Slab Fun!

The girls and I had a little fun late last week when the slab was finished!

Doing the Laundry!

Brushing Our Teeth in the Ensuite! 

Cooking Dinner! 

Eating at the Dinner Table! 

Working in the Study! 

Keeping Warm by the Fire! 

Parking in the Garage! 

All in a day's work!!!

                                  

Frame Game!

Just getting over the realisation that the slab is there and today the frame has started!! A rather large timber delivery occurred yesterday and this evening, after work, the slab looked like a giant game of Tetris! All the ground floor has been cut out to room size (with two pieces stacked high) and laid on the slab. The smell of fresh timber and wood is unbelievable!! As soon as I got out of the car I could smell it. Wish you could bottle it up- fresh, clean, cut timber. I only had a split second to look around and investigate but it was great to see the sizes of the rooms mapped out on the ground. People always say that rooms look really small once the frame goes up and you wonder how you fill fit a bed, desk or couch in there! Some appeared smaller, while others looked larger! Getting jitters thinking about the development of a 3D frame! 

Just a Small Pile of Timber Delivered Yesterday!

A Little Bit More!

Today's Materpiece (Maser Bedroom)

Middle of the House (Study on Right and Powderoom)

 Looking Down the Hall from the Entry

Tetris!

 Just a Little More Timber to Go!

From the Yard (Kitchen and Meals Back Left and Lounge on Right)

Ensuite Toilet,  Master WIR and Theatre Beyond

(The WIR looks almost as big as the theatre!) 

We'll definitely head to the block tomorrow evening with a measuring tape! Isn't that what everyone does when they don't know what they are doing, to look important and for people to perceive that they know what they are doing, when they don't! That will be us!!!!! 

Let's face it, honestly, everyone out there that has built has measured aimlessly!!

The Slab!!!!!

Today was the day; SLAB DAY! Although I could probably almost down a slab in celebration it was the concrete variety that occurred!! My husband passed the trucks at about 6.20am this morning and they were still there working away at 5.30pm. Big day! Therefore my photos are limited till tomorrow. I took the girls back at 7ish to have a snoop with our touches but it was too dark for my camera to cope. 

Watching all the preparation work and the concrete going down has been extremely exciting but it also makes you wonder, "Is that supposed to look like that?" We are really confident in choosing Carlisle Homes, if we weren't we never would have chosen them. However, I think it's really hard not to think critically about aspects when you see them. I think it's a fairly natural feeling when you have invested your ideas, heart and money into a project that you have no true building knowledge about. How do we know if the slab has been laid correctly or if all the materials that should have been used, have been? I think that this is going to be the hardest part of the build. Trusting our SS (site supervisor) is a huge part of this and trusting in the build process. We've got a few builder friends, outside of Carlisle Homes, who will (hopefully) check in on our build process etc. as the journey goes along; if for no other reason than to ease my mind!!! By the way, the slab looks amazing!

In all this thinking I thought I would try and educate myself on slabs! Here is some information I found that I thought was helpful. 

Due to our soil testing, we had to upgrade our slab to a H1 class. That's great, but what does that actually mean, besides more money??! I found this table that I found really helpful - I cannot confirm it's accuracy though. 

Different classes of soil

• Class A - This denotes very 'stable' ground - mostly sand and rock, not affected                     by moisture
• Class S - Slightly reactive soil, slight movement due to moisture
• Class M - Moderately reactive soil, moderate movement due to moisture
• Class H - Highly reactive soil, a high amount of movement due to moisture
• Class E - Extremely reactive soil, extreme movement due to moisture
• Class P - 'Problem' soil, which experiences land slip, mine subsidence and so forth.                  If you are building on Class P site you will typically need to consult an                      engineer.

I also found this information on a waffle slab. We have all heard of them but other than been cost effective what are they!!

Waffle raft slab (also known as a waffle pod slab) - These slabs are constructed entirely above the ground by pouring concrete over a grid of polystyrene blocks known as 'void forms'. Waffle raft slabs are generally suitable for sites with less reactive soil, use about 30% less concrete and 20% less steel than a stiffened raft slab, and are generally cheaper and easier to install than other types (even in bad weather). These types of slab are only suitable for very flat ground. On sloping ground or with more complex designs, a stiffened raft slab is normally the better option. Waffle raft slabs are well suited to reactive clay sites in particular, because they're not embedded in the ground like stiffened raft slabs. Waffle raft slabs are best suited for Class A, Class S, Class M, Class H and Class E soils (although you may wish to consult an engineer about the suitability of the slab for very reactive soils).

The part I enjoyed most about this was the fact that they are, 'well suited to reactive clay sites,' which sums up our block perfectly. You only have to dig down 20cm to hit hard clay which is going to make landscaping a joy.........!!!

Advantages Extremely durable and hardy base for a floor Typically well insulated, because the underside of the floor is not exposed No maintenance once the concrete has cured

Disadvantages Impossible to access piping once the slab has cured Cracks can cause major structural damage, and may be irreparable Can increase unwanted noise

The Action From Afar

The Concrete Being Poured

Still Working - But Looking Close to Finished

The Portio is Lower and the Front and the Garage to the Right

Closer Look (best I could get from the car while they were still working!)

Information on slab and soil obtained from:
http://www.build.com.au/ground-level-concrete-slab-subfloor

A Whole Lot of Waffle

I think tomorrow is going to be a BIG day in history! Yes, I think our slab will be laid tomorrow! I know, ground breaking news!!!! Lots of preparation work has been done today. When we visited the block tonight, it has given us the clearest indication so far of the footprint of the house, it really is outrageous. Really, really happy though. The height of the upcoming slab, in comparison to the cut is looking great as is the remainder of our land. We have a busy day tomorrow but will definitely be popping past as often as we can. My car is going to become the dreaded annoyance to the builders!!

Starting to See the Changes

Front View - With Dropped Down Portico 

Back View - Alfresco Area Dropped 

 At the Back

A Strange Trench at the front, next to the portico. Unsure if this whole area will be filled with concrete as part of the slab?  

More From the Back 

Fun! The girls could have climbed, slid and played all day. Building sites are so much fun when you're a kid!!

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!

Concrete Piers

Excited to report more action at the block yesterday. We drove past yesterday morning to see a machine which appeared to be digging holes. I assumed that it was digging the holes for the upcoming plumbing and drainage. We came back at about 4pm to investigate what work had been done. Work had finished but you could see that there was a lot of upturned soil. When we got out for a closer look, it became clear that these were not drainage holes. They were huge! At a guess - 60cm in diameter and over 2m in depth. 

We had only just looked in the first hole, when two trucks appeared (a concrete and a machinery)and pulled onto the block! Perfect timing! Being so late in the day, I had thought that whatever work was next to be done would be done on Monday. Before long another concrete truck pulled up . The concrete truck emptied the concrete into the back of the machinery truck - which had a long hose that was craned high up in the air and then the concrete was hosed into all the holes. It took 2 trucks to fill them all. The concreters confirmed that the work they were completing were the concrete piers. The girls and I were so glad that we had turned up at that time and we got to watch the  process of the next step. The holes were then leveled. Approx 2hrs later it was complete! We also got to meet two families in the neighbourhood who also came to watch the action unfold! It's going to be a great place live!

The Post Hole Digger - (Morning Work)

Loose, Upturned Soil From the Holes

Closer Look

The Pier Holes

Closer Inspection of the Holes!

Concrete Piers Being Filled

Complete!

We returned this morning to have a good look at the work as it was too dark last night by the time it all finished up. 45 Piers in total - which was a lot more than we had expected. 

WE'VE GOT A DATE!!!!!!!!!!!

Received a very exciting email yesterday to say that we have a start date! Everything has moved along so smoothly. Can't believe that it's really going to start. We've been walking or driving around the estate nearly every day, watching all the other houses move and grow around us. It will be so surreal to see the action on our block!

Site scrape - 2nd May 2014

Drains - 9th May 2014

Slab - 13th May 2014

Should meet our site supervisor in the next few weeks as well.

Slope Surprise!

As I mentioned in a previous post, our block to the (untrained) eye appeared to be under 1m in elevation. We knew there was a gradual rise from front to rear but the middle and main section of the block 'appeared' to be reasonably flat. After we had purchased the land and following our preliminary inquiries into finding a home, we had a builder view the engineering report and to our shock and dismay they informed us that the elevation from front to back was in fact 1.8m! We visited the block multiple times to try and see that rise but to the eye it didn't look even close to that. My husband is around 1.8m tall and from the footpath the rise only looked like it reached his knees, how wrong we were! This is all part of the fun in the build process. The unexpected! It made us slightly nervous as we didn't want to live in a hole in the ground with potential flooding risk (we had been there and done that - the potential flooding) or have a back yard on a 45 degree angle. But one of the biggest concerns was the dreaded site costs. We have learnt that it is the great unknown in building. Varying anywhere between $8000 and $80,000 (if you watch Grand Designs). I'm sure there are many many people who have had their heart set on a build only to have their dreams demolished by site costs. Once we had chosen Carlisle Homes to build, the great unknown began. 

We put our deposit down and the following day, yes crazy, but the following day the soil tests were conducted. We knew that there would already be an upgrade to a 'M' slab as another home had been built in the same area and required this. We also knew our costs would be above average as most blocks are close to level. So we estimated what they would be. One negative of the build process is that you go through all your colour selections and modifications BEFORE you know your site costs. It makes it really hard to budget. You could go on a mad shopping spree internally and not even be able to cover the site costs. The good thing is that you can make changes (free of charge) at tender if things are not as you expected. The site costs are given at your tender appointment. The amazing Steph (our CLE at Carlisle) was a star and actually emailed the tender document through to us prior to our appointment which was so helpful in making the final changes. When we got the email we flew straight to the site costs............................ To our delight the costs were almost spot on to what we had predicted. Initially we had been advised of a rough estimate of site costs. However, the final figure was significantly higher than this. We had done a little research and seen other peoples experiences and therefore knew due to our elevation it was likely to be higher. In the end we were happy. We got what we expected (pity we didn't get a pleasant surprise!), we didn't need to change our selections and our cut was better than we could have imagined. We thought most of the site would be cut, however the cut at its deepest at the back is 90cm with 30cm fill towards the front.Which will ultimately give us less of a gradient in the backyard (60cm from back door to back fence)

Site Plan, showing cut (back) and fill (front)

Cut and fill profile shown on siting plans (side of house)