Abdallah House - Redesigning a Home

Principle 5: Use and value renewable resources and services All of the timber flooring used in the house is recycled. The Baltic pine flooring from the original house has been reused in the bedrooms and second hand hardwood flooring has been used elsewhere. Nail hole gaps and imperfections were filled, but gaps between floorboards generally not. This is because the filler can pop out as the boards expand and contract with the seasons. The boards were sanded using an ancient floor sander borrowed from a friend in several stages. A 30 grit paper was criss-crossed over the room, followed by a 40 grit and an 80 grit which ran with the grain of the boards. A hand belt sander and small orbital sander were used to sand the edges using 80 and 100 grit paper. The process took a very long time, was exhausting and very dusty. Skirting was installed and primed along with the floor using a linseed based Bio Priming Oil . The floor was then mopped using a lambswool pad with Bio Floor Varnish ...

Principle 2: Catch and store energy One of the philosophies that I have embraced in the building is to expose the materials that are being used. Concrete, which can be quite an ugly product, can be cut back and 'polished' to expose the aggregate that lies within it. It's a beautiful finish that means that the insulated slab floor can be left uncovered to do its job of catching and storing the sun's energy... or the cool of the earth during the hottest months. I did the first roguh cut of the concrete floor grinding myself, using a hired machine. The final cut was done by the pro's. A mob called Smoothstone from Shepparton. An industrial vacuum attachment was fixed to the grinder to remove the dust, rather than using water like I did, which would have been very messy. Edges and tricky bits were done with a small hand grinder, similar to an angle grinder. Small holes were filled with a black putty before grinding commenced and ended up looking like cut stones. ...