Here we are under the house - not my house, my friend Bron's. It's a typical Queenslander house which means it is elevated on stumps. Her place was largely submerged in the recent floods. What was once a smooth packed dirt floor is now rock-hard, lumpy dried-up mud... and that door has seen better days (see below for close-up). I have noticed that hollow doors like this don't seem to bow straight away after the waters recede. It takes a couple of weeks to get them to this level. On the plus-side, the builders turned up yesterday to check the place out and are ready for a complete makeover. And one day all of this flood business will be a distant memory.
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Quite astounding isn't it? And I was reading just yesterday about the 'modern' products that builders use to save costs and speed up construction - and which are absolutely useless anywhere near water.
This is what I hope comes out of the Commission; this sort of information.
All kitchen cupboards are essentially made of this sort of particle board.
Was it you who said that after the muck was removed, and the area sprayed for mould bacteria, that the wood had to be left for 6 months to fully dry out or the mould was still 'alive'? Are people desperate enough to ignore this?
I don't remember... but I have heard something like that... and nobody I know is hanging around waiting for mould to die - it's all systems go. The wooden houses in the street we're staying in at the moment are a hive of activity with all sorts of builders and carpenters doing their stuff. Some are rental properties and the owners are racing to get things finished so they can stop losing money. The unit next to mine (the one with the eviction note) has been completely renovated already and should be available to rent as of next week. I reckon if we got another flood tomorrow the damage bill just from the new stuff would be astronomical already.
Waterproof materials are available- fibro (no asbestos these days),steel, hardwood, marine ply(one flooded marine ply kitchen I know cleaned up very well).
And on the same theme but a different tack have a look at this ABC journo's personal story.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/02/10/3135460.htm?site=brisbane
Yep fibreboard looks ok, does the job but really is completely useless anywhere more than slightly moist. I do not get it, real wood is a great natural resource and can and should grown with a thought to our natural environment. Good to see that things are getting back to normal.
Went and listened to Neroli's story. Engrossing ... and proves that time is relative ...
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