Halstead
Renovation 2008
Celebrating
100 Years at
and
Creating a comfortable,
energy efficient living space for the 21st Century
Last updated : 2009.July 31
[Currently
with a few gremlins in the pictures (!) which we hope to resolve soon – any
HTML advice welcome!]
Background | Features
of the Renovation | Things we could have done better !
| Links to our designer, trades & suppliers | A few Good Ideas we stumbled on
Background
This nearly symmetrical house of aprox 240 m2
was built around 1909, using stone and brick, with a large iron roof with
“box” gutter and the high ceilings – intended to disperse internal summer heat
- characteristic of its period. The street entrance faces South,
with the North aspect facing onto a garden, with relatively little integrated
uses, so far. The house has two bedrooms on the Southern side, another two on
the East, a formal dining room on the West, with a central corridor from front
door to back and originally had a “lean to” construction at the rear ( North) for laundry and bathroom.
In the 1980’s the then-owners made an extensive renovation
: the central corridor was blocked (!) to provide a walk in closet and
pantry, while the wet areas were relocated to the Eastern side, with two
bathrooms ( side by side, but not connecting !) – one
of them an ensuite to one of the bedrooms. Among other things, this
re-configuration reduced flow through ventilation, as well as reducing
accessibility to the bathroom for the several bedrooms without ensuite ! The replaced lean-to room ( 6
m x 3 m, with sloping roof), was too narrow to provide both walk through
access to the toilet/bathroom and comfortable recreation space.
Our plan, evolved after years of living with these inadequacies, was to
return to the strengths of the original design and reverse the counter
productive effects of the previous renovation and to add certain relatively
simple additions to enhance the site’s natural advantages, particularly the
North facing aspect. We intended to produce an economical AND low energy demand
domestic solution (among other things, in distinction to the 85 % of South
Australian homes that rely on Air Conditioning !)
· Utilisation of North-facing aspect, particularly to avoid air
conditioning
· Restoration
of original design to maximise amenity
· Reuse
of existing windows & doors
· Use of pergola
as natural cooling mechanism on Western side
· Use of tiles
& wide eaves as passive solar design
· Introduction of sheltered vegetable garden
· Installation of rain
harvesting water tanks
· Interior
view
· Plan
· Some things we should also have done, but didn’t !
· Links
Below : North Face ….wide eaves exclude summer sun ( high in the sky) but
open to admit winter sun ( as sun sinks lower in the sky). Note also - space
for hooks to dry washing in winter …
Below :Restoring the original passageway ….. blocked by previous owners in 1980’s …
Before
….closet & pantry block access & ventilation !
Progress
….
After…
Below : re-use of windows and doors from 1980’s renovation
….saving rainforest timber !
Below : New Pergola on Western side – in summer, vines to provide shade; in
winter, leaves fall, opening naturally for daylight … note : shade cloth
intended for first season only, till vines establish themselves …
Below : Tiles for passive thermal effects – cool in summer, then
absorbing heat from sun in winter… picture below shows sun penetration in
Autumn ( April)
Below : Sun penetration on mid-winter’s day … note cat on the left
Below : new vegetable garden ….relatively protected on Eastern side… re-used shadecloth protects during temporary heatwave !
Below : Rain water tanks … capacity 10,000 litres total, plumbed to
toilets, showers & hot water system
Interior view … facing towards North. ( Temporary shade cloth cover over deck…)
Some things we didn’t do, but should have …
·
We
should have marked the positions of the studs in the new walls – using a stud
finder may not be the best way to find them, especially for hanging heavy
objects. Just a small nail would have solved the problem.
·
We have
plastered over the original fixing points for several accessories ( hat rack etc) that were attached to the original brick
walls. These will now need to be re-drilled and fixed, but doing so may damage
the very soft mortar of the old walls…
·
Our
carpenter seems to have fixed the boards of our deck up-side down. The planks
are grooved on one side – face up, this reduces slipperiness in wet weather,
but face down it reduces decay by providing air to the connection between joist
and bearer beneath ( where rot is most likely). In our
case, we don’t need the anti-slipperiness feature, as we don’t need to cross
the deck in wet weather….
·
We
should have kept our painting tools for “whites” and “coloureds” separate …
paint rollers in particular come as either white or coloured for just this
reason!
·
We have
several times relied on our tradespeople for advice and insight superior to our
own, believing their experience to be … well, more than ours! However, this has
not always been the case. We have found it frustrating sometimes to pay
substantial costs but end up with a less than satisfying outcome, when just a
little more insight might have produced a better result.
A Few Good Ideas we
stumbled on ….
·
Use a
white or pale colour on your roof to reduce summer heat
·
Provide
the shortest practical access between the laundry and the outside clothes
drying area
·
Use your
broad eaves to dry washed clothes in showery weather
·
Install
a simple diverter mechanism ( about $20.00 worth)
below your laundry outlet, with connection to a diversion hose. Install the
diverter mechanism carefully to operate it most easily !
Using eaves as cover for clothes drying, safe
from any showers ….
Links
Our designer, Jack Metcalf in
Passive Solar Heating http://www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/fs45.html
Insulation Guidelines for Australian regions http://www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/pubs/fs47.pdf
“Adelaide &
Rural” Second hand building supplies ( Wingfield) -
“Handypine” at
Solver paints ( ask for 10 – 15 % discount on
substantial purchase)
Redecorate (