A whole new level

We've extended upwards at last, setting up the frame for the three-level spiral staircase. There's a flat roof to go on top of it (and other bits like walls, windows and landings), but that will be as high as we go. It was interesting to see it installed, as they built the two main sides inside the house, then slid them out and propped them up, to be attached to the basement walls. These are the narrow blockwork walls that have a hard 3m drop either side of them, making it fun to work out where to stand at times...


The carpentry has moved along nicely, also setting out the roof on the extension, and some of the internal walls



Inside the main part of the house, the ceiling has been taken down, and the electricians have started to run cabling. Or we have some really nasty spiders hiding somewhere...

A clear view from the back to the front of the house.

And of course there is nothing to hold the insulation up any more. That's now providing some protection for the new lounge room slab...

To cap things off, even on quite a wet week, the new garage walls are coming up. We're bumping forward a bit so that we can close off the back of the garage at last.


And given the season, we'll probably give up on the indoor swimming pool idea, every time it rains, and go for an ice-skating rink instead. A couple of -5C mornings made for a nice ice sheet...

Farewell to a friend

We've lost a sizable element of the renovation this week - the rubbish pile by the basement and Mt Everest out front have finally gone! You can get an idea of the size of the cellar (the space under the courtyard slab, next to the basement) now.



Apart from the rubbish, the access ramp has also been taken out...


There's a large rainwater tank going in here, somehow. It'll fit easily, but (gently) dropping a 21,000 liter tank into a 3 meter deep hole will take some finesse.

Out the front, the view onto the house is a lot clearer. Not necessarily nicer, but clearer.



There's not much visible new work this week, but there's a trench for the garage's new front wall. The brick pillars on the right will stay, but the old 70's arched gate will go once the site is a little safer.

Slab #3

Another week and another slab. This one is inside the existing house, bringing the sunken floor to the same level as the rest of the house, and rests on the old suspended timber floor. Like the extension slab it goes in slightly green and dries to a brown, but it will also need a bit of a polish before the work is done.





The corner of the house where the stairwell is going has been cut back to the new lines, so you can see where the tower will come out of the basement and up to the top of the roof.


The grand boulevarde is now clear, from the front door to the back of the house. There'll be some cupboards going along the side eventually (and the holes in the floor will be covered).

Thermal mass

The brick walls in the extension are done, we can see all the thermal mass those rooms will have, and how they'll capture the sun.



You can also see the window gaps and doorway to the garden out the back of the house.



Ric (the architect) has done the sums on the energy rating, and calculated that the finished house will be at least a 7-star rating! That's an amazing result, since we're adding a lot of space and extending an ordinary brick veneer house, but even with good insulation the old house was probably only 1-star or so. The additional thermal mass, insulation including double glazed windows, and the better solar aspect have a massive impact.

Inside most of the work has been on laying out the new floor plan, so the grand boulevarde is becoming obvious. Some plaster walls, some brick walls, doors and windows, and a lick of paint on it all and we're basically done!! (we wish...)