Peter and Natasha

1. Red Tape
(Comments)

...rance from state and federal goverments over the last two years letter writing on behalf of the recycled timber industry to be endosed the number of letters stating no it a state matter no it a fede...

2. Success
(Comments)

...r and ta well done peter following your gut re post sizes I hope these new measurements do not impack the timber i have sold you if so please ring and we maybe able to go bigger...

3. termites
(Comments)

... they would need to survive. They will continue to munch for a bit then die off. We're going to treat the timber with Borax, which has properties that get rid of the termites and also any borer in the...

4. Posts
(Comments)

I'm just wondering what sort of timber your new posts are and whether they will need to be treated? I have memories of the water tank at Galatea which was on a stand held up by felled pine tree logs

5. Greetings from Scotsburn
(Comments)

...We're anxiously checking that everything to be built in is included and in the right place. At least with timber framing you can make adjustments relatively easily. Hope to catch up sometime and see ...

6. Not quite Monet
(Comments)

...oking forward to seeing what is achieved this weekend and shall cross my fingers for early arrival of the timber....

7. great progress
(Comments)

Wow, you guys are going great guns. Love the photos nearly as much as the blogging itself. The timber posts are beautiful, a lovely addition, are they in the living room/dining room? You're enthusias

8. good idea
(Comments)

yes trine, a good matress is a must on a timber floor! the tent is pretty airy without the top layer, we're hoping to sleep inside tonight.

9. The Hilux
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...ur famous (to us, at least) Toyota Hilux Ute up for sale. In its time it has hauled many large loads of timber, many small loads of all sorts, trays of gravel and sand, pulled the trailer carrying ...

10. Deck done
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...s that the recycled hardwood gives us. That's one of the things that makes it so enjoyable, selecting the timber to use(thatnks to Ray from Classic Recycled Floors for supplying us with more great mat...

11. Performance
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...ne of his favourite jobs of the build, and he is revelling in it. It looks beautiful already. The decking timber is recycled (reclaimed) messmate and tasi oak hardwood from our legendary friend Ray Ba...

12. Off the wagon
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...fully there has been some action on the building front, phew! Peter has been getting our recycled decking timber ready and stained, as we are keen to get the South deck done. Then we will be able to u...

13. Heaters and Cupboards
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...ve been working on suddenly feels like it's coming together. Our fabulous friend Ray (who has a recycled timber yard) found some great shelving units and cupboards in a house he was getting timber o...

14. At last, a tidy up!
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

... not stand it any longer. The time had come to do something about the unholy mess in front of our house - timber off-cuts, scrap metal, bales of straw, polythene, and all kinds of other stuff. So a tr...

15. Keeping perspective
(Blog/Lock up and inspection)

...to be moved into a better spot, the left over roofing material laying in a pile ready to be recycled, the timber to be sorted into usable and non-usable, the finishing off in the ensuite... and the li...

16. Hot days on the deck
(Blog/Lock up and inspection)

...uite instant and it's very cool putting together different sized, patterned and shaded pieces of recycled timber.I expect to finish the last of it today and then get back to ceiling. I need to put up ...

17. Deck prep and entertaining
(Blog/Lock up and inspection)

...puzzle in, the splash lip and shelf that goes on the edge of the bench. With the lovely recycled messmate timber we bought from Ray I have designed a nice way of finishing off the bench and I had a ni...

18. Kitchen cabinets
(Blog/Walls and Render)

...ip and shelf to stop liquid flowing over the edge and on to our low wall. Time to find more nice recycled timber at the right size. While this was happening I fit the deck bearers to the north side. I...

19. Specifications of the house
(Straw Bale House/Straw Bale House)

...We've had a few questions about the actual building of the house, so here's a start: Stumps: * Timber - Treated Cypress Pine (termites don't like it) * No of stumps - 104 plus 13 verandah...

20. Suppliers & Contractors we recommend
(Straw Bale House/Straw Bale House)

...Turd Burglar - 0418 363 030 Termite Barrier: Kordon rep: Mike Street 1800 133 393 Recycled timber/floor boards/decking etc: Recycled Floors Dandenong - contact Ray Barton 03 9548 5888...

21. Straw Bales
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

... today to help us out although it won't be a purists "nothing but bales" day. There is a lot of timber cutting and measuring that will go on at the same time.  When our bales arrived on...

22. Wind. Cheese. Time.
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...here are also many posts to incorporate. It's kinda fun though. Although it will be a bit harder to carry timber around the site after today when we'll have our straw bales delivered. We had between 5...

23. Boxing match
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...weekend. All of the strapping, clips and tensioning tools have arrived from Brad and I took a delivery of timber which lets me get into the bottom boxing. But that's not all that happened today. Stu t...

24. Stillness doesn't stay still
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...elf up on the roof and Errol's 2 daughters exploring the block and creating wonderful things with bits of timber. While Aygun and I put on purlins Errol got to work with a handsaw trimming the ends of...

25. Plumbing and purlins
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...s to answer before we can get our roof started.The week felt like it really started on Wednesday with the timber for the purlins arriving the night before and the plumbing beginning. There are so many...

26. Still and clear
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...not the best at visualising things from plans, so to see it revealing itself is fantastic. I have ordered timber for the purlins, or battens, call them what you will, and I'm ready to go with some roo...

27. Reconstruct
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...rforming their impressive aerobatics. I had some manoeuvers of my own to perform with some long pieces of timber. With the aid of a ladder as a temporary structure to keep the posts upright, I got the...

28. Fresh Air
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...put up some massive rafters today, some 9 metres long, and I mainly cleaned up the site. Nails, pieces of timber and saw dust were the main items. It was quite satisfying, as the whole place looks spi...

29. Welcome advice and ideas
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...our way this past week. In the background of my thoughts there is always the desire to avoid getting more timber. We had a visit from Jeff from up the road who suggested adding on a steel bracket to r...

30. Veranda posts
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

...pent a lot of time waiting for me to get up and down ladders. So now I have a cutting list to give to our timber suppliers so that we can get our rafters ordered. I still don't have a complete picture...

31. Framing finished
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

...components so we have a place to fit the rafters on to. Otherwise they are floating in the breeze! So the timber is ordered and when that arrives we'll be back into cleaning out holes, compacting the ...

32. Vision to reality
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

...d the help of Phil and Ari again. We measured the length required and then I nervously cut this beautiful timber (yes, we measured twice), got it on the hoist and lifted it up. So easy! It fit beautif...

33. Peter 2, Ring Beams and Posts United 0
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

...h the floor came up to meet me as the ladder slipped on it's feet. I grabbed hold of the nearest piece of timber - a brace for a post - and my hands slid down it with a painful amount of friction. Min...

34. Equinox
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

... of the top of the pole to the centre of the bottom of the pole. Because this is a tree trunk and not cut timber, there is a significant bend in the middle, which has changed the side that the lower b...

35. Beaming
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

...to the build in the afternoon. I started off with another coat of Borax on the poles (apparently, dressed timber can be called a post, less altered timber is a pole) to teach the borer and those termi...

36. Clerestory, cloistery or celestory
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

Sunday was the day to strip our new poles of bark and get a look at the timber underneath. Natasha went to work on this, hard work it was too. Once the timber was exposed, she both sprayed and brushed

37. Action aplenty
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

...hold ups of late, and I just wanted to get into action! When we did get out to the land today (with extra timber to re-do the posts), it continued to rain. It was amazing. The view of the weather from...

38. Inexperiencedbuilderitis?
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

... a certain height, this is a fairly simple affair consisting of measuring the sizes I'll need, buying the timber, cutting it and nailing it. Then I'm off for a spot of window shopping. Yes I have to l...

39. Owner Building
(Blog/Posts, beams, framing)

I had high expectations for the weekend, with timber arriving and lots of help on hand. It hasn't turned out as I had hoped. Our central ridge beam which determines the heights and angle of the roof h

40. Doesn't add up
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

We're a bit stuck at the moment. We have the timber, we have a plan, we have lots of fabulous hands ready to go, but there's some stuff that's just not adding up. The height of our two biggest posts

41. Ring beams almost complete!
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

...tion remains. It's going to be big weekend that will test my organisational abilities, as we have lots of timber arriving and lots of new things to embark on and some extra hands to embarkify. ...

42. Must be art
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

...d it stayed wet for about 5 more minutes and then it was back to normal. I found out today that our timber for the internal framing is not due until after the weekend, so that will slow down our...

43. A couple of millimetres
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

... been too windy. I'm not too keen to be up a ladder by myself trying to wrangle tools and heavy pieces of timber. I have taken the opportunity to visit the chiropractor and get my body straightened up...

44. Jet packs?
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

... I've been looking into how to do these and now that I've worked out what's required, I've put together a timber schedule(a list of timber to purchase). We want to use Mirch pine, which is a lowe...

45. Waking being
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

...achieved and it was a real pleasure to build with two very competent and easy going people. We ran out of timber late on Wednesday and had to call it a day and Ari headed back to the city. Ivan and I ...

46. Much help, time flies
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

...uilding her own strawbale house.  We did so many posts in the last couple of days that we ran out of timber.  I need to order more now and start looking at doing some internal framing. Now t...

47. First post the past
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

...t out to the land at about 9am, quite relaxed timing but after all it is a Sunday. We received a bunch of timber yesterday to start assembling posts and beams so we set about putting up the first one....

48. The Fly Who Loved Me
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

...for the hanging around on kangaroo droppings part.There have been a few days of chopping and changing the timber schedule as I get a better understanding of how everything fits together and what the n...

49. Squiggling
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

... Tomorrow will be a half day on the site as I will head out to look for two 3.7m posts at a recycled timber yard. It's exciting, who knows what treasures are out there.  It's getting to that...

50. Comprehension and vision
(Blog/Stumps and Bearers)

...ther now.  I am feeling freshly empowered.  What a relief and a boost.  Time to order more timber.We also went though a few new ideas he has had with regard to bushfire-protecting our h...