The Crane
The Crane (30/4/25)Sometimes getting in a helper is useful. We had a 7mtrs double-welded 300PFC as well as 20 300x45 LVLs at 12 metres to all go to the back…
Framing (Day 2)
Framing (day 2 - 23/4/25)Huge progress by Brad and Sons. Tamati and Joe from Platinum Concreting also worked hard to get the steel footings ready for pouring tomorrow. And yes,…
Framing (Day 1)
Framing (day 1 - 22/4/25)Finally the framing has started, six packs of 6000x90x35 MPG12s delivered by Paul from OzBuild. The steel for the RW Phase 2 also arrived today. Brad…
Flooring and Footings
Progress and Crews (16 & 17 April 25)Today(16th) the LVLs were delivered by Paul from OzBuild (again) and luckily Daz and the 5-tonner were on site to help getting them…
House Raising (Finished)
And this is it...!!! House Raising DONE (15/4/25)We finally got there.. and now the rain has stopped... and that's good!Stash, Josh and Nicko finished off the house raising part (bar…
House Raising (Day 10)
And this is it...!!! House Raising DONE (14/4/25)And of course it rained again, and the neighbour parked her little car in our driveway, retaining wall backs caved in with lots…
House Raising (The New View)
The New View (12/4/25)Today both Michelle and I climbed up the extension ladder (4.2 mtrs off the ground) to check out the new view. Not bad we must say.
House Raising (Day 9)
Legs Attached and Steel Partly Up (11/4/25)What a day... OzBuild rocked up at 730 to deliver the LVLs and SructaFlor and nailing plates which was fantastic. At 745 Rocky from…
House Raising (Day 8)
Legs in situ (8/4/25)This morning the new legs where surrounded by concrete with lots of starter bars to later tie into the garage slab. Daz also cleaned up the concrete…
House Raising (Day7)
The new legs have arrived (7/4/25)Today the new steel posts have been put into position and are ready to be concreted in. The front four posts have been upgraded to…
House Raising (Day 6)
Daz is back, yes! (4/4/25)Great to see Daz back at 630AM to dig our 12x piers which all got done in one day. All but 2 piers are at least…
House Raising (In Final Position Day 5)
She is in her final position Mark the day... lots of photos... the house is in her final new position, the front verandah is now 4.2mtrs from the ground, about 2.7mtrs…
House Raising (Day 4)
Finally, she has been moved!!! (1/4/25)No joke, the house has actually been moved today, yes! It's been a massive long day for the Steel crew who worked super hard to…
House Raising (Day 5)
Sliding and Straightening Another rainy day but the Steele crew rocked up and worked hard to slide and straighten the house into position, mega effort. Posts marked ready to be welded…
FInal House Raising Prep Day (21)
Finally, core earthworks done! (27/3/25)After 21 days of digging and 70 big truck loads of dirt we are now down to cut level so the house can finally be moved.…
House Raising Prep Day (20)
12 more truck loads out today (26/3/25)0630 till 4PM, nearly there, got RW blocks delivered, tomorrow 2x truck loads and moving the house finally, fingers crossed the RAIN stays away.Big…
House Raising Prep Day (19)
Getting close now (25/3/25)Dazz came back and worked hard cutting through rock to get to slab cut level. Getting very close now. Another big mount of rock and dirt waiting…
House Raising Prep Day (18)
12 more Truck Loads of dirt (24/3/25)Dazz came back and we had 3 10-tonnersto moving out dirt, starting to look a little bit different now. Back again tomorrow and maybe…
House Raising Prep Day (15-17)
Back into the dirt (21/3/25)Dazz and Neil came back to move more dirt and start cutting the lower wall. Another 100 cubic mtrs to come out. Dazz back tomorrow (Sat)…
House Raising (Day 3)
Steele and Steel (18/3/25)Another day with the excellent Steele crew putting in steel under the house and pouring concrete into the extension piers with MiniPump. Tomorrow the big PFC380 is…
House Raising (Day 2)
House is in the Air (17/3/25)The crew came back today and the house has been lifted another half a metre into the air. The Steele team worked hard on hanging…
House Raising (Day 1)
House is in the Air (14/3/25)Today, 14/3/25 the house has been lifted from her stumps for the first time in 128 years sitting on a few stacks of timber styes.The…
House Raising Prep Day (15-16)
House Raising Prep - RW Footings and House PiersDaz has been working hard again and cut the top section retaining wall footings and the 14 piers. Great progress. The northern…
House Raising Prep Day (9-14)
House Raising Prep - Cyclone DelaysCyclone Alfred finally made it to Brisbane. The day before it hits, we got the house extension piers marked with Jack from Steele. The site…
House Raising Prep (Day 8)
House Raising PrepA massive day today, Dazz got to site at 715AM and together with Neil got another four truck loads taken away. Jack and I set out the extension…
House Raising Prep (Day 6-7)
House Raising PrepHad to go into hospital for an angiogram because of a recent discovery of heart disease. No fun, super stressful and of course no progress on site. Took…
House Raising Prep (Day 4)
House Raising PrepAnother day of digging, it's starting to look like a quarry a bit, lota of hammering typical Paddington rock.
House Raising Prep (Day 2)
House Raising Prep (Day 2)Dazz is back into it, cutting more soil and rocks, made some great progress today. Filled up four big tippers which looked like it didn't make…
House Raising Prep (Day 3)
House Raising PrepGot an early call that there were machine breakdowns so no work will be done today,On the positive side, our surveyor has set all surveying pins ready for…
House Raising Prep Starts
House Raising PrepUnexpectedly I got a call from Shane that there was a cancellation of another client's job and that we could get started on cutting the site early. Yes…
Gas
Plan Ahead If, like us, you need your gas line and gas meter physically removed (for example because of relocating the house and/or major earthworks) start the abolishment process at…
Scaffolding
ScaffoldingScaffolding is regulated by the Scaffolding Code of Practice 2021 (see our Reference Materials and Links post).Scaffolding work means: ‘erecting, altering or dismantling a temporary structure that is or has…
Services Locator
Services LocatorThe best $800 you will ever spent during your project. We used CJLocates run by Corey James. He has been fantastic and we highly recommend him. Corey located all services…
Building Approval (BA) by Certifier
Building ApprovalAfter getting BCC Development Approvals on Wednesday 15 January 2025 we needed to get Building Approval (BA) which meant that our Building Certifier has to issue the development permit…
Roofing and Guttering
Roofing and GutteringThis is an outsourcing job. Unless you are an expert, don't do this yourself. We have a corrugated iron roof. There are several reasons for outsourcing:its always working…
Framing
FramingFraming is exactly that, building frames, in our case we used treated pine. Your engineering plans must specify the requirements for framing (e.g. H class, strengths, having double bottom and…
Glazing
GlazingAs a general rule you do not have to replace any existing glass that does not meet the standards.Any new glazing though must comply with the current BCA glazing provisions,…
Energy Efficientcy
Energy EfficiencyThe rules are ever changing and that's a good thing. Thinking about and implementing was to save energy is not a burden, it makes sense in a lot of…
Demolition
DemolitionMust projects involve some sort of demolition whether it be inside and/or outside, unless of course it is an entire new build. Our house required some sort of demotion both…
Termite Protection
Termite ProtectionThere are termites everywhere in Australia. The need to protect your new home goes without saying. The best protection is to have the ability to visually inspect possible access…
Waterproofing
WaterproofingThis is also something that needs to be done by a licenced contractor unless its cheap which it will never be. For a project like this the value will be…
Electricals & Solar
ElectricalsOn Tuesday 11/2/25 Energex arrived at the house to drop the power cable. This was a crucial moment in preparation for the house lift & shift. Thank you Energex for…
Engineering & Soil Tests
Engineering & Soil TestingSome might think that engineering plans are very straightforward from an owner builder's perspective. We don't have much (if any) input other than during the draft review…
House Raising, Sliding and Restumping
Raising and Sliding and RestumpingSome (if not most) people find this phase scary and daunting and it sure can be exactly that. But there are ways to minimise the stress…
Development Approval (DA)
Development ApprovalWith a project this nature, getting Development Approval (DA) through town planning is part of our puzzle as we are changing more than just the inside of the house.…
Architectural (Detailed) Designs
Architectural (Detailed) DesignsEvery project starts with designs. Ours started with scribbles on recycled pieces of paper. We don't call these concept designs, we call them ideas. It visualises how we…
Certification
Certification In 1997 Queensland introduced the option to either choose a private certifier or your local council. Nowadays, all certification is done by private certifiers only. The roles and responsibilities…
Plumbing
Plan Ahead Check early whether a Form 1 is required to be lodged by you as the builder with Brisbane City Council (BCC) , before a Form 7 will be…