Our last post for the year seems like a good time to actually look back and see exactly what our 2019 accomplishments were. At times, for us, it does seem like the project is moving at a painfully slow pace, but the reality is that it has been galloping along quite quickly. So herewith a bit of a review and a couple of never-before-seen photos of our progress!

Preparing for 2019

This time last year (December 2018), we began on the earthworks and we took one of my favourite photos of all time for this blog. It’s a real action shot. This was our first blog post update in January 2019.

And of course, during the hottest time of the year, we found ourselves digging giant holes for the footings.

2019, Things Start Moving!

In April we were finally able to cast the concrete footings. A lot of work went into this as they had to be just right to support the weight of our container home, and to be in the perfect position for the containers to sit on top of them.

Then, after some huge headaches, we finally got the five shipping containers into position! A most exciting day.

Once we were happy with the roof installation, we could start with the exterior cladding.

To date we have completed:

The east side

The south side

The last six boards on the west side (the front of our house) will be completed this week. (This is also where we finished our first 20 litre tub of paint, as you can see.)

We’ve also started work on our car port, but more on that next year…

We also installed many of our windows this year, and have perfected our technique. I think that the windows make our home look cheerful.

2019 Accomplishments Interior

2019 was the year of the exterior. We still have a few items to tick off our check list for the exterior, but I am sure that 2020 will see us posting more on the interior.

In October we cast the first section of concrete floor for our interior “courtyard/communal” area. We have cast another two sections so have a full strip complete and are about a quarter of the way through the floor casting.

The two slabs on the left are still wet after floating

What Can We Look Forward to in 2020?

We expect to complete the exterior cladding early in 2020. With only have the north side left to clad so it should not take too long. This we should completed along with the remaining windows.

We are going to be working on the interior cladding and will soon be sharing posts as we complete our first “wing”, ready for habitation.

All in all we are really pleased with our 2019 accomplishments and are looking forward to seeing how things progress as the months roll on.

We’ll be back mid-January with some exciting new posts!

PS: One more thing to end the year; we were very surprised to see Pantone’s colour of the year for 2020.