- 2 months ago
Grand Designs Australia S12E07
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00:00Music
00:10When it comes to human needs, well, maybe caveman was onto something.
00:16Shelter and protection from the elements is an enduring human necessity,
00:21particularly in a time of catastrophic weather events and climate change.
00:25So, what to build in the face of ever-present danger?
00:29Surely, we've come a long way from the cave.
00:33Music
00:37Red, red, red, channel 8-1, red, red.
00:47Back at the early 1990s, there was a series of fires that we had in the Southern Shire in Sydney.
00:57Some generals put all the others in the camera area, we've got a fire that's just done berserk.
01:03And at that stage I was working for community services and I was providing support for people who had actually been caught in the fire or evacuated from the fire or even lost their houses.
01:11Have we got them out?
01:13So, I remember coming home one night and as you looked across the fires which had actually engulfed the Royal National Park, it looked like a scene from hell.
01:21At one point there, I was actually on the roof of my own place with a hose.
01:35The fire was so intense it was heating the massive Sydney water pipes that bring the water into the area.
01:53So, the garden hose actually became like hot water.
01:58And for weeks afterwards, when you see just a cloud in the sky, you think it's smoke and it's terrifying.
02:0530 years on, while the scars of that terrifying time have faded for psychologist Paul North, they're far from forgotten.
02:25But it's still in Mother Nature where he and paediatrician wife Lydia find their peace.
02:30Have a look at this tree, will you?
02:32I bet that tree could tell a few stories.
02:37When I was growing up in Sydney, my dad used to take us on a picnic.
02:40Every Sunday we'd go for a drive in the country and going for walks through the bush.
02:45I just found it so enchanting.
02:49I grew up in Auckland and we had beautiful trees in our backyard.
02:54And I would love listening to the kerukeru or the wood pigeons.
02:58So, when I come out here in nature, it feels like coming back home.
03:05So much so, five years ago they spent 800,000 buying 50 glorious acres in the Yass Valley in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands.
03:14They plan to build their dream home here, but this is going to be far from your average bushland bolt hole.
03:21The nature of what we're trying to achieve is just something that ensures our safety.
03:27And to know that the dwelling that we're in is robust regardless of the external weather or circumstance.
03:35I just think it's prudent to be on the front foot rather than be caught off guard.
03:40To make sure that you've got the capacity to actually look after yourself if things go a bit haywire.
03:49Paul and Lydia want to feel safe and secure, yet at the same time revel in this vast and rugged countryside.
03:57The challenge is how to do both.
03:59This is such an extraordinary landscape. In so many ways it feels just so quintessentially Australian.
04:08When I think of the Yass Valley, though, I can think of deadly cold and very, very hot in summer, bushfire summer.
04:17So, despite the fact that it's quite beautiful, you've chosen quite an extreme climate to move to.
04:21That's true, but all of those things can be managed when you build the right house.
04:26So, tell me, what are you building here?
04:28So, we're building this bulletproof earth-burn house.
04:31An earth-burn house? Yes.
04:33Now, when I think of earth-burn, I think of bunkers, hobbit holes, these kinds of things.
04:40What are you thinking about?
04:42I'm thinking about a building that's actually incredibly safe, irrespective of what the environment throws at it.
04:46Bushfires is not going to be an issue for us. It's capable of actually withstanding ridiculously large pieces of hail.
04:54Very, very strong winds.
04:56Right. And so, it's our way of actually feeling safe for the future.
05:02Sounding a bit doomsday-ish. Is it?
05:05I guess you make of it what you like.
05:08I think we're just being practical for what we're witnessing.
05:13I think this is just the way to go.
05:19Designed by Baldwin O'Brien Architects, a staggering 650 tonnes of soil will be excavated from the ridge to make way for three soaring, 4.6-metre-high arches.
05:30These will be an Australian first, built with a groundbreaking combination of steel, concrete and PVC formwork in a way that's going to be very much trial and error.
05:41With one arch, a dedicated garage and gym, the middle arch, the kitchen and living areas, and the third containing the main and three guest bedrooms, this is all about 21st century style and comfort.
05:53With the added benefit of shielding Paul and Lydia from nature's fury, but still exposing them to all its splendour.
06:02Outside, the home will be covered in 1,000 tonnes of earth to blend it back into the landscape, with hundreds of fire-resistant natives planted above.
06:11On site will be solar panels, two 110,000 litre water tanks, a heat recovery system to warm the house, and a veggie greenhouse, so that Paul and Lydia can be completely self-sufficient.
06:26Combining isolation with serenity, beauty with security, this bulletproof earthworm home will be the ultimate safehouse, in this undoubtedly beautiful, but sometimes savage landscape.
06:38If I was to sort of say to most people, I'm going to build a house which is effectively underground, how do you kind of respond to that?
06:48Because all the connotations of living underground are generally, generally, sort of on the negative.
06:54It is covered by earth, but it won't feel like we're underground.
06:58The fact that we've got such large glass arches allows plenty of light.
07:03Because we're at elevation, because it's building to the side of the actual ridge, it's dry.
07:08There's nothing sort of damp or, you know, dark about it.
07:12What are the challenges you're anticipating then?
07:15Well, there's unknowns. There are unknowns and there's perhaps some unknowables.
07:20Fortunately, the builder, who just happens to be my son...
07:23That's convenient.
07:24He's looking at doing some things for the very first time in ways that will actually save money on the original plans.
07:33So then tell me, how much are you going to spend on this house?
07:36It's more in the line now of 1.1 and maybe to 1.3.
07:41OK. It's a very technically interesting build that you have in mind.
07:46So those numbers assume a lot of things going right.
07:51Yes. That's right.
07:53Is what I would say. How long will the build take?
07:56Look, we're hoping for much, which would make it, you know, approximately a 12-month project.
08:0112 months? Yeah.
08:03Lydia, your face is saying, I don't quite believe 12 months.
08:05No, I don't.
08:06That's what your face says to me.
08:08I think it's going to be longer.
08:09Yeah? Yeah.
08:10What I love about what you're doing here is you've taken a very, very, very old way of living in the world
08:17and you're trying to bring it into this century for all of the climate reasons that you've spoken about.
08:22It's pretty exciting.
08:23It is. It is. It is. No, we can't wait.
08:26We can't wait to see it all come together.
08:41Paul's eldest son, Josh, is the mastermind behind this earth berm build.
08:48And after two weeks of dust, digging and excavation, today he's bringing in the big guns for the massive concrete slab.
08:58Come, Dads. It's all happening. It's all working. Big day. Yeah, real big day.
09:04Sydney-sider Josh has built plenty of houses before, but nothing on this scale.
09:11So you work in Sydney?
09:12Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:13Yeah, we work in Sydney mainly.
09:15Plenty of work?
09:16Up there? Yeah, there's family done up there, yeah.
09:19And having never worked out in the sticks before either, Josh is really out of his comfort zone.
09:26We've got 16 trucks booked in.
09:28Back home it's easy because there's a lot of competition up in Sydney,
09:31but rural concreters, yeah, they're hard to find.
09:35So coming here this morning wondering if the pump's going to be here,
09:38if the concrete is going to be here, if the concrete's going to turn up,
09:41that can be a bit daunting.
09:44Is it not straight, though, Josh?
09:47It's not bowing out.
09:48The only other concern, I guess, is that the form work was a bit tough compared to a normal house
09:53because the site's quite up and down with the rock not being able to get it dead flat.
09:57Hopefully, if she holds up, we'll see what happens.
10:00No blowouts yet.
10:04Ooh, definitely spoke too soon.
10:07F*** mate.
10:09Just a little tickle along here, don't get too crazy because it's bowing out, alright?
10:12Just be a bit gentle.
10:14I'll go grab my hammer and work on this front edge with that.
10:18The vibrator puts a lot of pressure on it when you're close to the edge.
10:23Probably should have had a few more braces in there just to help.
10:27But once it's gone hard, it's impossible to fix.
10:34Despite Josh's best efforts, the form work is still giving way.
10:39I wonder, if we haven't got any keys strong enough, like a tractor or something,
10:45we could open up that and put a bit of pressure on it.
10:48I'll sort something out.
10:49Yeah, okay.
10:50I'll sort something out.
10:51Be good to sort it now.
10:55With Paul and Lydia living on site in a makeshift shed,
10:58it's not long before it's dad to the rescue on his shiny new toy.
11:08Yep.
11:09That's good.
11:10Just go down.
11:15It seems to have pushed forward a little bit.
11:19Done it.
11:21Let's see if it coats.
11:23You can just leave it in first and then just turn it on and go.
11:28Yeah, it's always in gear.
11:29It's always in automatic.
11:30All right, right.
11:31So working with my dad, I haven't worked with him before,
11:35apart from building a chicken coop when I was doing my carpentry apprenticeship.
11:40My first reaction when dad showed me the plans was like,
11:45yeah, I thought he was a bit nuts.
11:49Some people would call it a hobbit house on steroids.
11:53But yeah, as I kind of dug further into the plans,
11:56I just needed to be involved.
11:57It was too special to pass up.
11:59That's for sure.
12:00See how it's high there, Sarah?
12:02Pull it back.
12:03This design and construction has never been done here in Australia before.
12:08Having an underground house is probably a builder's nightmare
12:11with waterproofing issues and building curves out of concrete.
12:16It's got its hurdles to jump over for sure,
12:18but my dad's got a lot of trust in myself.
12:23I'm hoping nothing changes over the build.
12:25With the slab set in stone, the next super-sized challenge
12:38is building the framework for the three giant concrete archers.
12:44Using steel for the job was going to eat up a big chunk
12:47of Lydia and Paul's $1.1 million budget.
12:50Then we've got a curve from here,
12:51so I reckon we go about 100 mil centres.
12:54So Josh and business partner Luke have come up with a far cheaper solution.
13:03Hello.
13:04So we've sat down with the engineer
13:06and figured out that it can be built out of structural timber walling,
13:09but we've got to build this timber form with a curved top plate.
13:13So we're going to have a crack at curving some timber
13:15and we'll see how it goes.
13:17Can you get a bit more?
13:18Oh, nah.
13:19You might have to stop there, mate.
13:21Yeah, nah.
13:22This arch is completely different to anything that we've done before,
13:25so it's going to take a lot of trial and error, I think.
13:29We're marking out the cuts closer than what we did,
13:31just to give it that extra bit of bend.
13:35The boys have already marked out the radius of the arch,
13:39which will eventually stand upright,
13:41so they know the exact amount of flex they need
13:45to create a smooth curve.
13:47I reckon that's perfect.
13:49Bendy-wendy.
13:50Yeah, I think we've pulled it off,
13:51and we're just going to chuck some wedges in now
13:53just to fine-tune the bend to the line,
13:56and we've got it.
13:58We've made it.
14:00So they got the curve,
14:01and now the supporting framework can be added
14:03to hold it in place.
14:05One down, 14 to go.
14:08It's going to take us a long time to build these,
14:12but I think hopefully as the job progresses
14:14we might get a bit quicker at it.
14:16We're holding a lot of concrete.
14:17We've worked it out to be over 100 tonnes,
14:19so make sure that they're spot-on,
14:21and we're good to go.
14:30After two weeks of blood, sweat and bracing...
14:33That's right enough, you think?
14:35..the 14 wooden arches are ready to be placed in position.
14:38All right, you can start coming down now.
14:41They have to be installed with millimetre precision.
14:44Couple more mill.
14:46..as they will be the supporting formwork
14:48for the entire concrete structure.
14:51Yeah.
14:52This formwork's, like,
14:54it's imperative that it's perfectly straight.
14:57It has to be all tied in and braced,
14:59so there's just zero movement on all day.
15:07Whoa! First one's in.
15:09That was easy.
15:11First one.
15:13Good to see it out.
15:14Like, it gives you a bit more of a feel
15:16of the scale of the project,
15:18seeing that first one go up.
15:19We're going to find that next one there, bro.
15:22The next big stage will be how it holds up
15:25to a couple hundred tonne of concrete
15:27being put on top of it.
15:30It's high stakes, all right,
15:32as is Paul and Lydia's other big experiment.
15:35This one's heavy.
15:39Yeah.
15:40Oh, he is.
15:41Wow, look at this little guy.
15:43Breeding alpacas for their super soft fleece.
15:45Oh, hello.
15:46Oh, there you go.
15:47Kiss.
15:48Kiss your alpaca.
15:49Come on, kids.
15:50Up we go.
15:51They've chosen three from this herd of baby alpacas,
15:54or crias, as they're known.
15:57Where's 430?
15:58430.
15:59That one's yours too.
16:00Is that Valentina, the first one?
16:01Yes, that is.
16:02Valentina.
16:03With plans to add more once they get the hang of it.
16:06Hello, Junior.
16:07Hello.
16:08A little nervous.
16:10Yeah?
16:11Hello, Junior.
16:12That little cluck, cluck noise
16:14is the noise that they make to their mothers.
16:16Right.
16:17Yeah.
16:18Who wouldn't own alpacas?
16:19No.
16:20I got involved with alpacas when they were brand new,
16:25arriving from Chile, when the industry was starting.
16:27And now I've got a property, I've got an opportunity
16:29to get back into it again with Lydia.
16:31So what we're looking at is getting some high-quality bloodlines.
16:34You're a good boy, aren't you?
16:36I'd even do a few weddings,
16:38because apparently that's a thing now,
16:40people are having alpacas for weddings.
16:43We don't need to scour the wool like you do with sheep's fleece.
16:48They live for a long time.
16:50They don't denude and destroy the paddocks and the pasture.
16:53They don't drink as much as a cow.
16:55There's a whole heap of benefits to this
16:57if you're looking for a lower impact agricultural pursuit.
17:02And I think it fits really nicely with the whole ethos of the house.
17:05Well, that's great.
17:06That's exactly what we want.
17:07Yep.
17:08You're a cute little devil too, aren't you?
17:11So, by the time the house is done,
17:15the boys will all be horse-trained and ready to go.
17:17Lovely.
17:18We're hoping to have them before Christmas.
17:21That would be perfect.
17:22Christmas, just six months away, is a nice idea,
17:26but this site is still a long way from alpaca-ready,
17:30let alone for any human inhabitants.
17:33Just how long until it is ready
17:36will all depend on the success of today's operation.
17:39New dentals here.
17:41Installing the PVC formwork that will support all the concrete.
17:46So, this is a plastic permanent formwork.
17:51Yep.
17:52Generally, it's installed like this with a bar through here and through here.
18:01In this case, we can't use it like this
18:03because we can't get a curve off that surface.
18:06So, we're putting it like this.
18:09The bars will go in here
18:11and then we'll be shooting the concrete through horizontally,
18:15which will allow us to make the curve.
18:19This hasn't been done anywhere, used horizontally,
18:22so you do kind of have little moments where you doubt yourself,
18:26but, yeah, we'll just chip along and make it work, hopefully.
18:34At $60,000, this is still a cheaper alternative
18:38than the original plan to create the arch using shotcrete,
18:42concrete which is sprayed on using a high-pressure hose.
18:46Each piece of the formwork is locked in place
18:49with a network of rods, bolts and screws.
18:52I'll feed it, you've got it.
18:56Like the ultimate Meccano set.
18:58Just have to move the bars and it'll just slide.
19:06Put some weight on this.
19:12Oh, yeah.
19:14So, to make the curve, this one here,
19:19see it's smaller on this side, bigger on that side,
19:22and that creates 15 degrees of curve.
19:24So, that'll go in there.
19:26That'll give us that curve we need to do a couple more,
19:31and then, yeah, curve again, repeat, repeat.
19:35Yeah, so now closest to you.
19:40The threading has to be precise.
19:42This one, this one, this one.
19:45For the panel to create a seamless shell.
19:48Outside.
19:52Inside.
19:56Like that, magnetic hands.
19:58Yup.
19:59Good? Yup.
20:00Ready, cannonball?
20:01Yup.
20:02Woo-hoo-hoo.
20:13Oh, yeah.
20:16We're definitely tracking on the right path.
20:17It's good to see that we've been able to get the curve
20:20with the materials we've got here.
20:23Probably gonna take a bit longer than I thought.
20:26It is quite fiddly work, so...
20:29Rome wasn't built in a day,
20:30and this earth home's not gonna build in a day, that's for sure.
20:32That wasn't smooth, wasn't it?
20:53Four weeks later, the form work for the first arch is complete.
20:58But the real test of Josh's plan is finding out
21:02if it can hold 100 tonnes of concrete.
21:07First, breakfast.
21:10Yeah, there's not many options.
21:12It's either pie without sauce or a pie with sauce.
21:17If we've got our coffee, we'll be right.
21:20But the serious job of filling these PBC cells
21:24is riddled with challenges.
21:26If any of it unclips, it's gonna be near impossible to put back.
21:30If something does pop up like it, start pulling apart,
21:34it'll be pretty monumental.
21:36What we don't want is making its way three-quarters of the way down
21:41and creating a honeycomb, which is an air pocket.
21:44And if we've got a honeycomb and an air pocket and it sets,
21:47that becomes a weak point in the structure.
21:49It's just the unknown of using something innovative.
21:53Something for the first time.
21:55Yeah.
21:57Really rock and roll.
21:58We've got the vibrator there.
22:00Let's see how it kind of goes.
22:02Take it over.
22:03And I'll come down a little bit for you.
22:05Maybe just a touch slower.
22:12Go too slow as I can go.
22:16It seems there's more concrete pouring outside the arch than inside it.
22:20I think gravity's gonna be our enemy.
22:24Just stop that.
22:28Think once the whole line's full, that'll slow down?
22:30That'll be the source against.
22:32Well, like I said, I can go slow, but then you've got 20-odd metres of gravity kicking in.
22:37Yeah.
22:39This is not going all right now, eh?
22:41Yeah, because you've shoved it in more.
22:42Yeah, yeah.
22:45I'm just trying to plug it with my gloves.
22:49No sooner has Josh solved one problem, he spots another.
22:54Definitely doesn't look heaps.
22:56Like, flowy, eh?
23:00The concrete is too thick to spread across the formwork.
23:04This bit here's not filled.
23:08So we're up, right up here, right?
23:10Oh, okay.
23:11Get that, um, where's that vibrator?
23:13Gonna put it on the plastic, see if it does anything.
23:22The concrete's just getting stiff.
23:24It's not flowing.
23:26This is the problem they face, the odds they face,
23:28due to the fact that this is designed to be actually vertically instead of horizontal.
23:34You'll see the concrete's filled up here and then it's a bit low down here.
23:40That's, that's hollow.
23:42That's solid.
23:45If they can't get this concrete to spread evenly throughout the formwork,
23:49the groundbreaking plan for creating these arches will be a budget-busting disaster.
23:55I'm not happy with how it's moving through the dimsel.
23:59Um, it's moving through okay, but it can't just be okay.
24:03It's got to really get in everywhere.
24:06And look who's arrived right at the worst possible time in proceedings.
24:12Too sticky?
24:13That concrete that we just pushed through is over two hours old.
24:16Oh, okay.
24:18It's over an hour old by the time it gets here.
24:20Yeah.
24:24You've got rain coming in at four o'clock, so you've got four hours to get this done.
24:28Yeah.
24:29With time running out, the boys are desperately hoping a new runnier mix of concrete will spread evenly across the structure.
24:45That's coming down boys.
24:47That one's starting to fill up.
24:48Yeah, it's getting there.
24:50It's getting good.
24:52It's flowing.
24:53You can tell that it's flowing evenly.
24:56It's caught up.
24:57How's it looking in there, Cass?
24:59Oh, it's pretty good.
25:01It's filling all the gaps.
25:03It's vibrating it now.
25:05Trying to get it all through it in there.
25:08Yeah.
25:10A real trial by error, with not much room for error.
25:14Pretty much.
25:15No.
25:19Yeah, it's feeling good.
25:21Four hours and 40 cubic metres of concrete later, the PVC panels are completely filled and holding firm under the pressure.
25:31Yeah, we did it.
25:34Yeah, Cass.
25:38Just in time before the heavens open.
25:44Effectively, we're finished.
25:46It's done.
25:47The hard bit's done.
25:49It was pretty average going, but we got there.
25:52He's already home.
25:54Yeah.
25:59But to achieve its maximum strength, the concrete needs to set over the next 28 days, so they're not out of the woods yet.
26:08Temperature's going to drop tonight.
26:10We're going to get to minus one, maybe minus two.
26:14Because it's got water in it, it can freeze.
26:16And there's actually risk then of fracturing.
26:19But to counter that, we're going to put heaters in the arch.
26:22And I'll be getting up during the night, topping up the generators to make sure they run and keep it all nice and warm.
26:30It could be catastrophic if we put that much dirt on top of this and rock, and that structural integrity is weakened.
26:37I don't want to think about that.
26:41It's now five months into their year-long project.
26:43The endless winter drizzle has cleared, and the second arch is well underway.
27:02What's also becoming clear is the scale of this very large project.
27:07I mean, it's enormous.
27:15It's actually agricultural scale, isn't it?
27:17Yeah.
27:18Like a hanger.
27:20Yep, you could put a sesta in there, no problem.
27:28Oh yeah, well it feels, it feels actually even bigger when you're in here than when it looks like from the outside.
27:34It actually even sounds big, all the echo in here.
27:38There is an echo, which we'll have to deal with some softening down the track.
27:42Is it something you thought of when you were, you know, going through the design stages?
27:46No.
27:47Not to build a church.
27:49That wasn't the plan.
27:50No, I didn't think so.
27:52The architect's drawing was always from looking out in, and so to actually be standing inside, it's quite extraordinary.
28:02Yeah.
28:03Yeah, I mean, it's a beautiful geometry to be working with.
28:06But then, no matter how you finish in here, you've still got, you know, tons of soil above your heads.
28:12Yeah.
28:13True.
28:14That feeling of weight is something that is an unusual thing to feel when you walk into a home.
28:19Just that you're under something with all of that.
28:21Well, I think it'd be very grounding, literally.
28:24Yeah, undergrounding.
28:25I love Lydia and Paul's confidence in this project.
28:32No matter how experimental or challenging, they've not had a moment's doubt.
28:37Anthony, how are you doing?
28:38Good, how are you?
28:39Maybe that's what sons are for.
28:42So, Josh, things are going pretty well, it seems like, at the moment.
28:44Yeah.
28:45What's your next worry?
28:46Probably for us, finding someone in the waterproofing industry, because this is out of the box a little bit, this project, we've got a couple of crazy prices being thrown out there to waterproof the structure.
28:59So, just keeping that reined in and getting a really good job is going to be our next hurdle, I would say.
29:06And I understand you've got a very demanding homeowner.
29:10Yes, yeah.
29:11He's always riding us.
29:16It's not the only family Josh has to contend with.
29:20Love you, Dad.
29:21Love you, Princess.
29:22You have a nice sleep.
29:23Look after Mummy.
29:24Good morning.
29:26See you tomorrow.
29:27See you tomorrow.
29:28See you tomorrow.
29:29Bye-bye.
29:30Night-night.
29:32Bunking down in a local motel Monday to Friday, it's a 200-kilometre trek back to Sydney each weekend to spend time with the kids.
29:42Definitely has been hard, leaving the kids and leaving my wife, Stevie.
29:48She has done such a good job looking after the kids and holding me on the fort while I've been gone.
29:54We FaceTime every night before they go to bed and things like that.
29:58So, still keeping in good contact, but it is hard.
30:01I'll be very glad to be not travelling for work, that's for sure.
30:10I'm home.
30:14Daddy's home.
30:16Hey, Princess.
30:18Daddy's home.
30:19Hey, Papa.
30:21That's for Daddy.
30:22Bye, Daddy.
30:23Hey, buddy.
30:24You being a good boy for Mama?
30:26Hey, you're wet.
30:27There was no hesitation on taking on the project really too much because it was my dad or because of how hard it was.
30:43More just the location of it.
30:45Gonna make you a Milo?
30:47Can you get those little marshmallows?
30:49Oh, you want to add a marshmallow?
30:50Oh, you want to add a marshmallow?
30:51Yeah.
30:52Ew.
30:54Like, if it was around the corner, it would be the best job in the world, but it's just the distance.
31:02That's your favourite, isn't it?
31:03Yeah, but I have not had a Milo with marshmallow.
31:08Oh no, that's special, isn't it?
31:09I enjoy picking Riley up after school and being able to do those things, which when I'm away obviously can't do that.
31:19But yeah, that's the hardest thing for everyone.
31:21We've seen to make it work, but it's not easy.
31:23As the misty mornings make way for warm spring days, Josh has reached a major landmark.
31:45The three arches are finally complete and ready for waterproofing.
31:53But at $210,000, it's a monumental expense.
32:00I don't want to be outlaying extra money, but you want this product to not ever leak.
32:06And even if it leaked in 20 years, it would still be a massive disaster.
32:10So it's got a big decision to make.
32:12Hopefully, it all goes to plan.
32:20Without relying on a traditional roof, these arches will be wrapped in a sheet membrane
32:26and welded together to form a tight seal.
32:29Good. You want to go first?
32:31Yeah. Go all the way.
32:34It's a good system to go on this.
32:36But this is just to get the adhesion and roll out all the bubbles.
32:47That's the first one on.
32:50First sheet installed.
32:52There we go.
32:54That's good.
32:56Can you walk me through what we've got here?
32:57Paul's keen to see where all the money's being spent.
33:01The lighter coloured one's the sheet membrane.
33:04The next stage is putting this geomesh on there.
33:07Right, yeah.
33:08That creates like a barrier.
33:09So when you backfill this dirt, any water and moisture that seeps down hits that barrier
33:14and goes right down to the bottom before it even really sits on the surface.
33:17Sits on to the waterproofing, so it's just helping out.
33:21Yeah, that's excellent.
33:22Yeah, I'm glad we ended up going down this route.
33:25We were close a few times there to going with the cheaper price.
33:29Which was around like 70 grand for that other products.
33:33But I'm glad we went this way.
33:35I'll say this much, mate.
33:37Having this membrane on their house, I'm going to sleep better at night.
33:41Yeah, I will too.
33:43That's for sure.
33:44I just need to make sure the product does the job.
33:48Because no one wants to actually reverse repair the waterproofing in this house some years down the track.
33:57A little sag on a bit.
33:59It's going to add probably between 150 and 200 grand to the actual, to the build costs.
34:07But it's probably the most critical component of the house in a way.
34:11After the structural integrity of the concrete.
34:15So it's got to be done right.
34:17But just getting it done at all is the first problem.
34:20Weeks and weeks of rain makes sealing the house a drawn out and very frustrating affair.
34:33With Josh and his team back in Sydney waiting for the waterproofers to finish.
34:38Finally, it seems it's done.
34:40Just in time for yet another torrential downpour.
34:46We're due to finish the waterproofing today and then Josh is due to start burying the house in the dirt.
34:54But midnight it started pouring and now the place has flooded.
34:58We've got two swimming pools in there at the moment and that's not good.
35:01Seeing water leak out of the structure is a bit concerning.
35:07So we have been a little bit worried about it.
35:09I'm not sure exactly what that means for the boys today.
35:12I think there'll be some recovery work done before we actually get underway.
35:16I want to see where Dad said it was coming in through here.
35:21What?
35:23Well, Dad actually messaged me this morning saying that he'd had 50 mils of rain down here.
35:29He also noticed some water dripping from some of the spots in the dinsel.
35:33And that got me a little bit worried because I was under the impression that the whole structure was fully finished and sealed.
35:38If we've got water coming in at this stage, there's some drama.
35:44Because it's kind of like calcified, hey, it's got like...
35:50Like salts and stuff in it.
35:53Does it leak in this area?
35:55I'm not sure.
35:57I'm not sure where it's leaked.
35:59Did you tell there is water in the car in there?
36:02Got a little bit of moisture in there.
36:09Mystery solved.
36:12The culprit, some yet to be completed waterproofing.
36:16I guess all these joins, he's probably going to put like a...
36:19Patch.
36:21Patch over there and patch over that.
36:23I was freaking out that it was like fully finished and there'd be water coming in.
36:27I'm looking forward to telling Dad that it's not like finished.
36:30Yeah, it's just not good.
36:31Because I could see he was a bit freaking out.
36:33I would be too.
36:34Luckily, all the sheets had been laid but nothing had been welded yet.
36:39So all the joins were still open to that 50 mils worth of rain last night,
36:43which then allowed water to track in through the dinsel and get through the structure.
36:47So, although it got wet in there, I feel good because it's not finished yet.
36:53The good news is that they've found the source of the leak.
36:56The bad news is that they've got a hell of a clean-up operation before they start work again.
37:08I think we've lost about six to eight weeks of time getting through this, the waterproofing.
37:14Well, at the moment the building is just weeping with water.
37:17So we have to actually wait for it to dry out and that's going to take two, three more weeks.
37:23Depending on the weather.
37:25Oh, it's frustrating because I had originally thought that we would get in by, you know, well, Easter for sure.
37:32And that's, that can't happen now.
37:36All I can do at the moment is wait.
37:39But time isn't Paul's only problem.
37:44Jeez, um, Lydia, I'm just looking through some of these costs that are coming in.
37:50And, um, I can't believe how much some of these hardware and stuff we've got to get.
37:56It's, it's really gone up.
37:58I'm going to have to recheck a few things with Josh.
38:01Um, I know he's got a few ideas for saving in other parts of the house.
38:06Probably going to need that.
38:09I'm sure we can figure something out and pick some less expensive finishings.
38:15Yeah, I hope so.
38:16It's, um, a little bit concerning.
38:19Hmm.
38:21Some of the components that we need to build the house, they have clearly gone up.
38:26Their, their prices have become inflated.
38:29There are unknowns in this house.
38:31Some of the stuff we're doing hasn't even been done before.
38:33So, we've got, you know, guesstimates at best in some cases.
38:40So, um, I'm starting to get a bit concerned with, uh, where this goes in terms of our projected costings.
38:49Finally, there's a break in the weather.
39:04The waterproofers have finished and Josh can get on with moving heaven and earth to bury these archers under a small mountain of dirt.
39:11Hey Ryan, I'm here to do this edge while I fill the middle.
39:18It's been a long time coming today.
39:21Sun's out.
39:22So we can go gun-ho on, on backfilling the entire structure.
39:25Us building it, um, gives me a lot of confidence that it's gonna hold up, but it still does feel weird throwing, uh, probably a thousand-odd tonne over the top of the structure we've just built.
39:37Yeah, in the back of your mind there's always, there's always that little thought, what if.
39:41The job is going to take two days of non-stop filling.
39:49But the boys aren't afraid of doing the hard yards, just as long as there's some downtime afterwards.
39:55You usually do a pretty big day, because there's not much else to do, so while you work away you may as well rip in some big hours.
40:02And then everyone's pretty keen for a beer after that.
40:05Through the excavation stage, we spent a fair bit of time making a motocross track on the property, which was awesome.
40:13Two of the neighbours complained about the extra noise in the afternoon, so then we took the excavator down to the dam and swung ourselves into the dam.
40:21That was good, the boys all had a ball with that.
40:28It takes off, eh?
40:29Something different that you'll probably never do up in Sydney, but when you're in the bush you can make do with what's around you.
40:36Yeah, fun doing things like that with all the lads.
40:39The earth berm is approaching its one year mark.
40:56The backfill is on.
41:00Come, come, come.
41:01The alpacas are in.
41:03It's like having a bucket full of Smarties, isn't it, kids?
41:07I'm judging. It's all over your face.
41:11And the planting has begun.
41:14Well, we've got here some Mayaporum.
41:17So they're a lovely little native, and they'll grow out to about a metre square as a ground cover.
41:23The other nice thing about these is they're actually supposed to be bushfire resistant.
41:26So given that we're making sure that our house is protected from bushfires, these plants will add to that.
41:38But with no chance of making the 12-month deadline...
41:42I'm ready for this window now.
41:46Josh has roped in some help to speed things along, in the form of his tradie brothers, Tim and Jared.
41:52I don't know, is that kind of sitting there?
41:55Yeah, it's sitting there all by itself.
41:57Yeah, three brothers on site today.
41:59Yeah, Mum will be proud.
42:01It's a good time working together, getting stuff done.
42:06There's generally some yelling involved.
42:09Mainly just when Tim's around. I work better with Jared.
42:13Tim started smoking young, so that's why he's a bit shorter.
42:18Brother Tim has been bricklaying in Sydney for years, but rarely in a raccoon hat and cowboy boots.
42:34I left my work boots at home.
42:37So we're wearing the going out boots at work now.
42:39I left everything on the back of the ute, because we left early in the morning.
42:45So I'm stuck wearing these all day.
42:49For now at least, these three Musketeers appear to make a good team.
42:56Yeah, I'm pretty happy with that, but that's not going anywhere.
43:04Double glazed window for a garage is pretty fancy.
43:08Keep the car nice and warm at night time.
43:11But while they're on the front foot at the back of the house,
43:16they're on the back foot out the front.
43:23Today is the installation of huge sliding doors
43:27and their toughened hail-proof window panels.
43:30They need to fit perfectly, but they're not off to a great start.
43:34We try to figure out how we can just pack it up and try to fill up the gap,
43:45finish the gap nicely.
43:47This wall will never perfect the curve.
43:50That's why when we make windows,
43:53always something like a curve, always something happens outside.
43:56With each piece taking eight weeks to make
44:01and a further six weeks to be shipped over from China,
44:05this could delay the build even further.
44:09I guess we'll have to put this in and then put the top one in,
44:13because I just want to make sure that the curve continues.
44:21Just put a couple of the curved windows in.
44:23One of them over here has a bit of a gap,
44:26which doesn't 100% follow the curve.
44:30So we've got to figure out if we're going to just get those remade.
44:34If there's heaps of them out, it's going to be a drama.
44:38So, yeah, fingers crossed they all...
44:41..the rest of them come through or we find a solution for it.
44:44Let's hope so.
44:46Because if Josh is feeling the strain,
44:54so is the $1.1 million budget.
44:58The project,
45:01despite our best anticipated efforts
45:04to formulate a budget and stick to it,
45:07it just hasn't really worked out.
45:09So while we made significant savings in some areas,
45:13we've run out of money.
45:19We just need to pause for the moment
45:22while we actually get our head around the next step.
45:25Because we can't have the project continuing on
45:29and, you know, creating a debt.
45:32So then we're just going to stop for the moment.
45:34I'm feeling a bit disappointed.
45:37A bit shocked, actually,
45:39because I thought we would be able to get there
45:42for the original prices that we anticipated,
45:45but it just wasn't possible.
45:49For a project that was supposed to make them feel safe and secure,
45:54it's left them feeling more vulnerable than ever.
45:56It's more vulnerable than ever.
45:57favouring them
46:24Driving through the spectacular Yas Valley,
46:27It's hard to believe living here could be anything but tranquil.
46:32It's what drew Paul and Lydia here in the first place.
46:36But in the two years since they started building,
46:39it's had its fair share of stress and challenges.
46:45I'm hoping for their peace of mind that they're finally finished.
46:57I didn't really see the house.
47:03There it is.
47:05The house just seems to emerge out of the earth.
47:09That is brilliant.
47:22Lydia, Paul, hi.
47:24This is something else, isn't it?
47:27Congratulations.
47:28Thank you so much.
47:29Oh, it must feel so good to be standing right here, right now,
47:32looking at your beautiful home.
47:33It's been a journey.
47:34I bet.
47:36It was a tough ride, right?
47:37Oh, yeah.
47:38It's been long.
47:38It's been up and down.
47:40It's had its moments.
47:41It's had its disappointments.
47:43Yeah.
47:44But we pulled it off.
47:44Yeah.
47:45We got there.
47:45You've moved in now.
47:47You've been in for a couple of weeks.
47:48Does it feel like home?
47:50Already, yes.
47:52Yeah?
47:52Yeah.
47:52It's like actually living in underneath a warm blanket.
47:56Yeah.
47:56It's like no other house I've ever slept in or lived in or eaten in, ever.
48:00Yeah.
48:01It's everything I wanted.
48:03Well, that is a beautiful-looking entry.
48:05It looks warm in there.
48:06Yeah.
48:06Yeah.
48:07Can we go into the warm?
48:08Yes, please.
48:09After you.
48:09For such a complex build, the house looks very neat in the environment.
48:15But this project was never just about how it looks.
48:19Just as important was how it feels.
48:22Wow.
48:25Welcome to our kitchen living area.
48:28I wasn't sure what to expect, but the first thing is that warmth, isn't it?
48:34That real embrace that this seems to offer.
48:37And I tell you what, the framing of the bush on either side of the room there, that's so
48:41dramatic.
48:42I mean, that really does elevate the whole space, doesn't it?
48:45Yeah, it's beautiful.
48:46I suppose one of the surprises is the kitchen.
48:49There's a little bit of colour and then, like, you've had a bit of fun over here.
48:53What's going on with the cabinetry?
48:54Because it's a really unusual and very beautiful finish.
48:56Yeah, well, we love the cabinets, but it was also a very practical solution to a budget
49:02issue.
49:03So we happen to have offcuts left from the flooring.
49:06So one of Josh's boys actually made the doors for us.
49:11That saved us $9,000.
49:13We've got a far superior looking kitchen.
49:16Yeah.
49:16So it was a total win everywhere.
49:19This is pretty impressive space.
49:20It feels wonderful in here.
49:22Quite grand, actually.
49:23The warmth and the rug and the leather and even the natural edge slab bookshelves, all
49:29of that kind of brings us back then into the kind of the cosy.
49:32Yeah.
49:32It feels very nice like that.
49:36I was worried the earthworm could be gloomy and bunker-like, but instead it's flooded with
49:42natural light, with a real sense of connection to the outdoors.
49:46Come on through.
49:47Including in the main bedroom.
49:51Oh, look at this.
49:52It's enormous.
49:53Was it always going to be this big?
49:55Because this is very generous.
49:57Fantastic.
49:58Yeah, no, it wasn't.
49:59Yeah.
49:59It was originally a four-bedroom house and there was a wall that was going to come along
50:04here.
50:04But my son Josh said, lose the wall and just make it into one big bedroom.
50:08Great.
50:09I'm so glad that that happened because the wall meeting this fantastic window, what a travesty
50:14that would have been.
50:15You know, you get the whole view, not just like a slice of view.
50:17And one of the most incredible aspects of the view is actually that wedding tree, it's where
50:22we got married.
50:23And so from the bed, I can wake up in the morning and we can look across and see that tree.
50:28That is beautiful.
50:28It is beautiful.
50:29It's a beautiful reminder.
50:30Yeah.
50:31And this is the reason why this is actually my favourite room in the whole house.
50:34Oh, there you go.
50:35Is this your favourite room as well?
50:37Well, actually my favourite room is the sauna.
50:39I'll give you that.
50:43The sauna's not all.
50:47There's also guest accommodation, a gym and a pickleball court with the greenhouse still
50:54to come.
50:56In the meantime, the roof garden is growing thick and strong with the best view in the
51:01house.
51:03How many people can say they can walk through their garden above their living room?
51:07It's come a long way.
51:08There's more than 500 myopurums.
51:12500.
51:13And I notice we're getting these little flowers up in here now too.
51:16So they're beautiful.
51:17Yeah.
51:17And they bring butterflies around.
51:20It must make you feel great being on this roof when you think about the bushfire hazard
51:26around us.
51:27I actually don't know if it gets any better, to be frank.
51:30The plants themselves, myopurum, are actually fire resistant.
51:32So if we come under ember attack, as those embers land, the plants themselves will smother
51:38them, which is great.
51:39It's a very viable solution to an Australian problem.
51:43It sure is.
51:45With the added benefits of being entirely off grid, the house also has its own heat recovery
51:52system, keeping it at around 20 degrees.
51:54It's a one-stop shop for working with the environment, rather than just taking from it.
52:01You started this project with a lot of ideas of security and protection and, you know, finding
52:09a home in the earth to some degree.
52:11You were quite innovative.
52:13You took a lot of risks.
52:14And I love that it's been such a beautiful challenge.
52:17You know, the way that the Dintsel was used, for example, that horizontal application.
52:22Nobody had done that before.
52:23And so just the idea that this house is showcasing all of the solutions to the problems that we
52:30encountered over time.
52:31With that experimental dimension of the home in mind, having Josh's son, you know, doing
52:37the work, how did that go?
52:39You know, it went surprisingly well.
52:40I'd have to say for the vast majority of our interactions were pretty positive.
52:44Yeah.
52:45Yeah.
52:45Did you think Josh will ever want to build a house like this again?
52:47You know, I don't have a clear answer to that, because it had so many challenges to it.
52:59But he should.
53:01That's the reality.
53:02He should actually build more of these houses.
53:05And he certainly can.
53:06Originally, you were going to do this in 12 months, and it's 24 months, so twice as long.
53:13Yeah.
53:14Talk to me about that.
53:15Yeah, well, that was our hope.
53:18We'd get in.
53:19But, you know, Mother Nature played a role.
53:22We had three months of rain.
53:24We ran out of money.
53:25So when you run out, you've got to go and find more.
53:28That actually takes time.
53:29And then you've got to actually then be able to re-engage the tradies who have then moved
53:33on to other things.
53:34Yeah.
53:35So it was a bit of a stop-start project, to be frank.
53:38Yeah, okay.
53:39You mentioned money.
53:39I think we started off with about 1.1 in mind.
53:45And where did we end up?
53:461.6.
53:481.6.
53:49All right.
53:49So half a million more than you thought.
53:50Yeah.
53:51Okay.
53:52That's a lot.
53:54Perhaps not as much as I expected, to be honest with you.
53:56You did make a few changes on the way through.
54:00And, I mean, that feeling, now that you're living here, you know, that feeling of security
54:04that you're talking about, the safety.
54:06I mean, this is your cave in that kind of sort of idea of safety.
54:11Does it feel like something which is settled now?
54:13Or do you feel like you're kind of still tuning it a bit?
54:15We're going to need the pergola sorted out on the northern side, just to manage the bit
54:21of the sunlight that comes in in the summer.
54:23It's a bit of natural air conditioning.
54:25Yeah.
54:26So there's a little bit of tweaking there.
54:27But it's all doable.
54:29Yeah.
54:29The cave works.
54:30The cave works.
54:31It does.
54:32Bravo.
54:42Hey, welcome.
54:44Hey, good to see you.
54:45Good to see you.
54:47Hi, welcome.
54:49Hey, hello.
54:52There's no doubt Paul and Lydia have a lot to celebrate.
54:55Oh, hello.
54:57Oh, my God.
54:58Good morning.
54:59This is unreal.
55:00It's so cute.
55:01Because it's modular.
55:02There's so many different ways you can set it up.
55:05In the end, we managed to get it.
55:07And so it's really nice and cozy.
55:08Seeing it staged with all their personal belongings in it really makes it a home.
55:18So it's beautiful.
55:19And for a couple who enjoy the quiet life, it turns out the cave house is quite the entertainment.
55:27I'd like to raise a glass to Josh and the boys and actually to my beautiful wife who's just been, you know, by my side this whole time, helping me to make this into a great house.
55:40So thank you for everything you've brought to this project.
55:43Oh, thank you.
55:44Couldn't have done it without you.
55:45Here's to the house.
55:46Here's to the house.
56:16And for Paul and Josh, this has been the father-son project of a lifetime.
56:21Together, they've created something cozy and warm and ultimately homely.
56:26Talk about safe as houses.
56:46And for the house.
56:58Here's to the house.
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