Re Cladding Begins

On Tuesday 14 April 2015 Clint and some his team arrived at the house to begin the re-cladding (siding) project.  Waiting for them was a truck from Midland Plasterboard Supplies with a load of fiber cement planking.  The material was immediately unloaded to the front of the house.  I was impressed with the apparent strength of the planking as it stood up well to flexing as it was carried by one man at either end.

Unloading Boards, Clint With No Green Vest

Removing the Asbestos

Installing Insulation and Blue Sarking

The rest of the day was largely devoted to setting up the work.  Clint introduced me to his team (Ron is the foreman), then he went around the house describing the work to be done. 

I showed the  men the back of the house with 24/7 access to the bathroom and refrigerator.  I told them that I could lay on an electric kettle, but that has not been requested.  I then showed them the laundry, where they could do heavy duty cleaning. 

We then discussed storage of material and tools and I gave the team full access to the garage, the half of the carport which houses my trailer, and beneath the verandah.  I gave a key to the garage to Ron.  Then some scaffolding was set up.

I was very fortunate in that after a spell of rainy weather a High was moving in from the West and good weather had set in. 

On Wednesday the serious work began.  The first task was to remove the asbestos.  All of that work was being done legally, by trained men, and with license for the removal.  The men dressed up in hooded white overalls (called "sperm suits", and I wonder why), masks and gloves.  The house was cordoned off and signs were placed on the road stating that there was asbestos removal in progress.  I tried to stay indoors during the process but whenever I had to go out I would wear my industrial grade respirator which Clint had declared to be suitable.  By early noon all of the asbestos had been removed from the house, was sealed in thick plastic bags, and was soon trucked to the dumping site at Red Hill.

An electrician came in to remove the complicated 5-switch panel on the back wall, as well as the other switches and power outlets.  As a bonus, I expect the weather proof switch wall plates to be upgraded.  (One of them no longer had a cover over it.)

I had my own private side show going.  The exposed northern wall presented me with an opportunity to drop coax cables into both the office and bedroom for TV reception.  This involved a lot of attic work and some clambering up the scaffolding in order to drill holes through the noggins (horizontal pieces in the timber frame).  I was slow at this because I dithered on where to fit the new TV wall plugs.  The normal way would be to position them on the wide skirting boards, but there was a problem in that there was power cabling running at the back of the boards.  I was going to drill through the skirting anyway, working very slowly and looking for evidence of drilling into the rubber cable insulation, but at the last minute I decided to play it safe and mount the wall plugs onto the gyprock above the skirting.  Gyprock is very weak and the wall plugs must be screwed into a backing plate, so I had the problem of how to fix a backing plate quickly and permanently.  The guys helped me out by quickly fitting the wooden backing plates between uprights, and at the position that I required.

Setting the Level for the Boarding

Then I realized that the coax cable had bayonet ends and not the "F" type screw fittings.  I had to do two quick trips to Midland where I finally located two suitable 10-meter lengths at Dick Smiths.  I grumbled to myself at the high price of the cables ($50 each) but during the insulation I noted that the cable was much thicker than what I had purchased at Jaycar (qudruple shielded) and had ferrite chokes at either end (to suppress electrical noise).  One of the men enlarged the drop holes to allow the chokes to pass through and soon the cables were in place and work could proceed on covering up the exposed wall.

The men left at 3.30 PM (after a 6.30 AM start) with the entire north wall and part of the east wall insulated (R2.0) and covered with blue sheets called "sarks" designed to prevent air and moisture from passing through the cladding into the internal wall cavities.  The house was thus protected from rain, which was not forecast anyway.  Another bonus of the day was being informed that the sarking will go all of the way to the metal roofing, preventing the passage of birds in the future. 

The team arrived today (Friday) at 6.30 AM and soon a plumber was here to replace the external copper plumbing that I had installed at around 1980 with internal plumbing (in the wall cavity).  As a bonus, it looks like the large and ugly concrete outlet for the sewer vent will be replaced with a modern flush one.

My tasks today are to fit the TV wall plugs to the wall the attend to the other side of the house where I've been given the OK to remove the external wall panel near the French doors on the verandah so that I can drop a power cable for a double outlet in the ceiling to supply power to the new powered splitter that amplifies the TV signal as well as a pair of reputedly highly effective high frequency noise makers that rats cannot stand.  (Stephen installed then in his ceiling and the small community of rats soon left and haven't been back.)

Speaking of rats, the workmen found a non-active rats nest on in the attic above the north wall.  The rats seem to love the thick insulation mats, and why wouldn't they, given that they can chew out comfortable caves in the material and walk around quietly.  (I had found an even bigger nest on the north side soon after my return to the house.)

Then this morning I was shown a rat corridor running along the framing between the laundry and the sitting room.  Fortunately I had a large box of fresh blocks of rat bait and 4 blocks were thrown into the corridor.

None of this is to suggest that the house is rat infested.  It may have been infested while it was rented out, because the tenants would not have not been too concerned about the problem, and in fact one tenant allowed pigeons to live in the attic, which trashed out parts of the attic with dried bird droppings.    But now things are different.  One morning last hear I saw a rat scurry out of the laundry to the the space under the verandah, so I laid out a block of bait and the next day the entire block was missing, no doubt dragged out by the rat who was planning to have a feast.   (I must line that section of wall, which was opened up for the installation of the hot water heater.)  Since then I've maintained a strong  outer perimeter of defense against rats and cockroaches (Fight them around the house before they get inside is my policy.), and I have seen no evidence of rats or mice around the house, and a few dead cockroaches that normally live outside and are not a big problem.

At 9.30 AM I had 4 vehicles and 5 men on site and things were humming along nicely.  The day was sunny and cool, and no rain was forecast for the coming week.  All was looking good for now.