Lock Up, well sort of!!

Its amazing what can be achieved when a concentrated effort is made on your house. Over the last couple of weeks we have seen the roof completed, the wiring installed, the water & gas pipes installed, the Heater/AirCon units installed as well as the required copper pipes and wiring for the condenser. Two thirds of the ceiling has been plastered and our bath & shower bases installed.

As you can imagine we are at lockup, and as such our builder has sent us an invoice and I plan to pay it. The only thing is the brick work is not quite finished. It would appear our broken window is not fixed and the broken one is back in place. Maybe they realised the replacement that was there last Tuesday wasn’t double glazed as per our 5 star energy rating required!!!

Overall I am very happy and I only hope the progress continues at close to the same pace as the last two weeks when they return from holidays.

Below are pictures of our place and some of my handy work, in the cables I ran and wall plates I installed, top notch quality work that!!!!!

Our tiny Elfresco, which will be a nice place to store the kids toys and shoes come winter

A view from the runpus and through our two eldest kids bedrooms

Our Lounge Room

Mr & Mrs B's Bedroom (with the spare front window frame)

The Kitchen

Where the AirCon Condensor will be installed

The AirCon Pipes, nicely hidden behind the bricks which cost me a small fortune!!

Hot Water Service, well the pipes anyway

Our switchboard with an old fashioned 2-wire meter. No doubt I will be charged for the privilage of having a smart meter installed later on down the track. I dont mind waiting because those smart meters are not that kind as they allow the power company to shut you down if they think your using too much power on those very hot days. Nice of them to protect thier equipement by shutting down my AirCon!!!!

Our Gas Ducted Heater

The Add-On Refrigerated Air-Con Unit

Can you spot those insulated copper pipes for the AirCon?

The wall plates I installed are on the left, you could tell, they look better than the ones the sparkie installed!!!

Its hard to see but my speaker cables, data cable and the string line is what I installed. I left a nice clean run for the Foxtel man, lets hope he appreciates it

The other end of the data cable

I didnt take photos of my speaker cables when I ran them in, but the plasterers thought they would leave one for me to photograph later on!

Also over the weekend we popped into our family friend’s house down the end of the street, the one’s who have the same house as ours, just a little bigger and it was built by the same builder. If our finish is up to their standard I will be very happy with the finished product.

They say there is no action until the 18th of Jan but I have heard the plasterers wish to complete our house by then so maybe in a couple of weeks we will have our place completely plastered!!

We also used the last couple of days to start purchasing those items that we need to fill the house and have a couple of months lead time to get, such as our bed. We went to the local bed shop and managed to pick a very sturdy hardwood bed and mattress that was divine, unfortunately we have to wait until the house is finished to enjoy it.

We also picked up a new bed for our eldest as he will have to give his convertible bed to our youngest who will have to give up his cot to our soon to be born third child (did you follow that!!!)

I have now decided on the makeup of our home entertainment components and so the final piece of the puzzle is the entertainment cabinet. Some Google searching has identified some candidates and over the next couple of weekends I hope to nail that purchase down also.

Until then I trust everyone had a great Christmas and I wish you a fantastic New Year.

Cabling Done & Merry Christmas

I went to the house yesterday after work and installed my speaker cables and data cable. Now I can say I helped build our house!! I am sure over the years my physical contribution will grow to the point where I built the whole thing!!

It took me a couple of hours but its worth it as now things are hidden and I am ready to fit off as soon as they finish painting.

It also gave me a good opportunity to check things out and marvel at yet more progress.

The sparky & plumber have finished and the platform to hold the Heater/AirCon unit has been completed. The only issue with that is the size of the platform and the fact I wont be able to install the speakers I wanted to as I will be limited to a mounting depth of 100mm, and the speakers I had chosen have a mounting depth of 138mm, D’Oh!!

Oh well after a bit of research and I have identified two alternatives which both have pros & cons, not too worry, I have a few months to make a decision anyway.

Now the brickies have not quite finished, it would appear someone broke the window to the front bedroom and I can tell you that the Construction manager (CM) is none to pleased about it either. It’s double glazed as part of our 5 star energy rating and because no tradie owned up it comes out of the builders pocket, ouch!!

Anyway my CM confirmed that the plastering is being done and should be completed by tomorrow and the bricks and infill should be done by tomorrow also, which means we have completed lockup by Christmas and with the plastering done we are already into the fixing stage. A mid March handover just become a possibility again, Woo Hoo.

We will venture over to the house on Boxing Day and check it all out. I will post pictures then but in the mean time Merry Christmas to all and may all our tradies come back from holidays refreshed and ready to go!!!!

Finally some action

Its Saturday so its time to visit the new house and see what has happened in the last week.

Now I didn’t have my hopes up as I had tried to contact our Construction Manager (CM) to see how things had gone and organise a key so I could get into the house and run the speaker cables and data cable.

I rang twice on Thursday & once on Friday with no luck, he didn’t return my calls, which you can imagine, I found quite frustrating and its poor form in my opinion.

So we arrived on site and not only had there been progress but “Dave” the plumber was there packing up. He kindly let us in and gave us an update as to where he was at.

So we have all the gas pipes done, the bath and 2 shower bases are in and the ensuite has its water pipes run in. The copper pipe work for the hot water service is done and all that’s left is the water pipes for the kitchen, laundry and bathroom.

The sparky has been and all the power has been run in and all the wall plates for the GPO’s and light switches installed. The lighting needs to be finished off and then he is done, for now anyway.

The brickies are almost finished and by the looks of things another couple of days & they will be all done apart from washing the bricks. The roof has been completed but when they replaced one broken tile they have damaged another, so I will let them know and I am sure it will be replaced.

The ducted heating / AirCon ducts have been installed with the pan and platform ready for the ducted heating and AirCon units.

So overall I am very pleased and if they keep up this level of activity then we should have lockup by next Wednesday no problems, all I need a is a key so I can run my cables. If we don’t manage to get one then I am sure I will work something out and they will just magically appear, if you know what I mean.

Below are pictures and I have updated the latest site photo, click on any of them for a better look.

Talk about timing, as we were about to leave some of the MaxyB extended family arrived to have a look at our house, lucky for them we managed to get back into the house and give them the grand tour. I had to appologise as I couldnt offer them a cold beer, but there is always next time, and for us next week, I cant wait to see what they have done.

Would You Believe?

I rang my Construction Manager (CM) to find out what was going on and what he planned to achieve prior to the Christmas shutdown.

First off the CM stated work stops on the 23rd of December, not the 19th as I had previously been told, mind you they don’t come back until the 18th of Jan, a week later than I thought, so overall no real change as they have 3 weeks off.

I asked if he still planned to get to lock up by the 23rd and he said yes, the brickies were there today and they would be there again Wednesday and for the rest of the week after that. OK that sounds good.

I asked if the plumbing would be done and again he said “yes that should be done Thursday”, the electrical work I asked, “Friday the sparky is due”, mmm so can I wire up my speakers this weekend, “yes you have to”, why is that I asked, he replied that the plasterers are not taking too much time off and want to plaster the place by the 18th of Jan. As a result he has to have all the plumbing, aircon / heater works, electrical wiring, bricks and in-fills done by the 23rd of December.

Now all this sounds fantastic but I am not getting my hopes up. I have a little mental picture of Maxwell Smart going would you believe in a week you will see so much progress that only the wet areas and fit off remain? Would you believe 2 weeks?

It all sounds too good to be true

The plan is to call him on Thursday to confirm I can do my wiring and organise a key (can’t let them know I don’t really need one!!!). Then on Saturday or Sunday I will go over and run my 4 speaker wires, run a string line for the foxtel cable and run my cat6 data cable from where the computer will go to the TV.

If all that happens by Christmas Day then a mid March handover is back on the agenda.

I guess I just have to believe.

The Joys of Building - 5

The Joys of Building, I have used this expression a few times now so I thought I may take the opportunity to explain what I mean by “The Joys of Building”

I was warned a number of times that building your own place takes patience, and I can tell you they are on the money, because there have been a number of occasions where I want to ring the builder and asking him in an non too polite manner, “what the fig are you doing” “when will you actually do something?”

There are times when you look outside the window and go this is a lovely day to build a house, then you find out it’s a lovely day to build someone else’s house!!

There are times when you ring your Construction Manager (CM) and ask what they hope to achieve in the next two weeks and they go into great detail of what they are going to do. Trouble is, 5 weeks later they still haven’t completed what they said they would do 3 weeks ago.

You have to love it that they give you 7 days to make a stage payment and expect this to be done quick smart or the threat of 20% penalty interest hangs over your head, yet you see no real progress over three weeks and wonder how do I put a rocket up them?

You ask when something will be finished and your told “if they get out there tomorrow they will finish it off then” what happens when that tomorrow was 2 weeks ago.

I guess I use the term “The Joys of Building” as a simple way to say I am pissed off and angry and if they were my employees there would be getting a right royal talking too, yet as many of you know, when your building a house that kind of thing wont get you anything more than increased frustration & anger.

I am sick of being told something will happen when the reality is NOTHING happens.

Over the last two weeks the only things that have happened on our site is a temporary front door, some support framework removed and bricks distributed around the house, I am guessing a few hours work, so in my book absolutely sweet F all has happened and its really getting me, well you should have the idea by now.

The fun part is when I will call my CM tomorrow and ask the question again, “Will you get to lockup by the Christmas shutdown”? This just happens to be this Saturday (19/12). Now I have asked this question at least 4 times and each time he has said yes and tomorrow I expect to be told no, which will be very disappointing as well as frustrating because over the last 6 weeks I think our site has seen at most 7 days worth of activity, simply not enough.

I will sign off now, obviously there are no new photos and I hope by the time I post again next weekend I can report some progress rather than vent my frustrations by filling up a page on a website!!

Slow Progress

It was a nice sunny day and I had a phone call from our Construction Manager (CM) on Monday so we thought, yeh there would be progress, let’s make a quick dash and have a look at the house.

Well there had been progress, just not a lot!!

We have a front door, albeit temporary, two of our the three gables installed and all the temporary supports taken out of the frame now that the roof is on. The roof is yet to be finished though!!

Its nice to see a clean shell inside and to be able to walk around, and I guess having it “lockable” so to speak means the plumbers and sparkies can do their bit, I am a little disappointed at the pace, or should I say lack of pace in our build.

I simply can’t see them getting to lockup by the 18th. The only good sign is the house around the corner, the one we seem to have to wait for nearly has all its brick work completed and our CM told me that once they finish there they will move on to our place.

I know it only takes 2 people a day to do the wiring and a couple of days to run the copper pipe through, so I guess lockup is achievable by Christmas, I just don’t think we will get there.

Anyway here are some pictures from todaywith an updated site photo, just click on any photo for a better look.

We wont make our usual Saturday visit but we will get out there on Sunday and we hope there is some more substantial progress.

Also I would like to thank my Dad for his eagle eye and willingness to make an early morning visit to the site for the fact that I have a way of entering the house when it is locked up, very sneaky, but extremely handy I say, thanks Dad & Marg

We Have a Roof

No mid-week visits this week as there wasn’t enough time and it would have meant another wasted visit on Saturday.

A little birdie told us on Thursday that we had a roof and a conversation with our Construction Manager (CM) confirmed this on Friday. He said the tiles had been done but it had not been “pointed” and “if they had time” they would finish that off by Saturday.

When we arrived it was quite obvious they didn’t have time but it was nice to see some progress and that our roof tile & gutter / fascia selection looked good.

Front Veranda

From the neighbours front yard

Inside the roof

Out Back

More of the backyard

Garage

There is not much more to report except to say the builders are on site today as I received a phone call from our CM asking me which way I would like the front door to open. It would appear the proper door frame has arrived, just one thing it opens the wrong way! so I said, no I want it how its shown on the plans.

I hope this means we will get our roof pointed and the bricks will start being laid around the remainder of the house. I keep being told lockup will occur by the xmas shutdown but I am growing more sceptical by the day as it would require a work effort I am yet to see on our site.

I did go out and complete one of those many side tasks in that I purchased my speaker cable and data cable, that way I am ready to get on site and run the cables prior to the plastering. I got away with it cheaper than I originally thought which is always nice.

Oh well I guess that’s it for another week, but hey maybe a mid-week visit is needed and hopefully another update to the blog is required!!!

Some progress, just not on the house!

As suspected, there was no progress from Wednesday; they are probably waiting on our cheque for the Frame stage, the cheque should be in their letterbox tomorrow so they can start up again.

We did achieve a couple of things on Saturday, we confirmed the windows in our front door and we purchased a couch.

While we had decided on the make & model of front door I was having second thoughts on the window inserts, should we have clear, obscure or translucent glass?

We had ordered and payed for the translucent glass and after a drive out to Campbellfield to the Corinthian showroom we made our selection, translucent!! So really no change to what we had ordered and we didn’t really need to go on our trek to Campbellfield but I needed piece of mind, Mrs B just thought I was being stupid as she was happy with translucent all along.

As for the couch we had our mind set on a leather couch with a chaise and a matching 2 seater sofa. Last Sunday I managed to visit nearly every furniture store in Nunawading and while I found a couple of nice couches, they were either too big for the space we had or too expensive.

Never fear though because I had been surfing the net for quite a while and had found Frogs Sofas who are a small company selling direct to the public and make to measure as well as provide a wide range to choose from. We went into the factory and found the “Toad Hall” sat down and instantly fell in love, it was sooooo comfy and we knew we were on a winner, especially as they could make it to the right size.

Well we asked for a quote and they were very reasonable, so reasonable in fact we managed to squeeze 3 kiddies chairs in and only spent $16 more than our budget, including delivery. The kiddies chairs are very cute and should be good until the kids turn 6 or 7 and they are making them out of the same leather as our couch, so they will match perfectly.

Now all we need is a house to put them in!!!!!!!!!!

Framed & Wrapped

Well after our disappointment on the weekend we wondered if a mid-week trip was in order so we jumped in the car and we are sure glad we made the trip.

We have been Framed & Wrapped, woo hoo!!!!

It would appear the availability of power on site may hold the key to our progress so I am hoping that when we pay a visit on Saturday we will see some roof tiles.

Back of house & rumpus room

Front of House

Front & Garage

Garage

Side of house

Side panoramic

Back panoramic

Bring on Saturday and hopefully more progress!!!!

The Joys of Building part 4

Well it’s been a weird week in that we have done a lot in regards to our old house but apart from an electricity meter absolutely bugger all happened on our site this week.

We successfully transitioned our life to Mrs B’s parents. We have had some calls to go home from our eldest and we did pay a visit to our old house with it empty which seemed to help him understand but being 2 & a half your never quite sure.

We had the carpets cleaned and thanks to my mum who spent all day Monday cleaning, (thanks Mum!) The old place came up a treat and on 11:20am Friday the 20th of November and after 6 years and not quite 2 months it slipped into the hands of another.

Now onto our new home, as I said we have a electricity meter, woopie, we can now get power bills to go with our water bill.

Other than that sweet fa happened so that means a week where there was decent weather was wasted and yet again what the construction manager told me didn’t happen. I must say that is the most frustrating thing about it, here he painted a picture of progress and I should have seen roof tiles this week but alas NOTHING.

I will give it another week and see what happens, if we get to next weekend with no action I will be really shitty because they would be damn close giving up all the spare time they had in their schedule after pouring the slab ahead of time.

I have said it before and I will say it again, ah the joys of building!!!!!

A Big Week

Well it’s been a big week for the MaxyB family as we moved out of our old place and in with Mrs B’s Mum & Dad.

It was long drawn out weekend which started early Saturday morning when I picked up the van from Budget. Mrs B’s dad helped me load in all our stuff we were taking with us as well as the hard rubbish and op-shop gear. This took us close to lunch time and I arrived at our new (temporary) home and preceded to un-pack which didn’t take too long and I had the van returned by 3pm.

I spent the next 5 hours finalising all the boxes and breaking down all the wall units and storage units ready to be packed in the shipping container where they will live for the next 4 or so months.

I was back on site at 6:30 Sunday morning finalising somethings before the removalists arrived just before 8. I set the removalists on their way and I disappeared to get other chores done like delivering more stuff to the Salvos, wash my car and have a bacon & eggs breakie while reading the paper.

By 11am the guys were finished and there was room to spare in the container, but not much. We had a joke about the fact the BBQ would be one of the first things out and I said I would do some snags when they unloaded in a few months time, they said sure thing and mentioned the esky wasn’t too far from the BBQ, I am guessing they will want a couple of "frothies" to wash down the snags!!

Here are a couple of photos of our old place which has served us well over the last 6 plus years. Mrs B & myself will always have fond memories but our family has well & truly grown to big for it and we now count down to when we can move into our new home.

We will pay one last visit & take the kids to say bye bye on Thursday as we settle on Friday the 20th and it will be ours no longer

Now while we were busy with moving we did go and pay the site a visit. Now after speaking with our construction manager I had expected to see all our roof trusses up and our frame completed but alas we had everything bar the roof trusses fixed to the frame.

Our Bedroom

Family Room

Rumpus Room

Now here’s hoping that by the end of this week we have roof tiles because if we do we are back on schedule with what our Construction Manager said last Wednesday.

Also there is an added bonus in living with the in-laws, we are closer to the block so a quick visit is only 15 min each way, a trip I am sure I will be making more often now, gotta love daylight savings!!