Six Weeks!

Quote:

"If the house isn't finished by the end of November then something is wrong."

YAE!!!!

Fixed!

The door frame to the Powder Room has been altered ... YAE!

Obviously it needs a coat of paint but the finish is as smooth as the proverbial. Now there's the little matters of the powerpoints and the roof tiles!

Much better, nothing a coat of paint won't fix.

Maybe they do know what they are doing after all :)

Tiling

Have our tiling meeting at the house booked for next Wednesday at 7.00 in the morning. Will;

1. Definitely take the camera!
2. Most definitely get the Powder Room door fixed!!

Happy Anniversary

To us!

It was this long weekend last year that sent Rayleen and I on the home building adventure. We're off to celebrate with an ice cream.

Thanks to www.sugardoodle.net for unknowingly letting me use their graphic.

On the Tiles

Well, under them actually.

The roof carpenters came and did their thing, then the plumber and then the electricians tried to undo all the carpenters work. And then, finally, the tiles were deliverd, approximately 4,500 of them.

Bristile 'Truffle' in the Vienna profile.

So, the roof went from looking like this 'bad hair day';

To this, tiles laid but ridge capping needs to be installed and cemented in;

To the practically completed version which looks like this:

Rayleen and I have a few issues with the tiles over the main bedroom having a lot of chips and contact points showing - making them look second-hand to be honest. But an email to SPH has assured me that representatives from Bristile will inspect the roof closer to completion, replace chipped or cracked tiles, apply what is known as a 'cold glaze' and we will have new tiles that look like new!

Roof - Part 2

It's finished :)

Had a walkthrough on Friday after work and the roof carpenters have finished the job. The plumber had run all the channels for the gas and water pipes through the brickwork and had started fitting gas lines. So it's all go at the new girl!

The view from the road, it's starting to look less like a construction site and more like a home.

The view from the back corner of the block through the al fresco towards the front entry / study area.

Roof - Part 1

I have what could be deemed a 'love-hate relationship' with roof carpenters.

I am in awe of the skill that allows them to take 2,560 linear metres of structural pine of various sizes and lengths (I had a look at the cartage note) and create a structure that not only has to conform to the design of the architect, but also has to stand up without additional support, be centred and then support the tiles.

Basically they take this:

And turn it into something that looks like this:

Remember, this is a work in progress and it's only the carpenters' second full day on the job.

So - the hate? Because even with their obvious skills and know-how, they can't help but include what I consider* dodgy aspects; like this;

OR

Just think there must be a more 'approved' method than grabbing a left over brick or two, am thankful they have used solids though!

* Okay, I know absolutely nothing about roof carpentry and am quite certain that the bricks will be able to support the weight and it's something that is done regularly. Will stop being such a queen now :)

Got Wood?

Ever wondered what goes into keeping the roof above your head?

Here's a few pictures of what it's going to needto keep the roof tiles off the floor.

Plate High

The bricklayers have finished and everything is in readiness for the roofing carpenters to do their thing. The 'new girl' (as she is known at home) lives up to her name and looks rather majestic as she sits on the block, even if she doesn't have a roof!

The view from where the fridge will stand through to the al fresco area;

And now through the family room towards the home theatre;

And now looking back into the house from the al fresco to be:

The portico, I am guessing that the bricks in the foreground are to be returned to Austral or taken to another build. Shame, I could use them for my barbecue! :)


So, that's the progress so far. Hopefully roof carpentry will begin next week - if the weather is fine.

PS The door to the Powder Room has not been changed yet.

Customer Service 1 - The Reply

I received a reply to my email to SPH:

" A***** is aware of this and will be contacting National Steel to swap this around. The wrong frames were delivered (twice) ,this (SPH must mean bricking in a door frame even though it's wrong) is a standard building practice to keep things moving (But the bricklayers have a heap of work to do elsewhere), He will let you know when things are rectified . "

So SPH can talk the talk, hopefully they can walk the walk!
(These are my comments)

Taking Shape

The house is really starting to take shape right now, there is a little more work to do with the exterior but most of the internal walls are finished. At the front of the house the bricklayers have yet to finish (or even start) the portico, so things look a little 'flat' there.


There used to be external bricks where that pole is, was about 12 courses high. A couple of the bricks were a little wonky, nothing that anybody else would notice, but it would just bug me because I knew the brickwork wasn't right. I was not going to bother calling SPH and ask for it to fixed, it was only minor and besides, two wonky bricks out of around seventeen thousand is not a bad effort. Well, the bricklayers forgot to put this pole in and the existing work had to be removed. So, in a way I had the problem fixed without even having to ask. :)


The view across what will become the al fresco area into the Dining Room / Kitchen. Or, the other side of the pole :)


Looking into the powder room. Yes, that is the door in question. As you can see from the picture, the door will open into the middle of the room. Not something that would make getting to the toilet easy.


The view from my 'computer room'. The gap on the left is the passage leading to the entry, the door fram is for the linen cupboard, which is where I will be keeping a lot of my IT and network gear. The door right in front leads into Bedroom 4. On the right are the doorways for the Bathroom and Bedroom 3.


The ensuite begins to look more the way it should. This is where the vanity will go, the bath is opposite this, to the right of the photo.

Customer Service 1

Rayleen and I are about to find out how SPH deals with rectifying mistakes.

While wandering from room to room this morning , oohing and ahhing over what has been done this week, we noticed the frame for the powder room door has the hinges on the left, not on the right as is on the plans. The door is meant to open against a wall.

Will email SPH later tonight, so I have proof that I alerted them to the issue, then phone early Monday morning. The wall this door is in, isn't completed yet, so getting in early means less fix-it work for the bricklayers.

It needs to be fixed as the way it is now would make getting into and leaving the powder room a pain in the b*tt!

Bricklaying - Part I

The bricklaying started early July, although it has been hampered by the rains we have had this Winter. These shots were taken on the 5th of July.

Standing at the front of where the garage will be looking throught the house to the main bedroom.

At the front door (that's it laying on the concrete in the foreground) looking towards the rear of the house.

Details of how we have decorated the Master Bedroom - we are trying to get the 'under construction' look, and I think it's worked.

The south wall, the frames are (from the front) window for the bathroom, sliding door for the laundry, window for Bedroom 2, dresser window, window for the wc (not installed in this pic), window over the bath and then around the corner to the frame for the sliding doors in the Main Bedroom.

Bricks

A week after the slab was poured the bricks were delivered, unlike our initial impressions about the slab where both Rayleen and I thought it was smaller than we expected, both of us thought that we had enough bricks for two homes delivered to our site.

Since then I have spoken to the brickie who estimated that there were about 17,000 bricks to be laid.


From here it looks rather bare, but then if you will turn left you will see the 'Great Wall of Harrisdale';


I am not so sure our neighbours to be appreciated the new 'attraction' at their front door.

The obligatory portaloo shot;


A word from our sponsor. Apparently these are called partition bricks and are used to give the wall the 'stepped' look - noticable at the top of the wall, the same effect is achieved at the bottom by using 25mm moulding - or so it says on the plan.


One last look over the top of the car towards the slab.

Slab Down

On the 6th of June the slab was poured and the whole process became 'real'.

Rayleen's first impression was that the grano workers had left a couple of rooms off as she was sure the house was never going to fit!

It was exciting to finally see something other than another form to sign, I think I must have just wandered over the slab half a dozen times, smiling inanely.

A Look at the Display Home

I have been organising my pictures today, trying to get some sort of system going, and have been amazed at;

1. Some of the odd things I have taken photographs of. A close up of the silliest things. They must have meant something to me at the time, but what was I thinking when I took a close-up of the water meter?
2. The number of times I have photographed the same thing on different occasions. I am sure there must be six different photographs of the same wall on my hard drive.

Anyway, I thought I would post a small sample of photgraphs I have taken of the display home.

The Front Elevation.
Our home is going to look like this, except that we have chosen different colours for the render, and we have changed the number and style of outside lights. We thought that five lights on the front of the house is a little overkill, so have reduced the number to two, one either side of the garage entry.

The Kitchen
We have removed the 'feature' from the end of the island bench, but that aside, the kitchen layout isd exactly the same. The rangehood has been upgraded since the photo was taken and the model included with the house has a nice curved glass canopy and looks rather swish actually. The pendants are similar to the ones we have purchased for over the bench.

The Ensuite
This is (one of) my extravagances. For some reason I just 'had' to have this bath included in the ensuite. It's almost big enough to be used as a lap pool. It's adds a little 'wow' to the ensuite, and that's always good!


Change the square basins to round and you have an idea of what the vanity in the ensuite will look like.


So, that's a small sample of what the house will look like, obviously the colours will be different. I am afraid that will have to wait until tiles and cupboards/drawers/ benches are installed so I can take pictures for you all. (It's a boy thing!)

Pre-start

Tile selections - check
Electrics plan - check
List of questions - check
Plans - check
Wishlist - check

Okay, we have everything, let's go!

And so it was, 'armed to the teeth' with plans plastered with post-it notes, pages of points-to-mention and cuttings of various bits and pieces we thought we'd ask about; Rayleen and I made our way to Balcatta for the pre-start consultation.

We had heard horror stories of seven hour meetings and cost blow outs, so we were a little nervous about what may happen and what the final balance may look like! Arriving promptly at 8.30 we waited for the consultant to invite us into her office ("Come into my parlour." said the spider to the fly.) And the consultation began;

To be honest it was not as difficult as I thought it may be. Just as expensive, maybe even more so, but the planning we did paid off as it was over by 12.00.

The main extras were;

1. The electrics plan. We installed extra powerpoints in the majority of rooms and I had conduit and blank face plates added to the rooms I wanted to run data cabling to.
2. Upgrade the front doors. This was more than I thought it should be, seemed as if I wasn't getting credit for the doors I was replacing.
3. The garage door. Upgraded to a cedar look finish.

These were in addition to the upgrades we had made with the sales consultant; raised ceiling to the living area, double drop bulkhead to the kitchen, the upgraded bath in the ensuite, upgraded shower heads in the main bathroom and the ensuite, replacing the single window in the Home Theatre room with three awning windows, to name a few of the changes.

All in all we added about an extra 15% to the base price. But, I think it was money well spent.

Dirt Resolved

I received a call from Caroline of SPH and after a brief look at the rubble they have determined that it is indeed from the neighbour's home and they have agreed to remove it free of charge - when they do the final site clean for the neighbour.

Dirt(y) Rotten Scoundrels

I like to visit our block once a week, sometimes more, just to make sure nobody has stolen any of the dirt. I needn't have worried!

When our neighbour's had their building site cleaned, the contractor did an excellent job ... and then dumped all the rubbish on our block! Luckily for Rayleen and I, our neighbour (a fellow H1er) also built with Scott Park Homes, so after a quick and unexpected call from Joe the friendly SPH sales consultant to discuss the plans for the Sov, which we still haven't received, I casually mentioned the extra dirt. Joe didn't seemed surprised but is confident that he can have it removed in plenty of time for the build.

Just amused that the contractor thought I would never notice or figure out where it all came from!

Famous (by) Design

The display home Rayleen and I have fallen for is an entrant in the 2009 Master Builders Bankwest Housing Excellence Awards (that will need a large trophy to fit it all on!). It featured on pages six and seven of "Home" - a supplement to the Sunday Times over here in WA.

It's also appeared on the interweb here:
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,,24033957-5013243,00.html