Tiles.

The tiler has come and gone, leaving four lovely bathrooms in his wake. 

Number 27 Chapman Place (the house with the white iron street-facing facade and the buff 'Koala' exterior paint) has a smooth concrete-toned floor tile, large gloss white wall tiles, and the ensuite bathroom has a green marble strip feature at the entrance to the walk-in shower. This looks really lovely in the light flooding through those louvres.

The glass in the louvred windows in all the bathrooms is frosted... thankfully!

We're echoing the slightly industrial vibe of Number 25 Chapman Place in the bathroom floor tile choice - it's a dark textured tile with a metallic sheen that really glows. After we'd ordered this particular tile we found out that it had featured heavily in a very low-scoring room on 'The Block' - perhaps because they did the walls in it too! We're pairing them with large gloss white wall tiles to keep these rooms feeling light.

We've chosen to go with a covered strip drain for all the bathrooms. It's basically a channel inset into the floor with a covering piece that can be removed for easy cleaning. It has a bit more of a modern look than a regular round floor waste, and means that the large floor tiles don't need to be cut to create 'fall'.

The tiles were all ordered through The Tile Mob at Mitchelton.

Insulation and plasterboard... done.

A few more jobs can now be ticked off the list - things are moving fast. Right now there's a Bobcat scooting around the yards picking up all the leftover dirt from the drainage trenches and preparing the driveway areas, which will be going in next week. Clearing up mess makes it look (and feel!) like things are moving on.

One messy job that I'm always glad to see the back of is installing insulation. To work effectively, insulation batts need to fit properly in the spaces, without compression. This means that if the batt is a bit too wide, it needs to be trimmed down rather than squeezed in. It isn't the actual material of the insulation batts that does the work of keeping the temperature regulated in your home - it's the air it contains. If you squeeze the insulation in, you're compressing the material, which allows it to hold less air, which in turn makes it work far less effectively. 

For these houses we've taken time and care in installing the insulation. We've used Knauf Insulation EarthWool, a product made using recycled glass bottles, for both the walls and roof of each house. We also used this product for our own home at Number 29, and found it to work very well. It's not as itchy as other products, and (from the Knauf website) 'EarthWool is rot-proof, odourless, non-hygroscopic, does not sustain vermin and will not encourage the growth of fungi, mould or bacteria. It is chemically neutral, does not contain impurities and comes with a 50 year warranty.' Thumbs up!

What's 'non-hygroscopic', you might ask? Me too, I had to Google it. It means that the insulation material doesn't attract or hold water. This is an important characteristic for insulation to have, particularly if your kitchen or bathroom are vented into your roof space. All venting for these houses is directly to the outside.

We've chosen to have the plasterboard 'square set', which means that no cornice is required. Although square setting isn't as easy as glueing a cornice over the joins, it's a very modern, clean finish and we prefer it. By nature, timber houses do move a little as they react to changes in climate and moisture levels, so metal or plastic angle (rather than paper only) has been used in all corner joins. This makes for a strong join and reduces the likelihood of cracking.

Now each house is ready to be painted. The tiler has been in and just about completed the bathrooms, which I'll post about later. Lots is happening at once and although it great to be able to report on real progress, it's also hard to keep up!

Painting and lockup.

Another milestone - both 25 and 27 Chapman Place are now at lockup stage. All external doors and windows are in, and much of the external painting is complete. The individual characters of each house are becoming a bit more defined.

Number 25 has eaves with the exposed black-painted rafters, and therefore we've gone with black framing on all the doors and louvres in this house. The plain zinc roof, visible from beneath the eaves, is echoed with the use of the same zinc to partially clad the house. The remainder of the external cladding is fibrous sheeting, painted a neutral (but slightly warm) grey.

We have chosen to use Wattyl Solagard external paint, as it is a very good Australian made and developed product, well up to the task of coping with many years of baking Queensland sun.

For Number 27, we have used doors and louvres with white framing.

The eaves of this house are lined with natural cypress timber, so we chose a complementary warm buff brown colour (called 'Koala') to paint the fibro cladding. We like the contrast between the areas of white Colorbond cladding and the painted fibro, which both look good against the timber-lined eaves.

Now, I'm working on doing the finishing work to the exterior - installing the remaining timber cover-strips to the fibro cladding, and the timber in-fills between each exposed rafter on Number 25. Then it'll be time for a final coat of paint... before getting on with the interiors.

Leaves... blessing or worst enemy?

One of the great things about the skillion roof on both of the houses I'm working on is that it allows for a very simple guttering system. One gutter, on the lowest edge. There's the carports too, which also only need the one piece of guttering. This makes protecting them against leaf debris a very straightforward procedure. I choose to use a system by Blue Mountain Mesh -  here it is installed on Number 27:

 

Unlike some other mesh gutter protection systems, this mesh covers the edge of the roof sheeting completely, and is attached using a fitting contoured to the corrugations in the iron. No leaves can get into the gutter at all. The very small particles that do go through (say, for example, when the gums are in blossom and those tiny flower particles rain down when the lorikeets have been feasting) don't accumulate, because the next time it rains they get washed into the downpipe. Those few leaves and sticks that you can see resting at the top of the mesh? They'll get blown or washed off in the next storm. It's an excellent low-maintenance system that has already worked very effectively for us on our home at Number 29. It is also very good at keeping vermin out of your roof.

I find it a real shame that as the remaining blocks of land in this development get built on, the mature gums that had been left on the blocks (the ones that made the development look so attractive at first) have all been cut down. In most cases they had been left in locations where the sympathetic buyer could have retained them. I guess people just don't like leaves in their gutters. (Get Blue Mountain Mesh!) Us? We like trees, and when we were planning our house at Number 29 we sited it specifically so we could retain the two big gums on the block. We've found that the heavy shade from the ironbark in the front garden really helps keep our place cool on summer mornings, and the spotted gum at the side does the same in the afternoons. It can get bakingly hot in this area (temperature-wise, we're similar to Ipswich in the forecasts) so having the house shaded for much of the day is a real benefit for us. We also love the visiting bird life, which has included lorikeets, rosellas, galahs, cockatoos and currawongs, as well as the resident crows, maggies and mickies. We've got a spotlight pointing up the trunk of each tree, which at night makes the trees quite an incredible feature.

Number 25 Chapman Place has a number of lovely mature gums that have been retained. There is one large spotted gum at the front of the house, tucked into the front corner close to the boundary with Number 27.

This is the big spotted gum in the front of Number 25. At the far left you can also see the ironbark I was talking about - the one in the front garden that shades our place so well in summer.

The Queensland Silver Wattle that we planted in the front of Number 25 (before we even started building at Number 29) is now about three years old, and flowering profusely. The mickies have built a nest among the flowers right at the top.

The tree you can see behind the trunk of the spotted gum is an Eprapah Wattle planted in the front of Number 27. It's covered in masses of buds, so should be fully in bloom in a couple of weeks.

You can just see a tail poking out of the nest... and a bit of unravelled twine they've scavenged as a building material.

Towards the rear of the the back yard of Number 25 there's two mature spotted gums and a number of smaller eucalypts, plus a few black wattles. The largest spotted gum has the most wonderful textured trunk.

Number 27 doesn't have any mature trees, but there is a very large gum and a number of smaller trees just over the back fence. Leaves can travel a very long way in a storm!

It's our hope that whoever buys Number 25 will not see the mature trees in a negative way. The current outlook from the back deck of this house is pleasantly leafy, and the trees hide the undeniably ugly power pylons that would otherwise be visible, not only from this block but also from the surrounding properties. The installation of an effective gutter leaf protection system like the Blue Mountain Mesh I have used should prevent any problems in that regard.

Cladding 27 Chapman Place

A cladding update for Number 27 Chapman Place. Here's me and Mark installing the white Colorbond sheeting on the north (street-facing) facade. On the right you can see the two sets of louvred windows that have been set into that wall - one is in the main bedroom, the other in the ensuite bathroom.

You might remember from the plans that this facade has angled edges. Below you can see how that works from the back, before the cladding has gone on.

Here I'm attaching the last of the green thermal wrapping to the frame, before the fibro sheeting is installed over the top. Thermal wrap reduces radiant heat transfer and controls moisture and condensation with-in the cavity space, it helps the make the house more energy efficient. I use CSR Bradford wall wraps. The full explanation of the benefits can be found here.

This bump-out section below, part of one of the bedrooms, has two sets of louvred windows and is also clad in the white Colorbond iron. We made a decision early on to clad the bump-outs (anywhere that the rooms are cantilevered out beyond the basic rectangular shape of the house) in iron corresponding to the roof colour.

For a cladding update for Number 25, please see this post, which contains further information about the fibro cladding technique which also applies to Number 27.

Cladding 25 Chapman Place

Here's an exterior cladding update for Number 25 Chapman Place. As you can see, the fibro and zinc sheeting has all been installed - here's the view from the driveway.

We've taken care to pre-paint all the joins in the fibro before the timber cover-strips have been attached. This seals the fibre cement sheeting from moisture and rain. If the fibre cement sheeting were to become wet it would take a long time to dry out and as a result the paint may peel. Not many people take the time to do this. Additionally, there is a protective poly-flashing strip located behind every join in the fibro sheeting. As a third measure, behind the cover strip a continuous bead of Sika flex sealant is used. This seals the joint and glues the cover strip to the sheeting. It is very flexible to allow for expansion and contraction with changes in temperature throughout the day and night. I am not aware of any better sealant than Sika products.

Out on the back deck, I've finished lining the roof with zinc, and am really pleased with the result. It's a nice contrast to the exposed black-painted rafters, and will be very low-maintenance.

For a cladding update for Number 27, please see this post. It contains information about the green thermal wrap (as seen in the photos above) that may interest you, which applies to this property also.

Not a bad outlook...

Take a look at this sunrise from earlier in the week - this was taken standing on the back deck of Number 27 Chapman Place. It would be similar, but higher and with more trees, from Number 25.

Not a bad outlook, right? That's our roof at Number 29 you can see in the bottom left, so this view won't be built out. You really can't tell from the street just how elevated these houses feel, and from their back decks they both feel nice and open.
Update on progress to follow shortly!

Traintracks and powerlines... yes. (Oh, and planes too!)

If you check out the address for 25 and 27 Chapman Place on Google maps (it's indicated by 'Lot 1') the first thing you might notice is that there's a big ol' train line running right past the back fence. There's no hiding it - it's there all right. I have to admit that before we moved in to our place at Number 29, we were a little wary about what life would be like living right on the train line, even though we're uphill, there is a large sound fence running right along the back, and a little buffer of treed land between us and the line. We soon found out - that first night of sleep was a little interrupted!

So, it's the Ipswich line. It carries the suburban trains, as well as various freight trains, and on some delightful occasions (about weekly) a steam train puffs by, which is always pretty special. Is it loud? Yes, sometimes, especially when there's a big pair of diesel engines pulling a heavy load up the little hill. Does it bother us? No. We're surprised by this: you get used to it. We've found that you tune out to the sound of the passing trains, you don't take notice of them, and they rarely wake you. In fact we've become trainspotters of sorts, and found we quite enjoy the world passing by our back fence, as it were. We'd much prefer to live on a train line than, say, on a busy road where the noise is constant.

The next thing you might notice on Google maps is that there's power lines over the back fence too. Again - no hiding them... they're big ones. We were even more concerned about the idea of living near them, given the various theories about how dangerous that may be to your health. An internet search will provide you with a wealth of information (with varying degrees of sensationalism) about dangers associated with exposure to radiation fields as emitted by electrical devices and power lines. Before we even started building our house we hired a radiation meter from ARPANSA (Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Advisory), a (in their words) 'Federal Government agency charged with responsibility for protecting the health and safety of people, and the environment, from the harmful effects of ionising and non ionising radiation.' The magnetic field meter we hired from them allowed us to take some readings at various places on the land, in the surrounding streets, and in our existing houses, which we could then analyse against what are seen as 'normal' amounts of radiation in an urban area. We found that yes, if you stood right under the power lines (there's a cul-de-sac nearby where you can) then the magnetic field readings were high. At the sound fence that runs right along the back of Numbers 25, 27 and 29 (our place) the readings were elevated, and fluctuated depending on the time of day. At the position of our house, the readings were normal, and in fact they were the same as the readings in our existing houses, which were nowhere near any of these big power lines. When our house at Number 29 was finished, we hired the meter again to see if there was any difference now that our own power was on. There wasn't. So, we satisfied ourselves that spending time in our house was no different, radiation-wise, to living in any other home with power connected to it.

In short, the power lines are there. We hired the meter, did our own research, and were reassured. We can only share with you our own experience about this matter, and encourage you to do your own research if you're at all concerned about living with big power lines nearby.

Lastly, Oxley is fairly close to the Archerfield airport, so small planes do fly overhead regularly on their approach to the runway. They are mostly propellor-driven, and don't find them a nuisance at all.

So, there you have it. Trains, planes and power-lines! YES!

27 Chapman Place update.

Things are really moving on with Number 27 Chapman Place now. The roof is on and work has started on defining the inside spaces.

I've already mentioned that the plans for both Numbers 25 and 27 are the same, although mirrored. One of the challenges with working with two 'same' houses that are next to each other - how do you give each an individual character? You may have already read about the exposed painted rafters on Number 25 - well, Number 27 is getting a totally different look.

I'm lining the eaves for Number 27 in natural timber. It's cypress, which is naturally termite-resistant, and when finished it will cover the rafters, giving this roof a completely different feel to next door. The deck and carport will also be lined, which will make this quite a feature of the exterior of the house.

This cypress is often used for decking, and is 'reeded' on one side, as shown above. People often think this 'reeding' is designed to be the a non-slip right side (and Scott Cam likes to do it that way on tv) but it's actual purpose is to stop the timber from 'cupping' with exposure once installed, and in fact it's more slippery when wet than the 'rough cut' side.

It's all being pre-drilled and screwed down. As it's going to be such a feature of the house, it's important for the finish to be high quality, and I feel that the time taken to do this is well-spent.

Inside, things are progressing... the interior walls are now up - it's starting to feel like a house!

The view looking down the hall towards the living room from the entry.

Standing on the deck looking into the living area, through (what will be) the double glass doors.

Lots going on - and lots more to do!

25 Chapman Place update.

Here's a look at what's been going on at 27 Chapman Place over the past few weeks. The roofing iron went on in January - it's plain zinc.

We had help to get this all done in one day - Gavin-the-builder (who is a regular on these jobs) and his dad Richard, plus Mark-the-plumber (another regular) and Tim.

The skillion carport roof is now also on, so we're getting a good idea of how this house is going to look from the street when it's complete.

Looking in to Number 25 Chapman Place from the top of the driveway.

We're pleased with how the exposed painted rafters are looking. The look is a little bit 'architectural beach-shack' combined with 'unexpected essense of shearing shed!'

The airy carport also acts as the covered entry for the house - the front door will be where you can see the ladder leaning at the bottom left of the photo above. There'll be a small landing and steps there.

It's a relief to get the roof on (or, in builders-speak... "the lid"), as it means we can now work under cover. Out of the rain, and out of the sun.

We've stopped work on this one for a bit now - time to get on with Number 27!

"Why is it green?"

A visitor asked me recently what the difference was between the 'green' timber she could see being used in our buildings, and the non-green timbers most commonly seen used in economical housing. Easy - these green timbers are anti-termite-treated. 

Here are all the base-plates marked out and ready to go for Number 27 Chapman Place. Chalk and pencil markings show positioning for wall studs.

"So, why is it green?" The green (or blue, and any colour inbetween!) stuff isn't the termite treatment itself - it's a dye used to easily identify timbers that have been treated. You may remember from a previous post about foundations why I feel it's necessary to deter termites as much as is practical.

The floor laid for Number 27 Chapman Place makes for a nice big work area for pre-cutting all the wall frames.

So, when you next drive around any housing development with building in progress, you'll easily be able to identify which homes are being constructed with treated timber, and which are not.

It comes off... eventually!

Nail guns... when and why?

Nail guns have made certain parts of building a house faster, no doubt about it. But there's certain times I prefer to pre-drill and hand-nail, and I'll explain why.

These days, on most houses everything tends to be gun-nailed: it has to be, for price constraint.

There are two big problems with gun nails. Firstly, the placement of the nail. It's just the nature of using a nail gun that you don't get each nail in an optimal position every time, and sometimes your timber can move in the process. The second issue is splitting the timbers you wish to join. Gun nails are driven forcibly into the timber which, depending on the type of timber and the position of the nail, can cause it to split. In laminated beams, this can act like a wedge and cause the sheets to split.

'Nominal Nailing' is a term which  specifies the number and type of nails required at any part of a building. By definition, if some of the nails you're using can't do their job in an effective way (because the timbers have been split in the process) then your 'Nominal Nailing' isn't as specified. Look at many building sites and you'll see that someone has split a timber and then nailed around it to try and hold it, which often just adds to the problem by weakening the join further. Engineers do mandate secondary tie-down methods in their specifications. These fasteners add strength to joins and are not designed to be the sole point of connection.

I still insist on pre-drilling and hand-nailing critical structural elements: bearers to joists: rafters to top-plates and beams. Like this:

Rafter to veranda beam join on 25 Chapman Place.

This kind of clean join just isn't achieveable using a nail gun. You can see that the nails are positioned neatly, the beam hasn't moved, and that the laminated timbers haven't split. The holes were pre-drilled and the galvanised nails (using galvanised nails helps prevent corrosion when used with this type of treated timber) were hammered in by hand.

Yes... it takes longer. It's old-school, but it's a better method and gives me a great sense of satisfaction!

Rafter day!

The rafters went up on 25 Chapman Place yesterday. Suddenly the house has started to look like it's going to end up.

Looking in from the top of the driveway. The open carport will be tucked in underneath the eave at the front of the house, providing a covered entry.

As soon as the rafters went up, you could immediately get a sense of how the house is going to look and feel from the inside.

This will be the view when you are standing at the galley kitchen bench, looking across the living area towards the deck, and out into the trees beyond. You can see the hole left for the double sliding glass doors.

The outlook across the deck towards the east from the living room doors - you can see all the way to Archerfield. This view won't be blocked when Number 27 is complete.

Let's talk steel.

Here I'd like to talk about hot dip galvanising compared to DuraGal. It’s a big issue, there’s lots of marketing out there for DuraGal, and it's a popular product. So, what's the difference?

Nice fresh hot-dipped galvanised steel columns for 25 and 27 Chapman Place.

This little pile of steel will hold up two houses... and cost over $12 000.

A few minutes on Google will find you specification information and some revealing case-studies about the differences between hot-dipped and DuraGal if you're interested.

Hot-dipped galvanised columns are made like this: the anti-corrosive galvanised coating is applied after your columns have been fabricated, and it's applied by dipping the whole piece into the galvanising solution, covering every surface, every weld, even the inside of columns through the holes specially left for this purpose.

Here you can see the hot-dipped galvanised coating has completely enveloped every weld and hole of the column components.

I have designed these houses at 25 and 27 Chapman Place for the lowest long term maintenance cost, and that's why I'm using hot dip galvanised columns, as it offers the longest corrosion protection. The catch? It’s twice the price of DuraGal and can take an extra two weeks from ordering - which are the main reasons that others might not use it.