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!