In the woods with....Insulation

A few pics of the insulation completed yesterday. I did two drive by's this morning, there are carpenters there doing something. I just dont know what. Maybe it is the stairs?

In the woods.....with more pics and schedule for this week

Today the insulation is being installed and tomorrow the gyprocking will commence. Should get a good idea of the room sizes when this is done.  In the meantime here are some pics of the upstairs areas.

Upstairs bed 1

Inside the parapet wall

Kids bathroom

Bedroom 2

Bedroom 3

Walk in room bedroom 2

Front verandah

View from upstairs. We are so glad we didnt get a vernadah upstairs as the nrighbours trees block our city view. You can just see Centrepoint/ AMP/ Westfield tower.

Master bedroom

Upstairs living

Looking from Master room, through walk in robes then through to bathroom

Ensuite bath where I will lay watching TV

Plasma blocks in Ensuite  bathroom

In the woods....with a catch up

Sorry I have not posted for a while guys, we have been on a small holiday to Kingscliff. We stayed at a fantastic child friendly resort there.......only problem was kids and I got sick and we flew back early on Friday before their ears were affected . Every time we fly somewhere with the children they get sick.....My husband thinks it will be the last time we fly until they are a little older...... he wants to stay within a 2 hour drive radius from Sydney!!!

The house is progressing very slowly......

We met 4 No-Name building company  representatives including the Construction Manager who is lovely , our current SS,  our new SS and a quality control guys who is responsible for getting the little things right before PCA. In this meeting, it was our opportunity to talk about the parapet wall and anything else of concern pre-building inspection and PCA

I have detailed the issues discussed below as they maybe a handy reference for those who are also just about to commence internal linings

1.parapet wall
- capping on wall is dented and will be fixed
- acid burn on brick wall will be cleaned/ neutralized

2. Metal above external window and door frames frames will be painted to match brick colour

3. Birds nests
- the ones in the garage will be removed by cutting out the wood in areas affected
- the 1st floor birds nests were removed at our meeting

4. Nails between bricks and frame
- these will be connected to frame prior to PCA

5. Window gaps
- these will be covered with an aluminum angle that blends in with the existing frame

6. Alfresco roof tiling is incomplete

7. Plasma blocks will be placed in media /lounge room, dining and rumpus areas

 8. We advised the No-name Building company that the skip bin delivery cracked the newly replaced council footpath (located opposite end of driveway)

9. Downstairs doorways all need to be raised to accommodate the upgraded door size

10. Header to be placed at entry point to guest/ home office

11. Engineers report will directly comment on the slab in particular 1) the epoxy fix on wall of the dining/ media room.

12.Hallway near fridge to be square set at 2340 high

13. The tv point in the ensuite is to be moved 1 stud over

14.The aircon ducts were moved from one side of the linen to the left side of the linen cupboard. Therefore the frame needs to be reversed so it doesn't have any impact on size and functionality of linen cupboard

15.Butlers pantry - Melamine shelving only to be placed on the left side as you walk in

16.The slab under the rumpus still has a large hole underneath and will be fixed with cement infill. This will have no affect on the structural integrity of the building

17. The top part of the fridge cavity framework will need to be cut out so that the staircase can be installed. This has no affect in the structural integrity of the frame when rebuilt and / or the staircase

18. We are to send an email addressing demolition date as building commencement date.


What else is news? Well, we had two opinions on the parapet wall- one says it was fine and within standards. Our usual consultant, who is also a forensic consultant, and expert witness and arbirtrator says the problem is with the length of the wall. The brickies did a great job with an unfortunate situation. It could have been done a little differently to make it less obvious like blending the half bricks through in different areas. His comments of "what is reasonable" made us realise if it went before the Dept. of Fair Trading hearing then the outcome would probably be that Wisdom had done a "reasonable" job. To us it stands out like a sore thumb as we are aware of it.

Our Building Consultant did his inspection on Thursday and picked up minimal problems that the builder / or us had already identified pre-inspection and PCA.

Tradesman came and measured stair areas and gyprocking is  due to commence on Tuesday. The front doors and garage door still have not been installed.


The front of the house has been cleared of building materials so I will try and get some pics of it and internals now aircon has been laid.


The No-name building company told us that we will be in by Easter next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I really hope it is earlier.......

In the woods....with parapeet roof, Alfresco roof tiling and electricals

Busy day up at the house today.

Electricians are there installing power points....I had asked the SS to call me when they were going to be on site so I could talk about power point positions. He didn't. I ended up going on site with my 2 and 3 year old in tow...Had a quick chat about hanging a plasma/ LCD on the wall, he reckons it wont hold it! He also mentioned that it is easy for my brother in law (an electrician) to add in another power point should it be required. I was so peeved after the site visit....my new Birkenstocks got covered in wet concrete damn it!

The roof tilers were also up laying the tiles on the Alfresco area. They have another days work ahead of them.

We have had one Building Consultant's opinion on the parapeet wall brick laying we were not happy with. In addition to this, we have engaged the services of an additional building consultant regarding the wall and are waiting for his response. At least by seeking two opinions we will know for certain if it can(not) be fixed.

I dont have any photos to share today.....I will get some over the weekend...

Bye

K

IN the woods....with what the....another brick issue?

I have attached some pics of the brickwork above the garage.......Do you think the bricks vary in size? Look closer.....Have you spotted it yet?

I knew I wasnt imagining things.......

I took a photo, and zoomed in on the computer, then measured the percentage variances. I estimate the variances are between 25 - 30%



I thought, ok, it may have been done deliberately as alot of them are around the centre.  So, I went and looked at 3 other similar houses in my area, just in case it is done for structural reasons. And guess what the bricks were the same size in the houses I looked at.

I have asked my SS to review the pics and confirm these differences are not within the allowed variances. I will let you know the outcome

In addition to this, there is yellow staining in the mortar on the top few rows...I have to do some research, but I think it is because the mortar is oxidising. Can anyone help with a explanation please?

In the woods....with painted eaves, downpipes and front scaffolding removal

Yesterday the painters came in the rain and painted the eaves and downpipes. Admittedly it was sprinkling when I noticed them there, but I thought it worthwhile putting a call into my SS. He said that it will be fine! I hope it is.........

Today they removed the facade scaffolding. I have posted some pics below


Roof Tiles have all been replaced.

Our SS is apparently snowed under and as a result we are getting a new one when the internal linings commence. This will be our third SS

For those of you who have asked our Building Consultant is John Worthington

In the woods....with eaves and downpipes

The eaves and downpipes were installed today. Both will be painted tomorrow if this thunderstorm ever ends!

In the woods.....with clean bricks

Here are a few photos of the Austral Expressions Blackstone bricks all cleaned! It is an interesting brick, sometimes it looks brown, other times black dependent of the weather

I cant wait for the Dune coloured front, verandah and garage doors to be installed. After installation, we will  decide  if the facade requires plantation shutters or part rendering  to further break up the dark bricks.

My SS assures me the tilers have been and replaced the roof tiles. I am not so sure they replaced all of them. He is going to call Bristille and ask the question again.

Tomorrow they should commence work on the eaves. Fingers crossed the rain stays away.

In the woods...with an update

Well, well, well..the brickies finally finished today. Amazing..... that seemed to drag on forever....... On Monday the bricks should be cleaned, so I will reserve my judgement until then.

I got the brickies a case of beer as a thank you. Hopefully the news spreads and the other tradies will carry out their work with diligence and effeciency so we can get into the house! Somehow, I don't think a case of beer will cut it.

So, what is planned for the next week or so?

- Roof tiles to be replaced (supposed to be yesterday and today, but I am not sure what has happened)
- Monday is brick cleaning
- Tuesday eaves gyprocking and painting

I have some pics to share with you now, but will take some after the bricks have been cleaned.

What else can I tell you? Our lovely neighbours behind are doing a KDR with the same building company as us. They are at DA stage, cant wait to see their house go up.We were lucky to receive a $500 referral cheque from the no-name Building company which we are going to split with them.

The other big news is that no. 19 (the white house in some of my pics) next to us has sold and they have just submitted a DA to council on behalf of the new owners who live next door! (the house doesn't settle until December, so I guess they are doing the new owners a favour by submitting it). My beautiful neighbours on the other side moved out today. They were such nice gentlemen.  
So lots happening around us .

 

Front Entry

My "quiet" front room, where I will sit and watch the passing parade free of kids

Powder room downstairs

Butlers Pantry (2nd kitchen to be fitted out when we move in)

Laundry

Kitchen with glass window splashback

Lounge/ Dining

Rumpus looking back into lounge/ dining/kitchen

Rumpus looking over to Alfresco

Alfresco area (roof still to be laid)

Looking from Kitchen to backyard

Double garage

Media or spare room? Still undecided