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It has been a bit quite over Christmas with our blog but that's because it was Christmas. We managed to move in on the 19th of December, just before the holiday season started. The house is not finished yet but we have one toilet going, a shower, basin and half a kitchen. Enough for us to have a real Christmas.
The holiday turned into a bit of a working holiday with lots of work still to be done. First on the list is gibbing of the internal walls. The "door man" also came around but we still have to wait until he is back from holiday before we have any doors.

DSC00904
Originally uploaded by Strawbale house Carterton

Plastering finished

Covers gone
Originally uploaded by Strawbale house Carterton

Last week the plasterers finished and the scaffolding and covers are now gone. It now starts to look as a real house. With the outside finished the focus is now on the inside. Esther did the staining of the floor, which is looking good, and we started with the internal lining. The bathroom done, half the kids bedroom and the loft area. Still a lot of work needs to be done before moving in, which is not far away. Have to keep our fingers crossed.

Finished bookshelfs

Finished bookshelfs
Originally uploaded by Strawbale house Carterton

We have some exciting times at the moment with the finishing of the internal plaster. The second, and final coat, was applied late last week and it looks fantastic. The top coat is called "adobe finish ", but it is actually a plaster with white cement. The walls are still drying so we have to wait a couple of days for the final results but it is looking good.
Some hard work has gone this week but all the interior has been finalised. The plastering crew has gone home to get some rest after two weeks on the job and we are preparing for the next big job (for us), the staining of the floor. Plasterers will be back next week to finish the outside.

Bedroom plastering

Bedroom plastering
Originally uploaded by Strawbale house Carterton

This week the plasterers moved inside and started with the girls bedrooms. Here are Jeremy and Evan at work adding fibreglas netting to the first coat to strengthen the plaster. The plasterers are making long days and we see some impressive progress. The inside is getting two coats with the 2nd coat labelled "adobe finish". This is not a clay or loam finish but a coat containing "white" cement and with a smaller grain size than the first coat creating a smoother (and white) finish.

Scratch coat

Scratch coat
Originally uploaded by Strawbale house Carterton

Some great progress this week. Evan and his crew of plasterers arrived on Monday and they cracked on with it. Monday afternoon taping of the windows and doors. Tuesday and Wednesday first coat of plaster (scratch coat) on the outside. Everything is now covered on the outside and the tarpaulins could be lifted. Main purpose is to create a breeze for drying of the plaster but it also allows us to have a good look at the plaster. And it looks good.

Oiling the rafters

Rafters treated with natural oil
Originally uploaded by Strawbale house Carterton

We are a bit behind with updating the blog. Busy, busy busy. Lots to do at work and also working on the house in the evening hours and the weekend.
Detailing and netting is now in full swing and we are making good progress. Added quite a few pictures to our flickr.com photo site - just double click on one of pics in the blog and follow the link. Have a look for some of the details.
The house is now also connected to the electricity, water and phone network. Quite a big job as far as digging and dirt is concerned but it was all done in one day.
Esther is also oiling the rafters as did needs to be done before plastering and before the builders move the scaffolding out of the house. It is now hands on deck for the whole family and everybody is doing a bit.
We are still two weeks of plastering but we are getting pretty close now. Really looking forward to that stage.

living

living
Originally uploaded by Strawbale house Carterton

Have been busy with organizing and discussing all kinds of stuff and forgot uploading photo's. But here it is - lots of progress and baling almost finished. Expect this to be the last week baling and netting is next.