After the driveway project was completed late last year I looked ahead and saw that there would be an opportunity to re clad the house during the period after the end of the Bunbury Cruise (which finished on 6 March and is described in my sailing blog pachucaroundtheworld.blogspot.com) and the beginning of the heavy winter rains in early June. There were the usual uncertainties about finding the right company to do the job, their availability, the duration of the project, etc, so I couldn't be sure that the job could be done before the advent of winter.
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| Shed |
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| Front (East) Side |
I started off with my prime consultant, Mr. Google. In searching for "fibre cement cladding Midland" the name "Midland Plasterboard" kept coming up. The company was described as family owned, which had been very good indicators of the firm that had done the brick paving and the one that gave me amazing service when I needed a new outboard motor during the cruise in Bunbury. I decided to visit them in nearby Midvale and another company, Boral, on the Great Northern Highway just out of Midland.
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| North Side |
I set out the next day with four sets of handouts that described the project. The first page contained floor and side plans of the house to scale, with a written description of the project and my contact details. In the floor plan the sections of the walls clad in asbestos were highlighted, and so was the small section of the rear wall that was not to be clad. The second and third pages contained color photographs of the 4 sides of the house and of the shed that also must have its asbestos removed and replaced with the same cladding as the house.
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| Rear (West) Side |
Midland Plasterboard turned out to be excellent. They had everything I needed on display, and I was given a vital personal consultation to discuss the various products and construction issues. I chose BGC Nuline Plus weatherboard (http://www.bgcinnovadesign.com.au/sites/default/files/Innova%20Nuline%20Plus%20-%20August%202012%20-%20FINAL.pdf) which is 14mm thick and comes in lengths of 4.2 meters. The ends are tongue and grooved for very good joints with minimal caulking. I chose the "square" profile with a width of 175 mm. The insulation will be "Earthwool" R2.0 batts which will be stuffed into the wall cavities.
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| South Side |
I then asked if the company did the cladding installation and the reply was No, but they knew several companies that could do it. I left a copy of the documentation and moved on the Boral.
The Boral facility that I visited was a disappointment, though I got good service.
A few days passed and I got a call from a Clint Hood of Craftsman Building and Construction (http://www.craftsman.net.au/). He told me that he had just finished a re cladding project almost exactly like mine.
Yesterday Clint visited the house and it went very, very well. We spent over an hour walking around the property and discussing the project. Back in the house we worked through a list of issues on my mind and all of his replies were good.
Some of the good responses were:
- They will remove the asbestos themselves, using proper procedures, equipment, and personal protection. This will include placing a plastic sheet on the ground to catch any falling material and vacuum cleaning the cavities. Disposal will be in prescribed thick and well sealed plastic bags taken to the Red Hill site. (This is very good because it obviate the need to hire a team of specialists to do the job.)
- The provide their own scaffolding, which they can move around at will. (This also is good because it will save spare me the exorbitant expense of renting scaffolding.)
- They will use screws to fix the siding rather than nail guns or, heaven forbid, hammer and nails. (This is big because it will minimize vibrations that might disturb the plaster work inside of the house.)
- Once they start the job they will focus on completing it and not disappear for days at a time to do other jobs. He estimates that the work will take about 1.5 weeks. (Wow!) OK, I'll add a fudge factor of a half a week plus another half week for painting. That still keeps the time at under 3 weeks.
- The company workload is at a lull pending the start of some big jobs later on, so they can do the work in April, which is a good time weather wise.
- Clint will work to a fixed quotation and I will pay nothing until the job is completed. I'll look at the draft quotation and then we'll agree on any changes that I might suggest. Once that is settled we'll both sign the quotation.
The parallel to the experience with Aaron and his ABM Landscaping, which did such a great job on my driveway. Like Aaron, Clint has a young family, lives in an old renovated house in nearby Glen Forrest, and conducts himself in the same solid and professional way, with a temporary lull in the workload presenting an opportunity to me of a early starting date. Like Aaron, he expects no payment until the job is finished and I am satisfied with the result.
So far so good. Watch this space.
I'm including some "Before" photos of the house.
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