Southern Tablelands Shipping Container Build

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Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Turnstiles

Your house is coming up a treat.

3.2Kw sounds a little bit light on (no pun intended). Time will tell when you are living there full time. As you have a 5KW inverter, I expect you can add panels. Possibly the same amount again as you can imagine it is only under optimal conditions that they will deliver their rated capacity.

Regards
Paul

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Thanks Paul - at last I can see the finish in sight! Re: solar - as you would know, it isn't a 'one size fits all' and so far I have now been living here for more than a week, with a mixture of cloudy and sunny days and so far haven't come near 50% use of the battery. It's been a regular week and the only thing I haven't used is the oven. But I rarely bake and if I do it will be during the day most of the time.

But as you said, if I find I am running short I can add more panels and/or buy another battery (they are really coming down in price). I don't have air-con or electric heating and there is only me in the house. So I am hopeful (for the time being at least) that I have sufficient solar for my needs.

CHeers,
Terry

Nice to hear you’re getting so close to moving in, but no mention of an Occupation Certificate. Are you required to get one ? If so it may be good to exercise some caution in terms of making move-in plans.

When I finished our OB I was sure that everything was in pass mode, but when the Certifier turned up for the OC he went immediately to the staircase with a ruler, and determined that the lowest stair riser was 10mm too high. This happened because we made a late change to the choice of downstairs flooring material. We had no choice but to demolish the lower flight of stairs and rebuild them. They can be picky, although beyond that he hardly looked at anything else.

I expect you’ve already taken care of it, but if not be cautious.

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Originally Posted by Arron

When I finished our OB I was sure that everything was in pass mode, but when the Certifier turned up for the OC he went immediately to the staircase with a ruler, and determined that the lowest stair riser was 10mm too high. This happened because we made a late change to the choice of downstairs flooring material. We had no choice but to demolish the lower flight of stairs and rebuild them. They can be picky, although beyond that he hardly looked at anything else.

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I'm sure plenty of other members have had similar experiences with building inspectors.

Your reference to the inspector going straight to your stairs reminds me of one of my ancient joys with a building inspector who went straight to a balustrade around a stairwell, which I'd made from scratch with mildly decorative balusters and involved a fair bit of time and effort. He informed me that it was 900mm high. I agreed. He said it had to be one metre. I showed him the approved plans in the building permit and pointed to the height being 900mm. He informed me that he didn't care what the building approvals part of the same department in the council that employed him had approved, because minimum height was one metre. We had a, from my point of view, increasingly fruitless discussion about what's the $#^&*@! point of getting a +^%#$*& building permit from your @&$%(*& incompetent council if they're going to approve works which you now say aren't to code? He said that's not his problem and he wasn't going to approve the balustrade until it was one metre high, because it's his job to make sure works are to to code, not to the approved plans. Like you, I had to demolish and rebuild.

Although I did give some thought to throwing the inspector over the 900mm balustrade and down the stairwell and asking him to come back when I'd rebuilt it to one metre to see if it stopped me doing it again.

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Originally Posted by Arron

Nice to hear you’re getting so close to moving in, but no mention of an Occupation Certificate. Are you required to get one ? If so it may be good to exercise some caution in terms of making move-in plans.

When I finished our OB I was sure that everything was in pass mode, but when the Certifier turned up for the OC he went immediately to the staircase with a ruler, and determined that the lowest stair riser was 10mm too high. This happened because we made a late change to the choice of downstairs flooring material. We had no choice but to demolish the lower flight of stairs and rebuild them. They can be picky, although beyond that he hardly looked at anything else.

I expect you’ve already taken care of it, but if not be cautious.

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Hi Arron - changes to the regulations (they are ALWAYS changing!!) means, at least in NSW, that the terms "Interim Occupation Certificate" and "Occupation Certificate" no longer apply and it is all called "Occupation Certificate".

"staged occupation of a building is still permitted. As a new development is constructed, parts may be completed and become suitable for occupancy before the overall development is finished. To accommodate this, the EP&A Act allows for an OC to be issued for part of a partially completed building."

So same thing, different name!! And so I've moved in! I have a fully functional bathroom, laundry and kitchen, and all structural work complete. I still need another Occupation Certificate when everything is complete.

My local council inspections have been, how would you say? Casual! For the hot & cold (internal plumbing before covering,) the inspector arrived had a long chat with me for half an hout about totally unrelated things, stuck her head in the bathroom door (without even going in) and said "All good. I'll issue the framing inspection while I'm here." (Because from the lounge she scanned the interior!

I hope my finasl O.C will be this easy!

Re: farcical regulations - friends of mine on QLD on 5 acres bought a property with a pool. They decided to replace the 30 year old aluminium safety railings with glass and had to jump through numerous hoops because of new regs. The pool backs onto the house so they had to seal a glass sliding door from a bedroom permanently. The glass fence had to extend one metre past a right angled junction at one point (for some reason which escapes me.)

30 metres down the paddock from the house was a completely unfenced 2 megalitre dam!!

So obviously things are different in the bush, as one would expect.

We also had a staged development, but to move into stage 1 it had to be finished in its entirety - a home within a home. Then it had to be sealed off from the unfinished portion - not just with a door but with something ‘that required tools’ to remove. Plus it had to be on separate power circuits with separate subboards so power could be off in the portion under construction while life continued in the lived-in portion.

Obviously your requirements are not enforced so strictly. Lucky you. It would not have been hard for us to manage the risks associated with the two stage build so I would not have hesitated to do it as you are.

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Originally Posted by Arron

So obviously things are different in the bush, as one would expect.

We also had a staged development, but to move into stage 1 it had to be finished in its entirety - a home within a home. Then it had to be sealed off from the unfinished portion - not just with a door but with something ‘that required tools’ to remove. Plus it had to be on separate power circuits with separate subboards so power could be off in the portion under construction while life continued in the lived-in portion.

Obviously your requirements are not enforced so strictly. Lucky you. It would not have been hard for us to manage the risks associated with the two stage build so I would not have hesitated to do it as you are.

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I think you will find the rules are exactly the same they are just not being enforced. If you want an easy ride through the building process I found council was much easier to use than private certifiers. As a result I purposefully used private inspectors as they were a form of QA for me, the council inspectors were just to lax and it concerned me.

Private certifiers are so scared of litigation and deregistration that they are vigilant with the process, council inspectors are not part of the scutiny regulation process so don’t care.

Stairs! The one thing I was pulled up on too. I had set the top step at the same height as the threshold. With the door opening out over that step, the step was considered a landing, and if there is a landing it must be at least the length of the door when opened/perpendicular to the wall. But zero landing is ok (!) so I 'simply' lowered the stairs so the first step was below the threshold

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Originally Posted by r3nov8or

Stairs! The one thing I was pulled up on too. I had set the top step at the same height as the threshold. With the door opening out over that step, the step was considered a landing, and if there is a landing it must be at least the length of the door when opened/perpendicular to the wall. But zero landing is ok (!) so I 'simply' lowered the stairs so the first step was below the threshold

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What year was that and how many treads in the flight?

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Originally Posted by rwbuild

What year was that and how many treads in the flight?

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It was about 2004 and 4 steps

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Originally Posted by turnstiles

Re: farcical regulations - friends of mine on QLD on 5 acres bought a property with a pool. They decided to replace the 30 year old aluminium safety railings with glass and had to jump through numerous hoops because of new regs. The pool backs onto the house so they had to seal a glass sliding door from a bedroom permanently. The glass fence had to extend one metre past a right angled junction at one point (for some reason which escapes me.) 30 metres down the paddock from the house was a completely unfenced 2 megalitre dam!!

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That's interesting about the dam. Perhaps the assumption is that no one would want to go swimming in a dam. Perhaps true if there are a few yabbies there. Though, kids might love to play in a dam. Splashing around, building a raft. Now that you've mentioned it I've never seen a fence barring access to the seaside, jetty, dock, river, lake, or public fountain. All of which are potentially dangerous. Though, there's nothing stopping them playing in the creek, jumping into a river, or dangling their legs off the side of the dockside with a fishing line, or going surfing, and they often do that unsupervised.

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Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

That's interesting about the dam. Perhaps the assumption is that no one would want to go swimming in a dam. Perhaps true if there are a few yabbies there. Though, kids might love to play in a dam. Splashing around, building a raft. Now that you've mentioned it I've never seen a fence barring access to the seaside, jetty, dock, river, lake, or public fountain. All of which are potentially dangerous. Though, there's nothing stopping them playing in the creek, jumping into a river, or dangling their legs off the side of the dockside with a fishing line, or going surfing, and they often do that unsupervised.

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The rule is the same for waterfront properties, the pool needs to be appropriately fenced and comply with the other relevant requirements but the natural watercourse requires nothing

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Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

I'd be careful in doing that. I can imagine paint getting blocked by the edge of the blade as intended, but it might find its way to the underside. The effect of gravity. Then when you go to try again a blob of paint appears on the carpet or floor or whatever. The only way to stop it would be to continually wipe the blade clean.

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That's my experience. I have several sizes of this idea, some specifically sold as paint shields and others just being plaster taping knives etc, and have yet to find them satisfactory in all circumstances as they misbehave exactly as you predicted and require frequent wiping. One issue with using some plaster knives is that they have a slight curve along the edge which just introduces another problem in getting a neat finish. I also have some homemade much larger thin metal shields for spraying and they behave the same way. Might as well use old beer cartons, of which I have a steady supply, to get a similar result and throw away rather than wiping.

On glass, tiles and similar hard surfaces I find it's better to load the brush very lightly and start at the edge of the trim away from the glass etc and work towards the glass etc with a steadily less loaded brush. For the occasional accidents use a dry rag wrapped around a putty knife or thin flat scraper to clean it up.

What works even better is to get a professional competent painter to do it, and marvel at how they can paint skirts over carpet and not end up with paint on the carpet or carpet fibres and other junk in the painted surface. Don't know if they're still available but I have a fair set of very thin plastic strips about 50mm wide which can be slipped between skirts and carpets to protect the carpet, but again this works best with a lightly loaded brush starting at the top of the skirt.

FWIW, don't believe the advertising about Frog masking tape being this wonder product that stops paint bleeding under the edge. It still bleeds, just not as far as cheaper tapes. If you're going to have to clean it up anyway, use the cheaper tape.

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Originally Posted by turnstiles

Because I painted the skirting before I siliconed it where it meets the tiles ...

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Painted before installation or painted after?

As I'm a crap painter, on new work I paint skirts before installation and fill and touch up nail holes afterwards as it's easier and quicker than doing it afterwards.

Archs I install first and paint later as even my crap painting can produce an acceptable edge between the wall and arch.

I'm impressed with your build.

I envy you with that lake on your land.

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Originally Posted by 419

One issue with using some plaster knives is that they have a slight curve along the edge which just introduces another problem in getting a neat finish. I also have some homemade much larger thin metal shields for spraying and they behave the same way. Might as well use old beer cartons, of which I have a steady supply, to get a similar result and throw away rather than wiping.

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None of the plaster knives I own have a curve in them. They are ultra thin metal blades that allow you to create a curve when feathering the plaster. I don't think I'd like to use a blade with a curve! Also, having done quite a few walls of skirting with this method it is important that the blade slides along with the brush as if it is one object.

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Originally Posted by 419

Painted before installation or painted after?

As I'm a crap painter, on new work I paint skirts before installation and fill and touch up nail holes afterwards as it's easier and quicker than doing it afterwards.

Archs I install first and paint later as even my crap painting can produce an acceptable edge between the wall and arch.

I'm impressed with your build.

I envy you with that lake on your land.

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Thanks 419, I am also not a good painter - though much better now having had to do so much!
Like you, I now paint skirts etc before installation though that was not always the case. Lots of my installed skirting only has the primer that came with it. I only have one architrave in the entire house (don't like 'em!!) and that was prepainted as were all the soffits.

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Originally Posted by turnstiles

None of the plaster knives I own have a curve in them. They are ultra thin metal blades that allow you to create a curve when feathering the plaster. I don't think I'd like to use a blade with a curve!

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Taping knives are often curved or, perhaps more accurately, bowed. Hold the knife vertically and look along the edge of the blade and you can see the slight curve or bow between the ends. It's used bow down onto the mud to keep the ends off the wall and assist feathering the mud over tape. If this knife is used as a paint shield it won't have a straight edge, at least unless it's turned upside down and forced flat against the floor.

One of my knives resting on my level:
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Straight as!!

Perhaps they sell different types - mine are all like this! Though I can imagine them developing a slight bow after a lot of use. (When feathering one end is pressed down quite firmly creating a bow in the blade.

Hey look - I just discovered how to make the pix bigger!! Now you don't have to click on them to see the details!!:U

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Originally Posted by turnstiles

Perhaps they sell different types

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They sure do. I have several of the curved ones.

They're fairly easy to make by modifying the flat ones, although the first example in this video is a bit uneven in the curve. Bending a sheetrock bedding knife - YouTube

Just watched a youtube clip by Vancouver Carpenter (he has mainly plastering vids) where he compared the flat to the curved trowel.
Flat Trowel vs Curved Trowel (Drywall Trowels) - YouTube

Like many things - what you first learn becomes your preferred. I think I'll be sticking to the flat!!

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Originally Posted by turnstiles

Like many things - what you first learn becomes your preferred. I think I'll be sticking to the flat!!

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If it works for you, it's the correct tool.

I haven't done enough work and often enough with plastering trowels of any type to get satisfactorily skilled with them, so almost everything I do is done with knives as they are easier to control.

Three and a half weeks living here and I'm loving the quiet (except for the occasional distant cow conversations)

Solar is holding up exceptionally well. First time I used the oven during the day (new oven so it was recommended turning on max power for 45 minutes to burn off residue). I checked the battery level before I started and at the end and there was practically no difference. So that is encouraging.

Have been doing a lot of minor things as well as plastering and painting.

I moved into the main bedroom (gyprocked but unsanded and not painted) while I concentrated on finishing the guest bedroom:
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I've ordered a small single wardrobe, plus I need a dressing mirror on the wall, plus a double bed - but the room is basically done.

So now I am sleeping in the guest room while I finish off the main bed.

The bathroom is now finished except for the cupboard enclosing the laundry tub and washing machine. This isn't urgent so is further down the 'to do' list.
Window frame and architrave are painted, towel rail, robe hooks and mirror installed:
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Kitchen has the kickboard installed, and an old bookcase being used as pantry shelving until I build the floor to ceiling shelves for the cupboard in the same spot.

The toaster and coffee machine and temporarily situated until I build the cupboard to house them.
The fridge will also be in a door-less cupboard with storage overhead.
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What to do when you haven't built a wardrobe yet::U
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And the halo light really does take on a halo quality when lit:
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Neighbour took some drone footage for me. (Recent rain has now greened everything up):
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First evening I spent here when coming back after returning the removal truck, I was greeted by around 80 -90 kangaroos all around the house and this sunset.
A nice welcome I thought!
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And a strange albino rainbow (!!) on my morning walk a couple of days ago:
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TTFN.

With kitchens, people refer to a triangle layout. That’s the relative positions of the stove, fridge, and sink. There are also rules about distances between those things. I think it has to do with having everything in the best position for efficiency. For good access and to prevent you from walking around too much.

As you have it, all three are in a straight line. Consider building some bench space where the fridge is currently and moving the fridge to where you are standing to take the photo. Perhaps the pantry can go next to the fridge.

You might check out some plans from the web to see if you can work the idea.

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Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

As you have it, all three are in a straight line. Consider building some bench space where the fridge is currently and moving the fridge to where you are standing to take the photo. Perhaps the pantry can go next to the fridge.

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That would put the fridge right in the middle of the space linking the lounge/dining to the kitchen! so..umm NO!

Also that is where the kitchen island is going.

Thanks for the suggestion but I've spent a long time planning this and I'm very happy with the way thing are.

Kitchens in a short line like that are very common in apartments and work well when there is only "two and a half steps" from "A to C". Adding an island will provide valuable working space.

Love that sunset!

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Originally Posted by r3nov8or

Kitchens in a short line like that are very common in apartments and work well when there is only "two and a half steps" from "A to C". Adding an island will provide valuable working space.

Love that sunset!

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It is such a small kitchen everything is almost in arms reach from the one spot! Once the coffee machine and toaster have been moved, I will have bench space between the sink and stove plus the kitchen island surface is all prep area.
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As mentioned int the previous post, I had been sleeping in the guest room while I plastered, sanded and painted the main bedroom:
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A strip of sand paper taped to my plastering blade made a great tool for sanding up inside the shadowline profile:
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With windows on three sides, the light creates very interesting shapes and shadows:
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I painted the wall behind the bed charcoal as I planned to hang my 3 new Indigenous paintings there. I saw it in a gallery once and thought the colour worked really well with the colours used in Aboriginal paintings.
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Before I could install my new paintings I had to frame them as they came rolled up in tubes.

I use 42x19 pine with quarter dowel around the edge - this lifts the canvas away from the frame and stops the inner side of the frame showing on the painting:
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Once painting was finished I moved back into this room
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I found a small wardrobe for the guest room and a wall dressing mirror:
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Every time I buy something largish for the house the cardboard goes on the floor to help protect the Tasmanian oak floorboards - I swear the ceiling is looking a lot closer!
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Then I bought a bed and side tables (which are not what I want but I haven't yet found what's in my head in a shop!!)

These cube stands were only $11 each and were narrow enough for the space (320mm) and will suffice until I find what I want.

The artwork above the bed is by a good friend of mine in Norway, the little steel shadow boxer on the side stand is one of mine made about 30 years ago. Now the room just needs carpet and the blind to go up.:
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Then it was back to the final area to finish - the lounge/dining area.

Lots of gyprocking, plastering and painting to do here.
Currently putting up the ceiling gyprock:
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One section to go and I ran out of insulation. I am teaching the next 2 days so I can pick up some when I am in town.

It's as dry as here ATM. Very little rain over the past 3 months. The ground is brown and the grass is getting crunchy underfoot as it did 3 years ago during the drought. Last night a terrific storm blew over, dark ominous clouds, lots of lightening and... 1mm of rain😒

But the callistemons have been fiery this year:
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And the 'roos haven't deserted me!!
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This is going to be 1 awesome home when finished :2tsup:

I agree with Ray. Awesome!

Regards
Paul

Stunning build,it looks awesome.

Cheers Matt.

So, you frame your own pictures. Good on you, for that.

I haven’t done much cutting at 45 degs. I spent a lot of effort on a deck. once. Then the boards shrunk and it looked stupid. That was disappointing. My saw has a little click at the 45 deg point, which is nice in principle, but the trouble with that is that there’s a bit of slop in that click-thing. So, when it comes to it I have to assume I have approx 45 and not precisely 45 degrees. Which is probably good enough for most things.

I had wondered, given that I don’t know the real angle my machine is set to, that if I flip the board for the subsequent cut all will be good. For example, if the machine is set to 44-and ¾ deg and I do the first cut with it, then when I flip the board upside down on the next cut it will cut at 45-and ¼ deg. Total: 90. Though, I found that my blade leaves a perfectly crisp line on one side and an uneven edge on the other where the teeth have ripped the wood fibres ragged. You don’t really want ragged edges on the upper surface. So, while that seemed like a good idea at the time I'm not so sure it is.

I wonder how companies that are in the business of framing pictures manage to get a perfect 45 that has no burrs. Maybe a sander that’s set to 45 degrees too.

Anyway, I’m impressed that you are doing this yourself.

They use mitre trimmers like this https://www.timbecon.com.au/hand-mitre-trimmer

Nifty!

Presumably, some effort was made in the manufacture of the tool to ensure 45 degrees; unlike my crap mitre saw that has inbuilt slop.

Or if in the business, a Morso
MORSO F DELUXE manual miter cutting machine (N20005)

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Originally Posted by ErrolFlynn

So, you frame your own pictures. Good on you, for that.

I haven’t done much cutting at 45 degs. I spent a lot of effort on a deck. once. Then the boards shrunk and it looked stupid. That was disappointing. My saw has a little click at the 45 deg point, which is nice in principle, but the trouble with that is that there’s a bit of slop in that click-thing. So, when it comes to it I have to assume I have approx 45 and not precisely 45 degrees. Which is probably good enough for most things.

Anyway, I’m impressed that you are doing this yourself.

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I had to laugh - as I was reading your comment I was like 'Yup...Yup, me too.. same here"!! I have exactly the same situation as you down to the crap mitre saw and the uncertain 45 deg click! And my beautiful mitred corner decking has also shrunk and left a gap.😒

But the good thing with the canvas frame is the corners are covered by the painting and the back is never seen (except by me!) so it doesn't matter too much if the mitre is a little off. I like your theory about reversing the 2nd cut - must try that. I think if I wanted a corner that was permanently on show I'd probably pay a professional, my woodworking skills are not fine enough for that..

Thanks Ray, Paul and Matt.

In the past 10 days since my last post I haven't managed to get a huge amount done. Four of those days were teaching (and a day at school is way more exhausting than 8 hours labouring on the house - if you know any casual/substitute teachers ask them what it's like in a low economic area state school!!)

And of course there are always those irritating chores to do like shopping, cooking, cleaning and laundry which tax my time!

But I did manage to get the last part of the lounge/dining ceiling up and all the joins taped and screw holes plastered.
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And routed guide channels in the four sliding doors destined for the lounge cupboards:
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I also hung a couple more artworks in the finished main bedroom. It makes me feel like the place is turning into a home.

The first is an oil on canvas painting done for me by a good friend - the detail is quite extraordinary. The kangaroo detail on the tea bag label is about 3cm high., and I swear the Tim Tam biscuit looks like you could pick it off the painting and eat it!!
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The other image is a digital artwork I created about 18 years ago. It's a re-interpretation of a well known Australian photograph called "Sunbaker' by Max Dupain from 1937.

I used around 4,500 digitally altered pix of skin cancers to replicate the image, subverting the original meaning with a contemporary context.
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Detail:
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Apart from the ever present kangaroos outside the windows, recently I spotted a wild deer 50 metres from the house and only the second snake of the season - a beautiful red belly black snake just off the front deck:
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With the drought going on this year and the prediction for a long hot and very dry summer due to El Niño being declared, it was a bit of a surprise to have a massive and sudden rain event a couple of days ago. In 24 hours the storm dumped more rain that the total November rainfall on record.

Luckily there was little damage from it, and on the positive side it filled my dam to overflowing - before:
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And today:
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This will be handy for when the heat and dry of summer does occur. And as a bonus, it put 20,000 litres of rain in my water tank - with my estimated daily usage, it's about a years worth of water 😁

Well...back to the plastering!

I thought you'd taken a photo of the bushland tea just before you drank it. A relaxing cuppa after something just completed. Extraordinary detail on that painting. And your own... Well, that too is extraordinary. Cancer is just another aspect of life; even if it is a bastard thing.

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Originally Posted by turnstiles

if you know any casual/substitute teachers ask them what it's like in a low economic area state school!!)







Detail:


Apart from the ever present kangaroos outside the windows, recently I spotted a wild deer 50 metres from the house and only the second snake of the season - a beautiful red belly black snake just off the front deck:
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turnstiles

I think it is wonderful that you have your own art around you. Well done. I have heard that the duration casual teachers last in such areas is often measured in weeks rather months or years.

As far as the Red Bellied Blacks are concerned, they are the reptilian good guys being the natural enemy of the Eastern Brown snakes, although I suspect they pick on the juveniles more than the adults. They are typically docile and I stepped across them in the bush on two occasions. They took no notice of me, although I was startled to put it mildly.

There is nothing quite like a good downpour to restore your confidence in nature and relieve thirsty anxiety as there are few things worse than having to truck in water .

Regards
Paul

That oil painting blows my mind, you would swear it was a photo, extraordinary detail :2tsup: x 10