BUILDING AT OTAKI BEACH

Chronicle (Levin), 21 May 1946, Page 2

BUILDING AT OTAKI BEACH

HOUSE BUILT IN RECORD TIME Exceptional interest- 4s,. bei;ng. taken by residents, -prospective. home builders and . the building trade in what Is a no'velty in. HoroT whenua and further ( afield. The focus of interest is tlie er.ection of a "ready-to-erect" dwelling.'for Mii. J. A. King, qf Moana Street,] Tas-, man Beach... ... /* '•' * The building, which was made in' the factory in Hamilton, is built in sections, with the exception of the roof structure. It is then transported to the building site and is erected by a team of skilled assemblers in remarkably short time. In this instance, owing to staff shortage and distance, only one erecting expert, Mr. R. Waite, could be spared, and with the aid of two handymen the team, as it is called, has made rapid, and to many, eye-opening progress. ' The following resume of the time elapsed may cause surprise and envy to most of those unfortunates who are still waiting. for timber and labour, or both, to carry on with their own building plans. A sketch plan, one. of sixteen available, was agreed upon- during February, plans and specifications were submitted to the District Building Controller during ' March, and his approval was received and forwarded to the factory in Hamilton on March 27. On May 13 the first instalment of the house was unloaded from the railway at Otaki. On Tuesday, May 14, Mr.' Waite arrived, checked and alighed the foundations, already set out, to the unbelievably close measurements allowable for this type of building, and at 3.30, with the welcome aid of interested neighbours, a start was made to lay the floor Sections on the stringers. Two hours later the flooring was down, wall sections bolted in position and some inside partitions in place. By "knock-off" time on Friday, May 17, the roof, which takes some time to build up with cut-to-meas-ure timber, was completed and half the fibrolite roofing had been laid. • • -•••' : • t • It is- bxpected that the; roof and all! outside carpentry will be completed, windows >and doors; -complete; . with hardware, ■ ■ would be fitted in' place by this morning, a week after commencing erectio.n. Mr. Waite expects to leave at' the week-end with the house lined throughout and -all. inside fittings s.uch as sink .bench ,unit,: cupboards, safe, etc„ all in place and lined and ceiled, subject to the sub-contracts for . electricity, water and . bricklaying being completed. As stated before this ' method gf house constructioh, although it has been carried on for many 'yeirs in the Waikato and Auckland, is novel to this part of the lsland, there being only ' one other "ready-to-erect" south of the King Country. To those really interested in thc house we have the assurance of Mr. King that he will be only too pleased to show them round- during this week while the dwelling is still uninhabited, and give them the benefit of sueh information on the subject as he possesses. In conclusion it is of interest that this rnethod of housebuilding cannot truly be called "prefabrication." This would mean that every part would be factory assembled in sections or panels, and would include wall coverings, ceilings and roof members, et.c. In the case of the "ready-to-erect" certain po,rtions sueh as flooring and wall sections certainly are prefabricated, and many builders prefabricate their inside partitions on the flat, but apart from those parts mentioned and the ,end gables, all joists, rafters, ridges, basebpards and numerous other essential parts of any building are cut and shaped to fit exactly into place, or in other words are fabricated "ready-to-erect."