What my father built.

[Stephen B]

Recently I found myself driving past the family home that  my father built and  in which I spent most of my childhood and all my teenage years.

My father was a carpenter and built the house in 1956/7. It is a typical Australian brick veneer house for its time. Architecturally it is disappointing to find similar designs still being built today in suburban Australia.

That this house has survived when many in the street have not, and indeed appears to be under renovation, is not only testament to the skills of my father, but also  green hardwood timber framing and solid foundations. I remember my father left the frame to weather for a year whilst we lived in the garage, so there was never a crack in the walls inside and out in the 17 years I lived there.

[attachimg=1]

 

[derekcohen]

Where in Oz are you?

Many houses in my area in Rossmoyne, Perth from this era were built in salmon-coloured brick. Most have been pulled down for more modern designs. Houses in Perth tend to be double brick - construction changed from city to city. My wife and I moved here from Sydney 30 years ago, and in Sydney most houses were timber framed and weather board or brick veneer.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Cheese]

Hey Untidy, a  couple of questions and an observation.

What type of roofing material is shown there?

Are those 3 lower courses of brick made of a special material?  In the States, the 3 lower courses would be the equal of 1 course of cement block.

Love the brick drip edge at the bottom of the window. Again, in the States they set the brick row perpendicular to the brick siding. And then we wonder why after 40 years the cement has spalted, chipped away and it needs to be tuck pointed.

 

[Stephen B]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]
Thanks for your interest. The top of the red bricks delineates the damp course from the remainder of the brick wall. The red bricks are also double layer, the inner layer supporting the ends of the floor bearers. The walls are sitting on trenched cement foundations and the floor bearers also on cement trenches upon which sit solid site poured  cement stumps around 1metre wide and with a depth of 200mm. Of course in 1956 we had imperial measurements  [smile]. The brick wall from memory was tied to the frame with metal ties.

Agree with you re the brick window sills. The opening windows by the way are lead weighted sash windows which my father also made.

The roof was originally corrigated galvanised sheet steel which was then very common in Australia.  This has since been replaced with Zincalome Corrigated Steel sheets which together with coloured ColorBond is a common building material in Australia today. My own house has ColorBond claded walls and roof.

[member=4358]derekcohen[/member]
Thank you also for your interest. The house is in Highton a suburb of Geelong, Victoria. When I was a child we had apple orchards across the road and nearby creeks to keep us 'entertained'. All are long gone with the orchards subdivided many many years ago and much if the creek system down the hill covered by storm water systems and roads.

My father let me hammer in one of the hallway floorboards; something I regretted many years later when as a teenager I was often creeping in to the house after a late night and this was the only floorboard that squeaked!  [eek] [big grin]

 

[Klemm]

[member=19746]Untidy Shop[/member] - your father left behind a testimony to solid craftsmanship. What an inspiration!

Hans

 

[Cheese]

1. The top of the red bricks delineates the damp course from the remainder of the brick wall.

2. The opening windows by the way are lead weighted sash windows which my father also made.

3. This has since been replaced with Zincalome Corrigated Steel sheets which together with coloured ColorBond is a common building material in Australia today. My own house has ColorBond claded walls and roof.

1. That's what I thought.  [smile]  That style sure is a lot more attractive than a course of cement block.  [sad]  We now have "decorative" split face cement block (CMU) available so that it blends in more and isn't quite as visually offending.

[attachimg=1]

2. That's pretty cool. Amazing how resourceful the earlier generations were. I wonder what will become of resourcefulness in another 50 years?

3. I priced Zincalume corrugated roofing a few years ago for the house, because I really like the look.  It was 3x the price of designer fiberglass shingles. The only product I found that was more expensive was stainless corrugated roofing. Loved the color of the stainless, a rather light soft matte grey that would work with any color siding and trim.

Several years ago, I went up to my neighbor's cabin and over the course of a week, we cladded all of the outbuildings in galvanized corrugated with cedar trim. That's a nice look and basically maintenance free.

 

[Stephen B]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]
https://www.bunnings.com.au/our-range/building-hardware/roofing/steel/corrugated

This might give you an indication of Zincalome and ColorBond costs down here. Australian dollar is currently around 70c exchange with US. As you might expect prices are usually lower from other suppliers when purchasing bulk amounts for construction. The really expensive costs are for flashing and guttering in either Zinc or ColorBond.

As for foundations, unless on steep land the vast majority of new Australian housing stock is now constructed on concrete slabs which can be problematic on soils with high clay content. My own house is on sloping land which was once a clay river bed. It is on  concrete stumps  set in 1500mmx450mm holes of concrete. No issues so far after eight years.

 

[derekcohen]

As for foundations, unless on steep land the vast majority of new Australian housing stock is now constructed on concrete slabs which can be problematic on soils with high clay content. My own house is on sloping land which was once a clay river bed. It is on  concrete stumps  set in 1500mmx450mm holes of concrete. No issues so far after eight years.

Slab foundations are the norm in Perth, all of which is largely beach sand and flat. Most houses here are double brick, or something similar. Not many weatherboard homes. Even internal walls tend to be brick.

After living in Perth for the past 30 years, and now used to this, it was an awakening when my wife and I visited her brother in Auckland last year. Their house is a typical Kiwi wood-and-frame construction, in an upmarket neighbourhood, and you can hear so much. It made me wonder how one runs machinery without upsetting neighbours?!

Regards from Perth

Derek