26 Post deconstruction

Deconstruction went well.
I have been given the opportunity and time to do the job as it should be done and I am very pleased with the result.
The house came apart nicely and I am sure that house Muschamp can and will be rebuilt out of the retrieved materials.

I very much look forward to rebuilding the house.
I have enjoyed the work and the lifestyle a lot.
Deconstructing the house made me a richer man.

Storage:

At storage in West Melton are 65 pallets with Oamaru stone, 9 pallets with lintels and sills, 15 pallets with roof tiles, 8 pallets with bricks, 4 pallets with fireplaces and a water tank and 4 pallets with various floor tiles, marble and stones from the garden.
All pallets with Oamaru stones are covered with a pallet on top (for ventilation) and a canvas to protect them from rain.
The 20ft container is transported to West Melton as well and got fumigated to terminate any borer and White-tales (Australian spider) left in here.

The total weight of the construction materials on site is approx. 145 tons and I have lifted everything at least twice.
The deconstruction took about 5 months, costed about 34 grand (I had 31 calculated) and I myself lost about 18 kilos.

Newspaper:

The article in the newspaper opened doors.
Before starting my new job I visited the Oamaru stone quarry and met with the owners Bob and Linda Wilson. Also met with Paul Hauligan; stone mason at the Art Centre in Christchurch.
Heritage New Zealand just had moved into their new office in Christchurch and here I presented the deconstruction project for all staff.
All to be continued...

Oamaru stone contractor John Dooley (Dooley Brothers) identified the Oamaru stone from the house as quarried at the "Okay" quarry.
Okay quarry is a small quarry with high quality stone but closed already years ago.    I'd like to visit the quarry.

Basilica:

It is said that the Muschamps used left over stone from the Basilica in Christchurch.
It would be worth looking into where Oamaru stone, used at the Basilica, came from.
I also think it would be worth looking into similarities in doors, skirtings, architraves, Canadian Oregon Pine and "Turtle" Marseille roof tiles used at the Basilica.

All to be continued...

25 Demolition

Demolition: 3 /14 June 2016

The walls of both additional buildings (Outer building and Garage) had been built in unreinforced concrete using 40mm Oamaru stone as a brick veneer at the exterior.
These walls cannot be deconstructed and are to be removed by a demolition contractor.

Both additional buildings were stripped back to the bare stone and concrete structure.
Feature elements at the additional buildings, like the laundry facility (in Oamaru stone), the steel water tank, brass taps and the Garage door lintel were retrieved and put in storage.

The 20ft container on site was filled to the top and had become too heavy for any HIAB to be lifted.
After taking some of the timbers out, it was successfully lifted at the 3rd attempt by the largest HIAB of the South Island and transported to West Melton.

The only construction materials left over on site for the demolition contractor are unreinforced concrete and stone.
These materials can be dumped for free at Lyttelton Harbour, reducing the cost for demolition significantly.
Demolition started on Friday the 3rd of June and the site was cleared on Tuesday the 14th of June.

24 Foundations

Foundations 02 / 16 June 2016

The house was built on an unreinforced concrete beam foundation; 500mm high, 330mm / 470mm (at perimeter) wide, no footings and no piles.
The foundation beams (plinth under the house) had only minor cracks and were still straight as.

As expected, the North/East corner of the foundation was broken off and had drifted away a few centimeters.

The top of the foundation beams was asphalted in order to avoid moisture transport into the Oamaru stone; smart move.
Both chimneys were founded on huge blocks of concrete; the length of those blocks included the tiled space in front of the fire places.

There was no point in deconstructing the foundations; it was documented only.
All foundations were removed by the demolition contractor.