Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT New home and 3 car garage in Melbourne, Australia

You know the story - long time reader, first time poster. I discovered this wonderful forum 4 years ago and have been looking forward to having something to share ever since.

This is just a preliminary introduction, though. There won't be much to share for a couple of months yet but here goes anyway.

My partner and I are in our early 60's and bought a property in suburban Melbourne about 18 months ago. It has a small plain brick home built in the early '60's on it that will be demolished to make way for our new home where we plan to see out our days so we are very much planning for any future challenges the ravages of old age might present.

The location is pretty special in our view. The suburb is in what real estate agents like to call the leafy Eastern suburbs and is about 20 k's or 12 miles from the CBD (downtown) of Australia's second largest city. Our property is an easy 700 metre/half mile walk to a village type shopping centre and the train line, a couple of minutes drive to a major freeway but best of all backs on to some 15 hectares/37 acres of pretty much natural bush reserve right in the heart of suburbia. It's the triangular bit of greenery in the image below



This is the view across the reserve from the rear of the old house on the property



The block slopes down from the street enough that the main floor of the house, including the garage at the front, will be more or less at street level which will make it elevated enough at the rear for secondary rooms to be underneath it at the rear. The main open plan living/dining/kitchen and the main bedroom will take advantage of the view over the reserve, while also being sited and designed to bring in the northern sun in Winter (southern hemisphere, remember) and keep it out in the Summer. Energy efficiency is very important to us and is being designed in from the start.

What about the garage, you say? Well it won't be on the same Taj Mahal scale as many of the palatial set ups I have salivated over on this forum. There are numerous constraints on the scale of the garage including budget, how much of the block the council will let us cover, setback rules, and my beloved's very strong interest in gardening.

It will be a three car space about 9 metres/30 feet wide and about 7.6 metres/25 feet deep, with a double and single door. There will also be a small workshop alcove. In the garage will live 3 of our 4 cars, my daily drive Merc, her VW Eos, and my baby below (the 4th car, an old tray backed ute known as "The Eyesore", can stay outside)



As many on here will understand, while driving it is the main point of a car like this, they are also projects that are never completed. Tinkering with it, or continuous improvement as I prefer to think of it is the main thing that will go on in my new garage. I think there will be enough room for all my tools, spare parts (I have kept everything I've replaced on the car, including the original engine and trans) and other storage requirements.

At the moment I am making do with what here is a very standard 6m x 6m double (20'x20') garage. The new one will be a major improvement.

The state of play is that the tenants in the old house will be out by the end of Feb, we are currently talking to a couple of demolition companies, while the detailed architectural drawings for the new one are nearing completion. If things go well we will be demolishing in March and building will commence in April.

Fellow Aussies will understand, though, that I am factoring in Murphy's Law and taking nothing for granted.

I'll post more as things develop. Thanks for reading

Geoff

Welcome aboard, and hang on.

This is a great site, and full of knowledgeable people, wealthy types you understand (I josh in my general direction), and great, indeed ****** amazing, inspiration.

Have fun, go hard, and look after that Mustang at all costs.

Lyndon
Fellow Ford lover (with a side bent on Jaguars). . . .

Welcome geoff.

If you're where i think you are you've lucked out as far as councils go. They recently changed all their guidelines as far as block coverage and green spaces which im sure you're well aware of.

Will be stopping past to check the progress.

Geoff, welcome aboard and all the best with your build...

Thanks for reading guys.

Sabbath said:

Welcome geoff.

If you're where i think you are you've lucked out as far as councils go. They recently changed all their guidelines as far as block coverage and green spaces which im sure you're well aware of.

Will be stopping past to check the progress.

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Sabbath, the place is in Mt. Waverley in the City of Monash. The City did bring in some new aspects to their planning scheme last year that we have been taking into account in the design.

To be honest, my better half's gardening focus is as much of a factor as the council rules as she's very keen not just on keeping as much garden as possible while getting the house we want but also protecting and keeping a number of existing plants, trees etc. at the rear. The front garden will be sacrificed to the demo and build process but she'll be fiercely protecting the rear. I have no argument with this. I'll have a way better garage than I have now.

The revisions to the planning scheme also have a major benefit in that it they will pretty much prohibit multi occupancy development in the street, something that is going on across the municipality and creating all sorts of traffic, parking and general neighbourhood amenity negatives.

Lyndon said:

Geoff

Welcome aboard, and hang on.

This is a great site, and full of knowledgeable people, wealthy types you understand (I josh in my general direction), and great, indeed ****** amazing, inspiration.

Have fun, go hard, and look after that Mustang at all costs.

Lyndon
Fellow Ford lover (with a side bent on Jaguars). . . .

Click to expand...

Yes Lyndon, I may be a new giver on this this site but I am a long time taker so am well aware of what this community has to offer. I check in most days and keep up to date with the Australian threads in particular, including your's.

It's true I am a die hard Ford man and have owned or leased about 15 different models of Falcons since I got my licence 45 years ago from XR (as in '67) to FG. This includes one that would be worth a great deal of money if I'd had the foresight to hang on to it. I'm sure you can guess what that was.

With the demise of local production and a strong preference for a rear wheel drive car I had to look a bit wider for my current daily and ended up with the Merc which is far and away the best engineered car I have ever had, even though its a pretty basic one that would be a taxi in Germany. I could have got a new Mustang but they don't really meet my every day needs.

Here are some pics of the current garage. You can see why I need a bigger one.

Do not tell me you sold a GTHO Falcon !

Geoff289 said:

Sabbath, the place is in Mt. Waverley in the City of Monash. The City did bring in some new aspects to their planning scheme last year that we have been taking into account in the design.

The revisions to the planning scheme also have a major benefit in that it they will pretty much prohibit multi occupancy development in the street, something that is going on across the municipality and creating all sorts of traffic, parking and general neighbourhood amenity negatives.

Click to expand...

I know that area quite well, went to Primary and High School in the area, so a quick google map confirmed your location.

My Mum also lives in Monash council and i had a quick run over their ammendments when she got a flyer in the mail about it. And all what you bring up are definite positives for owner occupiers. Were you always over this side of the CBD or is this a bit of a tree change for you aswell?

Geoff, you will love having a 3-car garage. If possible, design it with enough height for a lift. When you find that well-cared for Ford FG Ute, you'll want to keep it inside and a lift will allow it to fit under/over the Mustang.

Not that I would want to do that in my 3-car.

The old garage is fine... if you collected motorcycles. Otherwise it iS a bit of a tight squeeze...

Actually,if you did a "living roof" on the new shop, gave all that space to your partner, then you'd have a much bigger garage... Those are becoming the thing in the bay area... tho to me, being old fashioned, the idea of roots and dirt on your roof seems, well, just wrong!

Good luck on the move in (and even more on the old tenant's move out - it's not just complicated there!), when you finally are in, and say "it's MINE"... take a deep breath, have a cold one, and smile! Can't wait to see how she develops!

HOTFR8 said:

Do not tell me you sold a GTHO Falcon !

Click to expand...

Well not that much money. If I'd let one of those slip through my fingers I'm not sure I'd still be around to regret it. Not a HO, just an "ordinary" XY GT. I had it from '75 to '80 when I traded it on a brand new XD Fairmont which at least had the same 351 cleveland. The GT wasn't in the same league as a HO but had I taken it off daily duties back then and tidied a few things up it would be worth a nice sum these days. Values are nearly back to pre GFC levels.

That said, I would probably be reluctant to get it out and drive it much which would defeat the main enjoyment I get from my cars. There are guys in the Mustang Owners Club with Shelbys and Boss 302's and 429's that never bring them out as they're too valuable to risk. I would hate that. I'm fussy about when and where I drive mine but use up most of the days on my Club Permit every year without trying.

Sabbath said:

I know that area quite well, went to Primary and High School in the area, so a quick google map confirmed your location.

My Mum also lives in Monash council and i had a quick run over their ammendments when she got a flyer in the mail about it. And all what you bring up are definite positives for owner occupiers. Were you always over this side of the CBD or is this a bit of a tree change for you aswell?

Click to expand...

Yep, been in Monash, originally City of Waverley, since I bought my first house in 1977. The new one will be the fifth home I've owned and lived in here. We are currently in the estate where AFL Park used to be. I did live in some other capital cities for a couple of years at a time during my working life but always owned a house here.

Bob Heine said:

Geoff, you will love having a 3-car garage. If possible, design it with enough height for a lift. When you find that well-cared for Ford FG Ute, you'll want to keep it inside and a lift will allow it to fit under/over the Mustang.

Not that I would want to do that in my 3-car.

Click to expand...

Wow! Bob Heine reading my stuff. I'm honoured.

If you know what a ute is you should know that a lift is a hoist down here. Having one would be great but is not on the plan. There are height restrictions associated with the garage being built right on the property boundary that really don't make this possible, even with some sort of vaulting of the garage ceiling. I get by fine with this:

https://www.quickjack.com.au/

An FG ute would be great too and you can pick up late model Falcons very cheap these days. However, when I bought The Eyesore (a '92 Rodeo tray back - note carefully this is NOT a Holden, it is an Isuzu, I cannot have a Holden) - I would have happily paid quite a bit more for a later model Falcon ute but I wanted something that was 25 years old so I could put it on a Club Permit as my Mustang is. This gives me 90 days usage per year for about $140 compared to $800 for full registration.

I originally looked for an XF or XG Falcon ute but they were all either piles of rust or had money spent on them reflective of their growing classic appeal and were priced accordingly. So I widened my horizons and ended up with The Eyesore which, while having no cool factor whatsoever, is actually a lot more versatile and useful than a Falcon ute would be. It's also easier to resist the temptation to spend money on it. At the risk of lowering the tone of this forum, here she is:

Lassen Forge said:

The old garage is fine... if you collected motorcycles. Otherwise it iS a bit of a tight squeeze...

Actually,if you did a "living roof" on the new shop, gave all that space to your partner, then you'd have a much bigger garage... Those are becoming the thing in the bay area... tho to me, being old fashioned, the idea of roots and dirt on your roof seems, well, just wrong!

Good luck on the move in (and even more on the old tenant's move out - it's not just complicated there!), when you finally are in, and say "it's MINE"... take a deep breath, have a cold one, and smile! Can't wait to see how she develops!

Click to expand...

Do not joke about this. She would put a garden on the roof in a heartbeat if the idea was suggested.

The tenants we have had in the old place since we bought it while we sort out designs etc have been excellent. No dramas whatsoever. I tagged along with the agent during an inspection just before Christmas and the place was spotless. Rent paid on time every month, garden looked after, everything just fine.

In contrast, in the last couple of days I have been dealing with utility companies about getting the electricity and gas not just disconnected but the supply lines and meters removed prior to demolition. Nightmare! 'Nuff said.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Geoff289 said:

Well not that much money. If I'd let one of those slip through my fingers I'm not sure I'd still be around to regret it. Not a HO, just an "ordinary" XY GT. I had it from '75 to '80 when I traded it on a brand new XD Fairmont which at least had the same 351 cleveland. The GT wasn't in the same league as a HO but had I taken it off daily duties back then and tidied a few things up it would be worth a nice sum these days. Values are nearly back to pre GFC levels.

That said, I would probably be reluctant to get it out and drive it much which would defeat the main enjoyment I get from my cars. There are guys in the Mustang Owners Club with Shelbys and Boss 302's and 429's that never bring them out as they're too valuable to risk. I would hate that. I'm fussy about when and where I drive mine but use up most of the days on my Club Permit every year without trying.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Click to expand...

Even a GT I would regret selling. I have a truck on Club permit and I was lucky to use 15 days out of 45 last year. But then the permit is much cheaper than paying full registration. Mind you if I had a GT or a GTHO it would be wrapped in cotton wool knowing the value these days.

Hi Geoff, great to see another build thread in Melbourne.
From experience you have to be exact with your description of getting the power disconnected.
About 18 years ago I bought a 20'x40' metal shed to be removed from a leased site. First day on the job the original owner had the power "disconnected" and 2 mates and myself got stuck into the dismantling, sale included all of the lights, power points, wiring and power board. About mid afternoon I was in the process of removing the wiring from the meter box, the meters were removed and I had disconected the wires from the fuses and was trying to remove the meter box but as it had a rats nest inside I was doing so from arms length with a lump of wood once the screws were gone. Gave it one more heave ho and the wires that I had already disconnected contacted some metal and the whole place lit up with sparkes and flashes, and if this was not bad enough I was standing in a pool of water from a leaking tap.
To this day I still dont know how I was able to disconnect things while they were all live.
The owner saw all this and almost died as well, yelling at me that "They said they disconnected it" a quick and very abrupt call to the power company and they confirmed "yes" that it had been disconnected. A lot more "Discussion" and we found out that the owner should have asked for the power to be "Abolished" not disconnected apparently they are completely different.
About and hour or so later 2 guys rocked up in a truck and spent more time trying to find where the underground power was actually connected to the grid.
I drive past the vacant site nearly everyday as its near home and I'm reminded of how lucky I am to still be here.
Sorry for the long post but I do mention this when I can hoping it wont happen to someone else, but I can say the regulations and controls are a lot safer these days.

Hey, this looks interesting.

Looking forward to see the build and more information on the Mustang would be interesting.

Dwight

HOTFR8 said:

Even a GT I would regret selling. I have a truck on Club permit and I was lucky to use 15 days out of 45 last year. But then the permit is much cheaper than paying full registration. Mind you if I had a GT or a GTHO it would be wrapped in cotton wool knowing the value these days.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I do regret parting with it, although back then I'm not sure my financial circumstances would have made it possible to hang on to it as a weekend car.

As I said, I use up most of my 90 day permit - the advantages of not having to go to work. Yesterday the better half took my elderly Mum out for the day so having nothing else I had to do the Mustang and I took a cruise down to the bay, picked up a mate and had a coffee on the beach then cruised down to Mornington for some lunch. Always brings a smile to my face.

gazza said:

Hi Geoff, great to see another build thread in Melbourne.
From experience you have to be exact with your description of getting the power disconnected.
About 18 years ago I bought a 20'x40' metal shed to be removed from a leased site. First day on the job the original owner had the power "disconnected" and 2 mates and myself got stuck into the dismantling, sale included all of the lights, power points, wiring and power board. About mid afternoon I was in the process of removing the wiring from the meter box, the meters were removed and I had disconected the wires from the fuses and was trying to remove the meter box but as it had a rats nest inside I was doing so from arms length with a lump of wood once the screws were gone. Gave it one more heave ho and the wires that I had already disconnected contacted some metal and the whole place lit up with sparkes and flashes, and if this was not bad enough I was standing in a pool of water from a leaking tap.
To this day I still dont know how I was able to disconnect things while they were all live.
The owner saw all this and almost died as well, yelling at me that "They said they disconnected it" a quick and very abrupt call to the power company and they confirmed "yes" that it had been disconnected. A lot more "Discussion" and we found out that the owner should have asked for the power to be "Abolished" not disconnected apparently they are completely different.
About and hour or so later 2 guys rocked up in a truck and spent more time trying to find where the underground power was actually connected to the grid.
I drive past the vacant site nearly everyday as its near home and I'm reminded of how lucky I am to still be here.
Sorry for the long post but I do mention this when I can hoping it wont happen to someone else, but I can say the regulations and controls are a lot safer these days.

Click to expand...

Thanks Gazza. Yep I'm all over this and have definitely put in the right paperwork to have it all abolished, not just disconnected. Fortunately, the electricity supply to the old house is overhead from poles so it'll be easy to verify visually that there is nothing connected.

I've also lodged paperwork to have a new 3 phase underground supply put in for the new house. They will just run it into a pit at the front of the property and it stays like that until the builder's sparky hooks it up for their use during construction. This is the normal deal in areas like this where old houses are replaced by new ones, the old overhead supply is replaced by an underground one.

These big companies are a real pain to deal with. Unlike the retailers the wholesalers who own the distribution network have no competition in any given area and it shows.

While everything seems on track with the electricity, what is effectively the same company told me yesterday they can't even accept the application until the place is vacant as the tenants have an active retail account. I said that's fine, I don't want it removed until they've gone but surely it can be scheduled so there aren't any delays. Nope! Yet the guy on the next desk handling the electricity, for which the tenants also have a retail account, is moving forward with that without a problem.

dchance said:

Looking forward to see the build and more information on the Mustang would be interesting.

Dwight

Click to expand...

Thanks Dwight. I'm working towards putting up some design documents here to give people an idea of what we're building but am a little way off being able to do that.

During the week we went to talk to a lift company (lift as in elevator for people) and inspect and test drive their product. As I said in the first post we are trying to plan for the future and as the house will be two levels at the rear and access to the back yard, the laundry and a second living room that will be my music area is downstairs we are putting in an elevator (there will be stairs too).

This was a worthwhile visit and we were impressed with what we saw. The demo was in the private home of another of their clients and we were able to talk to them about it too. They are very happy with it.

We are not having it installed as part of the build but the design includes the shaft and the builder will work with the elevator company to ensure it can go in without problems immediately after occupation. This is because GST is payable if it goes in during construction but isn't if its installed in an existing house (GST is our 10% Good and Services Tax, a more or less universal value added tax).

Next week we are seeing another elevator company who has a similar product but their's is more expensive. Unless there is something that warrants this extra expense I think we'll be going with the first one. If I give them a 10% deposit now I lock in the current price for when we are ready to install and avoid the risk of price rises.

The Mustang is a '66 coupe. It spent its life in dry Arizona before it came here. It had no more than a couple of small patches of surface rust. I have had it on the road here for about 5 years and it has pretty much new everything.

The original drive train is in the corner of the garage and in its place is a late model roller cam 5.0 that has been, shall we say, "improved". Not off the scale improved but is healthy enough in a light car like this to give a good account of itself. Behind the engine is a 5 speed T5 Tremec manual. At the rear it currently has 3.25 gears but I have just bought another diff centre for it and am going to get this set up with 3.55's and put it in. With the overdrive 5th gear it's very cruisy on the freeway and highway so the lower diff ratio won't be a problem.

With air con and a good stereo mounted in the glove box with a remote the car is lots of fun to get out in, so I do. Tomorrow I'm heading up to a car show in the Dandenong Ranges, a mountain (well just hills really) range that surrounds the South East of Melbourne with a few other members of the Mustang Owners Club.

https://www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/eve...lay_and_man_cave_alley_25th_anniversary_event

Here's a few more pics of the car

Geoff289 said:

Yeah, I do regret parting with it, although back then I'm not sure my financial circumstances would have made it possible to hang on to it as a weekend car.

As I said, I use up most of my 90 day permit - the advantages of not having to go to work. Yesterday the better half took my elderly Mum out for the day so having nothing else I had to do the Mustang and I took a cruise down to the bay, picked up a mate and had a coffee on the beach then cruised down to Mornington for some lunch. Always brings a smile to my face.

Click to expand...

Yes times have changed for many of us. My Falcon used to be a daily. Not any more. The International truck I also used to drive daily and now it is the one on red plates. The cruise to the bay is what it is all about getting out to enjoy it.

Geoff, your Mustang is just awesome..

Great to see that you have kept all the original gear..

Geoff289 said:

These big companies are a real pain to deal with. Unlike the retailers the wholesalers who own the distribution network have no competition in any given area and it shows.

While everything seems on track with the electricity, what is effectively the same company told me yesterday they can't even accept the application until the place is vacant as the tenants have an active retail account. I said that's fine, I don't want it removed until they've gone but surely it can be scheduled so there aren't any delays. Nope! Yet the guy on the next desk handling the electricity, for which the tenants also have a retail account, is moving forward with that without a problem.

Click to expand...

Geoff, it would seem reasonable that you can't even accept their bill until you move in and have an active retail account. Just kidding, I remember dealing with the phone company years ago when they told me it would be three to six weeks before they could connect service to the apartment. When I mentioned it at the office, IBM must have said something to them about scheduling service on their computer because the telco did the job the next day.

Geoff, you really have to have your ducks all lined up when it come to the power retailers and distributors that's for sure.

1/2 Cup said:

Geoff, your Mustang is just awesome..

Great to see that you have kept all the original gear..

Click to expand...

Thank you.

Bob Heine said:

Geoff, it would seem reasonable that you can't even accept their bill until you move in and have an active retail account. Just kidding, I remember dealing with the phone company years ago when they told me it would be three to six weeks before they could connect service to the apartment. When I mentioned it at the office, IBM must have said something to them about scheduling service on their computer because the telco did the job the next day.

Click to expand...

Yes, I need to find some leverage.

1/2 Cup said:

Geoff, you really have to have your ducks all lined up when it come to the power retailers and distributors that's for sure.

Click to expand...

Tell me about it.

I went to the aforementioned American Car Show at Gembrook today. Great drive in the cool early morning with the exhaust echoing off the hills as I followed the twisty route through Emerald and Cockatoo to Gembrook. The Mustang is no Ferrari when it comes to corners but it was fun squirting from one bend to the next before hitting the anchors.

Here's a few pics of just a few of the cars that caught my eye out of the hundreds that were there.







I do like these mid 60's T Birds, especially the 'verts. There were several there but this was my choice





Bit different to my Merc



Do you like this rig Hotfr8? 6.6 litre GM diesel powered







I know its a GM product but very cool nonetheless



Horsepower anyone?





A few entrants didn't read the "Ämerican" bit but this local icon was packing a serious hairdryer





I don't know what to say about this old Cusso







Mobile helipad

Looks like a great day out. I do know that truck and the owner very well.

Welcome mate. Mustangs looks great and shed/house plans sound great. Look forward to following your progress.

A great start!

Can I ask you to publish photos of a large size, especially those with a mustang?

Stas26 said:

A great start!

Can I ask you to publish photos of a large size, especially those with a mustang?

Click to expand...

Yes, I see they end up smaller than a lot of other members seem to be able to put up. This is not my area of expertise and its a wonder I've managed to include any pics at all. I will try to educate myself about this and do better in future.

Geoff289 said:

Yes, I see they end up smaller than a lot of other members seem to be able to put up. This is not my area of expertise and its a wonder I've managed to include any pics at all. I will try to educate myself about this and do better in future.

Click to expand...

I use a website/app called "Dropbox" which is great because you can sync files directly from your phone and they then become available in your account which you can access from your PC. It also works the other way where you can upload photos from your PC and have them available on your phone/tablet.

www.dropbox.com

A little bit of progress with the project to report.

The draftsman doing all the drawings seems to have had some sort of melt down with his version control arrangements that has seen a lot of email traffic back and forth and tested our patience a bit but it all seems to be back on track now.

We have just received the energy rating tick. We have this star rating system here and new homes have to reach a mandatory 6 star level (some research suggests that compared to other parts of the world our minimum requirements are a bit laughable). Prior to designing it we looked at dozens of display homes and other sources of inspiration and came to the conclusion that the volume builders mostly specialise in bad design in terms of orientation etc. They particularly seem keen on having no eaves to speak of, no doubt for cost reasons. They then rely on add ons like blinds, awnings, token water tanks etc. to achieve the minimum requirements rather than good design from the outset.

We set out to design something that would be well oriented and energy efficient, particularly in terms of solar control and above minimum insulation and are pleased that we got to 6 stars easily just on the basis of the design without factoring in any of the climate control, solar generation, rain water harvesting and other systems we have planned. We are confident we will have in practice something like a 9 star house.

The tenants move out on Friday and we have just signed a contract with a demo company to bowl the old house over. Before they can start we need the electricity and gas supplies abolished and I set this in train a few weeks ago. At this stage the distribution company continues to show a curious split personality. The electricity arm is on the ball, sent me an invoice which I've paid and, while yet to give me a date, is communicating effectively and give s a sense of confidence its all progressing as it should.

The gas arm, on the other hand, continues with its position that they can't even accept the application until the tenants are out. When I point out that their electricity people are happy to get on with planning and scheduling while its tenanted I can't get past "I only do gas" stonewalling. Very frustrating.

The water supply and sewerage outfit have been good though and I got something called a PIC number within 48 hours of paying a fee. This seems to be some sort of authorisation for the demo company to cut and cap the sewer line.

The other thing I've just finalised is something called an Asset Protection Permit from the council. This involved a fee of $750 and a security deposit of $2,500 against the risk of council assets like footpaths (sidewalks) and kerbs being damaged. Call me a pessimist bur I reckon that's almost inevitable.

This weekend we'll have possession back and I apparently have my work cut out for me. The Gardener advises that there are several bits of flora than are to be dug up from the front and relocated to the rear of the property out of the way of the demo people and the builders. The arrangements will be her in a supervisory role and me in a digging and lugging role. Not entirely looking forward to this.

The other thing I have to crack on with, believe it or not, is dismantling and removing the old rotary clothes line with a view to restoring it and using it at the new house. You can see it in one of the pictures I posted earlier. Well The Gardener is very attached to this and I am happy to indulge her.

I have seen in other Australian threads on here members from North America querying pictures of "that thing that looks like a mega satellite dish" and having to have explained what a clothesline is and how we have climatic phenomena such as sunshine and wind that are very good moisture dispersal agents. We don't own a clothes drier.

The famous Australian rotary clothes line is a Hills Hoist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hills_Hoist

The one we have is not a Hills but a Windmill. It has a plate on it indicating they were made in Nunawading, Melbourne but I haven't been able to find anything on line about them.

Anyway, while I'm on board with drying the washing out in the yard I'm a bit less sold on this thing being a design feature of the garden when there are more compact and discreet clotheslines like we have at present available but I don't get a vote about this. I just get to take it down, fix it and put it back up later. There is something amiss with the wind up gearbox mechanism so I'll pull it apart and see what's up. I don't think I will be able to get any spare parts for it but my kid brother is a gun fitter and turner and can probably make anything that's needed.

The demo people may be able to start stripping out the fittings from inside before the utilities are abolished. We went with a company that recycles as much as they can which both fits with our values and saves us several thousand compared to quotes from others that just dump it all in landfill. The one we're using sells off everything they can so charges less.

So that's about where things are up to. Hopefully there will be something to see before too much longer. My 4 year old grandson is champing at the bit to watch the demo process. Ordinarily he is very focussed on Thomas the Tank Engine and his mates, on which he is the world's leading authority, but is prepared to broaden his horizons to include big machines knocking things down.

Stay tuned.

Geoff289 , all the best with your demo.

Your explaination of the Hills Hoist will go down well being an Aussie Back yard Icon..

Geoff289 said:

The other thing I've just finalised is something called an Asset Protection Permit from the council. This involved a fee of $750 and a security deposit of $2,500 against the risk of council assets like footpaths (sidewalks) and kerbs being damaged. Call me a pessimist bur I reckon that's almost inevitable.

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Yeah, you're likely not seeing that money again unfortunatly.

I dont know what they expect and should just make crossover replacement part of the mandatory works you need to do when building to that level.

Geoff289 said:

The other thing I have to crack on with, believe it or not, is dismantling and removing the old rotary clothes line with a view to restoring it and using it at the new house.

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Not sure if you've ever removed one before, but the one at my place i removed for my shed was about 400 deep with a blob of concrete at the bottom of it. Wasnt the nicest thing to have to remove by hand. I had to use a highlift 4WD jack on the handle assembly to lift it sufficiently.

Best of luck

Sabbath said:

Yeah, you're likely not seeing that money again unfortunatly.

I dont know what they expect and should just make crossover replacement part of the mandatory works you need to do when building to that level.

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The driveway for the new house will be on the opposite side to the existing one so we were up for that cost anyway, but yes it would make sense.

Sabbath said:

Not sure if you've ever removed one before, but the one at my place i removed for my shed was about 400 deep with a blob of concrete at the bottom of it. Wasnt the nicest thing to have to remove by hand. I had to use a highlift 4WD jack on the handle assembly to lift it sufficiently.

Best of luck

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I have done this before to make way for a pool a couple of houses ago. It wasn't fun. This one shouldn't be so bad as the shaft finishes with a plate that is bolted to the concrete, Presuming that the shaft doesn't actually go through this plate into the concrete is should be just a matter of getting the nuts off the bolts after more than 50 years.

1/2 Cup said:

Geoff289 , all the best with your demo.

Your explaination of the Hills Hoist will go down well being an Aussie Back yard Icon..

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Thanks to both of you for your good luck wishes.

Well the clothesline put up a big fight but I prevailed in the end. There is a risk of what follows boring you all to tears so feel free to skip it.

I had to dismantle the "array" if I can call it that and remove it from the vertical shaft before removing that from the ground. Unlike a Hills Hoist, this one actually has an octagonal perimeter frame. That connects with horizontal spokes connected to a freewheeling hub on the shaft about 60 cm (24 inches) below the top of the shaft and then there are rods from the top of the shaft to the perimeter frame forming the hypoteneuse if you follow me. The whole set up described above then moves up and down the shaft when you wind the handle or it would if that mechanism still worked.

About half the bolts encrusted with 50 years of rust holding all this together sheered off when I applied enough torque to them and the other half actually undid. Not a bad result really.The four bolts holding the plate on the bottom of the shaft to the concrete followed suit - two sheered off and two undid.

Sheered bolts can be replaced but unfortunately 3 of the rods mentioned above also sheered. They were threaded at the end so I'll have to make some new ones to replace those. The only other destruction was one of the four 3 way clamp things that connect two parts of the perimeter frame and the horizontal spokes broke in half. They are cast so I don't think it can be welded up and I'll have to source something to replace it.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics.

I win!



The busted clamp, along with an intact one for comparison



The tenants have left the old place in great shape, not that it matters all that much as it has an appointment with a bulldozer, but its nice to know there are good people out there.

We took the plans for the new house and a long tape measure and mapped out exactly where it will go and are pretty pleased overall.

I had a good score on Ebay today with 40 metres (about 133 feet) of temporary security fencing including the concrete "feet", clamps etc. as required on building sites these days for about a third of the price of new stuff. Builders usually hire this stuff for the entire build period and of course build it into the price along with their margin and you end up paying pretty much the same as what it would cost to buy just to hire it for the duration. Once we're finished it can go back on Ebay or Gumtree and should end up costing us very little.

Well not much has happened with the new house project since my last post.

There has been some plants relocated from the front to the rear which has been hard work as the ground is very hard. Melbourne has been as dry as a chip and pretty hot for the last few weeks.

I went and picked up the temporary fencing I got on Ebay. A couple of panels will need a bit of minor repair but overall I'm pretty happy with the deal. The panels themselves aren't all that heavy but the concrete feet they sit in sure are. Both I and The Eyesore worked hard that day and I was sore for a couple of days but no lasting damage to either of us and the fencing is at the site ready to go up when the time comes. We are still waiting for the electricity and gas to be abolished and the demo company has some paperwork to finalise.

In the meantime I've been stripping out some fittings from inside the kitchen cupboards for future garage use. The old house overall is a bit of an early 60's time capsule, pink and green bathroom fittings and all, but it got a new kitchen about 10 years ago and it's a pretty high quality set up with European appliances. The demo company will sell it all. A lot of the cupboards though have quite useful racks, dividers and other fittings that I can use in the future. It comes from this mob https://www.blum.com/au/en/

Here's some pics of how the new house will shape up. These are just from some basic architectural software we used before handing over our design to the draftsman to turn into the formal documentation. There is no labelling on these but it should be reasonably clear what's what.

Here's how the footprint of the house will sit on the block.



This is the main floor which is more or less at street level at the front and, given the slope of the land, elevated at the rear looking over the nature reserve.



This is the "basement" level underneath at the rear (I haven't been able to figure out how to make this the same scale on here as the previous pic, but I have made them all bigger than earlier posts so that's progress)



And the next two are how it will look at the front and rear respectively





Nothing much else to report. My daughter and her kids came from Ballarat for a couple of days during the week which is always nice. We all went to visit my elderly mother which she gets a great kick out of. Nice to have four generations together. If you think kids are spoilt by their grandparents you should see great grandmothers in action.

My grandson spent a lot of time sitting in the Mustang in the garage pretending to drive. I had to disconnect the horns to save the battery and the neighbours' sanity. I now have to crack on with getting some proper child seat mounting points in it so I can take him for a ride so a bit of research on that coming up.

The Mustang Owners Club has an event on Monday (public holiday here) so looking forward to coffee, a barbie and talking BS with other pony tragics.

As always, thanks for reading.

Geoff289 you have a nice layout, that looks very functional..

1/2 Cup said:

Geoff289 you have a nice layout, that looks very functional..

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Thanks 1/2 Cup. We have put a lot of thought into it.

The demo guys have started stripping out the old house.

House layout looks great - loving the details particularly the kitchen with the butlers pantry, sink and stove with window, and layout with the dining room allowing to chat with guests while cooking. Sounds like a really practical approach to sustainable design too. We visited a house for sustainable house day and the architect commented on how we implored his clients to invest in quality fixtures and design - like insulation, double glazed windows etc. Down the track you can always add things like solar panels as an addition.

Looking forward to tracking your progress.

hewey said:

House layout looks great - loving the details particularly the kitchen with the butlers pantry, sink and stove with window, and layout with the dining room allowing to chat with guests while cooking. Sounds like a really practical approach to sustainable design too. We visited a house for sustainable house day and the architect commented on how we implored his clients to invest in quality fixtures and design - like insulation, double glazed windows etc. Down the track you can always add things like solar panels as an addition.

Looking forward to tracking your progress.

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Thanks Hewey. As I said above, we have put a lot of thought into it. I think I also said in an earlier post that our extensive research lead us to the conclusion that major building companies specialise in bad and inefficient design.

The house will have double glazing throughout, about double the "normal" insulation R value and is going to be all electric - heat pump hot water, induction cooktop and, while we expect the heating and cooling load to be quite low, heat pumps for that.

A big solar system will go on immediately we take possession, at least 6 kw and maybe as big as 10 kw. Battery storage will be added when the economics of this make sense, which could be the case by the time the house is finished.

We have had solar on our existing house since 2010. This is a tiny system by modern standards, only just over 2 kw but given output for a given panel surface area back then and the available north facing roof it was as big as it could be back then. Since we got in early enough to still get the 66 cent feed in tariff we don't have any electricity bills and get a few hundred in credit each year.

We won't get more than about 13 cents at the new house so batteries are the way to go.

The Mustang Owners Club is putting on a display at the Grand Prix so getting ready for that today.

More demo this week. Here's a few more photos.



















Been out for a cruise in the Mustang today as it's a great day here and it's the car's birthday. It rolled off the San Jose assembly line in California on this day 52 years ago. We went up into the Dandenongs for some lunch and an obligatory drop in to a couple of gardens and nurseries.

Yesterday we spent a couple of hours with a lighting consultant who really knew his stuff. There are so many things we hadn't considered. It was well worth it.

Geoff289 the demo is coming along nicely.

What great weather to go for a drive in the Dandenong's..

How did you go at the GP ?

My eldest was there with the historics..

1/2 Cup said:

Geoff289 the demo is coming along nicely.

What great weather to go for a drive in the Dandenong's..

How did you go at the GP ?

My eldest was there with the historics..

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Thanks 1/2. The demo guy says the next step is to get the asbestos specialists in. As with any house built in the '60's there will be asbestos in the eave lining and behind the tiling in the bathroom etc.

Yes, a good day out was had today. Something for both The Gardener and I.

I wasn't at the GP during the event but I gather we had our share of interest. We were limited to 14 cars and had to leave them there from the day before the event until the day after. I think we had four new ones, including a Roush and a Shelby Super Snake (these are 700 + hp road cars) and the rest proper, sorry I mean older, ones.

Can you save any thing to reuse or sell?

HOTFR8 said:

Can you save any thing to reuse or sell?

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I've stripped out some fittings from inside the (relatively new, about 10 years old) kitchen for future use in my garage. Nifty drawer dividers, drawers within drawers, various racks and things. I've also commandeered a window and sliding glass door for potential use in a future bespoke garden shed - actually I'm told that it will be a She Shed. Beyond that, we really don't have space to store anything else.

Most demo companies just bowl it over with an excavator and take it all off to landfill. The outfit we're using recycles and sells everything they can and as a result are charging us about 35% less than the other two quotes we got because they make some of their money from this recycling and they also have lower tipping costs.

The only downside is that the process takes longer than the couple of days a excavator would take but we're OK with that. The first step involved cutting out and taking away all the hardwood floor boards from this pre yellow tongue house. Then they took the kitchen appliances, hot water service, central heating unit, a number of light and plumbing fixtures and some other stuff. This week the concrete tiles were removed from the roof. They were just pitched onto the ground and broke of course but they will be loaded up and sold to a concrete recycling place where they will be crushed and used for something or other. The hardwood framing will be recycled and I'm not sure what happens to the bricks but possibly similar to the tiles.

We are pleased to not be unduly contributing to landfill and even more pleased at saving several thousand dollars.