The house design is for a hybrid post and beam construction. The walls are also being built to bear a load so the final structure will be very strong. The timber is mostly Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) Hyspan Beams made from plantation pine. The advantage of this is that it is sustainable, inexpensive and stronger than hardwood. The external timber for the front and rear al fresco areas is treated pine.
We priced hardwood for the posts but it was $67 a metre which would have meant $200 per post so we laminated two Highspan+ LVL 90x45mm beams using construction glue and bugle screws. This is very strong as the LVL that size has a stress grade of F17. This also meant that each post only cost $34!!! A considerable saving.
The posts are attached firmly to the slab using Pryda post anchors and Ramset anchor screws. There are 30 post anchors in the design.
We clamp the beams into the posts and walk them upright so we can bolt them into the anchors. Some of our beams are 7m and 9m long. The back beam is 12mx200mmx45mm and we asked the engineer if we could cut this in half to put it up and then re-join it.
All the framing has to be painted with acrylic exterior paint as it may be some time before we get the roof on and LVL will deteriorate if left in the weather too long. Most decisions are dictated by our budget which is very small for this project. We hope to get the house to lock up stage for $22,000 which includes the slab. The double glazing is an additional $7,000 which will be added later. We do not want to borrow money as that takes away your freedom, but that is a subject for another post!
You can see from this shot that the post and beam method is easy to erect and provides a reliable and square framework for the rest of the building. There are several hundred bolts from 10mm to 12mm and up to 150mm long holding it all together.
This shot was taken on the fifth day of the framing up stage. Not bad for two amateurs. We had some help from my son Michael and anyone else who dropped by.
We have started framing the bracing walls to provide extra rigidity to the structure so that we can get the rest of the rafters and purlins on ready for the iron. It is coming together very quickly.
Banksia Hollow 