Slow and Steady

Well we are plodding along as usual. Two weeks ago we invested in a chain block and managed to get the third frame standing up by ourselves, without a crane.  I know I always say it; but it WAS a nerve-wracking task. Things really creaked and the two standing frames moved significantly (the chain block was attached to them so they were being pulled sideways by about a tonne of timber). One of the joins wasn’t strong enough so a wall plate popped out of its position. But it wasn’t fatal, so we clamped it back down and kept on going. Things should be much more stable now for future frame lifting since we have put in more purlins (the beams between the frames) and roof braces (we have curvy bits in the roof now!). And having the third frame up means that we are into the workshop now; pretty much finished the timber framing in the apartment! The veranda is going to be just gorgeous, I’m very excited that we have cut enough ‘left over’ timber from the milling to build it because it really wasn’t in the budget J

The chain block was attached to the already standing frames in order to stand up the third frame.

 

Nearly there…

And its up! Now we have to build that concrete wall (dividing the apartment and workshop) up to the top of the frame..

 

So this is the finished size of the apartment, now we will build 4 more bays for the workshop.

 

This will be our beautiful veranda. 

Bernt attaching one of the roof braces (curvey bits)

And a win on the roofing front. After about a month and a half of scouring the countryside for roofing I finally found a company who can make us the product we are looking for in a beautiful colour! We are using an insulated panel system which is essentially a sandwich with two colorbond skins glued either side of a thick layer of polystyrene (so it is the roof, insulation and ceiling all in one) . We had our hearts set on a colorbond colour called ironstone and I had been told in the design stage (back in Perth) that it was possible to have the product made in that colour for a small extra charge. So we went ahead and got our water tank in that colour and had looked into finding the perfect complimentary paint colour for the walls, and basically formed a completely one tracked view about how the build would look colour wise. So when I started ringing round for roofing quotes it was a huge shock to the system to find that all except one company was unwilling to make the product in that colour (and that company would only make it without a warranty). For a pretty good reason (if I allowed myself to think rationally, not colour-blindedly about it :). Ironstone is a dark grey blue colour, and being a dark colour will absorb more heat than lighter shades.  The concern is that the darker colorbond colours will absorb enough heat to cause delamination i.e.; the colorbond skins to peel away from the polystyrene core of the product. And one company told me that the melting point of polystyrene is 80 degrees so that was also a potential issue… So we were left with a very limited choice of colours; a pale green, an off white, cream, and a light grey; none of which were working with the little colour pallet fantasy we had created for ourselves.

After many many phone conversations and much sitting with my head in my hands I made one last call to a company that produces the product here in Tassie (the rest were going to be shipped from Sydney. Melb or Brisbane). I explained, to the very patient man, what we were trying to do and asked if there was any possible way to expand our choice of colours. I wasn’t feeling very confident because we had already poured over colorbond samples many times and there wasn’t any other colour that we were loving… And that’s when we discovered that… wait for it… colorbond has, in addition to its standard colours; a metallic colour range!!!

I know, I know, I can hear myself… I know I’ve been rambling for paragraphs about colour and that in the global scheme of things it is so infinitesimally insignificant. But here's the thing; we have made this huge leap of faith, Bernt and I, to move so far and to design and painstakingly build this dream of ours; we have spent months and months laying concrete block after concrete block; milling, chiselling and sanding timber after timber; shovelling and sweating and swearing and feeling our hearts swell with excitement every time we finish something that once seemed impossible. And if I then, picked up the phone and ordered 400 square metres of roofing in a colour which we both hated (yes, for all of you wondering what Bernt's position on the whole colour issue is; the answer is that he is far less willing than I to compromise) it would be a permanent disappointment which would really bug both of us whenever we looked up. And I would have always thought that I if had looked a little bit harder I would have found a solution that didn’t leave us feeling like we could have done better.

And the moral (and conclusion) to this long-winded self-indulgent story is; that if you keep trying you will eventually talk to just the right person who will have exactly what you need. And that’s what happened; my roofing hero got back to me and told me that they had recently done a job at a Tassie winery with a colour from the metallic range (its called Axis and is kind of a muted coppery silver) and that they had some in stock and could do our panels in that. And, we love it! And I am really excited because I think it will be really beautiful, probably 10 times prettier than our first choice even! And now I’m very aware that you all will be looking at the roof (when its up) with very scrutinising eyes, and most of you will be thinking, ‘Well I don’t see why a cream roof wouldn’t have looked just as nice’. All I can say is; if we were easy to please kinda people we would have bought ourselves a kit home and been wrapped with how simple a process it all was and how nicely it turned out. And that, my friends is the end of today’s rant… I mean blog… J