Build Your Own House

I was not believed when I repeatedly told all and sundry that it would soon rain. This was through 2006- 07 and SE Queensland was in a drought and the Gold Coast was running out of water.

We predicted that there would be an end to the drought in SE Queensland from the day we were to start our home building project. It did, and it will until we complete our home about June 2009.

It's been a long project, but it has rained over every second weekend since we started. I work a forty hour week over Monday to Thursday [ie - a semi-retired GP] and can usually only manage about an hour or so on each of these mornings, but manage about 30 hours each 3-day weekend.

Provided it was dry.

It's also a very large project: 1368 sq metres.

Kathy and I have done most of the labour with a few days help from family and friends.

We contracted out the screw-piles [33 each 12 metres] the concreting for slab [820 sq metres] and driveway [almost 500 sq metres], our fibreglass [indoor] pool,the NRG Greenboard cladding, rendering and external painting [about 800 sq metres], but basically have done all the rest ourselves.

We have used 30,000 Tek screws to position the steel frame, fix down the 1.6 kilometres of roofing iron. We have 41 windows and glass doors in place.

Our open area down stairs and the upstairs balconies will need 9.5 tonnes of tiles which are patiently waiting to be laid. The living area and kitchen 210 sq metres] have mixed Australian hardwood T&G which has been secret-nailed. We are to lay 500 sq metres of polished bamboo to the upper floor.

I'm presently making half a kilometre of skirting board and the same length of architrave of poorly cut hardwood T&G, which would otherwise be no more than firewood. Our thicknesser has well and truly paid for itself.

Our Name "Budhar wana", the name we have given our property of almost two hectares, is a central Australian Aboriginal phrase meaning "In love" which is how we feel about our home, our land and each other.

I hope to post some photos in the very near future.

Cheers
Ross

Unfortunately, we have been unable to post any pics - we're overseas until 1 April - hope to do so very shortly afterwards.