While Mark was working on the spring boards, Rosalba was applying shellac to the timber floor. The shellac comes in flake form and needs to be dissolved in methylated spirits and then brushed on the floor. Certainly made for interesting times for Rosalba with the metho fumes. Applying shellac is …
We decided to use one of the trees that we had to chop down to make our own skirting boards. We had a local with a portable timber mill cut the trees into boards and Mark has been busy cutting the boards to size and fit them to the walls …
This week Mark finished laying the wooden floor in our bedroom and the walk in wardrobe. He has also done the inital sanding to remove the old floor polish and get the floor ready for puttying.
Floor sanding is very dusty as you can see in the image below. That …
We found some really nice toilet roll holders and towel rings. They are made out of 100% recycled steel and look just gorgeuous.
They arrive yesterday and Mark put them up today.
It's been a while since the last update. Rosalba and Mark have been hard at work on the ensuite. We have finished with the tiles and grouting and have just this week put up the cornices as well with the kind help of Nick.
We have also installed the outside …
As you might already be aware, we have decided to have an outside laundry as we couldn't see the point of using up indoor space for our laundary. In the place we are renting now, we have got an outside laundry and it has been working really well for us …
Mark prepared moved some pavers today to get ready to pour a concrete slab with paver top for our outside loundry.
While moving the pavers, he found dozens of tiny frogs hidding in amongst the pavers. Had to be really carefull not to hurt them moving the pavers.
Mark installed a letter box a fortnight ago and we have already had our first batch of junk mail delivered.
It is a lot less than what we received in Brisbane before we put a no junk mail on our letterbox. I guess the next "big" event will be when …
When the guy at the tiling shop said I could break up the grey tiles by running a strip of blue glass tiles though the middle, he did not allow for my imagination. I decided it should be a stylized waterfall from a mosaic lake. For \$20 I picked up …
Mark has been working on the balustrade again today, adding the uprights to about half the balustrade so far. It's looking more and more finished. On the picture below you can see before on the right and after on the left.
While Mark kept working on the ceilings, I set to work on the fire wall that will surround my wood stove. Mark is working on the bathroom ceiling so no tiling until he's finished. Blocks I am using are timbercrete blocks leftover from building. These blocks are made from waste …
Mark has been working on the wooden ceiling in our bedroom. Even with some interruptions got it half done. Mark's shoulder is a bit sore now from hammering all these nails in up side down.
We are back working on the house this weekend and have discovered a faster and easier method to lay down the recycled wooden floor board. In particular we have found a great method to push the boards hard against each other to leave as small a gap as possible. We …
They are finally done. Rosalba has worked very hard on these magnificent lead lights. Today Mark got to install them all. Thanks to Graeme Lee for being a great and patient instructor. Couldn't have done it without him and his workshop.
We have today worked on the wooden floor in Rosalba's sewing room again and have reached the halfway mark. Unfortunately we ran out of daylight.
This weekend we have started putting the floor boards down in the Rosalba's sewing room. The recycled hard wood floor boards are incredibly hard and no matter how I tried most nails bent had to be pulled out again. So we have decided to investigate nail guns to fix the …
Installing insulation in your home can dramatically reduce the need for heating and cooling and therefore save you quite a lot of money. For instance the room in the picture has been so well insulated that no heating or cooling will be necessary. :-)
We found an easy to follow recipe on the Internet on how to make your own paint. Rosalba tried it today with great success. The paint recipe is really easy to follow. Check it out yourself:
"Buy Hydrated Lime powder (I bought 1.5kg from Bunnings for about \$5) and …
Rosalba and Mark are working on their house again this weekend.
Mark has been working on creating a window frame from scratch for the large louvre window in the walk in wardrobe. In the two pictures below you can see the opening before and after installatioin of the wooden frame …
It's a rainy day here so not much us happening work wise. It is good though to relax a bit, enjoy nature and reflect on what to do next.
Today I've been working on the deck again. This Kookaburra took an interest in my work and didn't feel intimidated by me at all when I got to within arm's length to take the picture.
I guess this is a youngster that is still quite curious... :-)
We have had a question from Mitch if there is a particular trick to rendering upside down, which is why Rosalba is showing us in this video how to apply a clay render upside down.
[Video: Rendering Upside Down — no longer available]
Over the last few months I have been busily working on the deck.
We purchased recycled and new decking timber. The new decking we purchased mainly because we couldn't get enough recycled decking at the time.
In my experience it is a lot nicer to work with recycled decking as …
In November 2010 we've got the our Solar electricity system installed and we've now got electricity throughout the house. It is just great to be able to use some tools now without having to run a noisy generator.
Here are some pictures from our PV system:
The first pictures shows …
Since the workshop, Nick, Roger and Andrew (the brilliant roofer has joined the team) have been hard at work putting on the lime render on the outside.
The first and second coats were pumped on using the long awaited render pump. Nick had ordered and paid for the pump back …
Kat Gawlik (www.forgreenies.com) not only made plenty of pictures at our rendering workshop but has also made a very professional video as can be seen below:
Watch: Render Workshop Video by Kat Gawlik
Thank you Kat for your professional coverage of our rendering workshop.
As you can see from the photos the roof is going on at a rapid rate due to the powerhouse known as Andrew (the roofer). On Wednesday, March 10, 2010 the straw bales will arrive from Nanango. On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 of March, we will have a wall …
Rosalba and I have recently purchased a wood stove, a Crown No 7. When we got it, it had a few cracks which we got our neighbour, Pancho, to fix for us. We have now installed the stove in our shed temporarily, until the house is finished.
We have now …
Rosalba and I have recently been interviewed by a very nice lady that writes for The Ottawa Herald. The interview has now been published and I'll re-create it here linking to the article at The Ottawa Herald would not be very productive. The Ottawa Herald seems to remove articles from …
Solar Girl from the
"Solar Energy - Green Lifestyle for
You" blog has given
our blog an award. Wow, how special is that!
Thank you very much Solar Girl.
These are the rules for "I Love Your Blog" award:
1). Add the logo of the award to your blog. 2). Link …
I changed a desk lamp I already had to use LEDs instead of the CFL tube. I mainly did that because I wanted to do something "crafty" and because I like LEDs and how their light comes with almost no heat.
Of course the LEDs also use less power than …
Just
a quick message to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I reckon 2009 will be a most interesting year for all.
On the house front: Our house plans have gone to a certifier and we hope that early in the new year we will get …
Kin on the Aussie Bloggers Forum was so kind to organise a Secret Santa for forum participants.
Yesterday my secret Santa present arrived and it is an absolute hoot. The bits I received were pretty cool (see image on the right), but the message, which I share with you below …
Last weekend Rosalba and I attended a Strawbale Building Workshop in Yandina. This workshop was part sponsored by our Architect WD Architects. Other supporters included Rockcote, Wildlife Warriors, and the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.
Our tutors where Lance Kairl, and Chris and Colin Newton.
Lance is South Australia's most experienced …
Jean over at the The English Armchair Abroad has tagged me for a post about 6 things you don't yet know about me. Well, let's see what secrets I am willing to give away ... :-)
As August has now finished we have closed the competition for the book of house plans and have drawn the winner. But before I announce the winner I'd like to explain that we have also drawn a runner up and a second runner up in case the winner is not …
As prize in our first ever competition, we are giving away the book of house plans by Peter Lees (pictured on the left). This book contains a large number design sketches but does not contain finished plans. Nevertheless there is enough information to help you work out what you'd like …
About a week ago Journeyer has tagged me for a six word memoir. I thought initially that's going to be easy... I know better now.
Well, here it goes:
"Playing, Working, Searching, Moving, Marrying, Sustainability"
Then again, I'm not so sure about the above. Maybe try the next one instead …
Rosalba, Remy (our son) and I have just moved house this last week from a largish 4 bedroom home to a reasonable sized 3 bedroom home. Foolishly we decided to do most of the moving ourselves.
I think one of our friends upon hearing this has put it best: "You …
Jess at Sustainable Suburbia tagged me for a meme so below is my reply…
Well, that's a long time ago. I'd like to concentrate more on the present and future as we can't change our past. My near term future obviously involves doing …
My friend Neerav has asked me recently to write an article for one of his blogs about our strawbale house. I was deeply flattered by his request as Neerav is one of Australia's top bloggers and I consider myself as an amateur blogger, having only just started.
Neerav has since …
Reading through the current edition of The Owner Builder magazine I have found a small article on page 36 about Bunnings Warehouse offering discounts to registered owner builders.
In most states you need to obtain a permit to be an owner builder. Such a permit can be obtained by sitting …
Rosalba and I had a discussion yesterday whether our home should include a Truth Window. A Truth Window is a section of wall were the straw is covered by a glass plate and a frame instead of render to show unbelievers the truth about the our walls being built out …
Welcome
The purpose of this blog is to track the progress of the strawbale house that my wife and I are about to start building with the help of some professionals, friends and family.
The image in the heading of this site is the view that we'll be having out …