Planning permit is approved, yay!

We had a slight panic a few months back when it appeared they'd re-zoned our property from Rural Zone to Rural Farming Zone, which meant that ordinarily we'd only be allowed to have the one house on the property. We decided therefore to get clarification as soon as possible before investing more time in doing up the old house, by applying for a planning permit.

And the great news is, they've granted it!! So we can go ahead with everything as planned. Yay!!!

There are some constraints but nothing that seems out of the ordinary or unexpected. You can see the full details here.

Below are Dad's initial thoughts and updates from September 24th:

I think the development commencement can be considered with the Septech system, watertank for the fire service, and renovations of the old house. However they may consider the work on the new house must be commenced within two years. If so perhaps I could ask if site preparation, eg the required cutting before foundations are established, would be acceptable as a commencement of the new structure. An extension of completion time is probably relatively easy. There is a risk that if an adequate commencement is not achieved it will lapse and the planning permit come up for consideration again. I think we ought to proceed with getting a permit for the new structure before commencing any other work on it, especially the site preparation, even though you do not wish to proceed with it until closer to your return. I am waiting to hear from the plumber, and will call him soon. I took the work of drawing to Allan Davies. He has only to tweak the original drawings and print some copies. Should not be very costly, and he promised completion by the end of this week.

revised electrical plan

In response to Mum's comments, Dave revised the electrical plan slightly, basically just adding a few powerpoints. You can see the revised version here, but we'll probably tweak it again when we get closer to installing and know eg: precisely the kitchen layout:

(Click photo to view bigger):


Here's Mum's suggestions in full from her emails on July 22:

I think you could do with a light over kitchen bench underneath the overhead cupboards – light overhead is behind you and will cast shadows otherwise. Or use spotlights to shine in on angle I guess.

Make all powerpoints double and I think you could do with more – kitchen needs more, over bench – blenders, mixers, toaster oven, whatever. You may not use them often as you don’t cook like I do BUT when you need them you will kick yourself if they are not there. Also, I think more are needed almost everywhere – a heater, a fan, whatever might well be needed all over. Allow for computers to plug in, TV in bedroom and so on – and don’t forget TV antenna points and consider smart wiring, radio network the palce – you may as well, it probably won’t cost much extra to do it from scratch but will be a lot more to add it later.

I am not sure about dimmers – they are out of fashion, hard to get, and we are soon to go all energy saver lights which cannot be fitted to dimmers at this stqge. Later this year they get phased out, the conventional sort – and from late next year the normal sort cannot be sold. Already there are more inds and sizes of the energy sver sort on sale – I can put them in most places round my place now and they come in different sizes and bayonet or screw in now too.

Don’t forget where you need the vacuum cleaner to plug in, either. Is one power point outside enough? I’d be thinking at least a double one on each veranda, ie one beside of house if not two per side. Car cleaning with vacuum, maybe a pump, external lights, whatever.


My reply 22nd July:

Hi, thanks a lot for looking at it and for the comments.

Yes, I thought about the kitchen bench lighting but we aren't sure where the cupboards will be. But I should make a note of it for Dad anyway.

Good idea too about the heaters etc, maybe I will just scatter a few more powerpoints around generally. All would be double powerpoints as a matter of course (I didn't realise they came in anything other than double anymore!) But for things like computer area we will have a separate extension board that plugs into a single socket and then has space like for 6 things to plug in. The boards have a circuit breaker to protect in case of power spikes: we use them here and it's just good practice as have heard of people whose equipment has been destroyed by it otherwise.

We'll just be using WiFi to beam things around which is wireless - so shouldn't need anything special done wiring wise: keeping it wireless makes it a lot easier to upgrade.

TV antenna points? I didn't even think of them - I'm so used to just having a satellite dish. But yes will make a note of it in next iteration. The TV location is marked and we can use our Slingbox and the WiFi to beam the signal around the house to any laptop, so as long as it works to the TV in the lounge that's the only point it would need.

Dimmers are a non-negotiable requirement - we've learned from our house here that they make a huge difference to the mood of a room. They are still very fashionable here, even more so nowadays when people want to save energy as when you dim you reduce the power used. Maybe we should buy a bulk load of dimmer switches here to bring back? Starting last year in UK, you can get longlife bulbs that dim. They're not perfect yet (sometimes take a little while to flick on) but they work.

electrical plan for cottage

Dad was adamant that we do a first pass of the Electrical plan for the cottage so that he can start getting quotes from electricians.

Here's my attempts: a plan for location of powerpoints, and a separate one for built-in lighting and switches. (Click to view bigger):






Dad's email 21 July:

In order to get an idea of cost for the whole project I must get a quote from an electrician for the wiring, a quote from the plumber for the plumbing, etc. I am often not on the premises for any length of time so this seems a natural time to book an appointment for a few tradies to visit ... I need to start gathering some momentum to get done those things which involve persons other than myself... Of course I will do outdoor things first, but I will be hoping to get the wiring done and then I can use it from the generator and work anywhere in the house safely. I want only a basic for this week of where you definitely need things, then I want you and Dave to discuss at leisure these things, and if Dave has the chance to walk about and place texta marks on studs in vital places while here I feel it will be well worthwhile. But having the plans there will give you some idea to put marks on it in pencil, and Dave can make notes while here of anything you need to discuss more later. Of course the kitchen is one such. I only need to know approx how many power points and where so wire, switches, fittings for power, etc can be estimated by an electrician. We can start with batten holder fittings for light, and refine later with other special lights for you. Things done after plaster goes up are possible but not so easy so become more costly.

Soil test results

Yes, they have finally arrived. Here's the key extracts:



(Click to make it big enough to read).

Also, here's the background information leaflet.

so it'll be a grey roof then

The only slight concern that we had with the last set of plans from Eric was that there are now 2 solar panels prominently displayed on the roof.

I was a little worried they might be an eyesore, so asked what flexibility there was to move and/or disguise.

Here's Eric's response:

For solar panels to work properly in this situations a few few criteria need to be addressed:
- North facing, minimal shading
- Nearby, and below the hot water tank (which is also positioned to suit the wood cooker)
- The pipe from the tank to the panel needs to go down continuously with no dips or uphill section.

I think that this is a good position for the system to work. Another option is on the east verandah roof, but it will be shaded by early afternoon. It can even go at ground level, but there is always a chance that the panels will be broken. One option to hide the panels is to have a grey roof which I often do.


So, it'll be a grey roof then. :-)

detailed plans for new house (almost)

Today the almost-finished house plans arrived from Eric. I say almost, as there's still a chance they might need tweaking depending on the structural engineers report. (Which as yet we've not commissioned, as holding off to hear about the planning permit and also to get some alternative quotes).

These plans are designed to be of sufficient detail to be suitable for applying for a building permit. As much as he could, Eric has kept descriptions generic, to allow us flexibility in deciding on the precise brand / style of finish.

The best thing about this set of the plans is that it's got detailed measurements, so we can at last seriously cracking on working out things like the design of the kitchen.

I've uploaded a couple of the pages to Flickr as below, but if you're curious, the full set of plans (all 17 pages worth) is here.

Ground floor - main house:


Second floor - main house:



Library wing:

At last! a name

We started thinking about what to call the house(s) over three years ago and have at last come up with something we both like.

Until recently we were leaning towards "Cricklewood Farm" - in homage to where we live in London. But it never felt quite right, not to mention would be forever subject to japes about The Goodies (who I just discovered even wrote a song about it).

So, on our recent driving trip in Kent and Sussex we brainstormed other names and came up with the idea of "Ridgeview". It seemed apt as we're on a ridge and we have a view... but of course when we came to look for URL's it - and numerous variants, Ridgeviewhouse and so forth - were already taken.

Then we had a brainwave and came up with an alternative that I liked every more:

Ridgefields

... and miracle of miracles, www.ridgefieldshouse.com was available!!

(We might get the .com.au version too if I can ever get my head round the trademark registration process).

Who knows, we might end up changing it if we come up with something better in the next few years, but right now I'm just so happy we have something to fall back on that we both like. :-)

the house model has landed

So I gave you a sneak preview of this a while back, but this week the real thing arrived!

It's had pride of place on the kitchen table but finally this weekend I got round to taking photos. Here's a montage of them complete with cheesy music. Enjoy! :-)

permits are underway...

Thank goodness, it's all looking positive on the planning permit front so far.

From Dad's email (May 2):

"Hi, I have returned from Maryborough and have good news: Norm looked over the whole application documentation, and I spoke to him about the plan you sent locating everything. As well I mentioned the height of the place due to 12 ceilings. He said he was involved in a place in England several years ago so he knows what you are talking about when you wish to have the higher ceilings... Norm and Jeff (the soil tester) both commented that it will be a great home when finished and an asset in that quiet neighborhood".

We still have to get a couple more things to Norm for the planning permit process, but it's all underway.

soil test update

We're still waiting for the full set of test results, but we've heard about the Foundation test.

From Dad's email (May 1st):
"He said he has done one of the tests, the foundations, and the news is good, an M classification for the footings. He has to complete the capability tests, as these require time for dispersal of water from holes before he can submit his samples"

I had a little hunt online and found a booklet thanks to Soil Test Australia which defines the different classifications. It turns out M = average. :-)



UPDATE: the full report has arrived.

Aerial shot

Dad sent me an aerial photo of our property that he was given by the council. He asked me to mark on it all the things that we ultimately want to build, so they can see how it would all fit together long term.

I'd done a rougher version of this before using Google Earth but this time I was careful to copy across the precise outline of both the new and old houses, and to get them in the correct relative positions. Click image to see full size:

Our house in miniature

Ta da... The first sighting of the model for the new house which is currently winging its way across the oceans to us.



I'll take more photos from every angle when it arrives but couldn't resist sharing this sneak preview.

I love it. :-)

A flurry of activity

The past week has seen a lot of activity relating to Amherst but it's of the frustrating kind, as currently there's little to show for it. In brief:

• Eric finished the scale model of the new house and is planning to post it over next week. He also sent the plans to a second structural engineer to solicit a quote, given that the first guy he sent them to hadn't yet responded.
  
  
• On Friday Dad met with Norm from the Central Goldfields planning department to get the ball rolling on applications. He's applied for the building permit for the old house, and got the forms for the planning permit which will be needed for the new one.

• While up there, Dad also met with a local guy called Mr McKay, a local building surveyor and engineer who was recommended by the council, to commission detailed soil tests. Apparently he'll take soil samples from 7 sites and it will be around 2 weeks before the tests are made. We need two reports done: a Land Capability Assessment and a Soil test for Foundations.

• Dad made contact with the guys at Septech. Once we have the soil test results and the detailed site plan, they will visit the site and prepare a quote. Once we sign off on it, they'll then prepare the documents needed to get the sewerage treatment permit from the Council, which is required as part of the planning permit application.
  
  
• Dad has arranged alternate storage facilities for all the furniture and architectural salvage odds and ends we've been sending back. Until now they've been kept in my old bedroom but the next shipment is about to arrive and there's no more space - and besides, Dad & Vida need their room back. Dad got a decent deal on a 4 x 3 m room at Storage King in Mitcham, so in the short-term we'll be moving it there. Ultimately however, Dad is looking into the cost of getting another container up at Amherst. His idea would be to put a temporary roof with insulation over the top to help keep the heat down, then it would be secure dry storage for all but the most heat-sensitive items.
  

latest floorplans for the new house

It's floorplans galore at the moment. Hot on the heels of *finally* getting the finished plans for the cottage, after nearly a year's hiatus we now have revised plans for the dream house being built next door.

Here's roughly how it all fits together, with the cottage and dream house - along hopefully with a shed for Dave - helping to create an almost fully enclosed "secret garden" area. We're doing up the cottage first to live in before starting on the dream house:




Now focusing on the dream house...

Here's the ground floor:



The Study will double as a Dining Room for big occasions like Christmas.

The Study/Reading room wing is now bigger and more clearly separated into rooms. We did this partly to get extra wall space for bookshelves, and partly to make it easier to convert to a bedroom, if God forbid we ever had to sell or found ourselves incapacitated and unable to sleep upstairs. I'm still not 100% certain on the placement of the doorway between the study and reading room though.


Here's the second floor:



The dressing room is much bigger - it's now a proper room rather than a large walk in closet. It's also had the positive side effect of making the bathroom bigger too. :-)

In case you're wondering why only one bathroom and not ensuites... This was a deliberate choice. Should we ever have to sell, the configuration is such it would be easy to add/convert to ensuites. But, for us we didn't see the point in sacrificing space to multiple bathrooms that we'd never use.

The other major change is the addition of the front upstairs terrace that Pete suggested, accessible by climbing out the window. I want to make the windows with big sills so you can prop a cushion on them and sit half in the room, half out.

And of course, the upstairs storey of the reading room.


Finally, here's the various profile views:

North: looking down the hill towards the dam and orchard:



West: this is the view you'll see as you get to the end of the driveway, thus arguably this could be considered the "front". I love the way the profile looks now with the tower in.



South: this is the view from standing midway in the 'secret garden'. It's not complete because it doesn't have the tower shown, but you can imagine the shape. I love how the bath will be in the upstairs bay overlooking this.



East: there are two versions of this, first what you'd see from the outside:



and second, a kind of cross section view of it:

latest cottage floorplans

Da da... we have more floorplans. The only difference from the previous set is the addition of the profile drawings at the top showing the view from all 4 sides. I really like it, so unless Dad finds something that needs to change, we're now *almost* ready to go ahead with permit applications. At last!!!

New vs existing floor plans:




Profile drawings of the house:

revised cottage plans

We have at last got the finalised plans for the cottage at Amherst. Here they are, click to make bigger:





Hoping to get elevation drawings also for the views from each side of the house too. I'm no good at imagining what it will look like from floorplan drawings and want to be sure I like each of the house's "faces" before we start renovating.

It's so good to be moving on this again.

1930's architectural model

This isn't directly related to Amherst, except it has inspired yet another whimsical project to pass the time until we move back and can properly start!

I just found a lovely 1930's architectural model of a typical bungalow house. I think it's just a really cool display item, a piece of work-related art, just like the stained glass window designs we got last year.



The detailing is magnificent. It even has curtains painted on the windows and paper in brick, tile patterns on the outside. When we finally get the model of the new house at Amherst, I want to do something similar. A kind of real life russian doll to have a model of the house displayed inside the real thing. :-)



From the Ebay description:
"This is a rare vintage 1930's Bungalow architects plan model building. It measures approx 10" x 7.5" (from above) and is made from balsa wood. The roof comes off so you can see the inside plan of the building. It is in good condition for its' age, with just a few indentations on the roof and one of the chimneys missing. It's a must for any interest in the 1930's, especially if you've an interest in 1930's architecture".

redesigned library

Woohoo! Eric's sent through the first part of the redesign, and we love it.

From his email on November 7th:

I've been working through that list of modifications. Widening the hall and pantry was more difficult than I had imagined, but I have it working. It sounds simple, but I have designed the house to work on a simple structural module. That will help down the track with some of the details. Here are some sketches of the library tower and how it could work with some future bed rooms where the billiard table will go.

Here's the side view:



Here's the floorplan views:



Hopefully we'll never have to convert it to bedrooms, but so pleased we have the option. We could either put it to two small bedrooms as this shows, and convert part of the laundry to be a shared bathroom for them, or else put in just one lovely downstairs bedroom with ensuite.



Finally, this shows the first floor and rooftop balcony for the library tower. Not much to say about this except that we love it. I know it's utterly whimsical and we'll probably use the tower balcony once in a blue moon, but it will be such fun to have and give a great looking over the houses and garden.

A birds eye view

Dave discovered that Google Earth had recently added new photos at much higher resolution covering Amherst. You can see the trees we planted!!!

Here's a close-up for the house and garden area. This is my favourite view. I love how not only can you see the trees, but also the outline of the walled garden area, right down to our first start at making vegie garden beds. From this view I can see we've got the sizing right relative to the house + the placement... it was so hard to judge at ground level.


Here's a view covering the entire property:


It's a little deceptive as it makes it look flat whereas in reality it's on a kind of rolling hill.

Finally, here's a close up of the far side, where you can see the baby olive trees.

pine posts and wire for orchard

Dad has done another of his miraculous sourcing tricks. Somehow he managed to find someone who was dismantling their orchard and selling off a bunch of pine poles that are perfect for what we need:

From Dad's email on September 19th:
I am going to Amherst with the loaded trailer of 160-180mm pine posts 3 metre long. Had to go to near Arthur's Seat chairlift to get them. They are excellent and only $10 each. The next size down, 125mm, cost $25 each. These are an exceptional bargain and we ought to buy as many as you envision you will need. He also has 125mm ones both in the 3m and 2.4 m and some 2.4m that are 180-200 that would be excellent for strainer posts. Your call if you want to invest more. He runs an orchard that he is downsizing. He has about 1000 poles that are 9 yrs old but in excellent, and I mean excellent order. Better than new because they have better preservative in them than is presently being used.

Dad ended up getting another load's worth in the end I think, as they're such a good deal and will come in handy for so many projects.




In terms of the wire, Dad said:
I cannot get discounted dog wire so will go with 1.2 m high weldmesh for the bottom that has square gaps of 10cmx10cm. You need 3 rolls at $54 each, plus staples. You have the single strand wire already to make up the top of the fence up to the 2.4, or you can tell me to buy an additional 3 rolls of the weldmesh and make it all weldmesh.

I replied to say to use the same weld mesh wire along the whole fence and also to make sure it was lined up with the wire below if it was going on in two parts.
"What I mean is, make it symmetrical if you can as otherwise I think it might look a little odd to the eye when you're looking up close to see the 'stripes' of the wire that don't match up. If this isn't possible then please leave a gap, say 20-30cm, between the two sheets of wire so they look clearly separate... I'm assuming a small gap like this, 1.2m off the ground, is not going to be possible for any sheep/roo to squeeze through as they're not climbers"

kickstart

The house design alterations have been on the backburner for months, as Eric had a bunch of other projects he needed to work on plus he moved house to Ballarat. We didn't mind as we're not in any rush, but it is a nice feeling to have finally got back to working on it. (For a reminder of where we left off, see here)

Eric kickstarted the process again with an email on September 11th:
"Well, I finally started going through the plans again today. I have notes from our conversations from the last little while. I thought that since it has been so long (my fault) it would be prudent to mark up what I believe to be the areas to look at. These mark ups aren't necessarily the solution, but rather the general ideas. Can you have a look and tell me if it reflects the areas to look at?"

Ground floor:


Top floor:


Side views:




We replied a few days later:

"Thanks a lot for this. I just looked through the plans with Dave and what you have tallies with our recollections too.

We have just a couple of general thoughts re: the library tower... I really like the idea of having the bigger library. And Dave is thrilled about the idea of having his tower. :-)

Our only slight hesitation is in terms of what it potentially does to the house value, were we ever to have to sell it. Before, we could arguably pretend the library was another bedroom. Now it will be less easy... I'm wondering whether there's a way of having our cake and eating it too - ie: having a library extension but by playing with where the stairs are & shape of upstairs floor, making it so that the library billiards area + extension could be easily converted to ideally 2 other bedrooms if ever needed in future?

Also, Dave is curious to explore some other roof designs for the tower, eg: a squarer roof rather than triangular. He still wants it to be pointy though - ie: he's not thinking of it being a flat roof (even though perhaps it could be cool as a kind of mini lookout thingy)"

tweaks to the verandah

To make sure we avoided making any clanging mistakes, I asked Eric for his thoughts about the verandah design. He liked it except was a bit wary of the raised up bit over the front door and suggested a revision:

"I think that the verandah gable might clash with the house gable. How about adding some extra detail to highlight the entry, but locating in under the verandah and at a smaller scale. One idea to consider is the location of the viewer and where their eye will be filled with the view. In the sketch below, from a distance the dominant form would be the house gable. From closer, the house gable would disappear outside of the "cone of vision" of the eye, and the detail right around the entry would take over. You see this in a lot of classical architecture. St Paul's cathedral, for example. The dome, the main gable, and the detail around the door all dominate the view depending on where you are. A long way from St Paul's to Amherst, but the principle remains. Well, there is another idea to ponder. Let me know what you decide."



We talked about it quite a lot with Dad, as he really liked the idea of the gable. But both Dave and I can see Eric's point. So, we've decided to go back to the original with no gable. Wait and see if the lack of light is actually a problem before we bother with solutions for it! Now we've got rid of the verandah at the back end of the house & there's just a small canopy over the door, a lot more light will come through from that end than when there was a full verandah, so there's a good chance it'll be OK.

planning permit for walled garden

One of the concerns flagged by Dad in relation to the vegetable garden wall is that he feared we needed a planning permit for it. But we didn't understand why that would be the case in our area, as there's no neighbours to overshadow or views to obstruct.

Anyway, we agreed to disagree until Dave and I could do some research ourselves. Here's what we discovered.

Since we initially bought the property, it seems to have been slightly re-zoned. According to the map here, we're now in a Farming zone (code FZ), which is part of the Rural category. A PDF of the requirements for this zone can be downloaded here.

This says we don't need a permit for Agriculture, which in my opinion clearly encompasses a vegetable garden ... which we can't have without building a wall to keep out the sheep and kangaroos. Thus, building a wall to enable us to create a vegetable garden shouldn't require a permit. We figured we'd better doublecheck this logic though, so Dave called Norm at the local planning department.

Norm said we wouldn't normally need a permit, but we might in this instance only because the area being enclosed is much bigger than typical for a garden in the Amherst/Maryborough area. Norm said he knew exactly the kind of thing we meant though, and said there are loads of them in the Western District (which makes sense as that's where a lot of the grander properties were built years ago). He didn't seem to think there'd be a problem getting approval for the wall even if we did need a permit though. What we needed to do was to send him a few sketches... indicating where on the property it is, what it will look like roughly, etc.

Below is what we sent and Norm's brief reply, which we have interpreted as meaning that it's OK to go ahead, provided we abide by building regulations. Which is a big relief as it means there's at least one project we can work on while we're overseas and only able to make sporadic visits.
__________________________________________
DAVE'S EMAIL TO NORM - NOVEMBER 22

Hello Norm,
I'm writing to follow up on our telephone conversation of last week,regarding whether or not a planning permit would be required for awalled garden on our 30 acre property.

Attached are:
--A site plan showing existing buildings/features and also 'proposedbuildings' (what we plan to build once we return from UK in 5+ years)


--A sketch of the garden


The proposed garden is 25m x 40 m, surrounded by a wall of approx 2min height. We're intending for the wall to have old fashioned redbrick columns, but we are still undecided at what will fill in the space between the columns. We are investigating the options of:
- Mud brick/cob wall made in part with clays from the property.
- Wood
- Hebel sheeting

My wife's brother is a bricklayer by trade, and he has offered to build the required foundations and lay the bricks for the columns whenhe has spare time over the upcoming holidays. We intend to continue to build and complete the rest of the wall, with volunteer help from family and friends, on our holiday trips back to Australia. These are usually for 3-4 weeks every 18 months or so.

We decided to make it a walled garden, with a solid wall, in order to:
- Protect from sheep and wild life (kangaroos etc)
- Protect from frosts and wind
- Provide a growing support for espaliered fruit trees and other vines
- Because my wife really likes the style of old fashioned walled gardens

Inside the garden we are thinking about having small sheds at two of the corners of the walls, one for tools, one for growing seedlings/potting etc, although we don't envisage building them until the wall was built.

The garden might seem large compared to suburban vegetable gardens,but we arrived at it after doing research on the growing spacerequired to keep us reasonably self sufficient in vegetables, plus provide room for some small fruit trees that otherwise would not survive the hard frosts.

The site for the garden was chosen because:
- Only really flat land on property near to present house
- Site is near to existing dam, for water supply
- Near to orchard area we have started to plant
- Away from shade of established tall gum trees
- Doesn't disrupt views down the valley

At present, the site for the garden (like all of the 30 acres) is unused except by the next door neighbours who occasionally graze sheep on it to keep the grass down. It is just bare land with no vegetation except for a sparse covering of grass.

Based on the above, do you think we would need planning permission for the garden walls? If so, are there any things we could change about our plans that might make it not the case, at least for the initial stages?

We're happy to apply for permits, but, as this is likely to be a 5+ year project (given the problem of us not living in Australia), we would, more than likely, be unable to complete the structure within 2 years. If we were able to hold off on getting a permit until a later stage of the garden building (eg: after we'd built 2 of the 4 walls or some such other partial step) so that we'd have a shot to complete it within the life of the permit, that would be brilliant. Alternatively, what if we initially just built columns but did not fill in the wall between them? Is it possible to apply for extensions?

Any advice you can give would be appreciated.
____________________________________

NORM'S REPLY - NOVEMBER 29TH

"While walled gardens are not common it looks ok subject to wall heights not being visually excessive in appearance and materials[concept ok] also masonary code building regs apply"

designing the walled garden

Shortly after we got back from Australia, my brother Pete lost his job. He's a bricklayer so wanted to earn some fill-in money helping out building the garden wall pillars at Amherst.

So, we started a frantic effort to describe what we wanted done, relayed via Mum and Dad as Pete isn't online yet. As it turned out, the panic was unnecessary as Pete got another job within a few days, but at least we made a little progress thinking through the requirements.

Below are extracts from various emails that describe where we got to in our discussions with Pete. There's also a Flickr set that you might want to jump straight to, which has photos we're using for inspiration:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynetter/sets/72157594370178102/

_______________________________________________

NOVEMBER 6TH - EMAIL FROM ME TO DAD

We had a good discussion with Pete about the brick walls, or rather pillars, and the design on the afternoon just before we left. The plan had been he might try and start over Xmas. But in the circumstances I guess we can bring it forward, although there is still some legwork Dave & I need to do before he can make too much progress.

1) Dave needs to call the permit people. I will try and get him to do it in the next few days.

2) I need to send photos of wall patterns etc that I like for the pillars. Pete showed me some ideas he had and they were really good, but he'd asked me to think some more about it myself and send him some photos.

Where we left it with Pete is that we will be having 16 pillars, some perhaps a bit fancier than others (eg: the gateposts). After discussion with Dave, we're inclined to mostly use bricks he showed us called 'quick bricks' or 'render bricks'... they were of a similar texture to the ones you bought already but they are about 1.5 times the size and Pete thought they would work out cheaper than the smaller bricks, especially when you factor in labour. We also prefer the look of the bigger bricks. Pete did the calculation of how many bricks we'd be likely to need for that and how long it was likely to take (his initial estimate was 2-3 pillars a day) and I agreed a rate of $100 per day cash with him for labour. Of course, we can also pay for reasonable use of petrol too.

What we also agreed was that he would make an initial exploratory trip up to Amherst one time when you were there, so he can actually see the site, see what materials & equipment are available, visit the brickworks himself at Ballarat & Bendigo to see what's available and prices, etc. Perhaps that is something you can do this week with him, and maybe he can even start to pour the foundations for the trenches that are already dug if he urgently needs work. Start with the trench nearest the house, because that will definitely need the concrete foundation all the way along infilling the trench, because we will ultimately be having potting sheds/glasshouse etc leaning against those walls.

I know it probably isn't the usual approach, but I would like to start off just doing the pillars/foundation for the 2 ends we've already dug. That way we don't have to invest in hiring equipment again immediately. Until we know what kind of material we'll be having between pillars, we don't know the type of foundations we'll need. As you know I want to try and avoid digging giant trenches on the 40m sides as they take so long to do with the digger and thus cost $$$$ & instead just have holes where the pillars are. But we need to do more research at our end about these Hever sheets & the planning permission before we can make a decision. So, so as not to hold up Pete, he could start off just doing the short ends.
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NOVEMBER 10 - PETE'S COMMENTS

Pete doesn't have email so instead he handwrote a note about the garden wall project, which Dad scanned and sent to me. Here they are (click to make them bigger).




I replied:

I'm OK with the approach of setting up an account with a local guy for materials, and also with Pete's time cost. But, I'd like to have a costing (even if just a ballpark estimate) for all the materials before we commit to proceed. Perhaps on his exploratory trip up there with you, Pete can visit suppliers to get this and find out details of how to set up the account? How we approach paying for the materials is going to depend on cost... we might perhaps give a credit card to the material supplier (in which case it would be coming out of our UK savings) or we might instead have to pay via bank deposit (so it comes out of Australian savings). I can't tell you which until we have the estimate of cost.

I know Pete wants to go ahead quickly as fill in work, but I want to give myself time to a) think carefully about the design, and b) get a response even if informal from the planning guy. I have to write the email to him over the weekend as haven't had time to do it yet. I would hate to invest thousands in building the bloody brick pillars for them to say that we needed to alter it. So, it might be a fortnight or so before we have this, but I will go as fast as I can.

In terms of the Pete's comments re: design/patterns, I need to think more about this and discuss with Dave. We'll attempt to do this over the weekend.

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NOVEMBER 12 - EMAIL TO MUM

As you said you'll be talking to Peter soon Mum, could you pass on the message that we've got pictures to show him? He'd asked us to send lots of photos of things we liked to help him better understand the style we wanted. Even though the focus to begin is on the pillars, we need to think about the whole thing so as to make sure the pillars are in the right place, and that as well there are sufficient foundations for whatever eventually goes inbetween.

The approach I'm trying, because it's too difficult to coordinate otherwise given everyone's different schedules, is to put all the photos onto Flickr into a special set. Then everyone can peruse them at their leisure and add their own comments directly to each photo. ie: we can all have a conversation without it having to be on the phone at the same time, or buried in emails.

Here's the link to the set.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynetter/sets/72157594370178102/

... [from here on you can see the comments as part of the Flickr set]

tweaks to new house plans

We're almost finished now on the plans for the new house. We're just awaiting a few sketches of particular areas, and then it's time to build the model. Yay!

Just so this blog is a complete record of the process, below are extracts from recent emails with Eric.


EMAIL FROM ME TO ERIC, NOVEMBER 8TH
... WITH ERIC'S REPLIES INSERTED IN ITALICS...

You'll be pleased to know that we still love the ideas we discussed. There are just three things...

1) after a little more thought I have a slight trepidation about the library 'tower' feeling a bit too formal, cold, arcane, which I think it might if the only things in the upper level of the tower are bookshelves. But, I think that could easily be offset, provided that on one side this is a little area for seating. For example, perhaps we could have a little walk in alcove on one side, which could have seats and a small desk, etc. It doesn't have to be big, but I think it'd make all the difference in feeling in the upstairs space so that it didn't feel like somewhere you just went to get a book and then came straight back down. I'd suggest probably the side that looks into the secret garden area would be best for this, as guessing that will also have a sliver of distance view between the houses(?). I know this would mean we'd lose part of the book storage area, but that's OK, I think there'll still be plenty. What do you think?

ERIC'S REPLY:
I have imagined a little seat interrupting the bookshelves at some point in the upper bookshelf area. I's always nice to have a place to pause and sit with a book. The balcony should be quite open to the library area below. Perhaps once we have some sketches, it will be easier to visualize.


2) the roof of the laundry area... I forgot to mention this when we met, but to my eye it seems to slope oddly in comparison to the other areas. Was there a structural reason for this? Is it possible to alter so it echoes the other rooflines more?

ERIC'S REPLY:
That is true. I have gone back and forth on that roof. Here is the issue. Look at the west elevation. The gable is a 45 degree pitch to match the main house roof. See how it sticks up higher than the main roof over the laundry? On the south elevation, I have shown the ridge of the laundry roof return back into the main to at an angle so that it doesn't show in the courtyard. I did look at other options lie a shallower pitch on the gable over the laundry, but I like the way that the steeper gable re;ates to the main roof, and marks the main entry of the house. We can look at this more closely in the study model.


3) the bay window in the lounge - and I guess related, the shape of the balcony on the upstairs bedroom. I know we've discussed this over and over about whether to keep it with the circular feel or whether to make it more a square bay. And I know we settled at leaving it circular, for reasons I can't recall, which is why I didn't raise it when we met. But every time I look at the house plans, it just niggles at me still, and so I just thought I would flag with you that if you wanted to alter the shape, so that it was a rectangular bay rather than semicircle, to thus echo the boxier shapes of the dormers, the square library tower, the square stairs, etc, I would be very happy with you doing that.

ERIC'S REPLY
The circular bay window originated in an idea about making the two sides slight different from each other. A square bay window would achieve that as well. I can look at it on the next version of the plans. If we don't like the square version, we can always go back.

verandah plans for old house

We're still undecided about how best to proceed with the work on the old house at Amherst once the planning permit comes. Of particular debate is the approach to building the verandah.

We're waiting for Dad to give us some costings before we can decide how to proceed.

In the meantime, below are extracts from various emails that capture the conversations and where we're at currently.

____________________________________________

DAD SAID... in passing in an email November 6th

"...I would like to proceed with the veranda roof and framing when possible. Material stored there needs to be used or the white ants will eat it".

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I REPLIED... in email November 7th

With regards to your comment about proceeding with the framing & verandah roof... don't forget the discussion we had at Dave's parents. We have decided we do not want to put the verandah roof on until the house has been painted , because it will be too difficult otherwise for us to paint the detailing at the top. This also means that we do not want to put the rest of the verandah floor on until after painting either, because without a roof it will have no protection.

I know you have bought materials for the verandah so if white ant is as big a problem as you keep saying it is, can you please move the verandah materials to the house - there seemed room to store them in the hallway stacked up, and they can happily sit there for the next few years until they're needed. Alternatively, they could be stored instead in the garage that you were going to erect down near the container (nb: on a gravel base only, not a slab).

As Dave explained when we spoke at his Dad's house, the order we want to proceed in working on the old house is:

PREPARE EXTERIOR FOR PAINTING
- Put in windows/doors in the spots they'll be going according to the plans
- Repair weatherboards and existing window frames
- Make alterations to the house shape... ie: the bedroom baywindow, the new bit in the bathroom, the laundry backend, etc.
- Strip off old paint

PAINT EXTERIOR
- Paint undercoat on boards
- Paint one coat of top coat, in white (this will give some protection from the weather).

We would like the above work to be done in the next 18-24 months, so that when we next visit we can have a 'family working bee' to paint the house exterior the final colours.

____________________________________________________

DAD SAID... in email November 8th

"I know that access to the area above the veranda roof will be greatly facilitated by the roof, which is a trafficable roof of low pitch, and that the alternative to build a scaffold to access these areas with machinery to stripe paint and then to do the sealer and first coat stages would be time spent well by myself as I have no need for all the extra gear on the scaffold that use by anyone else would require, especially at the greater heights. So you may like to think of these things when thinking about the approach you take.

Also,I have $900 worth of fascia/beam materials in long lengths that will need to be protected from theft. I will make the suggestion that we use much of the material onsite as a temporary structure over the container creating storage areas around it and also giving it shade from the heat. You have new sheets of iron on the site now which can be stored away till needed, or made use of until needed. I certainly don't want to preempt your role of telling me what you want me to do and when. I merely wanted you to consider the alternatives".

I REPLIED... in email November 8th

Let me talk to Dave some more about the issue of the verandah roof. We'd thought that having the roof in place would hinder rather than help when it came to painting, as we'd not realised the verandah roof would be strong enough to support people walking on it. We'd been thinking people would be just using ladders to get up there to do the detailing (as some of the patterns at the top will need to be hand-painted to pick ou the pattern, not sprayed. Just so I'm clear I understand, are you saying that you think it would be better to build the roof so people can lie on that when they're doing the paint work above the verandah roofline, or would it make it harder to do the paint? Would you rather build the scaffolding and go down that route instead?

With regards to the $900 of fascia/beam materials, are they materials that you would have been using for the verandah roof? Or were they for some other part of the verandah, eg: the floor? As a general rule, I'm more inclined to use materials where they will ultimately end up rather than use them in a temporary structure, unless there's some good reason not to.

____________________________________________________

DAD SAID... in email November 9th

I would certainly prefer to do the framing of the veranda and the roof of the veranda now rather than later, even if the floor was not done and planks were used. I think access to things would be much simpler for the painting and preparations. But I have not got all the material needed to do all the veranda. I bought material in batches which I could carry on given trips. I needed to have the range of things to do stages of the job I was at. I do not like to have things left lying around on the ground subject to ruin and theft because of not wishing to finish as begun, but I know how important it is that you do not feel overly pressured with the cost. I have not bought any material that are not for the veranda except the plaster materials.

I will talk further to you about the level of the roof above the windows, and be able to discuss it better when I have more time. A change in level that is too great will mean the length of the roof sheets will be too short unless I also raise the level of the outside edge of the veranda, so I need to clearly discuss with you and Dave all aspects before we go forward. I could lift the inner edge about 100 mm I think without risking the sheets being too short, but if I did that connecting the existing with the new will be difficult. So taking the existing off to make it comply with the new is the way to go. So I need to talk first to you of all things, and tell you all the aspects you need for an intelligent choice, and proceed from there."

____________________________________________________

EMAIL FROM ME TO DAD ... November 10th

I had an idea this morning about a way to save money on the old house renovations, which involves changing plans for the verandah. Before we make an ultimate decision though we wanted to get your input as to what the cost savings would be, in terms of both materials & labour.

I know that we at one stage said that we wanted a wraparound verandah on the old house as Dave likes them, but that was before we understood the cost of materials. As it seems to be working out a lot more expensive than we'd envisaged, we might be changing our minds. (it isn't set for certain though, we need the cost savings estimate from you so we can make a decision).

Specifically, the idea is to significantly reduce the area of verandah.

I've been looking for a photo to no avail, but do you remember what our Toora house looks like at the front? It's of a similar vintage to the Amherst old house and it doesn't have verandah across all of the front, only on the part that is 'set back'. Using that as inspiration, what if we only had verandah on the parts shaded yellow in this diagram?



Can you estimate how much more $$$ we'd need for the materials if we went with this reduced approach? And can you tell us how much $$ we'd be saving by doing this approach rather than having it 'wraparound'? My estimate is that it must be substantial, at least $10,000, but am I way off?

A few things to say about the verandah that might help you in coming up with this estimate.

1) you can assume the roofing sheets you've already bought will be the right length. We are happy to raise the height of the outside edge of the verandah roof by the same amount as whatever we raise it by on the edge that joins the house (ie: the slope will remain the same, and thus the length of sheeting will also remain the same). We will probably be putting some kind of fretwork edging on it (like in this picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynetter/278274662/in/set-969191/ ) so having the outside edge higher will be good to allow that.

2) as shown in this picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynetter/278274662/in/set-969191/ we want to have the inside of the verandah roof lined to at least give an effect of being tongue & grooved, even if it isn't really. (eg: maybe it is a thin MDF sheet that has grooves carved into it, you can advise us on what you think most cost efficient to achieve the look we want). We will be painting the verandah lining sky blue as in the picture. In between the corrugated iron and the lining we will have insulation (and also do you think we would we need some form of water protection in case the corrugated iron leaks so it doesn't mess up the lining?).

3) we would really like to have a tongue & groove verandah floor, with the boards running with the joins in the opposite way to the way you've laid the decking. ie: like in this picture http://www.flickr.com/photos/lynetter/278271065/in/set-969191/ This means you'll need to do the foundations for the verandah floor differently. As well, be aware that not all tongue&groove boards will be cut to the exact length, so you'll need to have supports to allow for 'joining' mid floor. Again this might seem a lot of extra work vs getting them cut the exact lengths to begin, but it's traditional and it's the way Sam & John did theirs. As well, to ensure greatest longevity for the tongue & groove, we want it to be very solidly supported underneath so that there is no sense of 'bounce' as you walk on it. So, please err on the side of allowing for more supports underneath than less. The decking as you laid it currently has too much bounce for our liking. Overall, this will mean I suspect that a lot more wood will need to be used as supports for the floor than you may have been originally envisaging.

If it turns out that tongue and groove is going to be just way too expensive, there is an alternative that we'd consider. Today I came across another photo of an old verandah on a Queensland house, which seems to have a different kind of floor:



We don't like it anywhere near as much as tongue & groove, but it's a type of floor that is OK and is in keeping with the era. So if it turned out to be substantially cheaper for the materials & labour to build than tongue & groove, then it is something we'd consider.

Whenever you're doing the estimates (and as I said, there's no rush), if a floor like this would be cheaper, can you cost it up as an alternative so we can see the difference in price & then make our decision based on that?


4) if there is a way of using up the wood you were envisaging as being for the verandah pillars elsewhere (eg: as part of the foundation) then please do. I would rather buy nice verandah posts readymade in a lovely shape than use the square beams you've been using currently. I know we could carve the beams to make them look nicer than they already are, but to be honest, I would much prefer just to get the right thing to begin with as it will make such a difference to the look.

eg: I like the verandah pillars in this picture (except for the bit at the bottom which is obviously missing but could be simply a block of carved wood).



I know you said it is possible to buy lovely verandah posts ready made for you guessed $250 each? Maybe you could get a catalogue, or visit a shop that sells such posts and take some photos for us (with corresponding prices) and I will pick out specifically which shape I want.

5) just in case you were concerned, do not worry about the sun coming into the windows on the side without the verandah... we will charmingly solve that by creating a little canopy thing over the windows akin to in this picture



____________________________________________________________

DAD'S REPLY... in email November 10th

"I have suspected from the time you were here that the portion of veranda deck that has been begun should simply be removed. For one reason, it is too low and the posts have been cut already for the beams to rest which are not going to be of any help with the design of veranda you are envisioning. Also it has only been started. The row of bearer which goes through roughly where the table sits now has not been placed, and nearly half of the deck boards are just sitting there for me to have access to the area underneath to place this bearer. This accounts for the spring. Also the posts are not set in concrete, but merely sitting on pads.

The deck boards can be removed easily as the wood is still green, and can be used to good advantage on the upwey house, which is rotting away and will need replacing soon, and merbau deck is the cheapest available since treated pine is no longer acceptable and neither is cypress for an open deck.

The posts are not acceptable, only inexpensive, so these could be used elsewhere as fencing or something else with good effect. Tooling these is not worthwhile as they are green material, not kiln-dried. Buying ready turned veranda posts is the way to go and with plans for the fancy fretwork to be fitted appropriately. There are suppliers for such finishes.

The framing of the veranda as you want the flooring to run at right angles to the house is needing to be changed, using rows of bearers which run in the direction of the flooring boards. This will enable the placement of the floorjoists at intervals of 450mm along the direction of the side of the house. This is opposite to the way I have begun, and so it is most intelligent to remove the present structure rather than try to incorporate it with this other design. It is just not going to be worth it.

I have worked on several such verandas as you envision in my time as a carpenter. I am not unfamiliar with how to build them, and to build them solidly. The only way you can get the lining board look you see is most probably with lining boards, but pehaps there are some alternative sheets around. I have installed lining boards just so to coves of ceilings.

Your idea of putting verandas around only half of the house is a good one. It is most likely that from an expense point of view the only place you will end up with a veranda in just in front of the front door extending to the edge of the house only. That would be adequate to achieve an outdoors area, though not protect the house from heat much overall. We still need to achieve the necessary five-star rating required under laws passed in the past few years, and all-round verandas are a big help for achieving energy saving ratings. I like the idea of having just the area you have planned in yellow, of course, but the cost may prove far too great. I will make some estimate when you are sure just what you want me to estimate".

__________________________________________________________

I REPLIED... in email November 10th

"In terms of the verandah, yes probably ultimately we will remove the portion of verandah deck that is begun, but we don't want to make a final decision on it yet. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not do it now as we have not made our final decision and I hate the feeling of things going backwards. So leave it as it is, it will not be stolen, and it is useful as a resting place for while working up there.

Yes please, I would like you to cost the verandah to the area shaded in yellow & the description, as per my other email. From a design perspective, that's the minimum area I think we can have verandah on as it would look stupid otherwise. I just need to be told the costs so that we can make plans for financing.

I'm not saying we will be going ahead with the verandah as the immediate next project; that is still for discussion with Dave, as he still thinks that it will get in the way of the painting. But I would like to have the verandah cost at least as a ballpark so I know, as I do not want to do anything further up there until I get some rough costs".

Day four - modifying old house verandah

This morning we continued a somewhat difficult conversation we'd started yesterday, about the verandah for the old house aka 'the cottage'.

There were three areas of contention - the flooring material, the alignment of the verandah posts, and the roof configuration.

Let's start with the floor.

Dad had bought some decking to use for the verandah floor which was nice... but... not exactly in keeping with the spirit of the house. Instead what we'd been expecting to see was traditional tongue-and-groove. Luckily he's only put it on around part of the front, so with Sam & John's help (friends visiting) we came up with an alternative which should be fine.

We're going to leave the decking he's already installed in situ. Instead of using the leftovers as verandah, however, we're instead going to put a step down and extend the decking forward, so that there's a section in the open too. It should look really nice, we could put a little table out there, surround it by garden, etc.

For the rest of the verandah we're now planning to get Jarrah tongue-and-groove, 80mm wide, 19mm thick, from the same place as Sam & John just got theirs ("Australian Choice Timbers" in Kilsyth). It'll work out a little more expensive perhaps than modern decking, but it'll be worth it.

To help cut the costs further, we've decided that even though the verandah roof will go all the way around the house, we will not have a floor for it on the uphill side. There's not a nice view there, so instead we'll make a kind of mini -garden to look out over, just under the windows.




Now, onto the verandah posts.

Dad had only installed a few posts, evenly spaced. But when you looked at the house it seemed odd, akin to someone wearing their spectacles askew, because the posts weren't symmetrical around the windows/doors.

We've come up with a way to salvage it though. We're going to install an extra post, to make it seem symmetrical, on the front right... and then to give it a reason for existing, use it as the point from where the step down to the deck extension happens. I might even put trellis between the two posts and grow a climber up it, which will help disguise it even more.

Luckily Dad hadn't progressed too far with the verandah so we've carefully marked out where we think the other posts should go on the plans... so fingers crossed it will be smooth sailing from now on.


Finally, the verandah roof.

Dad had been planning to have the verandah roof about 5m deep in front of the door, so it covered the steps. We have changed this back to where the verandah would ordinarily be, so now it's only half as deep, because it will look more in keeping and allow light to get into the hall which would otherwise be quite dark.

As well, we've decided to raise the verandah roofline to put it where it was in its original incarnation. Where Dad has put it so far is a bit too low, but again we have a cunning salvage plan... which is to leave the verandah over the deck as is, but to build it higher everywhere else. This should look OK we hope as, because the other part is set back it'll make it appear in line with the diagonal roof slope.

Day three - new house plans

The bulk of our third day here, from 11am on, was spent with our architect Eric in Daylesford (about an hour or so away). Here's a photo of him with Dave:



Broadly the house layout is staying the same but we're enlarging it... incrementally the extra cost won't be that much and we'd rather err on the side of too much space (as we'll easily fill it) than risk it feeling cramped.

The biggest changes:

• The library will become MUCH bigger. We're extending it in length by about 4m but putting a small wall jutting out a little to give it the feel of two separate spaces, yet open enough to see through. The furthest space will be two storey, with spiral stairs up to a landing, so that we have some serious book storage both above and below. We'll be using the giant stained glass lampshape in here as a kind of reverse cupola, with lights & skylight above.
  
  
• The dressing room upstairs will have a dormer window inserted to make it feel more spacious and add room for a seat... it'll also be a little wider, so it feels less like a walk in closet. There'll be a matching dormer on the other side.
  
  
• We're changing the shape of the stairs to be square rather than a rounded finish, with a decent landing area, which may entail extending it a little to ensure they retain a sweeping feel, akin to the stairs at Standen. We'll be moving the 11ft clock so that it backs onto the kitchen wall rather than between the stairs, and raising the ceiling height by a step or two, to ensure there's space for it.
  

Other less major changes:

• We're widening the entrance hall and similarly enlarging the pantry and kitchen.
  
  
• The kitchen door will be shunted towards the front of the house to make space for glass fronted full-length cupboards for storing china, on the wall backing onto the pantry. This solves one of the major storage dilemmas.
  
  
• The bedroom and study upstairs (and possibly also the bathroom, yet tbd) will have 1-2 steps down to enter them from the hall landing. The exact amount depends on how much the ceiling in the stairway area needs to be raised to accommodate the clock. This will give them a wonderful feeling I think, like the house we saw in Washington.
  

• Eric is going to attempt to bring the bathroom dormer window forward a little, so it has a bit more space, although it'll still be cosy in feel.
  

• At the front Eric is going to see if its possible to put a small balcony - accessed via climbing over the window sill - across the top of the front verandah. It depends on what it does to the roof shape, but he's going to experiment with it.
  

• In the lounge room, a false ceiling will be added starting a bit in front of the bay window area, to make the space feel more interesting... and at the same time the whole room will be lengthened a bit "letting it breath" in Eric's words. A similar thing will be done in the kitchen probably too.
  

Eric is going to work on revising the drawings and send them to us in a few weeks, so I'll scan and add them here when they arrive.