WIP - Kitchen, bathroom, laundry and verandah

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Originally Posted by pawnhead

Just a point. That lintel should have jamb studs, or be continuous to the next stud if it's fully housed.
If it's half housed, you've probably done your homework and I should just shut up.

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Well spotted!! It wasn't till after the photos were taken that I stood back, looked and swore :doh:. I'd housed the lintel but forgotten the continuous stud. So now there is a continuous stud in there as well...

The red gum deck is 200x50x2700 landscape sleepers that have been dressed in the thicknesser. They've been slotted between the 100x50 red gum joists. The sleepers have been spaced up level using red gum as well. Finish is Intergrain Natural Decking Oil. The sleepers were about $11 each and there are 30 of them....from a materials perspective the cost per sq metre worked out at roughly $20. Cheap yes but she took a bit of time to finish and fit.....:U

Last two walls this weekend and the roof frame next weekend....

You also don't really need those extra jack studs under the plate at the bottom of the window opening. They don't carry much weight apart from packers to support the window until it's fixed solidly through the sides.

Man I reckon this is Aussie innovation at its best!

:D:D:D:D

Framing was approved by the council today!! And old mate inspector reckoned the new back deck looked 'really good'.

So now we can do a roof!!

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Originally Posted by SilentButDeadly

Termite treatment is a given........and it has been received. Termites also explain why we used steel bearers....it ain't perfect but as long as it makes it harder for the little buggers to get to lunch then I'm a happy camper.

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You do realise that the termites can just climb over the bearers and into the joists?

The whole point of using termite caps and steelwork is just to slow them down. So that a regular inspection can detect them and they can be removed before they damage the house. You will not be able to inspect, so you really needed to provide a barrier that they can't foil. I can't believe that the council inspector would allow you to get away with it as it is clearly stated in the BCA. I just hope you treated the ground.

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Originally Posted by DvdHntr

You do realise that the termites can just climb over the bearers and into the joists?

The whole point of using termite caps and steelwork is just to slow them down. So that a regular inspection can detect them and they can be removed before they damage the house. You will not be able to inspect, so you really needed to provide a barrier that they can't foil. I can't believe that the council inspector would allow you to get away with it as it is clearly stated in the BCA. I just hope you treated the ground.

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I'm well aware of the capabilities of termites but I'm not terrified of them:U

The house stumps have all been treated in accordance with the BCA and the underfloor is now well ventilated so I've done about all I can do in terms of risk minimisation.....and we are located in semi-arid Oz so we don't have the humidity problem of most Australian rat runs :doh: sorry.....cities, which seems to encourage termites to climb considerable distances...

Routine inspections for termites and other greeblies are also a given....even here:;

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Originally Posted by SilentButDeadly

Routine inspections for termites and other greeblies are also a given....even here:;

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How do you get under there to inspect? looks like about 150mm.

Also, they will not attack the stumps but they will go for those nice newly sawn timber joists. Having steel bearers makes little difference in my opinion. I think they would have cost a fair bit more than conventional timber bearers.

Underfloor inspections admittedly aren't easy as most of the existing house is fairly close to the ground but I've carved a couple of crawl paths under both old and new sections which even a bloke like me can warp and weft into.

True.....termites will gun for the joists but the as we said the stumps are treated, the bearers are steel, the underfloor is well ventilated and underfloor soil moisture is almost no existant....so they'll have to work hard to get there. Not impossible very true but apart from knocking the thing down and building totally in steel there's not much I can do to totally obliviate the risk...

And yep gal steel costs more than hardwood bearers (steel $120/8m length) but a) a smaller profile will carry more weight over a longer span (which meant I could deal with the limited height issues) and b) is still cheaper than modern termite treated LVL alternatives like Hyspan.

If we'd tried to use timber bearers then they would either have been sitting on the ground or sitting on stumps only 1000mm apart or less as opposed to the far more practical 1500mm spacing we got away with....

Well........things have moved onwards....the frames are covered for starters....

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...sisalation.jpg

Yes we know it's the shiny side out and that's not the way everyone does it but it's very hot where we are for more of the year than it's cool and.....it only makes R 0.1 of a difference anyway!!

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...sisalation.jpg

The back deck has turned out really really well....

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...rupondrush.jpg

...and just to show that one must have plans when building something this...flash....here are ours..
http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...thaveplans.jpg

Hi, Great thread :2tsup: especially seeing as though i am about to undertake something very similar.
Couple of questions just for my own learning purposes:
Was there a point of installing decking joists as in the end you didnt use them other then for decorative purposes?

By the pictures, the decking roof posts dont go into the ground, are they bolted onto the bearers/joists and how, or am i miss-seeing them?

Love the plans, did you have to submit any to the council before building?

Looks great, keep the pictures/updates coming
Cheers<O:p</O:p

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Originally Posted by Purse

Was there a point of installing decking joists as in the end you didnt use them other then for decorative purposes?

By the pictures, the decking roof posts dont go into the ground, are they bolted onto the bearers/joists and how, or am i miss-seeing them?

Love the plans, did you have to submit any to the council before building?

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q1. Yes...there was a point. The plans said there'd be hardwood 90x45 joists....and we didn't want to disappoint to building dude and have him turn around and disappoint us!! Plus the contrasting sizes works quite well...the building dude thought so too.

q2. You're right...they don't go into the ground. They are housed over the bearer and bolted, triple gripped to the joist and nailed to the interjoint block that the sleepers are screwed to....I hope I don't ever need to pull them down :U

q3. Yep...we took the wall (it used to divide the kitchen from the laundry before we realised it'd fit in the new 'hole' we'd created) down to the planners office in the back of the ute before we kicked off......his signature and stamp are on the centre left (over the water container).

Silent, our council requires that we submit 3 copies of plans........if you had to do the same I recon you may have some problems with drafts.:D

I had to submit 3 full copies and 6 basic plan and front elevations. The funny thing is I don't think they even checked mine because they asked about things that were clearly stated or shown on the drawings.

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Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

Silent, our council requires that we submit 3 copies of plans........if you had to do the same I recon you may have some problems with drafts.:D

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We DO have a problem with drafts even now that the plans have been returned....:U