Getting closer

Another fortnight, another long list of jobs getting done. Things like the re-bagging of the basement walls, and the significant amount of joinery being built off-site don't lend themselves to pictures, but we know they're happening when we're making almost-daily decisions about individual drawer heights, benchtop clearances, lighting issues, cupboard doors, landscaping, ...

We can't wait till it's all done... but we have to. So where are we at now?

The Last Window has gone in. This is the postal slot into the basement, where a snooker table will have to come in. All of the glass panels are removable to maximise the opening. Even though it doesn't look like it now, the normal outside ground level will be about a foot below the window's lower edge.



Several cupboards have been installed. This one is the IT cupboard. Hence the bundle of cabling for data, broadband, heating control, and others, that end up here. It's amazingly useful to have a single place for all of them, a space to put the necessary infrastructure to connect everything, plus have access to both the roof and under-floor space in the one location. It also nicely fills an awkward corner. For the geeks, there's about 800m of Cat7 cabling coming into here.



A few more cupboards below.



Cornices are things that are generally invisible, until somebody points them out. So I'll do that here now. We have these throughout the house. The style and size is a little unusual, but is a nod to the art deco style. We'll be painting these in a slightly accented fashion, so they don't vanish into the walls/ceiling.



There's movement outside again, at last, as the remaining outside walls are clad. As mentioned, the extension is reverse-brick-veneer, with the thermal mass on the inside. That gets wrapped with an insulating blanket (air-cell, R1.5 in something that is only 10mm thick), and then the metal battens get attached to the outside of it. This stops the battens themselves being conductors through the wall. Between the battens we're also adding R2 fibre batts (much thicker, and much to the annoyance of the installers).



Finally the whole thing is clad with cement sheeting, ready for rendering/painting.



The bit around the end corner will be clad with corrugated iron, to break up the otherwise long wall.

Inside, the various bathrooms are progressing. We have a bath!



We have a powder room that is no longer an unclad cavity. However, it has been disconnected from the water, so is bucket flushed.



The tiling is going ahead. Slowly, carefully, but getting there. We're using the same tiles throughout the house, to tie it all together. There's a basic wall/floor tile, and there's a feature tile mosaic that we're using sparingly.



The vanity carcase is in, the mirror is yet to come.



And the first new toilet is attached at last, although not yet fully connected to the rainwater.



The skylight style is a Strine speciality. Both as a light source and a solar chimney to shed hot air. The inside is now fully plastered, and the outside is properly clad.




It evokes something of the Australian outdoor vernacular...