Under Wraps

We are now under the cover of tarps that Strawb purchased from CBH a while ago.  I think it had been used as a liner for a dam.
Monday 12 September Pete, Strawb and Bob put up more of the floor joists.  Wet weather was expected so a tarp was needed to cover the roof.  The blokes waited for Hamish and I to return from school and work so we could assist.  Tarps are bloody heavy so we made it into a caterpillar shape and pushed and pulled it up some timbers placed on an angle up to the roof.  The wind was starting to gust so we had to keep our eyes and ears alert and keep weight on the edges to keep it down. Pete had a quick dash to Bunnings to purchase more clamps to finish securing the tarp down.  We finished at around 6.30 and had a well earned beer or low al sparkling.
Tuesday 13 September
It rained a bit overnight and we lost power due to dampness getting into the electrics somewhere.  Hamish's room ended up quite wet.  Peter spent the day sorting out any leaks so found the offending hole over Hamish's room.  This has seemed to fix the power problem as well.  Hopefully it is secure as really wet weather is expected on the weekend.  Pete has plenty to sort in the mean time.  Bob and Strawb can also spend some time on their own projects.  Pete did tell them over a beer last night that west sheep so now work for a wee bit!

The roof, the roof is off

Twas a very busy weekend.  The old roofing timbers were all removed on Friday.  Peter and Strawb then spent the rest of Friday and Saturday trying to get the timbers in place on the wall plate in readiness for the floor joists to be put into place.  Saturday afternoon Bob Boyse, Stewart Gartland and Peter Pitt helped get the 5m LVLs up onto the roof.  They were pretty heavy and cumbersome but the guys got them up there in under 2 hours.  Great going.  Pete and Strawb then spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday getting the long LVL floor joists in place over the western section of the house (over the downstairs bedrooms and bathroom).  This was completed by mid afternoon so Hamish and I had to assist in getting some chipboard flooring sheets up on top of the joists. It was pretty exhausting heading up and down the ladder so it must be really hard on the guys as they have been at it for days now.  Strawb had a fall on Thursday so has really sore ribs and bits of skin missing from his legs and arms.  Bob fell the same day I think but is less damaged but wrecked his phone.
Having timbers up there does make a much better viewing platform and the views are stupendous.  It is all looking really good.  Rain is forecast for tomorrow nights so Strawb is getting some tarps ready just in case they don't get everything done in time.

Raising the roof

Tonight is really cold and we have a ceiling and insulation above our heads but no tiles. They came off today with Peter, Strawb and Bob Boyes helping out. It was pretty hard work I think as it is 7.42 and Pete is having a little lie down in bed.  They put the tiles in Scott's tipping Ute and took them to the tip, which is happy to have them for free to make into road base.  I am not sure I will sleep very well worrying about rain but Peter assures me that it won't rain and if it does a couple mils won't do much damage anyway.  Strawb suggested I wear a raincoat to bed.  I will post pictures shortly.
The house is progressing quite well and we are really happy with how the front yard will be.  The shed has created a fantastic wind break to the south west and the sun shines in from the north.  We have decided to capitalise on the veranda  by creating tiered seating that will be the steps down into the garden area.
The shed is marvelous as well and is currently housing a kitchen we purchased in Perth for $3800.  It is vinyl wrap beech but includes heaps of drawers, 2 pantry sliders with Blum hardware, Miele gas cooktop with stainless bench surround, A Domain wall oven, Blanco rangehood, microwave and a fridge/freezer with ice maker.  We are thinking it is probably better for downstairs but time will tell.  We can make it fit into either space.
The driveway is made from exposed aggregate concrete and looks fabulous.  I bought a couple of interesting metal gates and it really suits the whole look.  We just need decide on colours now.  I am feeling that we should paint all the scion stria boards the very dark grey blue to match the colourbond.  The render on the house will remain cream.  The timber decks are jarrah (can you believe it was the cheapest option?) and we have painted the pine structural timbers on the shed veranda with a jarrah stain.  I am starting to think that we should have some highlights in dark lime green.  It would match well with all the other colours but add some brightness.  I was thinking of some deep red for highlights but I think it would not look as good as the green with the jarrah.
Hopefully the next few days will bring no rain so we can get the roof timbers off and replace with floor joists, flooring and then cover with a plastic layer before the framing, waiting in the driveway, can be be put into place.