# Forum More Stuff Go to Whoa!  Draffa's House

## Draffa

Some years ago, I was looking to buy a house.  I actually ended up buying a vacant block of land, and promptly started plotting a house to build on it.  As with most plans by amateurs, things went slowly.  I probably did ten major revisions of the floorplan before settling on one basic design.  The first image shows the upper floor.  The ground floor was seperated into halves, one half as garage, the other half as rumpus.  As you can see, there was to be a verendah on three sides (couldn't fit it on the 4th). 
After several redrawings of the plans, more than a little procrastination on my part, and several weeks of back-and-forth with the Certifier (original certifier was the council-owned one, then the council closed it down, outsourced everyones plans to other Certifiers, and didn't bother telling me about mine, causing more delays), the plans were finally approved.  But it was still going to be months and months before anything happened.  I did have my Owner Builder permit in hand, though. 
During Summer, we all know the rains finally returned in a big way, with half the eastern seaboard underwater.  We got away with just a bog for a yard, but one day, while trudging back and forth to the caravan looking for space PC parts to repair a Smoothwall, and looking for a clear, flat surface (_any_ flat surface), I finally blew a fuse.  The next day I drove to one of the local house removers yards and checked out their offerings. 
Three years ago, you couldn't get a house for under a hundred grand, but now, the ars appears to have fallen out of the market, and there were over two dozen houses under $90k, including some 'old' Defence Force houses.  I spent over two hours wandering the yard, making notes.  A week later I went back to have another look at the better houses, and a week later went back again with The Girl to get her opinion.  I settled on one of two houses: one of the Army houses, and an older (1960's era) house.  The Army house was a 'stump and move in' affair, the 1960's needed work but fit better on the block and was cheaper up-front (and hardwood framed). 
A short negotiation period followed.  I got $2k taken off the price, and the yard will remove the asbestos fibro off the front of the house and out of the bathroom, and gave me a perfectly reasonable quote to remove it from the Eaves as well.  They also fix the termite damage in three short main beams (they got wet, and the termites moved in).  My step-father considered it a good buy, and he's a great guide at this sort of thing.  My mother took a look at it yesterday, and also gave it the thumbs up.  And The Girl reckons it's a winner.  So everyone's happy.  Image 2 shows the basic floorplan (not totally accurate, the load-bearing wall is misplaced) and the front of the house. 
For a price of $70k moved and stumped, I couldn't ask for much more.  The absolute lowest cost I could expect the shell of the house I had drawn up to be built for was $60k.  In a twist, I actually end up with more floor area than I had on my own plans. 
Plans for the house are as follows: raise to 3000mm height, slab-to-floorboards.  Steel support structure of some sort.  Will leave the details to the Engineer.Renovate bathroom.  Currently has a shallow bath, but no shower.New kitchen.  Benchtop was destroyed in the original removal process, and while 'it'll do' for now, it really needs replacing.  Poorly designed.Repaint inside and out.  Internal paint is a fetching shade of green at the moment.  :Tongue: Remove part of load-bearing internal wall to allow for internal stairs.  Existing uprights will be retained where possible to maintain structural integrity.  Removal of the wall will also improve airflow through the house.Verendah front and back, possibly down one side, depending on result of Boundary Relaxation application.  Back verendah will be 3m deep, front verendah will be 2m deep at the bedrooms and ~5m deep beside the loungeroom.Remove 'secondary' shower and linen cupboard.  The shower has a concrete base and is leaking, resulting in the floorboards abutting the base getting dry rot, so some of the floorboards have to come out as well.  The space currently occupied by the shower/linen will be turned into a huge pantry, and will also house the chest freezer and chest fridge.Pull roof off and install Sisal or something directly underneath the tin.  Put roof back on, then install insulation in the ceiling as well.  Might be able to do this when it's moved, as the roof might have to come down anyway.Relocate switchboard to opposite corner of the house, and consider re-wiring.  Also network the entire house. 
One thing I'm undecided on is how to enclose the ground floor.  Like the original plan, half of it will be garage and half will be rumpus.  The question is what to use.  Based on a price of $100m2, coolroom-style panelling (with fireproof foam) will set me back about $13k.  Single thickness bricks come in at about the same price but I can get the bricks cheaply if I'm patient.

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## Bloss

Hebel panels might be worth a look - not cheap, but easy to install and fast too. Hebel : Wall Systems

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## Draffa

The PowerClad looks interesting.  You say they're not cheap, any idea on costs per m2 to supply?

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## Draffa

Drafter has sent me two versions of the house plans.  I've made modifications and sent them back. 
Still no response from Bondor about their wall panels. 
Wondering if I should get three-phase installed.  The house has ducting etc installed for central air-con (no actual condenser unit, that got chopped off when the house was moved) and I want to run welders and stuff, so I could probably get away with claiming a 'need'.  Read elsewhere on the net that a new 3ph connection is only about $60 more than a single-phase.  Does that sound right?  Either way, I'll probably have to trench it, as the cables will (bearly) overhang neighboring properties.

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## barney118

Welcome, will look forward to photos of your transformation.

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## Draffa

Prop3 was recieved from the drafter.  Almost there.  Sent back with final modification.  Fingers crossed.

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## andy the pm

> One thing I'm undecided on is how to enclose the ground floor. Like the original plan, half of it will be garage and half will be rumpus. The question is what to use. Based on a price of $100m2, coolroom-style panelling (with fireproof foam) will set me back about $13k. Single thickness bricks come in at about the same price but I can get the bricks cheaply if I'm patient.

  Have a look at weathertex, they do an architectural panel over timber/steel frame which might be suitable, don't know the m2 cost though. Weathertex Products - Timber made perfect

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## Draffa

Revision B of Prop 4 (!) has been received and approved.  Engineering (slab, bracing) is also complete.  Invoice from the Certifiers has also been received.  All now due for payment (will do that on Monday).  All moving ahead nicely.

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## Draffa

Second most expensive week of my life so far (edged out by the Deposit on the house).  Paid for Drafting, Engineering, and Certifiers.  All out of my hands, now. 
Still no reply from Bondor, so I gave them a bell this morning and got a price (before delivery, I assume, didn't think to ask) on their panels.  The lovely woman on the phone said regular Bondorpanel @ 50mm would be fine for my requirements.  The price was under $50/m2!  That's half of what I was conservatively estimating, so I'm stoked with that.  The savings basically covered all the plans etc that I just paid. 
Now I'm confused about the verandah roofing (at some stage in the future I had intended to pull the existing roof sheeting off so I could put Sisal directly underneath, but if the movers have to drop the roof, I might just get them to do it).  Even here on this forum, opinion seems to be mixed about the legality of doing my own roofing (actually connecting the stormwater, that's a plumbers job), even with a O/B permit.  Step-father says no, house removers says yes if a plumber signs off on it.  I'll have to head into Council and ask what's ok by them, since they'll be the ones stamping the occupancy permit.

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## fishnmick

Nothing to stop you doing your own roof in Qld.

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## Draffa

Asked the Removers to quote me on putting up the frame of the verendahs (didn't fancy trying to locate 6m uprights all by myself).  Price nearly knocked me out of my chair!  Think i'll hire a chippie and do it myself at that price. 
Now waiting on a Pest Inspection (didn't know that was compulsory.  I thought it was just for the owners peace of mind).

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## Draffa

This has taken far.  Too.  Long.
Had I know the delays that would occur, I'd have taken a few weeks holiday earlier in the year and pulled the external walls off the ends of the house, crammed insulation in them, covered with foil, and replaced the boards, to save me doing it once the house is 3m in the air.  Ah well. 
I now have a date for the house to move, and today all the asbestos sheeting is due to be removed from the laundry, bathroom, external loungeroom, and eaves.  The internal roof (more asbestos sheeting) is being left as-is because I'm not touching it (I do hope the person who cut holes in the sheeting for the central air ducts for the previous owner used breathing protection :eek: )    I crawled up into the ceiling last week to have a look, and found that there is already foil insulation under the roofing iron, so that's a job that can now wait a few years.  Also found that the central air unit is installed right next to the manhole, and is nicely blocking access to the rest of the roof.  The drainage pipes are also installed directly above the manhole. #goodgoing 
Quotes for rewiring the house are about $2000 more than I expected.  Slab will also be about $2000 more than expected.  The pad (which is a work of art by my step-father) has cost me about $500, plus the hire of the biggest godammed compactor I've ever seen (13T.  The sort you see on highway construction).  A thousand years from now, archeologists are going to be studying the site and trying to decipher the religious aspect of it.  It's a lot of material, but I console myself with the fact I'm using what is essentially unwanted (concrete waste), so the embodied energy is already basically spoken for by the first use of it.

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## shauck

I am dying for some pics. When you get the chance.

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## Draffa

Sorry.  Here's a few: 
Little Takehuchi 8T excavator spreading the gavel on top of the concrete waste  
The finished pad  
Only shot of the exterior I can find atm:

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## Draffa

This wall is coming out (load-bearing):  
Central Air unit blocking access to the roof cavity:  
Should a a few more once I go through my external drive and the girlfriends' laptop.

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## shauck

Awesome. Love the windows all round.

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## Draffa

The house is being loaded onto the trailers today, so, barring unfortunate mishaps, acts of god, and the general conspiring of fates, it'll be on the block tomorrow.  :Smilie:

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## Draffa

The house is now on-site, joined up, water proof (except for the non-existent front door, but that's under the large verendah overhang, so it'll probably be fine...).  It was supposed to leave the storage yard at about 5AM, and get to site at about 530, but the movers could only get two cops instead of four, so they had to leave early so they could make two trips, so they were going to leave at 330.  We arrived on site at 345 to find the first half of the house parked on the pad, and everyone about to head off for the second trip.  By the time it was light, the second half was being maneuvered into the driveway (using the driveway of the bloke across the road, who was _not happy_, both about the use, and of being woken up).  The trailers they use these days are so far in advance of what was used even ten years ago: six independently-steerable wheels, all of which can also be independently raised or lowered, a hydraulic ram that moves the hitch backwards or forwards by about a metre, a Ram atop the hitch to raise/lower it, and another ram or set of rams to tilt the trailer side-to-side.  All remote-controlled by a bloke on the ground.  The whole house was joined together and stump holes bored by 930, the Inspector showed at 10, and it was watertight at 11.  Very impressive. 
 The removal team will be back tomorrow to lower the house onto the stumps, which were set into concrete just after lunchtime.  It's much higher than the surrounding houses (I has a Cletus moment when upstairs at the end of the day: "I can see my house from here.  "HEY MA!  GIT OFF THE DANG ROOF!"), but because of the colour, blends in pretty well with both the houses in front and bushland behind.  
As seen from the road and the council land.

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## shauck

Fantastic! You must be really excited to finally have the house on site.

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## sundancewfs

Draffa, your going to need scaffolding to get in the front door! :Biggrin:

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## Draffa

I've just got to get some threaded rod and some 75*12mm screws to finish tying the house down (papparently saved myself some money by doing it myself), and she's all ready.  They even found and installed the front door and screen.  :Smilie:    

> Fantastic! You must be really excited to finally have the house on site.

  After all the delays, it hasn't really sunk in yet.  Probably Monday when I start actually working on it (and by working, I mean bashing horsehair plaster off a wall and skinning Masonite off others).
Because it came in so early in the morning, Mum didn't get to see it, so she's pretty disappointed, and The Girl was stuck at work (unnecessarily, as it turned out), so she's ropeable, but it's all here now.  Time to get stuck in.  :Smilie:    

> Draffa, your going to need scaffolding to get in the front door!

  Just about!  the step is about 3200 above the pad.  Next Saturday, I'm planning on getting a start on the back verendah (I probably should have gotten the movers to drill the postholes and concrete in stirrups while they were doing the holes for the main house).

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## shauck

> Just about!  the step is about 3200 above the pad.

  Might need a decent sized landing with a comfy park bench for those who want to rest half way through the journey  :Biggrin:

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## Draffa

> Might need a decent sized landing with a comfy park bench for those who want to rest half way through the journey

   :Biggrin:  
Got three of four downpipes temporarily connected today, feeding any water over the side of the pad and into the grass next to the silt fence.  Good timing too, as it's raining now.  The fourth downpipe was damaged in the original move to the storage yard (so before I bought it), so for now, I'm just going to drive some stakes into the ground and stretch some hessain over them, to slow the falling water down.  Once the verendahs are up, all the downpipes will be permanently attached.

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## Draffa

Is it normal for Asbestos removers to leave bits of the infernal stuff stuck around nails?  I ask, because everywhere Asbestos sheeting has been removed, the nails are still in place, with Asbestos sheeting stuck around them.

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## racingtadpole

Three words mate. 
GET THEM BACK!! 
They have removed asbestos and left unsealed, disturbed friable edges. Breaches codes in all states and territories. 
Besides that you aint got what you paid for, which was all the asbestos you asked for gone.

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## Draffa

> GET THEM BACK!!

  Spoke to the removers, and they've gotten in touch with the subbie who does the Asbestos.  He's coming back in a day or two to complete the job (he's gonna need scaffolding, as the eaves are now about 7m up in the air, but that's his problem). 
Have gotten all the awful, awful lino tiles up off the laundry, kitchen, hallway, and toilet floors, have pulled up the carpet in the second hallway, lifted the Lino in two bedrooms (and having read in another thread about Lino containing Asbestos, man am I glad I've been wearing a Respirator), and similarly lifted the Masonite underlay from where the tiles were (and kept all the good bits, to use to cover the floor until it gets sealed).  I also lifted a strip of carpet in the loungeroom and found how the termites (long since killed) made they way from the softwood 'in-fill' out front to the laundry: under the carpet underlay.  Must have been like a highway for them!  Fortunately, they've only nibbled on a few floorboards, so not too much damage.  I probably should have left all the floor coverings in place for some more time, but the dust was insane, so they had to go.
Stripped the half-round bits of wood that were covering the gaps in the masonite sheets on the walls of three bedrooms and took off all the skirting.  Behind the sheets in the front bedroom I expect to find more whiteant damage, as there's quite a bit of 'dust' coming out the gap between sheets.  Also got the locksmith out and got new keys cut for all the security screens, so now I can air the place out. 
This morning, Bob West (Bobkat) and George McNabb (Tree Lopper/crane hire) came out and we put up my power pole.  Unfortunately, the Makita drill I bought this morning couldn't handle a 16mm Auger into hardwood, and my 3/8ths drill wasn't long enough to use to drill a pilot hole, so once the pole settles, guess who's getting on a ladder 7m in the air and drilling the hole for the POE hook?  Anyway, now that that's done, I can get the sparky arranged and finally get power on, at least to the meterbox, at which point the angle grinder comes out and all the old piping gets removed.  Bob West also used his auger to drill the holes for the verendah posts (if I'd thought ahead before the house was moved, I'd have gotten the removers to do that while they were boring and concreting the house posts, but ah well).  Fenced them all off with safety tape so no cretins fall into them while nosing around at night. 
Apart from that, I've also spent quite a bit of money at both The Big Green Shed and the local hardware.  I should have been buying tools for the last six months, but there's been nowhere to put them, so I'm basically have to do a full days work on the house, then take a day off and buy tools and do the usual running-around and organising.  Tools are worse than JB HiFi.  You go in thinking you'll just buy X, and come out $200+ lighter.  Just the damage this morning was four bags of pre-mix, four Augers, and a Makita drill.  Thursday it was stirrups and assorted small tolls from the local, the 16m auger from Bunnies, and the POE hook.
By the time construction is finished, I'll have a great set of tools I'll probably never use again!  :Biggrin:  
Tell you what, the Removers did a bang-up job on the house.  Everything is within about 2mm, and only four windows in the whole house won't open.  Even all the doors shut!  :Smilie:

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## Draffa

In a shocking twist, the Asbestos bloke didn't show... 
I spent the day on site ripping more Masonite off the walls, and cutting up the last of the carpet (loungeroom) into manageable strips, and then turfing it out the front door.  I've no got no floor coverings throughout the house, and two of the four bedrooms are now stripped of their masonite apart from around the door frames (that's Monday's job).  One bedroom is walled in horsehair plaster, the final bedroom is half stripped, but I need a second person to help me take down a office knook in one piece (I'm trying to save as much as I can, even the Masonite.  Never know what I might use it for next month). 
As expected, when I took the Masonite off the front wall of one of the bedrooms, i got showered in whiteant dust.  What I didn't expect to happen was to take half the studs with the masonite!  A large portion of the wall in that room is going to have to be completely replaced, which means taking the weatherboards off the outside as well.  And to be on the safe side, I'll probably have to take two of the walls off in the Master bedroom as well. 
Oh bother, said Pooh... 
Gotta love renos!  :Biggrin:  
The poor old car is struggling with the trailerloads I'm taking to the tip.  On... Thursday?... I went over the scales and tipped 1.82T (car, trailer, load).  FSM only knows what tomorrows load of carpet will weigh in at.

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## goldie1

Vinyl asbestos tiles were made in the 60s nine inch square then in the late 60s early 70s twelve inch square (305mm) mid 70s to mid 80s made in 300mm square. 
They are a solid colour through the tile top to bottom. They are still made but with out the asbestos of course in 300mm square so nine inch and twelve inch 
are asbestos 300mm are maybe asbestos depending when they were made. They ones in the pic of the loadbearing wall to be removed look like them.

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## Draffa

Ended up being completely unable to get up the ladder to drill and install the POE eye bolt.  I could get up far enough to tie the ladder to the pole, but leaning out up there, 7M up, handling a drill through hardwood?  Fugedaboudit.  So I hired a 'little' cherry picker from R&R Hire.  $220 for 4 hours hire.  I don't know what it weighed, but I reckon it was just about at the limit of the poor old Hilux.  The auto-level feature was handy for a first-time user: start the engine, two toggle switches down, hold down a third toggle switch, and the four outriggers lowered and jacked the trailer up level, at which point you could climb into the basket and do your thing.  Even then, it's a bit of a freaky feeling as the basket sways and shudders as you manuever into position.  But once you're up there, and going about your work, you get used to it pretty easily.  At least, until the drill you're using jams on something halfway through the pole and spins out of your hands (when one of those Ozito Spade Handle drills hooks on something, just let go, or it'll break your wrist).  Fortunately, the auger was far enough in that the drill just hung there instead of heading earthward.  :Smilie: 
After the hole was drilled, the eye bolt was installed, the metal cap hammered into position and nailed in place, and the old earth wire removed.  Had the picker back to the hire mob within two hours.
Although it was money I shouldn't have had to spend (If I'd had a capable drill before the pole was put up, I would have had the bolt already in place), it's probably the best 'tool' money I've spent yet.  Can't build a house if you've fallen off a ladder and broken something. 
As for the Asbestos, I had a bloke come around today to give me a quote on removing the ceilings from three bedrooms, both hallways, the toilet, and the kitchen splashback.  To say that he was unimpressed by the efforts of the AR who did the eaves/laundry/bathroom is a massive understatement.  And although I've been wearing a respirator for the whole time th house has been onsite, he all but told me to shave the beard off if I'm going to be working inside the house until it's cleared of contamination, which probably isn't a bad idea (The girlfriend is not going to be pleased.  "It'll grow back, right?!"  :Biggrin:  ).

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## Draffa

Not much has happened lately.  I've got the trenches for power, phone, and water dug, the conduit, cables, and pipe run, and trenches filled back in.  Energex has installed a meter for the 3-phase (it was only about $250 extra to go three-phase, so why not).  The final footing holes for the verendah were bored, and the concrete poured later that day, then I emplaced the stirrups. 
Big holdup is the verendah.  I couldn't get recycled timber in the right sizes for the posts, so I had to get new cut (as well as getting new-cut joists, since I didn't want to go with a rigamarole of getting new plans drawn up which account for ungraded timber).  Unfortunately, the contractor who delivers for the timber yard has his truck out of action, and wasn't able to deliver on Wednesday.  The bloke I've teed up to help me put the frame up is only available Wed and Sat, and is out of town this Sat anyway, so it's now going to be _next_ Wed before I get my timber.
The asbestos removers would prefer not to work on the house until there's a set of stairs, and I can't to the insulation, internal walls, or get the sparkie back or the plumber in until the asbestos is gone. 
Now that the power is on, I spent some time with an angle grinder taking down all the old metal piping under the house, and also finished installing the tie-downs into the main beams. 
Because I've had to wait extra time for the timber to arrive, I've had to beg my boss for another two weeks holidays, which means I'll now be returning to work straight into the teeth of the Christmas rush.  :Frown:

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## shauck

Not having an easy time of it. Hope it picks up for you.

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## Draffa

Well, it's basically just the verendah that's holding everything up (and the two and a half week wait for the house to arrive initially).  Once the verendah skeleton is in I expect everything will go quite smoothly. 
The old boy came back from Holidays yesterday, and today he went back to work, but before he did, he connected the water up to the house, so now I at least have a tap I can use.  Once the Asbestos is done, I can go about getting water to the rest of the house. 
Also got hold of a rotating laser level.  I put the stirrups in by eye for height, and by and large, they're pretty good, except for the two at the 'far end' of the house, which are low enough to require remedial work (which will consist of either welding extensions to the 'wings' or just cutting them off and adding a piece of tube to extend the height).  No biggie.  They're all in line, which is the big thing.  :Biggrin:  
I've changed my mind about putting a shed in the backyard (it was going to be a Man Palace.  3.5 bays and about 7m deep).  Instead, I'm thinking of putting an underground water tank out the front, between the verandah and the rock wall (which gives me a tank about 3000 wide and 7000 long).  If it's 3000 deep, that's 63kL of storage.  For one person using 150L/day, it'd be basically perpetually full (14 months supply with no rainfall).  On top of that, I can put a odd-shaped garage, which gives me enough space for another work area plus enough space to squeeze two small cars in side-by-side at the front if I so chose.  Then I could extend the verahdah out over the top of it in the future.
The tank, garage, and additional verandah can wait, though.  Plenty of time for them later.

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## Draffa

After a day and a half work (over a week and a half), about two-thirds of the back verendah is up.  It'd go quicker if I had proper scaffolding, be we have to made do with Baileys ladders atm, since I haven't been able to get to any auction lately where scaffolding is available.  When I didn't have the wood available, the chippie could work two full days a week.  Now that I have the wood on-site, his SWMBO has put the foot down and he's gotta do a bunch of stuff at home, so no work will happen for the next two weeks.  :Frown: 
In any case, all but one external post is up, and the two short posts to frame the stairwell still have to go up, but considering the chippie has me helping him, I reckon we did allright.  :Biggrin: 
  Yesterday, after the posts and beams were put up the day before, I went back to the block and put up all the joists I could, so three of the five 'bays' are now fully-installed, and just waiting on the decking and roofing.  Just after I finished the last joist, I sat down and had a drink, planning to do the cleanup in five minutes time.  Two minutes later, I watched a QLD Summer Storm sheet its way across the parkland.  So there I am, out in the pouring rain, hurridly hauling timber and tools back into the container in some semblence of order.  And true to form, just after I finished, the rain eased off to a light drizzle.  :Biggrin:  
I've given up on getting Dodgit-n-Run Asbestos Removals back to clean up their mess, and have engaged a more reputable mob to both remove the Asbestos ceilings from part of the house, finish the previous bodgy job, and decontaminate the house.  After that, the sparky and plumber can come in. 
EDIT: Five bays, not six

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## shauck

That's gonna be a beautiful verandah. Great for looking out over the world.

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## Draffa

The verendah looked big on the plans, then small when the stirrups went in, and now it's big again.  The house looked 'decent sized' in the storage yard, but is huge now that it's on site and up in the air!  :Biggrin:  The actual joists are 'mixed hardwood', and so range in colour all the way from grey to deep red to almost yellow, which gives the structure something of an anarchic nature.  :Smilie:   Looks good, though.  Just have to throw up some temporary flooring so the tradies can walk around on the deck.  Fortunately, my planning ahead and buying a removal with an extra bedroom over an above what I would need has come in handy, as my brother and his partner may need somewhere to live in a month or two.  The (cheap) rent can help pay off the loan.  :Smilie:  
Edit: Went back down the block today and stuck a bucket nailed to a heavy lump of wood below the damaged gutter, to try to stop the water eroding the driveway.  The silt fence is catching everything, but the more I can stop in the first place, the better.  And got a shot of the verendah in its current state:   
After the heavy rain yesterday and overnight, the joists are all weathering towards a more or less uniform yellow-ish colour, apart from one defiant joist at the end.meanwhile, at The Olds house...:

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## Draffa

Noticed on Monday that when Energex came and connected power to the pole, they'd changed out the POE hook I'd installed for one about 30cm longer. *shrug*

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## Draffa

> That's gonna be a beautiful verandah. Great for looking out over the world.

  Yep, 'Queensland Living'.  Gotta love it.  The front of the house has a 'crank' in it, because the bedrooms stick out past the loungeroom, so half the front verendah is going to be 50mm shy of 5m wide!  :Shock:  I'll live outside in Summer! 
As posted the Asbestos Removers. Your Experiences, a new Asbestos Removal company has been called in, both to clean up the mess left by the original removers (who have now cost me about six weeks of time, as, understandably, no one wants to do internal work while there's Asbestos fibres floating around), and to remove some internal ceilings that I didn't previously realise were Asbestos until I removed the architraves and Masonite walls sheets (and while the architraves are off, I figure I might as well get rid of the Asbestos). 
55mm of rain overnight meant the driveway was a little slippery:   
I had to laugh.
The internal ceilings have been removed and are sitting upstairs all wrapped and sealed in plastic.  Due to the constant rain, the eaves weren't done, but will be next week, and at the same time,the Asbestos sheets will be removed and final cleanup will be done.
Then I can finally get some real work done.

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## sundancewfs

"Geeez, I know I dropped my contact lens around here somewhere....."   :Biggrin:

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## Jim Carroll

I can relate to that, many years ago we moved into a new house with the 2 strip driveway. One morning dad was leaving for work and we heard the tyres spin then clunk.
Went outside and her is the HT wagon sitting on a funny angle.
It had rained heavily overnight and the clay soil had spread over the concrete and put a sliperry film down and the car slid sideways.
Took us a couple of hours of jacking up and blocking and pushing to get it back on track.
The next day dad rang around and organised the driveway to be concreted fully.

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## Draffa

Silly question, but for my unsealed floorboards, running over them with a water-only mop (to clear away any remaining asbestos debris) isn't going to mark them, is it?

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## shauck

I would think that vaccum (a really good one) as thoroughly as possible, especially down the cracks and not too much water on the mop.

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## Draffa

Without a HEPA vac, that'd just spread any remaining Asbestos fibres around. 
I ended up spraying the floor with a mist of water, just enough to settle the dust and make it clump, then swept the floors and put the debris into a garbage bag, then gave the floors a once-over with a Oates mop with throw-away towlette type covers.  Only managed to get one room per cover, though.  So much dirt. 
And there are still nails everywhere!  The floorboards are nailed down with bulletheads, which are all fine, but there's flatheads all over the place, and not lined up with the joists, and half of them are bent over and pounded flat, so I can't for the life of me think what they might be for.

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## shauck

> Without a HEPA vac, that'd just spread any remaining Asbestos fibres around.

  That would have been "a really good one"  :Biggrin:

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## Draffa

A really _really_ good one.  :Biggrin:  
I had intended to spend Sunday putting up the remaining joists on the sections of the verandah that have been erected, but woke up late then got stuck talking with The Girl's father, so there went the morning.  Instead, i did it on Monday.  With an Apparent Temperature (from the closest BoM site) of 38.3 degrees at midday.  I drank at least 2L of water on-site and another 2 back at home, and still didn't need to pee until this morning, but almost all the joists were put up (what didn't get put up are because they're bowed to buggery).

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## Draffa

A little bit of progress.  The Engineers returned from holidays and they've drawn up a slab plan for me (why I didn't get one in the first place is a mystery to me) and clarified a few other questions I had.  But there was another two weeks delay because they were trying to get money from the house remover for some reason. 
Anyway, the sewer connections are all done, so now the slab can go in.  Once that's done the ground floor wall panels ca go in, and I can lock up downstairs. 
As an aside, why is it nearly impossible to get a response in a reasonably prompt timeframe from professionals, either white- or blue-collar?  You call and call and call, and nobody returns calls or they're 'in a meeting' or out of the office.

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