it a bit easier to handle and remove I cut the end off it in-situ.     
Using the old one as a template, I cut a new piece of treated pine to size. It was then given a couple of coats of paint..... ALL over.   
One of the battens was rotten on the end also, so I cut it back to the second rafter and replaced it with a new piece of treated pine 70x35. Again painted all over. This pergola was regularly painted over its life time, but its the attention to detail when it was built that has let it down. The pieces should have been painted before they were assembled. The rot is starting on the unsealed endgrains and areas where two pieces have been fastened with out paint between them.   
Nailed in place, a bit of putty, and some touch-up paint over that, and its done.      
This is a bit of a stop-gap job, as the rest of the pergola will need replacing within the next 10 years. Mum's thinking of moving sooner or later, so I might miss out on having to do that  :Biggrin: 
I does show the importance of making sure you protect those end grain and hidden areas. They are rot's favorite hiding place. 
Back to our place now and on with the fun!

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## jago

You just can't help yourself can you... Barney118 is in the gong and I'm a lazy 7 hours from there if you fancy some more work.  Ps glad you used TP as you cant use Oregon outside in NSW anymore.

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## sundancewfs

Back from yet more holidays! 
At this rate it will take me another 40 years to complete this project! 
The first job on the agenda for this year is to get the laundry ready for plaster stopping. I hung all the plasterboard before Christmas but one thing I didn't get done was the bulkhead which will carry the downstairs heating duct.
I had a good look at Rod's building a bulkhead page ( How To Build A Frameless Plasterboard Bulkhead )
But I thought I'd try to do my own using some leftovers and scrap offcuts I had laying around from the wall battens.
First, I square set the ceiling/wall inside the bulkhead area. This won't ever be seen, but I thought it would be a good spot to practice.... The results? and the ease of doing it?...... I might hire someone for that job......  :Biggrin: 
Next step was to screw a channel to the wall and also to the ceiling. This bulkhead is going to sit on top of the wall cabinets with no gap. Make sure when your putting the framing in place that you allow for the thickness of the plasterboard.   
Again a laser level comes in very handy for this part of the job.
The outside angle of the bulkhead had me scratching my head for a while... I finally decided to rivet two channels together to form an L channel, that would take both the horizontal and vertical battens    
I have quite a few scrap pieces of wall batten left over, so I cut them to size and mocked up the bulkhead with a couple of them clamped in place to check for length and alignment. I have enough pieces for a batten at 450mm centres, both horizontal and vertical. Next thing to do is finish off the plaster and attach all the battens in place with screws, then fit the duct and hang the plasterboard on the framework.

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## zacnelson

Beautiful work

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Zac,
And here it is a little further along.
I ended up using rivets to hold it all together.   
The heating ducting up and in place. Joins to BTO's ( branch take offs) are sealed with fire mastic and then taped using Venture tape ( Silver Metalized Cloth Duct Tape@::@Cloth Duct Tapes@::@HVAC@::@Venture Tape Corp. ) duct tape.
 Cutting round holes in the plaster board is made easy by using a Dremel tool with a spiral cut "blade/bit" and a circle cutter attachment.

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## sundancewfs

Bulkhead in the laundry is nearly done...   
After a bit more practise and a lot of encouragement from others on the Renovate Forums, I have decided to do the plaster jointing myself.
I've started in the laundry as that is a room with lots of cabinetry covering up most of the joints  :Biggrin:  After a couple of hiccups to start with I seem to have some of the kinks ironed out.     
One of the issues with plastering is the dust generated by sanding and how to successfully suck it up without killing vacuum cleaners or using up expensive vacuum bags....
My home-grown approach is to use a 20 litre bucket half full of water as a pre-filter to the vacuum. I had an old dust extractor cyclone lid ( Dust Separator Lid : CARBA-TEC ) for the bucket, so I attached a piece of hose to the inlet and weighted it down with a clamp to make it stay under water. The outlet of the bucket is on the right-hand side of the lid and that's were the vacuum cleaner hose attaches. It is above the water level. When you suck up dust etc, it is drawn into the drum, underwater. The dust percolates up through the water and as it does is absorbed into the water. A small amount of moisture laden air passes into the vacuum canister, but as the Shop-Vac I'm using is a wet and dry vac, this isn't a problem. The result is a frothy bucket of muddy water and slurry and a relatively clean vacuum canister with no super-fine dust particles being re-distributed out the exhaust of the vacuum cleaner. I also have a hand held Shop-Vac sanding attachment, ( Shop-Vac Hand Sander - Shop-Vac Accessories ) but I'm yet to try that.....

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## sundancewfs

Good News!.... Its a Mother-in-law week!!! 
That means no kids for me and a visit to the chiropractor at the end of the week, to recover..  :Biggrin:  
I'm moving on with the plastering in the laundry, with all the joints taped and ready for the second coat.   
While I'm waiting for plaster to dry, I've been kicking on with the foam-over-brick cladding outside.   
With the rendered head reveal above the windows, I have to frame it up to support the foam. One advantage to using substantial framing to do this is that I now have anchor points for any shade devices or blinds that we may want to fit.

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## sundancewfs

If you were wondering how effective the wet vacuum filter for plaster dust is, (and I'm sure 1000's of you are  :Biggrin:  ) Very effective! This is the slurry left in the bottom of the pre-filter (wet) bucket. The main canister has a small amount of water in it and a basically clean filter. No fine particles passing through the motor and being re-emitted.       
And here is the sanded laundry room.   
This was a test to see if I was capable and confident enough to do all our plastering....
As it was the first time I've done any serious plastering, it was a challenge.
The results are acceptable to my eye, so it looks like that's one less trade we will have to fork out money for.
There are quite a few things I learnt while doing this.
1: Don't scrimp on tools! Buy good ones and buy the ones you will need. Trying to do this sort of job with inadequate tools is making life hard for yourself!
2: Make sure one of those tools is a plaster's hawk. (board with a handle on the bottom) They are essential to being able to work comfortably and effectively. Working straight out of a bucket has got knobs on!
3: Read Rod Dyson's excellent articles and watch the videos that he has put together. (this really should be No1)  How to plaster, plastering tips, plastering cracks, holes,
4: Relax, don't get uptight if it doesn't appear to be going well, this has to be one of the easiest materials to work with... If you screw up completely, you can always sand/scrape it back and start again.
5: Don't drink too much coffee, it make your hand shake and makes it difficult to hold the trowels etc, in and even and constant way.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Well that felt like the Mother of all Mother-in-law weeks! 
I got so much done. I could definitely do with a few more of those this year! 
All in all the laundry walls and ceiling came up beautifully.     
And seeing as we had a long weekend here in Victoria.....
I thought I'd do some rendering. (thanks to my Mix-Master for giving me a hand)
I was able to clad and prep this wall, as well as do the laundry in the 10 days I had Ma here. It is changing the whole look of the house. I quite like the deep reveals too.

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## sundancewfs

I knew I should have built a bigger shed!  :Doh: 
Now I can do the cabinet doors and drawers for our project

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## Gaza

> I knew I should have built a bigger shed! 
> Now I can do the cabinet doors and drawers for our project

  
nice day's shopping, are you building the carcusses as well or just the door fronts and draw fronts?

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## sundancewfs

Gaza, I'll probably do the doors and draw front only.... Well.... As well as all the built-in wardrobes, bookcases, etc etc etc.... 
It becomes a bit of a time vs money game with the carcasses. For the time it would take me to cut, edgeband, hole-bore etc, 
If anyone is wondering.... Carbatec are having a three day sale (Melbourne store) Thursday, Friday and Saturday
They have some quite good prices on a large range of products.

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## sundancewfs

Today I managed to get an excavator with out 75mm of rain....
James from Close Quarter Earthmoving ( Close Quarter Earthmoving )was back with his excavator to set some levels for the deck, carport, courtyard garden and driveway.
All up we moved about 15 cubic metres of dirt. We had to load it onto the back of my ute, drive it around the other side of the house and then scrape it off with the excavator. The driveway had all sorts of dips and rises in it so we cut it back to a set grade of about 12 degrees. We levelled the carport site and cut away a bit of dirt from the back of the house so the deck won't sit on the ground.

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## jago

I missed the bit about the Ned Kelly armour around the window bays? Still jealous of your access and the fact your on to outside stuff! Good work.

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## sundancewfs

> I missed the bit about the Ned Kelly armour around the window bays? Still jealous of your access and the fact your on to outside stuff! Good work.

   Hehehe  :Biggrin: 
Yes the Ned Kelly.... The house is built to withstand bombardment by heavy artillery...
Seriously though, the "armour" is Aircell sarking. The wall section with the bay window in, is timber framed. The Aircell covers the frame. There will be 100mm foam put over the top of that and the the whole lot will be rendered.

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## stevoh741

Excuse my ignorance but I was wondering why you plastered and painted the inside of the bulkhead?

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## sundancewfs

> Excuse my ignorance but I was wondering why you plastered and painted the inside of the bulkhead?

  That's a good question, normally you wouldn't plaster inside a bulkhead as it will never be seen and doesn't really need a lining (unless its fire-rated, and that would be a whole different kettle of fish...) 
I did it because it was an out of the way spot that would never be seen. This was my first attempt at plastering so I thought I would try a bit in a hidden location first. If I felt the result was good enough, I would continue on and do the rest of the the laundry. If the result was a disaster.... no one would be any the wiser (other than me  :Biggrin:  ) and I would hire a pro to do it.
As it turned out..... I will be doing all the plastering now.  :2thumbsup:

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## stevoh741

Cool thanks for the reply. I too do my own plastering (carpenter by trade) and also find it not too hard to get a decent result. The thing that puts me off though is the sanding but I love your idea for catching the plaster dust in the bucket of water. Usually when I sand (for lack of a vacuum cleaner) I end up looking like I just came home from a bolivian cocain snorting party!!!! Keep up the good work.

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## sundancewfs

Before I get the tiling done I have to do the waterproofing, before I do the waterproofing I have to install the door frame, before I install the door frame I need to build a custom door frame to suit the extra thickness of the ICF walls...... (the old woman who swallowed a fly springs to mind about now...)
For all of us who are renovating or building I'm sure you are familiar with this feeling.
So the "bespoke" exterior door frame....
A standard exterior door frame is about 140mm deep. Because I have used Rondo battens to mount the plasterboard to on the inside. a standard frame won't reach the edges of the wall. So I ordered some timber from WR timbers WRTimbers - Welcome to WR Timbers  I cut the rebates necessary, assembled it with screws checked it with the door and then disassembled it for painting. 2 coats of undercoat and 3 coats of topcoat.
You can see the comparative difference in size between the old and new in the first picture. The grey one is the standard size head, and the one on the right is the custom one.      
I'll be fitting the hinges to the jamb before I assemble and install the frame so I can work at a comfortable height and position.

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## sundancewfs

I seem to be leaping from job to job at the moment.....  :Cry: 
Today I got the first coat of paint on the western wall of the existing house. It now gives a good idea as to what the finished product will be like. I am very happy with the finish.   
The other job for today was to start cutting back the slab of concrete that had originally been laid in front of the house. It was laid slightly above the level of the damp course layer in the brickwork (to provide fall) but with the wet (read: REALLY WET!!!) summer we have just experienced the moisture in the gound has started to creep up the walls. Rising damp.
I'm hoping by cutting it back and allowing the damp course to do its job, the wall will dry out. We'll see....
The foam cladding will cover this gap between the wall and slab and the slab will be tiled. This also solves the problem as to how we were going to get our reticulated termite system along the front of the house, by creating a handy trench.
The concrete shouldn't have been poured any deeper than the bottom of the vent (the damp course is between the dark lower bricks and the lighter upper bricks.

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## sundancewfs

Time for some waterproofing in the laundry.
After a lot of ummming and ahhhing... I decided to do the waterproofing myself. Tilers that I asked, were quite happy to do it but wanted to charge just as much for the waterproofing as the tiling per m2. I did contact a specialist waterproofing firm... they came out and measured up and then didn't even bother to quote.... Oh well! Seems there are certain trades that are just soooo busy they don't need to even bother replying. I had asked 6 tilers to quote. One was too busy, one was $60+ m2 for 450x450mm ceramic floor tiles (not porcelain), one was $45 m2 and said he would do the job, and three didn't even bother to call back or show up. The guy that has said he will do it, is quite happy to tile over my waterproofing. All I need now is for him to ring me and give me a date to start...... (why do I have that sneaking suspicion that I'm going to have to teach myself how to lay tiles.........  :Cry:  
So onto the waterproofing. I started by priming the floor. and running a bead of neutral cure silicon around the junction of the wall to floor. This will act as a bond breaker. In the event of the walls moving independently of the floor, it will allow the junction to "release" instead of tearing the membrane and creating a potential leak point. The wall/floor junction also has a fibre mat laid into the waterproofing to add some strength.      
The floor waste flange also got the fibre treatment with the edges folded down into the flange to provide a "over-flashed" edge.     
I'll let this dry up and then apply the two layers that will cover the entire floor.

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## zacnelson

You should do the tiling yourself!  After seeing all the trades you have picked up over the years, honestly tiling would have to be one of the easiest!!  I don't think any tiler would do as neat or exacting a job that would measure up to your precise standards.  Go on you know you want to

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## r3nov8or

I'll hazard a guess that sundance always had every intention of learning to tile.  :Biggrin:

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## zendo

Been following this build from the start great work.I agree with the two post above you can do it ?
Just one question about the floor waste what fibre did you use?
"The floor waste flange also got the fibre treatment with the edges folded down into the flange to provide a "over-flashed" edge."

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## sundancewfs

> Just one question about the floor waste what fibre did you use?

  zendo, I used a roll of fibre matting ( Dunlop do a version of it too, in a folded packet for use with their water-proofing membrane) that I got from a tile store.   
Thanks for all the votes of support....
But my wife would like to get the laundry completed before 2012. So she feels its time I got someone else to do some of the work. I did point out to her though, that if tradesmen keep pushing back our job (because its small) in favour of more lucrative options we will be waiting even longer. As with all projects that we might take on as owner-builders, the time frame and staging of jobs runs a little differently to a "standard" build. If this project were such a thing, the tiling for the whole project would probably be done at the same time. Two bathrooms with floor to ceiling porcelain tiles, and the laundry floor. A much better job to quote on. As it is though, I have to break this up into smaller jobs as it isn't possible to stage all of them at the same time (one of the bathrooms is still realistically a couple of years off!)
And so it appears this thread will be going for some time to come..... :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Drat! The tiler called back and has scheduled Thursday to do the laundry floor..... 
And I was so looking forward to buying a nice new sigma tile cutter.... Sigh  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Well my lucky day! Murray from Versatile Wall and Floor Tiling (0407831912) rang me this morning and said he had been rained off a outdoor job nearby and asked if he could do our job today. Sure! 
So here is the waterproofing done   
On your marks.... get set..... GO!         
Time from first pic to last, one and a half hours.
Murray was quick, neat and precise, and a nice guy to boot. Showed me why sometimes getting a pro is a good thing...... And to think I nearly bought one of those tile cutters.... After watching Murray use it I would recommend the Sigma cutters for speed and accuracy.

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## andy the pm

Thats a nice looking job, both the waterproofing and the tiling, do you think Murray will travel to NSW??
How did he recess the floor grate in the tile? Its something that has been bugging me before I start our bathroom tiling...

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## sundancewfs

> Thats a nice looking job, both the waterproofing and the tiling, do you think Murray will travel to NSW??
> How did he recess the floor grate in the tile? Its something that has been bugging me before I start our bathroom tiling...

  Thanks Andy, The recess was made with a diamond wheel on an angle grinder. Basically a square cut-out and then supported on glue in around the edge of the flange.
I don't know about travelling to NSW..... maybe you'll have to call him  :2thumbsup:

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## andy the pm

Cheers sundancewfs,
I noticed that you had the same puddle flanges as I've got so was curious how its done.  I thought it would be an angle grinder but I'm still nervous about doing mine!
Did you use the puddle flange insert or just lay the tiles straight over the flange and then drop the grate into the tile?

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## sundancewfs

Andy, It was just laid over the flange and dropped in.    

> I thought it would be an angle grinder but I'm still nervous about doing mine!

  That's why you need to order a few extra tiles, for those nervous practise cuts

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## ScroozAdmin

> After watching Murray use it I would recommend the Sigma cutters for speed and accuracy.

  Yes I got one to do the full ground floor in my reno, excellent tool. Might even sell it on through the forum once I'm finished in a month or 2.

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## sundancewfs

Very neat Scruffydoo. Having the right tools and knowing how to use them does make a difference.  
Time for the deck!  
Well...... time to test our current preferred decking material.... 
We are using bamboo quite extensively in our project. With all the products I decide to use, its not based on hype, but on considered thought. (The whole discussion of the green credentials of bamboo could go around and around for ever... sustainable growth vs embodied transport energy etc etc...) I like to choose things based on their quality, strength and looks. To my eye, bamboo looks good. The fact it is engineered means that it is quite stable. We are using it for the downstairs floor, solid doors and now, possibly the deck. 
The first step in our "test" deck was to prep the bamboo as per manufacturers instructions.
Decking boards are washed with mild detergent and water  
Once dry, three coats of proprietary decking finish was painted on top, bottom, sides and ends.   
As this is a temporay structure, I didn't go overboard with the framework. Basically 90x45 treated pine screwed together.  
This decking is going to get a workout! It leads off to a crushed rock pathway and mud. Whatever is stuck to our feet will get traipsed over it. The total planned deck will be the width of the rear of the extension and extend out around the tree in the foreground   
And here is the finished product, modelled by mischief#2  
To get a true indication how the decking (and finish) performs over a period of time I cut the ends off the boards and finished them in the same way as the boards. The offcuts will be kept in the shed as control samples, that way I will be able to compare the weathered to control surfaces over time.  
I intend to leave the deck in place for the duration of the project. this will give us a really good idea as to its suitability.

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## Belair_Boy

Great to see the progress Sundance, first class job ,as with everything you do.
The trial deck is fantastic, nothing like a practical experiment to give you the real facts. 
Where is the second trial deck made from the alternative (second choice) material? :Smilie: 
How will you know how superior the bamboo is without a comparison? (only teasing). 
Great job with the door frames as well.  I have to make up a couple soon if the toilet is to get a door.  What timber did you use?  It looks too good to have paint over it. 
Happy Easter and keep up the good work.

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## sundancewfs

> Where is the second trial deck made from the alternative (second choice) material?

  The other eight sample decks are dotted around the yard. Jarrah, ironbark, treated pine, composite wood, merbu, spaghetti, fish skin and woven yak hair.....  :Wink:  
Its funny when someone comes up with exactly what I'm thinking... I had thought of doing multiple test decks, but thought looking over the neighbours fences and seeing how their decks of differing materials have handled the elements and traffic would suffice.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> I have to make up a couple soon if the toilet is to get a door.

  Belair, toilet doors are over-rated and pretty well redundant when you have young children......  :Biggrin: 
I used Vic ash

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## sundancewfs

Fairly quiet easter break but I did manage to get a bit done in the laundry...
Got most of the cabinetry screwed off to the walls. We used flat pack units from Allboard distributors ( Allboard Distributors: citysearch ) as most of the cabinets in this room are standard sizes. Still deciding which way to go with benchtops..... At the moment its a toss up between caesarstone, laminate or bamboo.
I set the cabinets off the wall so the front of the washer and dryer would be flush with the cabinets. This also gave me room to run a 100mm piece of stove flue pipe behind the broom closet and out through the wall to vent the dryer. The cabinets are screwed to custom cut blocks made from 45mm thick oregon pine ( doug fir) these in turn are screwed to blocking I put in between the studs with batten screws. The set out is about 135mm.   
The other side of the laundry has an L shaped bench with just one overhead cabinet. the doors on the upper cabinet are mock-ups to test sizing etc.

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## sundancewfs

And here are the laundry cabinet doors.......
well not quite doors yet......     
The colour is "coffee" the small square on top is natural.   
Now comes the fun part of breaking down all the sheets, cutting the doors and face boards to size, sanding and spraying the finish... stay tuned!  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

One of my favourite tools is Google sketch-up. A free CAD drawing program from Google. 
You can export your drawings as a jpg and email it to companies if you are needing a quote.

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## shauck

Nice materials. That'll be fun to cut down. I like to use a cad program to get the scale of things so I can see if I've gotten the proportions right. They are so useful in many ways. Only wish I could use it to it's full purpose.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Su,
The bamboo panels do pose a challenge to break down.... I am able to lift a sheet up onto my table-saw and out-feed table. By pulling the out-feed table back a bit it leaves a gap so I can run the circular saw along a guide. This takes the sheet down to a more manageable size. From there I can use the table-saw to cut the pieces to size. Its starting to come along nicely now.

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## shauck

That is a really really nice material. Is it laminated onto MDF? What thickness? How much for a sheet and where did you buy them

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## sundancewfs

> That is a really really nice material. Is it laminated onto MDF? What thickness? How much for a sheet and where did you buy them

  It's 20mm thick bamboo ply. Three layers thick, one vertical layer, one cross laid layer, and a horizontal layer. This is a bit of a gobble-de gook description.... It is very solid and heavy. The raw edge makes a nice feature too.
I got it from Bamboo & Timber Select ( Bamboo Timber Select -Bamboo Timber Select - Timber Flooring Melbourne | Bamboo Flooring Melbourne - Timber Flooring Melbourne | Bamboo Flooring Melbourne ) As I wanted ten sheets and because we are using quite a bit of their product (doors, flooring, decking, panels....) I was able to negotiate a reasonable price with Ken. If you would like a sample, pm me with a PO box address and I'll pop an offcut in the post.

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## sundancewfs

Here are some close-ups... 
Vertical  "grain" side   
Horizontal "grain" side. The traditional bamboo look is much more obvious in the horizontal.   
Edge detail showing the cross banded laminations. This piece has two coats of clear tung oil flooring finish on it. We will be using this finish on the laundry cabinets

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## shauck

I think I might just do that. Thank you. I assume it's pretty stable then as you are using it for doors and panels. I especially like that you don't need an edge strip. It would be the sort of material that I could, with even just a few basic tools, use for finishing my bathroom/laundry cabinets (when I get to it).

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## shauck

Just checked out their website and was amazed to find that it is harder than nearly all hardwoods and is fire rated. Will remember that as recommendation to others in future. Hmmm, wonder if I can find space for another deck?

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## sundancewfs

Its a Mother-in-law week!!!!
Task for this week............ To render the western wall of the extension. 7.5m long x 5.6m high.
Almost all the scrubbing prep has been done. Tomorrow I'll hang the mesh and fit the corner angles. Its funny how used to the oxidised colour of the foam you get. Then you give it a bit of a scrub and bingo! White again.

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## sundancewfs

Boy.... that was fun......  :Yeahright: 
Prepped yesterday in the rain and rendered today.     
Five hours, 12 bags of render and one very helpful friend to mix.
I think I need to go and lie down.......

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## sundancewfs

I feel like I have scaled Everest!
Top coat finished. Only the paint to go.
This is the wall with the biggest area of the project. The other side of the extension is as big, but has more windows.
This wall took five 20kg bags of dry texture topcoat and about five hours to do.

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## sundancewfs

This Mother-in-law week is going quite well!  :2thumbsup:  
First coat of paint on. I think its starting to tie the building together.

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## Belair_Boy

Another great job Sundance
When you have finished rendering your place there is a lot of ICF walls here in Adelaide you can use your skills on.
Your Mother-in-law is also quite welcome to come across any time. :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

Yet another productive Mother-in-law week! We bid her Bon Voyage yesterday morning and then I got stuck into the eaves framing. Had it all completed and the sheeting and trim pre-painted before the end of the day. Saturday morning, Up with the sheets and trim. Touch of putty and paint, to cover up the holes and bingo! Won't be long and the scaffold is off this wall and onto the next. I have five weeks to prep the next wall before the next Mother-in-law week.  :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

We had Mark from Elecorp ( Elecorp Group Services and Specialities ) around yesterday to do a fitout of the laundry. Now we have operational power points and lights! No more tripping over extension cords!
One of the lighting tasks was.... task lighting.
We decided to go with LED strip lighting under the front edge of the benches. this gets rid of the shadow that is cast by standing in front of the bench, between the ceiling light and work surface.
One of the annoying things about LEDs is they are very bright. Good for light, bad for looking at. Well not so bad for me, as my eye level is above the bottom of the upper cabinets and I don't see them directly. But for someone shorter..... (my wife) the light strip is visible and very annoying. The remedy is to attach the strip behind a narrow strip of cabinetry on bottom of the upper cabinets.
I attached these with biscuit joints. They will have a cover strip that matches the cabinetry.     
The driver (transformer)  was placed in the service stack, which is in the corner of the laundry. That way it is in a location which is accessible for replacement or service. The incoming supply is from a normal switch in the laundry.   
And there we have it! It works great.       
The strip lighting we used was purchased off Ebay, direct from Hong Kong. It was a five metre roll, which I cut to length. It cost about $55.00 landed here. The driver I purchased locally and cost $25.00.

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## Armers

Hey that looks good. Makes what was a dark space to work a little easier. I hate the shadows created when working on the wall side of a kitchen bench! Good work! 
Cheers

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Armers, It really does make a difference. 
I'm feeling a bit under the pump now.... My Mother-in-Law is due back on the 21st. I still have to get the scaffold up on the back wall and get it prepped so I can render it while she is here! I managed to get it down from the side wall yesterday as we have finished on that one for the time being.
One of the things I was waiting on was the sill mouldings from Unitex ( Unitex Home | Cladding | Render | Texture | Mouldings | Columns ) Their mouldings are made from aerated  cement and I have found them to be very stable and tough. I did look at some made from foam with a fibreglass coating but found they were quite flimsy. Measurements are taken and the ends are mitred to take the small return pieces.       
This stuff is very easy to cut with a handsaw ( I use an old one that has seen better days) The return piece is glued to the end of the mitred sill and also fastened from the inside edge with a screw. I chose to bed this sill on a bed of mortar and glue it to the wall. As per Unitex installation instructions mechanical fixings ( screws) are placed at the appropriate spacings.     
The holes are filled and the sill painted and the whole lot looks a charm!  :2thumbsup:

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## r3nov8or

Excellent work, as usual!

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## sundancewfs

And as an overview...
Here is the completed wall     
A couple of other things you may see as new, are the window shade and the hot water system.   
The hot water system is a Bosch 26 eco+ ( Bosch - Introducing Condensing Technology - 26eco+ and the 32C )
We have four controllers on it. One main, one bathroom, and two sub-controllers.
This replaces to old Rinnai infinity. That will be given a new home on the shed. 
The window shade is custom designed and built. I did the original arm design using Google SketchUp ( based on drawings by Gary Moule, the building designer Z House Design ) I had them fabricated and hot dip galvanised by DeCoites Steel in Ferntree Gully Ph 03 97583998.
They are attached to the wall with 16mm galvanised all-thread, chem-set into the concrete core of the wall. The timber is Vic ash with a few coats of the same finish we will be using on our bamboo decking.

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## turnstiles

Hey mate - a quick question about your test-decking. I was wondering how you joined the timber as it looks invisible. I can see screws between each strip - did you screw the back of the strips onto a piece of perforated metal strap and screw the strap to the frame? Or is there a little fitting that slots into the groove cut along the edge? Very neat job!! I'll be interested in the test results as I like the look of the bamboo and will consider using it myself.
Also with your task lighting strips in the laundry - couldn't you just cut the doors a couple of cms longer which would conceal the added strip?
Love ya work BTW!!

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## sundancewfs

Two great questions turnstiles! I was wondering if anyone would have the idea of extending the doors...
First one first. The decking boards are grooved, as you surmised, and yes there is a concealed stainless steel fitting that fits into the grooves on the boards and is screwed down in the centre. It holds them down nice and tightly and also provides the correct spacing to boot.
As for extending the doors to cover the LED, rather than using a separate cover strip, we had thought of that, but thought that exposing the LED strip every time we opened the door would be annoying. Also the light would be visible between the gap between the doors.
I'll be posting some update photos of the decking in the near future so stay tuned.

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## turnstiles

> As for extending the doors to cover the LED, rather than using a separate cover strip, we had thought of that, but thought that exposing the LED strip every time we opened the door would be annoying. Also the light would be visible between the gap between the doors.

   Actually I was thinking along the lines of extending the doors to cover the extra piece of chipboard you've already attached so it won't be seen when the doors are on. (Or am I just stating the bleedin'-obvious??!!  :Redface:  )

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## sundancewfs

That's is a great idea too! Unfortunately I had already cut the doors to length. But I will do that in the kitchen though! Thanks for the idea.  :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

Laundry benchtops installed today  :Biggrin:  Caesarstone White Shimmer (3142). One step closer to completing a room, doors, skirting, kickboards and splashback to do...     
Thanks to Nick and the Boys at ABA Stone for a great job. www.abastone.com.au

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## sundancewfs

These Mother-in-law weeks are killing me......   :Cry:  
Job this week is to get the back wall of the extension rendered. Prep is the key for this wall. I will do a couple of in depth, step by steps on some of the aspects of this wall.... when I have recovered...  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Top coat of render done, and sills on. Some paint now and then the eaves boards....boy are my arms killing me  :Cry:

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## sundancewfs

Well The first coat (of three) of paint is on..... Lets hope Melbourne's wild weather tonight doesn't wash it all off...
This is a Mother-in-law week too! (starts Wednesday) The hope was to get the final walls of the extension done during this visit. Unfortunately this wall has been quite complex with all the windows, doors and especially the bay window. I should manage to get the rest of the coats of paint on and hopefully the eaves and shade arms up and the scaffold down. Once the walls of the extension are done, I will be moving back inside to complete the laundry and then start on the plasterboard downstairs. I'll be organising an open day on plastering with Rod Dyson then. That is now looking like being a bit later on in the year.

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## shauck

I know there's always a long list of more to do but you must be feeling pretty pleased with how it's coming along. It's looking great. Also, hooray for supportive mother-inlaws.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Su, I am pleased with how it is moving along. We had to get an extension of our building permit a couple of weeks ago, as our two year period was up. I think we will probably re-new it a couple of times in the coming years as well...... I worked out that if I added up the time I actually spend working on the project, its probably only about 70-80 days in a year. Being a house husband takes up a lot of time, and by the time weekend "jobs" like swimming lessons etc are done there isn't much time to actually do the work. Mother-in-law visits are like gold! This year I have been lucky with so many close together. The rest of the year is looking bleak for them though, as it will be the turn of my sister-in-law to have some visits.

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## sundancewfs

What miserable weather.....  :Annoyed:  
Oh well, there are more than enough inside jobs to keep me busy.
Time to finish the laundry doors. These are made from 20mm thick bamboo ply (as seen in an earlier post).
The doors were cut to size and the hinges fitted, then removed, so I could make any tweaks necessary to the fitting of the doors before the finish was applied.
First of all I relieved the edges of  the doors. I have found the bamboo to be quite splintery, it is a compressed grass after all. Having tried both a router and a block plane, I finally settled on 180 grit sandpaper wrapped around a wooden block. This give a nice even chamfer and eases the sharp edges    
The next job was to fill any small voids in the edges of the board with timber filler, as the raw edges make quite a feature. I use Timber Mate fillers for this as they are easy to use and work well under the finish. They do dry back lighter than the "wet" colour you see in the container, so keep that in mind when matching colours for a timber.   
The doors are then sanded on all sides with 320 grit sandpaper and dusted down. I attach the vacuum to the sander in an effort to keep as much dust out of the air as possible.   
The doors are then finished with a satin tung oil based flooring finish. I have decided to use this as a finish, as I used it on the staircase in the shed and it has been extremely hard wearing.(and I have almost a full 4 litre tin of it left  :Biggrin:  ) I paint it on with a brush and by laying the panels flat, it has great self levelling properties. I take care not to apply too much finish around the edges or otherwise you get creep down the edges and drips forming on the un-finished underside of the door. Once this side is finished I will flip them over and do the other side.
It pays to keep some of that cardboard that seems to wrap everything from windows to fridges, to protect surfaces that you don't want any stray finish on.
These doors will get 2 more coats  of finish with a light sanding with 400 grit sandpaper between coats and then the last coat will be burnished (rubbed) lightly with a brown paper bag to smooth any dust nibs left in the final coat

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## sundancewfs

Finally got the wall finished and the scaffolding down!

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## Cecile

You are doing truly amazing work.

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## Wolfstar

Luv you work sundancewfs 
Just finished reading your blog in one hit and can't wait for more. The tips you have provided are great and I know everyone following you is amazed at the quality of your work. 
Stay Frosty

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Wolfstar, I sometimes wonder if I haven't bitten off more than I can chew..... 
A while ago(19/4/2011) I put up a test deck, of bamboo.  So 4 months later, how has it been fairing?... First of all some reminder pics...     
These were taken the day I built the deck and the second pic shows the offcuts I have kept aside in the shed to act as controls, in order to see how the finish stands to wear and tear as well as the sun and rain. The decking is in an exposed northern location on the house. I did remove it for a week while I was rendering the back of the house, but it just got moved to one side, still in the weather. 
This door is used as the main access to the backyard/shed/washing line/sandpit/lawn/mud...etc etc... So a lot of rubbish gets traipsed over it everyday.      
First thing was to wash the muck off with a bit of dish detergent and a rag.   
Second was to wash it again after the kids barreled in through the door with their feet covered in sand!  :Annoyed:  You should see what I have to put up with inside the house!   
After letting it dry, I put the offcuts on the decking and here is the result.     
It has obviously suffered a bit from the abrasion of the sand and dirt. but all in all I'm pretty happy at the way the finish has maintained its colour and integrity. Like any part of a home it will require ongoing maintenance. I think under normal wear and tear this decking would stand up to daily use very well. It is extremely hard decking and doesn't bruise easily.

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## goldie1

Seems to be performing ok. Most decks wouldn't get that amount of abrasion. 
Would have been interesting to see some hardwood tested beside it. 
Great build! By the way whats with the ute ? What happened to the Mazda 121? :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> By the way whats with the ute ? What happened to the Mazda 121?

  Ahh yes the Mazda 121......
The clutch finally gave up and it was not worth repairing. So we decided that the replacement should be a bit more suited to the task at hand.... We ended up with a dual-cab Mazda Bravo (hail damaged from a car yard, at a great discount). Its great for carting the kids and all the other things I need to lug around.

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## shauck

All hail the ute...  heh heh

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## sundancewfs

We had a bit of a break for a while to catch up with the In-laws in New Zealand. It gave the "children" a chance to frolic in the snow.  :Biggrin: 
Whakapapa and Turoa ski fields for five days and then onto Lake Taupo.....     
And now back to making snow of my own..... Its time to get the last two story wall rendered! First task as always is to clean it. I figure if I spend the time removing all the foam oxide and spilled concrete from the surface I have to render, to will be much flatter and sound. The scrubbing also roughens the surface slightly and allows the render to key to the foam easily. 
Before and after pics of the wall cleaning.         
The process of oxidation of the foam is interesting... These walls were put up about two years ago, and the yellowing is a gradual process . You don't really notice it that much, until you scrub it all off. The block work then comes up looking like it did on the day it was put up.

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## Gaza

just out of interest how many m2 of rendrering do you have to do for your place, and wat kind of $$ cost saving have you made doing it your self?

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## sundancewfs

Gaza, we have about 360m2 of rendering to do all up. The quotes I had were between $18000 and $22000 for the rendering job. That was with me prepping the walls to the standard of the last pic and doing the windows sills after the rendering was done. 
The scaffolding has cost about $6000 ( and can be resold after). I haven't added up the cost of the materials and tools. but I have got a decent price on all the materials I have used, as I'm purchasing large quantities.
The savings I have made are in labour.  The other considerations to bear in mind with this job are that by doing it myself I can stage walls and do them when I'm ready rather than doing the whole lot in one hit. That in itself allows me time. Time is the one thing I am very poor in. I would not be able to prep all the walls (existing house included) in one hit. this would also have knock on effects to other parts of the job as well.... for instances I will have to replace the central heating to do one of the walls, and I'm not ready for that yet....we also have rising damp in the front brick wall that has to be addressed before the foam is attached and rendered The other is, to prep the walls to a level that the renders would even look at, I needed scaffolding, so seeing as I have to have the scaffolding to prep, I might as we use it to render. The joys of doing everything yourself  :Smilie:

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## Gaza

so for render to do job start to go would be 30k, looking at the numbers even with the scaffold you have paid for 1/2 the ute.
good work hope keep up the motvation to get the front done, 
how far away is that kitchen you guys designed a few months back?

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## sundancewfs

Gaza, we should be moving onto the downstairs area of the house (kitchen included) within the next couple of months. I am planning to render the last two story wall this coming weekend. I then have to move one half of the scaffold tower back around the other side of the extension so I can do the two little triangles of wall (4th wall of the extension)  that abut the existing house. That will be a fun job! I will have to do it all laying down on the roof. Then it will be onto the inside.

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## sundancewfs

Well I didn't get the wall rendered on the weekend.... Oh well... But I did manage to get the concrete slab cut back from the front of the house. Thanks to my neighbour for the lend of his jackhammer. Between that and my 9" angle grinder with a concrete blade on it I made a lot of noise and dust!     
This pic shows how far up the wall the slab had been poured originally. (half way up the vent) This was done in the late 1960's. It really created a problem after last summer, being so wet, by forcing water from under the slab up the wall. the water mark is also clearly visible. I'm hoping by cutting back the concrete and digging the dirt back below the level of the damp course the wall will dry out. Time will tell. The gap will be covered by 100mm thick polystyrene cladding.   
Onto nicer things...
KnoxVille Glass (ph 03 9758 7555 ) came around today and installed the glass splashback for the laundry. We went with Starfire glass (non-green) They provided a full measure-up, supply and install service. Very happy with the result. 
The laundry is starting to look a bit more complete now. I just have to do the kickers, archs and skirts.

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## CyberBeat

Looks great!
Wish our laundry looked this good, we have a VERY small cupboard that JUST fits a washing machine and sink, Dryer is in the rumpus  :Tongue: 
I'll have to post a log here when we start our renos  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Over the last week and a bit I have been working on a boot bench for the laundry. As the laundry door will be the main entrance for us from the carport we need somewhere for boots and coats. 
This is the cabinet base. It was sized to match the kickers under the cabinets, but that took a lot of space from the under bench area so they were cut down to 50mm high.     
The main box is made from plywood   
Face frames are from the same bamboo as the laundry cabinets     
A dry fit to check sizing with the top cut and fitted also. I still have to build the upper part, which will house the shelving and coat hooks. Once that is done it will all be taken apart sanded and finished.

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## Gaza

have you considered using bamboo edge banding to cover the end grian of the bamboo sheets?

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## sundancewfs

We did consider edge banding, but we liked the interesting pattern the raw edge gives  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Sunday .....time for rendering ..... again.......
This is the last two story wall  :2thumbsup:  It took 10 bags of render to do the base coat of this one. Its not too bad a wall to do, as it is on the eastern side of the building and is in shade for most of the day. Topcoat, window sills, paint and eaves to do!

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## sundancewfs

Today I did a bit more on the mud bench
First up I used my trim router and a 1/2" round-over bit to shape the top edge of the bench   
Next up I cut the vertical pieces for the upper cabinet. I wanted to cut all these to exactly the same size. sometimes a tape measure and a pencil can be quite inaccurate so I like to use gauge blocks. One is the width of the upright and the other the width of the sole plate of the saw, between the saw blade and the edge. By stacking these and lining them up to the edge I can clamp a straight edge down in exactly the right place every time. A bit of masking tape over the cut line and cut with the circular saw using the straight edge as a guide. The tape helps stop splintering. I am still breaking down full length sheets with a circular saw instead of on my tablesaw as these sheets are really heavy and hard to manage by myself safely.     
Lay it all down for a bit of a mock-up and its looking good. Next will be to cut the dados for the shelves to sit in.

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## Draffa

I am in awe!

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## sundancewfs

> I am in awe!

  Awe-some..... or awe-ful.... ?  :Biggrin:  
I'm in pain still after the rendering..... takes about 2 weeks and a visit to the chiropractor to recover...

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## Draffa

Awe-some!  Definitely awesome.

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## sundancewfs

Sills on, wall painted, plastic off. Just have the eaves boards and the shade arms to go on this wall now   
The more I work with these sills, the more I like them. http://www.unitex.com.au/mouldings.html

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## sundancewfs

James and the boys from Far & Wide plumbing were back again today. We are cutting in the last of the down pipes to the storm water system from off the shed. This puts all the piping underground now. No more aerial pipe runs.  :2thumbsup:      
While all this was going on, I managed to get all the eaves framing done on the last two story wall.

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## Draffa

Note to self: go to auctions and buy some scaffolding.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> Note to self: go to auctions and buy some scaffolding.

  Yes Draffa, VERY handy! Two tools I wouldn't be without are, aluminium scaffolding and my laser level.

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## sundancewfs

One of the issues that occur if you have to cut into an already laid pipe is that it is impossible to move the cut ends. The pipe is buried and fixed in position. For us to be able to put in the "Y" fitting to take the new downpipes, we used two products from Storm Plastics. Storm Plastics | Manufacturers of Specialised PVC-U Plumbing Products | Edwardstown SA One was a swivel joint. This allowed us to compensate for pipe movement. The other was an expansion repair joint. This can be slid (expanded to fit) onto the fixed position piping and glued in place. As our stormwater system is charged (water sits in it all the time), it needs to withstand constant low pressure without leaking down. I was assured by Storm Plastics that these fittings would be perfect for our job. I'm happy to say, they are.

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## sundancewfs

No leaks! Yay! Time to fill it in.
Bed it down with 3/4 of a metre of 1/4minus   
And then get the whole family in to help fill the hole. "Dennis! There's some lovely filth down here!"

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## sundancewfs

Cue floaty harp music........ In a perfect world there would be 10 of me.......       
Just for a bit of fun.....
Thanks to Brittany Chard for the wonderful photography and post production work. http://www.brittanychardphotography.com/

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## sundancewfs

Now we are getting close to finishing the outside of the buildings its time to start thinking about what we would like from our yard space. As the summer days creep up and the warm weather has us wanting to spend more time outdoors, it tempting to start visiting nurseries and thinking of gardening.......Unfortunately without a plan, there is a very strong chance that we will end up with a heap of plants in inappropriate places. An unplanned mish mash. We have had a really good experience using designers for some of the key parts of our project. They have been able to come up with excellent, workable ideas that neither of us would have been able to think of. As such have saved us money and effort. The latest chapter in this story is the backyard. In someways we are lucky to have such a large space. 1730m2. In others, it presents a problem. How do you successfully fill such a large area in a connected and flowing manner? After reading an article in Green magazine ( Green - Sustainable Architecture and Landscape Design ) and seeing a garden by Richard Bellemo, I decided to give him a call. ( RB Landscapes ) Richard and Sean visited our site and listened to our needs and wants. Within a few weeks they had developed an initial concept plan for the space. We visited Sean at the office and went through the plan with him. At this point, we look at the concept and refine or reject any of the elements that need change. As it turns out this is very close to what we envisage the final plan to be. There is a cost involved in hiring designers/architects and it can seem substantial, but when that is weighed up against the quality of the vision and planning that they apply, I think it is worth it.

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## Gaza

no tennis court? 
so its indoor pool, thats great for melbourne but is to far from house for you to keep an eye on kids when they are a few years older?

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## sundancewfs

We'll have to wait and buy next door's when they sell up to put in the tennis court  :Biggrin:  
The position and size of the pool and the walled garden are one of those things we will play around with a bit. We have a heck of a lot of underground services that we need to take into consideration too. at the moment the pool is set back down the block too far and it partially sits over our big soak well. The pool is an indoor pool with a separate spa so we can heat them to different temps. Oh and this is a great place to setup CCTV

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## Gaza

will you build the actual pool shell from ICF, that would be cool,

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## sundancewfs

> will you build the actual pool shell from ICF, that would be cool,

  That's a good question Gaza..... I'm think we might do it in poured concrete with extra thick walls. Its not shown on the plan, but the neighbours have a 10m high poplar tree about a metre inside they're boundary at about the mid-point of where the pool will sit. So I see issues with roots etc that will have to be resolved. What ever we do it from with have to be able to withstand the tree's onslaught.

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## turnstiles

I like that you're having grass mounds (a berm?) I would like to end up with some - and a 'Ha ha' for no other reason than to be able to show people my ha ha!! 
But a water wheel?? I keep seeing images of Syrian Noria   
But happy to see you've not decided  to shortcut on the landscaping. For many people I think, building finishes with the house. Then it's an acre of lawn and a couple of raphis palms!

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## sundancewfs

> But a water wheel??

  Yes.... It's an interesting element... I must admit I did raise my eyebrows when I first saw it, but upon reflection its a nice idea and it will give us a option to tie into the ponds. Possibly to aerate the water (solar pump) and give us some sound and movement in the garden. (In styling, think more Japanese) Besides, my wife loves it!  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> I like that you're having grass mounds (a berm?) I would like to end up with some

  We have tons and tons of topsoil still stockpiled in the backyard from the building cuts. Not to mention what's going to come out of the hole from the pool.......

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## sundancewfs

At last!!! Time for something that doesn't involve scaffolding and buckets of render!
Time to start on the kitchen plastering. I don't think I'll get much done before Xmas (with all the kids Xmas partys and wind-ups).
Seems like ages since I did the laundry plastering. For the moment though I'll concentrate on getting the battens and hopefully the plasterboard up...... Now if only I could remember how to do it all.... One thing is for sure. The laser level is, yet again, worth its weight in gold.

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## sundancewfs

Ok, so I've found the low point on joists and set my level accordingly. Not too high, not too low. Then I marked off the outer joist on opposite walls at 450mm centres and snapped a chalk line between the two corresponding  opposite points. This give me the line to centre the Rondo clips on. I use the laser to give me a level for the clips, picking a point on the clip ( the groove the batten clips into) lining it up and screwing it on. You can also use the laser and target card to put a pencil mark on the joist that corresponds to a point on the clip and then hold the clip to the pencil line and screw it on. I have done it both ways. All the battens for the kitchen and living room are up now. I have a busy week ahead....I have a Mother-in-law week this week..... and my wife's birthday.... and we are now expecting kid  number 3 in mid June..... I really have to get a move on!  :Cry:

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## Belair_Boy

G'day Sundance
Congratulations to you and your wife on the expected arrival of number 3  :2thumbsup: , and I thought I had my work cut out for me with number 2 imminent.
I hope everything goes well with the pregnancy and you get plenty more "Mother-in-law weeks" in the next 6 months.

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## Draffa

With all the reno/building work, where did he find the time?

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## Jim Carroll

> With all the reno/building work, where did he find the time?

  Its called stress relief :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> Its called stress relief

  I don't know Jim..... I can see my stress levels rising somewhat......  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Well so much for the Mother-in-law week! 
The Mother-in-law did her part.... but I had a cracker of a cold and have felt horrible all week. So all in all I did a bit inside and that was about it...
But I did manage to get one sheet of plasterboard up!  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Well its official..... I must be getting older..... I can't lift a 1350x4800 sheet of ceiling plasterboard by myself. Well I did lift it up..... it's just that I put it back down in two pieces!  :Annoyed:

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## andy the pm

LOL its fun trying to get those 4.8's onto the board lifter isn't it. My 7 months pregnant wife helped me!

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## sundancewfs

> LOL its fun trying to get those 4.8's onto the board lifter isn't it. My 7 months pregnant wife helped me!

  Certainly is andy! I got some help from the neighbours and the Mother-in-law for the first two long ones, but everyone went out and left me to try the last one downstairs by myself...... Oh well..... at least I had two pieces to put up on the ceiling of the walk-in-robe in the master suite. they were a bit doggy on the edges where they fell, but seeing as I'm putting a double layer on all surfaces upstairs, they won't be seen.

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## sundancewfs

Holidays over! Back to work!
Only 19 weeks til the next baby is due.... Time is tight.
Today I went down to Foam Sealant Foam Sealant Pty Ltd - Foam Tape Supplier and Agent for the world class Saint Gobain Performance Plastics, Norton Foam Tape and Mounting Products through out Australia and New Zealand. to get some Green Glue noise proofing compound. Foam Sealant Pty Ltd It is a product that has been explored in other parts of the forums, so I thought we would give it a try.   
I figure that with R2.5 Bradford Soundscreen+ batts, 2 layers of 10mm plasterboard and Green Glue, we should have a quiet downstairs toilet. There is enough glue here to do more than just this wall, thankfully. Three boxes of glue (12's) and one box of edge sealant (12) came to around $1000. If it works as well as it claims to it will be well worth the cost. We will be doing double layer plasterboard in the entire upstairs, on the walls and ceilings. That will be the master suite and study. As well as the walls that adjoin the living spaces on the toilet and laundry walls  If your budget for a reno is $100,000 you only need another 99 things like this to get there.....

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## sundancewfs

Busy weekend,

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## shauck

I would call that a busy weekend. Take Monday off?

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## sundancewfs

Taking Monday off would be a great idea.....but its now Friday.... seems I missed my chance  :Biggrin: 
Due to the time constraints that we now have, I have been forced to enlist some help. A plasterer to do the stopping was the first addition to the team. Boy am I glad! It has effectively halved the time it will take me to get all the plastering done.    
Base coat done on what I have hung already! 
I also asked a friend (who is a carpenter) if he could help me straighten the upstairs walls and install the blocking between the trusses for the Rondo clips to attach to. He said "No problems I'll come around with two apprentices and we'll have it all done in a few hours" Well..... It would take me by myself, looking after the kids and all, about 3-4 weeks to complete. It's all just sped up exponentially......

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## sundancewfs

With speed comes haste and with haste comes injury.... Lifting sheets of plasterboard around is not that easy. I managed a stupid lift this week and hurt my back. As I have had back surgery in the past (microdiscectomy) I have to take minor back pain seriously and let it heal.... Oh well... Time to sweep up and do some light cleaning...
I did manage to get some insulation standoff boxes built for the kitchen downlights. We are using 4x 15w LED downlights in the kitchen. These are the only downlights in the house. I cut some eaves lining board to 100mm high and attached it to the joists. When the insulation is put in these will stop it from migrating into the standoff area around the lighting. The sound screen insulation bats we are using are 88mm thick. If this was in the ceiling of the upstairs it would be easy enough to check the insulation standoff at a later date, but because this is between floors, once the plasterboard is up, there is no more access.     
On another topic..... 
The bamboo test decking we installed last April is starting to show signs of wear and tear.... 
I'm not convinced that in the long run it will be able to stand up to constant traffic and weathering. The finish has started to break down. (understandably given its location) This is where bamboo seems to show its weakness. Once the board is unprotected, the surface fibres start to show signs of delamination. With a solid wood product this wouldn't occur. We will leave it in place for the time being and I am going to replace one plank with a synthetic deck board a friend gave me. It will be interesting to see how that fairs....
This is  a good example of why I spend the time doing tests on products before I choose to use them.

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## r3nov8or

looking back to page 8 you used a proprietary coating for the bamboo. It, and subsequently the bamboo, really hasn't faired very well at all. thanks for the test.

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## turnstiles

Watch that back mate! I've had a micodiscectomy as well so I understand your concern and caution. Even more impressed with your work so far given the circumstances!!
That bamboo decking doesn't seem to be holding up at all well more's the pity.
Continuing to enjoy your posts immensely!

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## Godzilla73

G'day, 
Great job you're doing there, really enjoy reading your detailed updates.  :2thumbsup:

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## Gaza

no suprise about the bamboo, are you going to try modwood composite?

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## sundancewfs

Thanks guys,
I'm going to give a copy of the pictures, dates and deck samples to the decking suppliers to get their thoughts. When I purchased the boards last year I told them that it was for a test deck. They asked me to keep them posted with the results. I really like the look of the new bamboo laid down. I'm feeling a bit sad that we might not be able to use it as it would have matched our interior beautifully. They may have a solution to the problem.

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## Gaza

> Thanks guys,
> I'm going to give a copy of the pictures, dates and deck samples to the decking suppliers to get their thoughts. When I purchased the boards last year I told them that it was for a test deck. They asked me to keep them posted with the results. I really like the look of the new bamboo laid down. I'm feeling a bit sad that we might not be able to use it as it would have matched our interior beautifully. They may have a solution to the problem.

  dont hold your breath i have seen you bamboo fail internal from being wet mopped,

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## goldie1

Those no nail fasteners don't look to flash either

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## sundancewfs

> Those no nail fasteners don't look to flash either

  The plates are stainless, but as it was truly a temporary structure I just used standard plasterboard screws. That is what makes it look rough and rusty.

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## sundancewfs

Well I thought I'd cheat slightly with the access hatch. There are two type generally available, set bead and flanged. The set bead ones sit flush with the surface and need to be stopped up with basecoat and topcoat. The flanged ones are easier to install. Trimmers are set in place, the plasterboard is hung, a hole cut and the panel screwed into place. So its flanged this time.       
In this last picture the plasterboard isn't up. I was testing the fit before hanging it.
On Thursday the second addition to the team arrived. Three friends (carpenters) who work as a team, came in after work and started on the upstairs. In three hours they had installed all the necessary blocking to the trusses, leveled all the rondo clips, cut the battens to lengths and hung them. Ceiling ready to plaster! Next week they are coming back to straighten all the upstairs walls. 
I spent the last few days installing the insulation and hanging the last sheets of plaster on the kitchen ceiling.

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## Belair_Boy

> Well I thought I'd cheat slightly with the access hatch.  So its flanged this time.

  Thanks for the hatch photos Sundance,
Not the hidden hatch concept I am after though, fine if they were going to be in the workshop but I don't think I would be able to get them past inspection for installation in the hallway and kitchen.  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

The set bead one might be the go for you then Belair... 
Today I hung one of the more difficult walls with plasterboard. I was scratching my head as to how I was going to level the battens above the door in relation to the rest of the wall. In the end I realised that if I thought of the wall as a vertical ceiling and used the laser level on it's side, I could check the alignment with the small laser target cards. It worked a treat! All the plasterboard is now up on the back wall. Only six more walls to sheet downstairs in this room!

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## sundancewfs

Another day, another wall.......
One more wall in the kitchen area to do and a couple of bulkheads, then It will be onto the painting and cabinets!
Plasterer is coming back tomorrow to do a bit more stopping.

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## Bloss

Mate this place is lookin' great - and will be a very comfortable low energy home to live in too.  :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Bloss,
It's is starting to come into its own now. With all the ceiling up in the downstairs and Soundscreen batts between the floors, the reduction in noise is REALLY noticeable. I started installing the Bradford gold batts in the ceiling upstairs yesterday as well. We have settled on a layer of 580mm R6 batts to fit the 600mm truss spacing with a second layer of R4.1 batts perpendicular to those. Add the Aircell Insulbreak65 that is under the tin and we will be quite comfortable. A few months ago I bought three USB data loggers ( EL-USB-2 | Data Loggers ). These take temperature and humidity measurements every hour (or whatever time space you want) and store them. I can then download the data to a graph and see any trends over time. We went away over the Christmas New Year period and the data logger downstairs in the ICF extension reached a maximum of 26.5 degrees. (The maximum outdoor temperature on the 1st/2nd of January down here was about 40 degrees) By contrast the data logger in the roof space of the old part of the building got up to 49 degrees and the one in the passage of the old part of the house got up to 29 degrees. It will interesting to see how this data is trending as we do more to the envelope of the house as a whole.

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## r3nov8or

One of the more deep questions you'll be asked along the way, "Why did you scribble across the recessed edge of the bottom sheet?"  :Smilie:

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## an3_bolt

Magnetic resonance fault detection? 
Sinusiodal noise wave attenuation? 
Historical datalog of emotional quotient against house building diagram?

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## sundancewfs

> One of the more deep questions you'll be asked along the way, "Why did you scribble across the recessed edge of the bottom sheet?"

   Good question r3nov8or....
an3_bolt, love the thought you put into your reply  :Biggrin:  
But the reality is I think it was a reject sheet (parrot beak edge?... Rod would know the technical term...) so it had been marked along that edge. I decided to use it anyway as that wall is going to be covered completely by built-in pantry and cabinets.

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## sundancewfs

More plastering done today.
I spent the day taking kids to a fro from school and kinder, installing blocking and picking up a piece of Bellis board (Fire resistant) for behind the gas cooktop area. Next trick is to fit it seamlessly into the wall....        
The plasterer, Trev, got a lot done too. The top coat is now done on the rest of the room and he'll be back next week to sand and finish stopping up the boards I will hang during the rest of the week.

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## Belair_Boy

> A few months ago I bought three USB data loggers ( EL-USB-2 | Data Loggers ). These take temperature and humidity measurements every hour (or whatever time space you want) and store them.

  I bought the same data logger (EL-USB-1) from *RS Components Pty Ltd * a couple of years ago when they had them on special. http://australia.rs-online.com/web/p/pc-based-data-acquisition/4901064/?origin=PSF_345623|cav
With the aussie dollar being so good against the pound it is cheaper to buy from the UK at the moment but RS's Free next day delivery Australia wide when ordered online is a good deal.

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## sundancewfs

> I bought the same data logger (EL-USB-1) from *RS Components Pty Ltd * a couple of years ago when they had them on special. Buy PC Based Data Acquisition Logger,data,USB,Relative humidity,temperature Lascar EL-USB-2 online from RS for next day delivery.
> With the aussie dollar being so good against the pound it is cheaper to buy from the UK at the moment but RS's Free next day delivery Australia wide when ordered online is a good deal.

   I got mine off Amazon $69.99 US Amazon.com: Lascar EL-USB-2 Humidity, Temperature and Dew Point USB Data Logger: Everything Else

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## sundancewfs

Everyday brings up new and intriguing things to think about.... The other day it was AS5601 ( http://www.esv.vic.gov.au/LinkClick....d=249&mid=1194 ) Important info if you are considering a glass splashback....We chose to use a piece of 9mm thick Bellis board. ( http://www.esv.vic.gov.au/Portals/0/...t%20boards.pdf ) 
So now I have the plaster up on the cooking wall in the kitchen and the bulkheads underway. I have also been mocking up the rangehood  to make sure it is centred in the space and that the ducting has a clear path to the hole through the wall. The rangehood we chose is a Schweigen Wall Rangehood, wall Rangehoods,wall Range Hood,wall Range Hoods, It has an external motor and is suppose to be one of the quietest on the market. We got it from Camberwell Electrics (Home Appliances,Cooking Appliances,White Goods,Solar Appliances,Fridges&Freezers,Small Appliances,Air conditioning & Heating,solar)

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## sundancewfs

A bit of back blocking, some small blue shims to bring it flush with the plasterboard (the Bellis board is 9mm and the plasterboard is 10mm) Screw it all into place.
The bulkheads are finished now too. All ready for the plasterer next week to finish off.

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## Cecile

I have to admit to a bit of envy...you get SO many comments on your renovation and I haven't had any recently  :Frown: .  You deserve it though, it's a magnificent job.  Ted and I were trying to figure out how high your ceilings are:  2700? 
I can't wait to see your kitchen design.

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## RONCA

Hi Sundance, I have followed this from the start, and it looks great. What type of lighting are you going to have in the walk in pantry?

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Cecile, I have been looking at yours lately too. The ceiling are 2700 downstairs (well a little lower as the rondo battens ate into that somewhat...) My wife seems to think if I spent as much time working on it, as writing about it, we would be finished by now  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  
Hi Ronca, the design for the kitchen has changed somewhat from when I did the graphic of it. We are not having a walk-in pantry anymore. We have such a large amount of storage in the laundry (for a lot of the things that clutter a pantry and don't get used that often) that we went with extra bench space and two pantry cupboards flanking the fridge. These will go under the bulkhead on the left of the kitchen as you are looking at it. The lighting for the kitchen will be 4x Evo50 Cree LED 15 watt downlights, 3x pendants over the peninsular and LED strip lighting under the overhead cabinets and around the kick boards near the floor ( boy am I going to have to keep that floor clean!)

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## Cecile

Thanks.  We haven't done very much lately, due to lack of funds, and lack of oomph.  A six week stint overseas visiting my family took care of our nest egg for a fair while.   

> around the kick boards near the floor ( boy am I going to have to keep that floor clean!)

  Do you mind if I ask you...WHY??  I think it would look hot, but small children, the dirt that follows them around naturally, and reflection near the floor...the mind boggles!

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## sundancewfs

> We haven't done very much lately, due to lack of funds, and lack of oomph.

  I can understand that.... My wife is going to take six months off for maternity leave this time (with the last two it was only three) but that means she will be on 1/2 pay for six months so things are going to get tight around here soon too. Oh well, it will make me time-rich though and I'll be able to spend more time on the tools.   

> Do you mind if I ask you...WHY?? I think it would look hot, but small children, the dirt that follows them around naturally, and reflection near the floor...the mind boggles!

  My wife thinks it would look cool  :Biggrin:  
Kids will grow up and it will probably just be used as mood lighting anyway. The underbench and kickboards are on separate switches too.

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## Cecile

> My wife thinks it would look cool  
> Kids will grow up and it will probably just be used as mood lighting anyway. The underbench and kickboards are on separate switches too.

  Ted loves this idea for safety!  He just asked if you're going to put in a light and/or motion sensor so that they come on automatically when someone's prowling around looking for a midnight snack.

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## sundancewfs

That might keep the kids out of the fridge.....  :Biggrin:  
Never trust a 5 year old...........
I had to grind down a piece of concrete wall between the two areas of the house. I spent a lot of time setting up a tent of plastic around said area, sealing all the edges with tape and staples. I started grinding with the 9" angle grinder with a concrete blade on, until it was too dusty see. (I was wearing a respirator). As the dust settled in the tent I called out to Chloe, asking her if any dust was leaking out of the tent. "Noooo its all good" was the reply. (She and Elliot were sitting watching a movie) I did this 4-5 times more and each time got the same response. About that time My wife got home from her girls luncheon. At which point the true extent of the slight dust leak in the tent became apparent..... After adjourning to the chocolate shop for coffee, milkshakes and remedial chocolate, we returned to a house lightly coated in grey dust...... Whoops.....

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## Belair_Boy

> The other day it was AS5601 ( http://www.esv.vic.gov.au/LinkClick....d=249&mid=1194 ) Important info if you are considering a glass splashback....

  G'day Sundance, great to see so much progress. 
I was interested in your comments on AS5601 as I am planning on using a glass splashback, so I looked things up and found the link referred to an obsolete version of AS5601.
The current version is AS/NZS 5601.1:2010 (with one amendment) 
Which states:
6.10.1.2   Protection of a combustible surface near a gas cooking appliance 
In Australia, any combustible surface within the clearance zone specified in Clause 6.10.1.1 shall, in order to meet the requirements of Clause 6.2.5, be protected by one of the following methods: 
(a) Fixing ceramic tiles with a minimum thickness of 5 mm to the surface.   
(b) Fixing toughened glass with a minimum thickness of 5 mm to the surface, provided the glass is approved by the manufacturer to be suitable for the application. 
(c) Attaching fire resistant material to the surface and covering with sheet metal with a minimum thickness of 0.4 mm.  
So provided the splashback is suitable for the purpose then the extra protection is not needed.  
There is no problem what so ever using the Bellis board and probably good insurance (especially with the polystyrene being so close) but not strictly necessary according to the standard (minimum requirements). 
Keep up the good work and the detailed postings, invaluable reading for all owner builders.  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

Thanks for that Belair, I'd hate to be spreading misinformation. I found that one on the Energy Safe Victoria website.
Funny thing is having talked to two glass companies that supply splash-backs, they are still installing fire resistant board behind their glass.

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## sundancewfs

Well, busy end to the week...     
Two coats of undercoat     
Two coats of colour     
And now onto the cabinetry. It's looking like we may have an operational kitchen (minus doors and draw fronts) by the end of the month.  :2thumbsup:

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## shauck

What a big effort! Looks great. Looking forward to seeing the kitchen (not as much as you tho).

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Su, I was a bit concerned I was not getting enough done, Then I looked back and realised we have done the bulk of this space in a month. 
A follow up on the access panel in the kitchen ceiling.... Once painted and put up in place, its pretty innocuous.     
We have started to mock up the placement of the kitchen cabinets too. I have decided to use Allboard cabinets (the same as we used for the laundry) I had grand ideas of building all the carcasses from birch ply...... but time.... and babies, wait for no man!

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## RONCA

Hi Sundance, looks as though you will have good space in the kitchen. Great work. Make sure you get the architraves around the windows finished, before it becomes difficult. 
RONCA

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## sundancewfs

The space is just right.  :2thumbsup:  Enough room to freely move about with someone else in the kitchen but not so big as to feel like you are walking miles to get to the other side.
As we are putting granite in the kitchen, we decided to build ladder frame plinths to sit the cabinets on. I feel they will be stronger over time than the plastic screw legs that come with the cabinetry. I used 19mm CD ply for these, ripped down to 160mm strips on my tablesaw.   
These were screwed together and mocked up with the cabinet bases to get the right sizes and positions.   
Once all the frames were made and in place, I leveled them using a 2 metre spirit level and then double checked that with the laser level. Even though the floor is a brand new concrete slab, there was a 5mm +- variation over the kitchen area. The frames were shimmed up to account for this.   
Cabinet bases on tomorrow!  :2thumbsup:

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## r3nov8or

Looks like a bank heist movie set. Catherine Zeta Jones will slink past soon (hopefully)  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

> Looks like a bank heist movie set. Catherine Zeta Jones will slink past soon (hopefully)

  She might come up against my wife armed with a rolling pin...  :Biggrin:

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## turnstiles

Great laser pic!! Can I ask the make of your laser and where you bought it? You've waxed lyrical about it so much I want one!!

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## sundancewfs

> Great laser pic!! Can I ask the make of your laser and where you bought it? You've waxed lyrical about it so much I want one!!

  The laser I have is a PLS HVR 505R ( PLS HVR 505R MID RANGE ROTARY LASER | Rotary Lasers | Pacific Laser Systems ). When the Aussie dollar was back at .80c I purchased it from the USA.  It was around $650US for the kit. There is an Australian distributor for these in Melbourne, but the price was way over $1000... I did buy the tripod and staff over here though, from Total Tools.

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## Belair_Boy

> Even though the floor is a brand new concrete slab, there was a 5mm +- variation over the kitchen area. The frames were shimmed up to account for this.

  Don't you just hate having to start with something that is not flat or level from the beginning.
Are you shimming (packing up) the frames or profiling them to fit the floor in your final fit? 
Looking great and a first class job.  At this pace you might finish before the baby arrives.  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

I'm shimming up...I did scribe and take down the highest spot, as it was way out. After I had it all shimmed level I anchored the plinths to the slab with L-brackets This holds it all in place both vertically and horizontally.      
Now I have all the lower cabinets cut to size and in place. (except the two pantry cupboards that will flank the fridge)
Long weekends are great for having the extra time to do stuff but a bit of a pain when all the stores you need to go to are shut.....

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## Gaza

as afar as cost goes how much ball park have you saved going down this route with the kitchen vs the kitchen company you guys were talking to a few months back? 
what did you paint the slab with? looks like a cork floor from here

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## sundancewfs

> as afar as cost goes how much ball park have you saved going down this route with the kitchen vs the kitchen company you guys were talking to a few months back? 
> what did you paint the slab with? looks like a cork floor from here

  Cost wise I would have to sit down and work it out once we are done. The kitchen company we used were only ever employed to do just the design.
The paint is Berger Jet Dry water based. The colour is Southbank. It looks a bit like cork because of the texture of the concrete. This was caused by rain falling on the slab before it was hardened. Annoyingly this is the cause of some of the undulation in the slab.

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## sundancewfs

Pantry cupboard carcasses built. These will have draws at the bottom and shelves at the top. I still have to build the middle over-fridge cabinet, then I can screw the whole lot off to the wall and plinths. These are made from birch 15mm ply. It has won out as the finish of choice for the kitchen. This was settled last week after (years) of umming and ahhhing......
It all gets exciting again this coming week, as the oven and cook-top arrive and the electricians are back to do the fit off for the downstairs this coming Friday as well.

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## Godzilla73

G'day, 
Wish all my jobs were that clean, square and plumb...Aaaahhh well... and don't get me started about your even shadow line gaps across the top of the pantrys. :Happydance2:  Geez that's annoying... You'll prob tell me they're 1mm out, i regularly deal with jobs that are 10mm out over a few meters. 
Seriously though, looks bloody awasome.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Godzilla, I'm madly trying to get everything in place for the electricians on Friday.... 
And that includes the upper cabinets.
We are having LED strip lighting under the upper cabinets. This will give that little bit more light on the work surfaces.
All the lighting stuff for this bit I have got from www.ledlighting.com.au  
The upper cabinets are custom cut to fit the taller ceiling heights. I picked them up from Allboard today and put them together. It is much easier to route out the channel for the snazzy strip light profile, before you hang them. 
Cabinets are placed upside down and clamped together as they would be on the wall.(remember left and right are now inverted!)     
The groove is routed and the self-adhesive strip of LED's is stuck down into the channel.     
The frosted plastic diffuser is pushed into place and it's all ready or a test.
the aluminium channel even has little end caps available for it.       
Now..... I have to clean up all over again... Oh did anyone notice the new oven?...
Fisher&Paykel 760mm 76cm Pyrolytic Self Clean Single Oven OB76SDEPX1 by Fisher & Paykel Australia

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## Cecile

I like the way the kitchen is coming together.  I lust after a pyrolytic oven (even if Moondog usually cleans it.)  When we finally get to our kitchen, I'm hoping to have a separate wall oven as well as our 900w upright SS range, because I'm too idle to bend over!

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## shauck

Love the strip LED lights. Wondering where you'll be putting the box that runs them. With mine, round LED's, The bottom was routed and lights fitted. Then a false bottom on top and the cable ran straight out the back in a routed groove, sandwiched between the two bottoms and up a routed groove in the back of the cabinet and the box sits on top of the cabinet, behind the bulkhead.

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## sundancewfs

> Wondering where you'll be putting the box that runs them.

  In the second last pic you can see the wiring for the drivers up in the top of the upper right cabinet. There is two switched power points and the low voltage wire to power the lights. the switches are located under the cabinet as normal light switches. There will be two drivers and two switches, one for the upper cabinet lights and one for the kick panel lights. The power point for the rangehood is in the upper left cabinet. There will be a false back that will cover these things on the very top shelf of the cabinets. These cabinets are 925mm high (compared to Allboards standard 720mm) so the upper shelves are out of reach for everyday use.

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## shauck

Nice solution.

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## sundancewfs

> Nice solution.

  
And here is the solution in photo form....

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## sundancewfs

Friday was the day I have been waiting for!
Andrew And Daniel from Elecorp ( http://elecorp.com.au/ ) were in bright and early (8:00am) to start doing the fit off on the electricals downstairs.   
The results are spectacular! Well I think they are.....
All up it took them until 5:30pm to get it all done.
All lights are LEDs

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## Cecile

I love the light fittings you're using in the family/dining room part of your kitchen.  I've chosen the same for our living and dining room, plus matching wall sconces.  Where did you get them?

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## sundancewfs

Cecile, the lights in the family room came from Beacon Lighting Metro 3 Light Pendant in Brushed Chrome,Lighting,Beacon Lighting

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## Cecile

> I love the light fittings you're using in the family/dining room part of your kitchen.  I've chosen the same for our living and dining room, plus matching wall sconces.  Where did you get them?

  Thanks, that's where I saw them too.  Just wanted to make sure, they are perfect for our style and I love the art deco look of them.

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## sundancewfs

Ahh school holidays..... That always seems to slow things down a bit!
Today I took the kids to the local library to see a holiday show. Little did I know that one of the librarians who normally participates in these things was off sick. The other librarians asked me if I could help out.....Sure no problems! What do you want me to do?....   
I'm the Koala..... oh well.... 
Funny thing is my kids didn't even know it was me and they were in the front row!
Dancing about in a koala suit is comparable to laying insulation in the roof on a hot day!
Warren Smith put on a great show. Welcome to The Magical Mountains | Children's Live Entertainment  
On more building related matters, Nick from ABA stone is coming around tomorrow to pick up the templates for the kitchen benchtops.  :2thumbsup:

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## ToneG

Hey Sundance, 
Have been following your thread for a while, and enjoy every installment. It's really great to see the amazing progress you made.  If your koala skills are anything like your renovation skills, the kids must have had a blast!

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## goldie1

Nice koala. A man of many talents. Congratulations on the kitchen. Can't wait to see the stone. What are you doing with 
the floor?

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## sundancewfs

> What are you doing with the floor

  The floor is going to be bamboo. It will be the last thing we put in though. As we still have the upstairs to do, the last thing I want is to ruin it by traipsing in and out of the back doors over mud, sand and rocks. Once the internal stuff is done and the deck is built it should control a lot of the damaging debris that comes in on people's shoes. It's unrealistic to get tradies (and myself) to remove their shoes when they have heavy works still underway. 
Templates for the stone have been picked up. Week after Easter we should be looking at some nice new black galaxy granite benchtops.  :2thumbsup:  
As far as the Koala goes..... some of the kids started crying when I came out of hiding... Thankfully they were smiling by the end of the show.

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## sundancewfs

Well Easter has a way of getting in the way of things.... And yet gives us heaps of time to get projects done....
I spent the Easter weekend helping a friend next door rebuilt his carport retaining wall. Amazing the things you find when you start pulling apart previous peoples work that has failed! Our efforts were successful and the wall is now straight and true (with correct drainage and footings!) 
Our granite benchtops are now underway and should be installed late next week.
Nicholas at ABA stone has been very helpful and the stone he got in for us is excellent. We chose black galaxy granite.       
Elliot liked the factory so much he said "I want to stay here all week!".... I'm sure the lads would have loved that !  :Biggrin:

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## Cecile

That granite looks amazing, and I can't wait to see the finished kitchen.  I love the look but not the price tag or maintenance of the material.  Given Moondog's profession, stainless steel commercial surfaces are the preferred option, but I'm pretty sure we'll end up with a stone-look laminate.

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## shauck

It's great when you're that age and everything is new and amazing.

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## sundancewfs

> It's great when you're that age and everything is new and amazing.

  I know Su, it a great feeling to have.... I sometime think the kids must feel that way too.  :Biggrin:  
Three down....... Ten to go..... Draw boxes roughed in for cutlery and plates. Now I have to take them back out sand them, two pack them and build the draw fronts. These boxes are made from 15mm birch ply (sides and bottom) the corners are done with a CMT lock mitre bit on the router table. Lock Mitre Bits : CARBA-TEC and the base is held in place by a rabbet/dado joint using a CMT Dado set on my tablesaw CMT 6" and 8" Dado Blades : CARBA-TEC

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## Cecile

Sundance, what drawer runners are you using?

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## sundancewfs

> Sundance, what drawer runners are you using?

  I'm using Artia Gslide artia :: Cabinet & Furniture Hardware :: Drawer Slides from Allboard Allboard Distributors - Cut to Size & CNC Routering: Allboard Distributors They are soft close, ball bearing slides and quite reasonably priced.

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## shauck

> I know Su, it a great feeling to have.... I sometime think the kids must feel that way too.

  he he

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## r3nov8or

Looking great as usual. That kitchen will be indestructable.  :Smilie:   Given your extensive use of ply throughout, I'm wondering if you have seen Norm Abram's kitchen build which spanned several episodes of New Yankee Workshop?

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## sundancewfs

> Looking great as usual. That kitchen will be indestructable.   Given your extensive use of ply throughout, I'm wondering if you have seen Norm Abram's kitchen build which spanned several episodes of New Yankee Workshop?

  I haven't seen all of it, but I subscribe to Fine Woodworking and Fine Homebuilding Magazines and he has done some cabinet construction articles for them, which I have read. The birch ply is really stable. The 15mm stuff I am using is 11 ply.
I got the four draw/trays for the lower part of the pantry cupboards done over the weekend.

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## Gaza

> Looking great as usual. That kitchen will be indestructable.   Given your extensive use of ply throughout, I'm wondering if you have seen Norm Abram's kitchen build which spanned several episodes of New Yankee Workshop?

  was a great series to watch i might actual download that whole set to watch again

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## sundancewfs

Building drawers/draws 101  :Biggrin:   
I thought I'd take a series of pics to show how I have gone about making the draws for the kitchen. I decided to use birch ply because it is stable and very strong. I have seen a number of different types of draws including melamine, metal, MDF etc etc... I wasn't terribly impressed with the strength of our current kitchen draws (no-name flatpak) when my 3 year old slammed one shut and the whole front came off in his hand. The draws will carry plates, pots, bowls, appliances and all sorts of other kitchen paraphernalia, so strength is an issue. I could have done the joints with dovetails as with traditional wooden draws but I chose to use the lock mitre bit. for strength, speed and the neat habit of self-squaring when clamped.
Anyway now for some pics... 
First the pieces are cut to size. I have taken to using a steel ruler for setup and measuring as I find it much more accurate than a tape measure.       
The Lock mitre bit is a bit of a fickle thing to set up. After numerous test cuts and adjustments I keep the last test cuts as reference blocks so as to speed up setup for the same material in the future. The same setting is used for both cuts. One is cut in the vertical position and one in the horizontal.            
Depending on how the outer layer of ply lays, sometimes chipping will occur along the cut edge. I found this was quite bad when trying to go across the grain. The answer was to score a line on the board with my marking knife where the end of the cut would be. The results speak for themselves. Scored board on the left un-scored on the right.

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## sundancewfs

The next step is to cut the dado and rabbet for the base. The dado blade is a set of blades and shims that allow you to set how wide a groove you wish to cut. By setting the width of the blades, the distance the fence is from the blade and the height of the blade. a matching dado and rabbet can be cut. Again one vertically and the other horizontally. The rabbet is cut in the base and the dado is cut in the sides. This is where another cool characteristic of the lock mitre bit come into its own. Normally you would have to make the dados using stop cuts. but because the sides have pre-cut mitres on the ends this isn't necessary.       
Minor clean ups are made with a sharp chisel, if needed, then the box is dry fitted together, checked and the glued and clamped. Voila!

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## Belair_Boy

Lovely work Sundance and great photos.
You know this means I will have to make my draws now as no off the shelf ones will be as good.  :Smilie: 
Having the right tools and doing a production run makes even the repetition of draws a pleasure.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Belair, yes having the right tools makes it a pleasure to do. Nothing like a rainy day in the shed with a bit of Wes Montgomery jazz guitar in the background. Mind you, i think I need some more parallel jaw clamps..... you can never have too many clamps  :Biggrin:

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## Cecile

You are doing absolutely amazing work.   
I am curious...what work did you do before you were househusband and renovator extraordinaire?

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## sundancewfs

> I am curious...what work did you do before you were househusband and renovator extraordinaire?

  Cecile, I have had many past lives...... Everything from dishpig to owning my own retail business. I've trained high goal polo horses in England and worked for RadioShack as a sales "associate" in Chicago. amongst many other things..... I haven't worked now for 9 years in the traditional sense. So looks like I'll be un-employable by the time all the kids are at school and I have the time to start looking for a job  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):

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## r3nov8or

I reckon you'll have work for life if you want to do renovations for others. Charging by the hour may be a problem though  :Smilie:

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## r3nov8or

> ...Charging by the hour may be a problem though

   Reading this again, I should explain what I mean. Your attention to detail is what anyone would love to receive, but it takes a lot of time for the results you are achieving, and many would not like the labour cost that goes with that. Of course there is always a niche market that is prepared to pay 'no expense spared'. Finding them would be harder, I think.

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## sundancewfs

> Reading this again, I should explain what I mean. Your attention to detail is what anyone would love to receive, but it takes a lot of time for the results you are achieving, and many would not like the labour cost that goes with that. Of course there is always a niche market that is prepared to pay 'no expense spared'. Finding them would be harder, I think.

  Its OK r3nov8or..... I know your just calling me slow  :Wink 1:

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## r3nov8or

> Its OK r3nov8or..... I know your just calling me slow

  As someone else says in their sig, I was once fast and rough, these days I've slowed down a bit

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## sundancewfs

Nearly done! 
Nick from ABA Stone late yesterday afternoon fitting all the pieces. They will be back today to glue it all down, into place.

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## RONCA

Hi Sundance,
This may sound a strange question, but do they cut the hole for the sink whilst it is in place, or have they taken that part away and cut and refit before the glue down? 
Looking great 
RONCA

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## sundancewfs

> Hi Sundance,
> This may sound a strange question, but do they cut the hole for the sink whilst it is in place, or have they taken that part away and cut and refit before the glue down? 
> Looking great 
> RONCA

  Great question RONCA, I was wondering if someone would ask that. Sometimes the piece of stone that has a cutout is long (in this case) and/or has a large cutout which leaves a frugal amount of stone along the front and back edges. If this is the case, the cut out will be semi-cut and left until the top is installed. once this is done the cuts can be completed with a portable grinder with diamond blade and a vacuum. Thus lessening the chance of breaking the stone while transporting and installing.

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## sundancewfs

:2thumbsup:  We have an operational kitchen! Benchtops in, sink in, oven in, cooktop in, fridge in, Yahoooo! I got it done before the baby.

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## r3nov8or

Hey, well done! Does the lack of new pics suggest the pending new arrival is 'distracting' you (for all the right reasons of course)?

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## sundancewfs

> Does the lack of new pics suggest the pending new arrival is 'distracting' you

  No...... I've been busy cooking dinner  :Biggrin:    
Quite a bit still to do but at least we can use it now. The next step is to demolish to old kitchen and the build a staircase so we can have easy access to upstairs.

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## Belair_Boy

> I got it done before the baby.

  Can't be long now, wishing all the best with the new arrival. 
Kitchen looks great, I am wondering how long it will take for the doors and draw fronts to appear now it is usable?  :Wink:

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## r3nov8or

Everytime we 'move into' an unfinished improvement I always find that somehow something never gets finished as I move onto other 'more exciting' things.  :No:

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## sundancewfs

Oh there is lots of exciting things coming up.....  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):  
Including the wood for the doors and draw fronts. I ordered it last week and it should be delivered early next week. The one thing about having 2400x1200 sheet goods laying around is, it takes up heaps of space! A good incentive for getting on and finishing the aforementioned tasks.
I have started ripping out the old kitchen (all of it for sale, see "for sale" section)  so that should keep me busy also.

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## jatt

Kitchen is looking the goods.
Scoring the surface certainally helps wrt minimising chipping.  Did the same with laminex benchtops in the past.
Will have try the rail saw on the likes of Birch ply.  I know with formply my chipout is bugger all.  Even lamipanel gave me no troubles, which kinda surprised me.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. 
Now you see it ......... now you don't
This is what it was like when we moved in ( with Nanna and a 1 year old ).... Then partially demo'd..... then all gone!

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## sundancewfs

Ever wondered why your older house is cold in the kitchen?.......
Or for that matter any room in the house.....
Wondered where those cold drafts are getting in?
This is possibly the problem.... floor boards that don't go to the wall and plasterboard that doesn't go to the floor or ceiling.
Of course, this is never seen as it is covered with cornice and skirting board (or kitchen cupboards).... But it is felt in the form of cold/hot drafts! The old saying that, a house needs to breath, in my opinion is rubbish! If I want my house to breath, I will open a window.

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## Jim Carroll

And also easy acces for the little freindly mice.

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## sundancewfs

Glass splashbacks today!
GH Glass Pty Ltd came around and fitted up our new metallic silver on Starfire glass splashbacks.
 They did a great job and were super quick. From walking in the door with the glass, to saying goodbye and me closing the door.... 35 mins. 
I'm amazed at how neat a job, someone who knows how to use a caulking gun can achieve!
Lovely people, great job! 
GH Glass Pty Ltd (ph: 03 97617075) Factory 3 37 Gatwick Rd, Bayswater North, Victoria

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## SilentButDeadly

> Kitchen looks great, I am wondering how long it will take for the doors and draw fronts to appear now it is usable?

  As long as they take longer than ours I'll be happy...our kitchen has been sans drawer fronts for over three years.  They might actually befitted in the next month or so one the plywood cures enough to sand & dye.  Benchtop and splashbacks are still vaporware.  :Cry:  
This one (on the other hand) is looking well fine and is moving at great speed....mmmmm, glass splashies.

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## sundancewfs

> As long as they take longer than ours I'll be happy...

  Oh, I forgot to mention, the timber for the draws and doors was delivered today.....
I got Plyco to lay up some American quarter sawn rock maple veneer on a 16mm birch ply core for us. THIS...... is now the timber of choice for the finish! ("fickle client*.... grumble grumble grumble....  :Annoyed:  "  *wife) Mind you the look of clear maple is nicer than the raw birch ply....
 As my workshop is not really big enough to have sheet stock laying around I'll probably be getting on with those quite soon.

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## r3nov8or

The splashback looks great. We must be messier cooks that you as we need full height slashbacks well beyond the extent of the cooktop. 
Can't wait to see the ply doors. Do you plan on an edge trim or will you use the cut ply as a feature?

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## sundancewfs

> The splashback looks great. We must be messier cooks that you as we need full height slashbacks well beyond the extent of the cooktop. 
> Can't wait to see the ply doors. Do you plan on an edge trim or will you use the cut ply as a feature?

  I'm a dainty cook  :Biggrin:  ..... I spent the last couple of weeks trying not to get the walls dirty, before the splashbacks went up! 
Our 3 year old calls them "bash splats"
I will be edge banding the doors and draws. A bit cleaner look than the laundry bamboo edges.

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## goldie1

Looking good  :2thumbsup:

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## shauck

Gotta love the glass splashback. Look good and easy to clean. Bit of windex and wipe.

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## SilentButDeadly

> Oh, I forgot to mention, the timber for the draws and doors was delivered today.....
> I got Plyco to lay up some American quarter sawn rock maple veneer on a 16mm birch ply core for us. THIS...... is now the timber of choice for the finish! ("fickle client*.... grumble grumble grumble....  "  *wife) Mind you the look of clear maple is nicer than the raw birch ply....
>  As my workshop is not really big enough to have sheet stock laying around I'll probably be getting on with those quite soon.

  The race is on!!! 
Now...what's on TV?

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## sundancewfs

Seeing as the kitchen is operational now I thought I'd better get on and finish up some of the other jobs I had half done. In an effort to clear some space in the workshop, I decided to finish the mud bench in the laundry. I had cut the pieces for the upper shelves months ago, but never got around to fitting them together. After working out the shelf spacing, I cut dados for the shelves to sit in.   
All grooves cut, all shelves and uprights fitted. This will sit on top of the bench I have already made.     
Next job is to pull it all apart, sand and finish it. First coat of tung oil finish on the back.

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## sundancewfs

Been a bit busy with a very important part of the project lately...
Quinn arrived at 7am 15/6/2012 4.01 kg and 54cm long  :Biggrin:

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## Cecile

> Been a bit busy with a very important part of the project lately...
> Quinn arrived at 7am 15/6/2012 4.01 kg and 54cm long

  He's gorgeous.  Congratulations to you and Mrs sundance! :Welcome4:  
Ted wants to know, what sort of machinery do you use to make one of those?   :Harhar:

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## Armers

Congratulations folks!

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## Belair_Boy

Congratulations to you both, well done  :Smilie: 
He is a big one!  I hope you are both getting some rest now and enjoying the moment.

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## Bloss

Pressure's really on now for an early completion! Congratulations to you all!  :2thumbsup:

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## turnstiles

Congratulations!! It's great to see that the quality craftsmanship, attention to detail and highly developed aesthetic judgement continues to be expressed in everything you create!!

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## andy the pm

Congratulations mate!! Wont be long before hes helping you finish the place.

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## shauck

Congratulations! You must be so happy.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks everyone for the hearty words. I can always rely on you make me smile.  :Biggrin:  
We are very proud and happy parents and he seems to be settling in well, throwing up on his siblings and making lots of interesting smells and sounds. My wife went into labour at 2:00am, we walked to the hospital at 2:30 am, he was born at 7:00am, My wife rested up for the day in hospital and we all walked home at 8:30pm that night. In a strange double edged sword kind of way we also have my Mother-in law staying for three weeks. This is great in that she is doing an enormous amount of work while she is here and looking after the older two while we are trying to catch up on sleep. But.... It is also a Mother-in-law week/s so I am finding lots of stuff to get on with as well. The mud bench is almost complete, the last portion of the extension walls have been rendered and painted, most of the upstairs ceiling insulation and some of the new R1.65 heating ducts are in place and I even found time yesterday to help the neighbours remove a large window onto their deck and replace it with some bi-fold patio doors. Pics to follow...

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## BaysideNana

Congratulations to the Sundance family!!  He's a little beauty!   :Biggrin:  
I sat down and read your entire thread from the beginning a couple of weeks ago and have to admire your work.  Congrats also on the way you appreciate and speak about your MIL.....that's a long lost dream of mine unfortunately.   
Keep up the good work.

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## sundancewfs

Here is a few pics of some of the loose end jobs I have been tidying up over the last couple of weeks......
Rendering the last of the extension, Finishing the mud bench in the laundry, and getting the R6+R4.1 insulation up in the roof (rondo battens hold it up beautifully) and putting in some of the ducting for the upstairs heating. This is R1.65 Westaflex ducting.

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## Godzilla73

Looking good, congrats on the new arrival...

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## sundancewfs

Bubs Is sleeping well, Mother-in-law has gone home...... Back to work!
I have now installed all the insulation in the extension ceiling. First layer of batts was R6 Bradford gold batts followed by a layer of R4.1 Bradford batts laid perpendicular to the first to minimize any gaps. The heating ducts (R1.65 Westaflex Green duct) were laid on top of the first layer of batts and then completely covered by the second layer. Encasing them in insulation should reduce heat loss and gain through the lower rated duct insulation. I also built a platform so accessing the most important area in the roof space is easier and there is somewhere to put tools down if we need to do any work up there.  
Another thing I needed to do was make a manhole for this roof space. With the insulation being so deep, it was necessary to build a box to act as a shaft up into the roof space to hold the insulation from falling out whenever the hatch is lifted. This was made from 15mm BB ply. It will have a top lid and a lower, swing-down lid that will be insulated as well.      
Putting the insulation has normalised the temperature upstairs. It was getting much colder at night up there until we finished the insulation, now it is trending higher and matching the temperature ranges of the rest of the house. The first graph from one of my data loggers shows the upstairs with partial insulation, and the second shows the complete insulation bed in place. And this is without and plasterboard..... YES insulation really does work!    
Oh and SBD....... :Biggrin: .......
Kitchen doors and drawer fronts all ready for edge banding.....  
I must say I was a bit worried about screwing up the nice timber we got for the doors by miss cutting it so I invested in Cutlist CutList Plus Cutting Diagram Software: Sheet Layout Optimizer for Plywood Panels and Lumber
It has been great for maximising the layout for cutting on the maple ply we are using..... here is a screen grab to give you an idea what I mean...

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## SilentButDeadly

> Oh and SBD..............
> Kitchen doors and drawer fronts all ready for edge banding.....  
> I must say I was a bit worried about screwing up the nice timber we got for the doors by miss cutting it so I invested in Cutlist...

  Ohhhh who's a cheeky boy then!!!   :Biggrin:   Nice looking panels - they'll come up schmick. 
Congrats on the new wee one too. May your nights be long and your days full of funny incidents. 
You'll be pleased to know that some of our drawers have their new fronts dyed, sealed, fitted in place and with knobs...and the rest will be on by COB Sunday.  However, I shall leave photos and skiting to my own wee thread.... :Wink 1:

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## sundancewfs

> You'll be pleased to know that some of our drawers have their new fronts dyed, sealed, fitted in place and with knobs...and the rest will be on by COB Sunday. However, I shall leave photos and skiting to my own wee thread....

  Well done! :2thumbsup:  Look forward to seeing those pics.

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## Bloss

Mate it is so good to see a properly insulated house - in your climate you will be reaping in the energy savings as will all future owners!  :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

> Mate it is so good to see a properly insulated house - in your climate you will be reaping in the energy savings as will all future owners!

  Thanks Bloss, I can't see the sense of heating the surrounding countryside.... Much rather keep it in the house where is is needed!
We are now looking at putting in a 2kw solar system to try and offset some of the power usage. The one argument that people come up with when discussing the amount of insulation we have is the argument of diminishing returns. personally I think that is rubbish. When we started we were told that R3.5 was all that was necessary and that anything extra was a waste and not worth it....... Well considering the rise in the cost of energy since we started, I'm glad I didn't listen! Couple that with the fact that it is much easier to install at the time of construction rather than try to retrofit, I think we are onto something.  :2thumbsup:

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## Gaza

if you were in syd you could have come past my place and wacked the doors through my edge bander would have saved you days of hand triming and glueing.

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## sundancewfs

> if you were in syd you could have come past my place and wacked the doors through my edge bander would have saved you days of hand triming and glueing.

  That's a nice offer Gaza, pity we aren't, Thanks anyway.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Thought I'd spend some time in the shed this week. I managed to get all the edge banding on the kitchen cupboard doors and built a drill press extension table so I could drill the hinge cup holes.   
After I drilled the hinge holes I fitted the hinges and fitted the doors to the cupboards to check sizing before I spray them. This weekend is looking like it might be sunny and warm enough to get at least some of them done.

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## turnstiles

Doors are looking great!
(But your fridge looks like a teenagers bedroom...!! :Shock: )

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## shauck

> Doors are looking great!
> (But your fridge looks like a teenagers bedroom...!!)

  Looks like you need an office then.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> Doors are looking great!
> (But your fridge looks like a teenagers bedroom...!!)

  I blame it on rare earth magnets and kids at kinder and school  :Biggrin:

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## Jim Carroll

I like the appliances on the bench top. 
Give it that workshop feel

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## SilentButDeadly

> Thought I'd spend some time in the shed this week. I managed to get all the edge banding on the kitchen cupboard doors and built a drill press extension table so I could drill the hinge cup holes.

  That's a bit flash....!  My hinge drilling setup on the pedestal thingy was far more ghetto!!!  The cheap Bunnings bought Forstner bit expired after just a few holes too.  But I only needed those few. 
At least our fridges are similarily decorated  :Biggrin:  
That kitchen's going to look rather grand I think.  Credit to you.

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## shauck

Excuse me if you've already said but what finish will you put on the cupboards?

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## sundancewfs

> Excuse me if you've already said but what finish will you put on the cupboards?

  Su, as it is kitchen cupboards and they may cop a bit of a hiding, I will be using a Mirotone two pack. The laundry cupboards were finished with Timbercare tung oil flooring finish. That has worked great and is very hard wearing....but.... I was buying it from Bunnings. Unfortunately they have decided not to carry it as a product line. I have tried ringing Timbercare direct but it sadly appears they are no longer in existence, as no one is answering the phone......

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## shauck

> Su, as it is kitchen cupboards and they may cop a bit of a hiding, I will be using a Mirotone two pack. The laundry cupboards were finished with Timbercare tung oil flooring finish. That has worked great and is very hard wearing....but.... I was buying it from Bunnings. Unfortunately they have decided not to carry it as a product line. I have tried ringing Timbercare direct but it sadly appears they are no longer in existence, as no one is answering the phone......

  Isn't that the way. You like a product and then can't get it anymore. Be nice to see the finished product. Take some closeups?

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## Cecile

:Rofl:  
As well as your "fridge that looks like a teenager's room", I just realised that you also have a portable drill on your benchtop.  And probably a bunch of other tools.   
I guess I feel slightly better that it's not only Ted who does this.  How's *your* "W.A.F."?   :Tongue:

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## sundancewfs

First few doors sprayed and handles fitted. The finish came out very nice. I find it much easier to get a good clean finish with a spray gun.  
Those of you who do look closely at the photos...... Yes I did make a mistake. I put that down to late and sleepless night at the moment..... :Biggrin:  
Now I will have to make a new door... Oh well.

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## Cecile

> First few doors sprayed and handles fitted. The finish came out very nice. I find it much easier to get a good clean finish with a spray gun.  
> Those of you who do look closely at the photos...... Yes I did make a mistake. I put that down to late and sleepless night at the moment..... 
> Now I will have to make a new door... Oh well.

  You could always pretend that it's an integrated dishwasher  :Tongue:

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## sundancewfs

> You could always pretend that it's an integrated dishwasher

  Actually, its the left hand sink cupboard door as I drilled the handle holes in the bottom left corner instead of the upper right...... So now there are two lots of holes in that door.
The horizontal handle is for the double Hafele bins.  :Biggrin:

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## SilentButDeadly

> Those of you who do look closely at the photos...... Yes I did make a mistake. I put that down to late and sleepless night at the moment..... 
> Now I will have to make a new door... Oh well.

  You are making me feel so much better...having done much the same thing on one stack of three drawer fronts.  Drilled them for one knob and they've actually got two.  So now there's a spare hole in the middle of three of them.  Screw re-making them because they are dyed and therefore unique in colour!!  I'm going to keep an eye out for 'trinkets' to fit into the holes...

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## r3nov8or

> You are making me feel so much better...having done much the same thing on one stack of three drawer fronts.  Drilled them for one knob and they've actually got two.  So now there's a spare hole in the middle of three of them.  Screw re-making them because they are dyed and therefore unique in colour!!  I'm going to keep an eye out for 'trinkets' to fit into the holes...

  Just drill more holes in a fancy pattern to make it look like it's designed for air flow  :Tongue:

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## SilentButDeadly

> Just drill more holes in a fancy pattern to make it look like it's designed for air flow

  You may just be a genius....

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## sundancewfs

Time for a new gas central heating system. We chose a 6 star Braemar with add on refrigerated cooling.
First step is to lay a slab for it to sit on under the house.

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## RONCA

Hi Sundance, How is the project proceeding? 
RONCA

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## sundancewfs

Hi RONCA
Thanks for asking... It's been going a bit slower than I wanted lately. I was a bit consumed by a load of computer equipment I had the chance to deal with. As that has slowed down a bit now (a load is off to South Australia this week) I am back at the building again.
Yesterday I started fixing the rondo battens to the walls of the upstairs. I also booked the plasterer to come and do some stopping in two weeks time. I figure if I book him in, I'll have to get it ready in time for him to start.... Nothing like a bit of pressure...  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Time for some more demo.....
There was an old hanging beam right in the line of the new staircase-to-be. It had to be moved over so there is enough headroom. out with the ceiling and the hanging beam.  
This also allowed me to take out two rafters that were landing on what used to be the top plate. now the old lintel/top plate is removed I have easy, non-ducking, access up the temporary ramp. There is a lot to go into this small space.....
Two new walls, a coat closet, a linen closet, a ducting chase, a recess for a basin in the toilet (which is behind the wall), a staircase, the HRV system, the media server rack and three pocket doors.

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## sundancewfs

There is nothing quite like helpful neighbours.
All of the ceiling sheets in the master bedroom are now up. I asked my neighbour if he could give me a hand to lift the sheets off my ute and he ended up helping me hang them as well.
Two layers of Boral unispan 10mm with Green Glue ( Foam Sealant Pty Ltd ) in between. 
Oh and thanks to Rod Dyson for super fast processing of my order, enabling me to pick up early Saturday morning.  :2thumbsup:

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## Gaza

What's above your bedroom is it the second level? Just wondering why need acoustic via green glue

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## sundancewfs

Call me a wuss Gaza, but I like a nice quiet place to sleep  :Biggrin: 
We are also about 3~400m away from the Belgrave train line. In the valley the sound reverberates around a bit and on a still night or with the wind in the right direction, you can hear it.

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## Cecile

> There is nothing quite like helpful neighbours.
> All of the ceiling sheets in the master bedroom are now up. I asked my neighbour if he could give me a hand to lift the sheets off my ute and he ended up helping me hang them as well.
> Two layers of Boral unispan 10mm with Green Glue ( Foam Sealant Pty Ltd ) in between. 
> Oh and thanks to Rod Dyson for super fast processing of my order, enabling me to pick up early Saturday morning.

  We love the window "seat".  We want to do this in our bedroom, which would create a window seat and big blanket box, but it would mean pushing the front of the house forward by about a metre, which encroaches into the current maximum (we think) setback.   
Love your work!

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## Bloss

I've done quite a few bay windows just out to the eaves which gives you about 600mm into the room if you frame up using 70x35 and use blueboard or other cladding on the outside. That keeps the house setback unchanged. Of course requires an eave . . .  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

> I've done quite a few bay windows just out to the eaves which gives you about 600mm into the room if you frame up using 70x35 and use blueboard or other cladding on the outside. That keeps the house setback unchanged. Of course requires an eave . . .

  This bay window goes out under the eaves. 
Time to crack on with the plasterboard hanging... Green glue going on between sheets, pocket door frame for the walk-in-robe. A friend of mine put me onto Sliding Door Pockets (  Sliding Door Pockets Pty Ltd - Home Page ) They do a very solid cavity slider frame with twin track rollers.     
Master bedroom almost ready for Trevor the plasterer to stop up this coming week.   
One of the other jobs this week was to get the transitions put together for the new gas central heating. 
One thing I noticed about these was the gaps that are left after assembly. As we are using a return air filter that is capable of filtering down to .3 of a micron, it seemed silly to leave 2~3mm gaps in the metal work, so all seams and joins are sealed with Venture aluminium duct tape.

----------


## Cecile

> Green glue going on between sheets

  Ted wants to know if you're actually applying adhesive to the back of the second layer of plasterboard, before pressing that up against the green glue?  We were under the impression that you don't need any further glueing or screwing if you use green glue. 
And is that a bathtub I see in your bedroom?

----------


## sundancewfs

> Ted wants to know if you're actually applying adhesive to the back of the second layer of plasterboard, before pressing that up against the green glue?  We were under the impression that you don't need any further glueing or screwing if you use green glue. 
> And is that a bathtub I see in your bedroom?

  Yes we hung the second layer of sheets in exactly the same way as the first, except the joins were staggered, with stud adhesive and screws. Remember, Green Glue is a USA product and they tend to do the full screw method of fixing rather than use glue and screws. Green glue (despite it's name) isn't really a glue. It's more a very sticky, non hardening sound/vibration deadening compound. It doesn't have any real adhesive property, well not enough to support the plasterboard with the perimeter/centre screw patten. Tapping the wall after it is done gives more of a "Thunk" sound, rather than a "Boing"
The bath will end up in the ensuite once it is tiled. At the moment it's being shifted around the room as we work as the bathroom is full of tools and building supplies......  :Biggrin:

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## r3nov8or

Harking back to your exposed weather test of the bamboo flooring, have you decided on your decking yet? There is a new bamboo decking on the market, available at Mitre 10 (at least at South Geelong). Attached is a photo of a small offcut of the 140mm which shows the laminations. I've been doing far more browsing than contributing recently, but when I find time I'll start a thread in the decking forum, as I've used it as a vertical screening/cladding material.

----------


## Cecile

> Yes we hung the second layer of sheets in exactly the same way as the first, except the joins were staggered, with stud adhesive and screws. Remember, Green Glue is a USA product and they tend to do the full screw method of fixing rather than use glue and screws. Green glue (despite it's name) isn't really a glue. It's more a very sticky, non hardening sound/vibration deadening compound. It doesn't have any real adhesive property, well not enough to support the plasterboard with the perimeter/centre screw patten. Tapping the wall after it is done gives more of a "Thunk" sound, rather than a "Boing"
> The bath will end up in the ensuite once it is tiled. At the moment it's being shifted around the room as we work as the bathroom is full of tools and building supplies......

  I completely misunderstood what you were doing.  We looked at the short video of the glue application and I can see how you've done it.  I mistook the blobs of green plasterboard glue for the "green glue".  It's green, after all  :Blush7:

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## sundancewfs

> It's green, after all

  That's ok Cecile. Next time I'll use Gyprock glue for the sheeting, to save confusion..... It's blue.  :Biggrin:    

> r3nov8orHarking back to your exposed weather test of the bamboo flooring, have you decided on your decking yet? There is a new bamboo decking on the market, available at Mitre 10 (at least at South Geelong). Attached is a photo of a small offcut of the 140mm which shows the laminations. I've been doing far more browsing than contributing recently, but when I find time I'll start a thread in the decking forum, as I've used it as a vertical screening/cladding material.

   
Funny thing about the decking...... Apparently the guy I bought it off was pushing a particular finish coat for the boards..... Turns out the decking manufacturer had warned that using that finish would void the decking's warranty..... Seems he decided not to tell anyone..... As it turns out, he is no longer with the company....
So as yet we are still on the fence as to decking...

----------


## sundancewfs

Today's job is to sort out issues with the wall between the ensuite and the study....
This wall has always been a nightmare. The framing on the upper level of the extension is shocking. I can expect timber to move, have bows, need packing or shaving, etc etc... But....some of this stuff was bordering on the ridiculous! I have had to replace two portions of two different walls as they were too far out of shape or measurement (door head height) A friend of mine came around to give me a lesson (read: do it for me) on wall straightening. He got the bathroom side of the wall straightened up with a lot of shimming and shaving. But the other side was so far out I have decided to use metal battens to get a plumb and co-planar wall. This has also given me the opportunity to sound proof the in-wall cistern a little better, as the study is also going to be used as a bedroom from time to time.    
For this wall I have used the Rondo 129 battens (as I have for all the ICF walls) But instead of using Betta-Fix clips I have gone with Gyprock resilient mounts. These are an isolation mount that cuts down on sound transmission by de-coupling the wall sheeting from the framing. As you can see from the picture below, there is a few shims in place to get the wall plumb. Some of the mounts are screwed on directly and others, like the one pictured, have 13.2mm of shims.     
The wall will be sheeted with two layers of SoundCheck/Screen plaster board with Green Glue between the sheets  and Bradford Sound Screen batts in the cavity. I have also used some of the left over sound deadening pipe lagging as a screen on the back of the cistern.

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## goldie1

When you use Rondo battens like that do you have to extend the nogs as well?

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## sundancewfs

> When you use Rondo battens like that do you have to extend the nogs as well?

  
No. The battens, in this case, a fixed directly to the studs and there are two mounts per stud @ 800mm vertical spacing. They also sit in a wall track top and bottom so The whole assembly is quite solid. Plasterboard doesn't need to be joined on noggs anyway. A lot of of them in these walls are 70mm while the studs are 90mm. By the time two layers of plaster board goes up here and the joints are staggered, it all becomes VERY solid.

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## sundancewfs

Now we are really flying!All the plastering upstairs (apart from the small landing area) is done. Trevor the plasterer was back in this morning to finish off the cornice in the study/sewing room. and sand the study, master bedroom and walk in robe. 
Study  
Master Bedroom     
One of the jobs I have been doing is putting blocking inbetween the framing so we can attach things solidly to the walls. Things like a wall hung vanity and cupboard, toilet roll holder, future hand rail (when I'm old and grey) and a large mirror.

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## goldie1

Whats the minimum depth of stud required for that cistern?    " future hand rails "  now thats thinking ahead. Have you made allowance for a future lift?  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

> Whats the minimum depth of stud required for that cistern?    " future hand rails "  now thats thinking ahead. Have you made allowance for a future lift?

  The cistern is in a 90mm stud frame. 
I figure my wife can carry me upstairs on her back, when I'm old and rickety...... :Biggrin:

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## Cecile

> future hand rail

  I'm glad you took our suggestion! 
I have been hanging out for new photos...you guys are really going well now.   
Some day I'd love to see the actual plans for this house.

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## jatt

Did the same with some excess offcuts of rondos on the reno.  Good solid way to pack out a wall thats way out.

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## aussieslr

My plumber was trying to tell me my in wall cistern needed an access panel so it can be removed for repair. I read all the literature and it said all the bits come out through the button hole (tested this and I could do it). Have you heard anything about this? I thought it would look like a public toilet so I put it in the roof. Hopefully next week we will test fire it to make sure it works.
I love your bay window too. Tree height watching the seasons change will be very cool.  :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

> My plumber was trying to tell me my in wall cistern needed an access panel so it can be removed for repair.

  He was kind of right......
But.... he was thinking of a different series of buttons.
If you just want the buttons on the wall ( without their surround plate) you do need an access panel.  With the buttons mounted on the surround plate all the valves and serviceable parts can be accessed through the front hole.

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## sundancewfs

Time to finish straightening the walls of the ensuite in preparation for sheeting. As we are using 600mmx600mm porcelain tiles I'm taking extra care to get these flat and plumb. This will minimise any lipping along the edges of the tiles. We went to a few tile showrooms and picked up some sample 600x600 tiles to compare colours in the room. Most companies will let you take samples for a small refundable deposit.
As it turns out we have narrowed our choice down to three very similar colour tones from three separate companies. Murray the tiler is coming around for a pre-tile inspection. This will give him the opportunity to see if everything is ready for him to go straight to work. It also gives him the chance to look at and check the tiles we have short listed, to see if there is any discernible difference in the quality of them, which may affect their laying.  
First up..... Stick on some packers. on this wall 3 thick at the bottom tapering to none at the top on some studs and no packers on other studs. Don't forget to check your noggs either, one of them on this wall was 5mm proud. I use plasterboard adhesive to stick the packers to the studs, temporarily held in place with a couple of clouts until it dries. This allows me to shave them down with my planes without nicking the blades on nails etc... the tools I used for this job are a long straight edge, a long (1.8m) level, my 1890's Miller Falls block plane and a Makita electric plane.

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## Belair_Boy

> Time to finish straightening the walls of the ensuite in preparation for sheeting.

  Ahhh........   It is refreshing to find someone who is meticulous as I am.  :Biggrin:  
Why plasterboard adhesive rather than some structural or timber adhesive?  Was it just because you had it to hand? 
PS love your work

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## sundancewfs

> Why plasterboard adhesive rather than some structural or timber adhesive? Was it just because you had it to hand?

  Good guess Belair  :Biggrin:    

> PS love your work

  Likewise.... :2thumbsup: 
Yours sounds like its moving along nicely despite the weather....

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## sundancewfs

Note to self for future reference...... When removing blocking that is in the wrong place, remember not to cut through the plumbing...... :Doh:

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## SlowMick

that sucks in a huge way.  Hope none of the wet stuff got out.

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## sundancewfs

> Hope none of the wet stuff got out.

  It was close, but no. As I cut through the nails at the end of a nogg the reciprocating saw just touched the piping about 100mm below it. the saw cut half way through the wall of the Sharkbite PEX piping. As this is all about to be sheeted up I cut the piping all the way through with my conduit cutter and added in a joiner. It wasn't leaking but I felt there was no way I was going to have a potential leak behind the tiles in years to come.    

> Some day I'd love to see the actual plans for this house

  Cecile, the plans for the house are on the first page of the thread.

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## sundancewfs

This weeks job is to finish sheeting the ensuite and to start the waterproofing.
As you can see it is progressing somewhat. I made sure all of the all the in-wall features (fancy name for blocking, plumbing and electrical...) Including the "soapbox" shower niche where in place. The niche is made from 90x45 framing with a 15mm birch ply backer. It is set in that position so when the tiles go in, the grout lines will match the wall tiles. The tall, wide vertical blocking is there as a solid place to screw any brackets to that may be required for the shower screen. There is one of these on both walls that the screen will land on. More insulation in the wall areas..... In the study/ensuite wall (the one with the resilient mounts and Superchek plasterboard) I managed to get R3 (2x R1.5) of Bradford soundscreen. As we changed the pictured wall from metal battens to a stud wall, so as to accommodate the niche, I was able to add R2.5 soundscreen to that wall as well. You probably realise about now, that I'm addicted to insulation......  :Biggrin:  Mind you it helps when you can pick it up at greatly discounted prices, when you buy split or tatty looking packs.

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## wozzzzza

ah i see your using one of them wonderful waterstops. i threw one of them in a few weeks ago and love them. better than damn hobs and angles.

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## aussieslr

Hi Sundancewfs,
I like the way this is coming together. I seen the bath in the bedroom and figured is wasn't staying there  :Biggrin: . Can you please explain the plumbing a bit. One goes to the ceiling and one to the wall??? Also how is your niche water proofed? Oh and what is the shower base edging made out of? Sorry about all the questions but I'm tucking your design ideas away in the back of my head for future use  :Wink 1: . It is going to look pretty fine when its done.
Cheers

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## wozzzzza

> Oh and what is the shower base edging made out of?

  i know that one, just did it. here it is Simplifying Shower Construction - Waterstop Streamline
brilliant things if i do say so myself
1000x1000 was $170 i think, well worth it.
i just siliconed it down, waterproofed it, screeded the levels the tiled.

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## BaysideNana

Wozzzza that's how the waterproofer did both showers in this house when it was being built.  The polished porcelain floor tiles just appear to float under the shower screens and quite a few blokes have argued that there is nothing to stop water escaping and won't believe when I tell them there's a waterstop in place.  Also there's no need to have tiles on the diagonal in the shower as shown on that website...much more streamlined to keep them continuous.    :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> Hi Sundancewfs,
> I like the way this is coming together. I seen the bath in the bedroom and figured is wasn't staying there . Can you please explain the plumbing a bit. One goes to the ceiling and one to the wall??? Also how is your niche water proofed? Oh and what is the shower base edging made out of? Sorry about all the questions but I'm tucking your design ideas away in the back of my head for future use . It is going to look pretty fine when its done.
> Cheers

  Ahhh the others are onto the Waterstop! Well done wozzzzza and BaysideNana  :2thumbsup:  
As for the plumbing...... We have used a diverter mixer and will be using two shower roses. A big fat 200mm rainhead from the ceiling and a thin pencil beam from the wall. So you can relax under a cascade of water or give your hair (in my case, a distant memory...) a deep, hard rinse after washing it, or just have a needle point massage.... The niche has now been lined with the cement sheeting and it will have waterproofing membrane put over that. The tiles are being delivered tomorrow and hopefully I'll have the waterproofing done by the end of the week.

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## aussieslr

Sweet. I thought that might have been the case with both the plumbing and the cement sheet. My shower screen is on order so it won't be long until I'm under my water fall shower heads. Looking forward to that I can tell ya  :Biggrin: .

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## sundancewfs

This week has been an interesting one... The house is empty except for me, as my wife and kids have gone off for a holiday with Nana. It has given me the time to get stuck into some of the finishing jobs I have been putting off. Mind you I'm finding it very quiet and lonely without three kids thundering around the house, not to mention my lovely wife......
One job I need to do before the fit off in the ensuite bathroom can happen is to build the vanity cabinet. (the wall-hung cupboard can come later as it has no plumbing involved). I'm doing this with the left-over bamboo board from the laundry cupboards. It will be stained black and given a gloss finish.
The front is basically three panels. The left one has been cut into three pieces and will be draw fronts. The right hand side panels will be cupboard doors and have had a groove cut with the saw blade set at ~3mm deep to mimic the draw front spacing. The pic shows a mock-up of all the pieces in place.     
Oh and the the tiles for the ensuite were delivered yesterday.... Thanks to Andrew at Beaumont Ferntree Gully ( Beaumont Tiles ) tiles for quick easy delivery and a nice price on the 600mm x 600mm Alto tiles ( Beaumont Tiles > All Products > Product Details ) and all the Ardex ( ARDEX WPM 155 ) waterproofing products.

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## dr renovator

G'day Sundance, 
I have invested about 2 hours over the last few nights reading through this thread and its bl00dy awesome!! :2thumbsup:   As a fellow Dandenongs resident, its great to see where you are sourcing materials from and the local trades you are using.  Your attention to detail is second to none and the quality of work is flawless.  I love the kitchen cabinets with the use of birch and rock maple plywood, looks fantastic. 
One question - did you get the birch ply from Plyco also?  Will you also lend out your shed/table saw...?! :Sneaktongue: 
I look forward to following your progress and good luck on the home stretch. 
Cheers,
Dr Renovator (Chris)

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## sundancewfs

Thanks dr.
I appreciate your kind words and your stamina at reading through the entire thread! 
In my mind, attention to detail is important, reality can be somewhat different....  :Biggrin:  I have an awful lot of half finished jobs around.... including the kitchen....
I don't know if you could say we're on the home stretch..... We have some major structural works coming up in the next couple of months including taking out a 6 metre section of the main load-bearing spine wall of the existing house. Lots of excitement to come!
I did get the birch ply from Plyco. It is one of their standard stock items. What wasn't stock though was having it laid up with the rock maple veneer. That was a special request from me. They have all the equipment to lay up speciality runs of board. and as it turns out supply a few of the other plyboard suppliers.
As far as the tablesaw/shed goes... I'll be happy to help people out once I am a bit further down the track.... A the moment it is almost impossible to move in the shed due to all the construction materials and junk being stored in there.  :Cry:  I have a few friends that are lining up to build guitars with me when I have it tidied up and a little less building to do. if you need a small specific machining job done on timber though, pm me and I'll see what I can squeeze in. Mind you I'll be flat out all this week.

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## sundancewfs

This is a job that is much easier without little helpers...... Waterproofing. 
I have started waterproofing the ensuite now. First up is a good clean! Vacuum, sweep, scrape, sand, vacuum, vacuum vacuum. You must have a clean flat surface to start with. Did I mention clean?
All the joints around the floor and up the walls are treated with a bead of neutral cure silicon. This provides a bond breaker in case of wall/floor movement to prevent damage to the membrane. A coat of Ardex primer is painted/rolled over all the surfaces to be tiled. Then the critical joints are done. I like to paint on a generous coat of waterproofing compound and then lay the reinforcing mat onto it.This ensures good adhesion and allows you to slide the matting around a bit to smooth out any air bubbles or creases. while it is all wet I paint on another layer over the top of the matting to wet it down and bed it. It is important to pay close attention to the corners and any globs you may miss. You don't want to have to tile over a blobs of compound that sit 5mm higher than the rest of the floor, or be unable to get your tile into the corner of the room because of an excess of gloop. Once this is dry, I will go over the entire room with three coats of waterproofing compound.

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## sundancewfs

The blue room. First coat done.

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## wozzzzza

whats that light blue strip around the wall half way up?? i guess its where the boards join but what have you used there??
and on the floor, is that boards or concrete?? whats the lines in them?? if its boards joins what did you use to fill the gaps?

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## sundancewfs

> whats that light blue strip around the wall half way up?? i guess its where the boards join but what have you used there??
> and on the floor, is that boards or concrete?? whats the lines in them?? if its boards joins what did you use to fill the gaps?

  wozzzzza, your right. The blue line around the middle is the join of the cement sheeting. It has a recessed edge like plasterboard and is jointed in much the same way except the compound used is a special pre-mixed wet area jointing compound. ( Wet Area Taping Cement ) 
The floor is James Hardie Scyon Secura. ( Scyon - Scyon Secura Interior Flooring ) it is laid with a James Hardie joint compound/sealant on the joints and the screw heads.

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## sundancewfs

As I said, I was going to be flat out last week.....   
Flat out on a deckchair  :Biggrin:  
Yes it was time for a family holiday. Fiji got the nod again, due to the Aussie $ still being in a good position for travelling and the way the Fijians look after the kids so well.
I think it's important to step back from a job every now and then.... It allows you to look at things with fresh eyes.
We stayed at The Radisson on Denarau island ( Fiji Best Resorts | Radisson Blu Resort Fiji Denarau Island | Beach Resort )    
Mind you I did find something that was surprisingly similar to what Belair and I are doing....
The Wyndham Resort is doing a large expansion project at the moment and what do you think they are using for the construction???....... 
ICF  :Biggrin:  In their case Zego ICF.

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## Belair_Boy

> As I said, I was going to be flat out last week..... Flat out on a deckchair

  After a week on the brush cutter I am glad I found out you were in Fiji once I had finished and not before. 
The thought of you relaxing while I was sweating away would have been just too much.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

I'm sure there have been people who have viewed this thread and asked themselves.... "Why on earth would you want to build a foam house? It mustn't be very strong.... "
Well strictly speaking the walls are made of reinforced concrete. Very strong. This is what the inside of a wall looks like when you strip away the foam.      
This hole is being cut for an air return grill....
 Which brings me to another point..... planning  :Annoyed:  Make sure you plan where you want all your openings before you build your walls....

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## SilentButDeadly

> I'm sure there have been people who have viewed this thread and asked themselves.... "Why on earth would you want to build a foam house? It mustn't be very strong.... "
> Well strictly speaking the walls are made of reinforced concrete. Very strong. This is what the inside of a wall looks like when you strip away the foam.    
> This hole is being cut for an air return grill....
>  Which brings me to another point..... planning  Make sure you plan where you want all your openings before you build your walls....

  You'll be fine.... 
Apparently you only need one of these things to do that... 
that's what my TV says anyway  :Sneaktongue:

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## sundancewfs

Ha!!!!
if only! More like this..... and a jackhammer and 100 litres of water and slurry... At least I didn't get told off for making dust!

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## sundancewfs

I've now started work on the lounge room wall. Support beam have been ordered, 2x 300x63mm LVLs These will span the 5.8 metres needed.
The tiler has now screeded the shower base in the ensuite and will start tiling next Monday.

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## sundancewfs

One of the fun things about doing a renovation AND living in the house at the same time is dealing with dust. Builders plastic, a staple gun and tape can come in very handy... the first two pics show the two sides of the same piece of plastic.     
Replacing a load bearing wall is fun but pretty straight forward once you get you head around all the elements that you need to take care of.
Things like footings, wall studs, top and bottom plates, under purlins, struts (under purlin and ridge) hanging beams and rafters.
It always seems like your carrying out way more demo stuff than the wall appeared to be made of too!   :Annoyed:

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## SlowMick

wow.  great photos.  it's like looking at photos of our place (we're in Boronia).  Same hardwood framing, same victor board plaster.  your's isn't pink though which is nice.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

There probably is pink in the thirty or so layers of paint Mick  :Biggrin: 
This used to be a rental property and has been painted quite a bit!
Today I managed to get the 2x300x58mm LVL up into place and tied down.  :2thumbsup: 
Tomorrow onto the struts and hanging beams. We lifted the two individual pieces up separately and laminated them together once they were on their mount blocks   
The winch came in very handy and made a difficult job easy. It is a 240 volt unit from Ebay and will lift up to 500kg NEW DYNAMIC POWER 1020W 250/500KG 12M ROPE ELECTRIC WINCH/HOIST LIFT TOOL | eBay

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## Belair_Boy

> The winch came in very handy and made a difficult job easy. It is a 240 volt unit from Ebay and will lift up to 500kg

  Hmmmm.... Lifting at the press of a button, sounds good.  I will stick to the chain block for all my heavy lifting but will keep this one in mind for lifting buckets of concrete.   
Sundance, do you think the build quality is up to days of constantly lifting?

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## sundancewfs

> Sundance, do you think the build quality is up to days of constantly lifting?

  I was pleasantly surprised by the build quality. It is a bit jerky to start and stop, but without a soft start for the motor(which would severely affect torque) That's not going to be any different to any electric motor. 
I wish these were as cheap as they are now, when I was doing the rendering on the two storey scaffolding!I would have bought one in a heartbeat!
Lifting the beams, we used the second pulley/hook (supplied) to double the rope and half the speed (this also gives the 500kg capacity). Even though the beams were only about 75kg each, it was good to have the slower speed for control.

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## ToneG

Hey Sundance (and Belair Boy too...) 
I saw this and thought of you... 
I reckon these townhouses (it's so huge I can't believe it's a single place, but will go back and check) will sell for a couple of million in total when it's all done  :Eek:  - in a very nice neighborhood just on the other side of the tracks!

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## sundancewfs

Well the new load bearing beam is up and in place and I have now cut and fitted all the new struts.
It's interesting what you find when you start stripping off old (new) plasterboard that has been put up as part of previous renos.... Here we have some very creative nailing. A carpenter friend commented that it looked like a squashed spider in the half light.   
The beam they had used as a lintel for this opening in the wall was woefully undersized.... 
I made a strutting guage to make the job of measuring the angles and lengths of the struts easier. The design came from Alan Staines roofing manual.   
The new struts are the light coloured ones. They are made from seasoned hardwood. They have been put back in the same places as the originals

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## sundancewfs

Nothing like a birthday party to push you along! I thought the whole thing about being an owner-builder was that you got to do things at a leisurely pace......
Chloe has turned six.
And the day before twenty of her friends show up, I'm hurriedly trying to lay some new/old/reclaimed flooring so they have somewhere to walk!
I had to replace the boards under the old kitchen flooring as they were tiled with rubberised adhesive. That and part of the flooring under the tiles was chipboard. The boards in our house are 60mm wide, which is quite an unusual width. Luckily Hughes Renovators Paradise Hughes Renovators Paradise | Second Hand, Recycled & Used Building Materials, Supplies. Windows, Doors, Entry Doors, Front Doors & Fireplaces had just the right amount in stock. A quick call to a carpenter friend and flooring clamps were organised and delivered. I also decided to lay this part of the flooring with Norton Green Tape Foam Sealant Pty Ltd 
Some of the area where new flooring was added will be utility room and some will be carpeted, so yellow tongue flooring was laid down to replace the old dodgy flooring in those areas.
We also had our building inspector come around and check over our load bearing wall modification/removal. PASSED.  :2thumbsup: 
The lounge is now a lot bigger. Now I have to strip all the remaining plasterboard off the walls and impliement another (a few) more crazy insulation and detail ideas...  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

While I have been busy on the framing and lounge room, Murray from Versatile Wall and Floor Tiling (0407831912) has been in and tiled the ensuite.       
Now to see if we can get the shower screen installed and the plumbing fit off done before Christmas..... :Biggrin:

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## shauck

nice tiles. did you not find time to paint the ceiling first?

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## sundancewfs

> nice tiles. did you not find time to paint the ceiling first?

  
And there in lies the dilemma.... There is cornice to go up in here, so I didn't want to paint before that was attached as the cornice cement doesn't always stick to paint. So lots of drop cloths and careful painting is the way to go.

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## shauck

ahh. Keep a bucket of soapy water and damp cloth handy too.

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## Cecile

Lovely big ensuite.  Big tiles make the room look even bigger.   How will you finish off the edge of the shower base? 
I'm a little surprised that the shower isn't a flat walk-in, but it still looks divine.

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## sundancewfs

So what's inside a standard 1960's brick veneer wall?
If you strip off the plasterboard, chances are this is what you'll see.   
Not very pretty..... So the wall, in section, is as follows.... Bricks-Gap-Frame-Plasterboard. No wonder they are thermally inefficient!  In previous posts I shown how we have attached and rendered 100mm of polystyrene foam to the outside of the bricks. That has given us R3 of insulation on the exterior side of the wall. Problem is, while this works great against the heat of direct sun, if you consider other areas of this wall it is usless against the cold. Under floor vents are a necessary and important but as you can see when there is no sarking/builders paper or insulation the only thing separating you from the cold/hot outside air is the plasterboard.   
My solution to this is to put in place some vermin mesh (not installed when the property was built) and fill the trough formed with expanding spray foam. This leaves the underfloor vents venting the under floor area. and stops the air circulating in the wall cavity. It will also stop mice and rats getting into the wall cavity.

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## sundancewfs

> Lovely big ensuite.  Big tiles make the room look even bigger.   How will you finish off the edge of the shower base? 
> I'm a little surprised that the shower isn't a flat walk-in, but it still looks divine.

  Cecile, the lack of a hobbless shower base was a lack of planning on our behalf waaaay back at the design phase. We totally forgot to specify dropped floor trusses under the shower base. We have used a Waterstop stainless steel edge to contain the screed bed and tiles.
600x600mm tile do look really nice and it's great to have only four tiles from floor to ceiling.
Rest assured we will be dropping the floor in the main bathroom when we remodel that.

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## Cecile

> Cecile, the lack of a hobbless shower base was a lack of planning on our behalf waaaay back at the design phase. We totally forgot to specify dropped floor trusses under the shower base. We have used a Waterstop stainless steel edge to contain the screed bed and tiles.
> 600x600mm tile do look really nice and it's great to have only four tiles from floor to ceiling.
> Rest assured we will be dropping the floor in the main bathroom when we remodel that.

  Ted said, "Even geniuses make mistakes!"   :Rofl:  
Makes us feel a little better about our own stuff-ups.

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## sundancewfs

If only I was Cecile and Ted  :Biggrin:  
Next in the sequence of the lounge walls was to put up the Aircell Insulbreak 80. Kingspan Insulation - AIR-CELL Insulbreak®, 3-in-1 thermal break, insulation, and vapour barrier.
I have stapled this to the inside of the existing wooden frame..... This might seem like its the wrong way to go about putting sarking on, and it probably would be.....but. The next step will be to put up Rondo 129 battens on BG05 Betafil clips. BETAGRIP® - The Second Generation BETAFIX Clip
This will create a 90mm cavity which I will fill with Bradford R 2.5 Sound Screen batts. The plasterboard will then be fixed to the battens.   
The other job on the list is to sort the ceiling out. As the lounge ceiling only went 1/2 way across this room I had to put up some more sheets of plasterboard to finish it. I could have left it there, but.... The old lounge ceiling had a funky swirled plaster pattern (Artex?) and it is very old and wavy. it varies from place to place by ~20mm. Once the new sheets were up I started screwing battens to the wooden ceiling joists with 75mm screws The trick is to find the lowest point on the ceiling with a laser level and then shim the battens down to match the datum point. I snap chalk lines on the ceiling to know where the ceiling joists are and perpendicular lines to line up and space the battens.

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## adam.baxter

I have a brick veneer house... 2 story. Would you recommend filling the gap between the brick and the wall with expanding foam at the bottom? mine has chicken mesh already. 
I'm guessing having that air standing still and not been able to move around will act as a better insulator than having the hot air rise into the roof cavity 
Thanks, 
Adam.

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## sundancewfs

Hi Adam,
A lot of what I'm doing is pretty experimental. Some people might say that walls should be open, to allow them to dry properly and reduce the chance of mould. Brick veneer, despite it's solid look and feel, is a porous medium. so moisture can penetrate and build up in an unventilated cavity. Our situation is slightly different in that we have 100mm of polystyrene foam glued to the outside of the bricks. That is rendered and finished with 3 coats of Dulux Acrashield paint. This is classed as a moisture barrier membrane paint. It is highly unlikely we will ever have water penetration to our wall cavity through the wall itself. I have also installed frieze boards of 100mm foam between the rafter tails and in a previous post in this thread, shown how I filled the upper cavity between the brick and framing with wire and expanding foam in order to keep the possums out. This also cuts down on air flow in the wall cavity.  Time will tell how the walls perform as a whole. At the moment we still have walls and ceilings opened up inside the house as part of the on-going construction. Despite these short comings, today the outside temperature here, got up to 32.5 deg. The hottest it got it the lounge which I'm currently doing, was 24 deg and that was with a lot of in and out the door, moving plasterboard and battens.
Quite a nebulous answer, I'm sorry, but it's not one I can really answer fully.

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## wozzzzza

that recessed shower shelf that has all been tiled, not putting polished aluminium edging in there?? just grouting the corners??

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## sundancewfs

> that recessed shower shelf that has all been tiled, not putting polished aluminium edging in there?? just grouting the corners??

  
wozzzzza, you right, it hasn't got a metal trim. the tiles have been mitred. and joints sealed with sealant.

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## sundancewfs

Try as I might I'm not going to get half of what I want done, before Christmas.....
One thing that is getting done though is the ensuite.
Our shower recess is 1.5 metres x 1 metre and needed a nice frameless screen. 
After looking at a few different companies product I decided to call a friend who does high end building projects close to the city. He gave me a recommendation of Frameless Impressions Frameless Shower Screens - Frameless Impressions 
I called Leigh and he explained the process, product styles and lead time I could expect. Alex came out and measured up and organised a quote for us. At time I should point out that these guys are based in South Melbourne, quite a long way from Upper Ferntree Gully....
A price and style was agreed on and the order was placed. At this time of the year It can be hard to get people to do jobs before Christmas as everyone is so busy. Joe and his sidekick were in and had the screen installed and done in 2 1/2 weeks. They originally gave a lead time for the job of 3 weeks. Great job. Great company to deal with.  :2thumbsup:        
Other bits of the bathroom are also coming along too. All the plumbing has been fitted off and the bathroom is now operational. My wife and I took a few days off while my Mother-in-Law was down to look after the two older kids. It was her 40th birthday so we took a drive out to Daylesford and Hepburn Springs. We had a great time away and had a chance to meet up with and share a relaxing drink with shauck and her partner on the beautiful deck she has built.  :2thumbsup: 
I also managed to buy some nice bath salts. The birthday present for my wife was, to be able to take a bath in the new bathroom. 
There are a few more jobs in here to do. I have to make some drawers for the vanity I built and we have towel rails, cornice and paint to do.

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## aussieslr

Stunning mate, well done  :Biggrin: .

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## shauck

Looking fantastic. Was a pleasure to have you and your wife over. Tanya and I agree, you have the most charming baby we've ever met.

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## BaysideNana

Love the bathroom!!   Hope my current project comes up as well....first comes kitchen, rear deck (disaster) and a few other things!     :2thumbsup:

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## barney118

Mate, I vision my new bathroom to look similar, which bath did you use? And toilet, these are the same ones I plan on using. Do you also have some detail of the toilet install instructions you can PM me so I can get an idea of the cavity and stud arrangement needed.
Can you come to the gong in 6 mths and you can finish my bathroom.  
Sent from my iPhone 4s using Tapatalk

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## sundancewfs

> Mate, I vision my new bathroom to look similar, which bath did you use? And toilet, these are the same ones I plan on using. Do you also have some detail of the toilet install instructions you can PM me so I can get an idea of the cavity and stud arrangement needed.

  barney, the bath is a Lanark. We bought it as a factory second, through Tradelink after visiting Lanarks factory. They were really helpful and had all their range of tubs on display to sit in. The toilet is a Fowler Seido with a Caroma Invisi cistern. (Caroma, Fowler and Dorf are all owned by the same company). I still have all the layout instructions. I'll pm you with some details. 
I was hoping to have all the plasterboard hung in the lounge room before xmas but its looking like it will have to be done after. At the moment I'm battening out the inside of the walls. partly as it is a really easy way of getting straight plumb walls, but primarily so I can fit MORE insulation.  :Biggrin: 
This room is on the western end of the house and gets sun from about 11.30am on. It is unshaded by trees and as it is also on the boundary with the driveway , no option to plant any. Using Rondo Betafil clips and 129 battens, I have made another ~90mm cavity. Bradford SoundScreen R2.5 batts are 88mm thick and fit the cavity perfectly.        
This is making a huge difference on the temperature on hot days in this room. The other day it was 34 deg c. I measured the external wall temperature with my Fluke infrared thermometer at 67 deg c. The inside wall temperature measured in at 24 deg c.
To give you an idea of the before and after..... The first pic shows the original brickwork and framing with just the 8mm Aircell Insulbreak80 on the inside. The second is the wall section with the rendered 100mm foam, brick, frame, Insulbreak, battens and SoundScreen batts. The plasterboard still has to be added. We're going to have some nice deep window stills....  :Biggrin:

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## Bloss

Good to see someone taking thermal comfort seriously - not only will this be a real human friendly pleasant place to live in your energy bills are going to be way low - forever!

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## sundancewfs

Note to self..... Before demo'ing a wall....... Make sure you take the pictures down off the other side..... :Doh:

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## sundancewfs

Back from holidays and back into it. We had a wonderful time in Wollongong with my Mother-in-law. I even got to visit barney and his family. He gave me a guided tour of their project. Very impressive!
Since being back I have been framing in preparation for the last of the plastering (for the time being). The main area that needs finishing is the old kitchen area. This will be part hallway, landing, coat and linen cupboard, storeroom and main transition between the old and new buildings.

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## Cecile

> Note to self..... Before demo'ing a wall....... Make sure you take the pictures down off the other side.....

   :Oops:

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## jatt

> special pre-mixed wet area jointing compound. ( Wet Area Taping Cement )

  After a brief look at the Boral site didnt see if using it with cement sheet would be a prob.  thoughts? 
Btw bathroom came up a treat.  Wont be showing the gf your fotos, one has enuf extra projects to do as it is :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> After a brief look at the Boral site didnt see if using it with cement sheet would be a prob.  thoughts? 
> Btw bathroom came up a treat.  Wont be showing the gf your fotos, one has enuf extra projects to do as it is

  
It seems to have worked well. I was what the plasterer I'm using said he always uses too. It's all well covered by tiles now....  :Biggrin:  
I'm now on a 9 week program to get the bulk of the interior finished before my wife goes back to work. The building transition has now been framed and the plastering is underway in the lounge room. Carpet companies have been in to measure and quote and have been told to expect to be installing in 7 weeks time...... 
Not to say, that this will be the end of the project by any means....... 
Still go a few more years to go yet......

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## goldie1

> Not to say, that this will be the end of the project by any means....... 
> Still go a few more years to go yet......

  Come on own up ! You have got plans to buy the place next door knock it down and build one of these

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## sundancewfs

> Come on own up ! You have got plans to buy the place next door knock it down and build one of these

  
Hehehe.... that might be a bit much goldie. Besides the neighbours are having fun at the moment evicting termites from their house and replacing all the damaged structural timbers....

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## farmerchris

Hi there - I have been reading of your building job for the past day or so. Silent in admiration for all you have done, and your attention to detail. Plus, you have enough time for extensive explanations, time for the growing family, and you speak well of your mother-in-law. 
I have spent the past ten years or so building my own place here near Mt Warning. I had a shed put on a slab, and have slowly made it into a house. It is now 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, large living area, 4.5m wrap around verandahs and I modestly give myself about 8/10 for the job. (Points off for forgetting to include a laundry in planning, and I can still do the built-in wardrobes later.) You can see the finished result at 
talafarm.com 
My principles have been "work well, enjoy the work, work slow, measure twice, cut once, avoid stress." Your remark about taking the pictures down from the other side of the wall before demolition brought a smile. I lost a really good tile painting that way. Even the best of us can have errors occur. I look forward to seeing more of your talented and readable efforts.
Best wishes.... Chris

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## sundancewfs

Thanks Chris, It's a big job and becoming more of a reality everyday. Your place looks very smart too. I think we may have to keep ours for sometime (generations) before we would break even selling it. 
Into week 4 of the intensive program..... hence the fewer posts.
The lounge is all plastered and sanded now. But..... Me being me, now we are going to build the bulkhead around the room. It will sit 200mm off the wall and be 200mm deep. It will hide the blinds, curtain, screen, etc... As well as having a return on the interior edge to accommodate LED strip lighting. It might sound a bit confusing but all will be revealed...... no pun intended......   
One of the other tasks has been matching the old to the new. sometimes its just not worth trying to straighten and match old framing to new..... In this case we have used Rondo furring channel and Betafix clips to provided a plumb and level surface on which to hang the new plasterboard. An old doorway was filled in and part of a new wall section built. The timbers the house was originally built from were 2"x4", no where near the size of modern 90x45mm timbers.   
I have also been prepping and painting some doors for the cavity slider units. These are the greeny coloured redicote doors we got from Bunnings. They are the solid versions. I'm spray painting them with Dulux water-based Aqua-Enamel. I'm using a gravity fed spraygun with the 2.5mm needle/cap setup at about 40 psi and 10% thinning. Its going on quite well. Its great having the space to spray out doors but not with out it's challenges...... This morning I sprayed a coat on and then a mob of white cockies showed up and started dropping stuff out of the trees onto it! I ran inside and grabbed my wife in her pajamas to come and help me moved the saw horses and doors. I had to get down on my hands and knees and crawl under the door and lift it onto my back while she moved the saw horses......
Problem solved.
There is always also, the occasional bug that wings it way to its death in any finish applied out doors, but I wasn't expecting what I found when I went out to check the doors a bit later....       *BLOODY MAGPIES!!!!!!!!*   :Annoyed:

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## krico

What a bugger! At least you will know the culprit when you see it.

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## wozzzzza

i had that once, painted a nicwe new door outside and came back a coupel of hours later to check on it and it had thousands of these wee littel black bugs stuck to it. that really pissed me off, couldnt do anything to it that day being enamel, had to wait until the next day and sanded it back and painted it again only this time i covered it all up surrounded by a frame and not a single bug got on it then.

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## sundancewfs

That's a good tip wozzzzza.  :2thumbsup:  
This week has, as always been flat out. I have been in the roof finalising wiring and ducting for both the HRV and heat/cooling. Unfortunately the cooling is not up and running, as I still have to install all the new ducting under the floor of the old house. With parts of the ceiling still open to the roof heat, it is sorely testing our thermal efficiency! And my wife's patience! Once the ducting is all joined, sealed and laid it will be covered by a layer of insulation to further increase it's efficiency. I join the ducting by using Bostich fire retardant mastic on the fitting, slide the inner sleeve of the duct onto it, hold the duct in place on the fitting with cable ties (zip strap), tape the inner joint using Venture reinforced duct tape, pull up the insulation and outer sleeve and repeat the taping process. All joins are done this way. This gives a very sturdy, sealed joint. 
HRV ducting  
With such a lot to do in such a limited time frame I have been leaping from job to job. Last weekend we took a trip down to The Door Store Melbourne's #1 Door StoreThe Door Store to choose and pick up some doors for upstairs. We opted for some solid core veneered white oak doors. These are 40mm external doors but they were on special and suited what we needed. 
I installed the hinges to the jams using my trim router, with the edge guide on it. Free-hand with a router can be a bit daunting but trim routers are nice and light and pretty easy to control when your're not cutting too deep. The corners and ends are cleaned up with a chisel. The hinges are then fixed to the jams with screws. I got a set of these neat self centering bits from Rockler http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...0&site=ROCKLER They make sure the screw hole is centred in the hinge hole. I then place the door in the door hole with shims around all sides and underneath to position it exactly where it needs to go. Mark the corresponding hinge position on the door face, remove the door and transfer the marks to the edge of the door using a square. the rebates for the hinge on the door are cut out in the same way as on the jam, with to door laid on it's edge. The door is then shimmed up to the hinges so they fit into the rebates and the screws drills and fitted.              
The bathroom door is on lift off hinges. This is because the door opens inwards and the toilet is situated behind the door. Remember when fitting lift off hinges to leave enough space at the top of the door so the door can be lifted, and the hinges can dis-engage. The gap is covered by a thicker stop bead across the top of the jam. Speaking of which.... just the stopping beads and hardware to fit now. Then off they come for staining and varnish.

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## dr renovator

The doors are very nice, I love American Oak, it's such a beautiful timber. Great tip too with the trim router, I'll need to do the same for some recessed handles I'm putting on our deck seat. Coming along nicely, can't wait to see it all completed.

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## r3nov8or

Great to three hinges for the solid doors. I can recommend a corner chisel for finishing off the routed corners of hinge rebates Wood Corner Chisel (Free Postage) on eBay!

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## Gaza

For solid doors its a good idea to cut the pin shorter for lift off hinges as the doors are to heavy to lift up and by making the pin shorter don't need to lift it as far

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## sundancewfs

> For solid doors its a good idea to cut the pin shorter for lift off hinges as the doors are to heavy to lift up and by making the pin shorter don't need to lift it as far

  Good tip Gaza. These hinges have short pins anyway so that is covered.

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## sundancewfs

Lounge Room time! and only one week before the carpet is due to be laid!
This room has been sheeted stopped and sanded. We needed a pelmet to hide the blinds for the windows and the projector screen, so I came up with a wacky idea for a full bulkhead.....
It is based on Studco Ezy Pelmet. (not a product I'd use again.... but it has worked in this case...
This has a 200mmx200mm profile. It gives us the ability to anchor the bulkhead to the wall and as it in made from .75mm steel, it is strong enough to screw to.     
The rest of the bulkhead is then built up out of rondo wall track and furring channel. It is all anchored to the ceiling joists with 100mm screws.       
This was taken yesterday. Today it is all undercoated and ready for the next..... interesting.... addition.

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## sundancewfs

A couple of updated pics.....     
The hole in the bulkhead is for the projector. There are two recessed wall plates in there. One for two HDMI cables and one for a power point (GPO)

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## r3nov8or

That looks really good. A lot of work, but something you thrive on  :Smilie:  
You've probably thought of it, but be careful that the projector can vent it's heat properly.

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## sundancewfs

> That looks really good. A lot of work, but something you thrive on  
> You've probably thought of it, but be careful that the projector can vent it's heat properly.

  
Thanks r3nov8or, It has been quite a bit of work to get to this stage. The plasterer I have working for me is excellent and has enabled me to get on and do other stuff while he is stopping up. It's not just this room on the go at the moment with the upstairs, front hallway, stairwells (up and down) and landings coming in for attention. The carpeting is booked for Monday next week and the blinds and curtains two days after that..... still a lot to do before then.... I should have all the top (colour) coats on the walls by end of today. 
Oh and the projector bay is larger than the projector and it will sit on perforated steel sheeting allowing it to vent through the bottom into the bulkhead space.

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## shauck

Always a pleasure to see what you're up to. Nice work.

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## RONCA

> Always a pleasure to see what you're up to. Nice work.

   Hi Sundance, as usual the build is great. It should look great when painted and finished. Going back to the comment on projector heat, you will have to put in fan extraction into the roof cavity,for the heat from the projector. I have installed many and you will be suprised on the heat coming from the lamp or lamps,depending on which projector you have.I would also put in thermal cut off in the cavity as well as the projector having its own.If you do not do this you will have the projector closing down more than in use.
It would be a shame to have a fire in there after all the good work  
KIND REGARDS
RONCA

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## sundancewfs

> Hi Sundance, as usual the build is great. It should look great when painted and finished. Going back to the comment on projector heat, you will have to put in fan extraction into the roof cavity,for the heat from the projector. I have installed many and you will be suprised on the heat coming from the lamp or lamps,depending on which projector you have.I would also put in thermal cut off in the cavity as well as the projector having its own.If you do not do this you will have the projector closing down more than in use.
> It would be a shame to have a fire in there after all the good work  
> KIND REGARDS
> RONCA

  You make some good points RONCA. The space is quite a bit larger than the projector. I do have a heap (20 or so) of extractor fans in mounts that came out of some computer server towers that I'm scrapping. I will probably sit one above the projector in the roof space to vent it.

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## sundancewfs

New addition today. Plenum chamber for the heating and cooling. The original one, supplied with the unit is on the left. Normally a 450mm duct would come off that and reduce down branch joiners (BTO) and then there would be zone motors set up around the various runs of duct to zone off separate areas. My idea was to get all the zone motors together. Easier for wiring, easier for servicing, less fittings and no dead legs of ducting being pressurised and heated/cooled when the zone is shut off. the new one was custom built by AB Downs Stainless Steel Sheet Metal Fabrication Melbourne It is great quality and will hold all four zone motors and fit onto the delivery side of the air-conditioning coil. Hopefully I will get all the ducting in place before the cold weather really sets in.

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## r3nov8or

You missed a great opportunity there, to say this is what you were planning to use to extract heat from your projector  :Smilie:

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## sundancewfs

> you missed a great opportunity there, to say this is what you were planning to use to extract heat from your projector

  
too funny!  :Biggrin:

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## SilentButDeadly

> You missed a great opportunity there, to say this is what you were planning to use to extract heat from your projector

  He could still use the old single unit...

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## wozzzzza

> You missed a great opportunity there, to say this is what you were planning to use to extract heat from your projector

  i was thinking the same as i started reading that post. 
hey sundance, you should apply to go on the block.

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## r3nov8or

> hey sundance, you should apply to go on the block.

  Yeah but, contestants on the Block just play games, go shopping and decorate. Maybe they do a little sweeping and mess up something 'difficult' they probably shouldn't have started in the first place. Oh yeah, and they argue on queue and shed a little tear when they get a little too sweaty. It all gets so much for them that they have to start up their webcam before having a private winge in bed. 
sundance is doing well enough right where he is  :Smilie:

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## wozzzzza

i reckon theres more behind the block than they show on TV, soo many rules on what to do and what not to do, things they probably make you do as well. probably not as much fun as it looks.
but off topic, lets move on.

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## sundancewfs

> hey sundance, you should apply to go on the block.

   
Thanks wozzzzza..... no.  :Biggrin:  
I don't think TV would suit me..... My wife is concerned what our 9 month old's first word is going to be..... suffice to say, if it was broadcast it would probably be "BLEEEP"  
Yesterday was the start of week eight of my current program of works. 
The guys from Carpet Court Kilsyth ( Kilsyth-Kilsyth Carpet Court ) were out and the carpet was laid. It looks great. The kids spent most of the evening doing cartwheels and somersaults in the lounge. 
Mark from Elecorp was back from Sydney (were they were doing a big commercial job) to fit off the lounge and some lighting.
So all up it was a busy day. I have allowed myself one days break in the last seven weeks and am feeling pretty knackered!  
The blinds and curtains go into today in the lounge and upstairs.
Then its moving furniture into the new spaces  :2thumbsup:

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## Belair_Boy

> I have allowed myself one days break in the last seven weeks

  Don't let my wife read this  :Eek:  
Family and renovating can be a difficult balancing act.
Keep up the good work :2thumbsup:

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## sundancewfs

And here are the results. 
Lounge with Redbook Green Habitat, Carraway colour. Textured Cut Loop | Feltex Carpets    
Master Bedroom in Redbook Green Ecology, Alpine colour. Carpet ecology | Feltex Carpets
Same in the walk-in robe and upstairs study.       
It's now revealed why we floated the cornice 30mm from the ceiling of the lounge. It has given me the perfect place to fit the LED lighting strip. This particular version came from Ebay ( eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d ) and has a heap of different programs you can set. Here it is pictured in fixed white. It is switched from a standard wall light switch installed by the electricians.    
The blinds and curtains were installed yesterday and we moved some furniture into the rooms. Last night was the first night to sleep in the new bedroom  :2thumbsup:

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## wozzzzza

room reveal time.
As we walk into the room, LED lighting looks great, thats a nice picture omnt he wall, but over there it could do with another picture or mirror on that empty wall to give it that focal point. i womder what he is going to do with that bif rectangular hole int he ceiling, put a projector in it maybe.  carpet looks good, but could do with a coffee table. looks like time has beaten him and didnt get it compelted on time. my score is an 8.5/10.
lets move onto the next room.

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## sundancewfs

> looks like time has beaten him

  Yep! Beaten me soundly with a big stick...... ever since we started the project.  :Biggrin:

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## BaysideNana

Looks great Sundance and Mrs Sundance...something to be extremely proud of!  Love the LED lighting in the ceiling, a nice touch.   
Hmmmm, wonder where wozzzzza learned his judging skills???    :Tongue:

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## goldie1

Very schmick. Nothing like getting the floors done to make a place  look finished  :2thumbsup:  :2thumbsup:

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## boyracer

What transformer did you use for the LED strip light? Most DC trannies i have seen need ~20w draw....resistor?

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## sundancewfs

> What transformer did you use for the LED strip light? Most DC trannies i have seen need ~20w draw....resistor?

  Have a look at the ebay link I posted with the picture. The transformer comes with the lighting. I got the 20 metre package.

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## sundancewfs

Tight little job today. I'm running the ducts in the service chases for the heating and HRV for the new part of the building.   
Literally no room to move inside the service chase and a very narrow exit out past the ducting. The way out was between the silver ducts on the right and the green duct in the middle. The green ducting is Westaflex Green duct R1.65

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## Cecile

That's some serious ducting!  You are never, ever going to want to sell this house!

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## krico

How are you stretching your duct out? Are you doing it by yourself? 
Krico

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## sundancewfs

> How are you stretching your duct out? Are you doing it by yourself? 
> Krico

  I am Krico. I usually fix/anchor it at one end then twist and pull. When I fix it off to a fitting or joiner I strap the inner with two long zip ties. This gives me a solid mechanical fixing, not just tape. This is very sturdy and you can pull on it quite hard.

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## krico

> I am Krico. I usually fix/anchor it at one end then twist and pull. When I fix it off to a fitting or joiner I strap the inner with two long zip ties. This gives me a solid mechanical fixing, not just tape. This is very sturdy and you can pull on it quite hard.

  Good idea. I was wondering how you were doing it. Nothing worse than trying to do it yourself. Have you got the HRV running yet and if so, how do you think it goes?

----------


## sundancewfs

> Good idea. I was wondering how you were doing it. Nothing worse than trying to do it yourself. Have you got the HRV running yet and if so, how do you think it goes?

  The HRV isn't up and running yet..... There is still a bit of work to do in the storeroom area where it will be set up. (no plasterboard in there at the moment and a mass of data wiring curled up on the floor.) My wife has said she wants the heating up and running before winter hits properly...... Mind you the other night the temp got to 5 deg C outside and it was still 18 deg C inside with no heating. As i have been laying the HRV ducts in the ceiling I have had to move a lot of the insulation around. This is all going to be re-laid this weekend too.
On another note. The projector is up and running. I vented the top of the projector bay with a 150mm duct and an inline axial exhaust fan. This is attached to a two outlet Jackson master/slave powerboard ( Jackson 2 Outlet Energy Saving Powerboard at $17.43 in Energy Saving Powerboards ). when the projector fires up so does the exhaust fan. When it shuts down, so does the fan. 
The fan is four metres from the vent and it is quite loud. I am going to move it further away by increasing the duct length and try and find a way to reduce the fan speed, as 90 litres per minute of air flow is a tad too much. The fan is designed as a bathroom exhaust fan.... 
 Currently I have the fan unplugged and the bay temperature is fine even without it running as the heat rises straight up and out. I would like to use the fan though as it will allow me to use a backdraft damper on the duct.

----------


## krico

> The HRV isn't up and running yet..... There is still a bit of work to do in the storeroom area where it will be set up. (no plasterboard in there at the moment and a mass of data wiring curled up on the floor.) My wife has said she wants the heating up and running before winter hits properly...... Mind you the other night the temp got to 5 deg C outside and it was still 18 deg C inside with no heating. As i have been laying the HRV ducts in the ceiling I have had to move a lot of the insulation around. This is all going to be re-laid this weekend too.
> On another note. The projector is up and running. I vented the top of the projector bay with a 150mm duct and an inline axial exhaust fan. This is attached to a two outlet Jackson master/slave powerboard ( Jackson 2 Outlet Energy Saving Powerboard at $17.43 in Energy Saving Powerboards ). when the projector fires up so does the exhaust fan. When it shuts down, so does the fan. 
> The fan is four metres from the vent and it is quite loud. I am going to move it further away by increasing the duct length and try and find a way to reduce the fan speed, as 90 litres per minute of air flow is a tad too much. The fan is designed as a bathroom exhaust fan.... 
>  Currently I have the fan unplugged and the bay temperature is fine even without it running as the heat rises straight up and out. I would like to use the fan though as it will allow me to use a backdraft damper on the duct.

  That it is a bit too much for 6" duct. You could try using filter media to quieten it down too, but duct length should work.

----------


## tangle88

> Busy weekend?....... 
> Yep 
> You guessed it!  
> Rendering.   
> [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uq1PmT-yqo]YouTube - Renovating 326.mpg[/ame]

  Hi sundancewfs, 
What is the purposes of that yellow mesh on the wall? Is that a must have thing?

----------


## sundancewfs

> Hi sundancewfs, 
> What is the purposes of that yellow mesh on the wall? Is that a must have thing?

  Wow tangle, that really takes me back.....  :Biggrin: 
The walls that are being rendered are polystyrene. The mess is a fibreglass  mesh that (in this case ) is self adhered to the wall prior to the base coat of render going on.The render used on polystyrene is quite a thin section. ~8-12mm thick. The mesh acts as a reinforcement for the render. You can also use non self adhesive mesh. It is a bit harder to use if you are doing large areas by yourself as you put a layer of render down and then bed the mesh into the wet render. Doing a 3.6m high by 9m long wall by yourself that way is way too hard for me as it takes all my speed just to maintain a wet edge on each batch of render. There is debate as to which way is better, and I think it's generally accepted that the non-adhesive type is better. But much harder to do. The mesh is also used at the corners of doorways and windows as "butterflys" to help inhibit cracking of the render radially out from the corners. 
I'll be doing some more rendering this winter, as I still have the front and other side of the old house to sheath with foam sheeting and render. As to whether it is a "must have thing"...... I would say yes.

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## tangle88

> Wow tangle, that really takes me back..... 
> The walls that are being rendered are polystyrene. The mess is a fibreglass  mesh that (in this case ) is self adhered to the wall prior to the base coat of render going on.The render used on polystyrene is quite a thin section. ~8-12mm thick. The mesh acts as a reinforcement for the render. You can also use non self adhesive mesh. It is a bit harder to use if you are doing large areas by yourself as you put a layer of render down and then bed the mesh into the wet render. Doing a 3.6m high by 9m long wall by yourself that way is way too hard for me as it takes all my speed just to maintain a wet edge on each batch of render. There is debate as to which way is better, and I think it's generally accepted that the non-adhesive type is better. But much harder to do. The mesh is also used at the corners of doorways and windows as "butterflys" to help inhibit cracking of the render radially out from the corners. 
> I'll be doing some more rendering this winter, as I still have the front and other side of the old house to sheath with foam sheeting and render. As to whether it is a "must have thing"...... I would say yes.

  Thanks so much for your explanation, I think you answered my question and its getting clear to me now :Biggrin: 
So do I use glue or sticky tape to attach the non-adhesive mesh to the wall? I might need to get my friend to help me with that if I decided to go with the non-adhesive ones.  
The mesh can be purchased from Bunnings if I'm not mistaken?

----------


## sundancewfs

> Thanks so much for your explanation, I think you answered my question and its getting clear to me now
> So do I use glue or sticky tape to attach the non-adhesive mesh to the wall? I might need to get my friend to help me with that if I decided to go with the non-adhesive ones.  
> The mesh can be purchased from Bunnings if I'm not mistaken?

  I get my mesh from a renderer's supply shop. The non adhesive type is literally pressed into the wet layer of render and troweled over. So attaching it with tape or glue defeats the purpose of using it. My feeling is it is best suited to a team of workers. Others might like to chime in with their experiences.

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## tangle88

> I get my mesh from a renderer's supply shop. The non adhesive type is literally pressed into the wet layer of render and troweled over. So attaching it with tape or glue defeats the purpose of using it. My feeling is it is best suited to a team of workers. Others might like to chime in with their experiences.

  So one layer needs to be applied onto the wall first, then press in the mesh and follow by the second layer?

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## sundancewfs

> So one layer needs to be applied onto the wall first, then press in the mesh and follow by the second layer?

  I think you'll find that the render is applied to the wall and then the mesh is pressed/bedded/worked into the render with the trowel. Obviously the render has to be soft enough to allow this. One of the teams I originally got to quote on doing the rendering (before I decided to do it myself) were going to use a render spray gun/applicator to do the base layer. Other members of the team would then follow on behind bedding the mesh and smoothing the surface. Remember the base coat of render is the one that has the mesh in. The top coat is a whole nother layer  :Biggrin:

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## JB1

Great work! 
It makes me feel a little bit better when people ask me when I'm finishing my owner built townhouse  :Smilie:  I received a reminder notice from my construction insurer saying 12 months is nearly up! 
I'm in Wantirna South, so not too far away and yep, I never budgeted for the dirt/rubbish removal or thought that building in clay would present difficulties.. 
But your house reno is coming on very well.  
The insulation would be handy these days as it's pretty cold out our way.

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## finlayson76

Hi sundancewfs,  
Can i just say your time a effort in writing this thread has answered so many question for me in my own icf (thermacell) house im building in Sydney at the moment. Your doing an awesome job so thanks!!!!  :Smilie:  
My question is do you have a detail for the window flashing as im struggling to work out the detail to render under the sill. My windows will be Vic Ash stained finished, and i just want the square set render look all round as we are going for that modern look. I have read your blog about 5 times and cant see where/how  you finished your flashing on the outside. Any info would be much appreciated.

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## sundancewfs

> Hi sundancewfs,  
> Can i just say your time a effort in writing this thread has answered so many question for me in my own icf (thermacell) house im building in Sydney at the moment. Your doing an awesome job so thanks!!!!  
> My question is do you have a detail for the window flashing as im struggling to work out the detail to render under the sill. My windows will be Vic Ash stained finished, and i just want the square set render look all round as we are going for that modern look. I have read your blog about 5 times and cant see where/how  you finished your flashing on the outside. Any info would be much appreciated.

  The detail on my windows would be different to yours... Our windows are North American flange type windows. They have an integrated "nailing fin" all the way around the edge. this is sealed all the way around apart from the base. I then cut foam to fit over this to bring the "edge" of the wall up to the edge of the window. It was glued in place with Sikaflex and the whole lot was rendered over and then the sill was installed. This will make swapping out the windows in the future quite difficult, but I don't intend to change these windows in my lifetime. It also means the entire window is over-flashed by the wall all the way around the sides and top. The bottom has a flashing pan I made up from poly as per the photos of the shed window installation. As with a lot of things, I have winged it as I went. Time will tell if some of the ways I have done things work... So far, after four years and two "one hundred year" weather events and everyday weather, both wild and mild, I have seen no failure in the installations. I have found that a lot of what I do benefits from forward preparation. The windows is one area that I can see there are multiple was of doing it. One way suggested to me was to just foam them in using expanding foam. I chose not to do it that way as I felt a mechanical fixing of some sort (screws,bolts) was necessary. I would also ask Thermacell for some advise on how to achieve the look you are after.  Not a very satisfactory answer, I'm sorry... if you would like to contact me, pm me and I may be able to be able to provide more detail than by typing.

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## tangle88

> I think you'll find that the render is applied to the wall and then the mesh is pressed/bedded/worked into the render with the trowel. Obviously the render has to be soft enough to allow this. One of the teams I originally got to quote on doing the rendering (before I decided to do it myself) were going to use a render spray gun/applicator to do the base layer. Other members of the team would then follow on behind bedding the mesh and smoothing the surface. Remember the base coat of render is the one that has the mesh in. The top coat is a whole nother layer

  
I found a very useful video which shows you how to bedding the mesh into the base coat render  :Biggrin:  Hope everyone found it helpful. Plastering rendering - YouTube 
There is one important question which concerns me a lot - How to get the surface level?
Some suggest to use edge board on the wall every 1.5M so a straight edge can be used to level the surface by projecting to the edge board on each end. If that's the case, how should i attach the edge board on to the wall? 
I also saw someone just use a flat trowel to apply the render without any edge board. How did you level your wall???

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## wozzzzza

> Plastering rendering - YouTube

   that d00d has done it before.   

> There is one important question which concerns me a lot - How to get the surface level?

  thats what i would like to know as well.

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## sundancewfs

That is an interesting video.
A couple of things spring to mind when watching this. 
That is the way I imagined bedding non-adhesive mesh would work.
The area he is doing is tiny. To be able do that on walls the size I have done would be next to impossible by yourself. The largest wall on our project was 5.6m high by 8m long. It took thirteen, 25kg batches of basecoat render to complete and it had to be done in one hit. By the time I had got to the end of a batch of render, the bit where I started the batch was too dry to bed mesh into. 
As far as making it flat.....
It pays to start with as flat a surface as you can. Other that that I apply render with a standard 12" float and then "rub" the surface out with large flat plastic, diamond faced float after about every 1~2 square metres. This levels the surface to an extent, taking off the high spots and moving render into the low spots. The top coat also helps level the completed surface. Again having the team and time to do the job as a commercial job would be done, the surface would be "screeded" flat with a long straight edge.
I think every different job has its own challenges.... Even on my job, certain areas have been easier than others other factors influence the finish too. Window and door opening slow down the process as you have to go around them. This becomes an issue when trying to maintain a wet edge so the render being applied can be blended into that which has already been applied. Window openings etc, effectively give you two wet edges to maintain. This becomes difficult on large openings. Weather conditions were, by far, the most challenging thing I had to deal with. Cool overcast days are great for rendering. As soon as a wall has sun shining on it the whole game changes. It is then a real issue maintaining a wet edge. South facing walls are much easier to do in my experience....  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

Amazing how the seemingly smallest of jobs can provide some of the most head scratching of moments...
The family went away for a break before my wife goes back to work. Leaving me at home to crack on with some of the jobs which would be difficult to do with a house full of kids.... Floor finishing.
The boards in the house are original Tassie oak. The new (reclaimed) boards I laid in the old kitchen area (now the hallway) are spotted gum. I had the opportunity to buy an orphan pack of 58mm spotted gum boards. Twelve square metres in all for $100. This was enough to do the upstairs landing and the risers and treads of the upper stairs.
The landing boards were laid, glued and nailed. I screwed a cleat board to the floor and used my Bessey wood clamps to clamp the boards up for installation.   
Treads and risers were glued up from lengths of board and then sanded flat through my drum sander.     
These were then cut to length and width and dry fitted to check the fit.   
Doorway transitions were measured and cut to size and fitted. As was the side panel for the bottom two stairs.     
Next I sanded the whole hallway and landing area, the stairs having been already having been sanded. Once this was done I finished the whole lot with Cabots water-based flooring finish.

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## goldie1

Very nice. :2thumbsup:      Can I have your shed when you finish the house?

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## turnstiles

Really like the fact that you mitred the edge of the stair side panel. That sort of attention to detail makes for a superior finish. 
Like the rest of the job, the floors are looking schmick!!

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## Bloss

Top work!!   :2thumbsup:  :2thumbsup:

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## tangle88

> Amazing how the seemingly smallest of jobs can provide some of the most head scratching of moments...
> The family went away for a break before my wife goes back to work. Leaving me at home to crack on with some of the jobs which would be difficult to do with a house full of kids.... Floor finishing.
> The boards in the house are original Tassie oak. The new (reclaimed) boards I laid in the old kitchen area (now the hallway) are spotted gum. I had the opportunity to buy an orphan pack of 58mm spotted gum boards. Twelve square metres in all for $100. This was enough to do the upstairs landing and the risers and treads of the upper stairs.
> The landing boards were laid, glued and nailed. I screwed a cleat board to the floor and used my Bessey wood clamps to clamp the boards up for installation.   
> Treads and risers were glued up from lengths of board and then sanded flat through my drum sander.     
> These were then cut to length and width and dry fitted to check the fit.   
> Doorway transitions were measured and cut to size and fitted. As was the side panel for the bottom two stairs.     
> Next I sanded the whole hallway and landing area, the stairs having been already having been sanded. Once this was done I finished the whole lot with Cabots water-based flooring finish.

  Nice work!!! They look just fantastic! 
Is this what they call timber laminate or floating timber?

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## shauck

More awesome work. As usual.

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## sundancewfs

Thanks everyone.
Today is officially the first day that my wife goes back to work after a very extended maternity leave.
So my building wings are about to be somewhat clipped! At least now she is going to do 4 day weeks, so I will be able to get three days in a row to attack some of the larger jobs.
The major project on the go at the moment is to finish the heating install. The autumn days we have been having in Melbourne have been glorious, but the night have been dropping in temperature. Thankfully the insulation is doing it's job and as I sit here it is 10deg c outside and 17deg c inside.   

> Is this what they call timber laminate or floating timber?

  tangle88, this is I suppose a floating, solid timber floor.... sort of....
the stairs and landing timber has been glued with flooring adhesive and nailed to their substrates. the landing to 19mm yellow tongue flooring and the stairs to 32mm ply sub-staircase. the hallway has been installed as original tongue and groove boards would have been. All the timber used is 19mm thick, 60mm wide tongue and groove floorboards

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## SilentButDeadly

He's got a drum sander!!!! <gives a little girly squeal> 
...and he knows how to use it <sigh>  :Biggrin:

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## wozzzzza

them floors don't look like something you wanna walk on with shoes on. Reminds me when a mate of mine bought his house with polished floor boards the previous owner had polished nicely, the realestate agent had high heels and walking all over them leaving very slight indentations that pissed him off.

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## tangle88

> That is an interesting video.
> A couple of things spring to mind when watching this. 
> That is the way I imagined bedding non-adhesive mesh would work.
> The area he is doing is tiny. To be able do that on walls the size I have done would be next to impossible by yourself. The largest wall on our project was 5.6m high by 8m long. It took thirteen, 25kg batches of basecoat render to complete and it had to be done in one hit. By the time I had got to the end of a batch of render, the bit where I started the batch was too dry to bed mesh into. 
> As far as making it flat.....
> It pays to start with as flat a surface as you can. Other that that I apply render with a standard 12" float and then "rub" the surface out with large flat plastic, diamond faced float after about every 1~2 square metres. This levels the surface to an extent, taking off the high spots and moving render into the low spots. The top coat also helps level the completed surface. Again having the team and time to do the job as a commercial job would be done, the surface would be "screeded" flat with a long straight edge.
> I think every different job has its own challenges.... Even on my job, certain areas have been easier than others other factors influence the finish too. Window and door opening slow down the process as you have to go around them. This becomes an issue when trying to maintain a wet edge so the render being applied can be blended into that which has already been applied. Window openings etc, effectively give you two wet edges to maintain. This becomes difficult on large openings. Weather conditions were, by far, the most challenging thing I had to deal with. Cool overcast days are great for rendering. As soon as a wall has sun shining on it the whole game changes. It is then a real issue maintaining a wet edge. South facing walls are much easier to do in my experience....

  
I am still not quite clear on how to level the surface. If I use a straight edge to level the surface without putting wood batten on the wall, I presume the surface would not be leveled because the pressure you use on each area could be different. So if you have a two wood batten on each side, the surface will always be screeded to the thickness of the batten. Am I right here or I missed something?

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## sundancewfs

No your not missing any thing. It's common to use depth gauge battens. once the surface is levelled the battens are removed and the gaps filled in. This video gives an idea as to the way I described. the finish float takes off the highs and the fills the lows. This video is using cement render... hence no mesh. Mesh is used in the base coat of acrylic render. As you can see, the flatter the surface you start with, the easier it is to end up with a flat smooth final surface. Using Cement Australia Render It to render a brick wall - YouTube 
Remember, I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a professionally renderer I have taught myself on the fly. The way I do things is the way I have worked out that works for me doing large expanses by myself. It is not an easy job by any means. The quotes we had for our rendering came in at between $19,000 to $23,000. This was a very large incentive to teach myself. The surface is finished to a level that I'm comfortable to live with. It probably doesn't look as good as a professional job...... but then again..... it didn't cost as much either.  :Biggrin:

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## sundancewfs

> He's got a drum sander!!!! <gives a little girly squeal> 
> ...and he knows how to use it <sigh>

  You really do need to get out more SBD  :Biggrin:    
I got the sander as part of a package deal when I bought the tablesaw. (It's amazing how much of a saving you can get on machines when you bundle.....)

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## tangle88

> No your not missing any thing. It's common to use depth gauge battens. once the surface is levelled the battens are removed and the gaps filled in. This video gives an idea as to the way I described. the finish float takes off the highs and the fills the lows. This video is using cement render... hence no mesh. Mesh is used in the base coat of acrylic render. As you can see, the flatter the surface you start with, the easier it is to end up with a flat smooth final surface. Using Cement Australia Render It to render a brick wall - YouTube 
> Remember, I am, by no stretch of the imagination, a professionally renderer I have taught myself on the fly. The way I do things is the way I have worked out that works for me doing large expanses by myself. It is not an easy job by any means. The quotes we had for our rendering came in at between $19,000 to $23,000. This was a very large incentive to teach myself. The surface is finished to a level that I'm comfortable to live with. It probably doesn't look as good as a professional job...... but then again..... it didn't cost as much either.

  I agree with you, that is my incentive to DIY rendering as well  :Biggrin:  
So how do you usually attach the wood batten to the wall? Do you nail it into the wall or just use glue?
I'm also considering the joint type between the bricks before they start racking them. Would flush joint better than raked joint?  
Thanks!

----------


## sundancewfs

> I agree with you, that is my incentive to DIY rendering as well  
> So how do you usually attach the wood batten to the wall? Do you nail it into the wall or just use glue?
> I'm also considering the joint type between the bricks before they start racking them. Would flush joint better than raked joint?  
> Thanks!

  I suppose you could attach them with dobs of glue or a couple of masonry nails. 
Some of these questions would probably be better suited to the rendering forum as there are some quite knowledgeable people who post in there. As far as the brick joins go.... if the bricks are already laid, the joints will already be set. Acrylic render isn't necessary  to render over masonry. Acrylic render is mostly used on light weight materials like polystyrene. The base coat of render would fill the raked brick joins easily. so either way would be ok.... I suppose.

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## SilentButDeadly

> You really do need to get out more SBD

  I would if they'd let me  :Annoyed:

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## wozzzzza

anything been happening in the last 7 weeks?

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## sundancewfs

> anything been happening in the last 7 weeks?

  
A lot wozzzzza, 
Kids, school, kinder, playgroup, gym, dance, swimming lessons, and now school holidays......... 
Oh and trying to get the ducted heating in place. (sure picked a great time to rip the old system out.... :Cry:  )
At least the insulation is proving it's worth!  :2thumbsup: 
We should be commissioning the new 6 star Braemar zoned system within the next two weeks.  
Some pics and a description to follow soon.

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## goldie1

> At least the insulation is proving it's worth! 
> We should be commissioning the new 6 star Braemar zoned system within the next two weeks. 
> Some pics and a description to follow soon.

  Interested to know what your early morning inside temps where during that cold snap we just had 
with out heating. The B/V rental I'm in at the moment  was down to 8 degrees  with the heating 
of over night.

----------


## sundancewfs

> Interested to know what your early morning inside temps where during that cold snap we just had 
> with out heating. The B/V rental I'm in at the moment  was down to 8 degrees  with the heating 
> of over night.

  We had outside temps of 4 deg c and inside in the downstairs of the extension 16 deg c (upstairs with two people sleeping in the master 17.5 deg c)
The old part of the house without the walls insulated, suffered a bit dropping to 12-13 deg.

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## goldie1

> We had outside temps of 4 deg c and inside in the downstairs of the extension 16 deg c (upstairs with two people sleeping in the master 17.5 deg c)
> The old part of the house without the walls insulated, suffered a bit dropping to 12-13 deg.

  That certainly tells the story. I'm looking around to buy and renovate. Serious insulating and heating 
is a whole new world to me since moving down here.

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## Smergen

It's been pretty quiet in here Sundance... everything OK? Surely you know you have millions of us on the interweb thing waiting to see the next update from the Uberhouse?

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## sundancewfs

> It's been pretty quiet in here Sundance... everything OK? Surely you know you have millions of us on the interweb thing waiting to see the next update from the Uberhouse?

  
It's been pretty quiet around here too Smergen...
I'm coming to terms with the ever increasing demands of being the parent that stays at home. As the children get older (number 2 starts school next year) the amount of running around after them and their activities has risen dramatically. Couple that with my wife now back at work full time and the "baby" now fifteen months old and walking, I don't have a lot of free time.
We have just got back from a holiday on the Daintree and Port Douglas too.
Mind you......
There are still things going on and photos being taken. The heating is partially installed and operating. The aircon still needs to be connected and commissioned, as with the zoning of the heating (currently we are running it as one zone) so stay tuned....  :Biggrin:

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## Smergen

> It's been pretty quiet around here too Smergen...
> I'm coming to terms with the ever increasing demands of being the parent that stays at home. As the children get older (number 2 starts school next year) the amount of running around after them and their activities has risen dramatically. Couple that with my wife now back at work full time and the "baby" now fifteen months old and walking, I don't have a lot of free time.
> We have just got back from a holiday on the Daintree and Port Douglas too.
> Mind you......
> There are still things going on and photos being taken. The heating is partially installed and operating. The aircon still needs to be connected and commissioned, as with the zoning of the heating (currently we are running it as one zone) so stay tuned....

  I hear you about the loss of time as the kids get older. I try an incorporate them in all that I do just to keep them keen. It often means a 5min job takes 15min but keeps everyone happy and interested. 
Look forward to hearing the updates when you get the time. A massive house around the corner from us was done with ICF and always makes me think of your joint.

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## perplexed

Think I need to move to the Dandenongs area. Double brick is the norm in WA (though that is starting to change) so nowhere near as exciting as timer, ICF etc etc. 
I'll wait til you've reached the "Whoa" point before i ask any general or nitty/gritty stuff. 
Superb effort on the house and the thread. 
I'd love to do what you're doing, or even donate my time/spare hands to help anyone that is doing something similar - purely for the experience.  
Huge respect going your way

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## sundancewfs

> Think I need to move to the Dandenongs area. Double brick is the norm in WA (though that is starting to change) so nowhere near as exciting as timer, ICF etc etc. 
> I'll wait til you've reached the "Whoa" point before i ask any general or nitty/gritty stuff. 
> Superb effort on the house and the thread. 
> I'd love to do what you're doing, or even donate my time/spare hands to help anyone that is doing something similar - purely for the experience.  
> Huge respect going your way

  Thanks perplexed.
I'm probably a lot like other people on these forums..... Been doing it for what seems like ages now, and feeling a bit tired and jaded.....
If you have any questions, ask away. The "Whoa" is going to be a few years yet....
Bunbury is a nice place to live.(I used to work shifts in the Wesfi laminex plant in Bunbury)
 I think you just have to be adventurous to try something like we have. The standard local building style in our area is either brick veneer or weatherboard. Really unsuited to the environment we live in.

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## Belair_Boy

> As the children get older the amount of running around after them and their activities has risen dramatically.

  Surely not !!!!  :Frown:   How can it get much more than it already is?  Here I was looking forward to my oldest starting kindergarten next year.  :Doh:  
I feel your pain but there are positives about being able to spend more time with the kids than a 9-5 dad.  It is good having the flexibility but there is a price to be payed with the house building taking longer.   
To all the tired and jaded owner builders out there, keep celebrating the milestones (no matter how small), take the time to look back at what you have accomplished and enjoy the journey.  :Smilie:

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## president_ltd

[posted to both ICF extension project & ICF house build in Adelaide] 
Hi sundancewfs & Belair_Boy:
I'm sure I'm not the only one that really enjoys seeing progress on each of these and would love to know how they are proceeding (no matter how slow or more whoa than go.) 
Any updates or, pictures for us ICF tragics??
Would love to hear how well the build in Melbourne stood up in the last couple of weeks' hot weather.

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## sundancewfs

Hi president_ltd. 
I agree, we need to see a lot more of Belair's progress! 
Progress here has all but stopped over the summer period. 3 kids on holidays (and my wife with generous leave) means we have been holidaying. I did sit down and write out a list of things to do a week ago..... when I got to the bottom of the first sheet of A4 paper I got despondent and gave up....  :Biggrin: 
The two older kids are both at school this year and that will leave me at home with just the 18 month old. This should free up a lot of time.
I did put two towel rails up in the ensuite bathroom last week.....
Oh and this coming week is a Mother-in-Law week......  :Biggrin:

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## Bloss

> Hi president_ltd.
> The two older kids are both at school this year and that will leave *me at home with just the 18 month old. This should free up a lot of time.*

  There speaks a man who should know better . . .    :Biggrin:  Ask your wife if you don't . . .  :Wink:

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## sundancewfs

> There speaks a man who should know better . . .    Ask your wife if you don't . . .

  
Hehehe.... I know Bloss, I should know better..... He'll take up just as much time as the other too did. 
As for the wife.....I am the wife  :Biggrin: ..... or house husband at least. Have been now for 8 years.....

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## wozzzzza

any further progression on this??

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## sundancewfs

My wife wishes  there was some progress Wozzzzza!  :Biggrin: 
This year has been an interesting one.
With two kids at the local primary school this year, I joined the PFA (parents and friends association) 
I now have a much better understanding about how and why fund-raising is so important to state schools.....
Hence, this year I initiated a fundraising program. It took a bit of convincing the other (all women) commitee members that it would work, but they were game to give it a try. At the beginning of the year we started a scrap metal drive. The goal was to collect a trailer load (8x5) of metal per month,(by appointment, no scavanging)  raising approx $100 per trailer. This would raise us $1200.00 for the year. As it has turned out..... so far I have moved 24 tons of scrap and we have raised over $6500.00. A very successful program, but quite time consuming too! 
And so...... building has taken somewhat of a back seat....
I have build a porch over the doors of the shed though, and fitted the base plywood staircase downstairs to the living area, but..... that's about it for the whole year.... 
Oh and at the age of 47, I decided to take up gymnastics.... (Our daughter has had a very successful year, rating as one of the top gymnasts for her level in the state) So I decided to give it a try too..... When I started I was 85kg. I'm now 68kg and a LOT stronger. I train 4 hours a week, at nights and have even started competing myself.
So that's news from me.... 
Things are starting to quieten down about now and I'm hoping, as the weather fines up to get stuck back into it.  :Biggrin:

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## PenderleaBurrow

Wow Sundance. What a read! Hope the gymnastics are going well. If I didnt have an icf build of my own going I'd offer to come and help get you going. I did 4 years at home looking after my daughter myself but didn't get much building done. Definitely worth it though. Anyhow, I have a couple of quick questions despite your well described posts to date. What are the different foams you used? Especially the orange one to fill gaps in the ICF. I think I might have one or two gaps. :Redface: ) Putting roof colorbond sheets on next week and also getting 36 windows delivered so need low expansion foam for them.  Where did you source them from?
Cheers, merry Christmas and may the force be with you!
PenderleaBurrow

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## johnstonfencing

Any updates on this one? Enjoyed reading and watching this but it came to a sudden halt!

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## Armers

Its been almost 12months since hes been online too :@!?

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## wozzzzza

well its been 2 years, any more progress??

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## phild01

Hopefully his email is working.

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## sundancewfs

> Hopefully his email is working.

  Yep it is.....  :Redface: )
So am I......
It got to the stage I just couldn't keep posting and working. Life has a way of speeding up as the kids get older.
I'll see if I can dig up some progress pics and post  them up.
As a quick summary, we now have a deck on the back of the house, a 275m2 concrete driveway and the downstairs living and kitchen area very close to finished. Concrete floor has finally after 8 years been covered with spotted gum flooring.
Stay tuned! ;-)

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## phild01

Thanks Sundance, glad you are still with it.

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## Armers

Oh hey!! He's alive! Looking forward to some of these photos! Welcome back to the fray mate!

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## sundancewfs

one of the recent projects we did was to lay spotted gum floating floor in the family room down stairs. After 7 years living with a brown painted slab this is a welcome change!

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## PenderleaBurrow

Welcome back. Thought we had lost you! Keep up the posting!
Cheers
Greg

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## sundancewfs

A new concrete driveway was also on the go this year. 275m2 of concrete made a big difference to the levels of dust and mud being traipsed into the house!
This was our mock up of a Commodore SV6. same wheel base, same clearance. As you can see.... it's not going down the old driveway anytime soon! We used this to make sure when the earthworks were done that we had sufficient clearance to get in and out. We don't have a Holden.... but it always pays to think about the next person who might buy your house... If they can't get their car in the driveway, you may lose potential buyers.

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## Moondog55

Gobsmacked

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## Armers

Wow wow wow, looks awesome!

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## wozzzzza

gee, a lot of concrete there. I had hard enough time laying a 20m2 slab.

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## phild01

> gee, a lot of concrete there. I had hard enough time laying a 20m2 slab.

   and you had help didn't you?

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## wozzzzza

yep 2 people and still ended up f**kin it up. maybe 20 people had to help lay the 275m2

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## sundancewfs

So...All these years after we started we did get our final inspection passed. Right before our building inspector retired... Have we finished? 😂 No way in hell! Are we still going hard at it? Not as much as we were. Having started a business put a dent in how much time I can spend working on the house. Covid has given me the opportunity to do some more.

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## Moondog55

Welcome back
When do we get the invite to the housewarming? 2025?

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## joynz

Great news!   
I still remember one of the early photos of your baby with earmuffs on - as you managed to combine both parenting and building!

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## Uncle Bob

Wow! Great to see ya  drop in again Sundance!

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