Well the third La Niña in a row has had repercussions for my build as the constant rain and miserable weather has impacted my ability to work outdoors.
Also the plumber, who has been and completed the 'rough in' on the inside of the house has not been able to return to complete all of the outside work (septic and water tank attachment and roof down-pipe, sewerage and water pipes etc) as the ground is so sodden that his heavy machinery and truck full of gravel would potentially become bogged.
But since my last post I managed to lay the Tasmanian Oak tongue and groove floorboards. It was all completely hand nailed as the staple gun (and compressor) I bought for the job jammed during a practice run!
I sent it back but decided to make a start by hand. By the time the company fixed it and sent it back I was over a third of the way through and decided to continue it all by hand.
It was a very slow process as I first had to select each board to make sure the board ends didn't line up in subsequent rows.
The a strip of adhesive applied, board laid in place, each end had to have nail holes pre-drilled (to stop splitting) and then angled nails driven every 200mm, then punched down.
I worked out that with no issues (like warped boards) one 7m line of floorboards (the width of the main room) would take me 35-40 minutes.
The entire floor would take a minimum of 90-110 hours!
Warped boards treatment:
The plumber has put in all the necessary pipes for the kitchen and bathroom. (I can't believe what plumbers charge - per hour it is double what I earn as a casual teacher.)
I've also been spending quite a bit of time (when it isn't raining) outside getting the veggie garden back into shape for Spring and Summer, as well as the annual Spring weed spraying marathon!
Cow manure 'tea'
Most recently I have been building an enclosure that suits the house, for the heat pump water heater.
