Thread: Building progress shots

Hi TTIT - lol - it sure is built solidly! I love these old sleepers - I even thought of milling some of them to use as panels in furniture or doors - with the rustic surface being the feature, of course!!

Thanks Wayne - lol - Steve put the door frames together with those huge 250 mm nails (more like big spikes), and then batten screws from the outside of the joint at the overhang bit, and then we lifted them up - 3 (sometimes 4) of us. Some of them are about 2m across the top, as they are for double doors - so they weigh a fair bit! And don't worry - the doors won't be 'normal' either! Some we are buying (external ones with plenty of glazing for more light), but I want to make most of the internal ones to suit this part of the house.

Cheers,

Jill

Hi all,

Here are the latest pics for any interested! We laid 90 blocks yesterday in about 7 hours, and lay about 25 or more on 3 or 4 weeknights as well....so the walls are going up fast.

Cheers,

Jill

Great stuff Jill,

Q: do you shape the blocks to fit the posts (pic 3) yourselves? A major labour of love if you do...

Looking super

Thanks Steve - (my!) Steve milled the logs to take the limestone blocks with our mobile sawmill prior to standing them - so it is neat & easy to just brick up into that rebate. You can see it in the last pic.

'Scuse the building mess around the place!

Cheers,

Jill

Jill or others this may be a stupid Q. but your brick laying is something we'd like to do when our building comes around but,... if bricks are a solid product and trees are wood then wood moves slightly with seasonal change so do you get a gap between the tree and bricks ...if so how does one compensate for this?......... mmmm strange q. oh learned one . Tonto

Hi Tonto - the rebate will hide any shrinkage on the perimeter wall logs - but in the places in the internal walls where we've cut the log flat where it joins the limestone wall, we will later use a matching flexible sealant of some sort. Also, our climate here is temperate, so hopefully with the in-slab heating working when it is cool and moist, keeping the timber dry, and then our dry Summers, hopefully there won't be too much problem.

Cheers,

Jill

Forgot to say, Tonto - the logs that frame the internal walls, and have been cut to have a flat edge, are larger in diameter than the thickness of the limestone, so some will have a timber trim over the join to avoid the shrinkage problem.

Cheers,

Jill

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Amazing work Jill! My back is twinging in sympathy for you and Steve. The photos are doubly appreciated, 1 to see the work you've done and 2 to admire your views.

Cheers
Wendy

Lol Wongo - "Can't you entertain yourself for just FIVE MINUTES?"!!!!

Thanks Wendy - the blocks aren't too heavy really - they are supposedly 16 kg - but would end up heavier after I wash them. This is a lovely spot to live - the bush through the fence is native forest & just gorgeous - marri trees, some jarrah, Aust. grass trees & all the wildflowers and flowering trees from around these parts!

Cheers,

Jill

Originally Posted by Jill

Lol Wongo - "Can't you entertain yourself for just FIVE MINUTES?"!!!!

Once a mother, always a mother!

Always amazed at how much you accomplish. I'm sure you'll enjoy living there when it's finished.

Very nice pictures Jill
I really love the look . every flows together beautifully
it definitely looks heavy duty
john

The blocks look terrific Jill,as do the timber posts and beams.I know the finished product is going to look great.You must be very pleased with your progress so far.The blocklaying looks very neat and tidy as well and that is usually a problem for owner builders as bricklaying is a hand skill that takes quite awhile to learn properly(just ask some of the blokes in the trade these days)It's just as well that you can do these things yourself as my nephew(bricklayer) over in Perth says that it is really busy there with work booked in for months at the moment.
Regards
Terry

Thanks Alex - we're looking forward to moving in, now - coming up the home straight!!!

Thanks, John - heavy duty, alright! Too rustic and earthy for a lot of people, I'm sure, but we'll never get sick of it & it will never 'date' - like the old homes in Europe don't date - and also, natural materials age gracefully.

Thanks, Terry - it is so easy to do neatly, and I am grateful that Steve doesn't have a 'she'll be right' attitude - if a block sinks down too far on it's bed of mortar - it comes out and we re-lay it. The rest is easy to do neatly. The building trades sure are busy over here, alright - I've heard that some building companies are setting prospective settling/moving in dates at 2 yrs hence! And because we enjoy doing it all, it works well that we chose to go this route.

It's so much fun having the walls going up, as I can then measure up for kitchen and laundry & other built-ins for materials lists, plus better picture them done - and finalize designs that have been in my notebook for ages.

Cheers & thanks!

Jill