The saying "old is gold" couldn't be more true especially when considering two important building materials - wood and steel.
By today's standards, tropical hardwood is more expensive than cement and concrete per square foot. Thus, it made a lot of environmental sense to recycle as much of the "Balau" wood which was used for the roof trusses and prevent it from ending up as landfill.
Pic 1: Removing the original roof tiles exposed the "Balau" wood roof trusses which remained in excellent condition even after 50 years.
Pic 2: The roof trusses were carefully dismantled and sorted according to length.
Pic 3: Any nails or metal objects were removed by hand and then planed using an electric hand planer.
Pic 4: Once planed, the natural grain and colour of the "Balau" wood was clearly visibly.
Pic 5: Each piece was then given a quick protective coating, cut to size and hoisted in place to form the new floor beams.
Pic 6: Close-up view of the floor beams using recycled "Balau" wood.
Pic 7: View of the loft with the floor beams in place and ready for the floor boards to be installed over it.
Pic 8: Bamboo plywood used as underlay for the floor boards. Bamboo is a renewable product and resistant to termites due to its tough fibers.
Pic 9: The original "Balau" door frames were also re-fitted throughout the house.
Pic 10a & 10b: Vintage steel casement windows and grilles dating back to 1960s were salvaged from an old bungalow and re-fitted in the bedrooms.
Pic 11: Solid steel bars salvaged from the original louvered window grilles will be incorporated into the new grilles.
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