Tourello Street - Week One

New beginnings

Welcome to the Tourello St project.  I guess a little background is in order before we start. 

Abby and Sam came to me with a fairly standard requirement – more space.  There was only one problem, they needed it right now !! 

Abby is pregnant with the couple’s second child and so we needed to design, document and build a new staircase, upstairs bedroom, bathroom and new bedroom in less than 9 months.  A pretty tall order, but hopefully achievable, even if we are all hoping that this baby breaks a few world records in lateness !!

Thankfully, they pretty much knew what they wanted when they came to us, it was really just a matter of helping them to make it happen.  The old staircase, which was ugly and just a little dangerous, needed replacing, but as it wasn’t built to code in the first place, it turned out that it couldn’t just be replaced, well not in the same place as where it had been.  So really, moving the staircase and relocating it entirely, was the perfect opportunity to do the extension that had been up their sleeve for a while now.

After working through a few alternative designs, and then preparing working drawings, building is now underway.  And Gene and the boys are ripping into it like men with a deadline do !

The first step was to demolish the existing staircase and the old fireplace in the lounge room, which had never been used, and remove a wall between the kitchen / dining and living areas. 

Next week, the external wall comes off upstairs to allow the new staircase and additional rooms to be built.

Stay tuned, this project is turning out to be a race against time !

Will St - Week Fifteen

The pointy end of the project

This week at Will Street has been all about finishing off.  Before the Christmas break, the priority was to secure the outside from the weather , but now, it is all about getting the interior ready for painting and tiling. 

Firstly flooring has gone in where previously we had holes in the floor – or no floor at all.  The remaining plasterboard has gone up and been sanded, and cornicing applied.  Door and door furniture has been hung and architrave and skirting is also going on.  Things are really taking shape.

The clients, Lyndell and Andrew start painting inside over the weekend, which is no mean feat.  They have to do three coats on everything – walls, ceilings, trims and they have around a week to do it in !  The perils of doing some of the work yourself means that you have to be able to drop everything and get your part of the work done when the project is ready, so as not to cause any delays to other trades.  Luckily, the builders have been running to program, so that Lyndell and Andrew have been able to plan their annual leave around the painting.

The electrician has now finished his rough in, so once the painting is done, he can come back and start putting in light fittings and switches.

Torrential rain on Wednesday when  I was doing a site inspection made it the perfect opportunity to make sure that the new roof was leak free, which I can happily report, it is !  We are still waiting on the rainwater heads, which apart from looking totally awesome, will stop the “waterfall effect” which is currently happening when it currently rains, as water is being directed into the guttering from the roof, and then into nothing.

In the next week or so, we will have a skylight in the bathroom – (let there be light - finally) some kitchen benchtops and splashbacks, tiled bathrooms and the odd few fixtures in the bathroom as well.  We’re sure at the pointy end of the project now !!

Will St - Weeks Eleven and Twelve

Heading for lock up !

To say that work at Will Street is continuing at a good pace is a little bit of an understatement …. In fact, the plasterers have now been sent home because there is no space for them on site to be doing their job !  Thank God most of the plaster is already up, but this will mean that they will have to sand their joints after Christmas, which also means that Lyndell and Andrew, the owners, will have to wait until after that to get the first coats of paint on.  Luckily for them, there are a million other things for them to do in the meantime – like painting and staining the exterior and painting doors and windows.  It is sure to be an incredibly exhausting and rewarding time for them.

So the score at the end of the year is as follows ….

·         Internal walls constructed and plastered – check

·         Kitchen cabinets installed – check

·         Deck built – check

·         All external cladding complete – check

·         All roofing material on – check

·         All doors and windows installed – check

All in all, it has been a very positive couple of weeks, with lots and lots of visible progress, as opposed to the boring kind like setting out and preparation.  In fact, after Christmas we only really have tiling and the installation of fixtures and fittings in the bathrooms and laundry and wardrobes to go, which is pretty exciting.

I did however break my two golden rules on this project, and as bad luck would have it, they have both come back to bite me.  So I bet you want to know what my golden rule s are.  Well, one is slightly convoluted, but here goes – “where possible, try to avoid designing anything that has to fit perfectly within something else” and two, “never rely on someone else’s measurements”.  In this case the two rules have combined together to create a few headaches on site, serving as a stark reminder of why I have golden rules in the first place.

In reality, we have been both lucky and in extremely good hands with the builders on this project, both of which make life much, much easier when building.

So, with Christmas fast approaching, I hope you have all enjoyed the ups and downs of the progress of the Will Street renovation.  I thank you very kindly for your interest and support.  Detail 9 are planning some big things for 2012 and have some great ongoing projects which we’d love to keep showing you, as well as some brand newies lined up. 

Be kind to your families and have yourselves a happy and safe Christmas / New Year period.  We can’t wait to give you the next instalment of this project, and introduce you to some new ones on the go. 

Best Wishes, Rachel

Will Street – Weeks Nine and Ten

Roof on, brick work up

Work at Will Street continues at a cracking pace.  Early last week, the section of the extension with the flat roof had its roof sheeting installed and later in the week the recycled tiles went up on the other section of the extension.

Brickwork went up in a day, and the recycled timber windows are in.  The aim is to have the project at lock up in time for Christmas.  This means we still need the new doors and windows to arrive on site and be installed (please cross your fingers everyone) and the external wall cladding to go on. 

Fred and the boys are currently building the deck and installing the framing which goes over the deck as we speak. 

Scott the electrician was in over the weekend poking wires through the external wall framing so that the lighting above the deck will go in seamlessly.  It’s amazing how much work goes into making something look simple !!

Right now, plasterboard is going up on the walls, and next week the kitchen is going to be installed.  By the end of next week, it will be Christmas and the boys will be downing tools and having a short break before getting back into it in early January.  Two weeks with no one on site will be just enough time for Lyndell and Andrew, the owners to get in and do the first couple of coats of paint on everything.  Yep, the owners have had a few jobs to do on this project including some of the demolition, the cleaning of the bricks, and painting – both inside and out.  Doing the painting themselves will save them a couple of thousand dollars, which all adds up on a relatively small project. 

So, what have we learned this week ?? 

Firstly, that fly screens can easily cost more than the door or window they are there to protect ……

Secondly, that the reason why things from Ikea are cheap is that very often they are missing bits or have to be installed in a very, very, very odd way.  Contacting Ikea to sort this out it definitely not for the faint hearted !

Thirdly, that joining an old ceiling to a new ceiling really is in the “too hard basket” and should be avoided at all costs. 

Other than that, things really are progressing smoothly, and I can't wait to get you some shots of the inside, once we start getting some action on that front.  Exciting times !

A large part of the smooth sailing can be attributed to the Builders on this project, "Constructing Spaces" for their friendly and professional work.  Their knack for taking the stress out of the construction process for both the owner and the architect has been very much appreciated. 

So until the next instalment, thanks for reading and keep those fingers crossed that we can get some doors and windows for Christmas !!

Will Street - Week Eight

Framing complete

WOW - We now have wall and roof framing !!  During week eight, all wall framing, both interior and exterior was erected, with roof trusses going into place at the end of the week. 

With framing now completed, it is getting easier to see what the finished product will look like.  For those who haven’t seen the plans, the two new bedrooms (to the right hand side of shot) will be recycled cream bricks with a tiled roof, which is intended to respond to the existing look and materiality of the existing house.  Here we have re-used some of the old windows from parts of the house that have been demolished.  On the left hand side of the picture, will be the new kitchen, dining and laundry.  This part of the house is to be spotted gum vertical timber cladding, which will run vertically on the external walls and then wrap horizontally across the new deck (not constructed yet).  This will form the outside entertaining area.  This part of the house will also have a sheet metal roof and will clearly appear as an extension, signalling a new era for the life of the house. 

People often have mixed opinion on whether an extension should be made to look as if it was always part of the original house, or whether it should clearly scream “I am new !!”.  My personal opinion is that it depends on the house; the age of the house, the architectural style, how intact the house is to begin with, whether the existing and proposed parts of the house are seen together and also the client’s taste in architecture.  Sometimes, it is nearly impossible to exactly match the colours, materials and features of a house, and to be honest, sometimes you wouldn’t want to.

With the Will Street project, we have taken a bit of an each way bet.  Firstly, you can’t see any of the new extension from the front of the house.  For this reason, we have decided to leave the front façade of the house completely original.  Built in the late 1950’s, this house was never going to win any architectural prizes, but for me, that is no reason to carve up a perfectly good example of affordable residential housing, which at some stage would have been someone’s pride and joy.  It is well proportioned and still remains an attractive house to this day.

For part of the extension, we have continued some of the architectural styling from the era, without replicating it exactly.  We have retained original proportioning and material, without trying to make it an exact match.  This part of the extension is saying, “the old house has still got plenty of life in it – celebrate the work our predecessors did, and give it new life”.  The other section of the extension is designed to be a totally new and different style.  Here, it was difficult to extend the existing roof line outwards, without completely changing the look of the rest of the house, so it really gave us the green light to create a new era for the house.  This part of the extension should read almost as a new square to an old patchwork quilt, where the old quilt was too small, or got a hole in it.  It says “the old house is great, but just needs repairs and to be a bit bigger”. 

Anyway - what was the alternative ?  To pull the old girl down and put up something new ?  Well, yes, we could have done that, but sometimes there is merit in reusing, recycling and taking something that has performed so well for so long and respecting it enough to give it life well and truly into the 21th Century.  Sometimes, it just isn’t feasible to keep the original.  I believe that these decisions should be made on a case by case basis.

So for this project, the work continues with gusto.  Next week, the recycled windows go in, and the roof tiles and roof sheeting also goes on.  Brickwork will start to go up in two weeks’ time.  The idea is to make it to “lock up” around two weeks before Christmas. 

So far, Fred and the boys on site, are running perfectly to schedule - even though there have been the odd few delays (like the asbestos) to date.  Here’s hoping for good weather !!

Stay tuned ….

Will Street - Weeks Six and Seven

Demolition complete …… and the clients get their hands dirty !

With the asbestos now gone, things at the Will Street project could get moving once again.

The events that occurred during the sixth week of construction had been eagerly anticipated since the start of the work, for two main reasons.  Firstly because the demolition of the back wall of the house (which was always scheduled to be the last thing to go for both security and weatherproofing reasons) signalled the last of the demolition work and the beginning of the new wall framing meeting the old, and secondly because the clients had elected to save some money and clean off the bricks which were removed from the wall, themselves; stacking them ready for re-use in the extension.

I must say that seeing the whole wall come out is pretty exciting, as now the new wall and roof framing can be located into position and things will really take shape very quickly.  But, back to the bricks ….

So once the bricks were out, Lyndell and Andrew hired a brick cleaning machine (an awful lot better than chiselling mortar off the bricks by hand) and spent some quality time on the weekend together cleaning bricks ! Seven hundred or so of them to be precise !  Not very romantic, but cleaning their own bricks and re-using them not only saved them hundreds of dollars in buying new bricks, but has also saved them on tipping fees.

In fact re-using materials when renovating is not only a great way to not only blend old with new, but helps to keep building waste out of landfill.  So when doing an extension, think of all the ways that fixtures, fittings and materials can be reused or sold rather than just throwing them away.

Many people choose to buy secondhand kitchen and bathroom joinery, doors, sanitary fixtures and appliances  when renovating– just check out the all the secondhand building materials listed on ebay - http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/Building-Materials-DIY-/3187/i.html?rt=nc&LH_ItemCondition=3000&_dmpt=AU_Building_Materials&_fln=1&_ssov=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282

This week, week seven , wall framing is now going into place with roof trusses to arrive on site at the end of the week for installation during week eight.

The installation of the kitchen has now been locked in for the week of the 19^th December – so hopefully by then, we will have a ‘kitchen like space’ for the kitchen to be installed into. 

Stay tuned for the next existing post – and thanks for reading so far !

Will St, Forest Hill - Weeks Four and Five

The good, the bad and the ugly ….

OK, so in my last post, I mentioned that the stump holes were dug ….. not so much because I’d seen they were there, but because I was kind of hoping that even though they were missing, that maybe they would somehow get dug between now and my next site visit.  Secretly though, I was wondering why they hadn’t been dug already.

So when I went out to do my next inspection on Friday, here’s what I found !!  No stumps !  But we do have subfloor framing.  Why ? do I hear you asking ?  Well, the builders have elected to span the new floor using LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumbar) for a number of reasons.  Firstly, they had found some old sewer pipes when digging the strip footings and wondered what else might be sitting under the ground that they weren’t expecting.  Secondly, it was pretty muddy and mucky and thirdly, because there are steps and concrete slabs all over the place at the back of the house which they would have to either span or try to dig out or push through, so really spanning over it all makes a lot of sense.  For my mind, this is a great example of innovative building techniques that respond to on site issues and a very proactive decision on behalf of the builders, rather than a “what should we do” phone call to the architect !

So that was the good.  Here comes the bad and the ugly ….

All was going along swimmingly, and with the sub floor framing installed, demolition of the back wall of the house could now commence.

Beading was carefully removed from around windows in readiness for their removal, and the existing guttering and fascia were also removed to enable the eaves to come off.  OK, here is the bad part …. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, but when the first part of the eaves living was removed it looked suspiciously like asbestos !  There was not much that could be done except to bring in the professionals to firstly identify the suspect material and secondly remove it safely. 

So now the site is officially shut down until we can get the Asbestos Removal crew in to remove the eaves lining.  We are hoping that this will happen at the end of this week, assuming that the material is asbestos.  This will also be an additional cost to the Builder’s Contract price.  This will mark the first variation to the Contract price, but as mentioned previously, not one that completely surprises us.  Houses built in the 1950’s often used asbestos sheeting in eaves linings and according to Wikipedia, Asbestos was used in building in Australia between 1945 and 1980, so the odds were definitely stacked against us.

And the ugly ??  Well that has been the look on the client’s face for the two weeks since the stop work was called on site !!  (ha ha, only joking guys !) No, actually the clients have remained surprisingly buoyant while we've been waiting, which has continued to make this project a real pleasure to work on.

Once we have the asbestos cleared up, demolition of the back wall of the house will continue, with wall framing to start shortly after.  Stay tuned !