High Country Construction

Stunning Sunset in Lewis Pass.

2010-11-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

I thought this sunset from a few days ago was a treat that mustn't miss out on getting posted.

I pretty much finished down on the street side with the rock wall. After the mortar has completely set here I'll fill in with some gravel to make the steps. Now I'm carrying on with the main wall around the back of the house.

Landscaping Update

2010-10-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Been busy landscaping and gardening. I'll upload more gardening pics when the weather is fine again. The rock wall is coming along nicely. I've basically finished the street-side wall and just need to build the stairs off the wall. The steps at the back are usable and I've begun further work down the end of the courtyard wall. - to bee seen soon....

Hardscaping Update!

2010-06-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

I've made good progress on the wall down the front now. I think I am working a little faster but one can speed up only so much for such a laborious process. I've cut down my workload before I intend to leave Hanmer to just this front wall and the stairs at the end of the driveway.

I think this whole wall thing will be a much more gradual process than I imagined. Maybe it can be turned into a family activity whenever someone visits. I know that I intend to do a little work on it any time I visit.

As you can see I've poured a concrete pad at the bottom of the path, because the drainpipe under it was broken and exposed. I fitted an 80mm section of drainpipe into the broken 90mm piece and poured over top with a little reinforcing mesh. I will finish the surface with a load of 'chip'.

Courtyard in crisp sunshine

2010-05-21T16:51:00.000-07:00

Finally here is the courtyard post-concrete pour. I quickly joined 3 photos together for a panoramic so the angles might look a little off, but it gives a good overall picture.

Hardscaping continues

2010-05-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the next progress pic for the rock wall. I've realised one can't be too fussy about making the rocks fit perfectly because they are undressed and therefore practically certain not to fit together. However where there is a lot of mortar between rocks I try to fill those gaps with smaller stones rather than filling them up entirely with mortar.

I've added a couple drainage pipes in accordance with the Collins DIY manual I skimmed over. My biggest worry is if water pools in the pockets between the rocks and then freezes - do I need to make sure all gaps are filled up completely with mortar during construction?

progress 2 and 3

2010-05-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Making progress on the wall and here are the 2nd and third progress pics as it were. I mean to get pics of the concrete courtyard up soon.

Rock on

2010-05-11T21:46:00.000-07:00

I've started building the wall in the last couple of weeks and here are a couple of progress pics.

Posts, stays and titelock.

2010-05-09T20:45:00.000-07:00

The fence along the east border is complete and now Merlot is free to do the sniffing and stuff he does in a much larger domain. Woof! Very please with the fence considering its' my first attempt.

Day before moving in.

2010-04-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Here are a small selection of photos taken the day before all the contents were moved in.

Pre-concrete

2010-03-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

The following photos were taken prior to the concrete courtyard and driveway being poured. I made outlines where the concrete was to go to help the concrete man from Le Concrete quote for it. Mr Hackett, the concrete man, is a fantastic worker. Sometimes you strike it lucky with the subbies and sometimes they're woefully difficult or unskilled/incompetent/uncaring etc.

In the next post I'll upload the completed concrete.

Linings done

2010-01-23T18:00:00.000-08:00

Great things have happened since the last post, which isn't really surprising considering the duration between posts now. The initial enthusiasm to keep these posts up has wained I admit. This is mainly beause it seems I'm making the posts for only myself, however for those out there who have been looking in from time to time: cheers.

Well, All the major building work has been completed. All the interior linings have been done, including the tiling and flooring (vinyl, carpet) and the decking (including the ramp has been built). I will have pictures of these soon.

In this post You can see some of the progress of those additions and a picture showing the fire and gibstopping.

Below is a picture showing what I've been working on personally for the last week or so: the ceiling polyurethane. I've almost completed 2 coats of water-based polyurethane, semi-gloss finish and the picture shows the difference between no-coat, one coat, and two coats, which can only bee seen easily like this when a light source is positioned as shown. That's an awful lot of work for something that can barely be noticed... but there is a lot of that kind of work in building.

Subbies for miles

2009-12-11T18:38:00.001-08:00

So much has happened i feel a bit guilty about not updating more often, but here is a selection of what has been going on right now. I'll get more pics of the gib-stopping later and the kitchen which just went in! In these pictures you can seen we've been working on gib-board (plasterboard) and plywood v-groove ceiling and the floor people have come and sanded the floor down ready for the vinyl. The floor sanding/buffing has got to be the loudest few days we've had on site!

Utilities

2009-10-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

The house now has some services running through it. The plumbers have plumbed up the house and it's 'live' (water in the pipes). This is done so that if anyone hits a pipe when putting in the interior cladding, they know about it. Also the sparky has been up and wired upstairs mostly. There is still a lot of wiring yet to do.

The solar panel guys also have turned up and put the pipes up through the roof and hooked up the 'header tank'. The header tank is a tank that acts as an intermediate step for the steaming hot water from the roof to cool a little before entering the house's hot water supply. Apparently the temperature of solar hot water can get past boiling point!

Of course building work has also been continuing apace with all the weatherboards (those supplied) stained and fixed and some corner-boards done. We're short roughly 8 lengths of weatherboard, but we have to wait about 2 weeks for any more! Strange that they can't make some sooner, oh well. Needless to say there is copious amounts of sawdust being produced and each weekend a cleanup is more or less essential.

October Snowfall

2009-10-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

Last friday we had an amazing turn of weather. It started on Thursday with rain -and lots of it! I'd say It rained for about 7-8 hours, because it was bucketing down when I went to the pub and the same when I came home!

The next day we all woke to snowfall as these pictures show. This continued on for about 24 hours and even bent some of the guttering on the new house that had no snowstraps.

Luckily because it wasn't winter temperatures the snow melted as quickly as it fell during most of the snowfall. Even with all the melting the level of snow on the ground still reached about 10 inches! I hope to get more pictures of this soon.

More like a house

2009-10-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Since the last update the matchstick quality of the house has transformed with the roofing, building wrap, cladding and even some windows being installed. These elements are comparatively fast to put on, when the structure and framing seemed to take an awful long time and effort. Just as well I suppose since that is what keeps the house standing after all!

I've been staining the rafters, dummy rafters, and weatherboards and there is still a great deal to be stained/painted. I'll probably be doing that job most of the time until the house is complete.

Shout from the Rooftops

2009-09-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated in a while, but here is where we are at: - 90% of the roof framing is up and the plywood v-groove sarking has been mostly fixed around the eaves and verandah roofs. This week the roofer is coming to size up the colorsteel and flashings required. The traditional 'roof shout' is approaching.

The scaffolding company has started putting up scaffolds which will eventually surround the house as a safety measure when the roofers are working.

We've also had some wierd and wonderful weather hot days and mixed bags which served up at least half a dozen rainbows throughout one day stretching across the Hanmer basin.

Parallel lines

2009-08-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

This week we made more particularly visual progress by putting up the rafters and a few frames. Also all the interior wall framing has been completed. One gets a fantastic sense of the interior spaces and the variation from outside to inside.

This week my brother visited Hanmer Springs and also helped out lifting framed and fixing rafters. He is overlooking the site in the picture below.

360 UB 45

2009-08-15T16:41:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the ridgebeam arrived with the rafters. We managed to overcome this hurdle without too much difficulty as the HIAB (truck crane) was able to set the beam in place within its maximum reach. It is temporarily braced at the moment and soon the rafters will hold it in place.

For the remainder of the week we worked mainly on the attic floor and ceiling below. Once that flooring is complete the rafters can be fixed in place.

Jacob unhooks the strop after the beam is set down in place.

Full steam ahead!

2009-08-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

Since the last post we've been very busy. A lot of progress has been made - visible and actual. The underfloor insulation has been installed (the white stuff between the joists above) and the floor has been laid over the whole first floor now. Merlot is here inspecting the job. The 4 framing packs for the first floor arrived at Midday Wednesday.

Below shows the frames being erected since Wednesday and some of the steel that helps support the roof. The second picture below shoes Jacob and I moving one of the smallest bits of frames out of the way(sits under the steel portal-frame to the left).

The frames going up make the most visible difference to any site, whereas they have been prefabricated and we've merely tacked them in place. Most of the work today has been cutting slots in the floor for the steel to be bolted onto the block wall beneath. [click on the photos to see them larger]

Dwanging once more

2009-08-04T02:12:00.000-07:00

After the piles were set we built up the subfloor structure. The piles were all cut off to level and the bearers fixed to the piles. The joists were then laid down and fixed to the bearers and finally dwang cut to fix at 1800 centres between the joists. For the anchored piles, of which there are eight, 12kN (kilonewton) galvanised nail-plates were fixed to the pile/bearer connections.

Concrete puddings

2009-08-02T23:04:00.000-07:00

This picture above was taken after a flurry of activity heaving large wheelbarrows often full to the brim with concrete down sticky, muddy, mucky soil to pour around the piles. We set a total of 38 piles including 8 anchored piles set 900mm into the ground.

Greentongue

2009-07-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

This last 2 weeks have been quite busy. We've been building up the floor structure and laying down the substrate flooring panels - 'greentongue' panels made from compressed wood-chips. It's a great product: very hard, weatherproof (can sit outside in the rain etc. for about 2 months).

The floor takes a lot of time to get level and plumb all the way along. I found it reassuring that Jacob has high standards of accuracy, though I think it comes from necessity to make the whole job easier to put together.

We also put up some of the wall bracing along the front of the house (below), which is basically plywood sheeting nailed all along the edges and through the middle of each sheet.

Clear as mud.

2009-07-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

Wednesday. It's a bit hard to see in the picture but there are about 18 holes bored into the ground for pile footings. On the right-hand side edge of the picture is the auger-bit which attached to the end of a digger arm from the digger. Part of the digger itself can be seen in the bottom-left of the picture.

The mud was so sticky, I periodically had to scrape mud off the auger so that it could still bring up a decent amount of soil each time it drilled into the ground. Not to meniton doubling the weight of your boots by having stones encapsulated in mud stuck to the bottom of your boots.

We continued dwanging the floor and putting joists in. Dwanging is solid blocking.... Solid blocking is timber that goes in between the joists to keep them straight up and down and stop them moving side to side (bowing or buckling etc.)

Free draining.

2009-07-16T22:03:00.000-07:00

On Monday the tailing were put in behind the retaining wall and down the sides. You can see the white sign-board sheets put up over the 'Ardex Shelterseal' for protection from perforation by the tailings.

The shelterseal sheets (lapped 50mm down to the slab bottom) are over top of a waterproof layer of tar-based paint called moleseal painted down to, and across the following channel). The grooved channel is cut from a step-out of concrete (down the bottom 150mm below the slab) forming the foundation and a 100mm perforated drainage pipe (wrapped in a filter-cloth sock) sits on the channel and takes any excess water round the sides to the front of the section. Overkill? (And that's not the whole story!)

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A touch of golden weather.

2009-07-10T19:02:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken on Thursday, and as you can see the floor is coming along nicely and we've ordered a rainwater storage tank to put in before we close up the floor. Below shows the view out of the office window! It sure is nice when the sun comes out. Snowy alpine peaks on one side a tawny brown and green hills across the valley.

The waterproofers have finished and the first posts (piles) for the north wing have been stood up and as I type Jim, the local earthworks contractor is piling up the tailings on site to go in behind the retaining wall.

Looks like Marmite..

2009-07-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

Wednesday. We are progressing well and had the first decent bit of sun for about a week nearing the end of the day. The frames have been braced and bolted down, and we've nailed on the boundary joists for the floor.

At long last the waterproofers have come and put 'moleskin' (tar) seal on the back of the blocks, and stuck (heated on with a blowtorch) sheets of 'Ardex Shelterseal tanking' over the top. They're about halfway through and should be finished tomorrow.

Above is the view from the one of the guest rooms on the ground floor. Not bad, I thought.
Below Jacob is holding one end of his tape measure, checking where the SHS steel beam is going and I'm holding one end of my tape measure checking the length of the steel beam.

Visible progress!

2009-07-07T00:19:00.000-07:00

The Saturday before last the first load of timber arrived with the frames for the ground floor. All last week I'd been rearranging the loose timber to make room for the frames to go in as there was nothing else to do on site. The weather ha been a bit off and on and it has not been easy getting the waterproofers on site, despite several opportunities when they could have come but did not.

Anyway this week the builders are back and we've been getting on with it, putting the top-plates on and the frames in and bolting everything down plumb. We've been cat-walking along the top-plates knocking in bolts and tightening nuts - just as well I don't suffer from vertigo!

The progress on Monday can be seen (above) with the first frame up and the top plates bolted on the block walls. Before the end of Tuesday all the frames are up for the ground storey (below).

The Aurelian Walls of Hanmer

2009-06-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

We have put blockfill (concrete) in the walls, after inserting and tying up length after length of high-tensile steel for excessive reinforcement. It would take a truly biblical earthquake to break this wall down now. The concrete did spill out in a couple places but strangely only on the very last bit of wall we filled. We only lost about 0.2m3 of concrete so it wasn't a biggy.

Blocks. Step Two.

2009-06-25T16:16:00.000-07:00

The second day of blockies working on the block walls can be seen in the picture. They are making good progress, however its been a bit slower going than I would've liked. Then again the builder is at another job fixing up some facilities at a chicken farm, and a mushroom farm too, so there isn't much else that can be done anyway. The shapes are starting to have somwhat of a presence on site and its pretty cool to see it grow.

Lego!

2009-06-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

After a weeks break the blocklayers arrived yesterday to start the block walls. They look to be making good progress, despite the freezing weather. It's exciting to see that finally the 3-dimensional is taking shape after the house has only been 3d in the imagination, on screen, and even 2d on the slab. Of course, there is no doubt we will be moving in as soon as the cellar has been closed in with blocks.

The slab is down.

2009-06-07T17:16:00.000-07:00

The pour went well last Thursday, and the slab looks great, as far as I can tell. I noticed we have a few too many starters (vertical bars sticking out). Part of the internal blockwallis supposed to stop short so that one may walk into the cellar, however the starters seem to block off the cellar completely! The extra ones will have to be angle-grinded off. Hopefully the flooring we put on top will cover the ends of the steel.

There will be a week gap as we wait for the block-layers to become available. In the meantime, I've been sorting out the framing, and other business.

Pre-placer-pour

2009-06-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

The floor-placers are coming tomorrow to pour the ground floor slab. We have spent the last 2 days preparing for it by laying polythene, bending 'starters' (vertical reinforcing steel, bent flat into the slab), laying mesh, wire-tying, boxing up, laying down, running round....

The inspector has been through and all is good for the pour. Pray it doesn't rain or snow.

2nd Snow

2009-05-30T15:34:00.000-07:00

We woke up to snow on Sunday. It has stopped now and will likely clear by Tuesday when the working week starts after Queen's birthday weekend. Of course it may snow again between now and then, but for now there is only 1-2cm of snow on the ground.

Simple but satisfying

2009-05-27T20:04:00.000-07:00

The tailings went in today. It was quite a simple operation. I just had to make sure the tailings were approxiamately the right level, so the floor-placers can position the floor height easily. As you can see the tailings are big round river stones '20-40s' (20-40mm avg. i think). They look impressive and remind me of those paintings of river stones by a New Zealand artist.

A rare fine day last week

2009-05-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

Just as the title says. The image shows a bit clearer the whole site with the boxing up, before the steel reinforcing is put in. I'm widening one of the trenches.

The foundations take shape

2009-05-26T21:59:00.000-07:00

A change of pace this day as the concrete was poured. The day consisted of moments of great activity and excitement when the concrete was being poured, followed by moments of calm waiting for the next 6 cubes of concrete to come. There was no rain!

The image above shows the great long arm of the pump-truck, which has an incredible 28m reach. The other pic shows Jacob, the builder, steering the tubes around the foundations (blue beanie), with me trying to be helpful (green beanie) and Baz, the concrete-pump-guy controlling the arm & flow with a box attached around his waist.

Brrrrr..

2009-05-26T21:47:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday last week it snowed for the first time, but thankfully it wasn't for too long so work was not held up that much. We had been working in very wet, cold and muddy conditions for several days construction the boxing for the concrete pour, which happened on Tuesday 26th.

Level Cut

2009-05-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

I'm standing in a trench cut to level using a laser. A long measure (ruler) has a laser reciever attached to it at a height level with the laser, which enables the digger to maintain a regular level across the whole cut. I was particularly important to get this trench the right level as the rest of the cut will follow the same line. The cut is about 1.9m deep.

The contrast/brightness of the image had to be adjusted to be able to see the depth of the trench.

The Digger Arrives

2009-05-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here, the impressive power of a digger is demonstrated by pulling the big pine stump out with ease last week. At the moment were gradually building up the time spent on site as the builders finish a job in Timaru and this one begins proper. I will have another post shortly with the cut as I can hear the digger cutting the main level cut as I type.

Profiles

2009-05-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

A couple cracker day enabled the builders to put up these profiles up easily. Getting the angles right was a bit tricky though, especially when the location of one of the boundary corners seems a bit off. Eventually we managed to get an accurate enough setup in order spray a line for the digger to make the cut next week. Thankfully the excavator will also take away the piles of branches along with the soil.

We were going to have bonfires to get rid of the piles of vegetation but found that the bureaucracy had got in on that too! After a few calls to the fire service, thinking we could just notify them of what we were doing, we ended up requiring a permit from the Department of Conservation, the Hurunui Council and probably eCan. Even with all that if someone calls up about the fire, the fire service would have to put it out anyway and we couldn't light it again... sigh.

Still, all is good and positive at this stage as we have begun to make some progress toward an actual house.

Ringed-out

2009-04-30T17:28:00.000-07:00

Progress on the site is set to change rapidly in the next week or so, if all goes to plan. The trees in the picture have been 'ringed-out' and are ready for splitting. We've already been splitting away with a splitter axe and have filled a whole trailer load, which is drying under the deck until next winter.

Timber!

2009-04-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

The is the first activity to appear on the site. The plans are still with the council at the moment and I've been completing a further information request form.

All went well with the felling and we should have a fair amount of firewood to last for a winter or two..or three.. after the wood has dried out. The trees have been 'ringed-out' (cut into thick slices), and soon to be split by a splitter on the back of a tractor into a more useful size.

Apparently as pines age and get taller the sap content reduces in height such that near the top of a tall pine the wood can be quite dry. This can be a serious risk, because when a strong North-westerly hits Hanmer Springs the gusts can be enough to break off large branches or even tree-tops. There is no warning as wood is brittle, and often there is little sound - until a 2 tonne trunk falls through the roof that is.