More Straw Walls

It's been a while since I have posted something, and we're copping a bit of grief for it so here it is.

Progress has been made but it is a little slow given the cold weather.  We've been working on straw walls and getting some render on.  The electrician has also been back and permanently mounted the switchboard and installed a sub-board.

The straw walls for the bathroom, laundry and pantry are completely finished and rendered on the outside (some of the inside has render as well).  Below is a photo of the outside of the pantry and laundry, and yes it is very uneven and scratched up, it is the first coat after all.

We've started around the corner form these walls, which is Kylie's studio. I've made a fair amount of progress with it, but the bad weather and the need to try to maintain a complete plastic cover of the non-rendered bales has slowed things down a lot.  We're hoping for some good weather this weekend so we can get some render on the outside of this section, that might mean I don't have to spend all my time fixing the plastic back up when the wild weather rips it off again.

Above is the inside corner of Kylie's studio. This has come up a lot better than the previous walls, I'm really starting to get the hang of it now.

First Wall and Render

Last week I finished wrapping the first wall in chicken wire and aviary mesh.  Kylie had a day off work so we rendered the outside of the wall.  We are very happy with how it has all turned out given it is our test wall.  We learnt some lessons that will make the render of the other walls easier.  Here it is before the render.

And here it is after the first coat of render

Just need to give it another coat on the outside and two coats on the inside and then we can fit the window.  Once we have that sorted then we can get serious with the rest of the walls.

Roof Finished

For those of you not in Tasmania, the mornings have been frosty and the days short.  Despite that we have made some progress.  The electrician has moved the temporary board and we have started some of the permanent wiring.

The roofers finally had enough good weather to finish the roof.  Very happy with the final product.

And as for the straw walls, baling is going slowly because of the wet weather. We have also chosen the single most complex wall in the whole building to start with. But it is nearly ready for the rendering, just  a little more wire wrapping to go.

Straw Walls Starting....

So we have finally started with the straw walls.  Have started on a small wall to try and discover all the challenges we are going to face.  Been very interesting trying to merge the information we learnt on our workshop, with the specifications of the designer and random information from books and online.

But we are getting closer, with the next hurdle being the render and its application.

Mezzanine Structure Built

Today saw the mezzanine structure in the studio go up.  Really starting to get a feel for the space that will be Kylie's studio.  Will also act as a scaffold for doing the bales.

The roof is working well as it still allows work to gone despite the rain.

Straw Bales - Finally

It has been a while in the making but we are finally at the point where we can start on the straw bales.  We had our first delivery over the weekend and Kylie is very excited - as am I.

So this week we get to start our first straw bale wall on our house.  Here is the first delivery stacked in the dining/lounge/kitchen. We did get a second delivery of 50 today, so picture this doubled.

The roof is getting closer.  Some ridge cap has been done as has some flashing.  Hopefully the weather allows for the roofer to complete the other bits.

Roof Sheeting

All of the roof sheets are now on.  Maybe another fortnight before the ridge cap, flashings and aprons are fitted.  However the roofer has done the major bits we need so we can move on.  We are very happy with the job so far.

There has been a pause in the build over the last two weeks.  Kylie and I visited my parents over the Easter weekend.  The main purpose of the visit was to get the family together as it was likely to be the last time we were all together as my father was very ill.  Unfortunately the Sunday after Easter he passed away.  Whilst it was expected it was a lot quicker then we all thought.  So we had another trip to the mainland for his funeral last week, and I will be returning in a few weeks to help my mother get some things in order.

Quite an emotional time at the moment, good to be back focusing on the build as a distraction.