Foundations

The building inspector passed the foundation formwork and site footings.

So today was concrete day, an early start, 7.00am, the sun rise was brilliant with a heavy frost on the ground, but with a frost you normally get a great day.

We weren't disappointed, the temperature got to about 17 degrees and a clear still day, (midwinter!) global warming?

The Avenue

Sometimes you need the help of some heavy machinery to get things done.

I did for a fleeting moment think I might be able to do it with some hire machinery but sense prevailed...

The Trenches

The trenches were dug, average of 2 meters depth, the cables and pipe laid and then filled in, never to be seen again, I hope!

Catchup

Have come to a halt in the construction, rain, hurricane force winds of 140km/h, so it's a great opportunity to catch up with the blog.

The trenches have been dug for the drainage, power and telephone, the drive has been constructed, together with the entrance so now there's no excuse for delays due to access.

The drive is looking good with the Almonds, Beech and Poplars that we have planted over the last couple of years, although I think we will remove the Poplars as they have a bad habit of sending out very long roots searching for water, bad mistake.

The concrete pad/foundation will be placed next week, I will need to wait for about two weeks before I can start building the frame.

I will post some pics of the progress later.

Onwards

On with the project...

I dug the foundations out for the concrete pad to be placed. It never ceases to amaze me how the dirt expands when you are digging a hole.

I think it worked out that I moved about 25 cubic meters of earth.

For a secure pad for the foundations to sit on, I had delivered 30 tonnes of metal base course (stones and sand) that's 3 big truck loads, it arrived on Friday my birthday, hurrah!

Had a very entertaining day spreading and leveling the site, I was a little tired, but still had the energy to celebrate. We both went out to a local bistro for dinner for 'the birthday' and the start of stage 1 of the build.

The food was brilliant, happy time, and like all 'responsible' adults, decided to walk home as we both had drunk a 'number' of relaxing wines.

The Grand Plan

We have decided to sell the current house as I need more space to be able to continue with the artistry, my painting technique can become a a bit untidy and I tend to fill the available space, so a dedicated area would be great.

The current house is in the corner of the plot (section), we will still have about 4700 square meters to use for the new construction.

The design will be in two stages, the barn which will house our bedroom, studio/office and living area (this will become a small gallery when stage 2 is completed), while the build of the main section of the house is completed.

The barn will give us a place to live while we sell the existing house, giving us the $'s to build stage 2.

The Artist

In between building and landscaping I have been painting (that’s the arty kind) it's something that I have been doing on and off as long as I can remember, but this is the first time I have treated it like a job.
Total commitment is a must when I am painting or drawing and if it is not working 'right' to stop and start again, and keep on doing it, until you get the spontaneous look to the brush strokes, color and the layout.
I think you can liken it to an actor learning their lines.

Last week I sold my first painting…

I sketched it 3 times to get the layout correct and painted it 2 times to achieve the color balance correct, our son was over from the UK acted as art director (his job in London)
It was good to have someone I could trust to be a honest critic – not an easy job.
Family and friends can be very bad critics as they can say things that you want to hear.

Completed!

The house was completed, the end result a 3 double bedrooms plus upstairs office studio attic and 2 bathrooms.

It now has been finished for 18 months, all the planting around the garden have made the house look as if it's always been there.

Would we ever 'do' a relocated house again?
The answer is an emphatic No!
With what we needed to do to bring it up to current standards it would have been cheaper to build a NEW house.

Reconstruction

The house had a new bay window and a veranda installed, the interior seriously remodeled, with the ceilings put back to the original height, all the windows removed and french doors installed.
The house was insulated under-floor, walls and ceiling

Doors

During the 6 month wait I made all the Windows and French doors that I had incorporated into the design, yes, I had also done all the architectural drawings with a little help of a friend who was a architectural designer.

I had never made anything quite like these before, I needed to buy some woodworking equipment, drop saw and a thicknesser, the models I chose were made by RYOBI, big mistake both items were not up to standard.

I couldn't get a straight cut on the saw, it wasn't until much later in a fit of desperation that the machine was pulled apart – the cutting guide was not straight and the bolt holding the saw was loose on the bearing, both manufacturing faults. The thicknesser worked but after stripping it down during the blade change I found the pressure rollers were made out of centre , which made getting a perfectly smooth finish impossible.
The lesson: don't buy cheap RYOBI equipment made in China!

I completed all the doors and widows made from Red Cedar, all painted and glazed ready for installation, this exercise saved about $9000.00.