windows and fascia installed

Yesterday we went to the block and the windows and fascia have been installed. The progress has been consistant and is very exciting to see. The tin roof was also delivered today, so it may also be up before Christmas. That is what our SS was aiming for. The standard windows to house are aluminium awning windows. We upgraded the windows to the kitchen/living area to timber windows, made one window larger and added a window to the living area. The bi folds doors were part of the promotion, but we decided to make them  larger, which was not a large expense because of the promotion. Flyscreens to the windows are also included with the promotion.

The front of the house with alumunium windows and fascia

The back of the house, bathroom window, laundry door and alfresco

There has been a lot of progress but I have had no time to blog the update, with all the Christmas and end of year celebrations. The trusses were complete earlier this week. The alfesco frame and trusses are also finished. It was great to go on a warm afternoon and get an idea of the alfresco and the back yard.

The back yard with the alsfesco

Day 38 - Frame almost complete

It has been an exciting week after seeing the frame up. As there was no progress at the beginning of the week, we felt a bit disheartened because we spent so long in the process of completing necessary documents and had too many experiences of time delays.We have been told the build is so much more efficient than the paperwork, and now I would have to agree. After  a few days of wild weather, the frame still went ahead. My SS stated they wanted to complete the frame by Saturday 4th, these photos were taken on Friday. The girls and I had a walk through and they had fun choosing their future bedrooms. It was good to see the sizes of the rooms. The front lounge and future cinema room are larger than I expected, but all other rooms are as I thought, all average sized rooms. We upgraded to higher ceilings of 2.7mm, the highest M will go with the ceilings, well worth the upgrade to a house I think.  The trusses are being delivered and installed next week. If all goes well we will have the roof on before Christmas!

looking down the corridor, kitchen to the left, entrance on the right and garage door with internal access at the end.

  

Olivia 'resting on her future bed'

Tiana 'tidying her future bedroom'

Garage on the left, bedrooms and the kitchen, looking onto the backyard

Day 29

 

I phoned my SS today and he informed me that the frame is going to be started next Monday, weather permitting. The timber was delivered today and I noted the large mountain of dirt that was in the back yard has been spread around the back and front. They had a bit of difficulty getting the timber onto the block due to the driveway, so we will look into getting our driveway fixed sooner than later.The driveway is mainly dirt and with the rain we have had it has become very muddy and not draining away well enough. Power is also due to be connected to our site next week.

So much has happened since site start, but we have been so busy I have not had any spare time to blog the progress. We met our site supervisor, and he is great! Thorough and informative.
Tim, regarding the retainer wall, just click on comments for my response, being new to blogging I am not sure how to show the comments, yet. The slab was due last week but after a visit from council and the septic guy, we needed to get the new septic tank in before the slab went down, otherwise they would have needed a crane to install it later. Unfortunately we are still on septic where we are....another large expense! Thank goodness the septic guy was able to get it in within a few days, and that was after our helpful excavator was able to move the huge mountain of soil. So remaining to be installed is the sand and filter system and the irrigation lines throughout the garden, which can be done at a later date. Within days Metricon had dug out the huge holes, had the pipes installed and erected the new electrical switchboard. Our SS told us the concrete was being poured on Friday 19th! We went in time to see some of the action, very exciting. And of course we were back there today to take some photos of the slab completed.

 

This is the from back of the house.

This is from the front of the house looking onto the garage.

SITE START

The moment we have been waiting for has finally arrived. We have completed all the paperwork, signed all the necessary contracts and waited patiently for the day to arrive when they tell us that site start has begun. 

29/10/10 was official site start!!!  It feels like forever when you are waiting for the completion of paperwork to pass so that the house can be built.

So far the front gate has been installed and some more excavating was done. Next will be some plumbing before the slab. We met our sight supervisor, Alan, over the phone...exciting that we have a SS! We have a small issue with the future septic tank. The land has been excavated and there is not enough remaining land to run the sand and filter septic system. So we are meeting up with our SS, council member and septic installer next week to determine the best solution. The new septic system is costing $14,500, another big expense. I will post some photos next week of any minor advancements.

Retainer wall

While waiting for Metricon to do the soil test and get through the paper work we had the excavator/landscaper do the retainer wall in our future back yard. It was a job we had planned to do after the house was built, but the landscaper suggested to do it now as It would be difficult to get the machines in the back yard once the house is up. I think it looks great. I am getting excited again to see the progress. Metricon had a date to start on October 22nd. I am hoping for an earlier start....always good to be optimistic.

New Fence

The new fence looks great, much neater than what we had previously. The block is now ready for the builders to start building, but there is more paperwork to do! The block needs to have the levels done to check they are correct and another soil test is required. Then I believe the building permit needs to be finalised with council and Metricon need to finalise any variations. I was informed the soil test and levels were done last week, so hopefully we will be ready to start soon. M have added into our contract an extra costn of $1,950.00 to extend the fixed price period. This is to be removed unless we hold up the build. To date Metricon have had many delays and have assured us that those delays will not result in any extra fees, so we will make sure that extra fee is removed!

Excavation

The excavation was a huge job! The excavator worked on the block long hours removing dirt, digging up the roots of a massive pine tree, the wires from an old swimming pool and levelling the land.

The old fence in this photo above was also replaced, which was also arranged by the excavator and done within days.

Going...going....Gone!

Before taking the girls to school on Wednesday morning we went to see some of the action of the house being demolished. When we got there half of the house had been knocked down already. It was exciting and emotional to see. Today I took some shots of the block with all the rubble gone. The block looks so much bigger without a house on it. The demolition team were amazing, they were prepared to demolish the house last week, but told the day before not too because the gas was not abolished, so they re booked for this Wednesday and had the job done so quickly, thanks Pearcedale!! If the building of the house is that efficient we will be in it in no time....all for positive thinking! I noticed today that the underground power pit has been done, tick to another job. Next is the excavation of the block.

The Denver

Prior to deciding to build with Metricon we had plans drawn and approved for an extension. The cost for the extension was more than we anticipated. We realised knocking down our house and rebuilding was more cost effective. Finding a design that suited our block and a floor plan that we liked lead us to The Denver. The only changes we made to the house itself is adding sliding doors to the rumpus room, so that it can become a theatre room in the future and adding  an outdoor room from the kitchen area. Other extras were upgrades, including electrics, kitchen cupboards and bench, etc. Below is The Denver by Metricon.

Demolition postponed.

I was unable to see if the gas had been abolished last week, due to not being able to go onto the block when they were doing asbestos treatment. So I phoned our gas company and was told that the abolishment had been done. I went past the house the day before the demolition was due and the gas metre was still in place! After phoning the gas company again they stated their paperwork shows the job has been done. So a few phone calls later I was able to track down the company who actually remove the gas metre and they stated that it was due to be done in the next 2 weeks! So cancelling the demolition was the next step. I returned to the house the following day and the gas metre was removed. Back on track again! The demolition is now booked for this Wednesday.

Excited about wires...

Who ever thought I would be excited about a wire hanging down from our house? We placed an order for abolishment of power and gas over a week ago and they can take up to 20 days to do the job, after 7 working days the job has been done :) The wire was connected to the street electricity pole and it needs to be removed before a house can be demolished. That means the demolition team can come in and knock down the house. The demo team were there today attending to any asbestos. Not a nice thought, but in a 40 year old house there needs to be precautions. After living in the house for 6 years it is sad to say goodbye. Lots of memories in that house.

We also signed our contracts with M on Tuesday 10th. Our sales rep went through all the documents with us thoroughly. A few minor changes were required but not much when you get to this stage. Once the block is clear and level they will do a second soil test and survey. They will need our documents from the bank (with our increased mortgage details), our septic tank permit and a few other items. Then M can apply for a building permit and  the build can start. Who ever thought there would be soooo many forms, paperwork, permits, requirements and rules when building a house? And of course each form, permit or test costs a few hundred or thousand dollars. I will be at work on Thursday so I won't get to see the demo in progress. Hopefully the kids will get a chance to see some of the action before going to school as the demo team are starting at 7.30am...

Moved me like a Prince at a fraction of the price

Moving Home

They say that moving is a very stressful event...... really??  I have just recovered. We have moved out of our home of 6 years, so that we can take the next step of abolishing our power before demolishing the house. There were 140 boxes approximately, as I was told. It feels like a never ending job. 3 trips to the salvos and lots of things for the bin. We have moved to a 2 bedroom accomodation, that has no wardrobes and no cupboards, besides in the kitchen. So we have 6 porta robes and a few chester drawers. It has been such a challenge to downsize dramatically. And our 40 year old house was only small. We had to put most of our things in storage.
If it weren't for the great removalists we would still be packing today. They were fantastic, thanks Jamo and Prince removalists! On Friday they spent 4 hours packing boxes and taking furniture that was taken to storage. Then they came back early Saturday morning and spent most of the day loading the truck, packing and then unloading on the other end.
We have now settled in, with only the shoes to deal with, they are still in a box!

Tomorrow we are signing our contract!! We signed our preliminary contract on April 1st. So much work has been put into the planning since then. Council documents, color selections at studio M, electrical selection and more. I decided to start this blog once we received our town planning permit. So as I blog the process I may include what we have been through in the previous months to get to where we are at the moment.