Second Lintel

Today the boys drove an hour and half to a sheet metal factory to get a replacement lintel, as one was missing from the kit home parts. This cost $40 and luckily was a quick turn-around. After they got back Nic screwed some holes in the lintels.

Then one of the lintels was screwed over the kitchen window, as seen from the outside. Note the angry thunderclouds in the background.

Now there are two lintels, as seen from the inside. Josh has figured out that he can climb up the ladder and reach over from the inside to the outside and still reach it to screw in, so that should be easier than trying to do it from the outside balanced on scaffolding.

Actually the boys tell me that the lintel over the door was put up as well, but I failed to notice this when taking photos!

Here is a pic of the missing piece that Josh made up for the roof truss. It was so well done that it was quite tricky for me to work out which one it was!

The next step is to screw more lintels on - three more to go!

Finished assembling roof trusses

Today the boys finished assembling the last roof truss.

It's the one in the middle. The missing piece was created from an extra length of metal, so that's not a problem anymore.

Then it was time to put up some lintels.

In the photo below is the lintel over the bathroom window, as seen from inside the house.

And the same lintel as seen from outside the house.

Apparently these things are quite heavy, and it was a bit tricky screwing them in at such a height. This one was at the easy side of the house, so the other side of the house with a much higher drop down to the ground is going to be even harder! Do we need another ladder?

Meanwhile this little creature thought the wheelbarrow wheel was a great place to catch flies from...

Nearly finished roof trusses

The boys did another day of hard work in the hot sun, and have finished all the roof trusses except one of the special different end ones.

There has been a hiccup with the last truss because one of the pieces is missing from all the material that was supplied by the kit home company.

I think the plan is to make a piece to fit from some other un-needed bit and bobs that are around, as the kit home company is about 1000 km away. Wish us luck!

More Roof Trusses

Today the boys put together a bunch more roof trusses.

Bits were screwed into bits.

 The holes were pre-drilled so the tek heads screws were screwed though the holes.

Quite a few screws went into each truss.

There are 3 more left to assemble and then all the roof trusses will be finished.

Internal Wall Photo

Here is a pic of the internal wall.

I scared off a wallaby to go down and take this photo!

First Internal Wall

Today the boys assembled and stood up the first of the internal wall frames.

All the pieces have come in piles

And they have numbers printed on them to let you know which piece they are, and the plans say where each piece goes.

Here's an action shot of the screws being drilled into the wall - all the holes are pre-drilled so the holes on the inside piece and the outside just have to be lined up and the screws screwed in the holes - sometimes easier said than done when they don't want to cooperate!

Looking through the kitchen window up the hill to the little generator shed in which the generator needs to be running in order to use electric power tools.

Here's a pic of the big screws which attached the internal wall to the external wall.

And here's a pic of the new bedroom doors, all stood up with our assistant helping.

 I forgot to take a photo of the whole wall after it was stood up. I think the next step is going to be more roofing trusses, but tomorrow we are running around doing other stuff. Life getting in the way again!

Roof Truss

Today the first of the roof trusses was assembled..

It was quite quick and easy, so hopefully tomorrow we can assemble quite a few - we need to have eight or so.

Wall Framing Details

     Here are some pics of the process of building the wall frames. First the frame pieces were slotted together, sometimes requiring some banging with a rubber mallet. Then they were screwed together.

     Then the bracing was screwed on.

     Then the bracing was tightened with special tensioners.

      Then the walls were stood up and screwed into the floor.

     Here's an action shot.

     Next step is to do some extra screwing and general tightening up, then it's time to start assembling some internal wall frames.

More Wall Frames Erected

     This morning the boys went down to the house site and did some more building work. There was already two wall frames assembled so they put the third and last frame together.

     This is the wall for the kitchen and bathroom, and they then erected it. It was a little dicey with the wind randomly gusting through but luckily Nic didn't get blown away.

     The next wall was the living room wall, which has a ridiculously large window. I vote we put the couch right in front of it and sit on it all day watching the birds.

     Last was the wall which has the sliding glass door in it. This will open out onto a small verandah.

     As you can see on the top right corner the local inspector Mr Kookaburra came to show his appreciation, very impressed with the new place to sit.

New Wall Frames

Two more wall frames have been assembled and are ready to be stood up and attached.

The nearer frame is the doorway where the glass sliding door will go, and the further frame is the living room window, which is extra large and low down, so will provide us with great views. We have been having some gusty winds so will wait for them to die down before erecting these frames!