Tumbleweed...

It's that time of year and not a lot happening.  How on earth do these tradies put food on their table?  Apparently shut down is until mid Jan with the build picking up slowly by the end of Jan - are you for real?!!! Apparently so...

3-D!

Here are the sticks in 3-D!  I had a ball getting a real feel for the size of the rooms.  The master bedroom with retreat (ahem - watch out, the white trash are moving in!) is much bigger than I had imagined and the living area is a bit smaller - especially once we get the fireplace in.  The framers have got a couple of windows positioned the wrong way around but I've left a message with the SS, so I'm sure that will be fixed in a jiffy! 

On a side note, by golly the tradies are messy!  I'm not talking timber, I'm talking juice containers and crisp packets - they are all over the joint.  I mean, its lovely to see their mum's still make their lunch but its a little unnecessary to flaunt it!  We'll head to the block on the weekend for a bit of a tidy up, I think.

I think this blog is more for me than anyone else!

I mean, really - is a day by day account of this really that interesting to anyone but me?  Maybe at the end of all this you could cut out all of the pictures and make one of those flip books!

I drove past this morning after I had noticed the delivery of timber a couple of days before.  While nothing had started, there were plenty of young men moving sticks around.   So this evening I sent Matt up to the block (as I was already in my PJ's, and even though I am from the country I have not got to the point of getting in my car with them on!).  These are the pics he came back with.  It reminded me of those matchstick games you got on the back of the Redheads packets, so I think all the boys were doing all day were playing puzzles!  I just kind of expected my 2D house to finally become a little 3D...I'm not expecting too much am I?!

Cup of tea, anyone?!

Who'd of thought I'd get so much entertainment out of a slab!  Now that the concrete is set,  I was able to have a wander around the 'house'!  The framers have penciled the ground floor frame positions so I had the fun of pretending to have a 'day in our life'.  As its only the children's/guest rooms upstairs I was able to get out of bed, have a shower and then make brekky!  Rather than joining in my fun, my girls simply looked at me frozen in amazement as I skipped from room to room with a running commentry of my daily routine - I think they were especially appalled when I proceeded to get 'undressed' to have a shower (what is wrong with these kids?!!).

I noticed that our sign at the front had the wrong lot number on it, so it gave me an excuse to call our SS - I also happened to mention one major concern for me which is the cement sheet infill over the garage.  The whole house is brick so I have no idea how we missed this - it was our error but I had tried to change it before commencement on site (in fact atleast 3 weeks before we started) but admin refused.  Thankfully the SS rocks and has said I can order a steel lintel and negotiate with the brickies to get it bricked!  I knew my super hero would fly in to rescue me...

Frame starts this week and will take approx 2 weeks - although the rain has been a little persistent today and is forecast for the end of the week,  I'm sure they will ensure its done before Christmas so they have some cash in their pockets.

Concrete and beer

A text from a friend on the 11th hole sent me racing.  I cheered, even Lily was over the moon excited, but I suspect it was seeing that there was machinery and movement on this block of land which has laid dormant with promises of movie nights and chickens that had her going! Merely a day later and the slab has been laid! Happy me!  I was tempted to put a coin in for luck but realised that I wasn't superstitious, although I did buy the 'boys' half a dozen beers as I think that is one superstition that may be true!

While out walking I discovered I was not alone...

Now this is what I am talking about!  Progress.   Not only was I all boxed up but I saw someone - a man - and he was inspecting our waffles (not to be confused with the toasted ones) and he promised me that our house won't be falling down on us, which is just great news!  With the sun shining  we are hoping to have a slab by the end of the week (terribly exciting!).  I'm hoping to be around for the cement pour and somehow getting the chance to make my mark, some kind of sign or imprint in the concrete, maybe like a snow angel, infact we can all have a go, Matt, the girls and myself, flat on our backs, waving our arm and legs creating a memory embossed forever.  Ahh, how special...

...then while no one was looking a man came along playing with pipes

Alas, not the Scottish kind but the white ones which are perfect for plumbing (which I suppose is much more useful at this point in time, although the Scottish pipes might be great for the housewarming!).

In the meantime, to keep me busy I have been in discussion with admin re the shared security fence.  Our neighbours are also building with PD and while completely logical to share our security fence both parties are paying for the same 54m of fence.  PD claim that due to our contract being longer and that we are likely to need the fence longer that we should both still be paying in full for that 54m.  This is complete rubbish.  I understand at time of contract a provision was needed for the full fence on both lots but a credit should be subtracted at the end of the contract for half of any days which were shared.  I will fight this to the bitter end!!!!

I am still waiting to hear from my super-hero site supervisor (SS), so that will have to wait until further into the story...

...and along came concrete piers

Well, this is going to be bloody boring at this rate!!!  I watch as houses around me are moving at lightning speed and 11 days from official start I have some holes in the ground filled with concrete - yipee for me!!  But gee, look at that view!

Once upon a time there was a port-a-loo...

Up until now...

We purchased our block in May 2007 and we have had quite a few dramas with the developers, choosing a builder, dealing with the builder we now have and the finance company to get to this point. While unfortunately I still have to deal with the administration side of our build, I am now hopeful that it will be minor and we can concentrate on the actual construction of our home. We are really excited and feeling positive about this stage of the process as we are ready to leave the negative behind and are now itching to have a place we can call our own again. This is where the real story begins.