You will now have the skeleton of your hut erected, the back or skillion rooms being a few inches lower in the roof than the main building. Now form your two ends, or what is called the gables, to make the roof, by leaning two pieces of rafter, letting them meet (as shown) at the top with the ridge board between. Do this at each end so that the ridge board extends from end to end, and it must be nailed in this position.
Then the rafters being faced, or sloped to meet against the ridge board, are also nailed, and nailed again to the wall plates. The rafters on the skillion rooms and verandah coming from the main wall plate to the outside and to the verandah wall plates. I have shown how the slabs are put in, they must be adzed at each end to fit into the grooves top and bottom, and made to go as close as possible, a little manipulation being necessary to make them fit close. If shingles are to be used the battens on which to nail them must be laid across the rafters at intervals of a few inches. In the far bush, bark is used as a roof very often, and in that event it is a very simple matter to put it on. It being merely laid on sheet by sheet, and secured by strong saplings crossed over the ridge and spiked together. Now-a-days iron is very much used and that also is very easily put on, being laid on evenly and nailed down. Shingles are the most trouble, as they have to be split first, and 12,000 shingles to be split, bored and put on is no simple matter. Regarding the gable ends of the hut, if possible it is best to board them up with weatherboards, but if impracticable then of course slabs must be used, and nailed on to the gable ends.
For the chimney, a good plan is to make a sort of wall of stones a few feet in height all round the inside of the slabs, then above the slabs weatherboard it right the whole way up. All doors must be made of sawn wood. Window sashes can be made, but it is much the best to get them made properly, or else buy them second hand from some builder. In the old days very few bush huts boasted glass windows. The first hut I made acquaintance with possessed a wooden shutter which was held open by a stick placed under it, it being attached with leather hinges. I have, as well as I could, given the details of how to build the ordinary bush hut without flooring, though the latter can be added very simply.
I will now give the diagrams of a five roomed house and the timber required. For details of building those written of the other will answer. I should have mentioned that the probable price of the four roomed house would be about £30, allowing for cost of getting timber, tools, and some labour. Of the five roomed house the probable cost will be about £75. The scale of drawing as ten feet to the inch.
