DAMAGING HOUSE! Pausing Build For 5 Months 

As a short term solution you could drill some holes through the floor where puddles occur - so water drains. You can always patch the holes later.

Wood, especially plywood, can get wet and not be damaged as long as it can dry out. Painting the floor sounds like a good idea. I would also make sure to stack the unused lumber with the offcuts you already have stacked in between the boards so there's good airflow and so the unused lumber isn't sitting on the plywood floor. I'm sure in a few months you'll being wishing for so much rain unfortunately lol.

It is so funny to see that at the other end of the world the Spring is starting and that we here in the Netherlands are looking for the wonderful colors of the autumn. Good luck with al the new constructions.

Good old Aotearoa weather! Four seasons in one day

We lived in ours with building paper on for a whole summer, it is what it is how great that you can do it yourselves

Hayden obviously got the floor very level . Good job.

With the rain your best bet is get something like a 100mm holl saw and drill some drainage holes. The you can rout them out to plug them

When my parents built our house there was an 18 month period while they sought further funding where the house sat out in all weather with just the frames up. When they got back to it only one stud had a slight twist to it and was easily replaced. Don't fret the small stuff.

Good to see you back. Maybe you should leave the house project, hook up the caravan, take to the road and get your old “mojo” back.

I think Hayden has got it all under control....be happy don't worry..

I feel your pain I’m also building at this time managed to get my concrete slabs down with the minimum drying time and it has not stop raining since for days pools of water sitting on top I am so stressed about it ahhhh! Looks like it’s a bad year for building 😢. I’m glad you went with the painting not wrapping if mould got into the wood that would not be good. Fingers crossed things get better from here 🤞

Lumbersider is a great hard wearing washable and weathering paint for inside and outside.

I might suggest a small project, find the throw away pieces of wood, give them a good dry out, sand them and clear coat them for blocks for Reese. Save some and let Reese paint them with water colors and then date and clear coat! A small memory and new blocks! Please trust your husband, offer your worries up to the clouds and take care of yourself!

I was walking in our local Warehouse today and a lady walking in front of me had a baby in her arms that was looking at me. I knew I recognized him and I even knew his name was Reese. However I just couldn't place in my head how I knew him. Then suddenly quite a while later the penny dropped and I realised who he was. Gutted as I would have definitely come and said hello. So neat that Reese is famous lol. Hope you are enjoying your time in this neck of the woods.

Wishing your home build goes better from now on for you both. 👍🥰

Another idea which we have used is to coat the floors with a product called Metalex. You mix 1 part to 3 parts of mineral turpentine and the timber soaks it in. I even heard of it turning rotten timber back to a hard structure. I would be making sure that the floors are well and truly dry before painting to avoid trapping any moisture. Hayden probably knows this being a real gem of a builder. Well done you guys. Your house will be absolutely fine I'm sure. All the best from the crew here at LittleCamperNZ.

I’m also in the middle of building here in Aus, it’s so stressful and there are many times I wish we hadn’t have started. So much rain here too and flooding. I understand what it’s like. Just think that a year from now it should be all over. We’ll get there…right? 😊

With all that water running off the floor no wonder you were a tad concerned Kaye…. Hang in there; expect delays, stuff ups, and the totally unexpected when building a house. All will be well in the end.

All I can say is we took many months to owner build our first home. We had cypress pine framing and some hardwood beams and a mix of hardwood flooring and plywood. We polyurethaned the plywood floors at one point after heavy rain before more was due but did cover the hardwood floors with tarps while they were dry. They sanded and polished up fine. We already had water stains on the ply before we’d polyurethaned so ended up a mix of staining and carpet on those. We also drilled a few strategic holes to let water seep out as others have suggested. Also do move all spare timber off the floor and store stacked to allow air flow eg under the house as others have also said. We barely had any issues with frame warping despite enduring months of rain and heat here in Qld as they were exposed the whole time. It’ll work out OK in the end - try not to stress ❤.

Don't stress the little things. One day at a time.

Progress is good, buildings ones own home can be very frustrating and exciting. That was definitely a large amount of water. I see the future designer was adding his touches to the flooring. Thank you for sharing, stay warm, safe, happy and healthy. From Henrico County Virginia

i'm happy that the house is coming, at least the house is advancing even though its not at the speed you thought it would go, but good luck with the house and keep on going forward take care of yourselves, summer is just around the corner

It it very stressful building a new house...your doing well x Ot would of been a relief to see that water being brushed out...everything will be ok

I think removing all of the smaller pieces of wood out of your way would also be helpful. I hope it all works out.

Darkest day here in Norway will be 21st december. sort of mid winter, but most snow willl set in january-march. Then mid summer in 23rd june, but usually hight of summer we have at july til august. In norway most of the west do not get snow. You need to get to the east above a moutain range to get colder weather. You get as low as minus 35 degrees, in the town of Tynset. But I recommend a visit here. We have freedom of roam. Camp everywhere you like.

Love your video's! We feel for the both of you onn the stress of building! Looks like you are doing a great job! If Hayden needs a hand I may be around the area to volunteer some help in exchange to pick Haydens brain on building in New Zealand) I am a recently retired electrician, now retired from Canada. I am also wondering if you maybe know someone around Taumarunui or area who does windows? My sister in law who lives west of Owhango is needing to have some windows replaced.

Suggest you store the framing timber under the house if you’re not going to use it soon. Stack it on top of some off cuts to allow for airflow

It looks relatively dry under the house floor. You could store the offcuts etc there.

Typically, you look at where the water is deepest and drill a hole about 8mm through it. A few of those scattered around and it will fix the problem. You will have to unblock them occasionally, so mark them with a builders crayon or similar so you can find them.

Paint should be fine to protect the floor. I'd drill some holes in the low points for water to run out and prevent pooling - they will be easy to plug later. The framing timber should be fine.

Gosh I'd be worried sick too!

When applying some form of paint to protect the floor panels. Think of what form of floor finish you want to fix to this protected finish. You may have some problems.

I'm waiting for some dry weather here in Melbourne it has been raining constantly for so long... not good for exposed timber and flooring material hopefully no permanent damage, warping or twisting once the harsh sun replace the rainy clouds...

Keep up the good work...we are watching.....

I suggest that before you paint the floor with petro chemical based paints that research into linseed oil based paints could be beneficial. Brouns in Uk have a good website and useful help line. Good look.

Drilling some small holes in the floor in just the right places - where puddles remain - solves this problem easily. These holes are easy to close up later.

And relax 😌 you will be fine, you two are amazing. 👏 👏. Been meaning to ask what's the difference between the pink coloured wood and the plain wood? Could you not just use water based fence paint. That's none toxic.

Im not sure that ply floor will dry without damage and de lamination. The Roof really does need to go on fast.

I would be the same Karen. And looking out on torrential rain would be tormenting. Hang in there n hopefully u will get some dry weather to dry out timber and paint it. Hope it goes well. Sadly when you are doing most of the work yourselves to save money it can be a much slower process. But this time next year you will be looking at a near finished house or u may hv even moved in.

Time to buy some tarps :)

I would be stressed as well seeing all that water. Having a shed with a rotten floor here in the UK I know just how much damage water can do. Like you my priority above everything else would be to waterproof the whole thing, not just the floor.

apart from the water aspect you cannot leave that frame over the five hottest months of the year exposed to the sun and rain it will not look good it could also be a concern to the local building inspector it will have to be wrapped inside and out ie both sides if not using a precut i would have done the precut myself first before the floor structure so it was already to go. if you are planing any type of roof truss they must be made by a precut company they need to be ordered 3 months ago to get them on site , has hayden jumped the gun a bit i can see lots of issues with this build you have genuine reasons to be worried make sure hayden does not suffer burnout it needs to be a lockup shell by xmas

Remove some of the flooring it will let water drain away

I suppose it wouldn't have been possible to build the floor with a 1 degree slope? To give good drainage and be a good surface for brm brming with toy cars..it would have given Reese loads of happiness...

What was all of rain. That water would be nice to have in the tank.

You so need to clean off all the bits of wood all over your floors. The water will get trapped underneath. Plus it's hard for Hayden to build with all that mess under his feet.

You need to trust your man. He has more talent and knowledge than you seem to give him credit for. Trust me men have all the same concerns, but lean toward solutions and facts. Support that fine man and trust that your family is more important to him than you could ever know.

why not get all the off cuts out and the long pieces raised off the floor or undercover somewhere !!?????

I would have drilled a few holes in the floor -they can always be filled

Drill 25mm holes all over the place...they wont affect anything structural...

If your brother is still there, there's no reason why you and him (or you by yourself) couldn't take this time to clean up the job site, lifting all the unused wood off the ground (you've enough spare cut ends to use) and making it easier for any collected water to flow off the floors.

Too bad you couldn’t get that water from inside the house to your water tank. Building is one of the most stressful things you can do.

Sorry, but I can’t spell luck.