Peter and Natasha

1. windows
(Comments)

So you installed a north-facing window! You did your homework...it can really cut down heating and cooling costs. Since you obviously are into being 'green', you should also consider double-paned wind

2. Contribution and temperature
(Comments)

... Looking forward to next time. It was warmish outside and even with the lack of doors and seals around windows it was much cooler inside, reading the thermometer as well as feeling the difference!...

3. When you're hot, you're HOT!
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...ted to see the house 2 years on, and really enjoyed having a tour. We are loving having the louvre windows open at night and feeling the lovely breeze come through cooling the house down at ni...

4. Sunshine on my shoulders
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...g to appreciate just how great it is to have that glorious winter sunshine coming through our north-facing windows. It has been very cold, and very windy, and today's sunshine was a welcome relief! ...

5. It's all relative
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...ls you the temperature when you point it at a surface - so we can compare the floor to the ceiling and the windows and the straw bale walls. Fantastic stuff. We are yet to use it systematically around...

6. Performance
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

... early this morning (quite happily!). Yesterday was quite warm, 32 degrees, so last night we opened up our windows and it got down to 21 inside, and 18 outside overnight. There was only a light wind, ...

7. Ticking things off
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...ng is done on the inside except for the main bathroom. We have also installed some more fly screens on our windows, which is creating beautiful breezes through the house, and divine night sounds. It h...

8. Twos
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...ding action. Being a rural location we get lots of flies, spiders and mosquitoes and that puts leaving the windows open on a hot night right out of the question. So I launched into a long overdue job,...

9. Carried Away
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...pared to outside, and also how quickly the house cools down/heats up when we open our louvre and celestory windows. Once we have some data to share, I will set up a new section on the website a...

10. Website and progress
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...t going after this with some sponging. The next day I rendered the final wall. Nice and easy with no windows or doors to slow me down. Then I did more sponging and by the end of the day plus som...

11. Front and south
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...inder trestles will still be required, that's a job for next weekend. First I need to attend to a few more windows before all the rendering can be done. But it's exciting to think that we're so close ...

12. A holiday
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...nd potential entry points for water have been plugged up, although I am still in the process of fixing the windows. This deconstruction requires reconstruction at some stage so some "finished&quo...

13. Render window trampoline mushroom
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

... it's small enough to act like a frame for the view outside. It's a picture that is always changing. Small windows can be great. We had some extreme weather during the week, heavy rain with simultaneo...

14. Making way
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

... our driveway done now that everything is out of the way. WOOOHOOO! Peter has also been working on some windows, which has been frustrating, laborious and very effective. To recap: we needed to cut...

15. A big list and a special visit
(Blog/Living and Finishing)

...at time catching up with Brian. One of the things Brian took note of was the flashing at the bottom of the windows, which I knew needed some kind of remedy but I knew not what. Brian suggested ...

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

...ched a few hours of TV since we moved here - it just doesn't have the appeal it once did. The view out the windows and Dylan keep me content and entertained. It's a lovely way to be, and it means we g...

17. Bliss at Possumtail Run
(Blog/Lock up and inspection)

As I write this I am looking out of one of the studio windows, and the sunset is amazing. We are in heaven. Every day we count our blessings to be living here, with these incredible views, in this h

18. Patience is a virtue
(Blog/Lock up and inspection)

...d our stuff either. We have the cement sheeting to go up outside against the ply/fascia in between the top windows, we have a few more battens to go on the ceiling, and some more sealing along the ins...

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

...ve had a 2 day visit from Phil who brought his carpentry skills to bear on the spot between the clerestory windows and the beam, thus sealing up that appealing section of ceiling. With feeling! ...

20. An excellent Sunday
(Blog/Walls and Render)

Today was good indeed. Logan arrived at 9am and we threw in the last of the bedroom windows. I've been waiting until I had another set of hands until I fit the remaining windows, one of them being the

21. The joy of windows
(Blog/Walls and Render)

No, I'm not talking about the Microsoft product. Not a lot of joy to be had there. I'm talking about the windows I've been joyfully installing in our house today with the help of Aygun. Before getting

22. A good cut
(Blog/Walls and Render)

...t remember how long ago I actually said it, but it's safe to say that I'm starting to look a bit 1970s.The windows arrived this week, they look great and I've been prepping them for installation by se...

23. Composting toilet
(Blog/Walls and Render)

...looks good and I wanted to use it there and then. I will have to wait though, as Tuesday will be all about windows! Cross my legs. ...

24. Nesting
(Blog/Walls and Render)

...) * Getting ceiling in – (installing bulk insulation, sizalation, battens and calico) * Install windows (early next week, woohooo!) * Get deck joists done and get our North decking on (...

25. Unfinished business
(Blog/Walls and Render)

...nd excitement when I do that. We passed another big milestone yesterday, we signed off on an order for our windows. It's an expensive business but after extensive to-ing and fro-ing we've settled for ...

26. Countdown
(Blog/Walls and Render)

...he gaps between the top boxing and the rafters. Not to mention the dropped rolled heads and shaping around windows. Some serious hours have been put into the preparation of these walls for rendering.&...

27. When too many layers are not enough
(Blog/Walls and Render)

...0th. It's pretty time consuming, but also quite exciting, as we are preparing the shape of the areas above windows and doors, to get that lovely rounded feel that straw bale houses can give. We ...

28. Many hands make fun work
(Blog/Walls and Render)

...he plan from here on is: - Get rest of internal walls stuffed - Shape rest of walls (for eg above windows, alcoves we want for candles, shelves etc) - Trim rest of walls (to the shape we ...

29. Tank you
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...such as completing the exterior walls and getting on with the decking. We've been getting more quotes for windows to see whether all of the prices are the same and to find out if anyone can give us f...

30. Roof 1, Toilet 0
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...evel 4m square base for our water tank (on sloping land), another is to do more work around the clerestory windows and on the outriggers which provide these windows with eaves. We also want to get sta...

31. Roof on, except when it's not
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...s we can see exactly where the sun will come through at different times of the day. They'll be pretty tiny windows but they do make a difference to the light in the rooms and will be a crucial part of...

32. Long Way There
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...to finish it off). So it's coming along, and we can see some of the views we are going to have through the windows - are they are divine. Even better, we have some visitors tomorrow, including m...

33. Many things at a time
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...l bracing is out of the way of where our bottom boxing will go. Then we'll construct the frames for our windows and exterior doors and move on to bottom boxing after that. Also there are a lot of m...

34. Date set for bale walls
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...ng for the bale walls and we'll be pretty much ready to go, except for some framing for exterior doors and windows. Apparently a roof and walls are good attributes for a house to have. After all the w...

35. Rain stops play
(Blog/Rafters and Roofing)

...ut, plus some good knowledge of local building recyclers that we could use for things such as doors, maybe windows and for kitchen fit out. We need rain, but if I could order it to my specs I'd get it...

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

...o tempting to get caught up with the details. Even so, it will be a time saver. I also looked further into windows, the clerestory (strange word that, I've been mis-spelling in this blog so far althou...

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

...ailing it. Then I'm off for a spot of window shopping. Yes I have to look at (and maybe even through) some windows in Ballarat so an afternoon drive is on the cards. I've been working from catalogues ...

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

...ok on paper with all the pieces put together.It does not compute. It leaves me with no space for cloistery windows, which is the whole point of having a split level roof and not really even enough roo...

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

...hen we take into consideration the beams and rafters that need to sit on it, and the size of our cloistery windows. With this being a long weekend, we can't verify the details with our building...