New home – A Home by the Sea

Water Views

July 14, 2019July 16, 2019 Forestwood

I can’t really say that I will have water views from my Home by the Sea, but I can say that I have water glimpses from our balcony.

A few weeks ago I also had glorious views over to the Glasshouse Mountains, volcanic remnants from eons ago that have significance to the Indigenous Peoples.

When they started building the houses across the road, the view was obscured. Oh well, a short walk to the lake’s edge fixes that.

The beautiful Glasshouse Mountains in the distance

The mountains I used to see from my property are the same mountains I see in the distance when I am on my way there.

Weekly Update

The rain finally stopped so that work could continue. The plumbers were busy but the electrician who was scheduled was nowhere in site. The tiler had to finish pointing the lower tiled roof.

MOTH and I had a debate about the location of the clothes line. He is concerned he will hit his head on it, and I would prefer it near the laundry door. This location, however won’t receive much sunlight. This won’t matter in summer, but in winter…..

This was a major complaint about our old residence which had no sun in winter due to the double storey house located next door. The external Clothes line there was located directly outside the laundry door, however, things just did not dry in a day, due to a lack of direct sunlight, and you were required to leave hanging outside overnight.

Perhaps the solution might be to string an extra line up in winter on the sunny side of the house. The whole external clothes line cannot go there as the space, whilst wider to the boundary fence, is limited due to location of other fixtures, such as the air conditioning unit, gas and meter box and windows.

There is always the back yard, but as it is on the smaller size, I don’t want to be looking at flapping washing when I could be viewing a nice garden.

The MOTH is also eyeing off garden sheds. This again will be limited in size due to the back yard. And he wasn’t going to paint the fence! What????

I would have though he would relish getting out there hands on, making the fence all pretty….he clearly had other ideas about our Home By the Sea.

More next week from

home

The Second Storey

June 24, 2019June 25, 2019 Forestwood

Our weekly visit, this week, brought us a quick reality check. The house now looks large, and we can now get a full idea of its double storey scale on the property with the second storey timber frame going up. The roof will be installed next week, given no issues from Mr. Weather Man.

We are pretty happy with the way it is turning out. Although I expected some more winter sun to be impacting the al fresco area.

But then I ask myself: am I going to be outside when it is cold, or snuggled inside?

The front rooms of the house are drenched in winter sun – good for ageing folk who might ( I hope not ), develop arthritic knees and enjoy a good dose of morning sun, in winter.

Summertime will see most of the sunlight on the rear of the house, however this is the section of the house that will be airconditioned, and shaded by eaves, so I feel sure it will work out in terms of its comfort level.

Micro climate and Aspect

This is why we chose a north-facing property. Ideally, we would have purchased a property with the back yard with a north facing aspect, given that the garage limits half what is open to a northern face, as most garages face to the street in new estates.

However, you can’t control what type of structure is built on the parcel of land behind you in a new estate, and with smaller blocks requiring double storey houses to secure a family’s need in a residential house, the northern sunlight in a rear yard might be effectively blocked out by the neighbour’s build.

This is what happened in our previous home. It also equates to more energy use in keeping a home liveable, in winter, unless you are happy wearing thermals and coats, indoors.

Despite living in a sub-tropical climate, our former house was always so cold in winter; much colder than the northern facing townhouse, we are in at the moment. What’s more – because it is a townhouse, the garage can be located at the rear, so all the living areas and bedrooms can face north. Just glorious.

Days here in Queensland are so perfect during a winter day with cloudless skies, little breeze and low humidity; however, the nights can get down to single digit celsius temperatures. Not pleasant if you have a house style made to cope with sub tropical summers. Read: little insulation; lots of open plan rooms and large opening windows without double glazing.

So, a north facing block is for me, in my retirement.

Does aspect and micro-climate figure in your design for a new home?

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Framing a Storey

June 20, 2019June 20, 2019 Forestwood

We have began to visit the little block of land beside the sea each week, as development is beginning to move rather swiftly now that the concrete slab and foundations are down.

Once the concrete slab had cured, and with modern technology, cement cures within a few days, so the termite shield and waterproofing can then be installed. From then, the timber frame can be erected.

Construction methods have changed immensely since the day that my Builder Father-in-law used to knock up homes in six weeks with a team of three.

Houses are larger and timber frames comes in pre-fabricated pieces. A Nail gun secures everythin in place in one day. The bottom storey was completed in just one day.

It is an exciting time, seeing all the preparations and plans emerge from the soil and take shape in front of your eyes. It is kind of like a young child growing up all too fast.