suburban permaculture house

One thing has become painfully clear in the last couple of years: we need to sort out the house.

I've done temporary work on it, but it's not enough - the environment inside mimics the environment outside to within a couple of degrees, no matter the weather, and that's just not viable long-term. So, this means renovations. And soon.

I used to think we'd make it to at least 2050. Now, I'm not so sure we'll all make it to 2030. Climate extremes - floods and fire, drought and gale-force winds, power going out and down, gas becoming so expensive. War in Ukraine. Entrenchment of conservatism and a refusal to do anything to improve the general quality of life for the many rather than the moneyed few. Coronaviruses and other diseases. And, of course, the eternal racial bigotry that might someday see me lose my citizenship and personhood in Australia.

Things are getting expensive - have already gotten expensive. And they'll only get more so. So, now is the time.

How long it will take and how much it will cost are the big questions in my head. Also a consideration: the logistics of getting it done in as permaculturally as possible. Reusing old hardwoods, considering the lifespan of the things we're using in the build, and how much work we can do ourselves.

List to be done:

1. strip fibro, seal gaps, insulate walls, cover with weatherboard/colourbond
2. replace tile roof with colourbond
3. expand house and redo insides
4. replace wooden fold-out windows with sealable ones

There's a part of me that heavily regrets not thinking of all this when we first moved in; even having to borrow money, we'd have been a lot better off over the last eight years. But that's in the past, can't change the decisions made then. And now we know a whole lot more about passive houses, energy ratings, and good building, as well as having people who've already done it.

We're a little hampered by the fact that we'll probably have to move out for at least some of it. And stripping the asbestos is going to be a fair piece of work. I just have to confirm that my work is going to rehire me for the year, and we can maybe look at making a start.

Some links:
Greenyflat: a fibro rebuild down in Mittagong (2014)
Fibro Cottage Deep Energy Reno - the cottage behind the fibro rebuild