Design & build: Watertight and not a moment too soon

Herald on Sunday

6 Jun, 2015 10:00 PM4 mins to read

Builder John trimming one of the large plasterboard sheets in our living pod. Photo / Ben Crawford

The Block NZ 2012 winner Ben Crawford and his fiancé Kylie are building their dream home. Share their proud moments and pitfalls here every week.

Eureka. Miracles do happen. Our living pod is finally watertight, made possible by the arrival and installation of the materials that were meant to arrive seven weeks ago.

Our builders have been as frustrated by the hold-ups as us. Needless to say, the guys jumped into action as soon as the place was watertight and the council gave them the green light to put up the rest of plasterboard after their pre-line inspection.

It's not until you try manoeuvring materials around a building site that you appreciate how strong and spatially aware builders are. I'm not a small guy and I work out a lot, but I struggle to lift timber with the ease and efficiency of our builders.

Watching them position the awkwardly large 1.2m x 6m sheets of plasterboard like they were pieces of paper was mightily impressive.

Within a matter of hours our living pod transformed from a construction zone into the space Kylie and I have been imagining for months. The dark chipboard of our SIP panels was replaced with the white of the plasterboard, opening the area up and adding a degree of polish and taking the house one exciting step closer to being a home.

Meanwhile we've had some momentous progress outside as well. The last pieces of cladding have been fitted and we finished oiling the cedar as soon as the new boards were in place. We no longer needed the scaffolding so it was taken down, exposing the house to the world for the first time.

Wow. It's so beautiful, sleek and natural. I spent half an hour sitting on a rock taking it all in, filled with satisfaction and excitement, anticipating living in the stunning structure in front of me.

Builders John and Garrick fixing off plasterboard in out entry foyer. Photo / Ben Crawford

To top it all off, the rooftop deck above the living pod has been finished, too. It has been fascinating watching Garrick build the structure. It actually floats on top of the membrane roof thanks to the innovative Nurajacks from Nuralite, which suspend the deck above the bitumen surface. A jack is fixed to the joists every 600mm, then its base is screwed up or down to level the deck, saving Garrick a lot of time fiddling around with timber to create the same flush finish.

Likewise, when it came to fitting off the decking, our decision to use Outdure's composite decking saved significant time and Garrick was able to lay all 50sq m in less than a day. We couldn't be happier - it looks natural and the colour is a perfect match for the house and bush.

This deck will get the most sun and will be the one we use the most, so it's great to know it won't fade or splinter despite all the wear and tear it will get.

Builders John and Garrick maneuvering a piece of plasterboard into an awkward spot behind our stairs. Photo / Ben Crawford

We can't wait to get our outdoor furniture up there and chill out in the sun. It truly is a magic, tranquil spot that looks out to the bush in one direction and over the neighbourhood in the other.

But before we get too carried away over the rooftop, we need our frameless glass balustrades, which will be installed by the awesome Glass Vice team next week.
I can't begin to convey how good it feels walking down the driveway to the house.
I'm not going to lie, the building process can get you down. Jobs takes longer than they are meant to, aspects are left in a seemingly permanent half-finished state and things often appear to go backwards before they move forwards.

It drains your motivation and enthusiasm no end.

But now our spirits are at an all-time high after seeing all of these jobs polished off this week and everything surging towards completion.

With a schedule jam-packed full of installations and fit-offs over the coming 10 days, we have our work cut out for ourselves to paint the living pod in time for the subbies to move in. But with the pay-off so tangibly close, we're happy to burn the midnight oil to get the job done.