IN COMING SHOWERS

Welcome to the next exciting blog from Disgraceland! Lets get strait into it, the weather really does suck balls at the moment, worst then that, the weather seam’s to enjoy sucking balls, and laughs when we all cringe at its disgustingness…

(note…this blog was typed when the weather was crap for 2 months strait)

Its hard to get moving, get up, and get going, but things have not been slow around Disgraceland..

This weather situation has thrown up another problem,…..HEATING

Heating a warehouse in special 3 pigs style sauce!

Pig 1 – the brick pig – (room still not complete) – electric heater

In true brick pig style, the easiest option was the best, and since there was no brick wall separating brick pig from the milk crate pig, brick pig went rite on in and grabbed milk crate pigs electric oil heater..

Brick pig had yet to construct his room at the writing of the blog, so really, the heater only served the purpose of heating sum one up when they stood in front of it.

No walls and shit heater 2/10 stars

Pig 2 – the milk crate pig

After having his 70’s oil element heater taken, the plastic pig new exactly what to do..Head strait to Bunnings and buy the biggest heater he could get his hands on! Using those trusty zip ties, milk crate pig locked the fucker on the roof…the result is below.

Radiating 400 degrees of pure UV heat, this baby slightly dims the whole warehouses lighting when it’s cranked up. You see it is a UV outdoor spotlight heater, connects to mains, uses a bit of power but will heat a room in seconds, it will also keep a room warm, if fully insulated

Oh wait, theirs more. The sexy redish glow is the perfect mood setter to any occasion, and according to the milk crate pig, sends the perfect message to any one who enters his home.

Basic insulated room, high end industrial heater – 7/10 stars

Pig 3 – the timber pig –

The ceiling on the timber pigs fortress is resembling the corps brides face with 4 different material’s being used. The four materials where, timber (of course) old thick curtains, plastic beer signs and LAZER LIGHT(that see through plastic that resembles corrugated iron.

Evan though it looks like a smashed crab, the roof kept in the heat, and a small electric heater was all that was needed to give timber pig a toasty warm room!!(oh and there was insulation placed on the roof, after all over 70% of all heat will be lost through the ceiling of a room, thanks Origin Energy web site!)

Of course the room still needed to be heated, so using the powers of Gumtree, this baby was bought!!

(That is not real flame, but it does a good job of tricking you into feeling warmer!)

Walls, roof, insulating and fake fireplace electric heater – gold star!

Now as you can read and see from the photos, allot has happened in the room building area, infact at the time this blog was posted, the rooms of plastic and timber pigs where as good as done. Of course friends helped, but there is only so many favours you can ask of your friends, don’t burn or bum them out, time to do it yourself!

STOCK UP ON CHEAP,GOOD TOOLS

TOP 5 TOOLS YOU WILL NEED

1 – cordless drill and drill bits!! Nothing gets done without a drill!!

2 – tape measure – lots of em, get 10! they go missing!! But are so important.

3 – good hammers – not the crap one your old man gave you, get a good one.

4 – electric saw – these baby’s are dicey at best, so use with caution!

4 – scissors, Stanley knife, sharp things – so many uses, will always go missing, but very vital.

Now a big generic hardware store like Bunnings is the obvious choice, and from experience, second hand tools can be a wast of money as they are dodgy and often parts are no longer available (unless it’s a great brand) DON’T BUY $2 SHOP TOOLS _ I WILL EXPLAIN LATER!! BUT RISIST THE TEMPTATION BUY NOTHING FROM THE $2 SHOP UNLESS ITS WORTH 2$!!

So with roofs over our heads, heaters keeping us warm, fridges storing our food, and fresh water running from our taps, you could say that we had covered all the basis for things that are “Needed for survival” so it was time to move on to the luxuries of life….like a shower, THAT’S RITE, 4 WEEKS, NO SHOWER!!!

(Brick pig has been, PRISON SHOWERING with the fire hose, if you live in Melbourne you know how frigin cold it gets, and he does this at 5 in the morn, props to brick pig, but really, just shower at friends houses like the other pigs did next time!)

In previous blogs I have presented photos and a 3d map of the warehouse, in these pictures its easy to see the toilet block at the back of the factory. We had decided early that this was the are that we where going to build our shower.

Measure twice, buy once!!

First thing first, we measured the fuck out of the toilet block, we needed all the measurements we could get our hands on. We did this so that when we bought our hot water system, shower base, hose for system, gas bottle ect we would get things THAT FIT! If they are to small its generally ok but if they are to big, you are screwed, so measure measure measure and get it rite, we didn’t, and now know how important it is.

Seek and you shall find

We went to town on the internet, searching all the various shopping sites for a shower tub and hot water system..seek and you shall find… and oh boy did we find!!

The Hot Water system was a E-Bay pick up from one of those mobs that ships cheap shit in from china and flogs it on E-Bay for 4 times the price, good racket really. This hot water system is an amazing little unit that can run of natural or LPG safely, gives you continua’s hot water FOR EVER!!! And is about the size of two suitcases stacked together.. It cost all of 150 bux and was shipped to our door within 3 days!

Life expectancy…..6 months :P

HANDY HINT!! – Second hand hot water systems are verry hard to transport!! After they have been first installed things begin to happen inside them and parts move.. Unless kept uprite and jolt free most hot water systems will never survive being moved after being installed..so be wary of secondhand hot water systems..

The bath tub was brand new, and the glorious part was that it fit exactly in the toilet block, BRILLIANT!!....900 x 900 is what the measurements read, we where happy, as this was going to be easy……oh how we where wrong!

Square bath round hole, with big bits of wood, and cement, and 500 year old render

The tub came first! So strait away it was moved into position in the toilet, and surprise surprise, it didn’t fit! These walls aren’t strait (or plum as they say in the tradie world) and are covered in 500 year old render!! To make maters worse, the ceramic toilet didn’t come out! Stuck into the ground!

So again we turned into little worker trolls and started to chisel away at the render, this shower was going to get done..We stunk to much to not make it happen!

With the walls clean from the render, we thought through the problem of the toilet.. There was only 2 solutions. Smash the dunny with a sledge hammer or build a big frame over the toilet and run PVC pipe into it…we didn’t have a sledge hammer, so we built the frame

Now we know how to use a hammer, us in Disgraceland use hammers all the time to fix stuff, just the other day I knocked a ball down from the ceiling with a hammer, ive seen the milk crate pig scratch himself with a hammer, so that being sed, we trusted the building of the shower frame to our trusty German master craftsmen we will call Gooonta Goodenthat!!

Goodenthat knows his shit and was happy to help out with this frame business’, he smashed it like Chriss brown smashed Rhiana, and the thing was finished and looking amazing in the main room…..awsome

Then Goodenthat began to swear

He never swears

How the fuck do we get it in! its to big to get through the door!! He yelled!

In true Disgraceland style, the answer was simple………we will kick the roof of :D

GOLDEN TIP TIME

As I mentioned before, always measure, but before you attempt anything, think about how that thing is going to get into where it needs to go!!! This rule applies to everything we are doing now! Putting a big TV or bookshelf in a room is dead easy when there is no door or wall….think about it before moving/building it.

Fight the shower!!! FIGHT,FIGHT, Fight the shower

So again the worker troll was summoned, and we wnt to work.

On these older type of ware house its not uncommon for there to be large timber beams used for structural purposes, and that what was holding up the ceiling in the toilet block. These timber beams are extremely heavy and will often have a hook shape cut out of them, in the end that is stuck in the wall, this hook helps the timber to be secure when they fill the hole that the beam has gone into with concrete.

And yes sir, that’s what we faced, with only a chisel, claw hammer, blind stupidity and brute strength

So we hammered, chiselled, pulled, hammered, chiselled pulled, cigi break, beer break, hammered, chiselled, pulled, hammered, chiselled pulled – and BOOM put come the beams!!

Next we lifted the frame over the walls of the toilet block, and slammed that puppy in place…actually it wasn’t that easy, but you get the drift…

Thank you Goodenthat, job well done!!

So then the simple task of putting the PVC draining pipe in place, and we where done!

And the lords of Disgraceland sed, let there be hot water – and there was!!        

Next came the hot water system, it needed a home, and since it ran on LPG gas we thought that maybee a plumbeder

GOLDIN TIP! - MOST TRADIES ARE DICKS, they lie, over quote, never show up, wont do a cash job, always do things legely and the list goes on..

It was so hard to find a plumber who would just do us a favour, it’s a easy job, but for sum reason no one wanted to do it for under the price of “way to much”

So we did it ourselves!

So it goes like this rite….

Stage one – Water to hot water system – Using a high pressure, flexible 10mm pipe, found at a hardware store we ran water from the tap used to fill the toilet to the hot water system, plugging into the tap and hot water system where two female copper connectors, these connectors where covered with plumbers tape, lathered with the greatest plumbers stuff ever” BOSTON GLUER” and secured to the tube using screw couplings. In the middle of the pipe at shower level we put in an industrial tap, like what’s attached to a fire extinguisher to regulate the water flow

Stage two – Gas bottle to hot water system – Finding a BBQ on e-bay with a gas bottle(BBQ with  Swap,n,go bottle was 60 bux, it costs 70 bux just to sign up with Swap’n’go!! Winner) screw gas bottle hose into hot water system, pray to the gods shit don’t get real any time soon! Make sure all washers are in place!!

Stage 3 – Hot water to person’s head – Same as stage 1 but attaching into a showerhead

Stage 4  - check for leaks – put soapy water on every connection, if it bubbles, pull attachment of, re tape, re glue, re secure, test again..This will show any water or gas leaks, so there is a lesser chance of a shit shower or wors, death

Stage 5 – Secure hot water system – We Dynobolted the system to the wall at a height where the flue(chimney) stuck out over where the ceiling once was, thus, no one gets gas poisoning or burnt – again – safety first kids!!

Stage 6 – Enjoy shower – This bit is private

So there we have it, an amazing feet under the circumstances, true ingenuity.. We had a working shower for under 400 bux! True, it was 3 feet of the ground, true, you get a birds eye view of the warehouse when showering and true, the gas situation is not to crash hot but for the time being it is AWSOME!!

That’s it for this instalment, allot has happened over the last few weeks, ppl have moved in, rooms have been completed, huge amounts of girly fabric have been found and used as walls…the list goes on….but that’s gona have to wait till next time

Andy V

BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!! PROBLEMS WITH SPACE!!

Hey Hey !!! Finally the second instalment of the Disgraceland 3.0 Blog is up and ready for your educational enjoyment!

It’s been a while, so I strongly recommend reading the first Blog to get refreshed on exactly what is going down in this dinosaur size project.

So here we go!!!!!!!!!!!

The lease was signed, and we have the keys! 3 keys in total, one for the automatic roller door (yes we have one of these bad boys!), one for the front door and one for the side door… straight away these needed to be cut for the people who are moving in, and this was done, easy!

Now, first day in……the problems started to roll through……

THE PROBLEM WITH WAREHOUSE LIVING!

Ok so the place was filthy, I mean FILTHY, like Britney Spears filthy.. Not only had it been used as a meth lab at one stage, but as a button factory and a blanket manufacturer. This meant there was chemical splash everywhere, stains 6 ft high, and this weird kinda wool, mould stuff that seemed to stick onto every rough surface (this was later indentified as dooner filler), plus the place was dusty!

This is a fun fact, for every kilo of Meth made, ten kilos of toxic waste is created!! (thanks Johno)

So stage 1 was agreed on,

OPERATION CLEAN THE FUCK OUT OF THE AREA WE ARE GOING TO LIVE IN

We grabbed sum industrial cleaners, big bristle brooms, the fire hose, and 3 good mates..

Oh oh oh before I go any further this is a golden tip “WORD YOUR MATES UP ON WHEN SHIT IS GETTING DONE” if your friends know, they will most likely want to help and offer there services in one way or another, in our case friends just kept rockin up for beer and helping out..Friends that don’t help are usually sorry sons of bitches who have there head in, or up, there own ass….everybody remembers the story of “The little Red HenH” right??? If not this is a reminder - THE LITTLE RED HEN - A STORY

Back to the clean, WE GOT STUCK IN

In these photos it shows exactly how it was done! We hosed, scrubbed, hosed and sent that filthy water to a dark grave in Melbourne’s sewers

This process was done at night and made us aware of a big problems!!!

NO LIGHTS!!! In our living area all power was cut, not only that, the security system was still linked to the next doors factory ….so while we scrubbed in darkness we had the seat sound of burglar alarms ringing in our ears,,, oh the fun we had!!

Golden tip 2 – YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR, GOOD OR BAD.

Whatever is in the area you lease, should be working. So lights, gas, hot water, fuse box, power points ect, if u can see them, they should work, and it’s the real estate/landlord’s responsibility to repair them ASAP.

We contacted the landlord, and he got it sorted, it did take two weeks to send out the electrician, but we where given two weeks free rent for our troubles.

Any maintenance done will only repair or re-install what is existing, so don’t go asking for your three thousand dollar disco light rig to be hooked up to mains power, they wont do it. In saying that, they where nice enough to install a kill switch at the entrance to the living area.

This means that when no one is in the rooms, the power is CUT and there is no chance of fire. We can fight a fire when we are there, if we are not there, then that fire will take out everything! Safety first kidies!

So the place is clean, what next..

NIAGRA FALLS……INTO OUR WAREHOUSE

This is funny, so keep reading, one of the lads was calling the place home. With him his dog and all his stuff nicely set up in the area in the corner, no walls had been put up and lighting still sucked so extension cords and 4 way adaptors ran everywhere like spaghetti.

A hard working lad that starts early (4 in the morn) he had downed a few beers and was sound asleep….until the storm came.

Winds at 80ks, water was pelting down, this was a real test for our new home…..and it failed, it failed bad!!

In the living are the box gutter overflowed and all that water came bucketing into the warehouse, rite on top of the poor man and his dog!

At 2 in the morning he jumped up and moved his shit, then watched as the place flooded, thank all the gods that the place was empty.

The next day we climbed to the top of the roof, it is two story’s high so it has a nice view, then we got stuck into the box gutter..

CLICK ON ME TO FIND OUT WHAT A BOX GUTTER IS

After an extensive search for rust, peeling ect we came to the conclusion that the gutter was blocked, so one very brave man stuck his hand into the freezing cold water and dragged out 10 years of dead leaves from the pipe, we then covered it with a grate we found on the side of the road and the problem was fixed….

WHERE TO NEXT COLUMBUS

I am going to tell you a story of three little pigs, infact im not, you already know it, but I am embedding this classic 3 pigs warner brothers clip for your enjoyment..

WATCH THE WARNER BROTHERS CLASSIC 3 PIGS STORY!! THE 3 BOPS!!

The moral hear, is the three design materials used to create living space’s in our warehouse, much the same as the three pigs. Plastic, Wood, Brick – 3 mterial, 3 rooms!

We needed our rooms finished so we could move in..So after cleaning, this was the next thing that was done

PIG 1 –  PLASTIC - THE MILK CRATE CASTLE

The plastic room was measured for square meters, for kids that where stoned in maths class, that’s length by width. We did the same thing with the crates and worked out exactly how many we would need. Over the course of a week, and with help from friends(see above) over 400 milk crates where stolen, taken, borrowed from various sources across Melbourne!!! Yahoo hoo free room!!

These crates where systematically tied together with strong zip ties, then attached to supporting beams across the ceiling a space was left for a door(and a draw bridge) and this door was made of bread crates

Tied together these walls where sturdy as fuck!! And also looked amazing!!!

Here is a few tips from the wise

Get crates with a hole in the side, these can be used as storage in your wall!

Try to get crates in the same size and colour…not all crates are created equal

Build wall first then start the zip tie, one mistake early will time consuming to fix later.

So that is that! The wall was up, next vines where planted on the inside of the wall (photo 9) and over time would creep there way around giving fresh air and a really cool look!!

I know what you are thinking “ITS MILK CRATES! IT WILL BE COLED AND NOT SOUND PROOF AT ALL.

ANOTHER GOLDEN TIP!!

Use all the power of the web!! ALL OF IT!! google, trading post, gumtree, facebook all these sites can be useful, and with a warehouse to store stuff, think ahead!

by using the trading post we found two amazing bargains

Sound dampening sheets – for only 5 bux each we picked up these great sound dampening sheets that measure 1.5 x 1.5, these sheets where as light as can be, and where easy to fix to the milk crate wall with a drill and more zip ties, these panels where laced on the outside of the rooms

Insulation – we found 10 bags of the stuff for only 80 bux! Bargain! It was old and flaky but good enough for us! This will be tacked to the outer side of the sheets mentioned above and then covered with sheets and ply!! Easy!! (this is not done yet, so no photos)

To it looks ace, is almost sound proof, and will be warm in winter..

Total cost..ready…140 bux…

PIG 2 – WOOD – THE PALLET ROOM

Like the milk crate pig, the pallet pig had spent a week hunting down pallets from various places around the northern Melbourne area, they had been laid out in the wall format and then a old fashioned barn raising was started!!

Golden tips

Like the milk crates not all pallets are created equal, get clean, dry pallets of the same size to make life easy

Cheap pallets are strong but heavy…shipping pallets made of pine are best

Get a nail gun!!! So much easier!

CHECK OUT THE TINY PALLET HOUSES BLOG FOR MORE DETAILS!

So the wall and its return where erected, it took all of 2 hours to get the frame up, a little unsteady at first, but after the return was constructed and the bar was put in, the wall was more then supported.

The walls where filled with insulation (see above) and covered on both sides with 10mm MDF, this gave the walls alot of strength and very sound proof.

A door jam was constructed out of recycled timber, and a door was taken from a friend.(thanks Ron)

The ceiling was yet to be done, but will be built out of a pine frame and then covered with “caravan roof lining” that was sourced from gumtree. Insulation will be placed on that and then sheets stapled over the top to hold it all in!!!

Total cost …220 bux

PIG 3 – BRICKS – THE BRICKHOUSE

We have no photos……this pig is a lazy pig

Unlike the other two pigs, this pig thought he had all the answers, he was a bricki by trade and had organised for a DICKLOAD of bricks to be sent to the warehouse, he would brick from his room in the corner across to the pallet wall that was erected then across the pallet wall and across the milk crate wall, thus isolating the brick room from the others.

Then by using rolled insulation, he would fully insulate his room.

This has meant that the brick room is free standing, sound proof, and insulated better then the other rooms….the other 2 pigs where happy, because the owner of the brickhouse snores like a train!!!

A ceiling will be erected on a angle using the existing frame work of the building, sending it up on a 30 degree angle, very different from the wood rooms flat ceiling. And the door and its jam where constructed of scrap timber and fitted in space!!

Total cost…….nuthin, he stole the lot

So that’s a wrap!!! Alot has happened over the last week, including the shower, kitchen, toilet have all been finished, but I will tell you all about that next week, or the week after, or the week after that, depending on how slack I am!!

Please let your mates know about this blog if they are doing or thinking of doing something similar

And thanks for reading my babble!!

Welcome to the DISGRACELAND 3.0 Blog Spot!

Welcome to the very first Disgraceland blog/update, what’s Disgraceland 3.0 you ask? Well let me fill you in.

Once upon a time, 2 friends sat around a wooden table in an every day dinning room and talked shit about the concept of living in a warehouse.

Through the blah blah blah blah one said to the other “ why not, other people do it” – and this is true, if you are reading this you most probably know someone or know someone who knows someone that lives in a warehouse, It can be done!

So hear we go! – The start

Any body can find a warehouse to live in, in their respective city. I suggest starting by finding the suburbs where the other converted warehouses are.

This is a simple concept and it works, think about it, if there doing it, and have been for a while, then the biggest hurdle you will find, council, laws, police ect ect must not be to strict on this subject.

In my case, this was a no brainer; the suburb I live in is a community minded, left leaning, fixi bike riding, sess pool of hippies and cock jugglers. Many of which live in converted warehouses, and have extravagant minimalist techno parties are bangin daytime mini festivals. Sorted!

Now look around on the net, check out sites that directly rent out warehouse and commercial space, search the suburb and surrounding suburbs, get an idea of prices, size (they talk in square meters not rooms :S) and what exactly a big blank warehouse looks like!

Now this Bit gets tricky, you need a really good convincing bullshit reason to move into this thing! Sure you may want the stage, indoor basketball court and tiki bar but that aint gonna go down with the suite that reads the lease application!

So really think about it, and get the warehouse to work for you, like owning a Ute, you can make money! – Store things, restore things, build things and rent space. Get the ABN, this is your business and as caretaker have every reason to always be there!

Finding my warehouse was a simple matter of “not questioning the luck” – and I shall explain.

At the end of my little dead end street lays 6 large roller doors, each roller door can fit a truck in and behind each roller door is a warehouse. Sum of these warehouses have been there for years and a some are new, by looking at them this is obvious. I checked them out, some were vacant, I had done my research, I new roughly how big they will be and how much they will cost.

These are not big warehouses by warehouse standard, my suburb was once the textiles hub of Australia during the 50s. These were sweat shops for WW2 immigrants. So not to big,

2 of these warehouses are owned by “THE GODS” as my good friend Lando would say. 6 bearded old dudes, who drive pce of shit cars look like bums, but inside their playground they rebuild 1920’s cars and bikes…the shit they have would blow your mind!

So one day I went over and bummed a ciggie from the said “GODS”..

They don’t smoke ciggies, they smoke white ox, that’s not tobacco, that’s cow shit dried and rolled in kitty litter. Then sprayed brown…awesome!

I asked “do u know who owns that” – and I pointed to the old warehouse

They replied” no, but Mr sunshine would, he knows everything”

I ask “ who is Mr. sunshine” and you could imagine what I was really thinking!

The “gods reply” he is the guy who owns these warehouses, he runs the fabric shop on the next street”

I said “ beaut!”

They said “ hmpf”

I left

…….Fast forward…….I talk to Mr. sunshine…..I talk to the owner………I am now emailing the financial department of the owner of the warehouse…we are nearly there!!!

SO in a nutshell

Find something you like the look of

Square meters! How much per square meters is the (standard dollar) rate in the area

Ask around Find the owner

Contact them.

Go have a good look!

At this point we had a chance to check out the warehouse, this is when the real planning starts. How many people are moving in, toilets, showers, rooms, what you want in the warehouse, what you need to build, and where everything is going to go.

If you have a big blank space, like in my case, it can be a little harder then getting a warehouse with an established office. Some warehouses have great toilets, showers, and heated/cooled office rooms. Unfortunately these will often be new, and pricy.

Important stuff must be considered; does the place have fire extinguishers’? Locks? Is it Secure? Power points? Hot water service, check (u can die from dodgy hot water!) go through your place and MAP IT OUT! Make lots of maps! This will help!

3d map of discgraceland

or check the map below with the photos of the inside!

By checking the photos above and the groovy 3D map, you can see what we are dealing with. So we built a list of what needs to be done, we put each list item in priority order, and we systematically went through and talked/goggled ways to do the jobs required.

The list will be up on the next blog!

But we haven’t got the warehouse yet!!

Through communication with the ------, that was all done on the wonder of the internet! Several things where identified by the owner, and that was rad!. He said that the front door needed fixing, the toilets were disgusting! The place needed a clean and the automatic roller door needed a service and that he was going to do this!

Early I asked something very important, I wanted my monthly rent to be “ALL INCLUSIVE” so that’s Rent, GST, Rates & Insurance all rolled in together, I will explain.

Rent – how much you will pay for the joint

GST – that 10% shit is always excluded and mentioned after the fact when dealing with a commercial property! DON’T GET TRIPPED UP BY THIS

Rates – Commercial properties pay there own rates, that covers your garbage, waste and council ect ect and is usually paid quarterly.

Insurance – every rented commercial property will have to be insured, that’s not going to protect you but to protect the value of the premises, the better the joint, the more insurance you will pay.

So make life easy and ask for an all-inclusive monthly price if available. I did, and it worked!

So the lease was sent, and we have a month to move in!