Latest on 21st Nov 2011

1st Floor Beams done

Only the Garage beams left.  Driveway paved over.  Trusses for the roof should be coming soon.

Beams for Attic going up

After this would be the truss for the roof and of course the roof itself.  The work on the flooring will start only after the roof is up.  Actually this is a week ago.  They will pouring concrete in 2 days.  Note the ledge on the left and front for the air con compressors and a wooden louvre screen to shield the compressors and also the windows from the sun

 The other pics shows the view from the 1st Floor balcony.  One is the front of house, another is behind while the third is just scaffolding for attic.  Note there are no concrete slabs for ground floor or 1st floor.  There will just be joists and floorboards.

The Staircase

I have always disliked stairs for the obvious reason that I will inevitably trip over it especially as I get to be a geriatric.  And associated with that is the idea of my bod hitting the edge of the stairs.  This is particularly unpleasant for cement/tiled stairs as well as those with an aluminium edge.  A carpetted staircase is best but then I would have to constantly replace it.  This is why I insist on a wooden staircase.  I have ordered Merbau planks 2 inch thick by 4 feet for the steps.

 They were cut from an old dead recovered tree (so I was told).  The pics showed the planks including pieces to be joined (tongue and groove) for the landing.  The Merbau wood was an alternative to Selangan Batu, Belian and Teak.  It has a nice grain not exactly visible in the pic and it does look aged.

April Fools Day

Happy birthday to Janet, my sister-in-law who has always been our safety net when we need her to help us look after the children.  Not to mention his husband and son of course but its not their birthday :-)

The last few days have seen a torrent of articles flowing in.  My 2 gable mounted solar powered ventilators arrived from US in good time using VSHUB services !  It came along with an NBA basketball backboard and hoop which will thrill my son no end. Also another (real glass) stained glass lampshade from ebay.  www.vshub.com (I think I have mentioned before) is a company from Singapore which aggregates purchases in US and then ships to Malaysia (anywhere!) and Singapore. It is useful as it provides a US address and up to 30 days of holding your purchases before you can instruct them to ship.  The aggregation ends up with lower shipping costs.  The amazing thing is they were all delivered to my office!

Then came some original cigarette ads from Shanghai past !  Bought them from www.trademe.co.nz
They featured very nice Shanghai ladies (in cheongsam) drawn in old Chinese style watercolours!  I do have some spare if anyone is interested.  It was brought back to NZ by some Kiwis.

The house is proceeding nicely.  The photo shows the formwork starting for the 1st floor beams.  The piping is going in before concrete is poured for the driveway.  There were some coordination problems between the architect and the contractor over my changes for a side gate so that people can go in and out without opening the large sliding gate.  I did not want a recessed alcove in case nasties hide there.

There were a lot of discussions on the auto gate.  I thought I wanted to change to a swing door as I wanted to move the side gate to the right but I was told swing doors put a lot of stress on the hydraulics.  So I agreed to leave the sliding door and have a tiny side gate on the left.  Then I saw the folding gate in the Building Trade exhibition in BCK last weekend sigh.

There were some deals in the exhibition but in the end I found that buying them in KL (such as Houz Depot) was cheaper !  For example I bought a whole lot of down light fittings, 6" opening with screw in lightbulb base for RM 8.90!

In addition I was shocked by the FujiHome prices ! Stove + Hood was a cool 6k but the made in China Rubine stove (3 ring) + Hood + Oven (built in) = RM 3,200 in Houz Depot!  And the design was quite good too!

Update

3rd March, back part of car porch and garage cleared. Ready for concrete pouring.  The 2nd pic shows the view from the front of the house. This would be what we would see from the kitchen.

8th March - The columns formwork goes up.  The left part of the pic shows the front part of porch being cleared for the beams to go in

Stained Glass Panels

I have always been fascinated by stained glass art.  I have already bought some stained glass lampshades.  My next project was a labour of love, 2 stained glass panels in the lounge.  I commissioned Helen Watson in New Zealand to design the 2 panels.  It arrived in Kuching in Jan 2011 after a few months in design and construction.

The first pic is the box, very well packed with MDF, polystyrene sheets and paper sheets. The 2nd pic is the 1st of the 2 panels.  This panel shows 3 birds. 2 wood pigeon and a fan tail.  There is some kiwi flora as well.  The bottom left showed part of an abstract cross for my wife.  Both panels have the cross.  The other panel has a pair of flying ducks on the top (representing the twins).  Altogether there are 7 birds for the 7 children. A very personal project.

Oh yes, I hope my wife is not reading this blog.  Its supposed to be a surprise!  When it is mounted, I am going to cover it up with plywood until it is ready to be unveiled.

Getting ready for driveway concrete and ground floor beams

The garage and back of driveway is ready for the concrete slab.  Rebars will go in after the piping are put in.  The raised beams for the ground floor is now being built and the raised slabs for the laundry and kitchen are also going up.  Note that the ground floor is raised 3 feet.  The Air Bricks have been handed to the contractor.  He will measure a box that will be sent into the beam so that the Air Brick can be placed in the gap when the beam is completed.  Note the workers.  They are mostly Indonesian (some from Sulawesi!) and they work hard ! Even after 6pm and on Saturdays as well.  It is a good idea whenever you visit the site, to bring some refreshment or lunch for the workers.  They are poorly paid and will appreciate treats.

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Beams for concrete slabs done

The formwork has been removed.  The concrete slab for the driveway will go on top of this.  The 2nd pic shows building the formwork for the beams for the ground floor. Its raised 3 feet.

Foundation Completed, Starting on Beams

The foundation has been completed and it has cost me a bomb!  The piling required 60 feet of piles!  Hence the total costs for piling came up to more 60k!  This is certainly a wildcard and no contractor wants to commit themselves to a fixed cost.  Each pile require 3 poles !  The earth was certainly very soft and hence selection of land is important.


The next pic shows work ongoing work on the beams at ground level to support the driveway slabs. Apparently this is a council requirement these days.  You cant just lay concrete even if it re-inforced.