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Howdy, half way through a job and have run short of Zinsser Water Based Floor Finish. Does anyone know of a stockist in Victoria? Our usual supplier in Bairnsdale has change allegiances and no...

Congratulations! It must be a great feeling. We are into our 6th year of building and hope to have it completed next so I can understand how you feel.

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Hope you don't mind but I've rotated them for you.

Good to see the frame going up. Exciting times.

You've buggered it up SB. You're assembling it upside down!

Looking good Superbunny.

Looking good SB. We are just to lockup with BAL rating of 29 so I know what you will need to go through. Most of the things are pretty sensible but there does seem to be some anomalies.

Rickey

Well it's been a big 12 months. I know I've been very slack with the updates.

We hope to have the power on with a fortnight and a flushing toilet! Family Christmas will be in the house (25...

Thanks Ross. We are really looking forward to living there full-time. My wife retires at the end of June next year so that is the timeframe I'm working to. House won't be anywhere near finished but...

Hi Ross, yep I've been a bit busy but slowly getting there. Hopeful of having the footings poured for the house before Christmas ready for the slab early in the new year.

Guest Wing is nearly at...

Stunning! Hope the lawn mower gets better soon. ;-)

Howdy, apologies. I know it's been a while but I have been busy. We are now well under way on the house and hopefully will be up to ground level soon. More on that another time.

Work has stalled...

And last week the roof went on! So now we are up to date. Plan now is to start on the house whilst at the same time work on the Guest Wing. Builder coming up next week to hang the doors and set up...

Another jump forward to get us nearly up to date. Got a chippy in to help with the roof framing. Front wall is a standard stud wall but will be clad with compressed earth blocks on each side to give...

I have a Kioti Daedong LK35. Now have 124 hours on the clock and have been very happy with it. 4 in 1 bucket, 6ft Howard slasher and 1 metre rotary hoe. All good. In hindsight I might have stayed...

Some progress shots of the block work.

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Rickey

So, I got a quote for the blocks and organised delivery - 2 semi-loads. Drivers were brilliant and made it through the gate and up the drive without any problems
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The blocks stacked on the...

So, we got Brian back with the excavator to dig the trenches for the slab perimeters.

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Got the local plumber in for the under slab plumbing. I noticed one minor issue the day before the...

I'll fast-forward a bit to try and get up to date.

In March 2013 we roughly pegged out the site of the guest wing;
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As you can see it will be nestled into the hill beneath the dam bank....

Yes, a good idea on the cans. We ending up buying some purpose made caps for the orchard to see how the went. They make putting the nets on a lot easier but are finding that they fall off just as...

I think what had happened Rod was that it had been on the market that long that Howard had actually forgotten what they had put on it in the first place. Very honest people in the country; ;-)

Hello again. Sorry but have got sidetracked with the building rather than documenting the build. Still moving forward. Just finished framing the roof on the guest wing this morning and passed...

Floor plans and elevations for the guest wing and main house.

Main House:
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Guest Wing:
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Site Plan:
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Unfortunately, in Victoria, Crown Land cannot be acquired through adverse possession. Adverse possession

'Adverse possession claims are complex to prepare and cannot be made against Crown land or...

Well, we went with Concept Plan B and over the next few months worked iteratively with the architect on the development of the design. This was a great process and we really enjoyed it. It was good...

Great work Stu. Really enjoyed the thread. Good to see things being rescued rather than just thrown out.

Rickey

I can see why you think it is barbed wire issatree but it's actually plain wire. The spikes on it are tendrils from the old grape vines. I'm with you on barbed wire. The old man got a new mob of...

Top work!

With our new tractor and slasher we finally were able to mow the top part of the block. The bits below each of the dams were still jungle as they were too steep to mow with the tractor.

We went to...

The 3 months from March 2010 to June 2010 were exciting times for us.

In March we had our first vintage in the vineyard. There was a good crop of chardonnay and pinot noir but about 2 weeks before...

Now that we were living in Bairnsdale (renting in town at this stage) we were up the 'Estate' (as we like to call it) virtually every weekend.

The vineyard was now back into a productive state and...

We were still living in Geelong at this stage so our only visits were long weekends and holidays. Debra (wife) is a primary school principal and around June 2009 the principal's job at Bairnsdale was...

Well, thanks for the encouragement. I have started a thread in 'My Rural Block' which can be viewed here...

I have previously documented the building of the machinery shed in this thread: https://www.woodworkforums.com/f245/my-machinery-shed-wip-bit-different-156967/ and have been encouraged to start...

Thanks a lot Ross - I some times wonder whether anyone is actually interested in this stuff so it is good to get feedback like yours.

I wasn't too sure about doing a thread on the house build. If...

Thanks Thumbthumper. I might need your advice when the time comes

Rickey

Really enjoying this thread. In the early 80's we rescued some furniture that had lino nailed to the top and painted (many coats). As we knew no better we stripped off the paint with caustic soda,...

Thanks Bob

Thanks Ash, we enjoyed building the shed and are starting to get somewhere with the house.

The 'house' consists of 2 buildings; the guest wing which we are building first and then the main house....

Thanks Bob - bit late though. Might try it with the next house.

I understand where you are coming from and with rougher logs I would definitely go that way. These ironbark logs are basically...

I'm now thinking I might just let them go grey again. I like the smoothness of them and they needed cleaning up with the sander so it needed to be done.

Anyone see any problems in just letting...

Thanks Artme, I had thought of using Aquadeck. We use the 'Natural' finish on our hardwood deck but it does make the timber go a bit orange. Might have a play with an off-cut of the pole and see what...

Thanks Len and Xanthorrhoeas.

I do prefer the look of them sanded even though it is a very time consuming job. Because of the hardness of the timber they end up very smooth and tactile. More so...

Howdy, I have some seasoned red ironbark poles that I'm in the process of sanding prior to oiling them. They will be verandah posts in our new house.

Takes about 4 hours to sand one back but I'm...

Looks very neat and tidy to my eyes. Love the arm chair and TV. (Just going out to the shed to do a bit of work!)

No argument with that enelef! Funny though that the kangaroos are no problem at all. Don't touch the vines. Hope to be full time up there at the end of next year so problem solved then I reckon.

I agree with about living with nature. We have a resident population of kangaroos that do no harm at all and help in keeping the grass down. I've given up re-straining the top wire of the fences as...

Thanks fellows - good to know people are still interested.

Just back from a couple of nights up there. Was meant to have the brickie up there this week but due to a misadventure with a deer last...

It's been a while so a quick update. The cabin is virtually completed. The kitchen cupboards made from recycle material is now in place. It's amazing the difference it makes when cutlery and crockery...

Hi Nick, yes definitely still after this timber.

Can you give me a price per linear metre for both the 200x45 Ironbark and also the 190x35 Silvertop. Send me a message if you prefer not to publish...

Thanks DJ - just back from 10 days up the mountain mixing concrete. I will give them a call.

Rickey