Site Clean Up

Last week our site clean up was done. We had quite a bit of broken glass and ruble so it was nice to get that cleared off. It's amazing how much more open it all looks. Nothing is left behind. We were hoping to keep some of the brick off cuts (a few wheelbarrows full) to put in the concrete of our retaining walls to further secure them. We might have to visit another building site to request a few!! The sand that was left over from bricking has been scraped around too; making it a little less boggy. We spent a few hours there over the weekend, mapping out the garden plans and making the most of the space. We also added insulation to all the windows that have infills - to maximise the double glazing (authorised by our SS).

In Front of the Garage

Down the Side of the House

This side was cleaned really well and was even scraped back a little further, which we would have had to do by hand ourselves after handover. Makes it much easier to put our retaining walls up!

Inside the mysterious boxes in the garage!

Box number one; the mains power switches (makes it easier if the lights go out, having it inside!)  

Box number 2; as we suspected, the NBN connections!

Insulation my husband added to the window infills (this is the largest one). He used double sided tape and packed it in tight. Our SS was happy for us to do this (we think the infills will be happening sometime this week). 

Even down the side of the doors!

Inside Progress

During the last week or so, there has seemed to be minimal progress. There have been different vehicles there all week this week so we knew things were happening, but we weren't sure to what extent. We had been counting down to Wednesday (yesterday) when my husband was meeting with our SS, to get a tour and an all important update. 

Upstairs Bathroom Shower Screen Installed

We wondered why they left the tile off the side of the bath hob - it obviously has something to do with the installation of the bath. Our SS explained to my husband that they cut a whole in the plaster to access the drain and connect it all. Hadn't thought how they would do that! Doesn't it just go in!!

Bathroom Tastic (heater and light)

Upstairs Bathroom Mirror.

I'll get a better photo next time. We extended the mirror so it covered the entire wall (not just the width off the vanity). You can never have enough mirror with girls......!!

Upstairs Powder Room

Mirror in, grouting done, waterproofing done, massive hole in the wall - done, extremely dusty - done!!

The Downstairs Powder is the Same - minus the hole in the wall!!

Theatre Wires Capped Off (is that an offical term - capped off. I may have just made that up... 

Happy they have pulled out the bottom left, right and centre speaker wires. Hopefully my husband doesn't have to punch 100 holes in the walls to find the rest. The term 'Like a needle in a hay stack,' comes to mind.....

Lounge windows look marginally cleaner - might have been the rain as they haven't been cleaned yet.

Plastering should happen next week - they were due last week. 

Then the glass splashback can go in (Butlers).

Plastering to be done here too (Kitchen).

Pretty excited about the pantry shelves!

Upstairs Activity Room - Niche on left for bookshelf and on right for desk/work-space for girls

Ensuite Mirror in! 

Surprised at the height of it - happy surprised! We raised the roof height to 2740mm so we didn't know if the mirror would also be higher. It is always the width of the vanity, but height wasn't something we had thought of. 

Still waiting on the correct size window with hardwood reveals in the shower. A & L, have made error after error with it. Right size, wrong reveals, then wrong size, right reveals, then wrong size and wrong reveals! Unbelievable! It will be here soon though...

Our Walk In Robe! 

So excited to have this space. Don't get me wrong, we had an amazing home previous to building this house. Full of love and character; but for 11 years my wardrobe (not walk in), had doors that you had to lift off the hinges to shut and I kept my underwear basically in a Tupperware container in a cavity space that you smashed your head on every second day. We can do a happy dance in this wardrobe!

The Girls Wardrobe - 

Going to add an extra rail in here (lower) and round the corner so they can use it independently before they turn 16! I can also use their clothes as 'time out' up high - if ever required!!!

Same in the Other Room

We chose not to put the drawer combinations in the further two bedrooms. One will be used for a guest room and the guests can deal with the rails! The two spare rooms actually have the larger WIR but the rooms the girls chose are definitely in the better position for light, heat and position. And their WIR's are not exactly shabby in size either. 

Outside tiles delivered and ready to go 

Eco Alabster Grigio Porcelain 300 x 600 

Can't believe I left this photo till last. Maybe because of my husbands poor photography skills in the photo (I'm bound for backlash after that!). The bricks above the upstairs door have been done!!!! Hooray!!!!

Let the rendering and tiling begin! 

The site has also been scraped and cleared! I'll get better photos of this tomorrow. The end is near...ish!!

Discrepancy Update

During the week we had a few discrepancies that we found were mounting. On Wednesday we met with our SS to discuss them. He was reassuring, accommodating and has assured us that all these problems will be resolved (except the infills!! grrrr). My husband was talking to someone who works at Simmons during the week and he said that if you complain hard enough when building you can change anything. Good to know! We are not that type of people but we are certainly willing to question things. He explained the position of the windows in regards to the infills (we still feel like the drafts-person and framers could have stopped this). We accept this. We have asked to put insulation in these to maximise heat loss and noise. We have hunted the streets and have found some houses with them and no-one will really even notice. I can't even look at a house now without analysing the windows!! He has strongly reassured us of the quality of the bricklayer and his reputation and you can see his work is very neat, square and symmetrical. We are really really happy with the brickwork otherwise. They also seem to be the most caring of trades so far. They cover their work if there is a chance of rain with tarps etc. and have been incredibly clean. The error of the kitchen windows will be fixed (has been already!), the brick wall be knocked down, the lintel and window put into the correct position and rebuilt!!! We didn't even have to say anything about this - it was what the SS explained- so we were very happy. Everything else on our list will be done and he explained that even though the painters were already there, other trades would come back on and off and the painters would be back (often) at least 3 or 4 times again. Happy days!

1. bricks not coursed to top of windows  - Black aluminium to match the windows - cannot change this - apparently they're on every build....
2. overhang of bricks (not regulation) to front piers - steel angle support to be placed here
3. gaps at one side of the butlers pantry - aluminium infill to sides (where needed)
4. butlers and kitchen windows at different levels - has been changed the past few days!!!! Lintel to be moved down and brick wall to be pulled down and rebuilt
5. butlers window not level in its own right - will be fixed
6. theatre window reveals to be replaced due to water damage - reveals will be replaced
7. theatre window now brick damaged (bent framework) - will be looked at and fixed if irreparable after all brickwork is finished
8. 10 or so plaster faults - by inspector - yet to be rectified - though painting has started - all to be fixed in the coming weeks
9. bulge in plaster-work on stairwell - from scaffold brackets - will be fixed with above - will be given a skim coat
10. plaster bulkhead in living/kitchen not straight (either side) - to be fixed and plastered
11. kitchen and butlers overhead cupboards too high - due to dropped window - SS is disappointed this wasn't already done (may have delayed the window change)
12. wrong placement of overhead shelf in cupboard - to be done with cabinetry 
13. graze/scratch on one kitchen drawer - will be replaced
14. chip on laundry laminate bench - to be fixed/replaced if needed
15. bulkhead in lounge short in length (we will NOT bring this up as we prefer it!)
16. scratches to framework on most doors and some windows - all to be cleaned and fixed at door service and any parts removed and replaced if we are not happy with quality of finish
17. master bedroom window winder broken - to be fixed at window service
18. insulation needs replacing in two parts due to wrap wind damage  - will be done when brickwork is high enough
19. electrical wire in brick pier missed (brickie checked with me today and he will fix tomorrow - grateful he saw it before they continued) - hole through brickwork has been drilled and wire will be put through

It was good to meet with our SS and go through our concerns and the fact that he addressed everything was exactly what we needed. There is no build that doesn't have it's ups and downs and as I expected, in the light of a new day our concerns where not that huge. Being informed is the biggest part of building and just knowing what will happen instead of jumping to conclusions when you see it half done it probably our biggest downfall. We currently live just near the build so we drive past a few times a day. Sometimes I feel like we are too close and too aware of everything. Juxtaposition really; too close in one way but wanting to stay on top of it all at the same time. 

Pipe Dream!

More action today! I don't think my excitement at seeing people there in the morning will ever waiver! All the pipes and drainage were laid today. 31 pipes! No idea what half of them are for!  The crushed rock to protect the driveway area was also there tonight. Predicting there will be some slab preparation work done this week. We should meet our Site Supervisor at the end of the week/early next week too once our final drawings are finalised. Still had lots of contact from our CLE Steph though, keeping us up to date with everything.

City of Pipes

Crushed Rock in the Foreground

Really Looking Forward to Seeing the Temporary Fencing Now.... 

 Up Close and Personal!

Standing Tall

With all the action of the site scrape last week, we've been full of anticipation for the next sign of action. Besides dozens of drivebys this week, nothing..... Until tonight. Standing infamously alone on the bare land, the humble meter box, in all it's glory!! There are also an array of pegs which seems to have no regularity - some are in line with the building, some to the rear of the scrape (on the higher land), they don't seem to mark drainage spots. Any insight? There are also small sandbags against the footpath which I'm assuming are to stop our dirt leaking into the neighbourhood. Hoping to see the temporary fencing go up soon as the metre box is a target for a good karate chop on a potential Saturday night teenage rampage! 

The Meter Box

Breaking Ground!!

Monumental day today! Our house has started!! It is such a surreal feeling. I knew we would be excited but I'm like a kid in a lolly shop! I got an email from our CLE this morning to say that the site scrape had been booked for this morning. It had been booked for the previous Thursday but the weather has held things up. She said the slab date will remain and this is the reason they leave the dates so far apart (in case of inclement weather). It was pure excitement watching it unfold! The girls and I wondered around this morning watching the trucks, then had a picnic over the road at lunch (the truck driver must have wondered who the weirdos were!!) and then tonight it was done! 

Not sure what happens next. I actually expected there was some kind of screening as its obviously just the trucks work today. You can see the indents for the portico and the alfresco. Not sure how I feel about the cut in terms of the slope. Actually, to be honest it looks a little frightening. I think we are going to have some serious earth moving to do. I know there is more to be done before the building goes up but it's a decent gradient. Calling all earth movers!

The beginning

All done for the day 

Rubbish bin, been added. Expecting fencing to go up in the next few days.

Here she is!

Portico indent - I think! 

Alfresco area with the 'Great Wall' behind!

From the side 

Party in Our House!

Ready to go! So excited!!! 

Rome Wasn't Built in a Day......

Today was the big day. The beginning of the action! The girls and I were really excited to get through breakfast and head down and see what was happening. We had thought that maybe the temporary fencing may have been installed the last few days or something may have happened before the scrape date but there was nothing, we knew no different. So the excitement levels were high as we turned the corner and plummeted dramatically as we saw absolutely nothing. Obviously the weather has postponed things. We came back just before lunch (optimistic!), and there was some action.......

As they say, Rome wasn't built in a day....... (But maybe the facilities were!!!)

2 More Days to Go!

2 more days till the action begins! Although the weather is not looking like its on our side. Not an overly optimistic Friday by any means.......

We are thinking that the weather may not make too much of a difference for the site scrape. Anyone out there with knowledge of this?! Fingers crossed.