Silly Season Bulk Update

Well, I'll admit that with silly season in full swing, I have been a little tardy in making updates to the blog, so I'll cover off the last couple weeks in this entry.

In the last post, we had just started to see the laying of the bricks for the first floor.  Essentially, the only change since then is that they have all but completed the brickwork for the ground floor, including the pillars for the portico.

The last thing that happened before the xmas break was the scaffolding had been erected in preparation for the work to begin on the second floor in the new year.

So in a nutshell, the builders reached the target they had set before the Christmas break (with the exception of a few courses of bricks, which I think is due to a bad thunderstorm day we had)

latest Pictures below (from newest to oldest)

Bricks & Mortar

On Wednesday we visited the site, and found that the bricks have been delivered and the laying of the bricks has begun.

We had beena  little nervous because we had heard horror stories from other people about bricks being out of stock and having to choose other bricks at short notice.  Given that we spent weeks/months deciding on a brick, had they been out of stock we would have been in trouble.  So thankfully, that didn't happen and now the bricks are looking great and strating to come together around the frames.

we had a little thunderstorm and some rain on Thursday (16th dec) so that probably cost us a day, but we're hoping for ground floor brickwork to be completed and scaffolding to be erected before the Christmas break next week.

"Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be. " - Kahlil Gibran

We went to visit the building site on Friday evening, hoping that the frames had been delivered and maybe, if we were lucky, that some of them had been erected.  And as it turns out, not only had the frames for the 1st floor been delivered, but it looks like they have ALL been erected, windows have been delivered and the majority of the windows and front door frames have also been installed.

Obviously we underestimated the amount of time it takes to get the framework up, so maybe we are still on track to have the 1st floor brickwork completed before the christmas break.

Here's hoping the rain holds out, the weather has been pretty good this last week.  Touch Wood!!

Latest Pics below....

Rain Rain Go Away!!

Well it's been 10 days since our slab was laid. 6 of those days were required to let the slab cure, and basically ever since we have had nothing but torrential rain.

We visited the site today and we have an inkling that maybe some of the storm water plaumbing has been put in, but given that it is all underground, it's a bit hard to tell.  There has been someone at the site at least because there are a few minor things have changed and a chain and lock has now been placed on the fences which was not there before.  So being forever the optimists, we're assuming work is still progressing as much as possible considering the weather.

10 Day Forecast suggests we might not see a break in the rain through to the 14th Dec, and that's as far as they are willing to forecast.  If things continue as they are, we might not see any further progress until after Christmas, fingers crossed for the Sun to come through ASAP.

We have a slab!!

ok, so Thursday 25th Nov is a day or two later than I was expecting, but I'm not complaining because it's finally here!

The slab was poured today, and even though works and constructions technically began last week, for some reason the slab being finished somehow now makes it all seem real and like the building of the actual house has now officially started.

We also found out today that we have to organise to have the excess soil removed from the site, which will be an additional cost to us, and have been advised of who the project manager will be for the build process of the house. Apparently the plan is to get the frames and brickwork of the bottom level completed before the December break (21st), and then they are hoping to return to work as early as Jan 12th.

Anyway, enough blabbing, here's the latest pics of the slab

Sunny Day, No Clouds, No Progress

Well, it's Tuesday and as of midday today we're still waiting on the concrete for the slab.

That said, it appears there was more work done on the form work and more waffle pods were laid on Monday. The site looked as though no work had progressed, there was no construction folks onsite when we were there at midday, which only seems dissapointing because the weather was perfect. It will be frustrating to know we had some great weather and didn't utilize it if in the future we are delayed by rain and wet weather (which no doubt will be inevitable)

From the line of business I'm in, I expect everything done as quickly as possible, I suppose I am going to have to learn to have more patience and tolerance as we progress through this house building process

So heading into Wednesday 24th Nov, here's hoping we see some concrete slab pouring begin tomorrow

a little more waffle...........

We ducked over to the building site yesterday (20th Nov), not expecting much development since the plumbing went in, however to our surprise it seems that the form work has been completed, the reo bars have been laid and just about all of the waffle pods have been laid in preparation for the slab to be poured.

Fingers crossed, we are hoping they start work on the slab on Monday (22nd Nov).

November 17th, 2010 - The Ball is Rolling!!

So, after many alterations, developer approvals, council approvals, financial approvals and more approvals than I generally approve of, we have commenced construction!!

We are underway with the building of our new Allworth Torquay 43.

Contruction commenced on Friday 12th November with the arrival of the Porta-Loo and the excavators not far behind.

Today (Wed 17th) saw the pouring of the concrete for the piering and the first bump in the road (albeit a minor one) turns out the soil in our block is very sandy and as a result when the peers were drilled, the sand at the bottom was collapsing in very quickly, so rather than drill all the holes, then get the concrete poured they had to drill each hole, then immediately pour the concrete before the soil collapsed and then move on to the next hole. Given the circumstances, and the change of plans on the fly, I think the men there did a great job and still managed to get all their work done within the planned timeframe (or so I assume)

We've been told plumbing works will begin tomorrow.  Council apparently require additional metal to be laid underneath all plumbing, so we're already up for an additional cost for that (Not sure exactly how much yet, have been quoted approx $120 + Labour + 20%)

Some pics of the journey so far.......

We found the perfect place

We put the fence up a couple of weeks ago because some of the neighbours had started work on their fences, and we decided best to get the whole fence up in the same style, so as to avoid mismatching fences......

 And here's the pics from today with the gents hard at work digging the piers

With any luck we should have a slab down sometime next week, here's hoping the rain holds off.....