The Construction of a New Home from Start to Finish, Part 1

1) The base foundation of the house

It has a concrete floating slab foundation rather than the traditional piles, floor joists and a timber floor.
This is the most economic way of building a floor for this site considering the labour involved is less and the ease of getting materials in the countries region concerned.
The rebate to the edge of the slab that runs the entire perimeter is for the concrete block skin to sit on.
It is at a lower level to ensure that any water collection from weather is below the floor level.

2) A view from the opposite end of photo 1

Note the site positioning of the house and the picturesque aspect towards the lake and mountains. The timbers in the foreground are the builder’s profiles for setting up the foundations to the correct positions and angles.

3) The foundation of the home lying in the lee of the hill

The builder is preparing framing by using a spade to clean off any residue and loose timber.

4 and 4a) Floor and Services

The white edging to the foundation is a 50mm wide strip of polystyrene.
It is there to create an insulation barrier or thermal break between the foundation and the exposed exterior ground.
This will help prevent the cold from entering the house via the foundation and the floor.

The blue pipes seen protruding through the foundation are where the waste pipes are situated for the guest bedroom area. The black pipe protruding is the main water feed to that end of the house.

5) The start of the wall framing Most timber-framed homes are made from 100x 50 mm timber studs (the tall upright pieces) and dwangs (the middle horizontal pieces). This view is from the living room looking ut through the opening for the main picture window. The studs are closer together here to add strength to a wall with such a large opening. When you are decorating the room and want to hang objects such as pictures and ornaments onto the walls, the studs and dwangs are the timber frames that you are looking to find to secure your fastening into. (Masonry is different, in that a hole is drilled and a proprietary fitting is used to secure an anchor to the wall for hanging objects from). These timber frames shown have the studs at 450mm centre to centre and the dwangs at 600mm intervals. 5) The start of the wall framing 6) Wall Framing Looking back through the window in the previous shot. This shows that the design allows for an exterior view from the kitchen through the living area picture window. With interior design all aspects have to be considered simultaneously of the entire space. You need to think in three dimensions and never room by room. The building and interior space must be considered as a whole and how each space relates to the next. When you consider and act on this you will ensure that the interior flows at its best. Interior design is not just about decoration, spatial design is vitally important to provide the pleasing proportional areas that form the solid grounds to decorate.

7) Wall Framing General wall framing of the building and we are now getting a good feel for the size of the spaces. The “big beam” at the top of the framing is actually roof trusses stacked and waiting to be erected. The wall framing is temporarily braced back to the ground at angles to keep the walls straight and upright.

	8) 9) 10) and 11) Framing, Roof and Decorative Elements These are views of the framing in detail and the start of some of the decoration features.
	Remember the style of the home is to be Rustic / Tuscan, therefore we have used old railway sleepers and bridge beams as exposed lintels over the exterior doors and windows.

10) Details The rough bridge beam timbers have a rebate cut ready to take the plasterboard for a snug finish to the join. If you look at view 8 then you’ll see the nail plates that hold the trusses together. The triangulation of the timbers and the nail plates form a very strong frame for the roof.

The Planning of a New Home from Start to Finish Part 2.........

The Planning of a New Home from Start to Finish Part 3.........

The Planning of a New Home from Start to Finish Part 4.........