Lostranger- cheers for the compliments. Yep- as Stu said the NZ height limit is 4.25 m (14'). We built ours to 4.2 but as the truck got heavier it settled and is now about 4.15. Most roads, bridges, tunnels in NZ, at least the ones we will use, are designed to allows a rear overhang of 70% of the wheelbase. We used that! Front overhang can be 3m from the front edge of the drivers seat!!!! We didn't go that far....
If you use plenty of bracing your shell will be fine to use horizontal cladding. We wanted to use Cedar originally but very expensive here and our budget wouldn't allow it. Decent Cedar in NZ is imported western red. NZ grown varieties are apparently not as good as they grow to quickly and are not as stable.
The marine ply we have used is great though not as classic looking as lapped cladding. Its a lovely colour and seems very durable against the wet so far but the harsh sun here I think may break it down. Its getting a rough surface and we think it may need paint in the next year or so. The big decision is what colour!? Its a shame to have to cover the hardwood as the patterns are fantastic. I don't think the photos really show them off well.
A bit of an update here. I thought we would be in Nelson by now, parked up, waking up before 9am and doing that work thing. But we keep finding little jobs to do.
I think we may be stalling...
The most important thing to sort out was getting a electrical warrant of fitness. This is a requirement by law if we want to stay in campgrounds and use the hookups.
I wired all the relevant stuff in place like circuit breaker, rcd etc. Then a friendly Welshman working for a local electrickery company came round, had a look, gave some advice. We moved bits here and there and then he wrote out a nice 'leckywof' which is valid for 4 years. Sweet. Done.
Other jobs done recently include the following;
After putting up with wobbly, slippery steps for ages now I finally got around to building some better ones. I have made them out of steel, with adjustable legs for uneven ground as they now attach directly to the veranda. I have added mounting points both at the rear directly in line with the door and also off to the side. This is so if we park somewhere that the ground or access is bad straight out back we have another entrance option onto the veranda. One place we are looking at parking up in Nelson has a creek that would be directly behind the back door if we park there.
The steps swing up and over onto the veranda when travelling. I have used up loads of odd bits of steel left over from the build. Very satisfying.
The brackets to be bolted onto veranda frame.
Build in progress..
I also made them even distance between the steps this time. The previous ones were spaced wrong and it meant bigger step ups. Sooooo much easier walking up them now- especially for my olds who, as old people do, complain about such things.
Here they are against the old steps.
Hannah finally got to make a little bathroom cabinet for shampoos etc. She's very proud of it and rightfully so as it look great. She got to use a little door knob she found ages ago that has a little fern print on it. It matches the green paint. The little things in life. I'm glad she is easy to keep happy.
I boxed in the water pump, filter and associated pipework now that I'm happy the old old califont works well. I was worried about the ceiling getting too hot so I decided to make a little heat shield. But with what. Ahhhh- the left overs from the kitchen bench thats been laying outside next to the shed. Perfect!
All thats needed to finish the bathroom is a step for the throne- being a composting toilet its really high up. In fact you can look out the window while reading car magazines on the 'job'. Not that we have tried the toilet out as I have yet to put in the flue plus the fan and without that it would be a very stinky place. We wont be needing the toilet yet as the spot we are moving to has toilets. But it will be there for when Nelson gets its overdue earth quakes, or we go travelling.
Today I finished fitting a bike rack I have built. Its using parts from this old rack I built for my old Rx3. When I sold the Rx3 the fella didn't want a rack or tow bar (such a crime- all cars need tow bars...) I love this shot- could it be the only Rx3 coupe out there with a tow bar and rack?
So I brought the rack back to NZ with us.
Now it adorns the front of our house.
And what good is a housetruck update from me if it hasn't got a cat in it. Heres Daisy happily enjoying the woodburner..