ICF house build in Adelaide

The weather has been kind (although cold) the last couple of weeks and I have managed to get some more done while it hasn't been raining.


This section of wall between the dining room and meals room has now been hand filled to row seven.
I now need to fill the small section of wall on the other side of the meals window ready for the lintel to be placed.


Originally there was going to be an ICF lintel between this wall and the perpendicular wall (over a doorway) but because there is a steel column at the end of the perpendicular wall it was easier to use a steel beam instead. The external wall will be filled to embed two 16mm dia threaded rods attached to the angle on the end of the beam and once leveled, the angle grouted in.


The lintel for the dining room stacker doorway. Using a trolly* I was able to moved it into place between the two wall end shutters.
*A must have when working by yourself.


The gantry moved into position and the mobile scaffold erected underneath to enable the chain block to be set up.
I am using the one tonne chain block this time as it is lighter to put up and the beam is only about 200kg.


Lintel half way up. Pulling centrally to the opening with the lintel either side of the walls. The lintel can then be swung round over the shutters without needing to move the gantry. (2 x 2 tonne soft slings)


Lintel swung round and lowered onto the shutters. Holes were drilled into the lintel prior to lifting for more threaded rod to be cast into the concrete cores.


Lintel in position with the gantry removed.
It is higher than the finial position but once the shutters have been removed it can be leveled and grouted into position.


I fabricated an attachment for the bar bender I previously made to facilitate the neat bending of reinforcing bars.
Clamping it to a piece of universal column keeps everything in place while bending.


A N12 reo bar bent to a nice 45 deg bend. It will bend N16 bars just as easily.


The reinforcing bar cropper I have for chopping the bars to length. Bought very cheep from an auction at a hire store that had gone into liquidation.

All the forth row horizontal reinforcing is now in place and just needs to be wired onto the vertical bars and the next three rows of blocks stacked.

The weather has been cold, wet and windy for a while now but I have managed to get a few things done before winter sets in.


The horizontal reinforcing has been welded on where meets a steel column.


I am hand filling this section of 170 block wall. Row 7 horizontal reo is welded on to the column and to a steel plate which is screwed to the timber sub frame.
Formply and threaded rod are used to support the blocks where webs have been cut out to allow the block to pass the column. This section of wall is now filled to row 8 and ready for the ICF lintel above the doorway.


Section of 240 block wall where it intersects with a 200 block wall. The foam of the 240 blocks has been cut out to allow a continuity of concrete.
As this section of wall is not an exact multiple of block cells, there is a vertical joint here. Extra bracing and the use of gun foam will keep it all in place for the concrete pour.


80% of the bracing is now fixed in place.


Gale force winds were forecast so securing the blocks to the braces was top priority. Timber battens and threaded rod are used to hold the blocks against the bracing, keeping them plumb and secure. All the timber and threaded rods are being reused from the lower level walls. Thankfully I managed to get everything tied down before the bad weather hit and nothing blew away.


I have managed to pour a little more concrete in the last week and raise the lounge room lintel beam. (sorry for the dark photo but the light was failing at the end of the day)
Next job is to pour some concrete around the threaded rod securing the lintels and to bring the North East corner up to lintel height allowing the meals room lintel to be lifted. I can also lay blocks up to row 7 so hopefully there are some dry days ahead.

Originally Posted by Belair_Boy

The weather has been cold, wet and windy for a while now but I have managed to get a few things done before winter sets in.


The horizontal reinforcing has been welded on where meets a steel column.


I am hand filling this section of 170 block wall. Row 7 horizontal reo is welded on to the column and to a steel plate which is screwed to the timber sub frame.
Formply and threaded rod are used to support the blocks where webs have been cut out to allow the block to pass the column. This section of wall is now filled to row 8 and ready for the ICF lintel above the doorway.


Section of 240 block wall where it intersects with a 200 block wall. The foam of the 240 blocks has been cut out to allow a continuity of concrete.
As this section of wall is not an exact multiple of block cells, there is a vertical joint here. Extra bracing and the use of gun foam will keep it all in place for the concrete pour.


80% of the bracing is now fixed in place.


Gale force winds were forecast so securing the blocks to the braces was top priority. Timber battens and threaded rod are used to hold the blocks against the bracing, keeping them plumb and secure. All the timber and threaded rods are being reused from the lower level walls. Thankfully I managed to get everything tied down before the bad weather hit and nothing blew away.


I have managed to pour a little more concrete in the last week and raise the lounge room lintel beam. (sorry for the dark photo but the light was failing at the end of the day)
Next job is to pour some concrete around the threaded rod securing the lintels and to bring the North East corner up to lintel height allowing the meals room lintel to be lifted. I can also lay blocks up to row 7 so hopefully there are some dry days ahead.

Blair boy
Love your attention to detail. Wish I had taken more care when forming up door ways, would have made it easier to fit timber jams. Painting done on my project and was about to start on floor tiling but will "dress" exterior walls and fit eaves framing in preparation for rendering. Have spent less than expected and will indulge myself and get in a team to do the job.
On these cold days you can look forward to a warm house. When I open my front door at 6.30am on these cold mornings I am amazed how warm it is inside.
cheers the Gableman

I love that gantry Belair, It has come in real handy by the looks of things. Did you build it to be de-mountable? Do you still have enough area to manoeuvre it with the walls going up now?
Are you going with ICF for the internal walls on this floor or stud partition?

Looking good

Originally Posted by sundancewfs

I love that gantry Belair, It has come in real handy by the looks of things. Did you build it to be de-mountable? Do you still have enough area to manoeuvre it with the walls going up now?
Are you going with ICF for the internal walls on this floor or stud partition?

G'day Sundance

Building the gantry was well worth the small amount of effort, although I did need to hire a larger generator when I welded it up as mine was not big enough to power the arc welder. The main A frames are my 100 x 100 SHS veranda posts (5 in each frame) and the cross beam was bought for scrap value from a metal recyclers. The A frames are welded together and will eventually need to be cut down to give my posts back. The cross beam is bolted to the frames and so the gantry can be broken down into three main pieces, plus the wheels are detachable (using an inverted saddle arrangement so no unwanted holes in the steel).

The issue, as you spotted, is a growing lack of space now the walls are going up. I lifted the beams in a sequence that would end up with the gantry in the lounge room. The remaining big task is to lift the main exposed timber ridge beam for the cathedral ceiling (~1000kg). To allow the gantry to be removed once the beam is lifted (without cutting it up) I have made a cantilever extension to the cross beam allowing a lift on the outside of the gantry and not straddle the lifted beam.
At the moment the gantry is positioned over the lounge lintel and is "trapped", but once I have embedded the threaded rods in the walls I will remove the lintel and free the gantry for the main timber beam lift. I will then (using the cantilever extension) re-lift the lintel so the gantry will end up on the balcony where there is enough room to disassemble it.

I can see another pair of A frames (somewhat smaller thought) being made in the future as it has been a very useful piece of kit.

All the walls on this middle level are ICF except the wall between the laundry/kitchen and the two walls forming the powder room WC, which will be timber stud.
The upper level will only have ICF external walls and a dividing wall between the kids and adult ends of the house, with the rest being non load bearing timber stud partitions.

Well it has been a while since the last overall photo and 3 weeks since my last update so I thought I better pull my finger out and post something.



Most of the walls are now up to course 7 with the third row of horizontal reinforcing in place. The last of the steel lintels on the North side is ready to lift so it is now time to free the gantry from the lounge. I am in the process of placing the ICF blocks for the laundry and garage doorway lintels and hope to have them filled by the end of this week if the rain holds off.

Originally Posted by jatt

What is the conc in your walls like to drill?

G'day Jatt

The concrete used in my walls is minimum 32MPa and as the ICF promotes good curing of the concrete it is generally even harder. The concrete I mix myself is probably better again as I want to error on the side of caution with my mix.

A good hammer drill and quality bit will make short work of most concrete but I have no doubt about the strength of fixings into my concrete. Too much torque will break a 6mm x 50mm AnkaScrew rather than strip out the hole in the concrete.
If you use the correct strength concrete, you shouldn't need any additional reinforcement to fix things too, provided you keep to the center of the concrete beams and columns the ICF makes.
Depending on the size of ICF block you use, the resultant cores can be as small as 100 mm wide and so I would be cautious with a large expansion type fixing but a screw type or chem set would be fine for greater loads.

ICF would make a well insulated shed, great for all climates.

Originally Posted by jatt

I take it there is no need for expansion joints in the walls. Ie around some windows.

Any issues with doing your walls in several separate pours?

You are quite correct about not needing expansion joints. Concrete's strength lies in compression, it is quite weak in tension but this is where the steel reinforcing comes in. With four rows of horizontal reinforcing in the walls and extra bars in window sills and lintels the opportunity for movement is severely limited. Blockwork/brickwork lacks this reinforcing and thus expansion joints are required to control where any movement will take place.

I am generally pouring individual sections of wall (separated by some opening) at a time and thus the joints between pours are mostly horizontal. These joints are in compression and at their strongest. The only time one of these joints between pours would be in tension would be while the wall was under construction and free standing. Wind loading for example would try and blow the wall over (and put the joint in tension) but the vertical steel reinforcing takes care of this. The starter bars into the slab are all important here, without which the wall could fall over like an unsupported tilt-up. A free standing brick or block wall would not fare so well, as anyone who has cut a doorway through a brick wall and pushed the wall out of the opening can attest to.
In the instances where I have created a vertical joint, the horizontal reinforcing holds everything together.

I hope this answers your question

Well it is official, it has been the wettest winter in seven years and amongst the four coldest winters in the last 23 years.

Despite this, continual progress has been made over the last couple of months and I am only a couple of weeks away from the middle level main wall concrete pour.

I have been slack with posts on the forum but hope to have some picture up very soon.

The story continues .....


Modification to the hot wire cutter to enable 150mm to be cut away from the top course of the 240 blocks around the garage.
The concrete slab for the garage is 150 mm thicker than the rest of the suspended slab.


Short lengths of reinforcing welded to the ends of M16 threaded rod. When cast into the concrete walls they will definitely not pull out.


The M16 threaded rods hung in the center of the ICF cells. This section of wall is 115mm lower to meet up with the roof line from the upper level.
I plan on fixing a unequal steel angle to the top of this wall to accept the roof trusses and the veranda on the western balcony.


The bond beam reinforcing, 10th course of 200 block wall. The webs have been reduced to allow a greater cover of concrete over the reinforcing.


Extra support was put on the 4 external corners of the 240 block walls prior to the concrete pour. These corners can be a weak spot and prone to blowouts. In addition, the two walls which end in a steel mullion needed to be tied together (more M12 threaded rod) to prevent the pressure of the concrete trying to push the wall and the mullion apart.


The couple of days prior to the wall pour were very busy placing all the shutters and extra support needed to hold unsupported sections of ICF together.
Lintel blocks especially require extra support due to the lack of webs and so form ply covers were fixed into place. Neatness starts to go out the window as the day of the concrete pour gets closer, they are temporary support after all and are only needed for one day.


Day of the concrete pour. All there was left to do is wait for the first concrete truck ..... which was an hour late ..... as usual.

Belair, your attention to detail blows me away every time i come back to this thread. Awesome work.

Arround my way it seems to be a race. Knock down the old house, scrape the block including the garden, pour slabs for 4 units, frame, tiles, bricks to lock up in under 4 weeks. 6 - 8 months later the painter fishes and the punters move in and hang sheets up for curtains. Plasma box goes on the nature strip. Job done.

This is far more interesting

I agree with SlowMick Belair. I really appreciate the power of work and head space your putting into your build. I have no doubt it will be all worth it down the track. good luck and keep up the good work.

Final pictures from the day of the pour.

I am fortunate to have some good mates who I can call on for help with concrete pours and the like, without whom I would be struggling.


Concrete truck and pump. One of the five trucks that had to back up the drive from the road. About 21 cubic metres in total, which was less than calculated (22.9m3). Unfortunately I ordered a bit extra to play it safe and had to send the last truck away with the surplus as I had nowhere prepared to put it to use.


The block filling didn't start well, with two blowouts in the first 6m of 240 wall. The second one was quite dramatic, the external wall of two cells blew out like an explosion when the concrete hit the bottom of the wall. I was prepared with boards and threaded rods for such a situation but by the time I had patched the hole two more bulges requiring blocking had occurred.


The cause of all the problems was pump operators not being familiar with the ICF system and, despite my repeated request for them to go slowly, filling too fast. The concrete falling 2.7m was putting too much load on the 240 blocks, it was the impact not the hydraulic pressure. At this point yours truly took control of the pump and the fill hose, cutting the flow rate right back and from then on things went smoothly. The first three courses were filled all the way around, then the next three and finally the last three. By the second and third lap the first fill had a chance to settle and start to go off allowing the flow rate to be increased.

I didn't have any blowouts where I had taken precautions to add support to the blocks. It is always an insurance that may be a little overkill in some places but experience has shown where problems can occur and it is easier to stop the problem from occurring in the first place than trying to fix a blowout on the day of the pour.

The 200 block with their thicker walls and better design proved to be a big success an no problems with these what so ever. I am glad I am using them on the upper level.


At the end of a long day all the walls that were due to be filled had concrete in them and where they were at final height, floated off. A final height check with the laser and a skim with the diamond cup wheel should be all that is required.


The 240 block wall around the garage is not finished off so neatly as there will be a 300mm slab poured on top of it.
The horizontal reinforcing bar above the finished wall is only temporary and there to hold every second vertical bar in place. These are short 600mm long bars that sit in between the full height vertical bars, all of which will be bent over into the suspended slab.



The wall with the threaded rods. Should not take too much to clean this one up.



Walls after the pour and clean up. Much the same as before only a lot more solid.

There is still some more block filling to be done on this level. The lintels for the kitchen/meals and dining rooms have to be finished and poured, along with the lounge gable and additional wall height in the home theater. It shouldn't take long to prepare these but grass slashing has a priority for the coming week.
That is providing the rain and SNOW stops. ....... Yes snow in October

Originally Posted by SlowMick

Belair, your attention to detail blows me away every time i come back to this thread. Awesome work.

Originally Posted by aussieslr

good luck and keep up the good work.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the positive feedback. It can be a bit isolated working by myself for so long and having to deal with the "so is the house finished yet" comment from people who have never attempted a project of any size in their life.

G'day BB.
I did about 20metres of replacing fascias and gutters today....was feeling like i'd done a bit... proud of my efforts, as i cleaned up for dinner. Then i saw your update.
Seriously though, i still want to check out your site first hand. Over holidays sometime?

Can you give a brief run down of your experience before hand, ie. reno's , etc. Where did you start on the road to megalomania.

Just awesome, blows my head off

Well done Belair. Gotta love a blow out! I like your way of dealing with them. Very inventive.

Just awesome BB.

Top job! I keep going over it trying to get my head around it.

Originally Posted by boyracer

I still want to check out your site first hand. Over holidays sometime?

Any time, just send me a message and we can arrange a site visit.

Can you give a brief run down of your experience before hand, ie. reno's , etc. Where did you start on the road to megalomania.

My father was a weekend builder and renovator and so I grew up around building and construction. From a young age my father fostered in me a love for building by teaching me how to use tools and letting me have a go at helping him with all of his projects. Invaluable lessons like “measure twice and cut once” became my mantra. I grew up believing that there was no job too big and there was nothing you couldn't do yourself. The inevitable outcome was me deciding to build my own house.

I have an engineering background and have model engineering as a hobby so standards, attention to detail and technical issues are second nature to me. Although I have built numerous small items and been involved in many building projects, the Belair house is my first real project of any substance.

G'day All

To those regular visitors to my postings and first time readers, I have to apologise for the sudden lack of photos on my Go to Whoa.
It looks like there is some malicious code in place somewhere redirecting the links to my pictures.

I am currently working to correct this and restore the links.
I will post an update as soon as things have been fixed but in the meantime I would like to wish all the forum members a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
May Santa bring you that tool you have always wanted

Regards
Belair_boy

Sorry to see you having such a problem. Hope it all gets sorted. Merry Xmas

Quick update .... my pictures are back

After a bit more investigation I discovered the location of the rogue script and things are back to normal.
I will post a proper update soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR Everyone

Now I have the pictures back in order it it time for another update.
Although things slowed down over Christmas, I have been finishing off the few sections of the middle level ICF walls that were not filled by pump.


After stripping of all the shutters and extra temporary support for the blocks I discovered a corner where the two lowest blocks had split.
I was not even aware of this during the day of the pour as my additional corner support had done exactly what it was supposed to do.
This would have been the least accessible part of the wall at the time of the pour and being 3m off the ground would have been a nightmare to repair in a hurry. The time and effort to support the corners was worth its weight in gold in this instance.

The East wall of the laundry, kitchen and meals required the most attention as this section was only filled to window sill height.


In this instance the ICF wall between windows extends a short way past the steel column supporting the kitchen window lintel.
As I was concerned about a slender column of concrete against the steel column remaining in place, I welded a vertical reinforcing bar to the steel column.
Same on the other side of the window opening.

With the two sections of wall between the windows filled by hand, the lintels could be tackled. The meals lintel is ICF where as the kitchen and laundry are steel T.
The kitchen lintel sits on the two steel columns where as the laundry one sits on the concrete wall.


The lintel over the meals window is an ICF one with 2 x N16 bottom, 2 x N12 top and R6 ligs @ 185 centers.
The photo is of the reinforcing cage before it is lowered in to the ICF lintel block.


The gable end of the AV room is formed from 170 blocks sitting on top of the 240 block wall below.
Vertical bars were chemset into the wall below as the cell spacing of the 170 blocks does not correspond to that of the 240 blocks and hence the 240 block vertical bars could not continue into the 170 blocks. All the 170 blocks that do not require the roof slope to be cut into them have been placed and filled with concrete.
The East wall of the AV room has also been continued up another 6 courses, with the end where the 240 blocks meet the 170s and the transition between the 240 blocks and the 200 blocks filled with concrete. This just leaves two straight sections of wall with no complications to be filled.


The laundry lintel has 2 x M16 threaded rods at each end cast into the wall below. Once in place the lintel height was set with the laser and grouted into position
The vertical web of the lintel splits the concrete above down the center and not one to do things by half, I welded some left over SL92 mesh down each side to reinforce these sections of concrete. This lintel has had the blocks placed and filled. The kitchen lintel has had the same reinforcing treatment and is due for filling on Monday.


As well as finishing the middle level walls I am preparing for the lounge room exposed timber beam. The beam will sit on the chimney at one end of the room and on the gable end wall at the other. I have fabricated two brackets to support the beam and anchor it to the walls. Both are welded from 10 mm plate steel and galvanised. The holes in the vertical plates are to take M16 threaded rod through the timber beam and into the concrete of the wall. The hole in the base plate are for M16 vertical rods which will be cast into the concrete and once the brackets set for height, grouted in place.


This is the current state of play. The next few tasks are to hand fill the kitchen lintel, add two more course to the chimney and cast in the threaded rod for the bracket. Place the ICF blocks on the two north lintels and the western gable.


I will shutter the two garage door mullions and arrange a pump to pour the remaining ICF blocks (about the 11th Feb if I keep to scheduled)
Next big pour will be the upper level suspended slab ... stay tuned.

Spoke too soon
In trying to be clever I have lost two photos and the time to edit has expired
Here they are ..... again

Originally Posted by Belair_Boy

After stripping of all the shutters and extra temporary support for the blocks I discovered a corner where the two lowest blocks had split.

Originally Posted by Belair_Boy

I welded a vertical reinforcing bar to the steel column.

Thanks Gaza
My wife wants to have Christmas (2013) in the new house
I have been working on a new build scheduled for this year and it is looking feasible to have the roof on by September!
Having ceilings for Christmas remains to be seen but we will be eating Christmas dinner at Belair house one way or another.

Originally Posted by Belair_Boy

Thanks Gaza
My wife wants to have Christmas (2013) in the new house
I have been working on a new build scheduled for this year and it is looking feasible to have the roof on by September!
Having ceilings for Christmas remains to be seen but we will be eating Christmas dinner at Belair house one way or another.

Hi there:

Its nice to see someone who knows how to build properly. Maybe you could run a course for some of these monkey house builders.

Sorry to get off track but...

Have you got 30 X 2 to 2.5 metre Acrow Props you want to sell cheap or hire cheap.

I need to pour a concrete slab at home and have noticed that there does not seem to be an abundance of these things laying about.

It may take me a few months to set it up and pour it with work commitments etc.

If i rent them for this time it will cost more than buying them at $60.00 a prop.

I remembered reading in one of your early postings, that you went to Melbourne to get them at the right price.

I assume you will not be pouring your roof on this level and probably won't be using them.

I suppose that is a big assumption.

Originally Posted by Acrowman

Its nice to see someone who knows how to build properly.

G'day Acrowman, thank for the big complement, I do things the way I think they should be done and to a level of quality I am happy with.
Probably overkill for most but it is my work and I have some pride and a lot of satisfaction in doing a good job.

I assume you will not be pouring your roof on this level and probably won't be using them. I suppose that is a big assumption.

Sorry but your assumption is incorrect. My next step is a suspended concrete slab over the half of the middle level for the upper level floor.
It is 168m2 with about 70m2 off form and the rest on Bondek, all of which needs propping and thus the acrow props are still needed for a while yet.

The big plan is to have the slab poured in May so giving time for curing the props should be available in July.
Not sure if this fits in with your plans but I would be open to a good hire rate for anyone needing them after this.
My neighbor is using about half at the moment and I have started using the other half so none free at the moment.

I agree that it doesn't take long to pay for the props at a weekly hire rate (hence buying my own).

Pm me if you want to discuss this further.

Belair boy:

Thanks for your prompt reply.

I found your thread when I was Googling for Props.

After I sent the request I was looking at your photos and I noticed some starter bars on top of your "I" Beams and thought, you will be needing your Props.

Props are a bit of a hot item that maintain their value and no one wants to sell them once they have them.

It seems that second hand props are only available in ones and twos at a higher price than what they are new.

Keep up the good work.

The way you keep your work-site is a credit to you.

Most people don't realize the difference it makes to work on a clean site without tripping over piles of rubbish on uneven ground.

I built my house in the same meticulous manner as you.

I wouldn't let any of those monkey building companies within 100 metres of my place.

I'll keep an eye on your thread and wait until you are finished with your Props.

Then I will contact you if I still haven't found any at a reasonable price.

I will not need them anymore once I have completed this slab.

That's why its so hard to bring myself to buy them.

Good luck with it all.

If you are putting in a Pool / Firefighting Water Tank and you need any advice please contact me anytime.

Originally Posted by Acrowman

If you are putting in a Pool / Firefighting Water Tank and you need any advice please contact me anytime.

I was told recently (as I thought of using fire fighting tank as a pool) that chlorinated water or salt water will damage the fire brigades equipment and so is not allowed to be used as one, where planning permission requires a tank on site. Is this true?

Originally Posted by shauck

I was told recently (as I thought of using fire fighting tank as a pool) that chlorinated water or salt water will damage the fire brigades equipment and so is not allowed to be used as one, where planning permission requires a tank on site. Is this true?

Shauck:

I am a pool expert, not an expert on water storage for the use of the MFS or the CFS.

I was actually referring to water for your own use with your own firefighting equipment and sprinkler system.

If you run an ozone pool that is balanced correctly there would be no detrimental effects to any pumping system whatsoever.

In actual fact, i'm pretty sure that the CFS don't care where water comes from when it comes to saving their own and other peoples lives and property.

They would be happy to use dam water if they needed it.

The MFS would probably be a bit funny about it especially if it was salt water.

I figured that being in the hills, Belair Boy would be more concerned with bush fires and would be more likely to be supplying the CFS with water or using his own Firefighting Pump.

Also sorry for the hijack. I figured you were meaning for self use. In some cases around here, you are required by planning/building permit to put in a water tank specifically for CFA (kept full all the time) to use if ever needed and I wondered if there was a way around the issues described.

Well it has been far too long since I posted here so I better remedy the situation.

First of all, Yes I am still alive, for any of you who were wondering.
Secondly, progress is still being made on the Belair house, although I am not quite at the projected progress point I predicted earlier.

The upper level suspended slab pour (scheduled for May) has not been done, however it is close.

Before the progress report, a little comment on the discussion about water tanks and pools etc.

I am required to have an independent water supply for bush fire fighting purpose, and have a 22000 litre tank specifically for this purpose.
In reality, the chance of ever seeing a CFS fire appliance on the property in a bush fire is close to zero. The large number of houses compared to the small number of fire appliances means they will be allocated to high priority buildings such as the local nursing home / retirement village etc and so I will be on my own.
In such circumstances any water is valuable and pool water will help put out a fire just as well as tank water. I believe that the BCA allows a pool to be used as the source of water in Tasmania at least, so potentially it could be argued in other states/councils. The local fire fighting supply shop sells a pump and hose reel on a trolly specifically for using with a swimming pool.

OK, to resume the story, before the upper level suspended slab could be started there were some lintels to be hand poured and the sections of wall above 3m to be prepared for filling.


The chimney had another couple of courses filled and the threaded rod for the beam bracket set in. The vertical reinforcing had the next few metres added on making the placing of more blocks too difficult until the upper level floor is poured and the scaffolding can be moved up a level (as each corner block needs to be threaded over the top of the reo rod).

The laundry and kitchen lintel were hand filled as there were only a couple of courses to fill and there were reinforcing cages to get the concrete around. Things can get a bit hectic during a pump pour and the last thing I wanted was voids in the lintels.


Similar reinforcing was welded to the dining room and North meals lintels. Due to the amount of concrete needed for these two lintels, it was decided to pump these, along with the Garage columns, West gable and AV room wall extension.


Threaded rods were set in place to be cast into the AV room wall to fix the top plate and associated roof member brackets to. Again small pieces or reo rod were welded to the ends of the threaded rod to make sure they never come out.


Shutters were placed around the two garage columns and held in place with blocks and threaded rod to resist the hydraulic pressure of the concrete. I used a vibrator when filling the columns so no shortcuts here.

Some extra photos prior to the final middle level wall pour.


North lintels shuttered


Scaffolding for AV room extension


Scaffolding for lounge gable

The pumping of the extra bits on the middle level went with problems.
It was only one concrete truck and was all done in quick time.


With a couple of mates to help with the final leveling, some family to assist with the pumping and yours truly on the hose it was time for beer and pizza before you knew it.


After the pour with all walls on this level filled.


Top of the AV room wall, filled and nicely troweled off.


The AV room wall after the scaffolding had been removed, 4800 to the top.


The lounge beam bracket in place and grouted onto the gable wall.


The 7 metre long ~800 kg narrow leaf red iron bark ridge beam for the cathedral roof in the lounge room ready for the final carpentry.
The pockets for the exposed rafters have been roughed in with a router, ready for the final fitting for each corresponding rafter.
The gantry and chain block are a must for working on this big stick.


The start of the edgeform for the upper level suspended slab and associated temporary safety balustrade (the bracing uprights are being used again) prior to the Bondek being placed.

Good to see you posting photo again Belair - I really enjoy your work and attention to detail.

Originally Posted by SlowMick

Good to see you posting photo again Belair - I really enjoy your work and attention to detail.

+1

Your AV room is going to be awesome, 4800 high wall !!

woodbe.

Good to see you're alive and pumping.,... What i would do to have an av room like that

Cheers

Spectacular!!!

Originally Posted by woodbe

Your AV room is going to be awesome, 4800 high wall !!

I am going to have to disappoint everyone. As much as I wish the AV room was going to end up 4800 high, 1800 is in the roof space so the ceiling height will be just under 3000.

One of my auction purchases was about 100 screwjacks for the shore frames but they had been left in the weather and had gone rather rusty.
After cleaning a few with a wire brush in the angle grinder, which was effective but a little time consuming I experimented with some rust removal techniques.


The one on the right is straight from the stillage, with the one on the left after a few days in a citric acid solution. Citric acid can be bought in the supermarket baking section and one canister was dissolved in about 20 litres of water. The result is good but there is some etching of the metal.


I then tried a new technique, the jacks are immersed in a molasses and water solution for a couple of weeks. The results are amazing.
The rust is completely removed with no damage to the base metal. The dark patch in the center was where the nut had been sitting. The nut was moved and the jack re-immersed to remove the residual rust. The molasses is mixed with water in a 1:9 ratio and after the couple of week soaking the part is given a blast with a pressure washer to remove the resulting sludge. I now have a wheely bin full of molasses, water and screwjacks.

Shore frames in place with steel RHS bearers to support the off form slab formwork.




The shore frames in the kitchen and meals area supporting temporary intermediate beams.


All the "Bondek" in place. It is not actually Bondek (except for the galv coloured bits) but Fielders KingFlor RF55, as I was able to get it at a better price. It is very similar to Bondek but in this case is two pans wide 400 mm rather than the three pans of Bondek. The blue coating is to cut down reflection and prevent sunburn in painful places (if you are wearing shorts)