It's been a while, but I'm back in the world of Mecha finally. I've been focussing on getting some work done on our house while I had time off work. Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men ...

After living in a tin shed through the coldest winter in 100 years, I took two months off work with the intention of getting the house to lock-up stage. While I was off work (using up two years worth of accumulated leave), the drought that has plagued our city for something like seven years broke and we had the wettest summer in recorded history (including one epic night with some areas getting 1000mm of rain in nine hours). I have spent a lot of time standing at the door of the shed looking out at the rain and waiting for a chance to run out and get some work done between showers and a lot of time slogging through the mud. I didn't get anywhere near the amount of work done that I hoped, but them's the breaks, I guess.

We started off by doing some earthworks to make a level pad for the house, then screwed over 70 piers into the ground to support the slab (well, we paid someone to do that). Then we paid a guy to spend two weeks grinding and polishing the areas of the slab that won't be carpeted (yeah, it's not a look for everyone, but we like it). Once this was done, it was my turn and, with the aid of a couple of friends, we screwed the basic frame together over a couple of weekends. Now it was my turn to work alone, plumbing and squaring frames and installing bracing, ceiling battens and the hundreds of other bits and pieces that make up a steel house frame. In all I put in ~9,500 screws - I have a huge callus on the web of my hand from the screw gun.

Once the frame was complete (and after drilling over 200 14mm holes into the concrete and fitting chem-set bolts to hold the house down in the case of a cyclone), it was time to install the first item that will actually be seen in the finished house - the first section of fascia. After installing the fascia and guttering (and getting the sign-off from the engineer for the framing), it was time to start screwing on the roof sheeting. Around 10 tons of sheeting and 4,000 more screws later, the house is at last covered.

Apart from a few windows being installed (finishing these this weekend), that's as far as I got. I'm not happy at all with the progress but at least now the weather is better and we are making slow but regular progress. It has been great to watch piles of steel grow into a house, particularly now that it is starting to feel more like a house, especially from the inside.

And that's what I did over the summer.

Hey.

Man, you have to be quick around here ;-)

Wow! Hi! Whuffles!

Amazing! Welcome back.

holy crap dg, I'm so impressed I might have a hard on. see, that's funny cuz.. nevermind

Seriously, despite the rain hampering your ambitions, good work. Well done! Well, almost done.

Whoa. Welcome back. That's a season's work well done.

No doubt. Good for you, dg.

Good to see ya, mate.

Hi! I love the polished slab.

Yeah about that... Is it always just polished or does one layer it with I dunny clear laquer on top? Don't think I've seen pure polished slab in its own in real life ever. Can I come over and check it out? :)

I guess what I'm really asking is "how do I clean it when my daughter spills blueberry soup?"

You crazy kids and your hobbies.

dg! I've missed you. Please keep updating on the house so I can continue to seethe with jealousy.

Have you checked your valentines?

That's a lotta work. Welcome back!

Man, I've missed you! And congrats on the house!

... Is it always just polished or does one layer it with I dunny clear laquer on top? Don't think I've seen pure polished slab in its own in real life ever ...
Sometimes it has a clear lacquer on top, but this means you have to keep re-applying it. Ours has been done with a treatment that "hardens" the top of the concrete and never needs to be re-applied. Apparently, anything can be cleaned off it as long as it isn't left for more than 24 hours or so. So far, we haven't had any real trouble cleaning off the brown stains left by gum leaves sitting on it and getting wet, or rust stains from the metal shavings from screws getting wet. Time will tell, I guess.

Wow. Keep those pictures coming.

Man, I am USELESS. Nice work dg!

My lord!

You actually did all that??? Marvelous!

Fabulous amount of work for just a few people to accomplish in two months! One of the best things about doing it yourself is that you know it's done right; one of the worst things about doing it yourself is that you know where all the little "not rights" are.

I'm sure you're going to love sitting all snug inside on some rainy day looking back on the other rainy days you faced during during construction.

Wonderful, wonderful accomplishment - Congrats!