Our owner builder adventure in Bayside Melbourne

Almost plastered

2009-10-17T01:00:00.000-07:00

Been a good 6 weeks since I last blogged - we have been flat out!

The outside of the house has been clad in polystyrene panels and rendered in the chosen colours, lots of people, including other trades, have commented on the quality of the rendering job -

We plastered the void so that the stairs will be able to go in - it's an incredible space, with 5.1 metre high ceilings -

We've installed insulation in the ceilings and every external and internal wall -

We decided to install velux skylights in the end of the living room to bring more light into it -

And installed a skytube in the kitchen ceiling which goes all the way to the roof of the house. Here is the rather unusual view looking straight up it -

Next - plastering!

Flashing, Vaccing and Cladding.....

2009-09-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

Latest update.....

I installed the flashing round the perimeter of the house for the cladding to sit on. My number one concern is keeping water out of the house, so there was a lot of flashing (oo-er missus) -

The front door and other exterior doors are in -

and everything was ready for the cladders to start work. Soon the garage was filled with cladding panels -

and the scaffolding went up and the cladders started work

They flashed off round all the exterior windows and doors, and the detail round the windows is pretty good, with a fall for drainage -

Meanwhile on the inside of the house I was busy fitting the ducted vac. This takes one day, it's pretty easy but you are up and down stepladders 1 million times -

The cladders completed the whole house within 1 week, and we were at that point pretty much watertight.

I also cut a hole for the cat flap. Please note this is not an actual cat looking through the hole, it is the picture on the cat flap box

Next job - rendering!

Roof on! Windows in!

2009-08-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

The roof is on - here is a picture of the fall protection for the roof before it went on -

The roof on our house is invisible from the ground - here's Miss Moneypenny taking a look before the fall protection came down and the opportunity was lost!

Meanwhile I got on with fitting the window frames. These have to be exactly square, plumb and level otherwise the windows won't open -

After I had fitted the frames the window manufacturers came to glaze them. Here's the view from the rear of the house of the glazed windows -

And here's a picture of the living room with it's fantastic sliding doors out on to the alfresco -

I've also been doing a number of other jobs needed before the cladders can start, I've learned how to sheet a balcony floor, how to do flashing and how to install blue board.

Next week - exterior doors!

JB

Frame just about complete!

2009-07-12T01:26:00.000-07:00

The framers have put the top floor walls up -

then the roof trusses were craned up to the top (unbudgetted expense of $150 :-( ), in this picture you can see the trusses lying on top waiting to be erected -

The roof trusses went up in less than a day and the frame was pretty much finished -

Meanwhile the brickie had started the retaining walls that are going to prevent the yard falling under the house -

and I spent a happy day in the rain yesterday core filling all the blocks

Here are the finished core-filled retaining walls -

Today Miss Moneypenny and the Bond Girls came to the block and tested out some colours for the exterior rendering -

We also carefully took the Bond Girls up the ladder to the top floor to have a look round -

The Rumpus Room

The void protection for the entrance hall void -

The master bedroom suite -

I am really hoping the rain holds off this week and we can get the final twiddly bits of the frame finished and get the roof on!!!

JB

Floors and walls!

2009-06-26T01:03:00.000-07:00

The build has moved on pretty quickly this week. The red tongue floorboards took a day to put down on the ground floor trusses. Note the piles of walls waiting to be put up in the background -

Then the walls started to go up very quickly indeed -

By the end of the day all the ground floor walls were up except for a few minor ones. This is the view looking into the front door -

The house from the back garden -

The living room -

The dining room, with it's great view of the site toilet and the water tank! -

Grandad's downstairs bedroom suite -

The last two days the top floor trusses have been put on top of the walls. Note the floorboards for the top floor which were craned up today -

Next week - the top floor!

JB

Installing the sub-floor plumbing, heating and insulation

2009-06-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

The sub floor has been completed, and the sewer, storm water charged system and underfloor insulation have been installed.

A busy day on site -

Heating and Cooling ducts, sewer and charged system installed -

Miss Moneypenny taping the foilboard sub-floor insulation -

The completed insulation, ready for the structural particleboard to go on top. The parts without foilboard are exterior decks -

JB

The start of the steel

2009-06-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

We've had a week of subfloor installing and structural steel.

Here's the subfloor starting to be laid -

and here is the subfloor and structural steel almost finished. -

Just a small amount to finish off next week, then the plumber will be back to start roughing in the ground floor sewer.

Digging Holes (2) and concrete

2009-05-24T02:24:00.001-07:00

We've had a week of excavation and concrete. The order of events ran like this -

Monday - excavate strip footings. There were several of these to excavate and the process wasn't helped by the discovery of the water table between the natural ground level and the top of the footings! At least we, unlike much of Melbourne, should not have to worry about running out of water for the garden.

Tuesday - pour concrete in the strip footings. This was done with a concrete pump and about 7 concrete trucks, totalling 40.4m3 of concrete. The neighbours remarked they had never seen so many concrete trucks!

Wednesday - form up the garage slab.

Thursday - pour the garage slab.

Friday - remove the formwork.

So we're off to a great start although this will be immediately followed by a rather quiet period due to me not ordering the structural steel in time.....

JB

Set out

2009-05-16T13:24:00.001-07:00

We were set out on Friday. The surveyors spent several hours hopefully getting everything right -

and by mid afternoon there were hurdles all round the block -

Also the rebar was delivered by crane truck -

Later in the afternoon there was a surprise visit from the excavator / concreter who dropped in to begin running string lines and marking out the excavation so his digger operator can begin immediately on Monday morning. If all the tradies are as
proactive as him we'll be finished in no time!

JB

Digging holes (1)

2009-05-11T03:04:00.001-07:00

The plumber started on site today. The borers did the most amazing piece of engineering and bored right under the road.

In this picture, the two guys holding the borer are physically pushing the drill bit right under the road to where the water main is on the other side. Incredible!

The plumbers then connected the storm water outlet, mains water in, tapped off the mains. Then they started to excavate for the sewer. We found it eventually, some distance away from where it was supposed to be.

They then dug the trench for the sewer and left it open ready for the sewer line inspection tomorrow.

Steel

2009-05-05T02:01:00.001-07:00

I ordered the steel frame today, there were some last minute changes including one to drop the floors in the walk in showers. The first part can be delivered in just 3 weeks. The plumber has confirmed he will be on site the 11th May to connect the sewer, mains and plumb in the site toilet, so I finished putting the cistern on it and it now looks rather odd standing there by itself.

Have to organise structural steel rather urgently now, and some roofers.

JB

Building Permit approved!

2009-05-01T00:56:00.001-07:00

We have got our building permit today!

Next week I'm doing some site prep, constructing a rubbish area, sides for a site toilet, sides on my trailer so I can cart stuff around, roadbase for the entrance way for hard standing for crane trucks etc.

The week after the plumber is putting in the sewer line, mains water including a bore under the road and fitting the site toilet to the sewer. Also getting the set out done.

The week after the excavators and concreters move in.

Excited and apprehensive all at once!

Power poles and warranties

2009-04-30T03:10:00.000-07:00

Well the building surveyor doesn't seem concerned about the shed easement entry in the planning permission which is good.

Today I saw we have a power pole on the block, however there is as yet no power connected to it, so I presume that is coming.

Also had a call from the concreter today. It seems that the cost of the concreting has increased by $880 +GST due to our requirement for the slab to be poured on top of the strip footings rather than as an infill after the build is almost finished. And the concreter doesn't have warranty insurance as he isn't required to as he is not a registered building practitioner. I'm not in favour of the system in Victoria, there's no requirement for builders to be registered which rather defeats the whole point of registration if you ask me......

Planning permission.....

2009-04-28T02:13:00.000-07:00

We just got our planning permit today from our council in Melbourne and have taken it to our Surveyor for the building permit.It has a very interesting condition on it -

"It is noted that the development includes a storage shed and eaves to be built over an easement. Separate consent from council and the relevant service authority is required to build over the easment and will need to be obtained prior to the issue of a building permit"

......we don't have a storage shed in the plans............. There is a shed on the block, but it isn't on the plans, and it isn't over the easement.....

Hmmm will have to ring the surveyor and see what he has to say.

Preparations continue....

2009-04-25T19:50:00.000-07:00

Getting ready to start now, I've checked the latest documentation from the steel frame company and it is pretty much there, just a couple of questions.

I also uncovered the sewer which is pretty much exactly where we expected to find it, but a lot shallower! -

Here's some pictures of the Bond girls in their cubby house and also some pictures of the shed (sorry - site office!) - all we need now is a house to go with them! -

The story so far....

2009-04-17T22:50:00.000-07:00

A bit of history -

In August 2008 we purchased a block of land in Bayside Melbourne, a few streets from where we are currently renting, in a neighbourhood where we have a lot of friends. The block is 740m2, in a quiet street 2 mins walk to local shops, 5 mins walk to the swimming pool, 15 mins walk to a railway station and main shops and 20 mins walk to a beautiful sandy beach and marina.

Here is a photo looking from the road -

Notice the pile of large rocks in the back corner, these had been put there by the vendor when he was thinking of making the block part of his garden next door. They were massive and we had no idea what we were going to do with them. Also note the mature plum trees.

Here's a photo looking towards the road -

Note the 2m high fence along the road, we want to keep this as it means our front yard will be as private as our rear yard.

The block had been owned for about 10 years by the next door neighbours. Previously it had an old house on it. The house was pulled down and the block left empty for 10 years. The vendor did not want a developer to put 2 or more houses on it as is happening to all the other blocks around us, so we were able to buy it at a reasonable price for our family home.

We would not need planning permission, save for something called "Melbourne Water Special Building Overlay". This states that the block is in a zone where potential flooding could occur and as a result we would have to build about 80cm above natural ground level. This was a bit of a pain in the arse, but we would live with it, this was the first vacant block to come on the market in our area in 2 years so we didn't have much choice!

We spent the next few weeks drafting out a rough design to take to a draftsman. We decided that at this stage we would be Owner Builders, we had completed 2 renovations before and felt we could cope with the challenges. I am a project manager by trade and we felt this would come in handy.

I decided that we were not going to build in a timber frame with brick veneer. I am no fan of this type of building, I think it is poor building practice and not in keeping with energy efficiency. So we needed to fulfil three basic requirements with the design -

1. Strong structure and the best insulation.

2. Must not take up the whole block, rear yard must be at least 20 metres long.

3. No trees or large shrubs to be removed, house to be designed around existing trees and shrubs.

In addition we had the following family requirements and desires

1. 4 bedrooms, 1 to be downstairs with its own ensuite for elderly parent to have as a Granny Flat. This must have its own outdoor entrance.

2. Kids bedrooms to be exactly the same size and configuration (we have twins!)

3. No waste-of-space formal dining or lounge.

4. Study needed, must face the garden

5. Kitchen/Dining/Living to be open plan.

6. "Fun" features. For instance, one wall of the ensuite shower will open completely to a private balcony so as to create the feeling of showering outside.

We decided we were going to build on a steel frame, with 4" polystyrene cladding. This would satisfy the strength and insulation requirements. We found an excellent draftsman who specialised in steel frame, and in October 2008 we appointed him. He came with the added benefit that he was also an OB in steel!

He modified our design so that it worked, met all our requirements and met rescode and Melbourne Water requirements.

We obtained permission from Melbourne Water on New Years Eve, 2008. Over the holiday period I showed Melbourne water's requirements to a Civil Engineer family friend, and he pointed out that in order to comply with all 6 of their requirements, we would have to get water to run up hill! Back we went to Melbourne Water......

We also applied to be 6m set back at the front instead of 8.25, which would comply with rescode. Both neighbours offered no objection to a 6m setback, but even then, the council declined our request. They did say they would settle for 7.5m back. However - remember point 2 of my basic requirements - back yard to be 20m long? If we went back to 7.5m we would have a back yard of 18.5m long. There was only one thing for it - redesign the house! Back we went to the draftie and between us we worked out a variation to the design that achieved the 7.5m setback and the 20m back yard. To his credit, he charged us no extra for this.

Of course, the redesign meant Melbourne Water had to have another look.... back the new plans went to them. In response to the civil engineer's comments, they actually lowered the height above ground level, so I think someone had made a mistake. It goes to show you can argue with officialdom and win sometimes!

So now we had setback approval, and Melbourne Water approval. Melbourne Water's approval had to be taken to the council, we had been led to believe this would be a rubber stamp. Uh-uh, the council sent the plans back to Melbourne water for them to confirm their approval!!!!! They have now done this, and we should get the rubber stamp any day now.

Back to the block. Remember those rocks? It would cost us about $1000 to remove them. We tried offering them to garden centres and landscape gardeners free to take away, but no-one was interested. So we decided to Ebay them, buyer collects. Within 2 days we had sold them for $1, and in January an excavator and truck turned up to remove them -

So that was $1000 saved.

While the red tape was being worked, we got engineering done, energy rating etc and as we stand now we are just waiting for the final stamp from the council before we can apply for the building permit which takes about a week.

We have also put a shed and a cubby house on the block. The shed will be used for storage, sheltering from the rain, site office etc and then a garden shed once we move in, and the cubby house is there already so that if Miss Moneypenny (as Mrs James Bond will from now be known) is on site the kids have somewhere to play.

We have appointed a very good plumber who is organising stuff already, including an unbudgetted expense of boring under the road to connect to the water main - $1400!!

We have also appointed concreters/excavators.

Onwards......