Just finished reading the attached, which was of interest as my wife's grandfather self-built their first property in Perth and the story told was similair to the below
The self-built home
The self-built home
... hand saws, hand drills and, when I think of how many nails are in the house - well, I don't know how I did it. (Eric Fairs)
Eric and Doris Fairs' house stands 10 kilometres north east of the Perth city centre in the suburb of Embleton. Formerly North Bayswater or simply 'out Beechboro Road' it was once a small rural community settled from the time of the First World War, when the land was subdivided into five acre lots. Being isolated and without facilities, land was cheap and a number of British people took up rural spreads and built their own houses.
The forebears of Fairs migrated from England before the war. George Fairs wanted to give his family 'room to breathe'. Many found the going too hard and permanently half-built houses were a feature of the landscape. But the Fairs succeeded and became a prominent part of the community. Eric Fairs, a grandson, was born in the area. The house he built was the final stage in a family tradition and also a product of conditions in the post-war age which resulted in a resurgence of self-help home-building.
Eric and Doris married in 1949 when owning a home seemed an unattainable dream for young couples due to building shortages after the Second World War. Eric had bought a one and a half acre block for £27/10 in the vicinity of the family's first generation of houses and near to a neighbour with whom he and Doris boarded. Being close to the building site, they did not have to live in a tent or shed as self-help builders often did.
A loan of £2,000 was floated with the Friendly Societies Lodge and a further £1,000 was advanced as materials were required. In 1950, building commenced and for the next three years it was their life. There were no holidays or weekends off and much work was also done at night. It was an experience widely shared at the time. Self-help building was a learning experience. 'You can do it, Eric. You're young and silly', a friend advised him. Fortuitously, Eric's background fitted him for the task - woodwork at school, a recent military background with instruction in mechanics and a tendency to being 'handy'. His father was a tinsmith and his mother was a handywoman in her own right. Eric's father later installed the plumbing in their house.
The house was timber-framed, with asbestos sheeting and cement-tiled roof and, because of shortages, the initial floor space was limited to 9.5 squares. This meant that only the most urgent rooms could be built: two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, hall and porch. A lounge and dining room were part of the plan, but added in 1952, after shortages ended. In accord with local by-laws, the ceiling was 10 feet. Ceiling heights had not yet been lowered in response to the desperate need for housing. A plan of a recently-built house was used, changed to become a mirror image.
The first task after obtaining approval from the State Housing Commission and the Bayswater Road Board, was to discover the survey pegs in vacant scrub. 'You didn't know where you were!' Eric recalled. A well was dug, as water was necessary for doing the brick work. Water was 30 feet down and only short-handled shovels could be used for well-digging due to lack of space. Water was to be lifted by an electric pump so electricity had to be got onto the block. The water came from the well via a tank on a 15 feet high tankstand. In Eric's words, 'We had to stand the damn thing up. I can tell you, it was pretty hairy'.
Timber was obtained from a local builder, RH Kelly, whose pre-fabricated houses were a feature of Bayswater. A Fargo truck was bought to carry in the timber and loads of sawdust so that the truck could be driven across the sandy soil. Foundations consisted of jarrah stumps, bearers and joists. Asbestos sheeting took seven weeks to procure and once the framework was up, it was in danger from the elements. The solution was to erect the roof before the walls. The house with a roof and no walls posed a strange spectacle but the self-help builders had to find novel ways of dealing with the unforeseen.
Unlike tradesmen who specialise in one type of task, the self-help builders had to do everything. One way of achieving a workmanlike standard was to hire a workman for a part of the work and then copy what he had done on the rest of the house. Eric made one mistake which resulted in a particularly strong structure, by supporting each corner of the house with twice the normal amount of timber. Eric made the kitchen cupboards, but concedes that cabinet making was not his forte. Nevertheless, they have performed their function for nearly fifty years.
The early fifties were a transition time in domestic fixtures. There was no gas and electric stoves were a luxury. A wood stove was used for baking and a primus for other cooking. An electric stove was installed in 1970 but the wood stove is still used during winter as it provides a special dimension to a kitchen. The stove could be operated for no cost using local banksia which burns cleanly. 'Wonder Heat' in the lounge was modern for its time. Perth winters are cold enough to need one warm room. Despite the built-up district, Eric still provides much of the fuel through collecting banksia, by arrangement with schools or others with remaining banksia trees.
Soon after completing their house, the Fairs were overtaken by events when a large area of land, including their own, was resumed by the State Housing Commission. The event devastated many of the remaining small farmers in outlying areas of Perth. Doris recalls that the first news of the resumptions made her physically ill. Existing houses could remain but the re-survey resulted in the disappearance of the rural layout and the appearance of Sudlow Street fifty metres from the Fairs' back door.
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