The house was originally a weatherboard kit home from Austria, made in baltic pine. A lot of these were built in Medina, Hilton and Subiaco in the 1960's.
When I bought it, it was completely delipadated. Lots of these houses were homeswest, and maintenance was far and few. But that did not phase me, as it was never a question 'to do it up' or not. The whole inside was gutted, internal walls removed. From a house with little boxes for rooms, I now managed to give it more room to breath.
The floor were also made of baltic pine, and I managed to salvage the bedroom floors by giving them a major sand. From various layers of paint, the original lustre re-appeared. The living room floor was beyond repair, and I replaced it with jarrah.
Doors were replaced because they did not fit my taste. Someone replaced the original double hung sash windows with flimsy aluminium (they were probably rotten), I spent quite some money on new ones, but it certainly made it look gorgeous.
The roof was tiled originally, but I replaced that with colorbond, in roughly the same colour. A layer of insulation (foil) straight under the sheeting gave a major improvement. Some of the roof struts were reinforced to take the extra weight of a 300 ltr Solor Hot Water system.
Every room has been given a workover, and in the end only the studs and roof rafters are original. One of the last jobs that has been done, is to reclad the outside. I used treated and primed primed weatherboards, which was the most expensive option, but by far the best looking. Of course this opportunity was taken to insulate the outside walls of the house. Styrofoam between the studs, and permishield between the studs and the cladding.
Later this year I plan to install an indoors-outdoors bathroom with wooden louvres as a wall to the garden. We started already with the footings for the stumps. The extension will almost double the footprint of the original house, with a big outdoor decked area.
Next to the house (in what is now a 2nd driveway), a concrete slab will be poured to seat the water tanks on, each being 15 kL. Hot water lines have been insulated under, in and on the outside of the house. The floor will be insulated with permishield foil to retain heat in winter.
Specifications:
Solar PV system 2.66 kW (generates about 200 dollars per 2 months), mounted on the 12x6m shed
300 liter Solar hot water system
Mulched garden with native plants, with local reticulation
Raised wicker garden beds; water is stored at the bottom in blue metal layer and drawn up by the soil/roots
Retrofitted insulation in the walls behind the weatherboard
Retrofitted insulation in the roofspace
30 kL Rainwater storage (to be installed)
Ducted Evap system (low power)
Lighting in the main rooms: compact Fluro downlights (7W each)
Come and have a look on September 11th!
(August 2011) (
