We're locked out

Newsflash!.......We're locked out! No more access until we move in. I'm typing this from Sydney airport ready to board a flight to the US.

In one day, the builders have locked up the house, completed all cornices and have delivered and installed the laundry, bathroom/ensuite and all kitchen cupboards. AMAZING!

More news and photos when I return in 3 weeks. I'm sure a fair bit will be completed by then!

Bricks finished

ALL BRICK PIERS ARE GOING TO BE RENDERED THIS COLOUR, FACEBRICK TO REMAINER

The brickies have finished! We're very happy with their work. We did have some problems though with the height of the rear half brick piers on the porch.

Although they were building correctly to plan, I wanted to change it. I didn't know that the height of the piers was measured from the height of the main slab, not the porch slab, therefore they were higher than I desired.

In the end, I requested a Variation Order to have the heights lowered and show more wood post. They were not going to do it as they stated it was structural until I made a statement by going on site and pulling bricks down!! I commend them honouring customer's requests.....hahaha and so they bloody should.

FRENCH DOORS HAVE ARRIVED!

Nearly lockup

We're nearly at lockup. No photos this time. Bricks are done alongside the fence side all the way to the roof. We have all of the porch bricked up and half the front verandah. Most things have been good so far.

How's this though? I was wondering if the plumbers capped the end of the gas line that descends from the roof into the fireplace wall. I noticed that it was not done earlier and now the wall has been covered with plaster. We're making provision to put in a gas fireplace after handover so we had a frame, gas line and power point installed inside the wall for future installation.
I thought surely they would have capped the pipe prior to plaster. While I was snooping around in the roof today, I made an effort to look down into this wall cavity and noticed the pipe had not been capped. I'm not sure when they planned to do this but I thought it would have been done before the plaster. This would make for a dangerous leak inside the wall when the gas is connected. Maybe they knew about this already and had another plan. Interesting though that something as critical as this may have been missed.

I also noticed a small leak onto plaster inside the roof space. Im sure this is not supposed to happen. I'm glad I had a chance to check this out soon after heavy rain so I can get this fixed.

Anyway, hopefully lockup next week!

Bricking and plastering almost finished!

Standing on the footpath watching the progress

Front verandah looking toward the garage

The rate at which these guys work is unbelievable! The bricklaying is almost done and all plaster is installed including the blue wet area walls. We were going to install insulation ourselves in the side wall of the garage between brick and plaster but time ran out as the brickies and plaster guys had closed up the wall. It gets pretty cold in Doreen in winter and we'll be spending a bit of time in there working on cars etc. Check out the front facade (top photo)!

Did I say how much I like these bricks! :-)

Have a look at the brickwork. I was talking to these guys today who were mentioning how difficult these bricks were to lay. But they did mention how nice they were though because they have great texture and a mix of dark greys that match the roof. Notice the difference in mortar colour below. The white mortar colour indicates the bricks which were laid a few days ago and the mortar has had time to dry out and turn white. This will happen to the top section over the next few days.

Side wall of garage almost done

All cornices have arrived. The photo below is looking toward the kitchen/pantry from the meals area. Note the laundry entry to the left. I have asked the SS to see if we can have the cavity sliding doors and frames woodstained.

The neighbour had his windows and frame timber delivered today. It won't be long before we have another structure next to ours.

We have Insulation, Bricks and Plaster

I can finally announce that the brickwork has started. So far they have bricked up most of the entry, some of the garage, along the side of the house nearest to the neighbour and half the back wall. I'm quite happy with the job so far.

They have lined the walls with insulation so it was a mad dash to finish off the noggings etc before the plaster went on. I was told the plaster would arrive on Friday and would go on the week after. But I arrived at the house on Saturday to find 4 hardworking plasterers at work and they'd just about finished the whole job. I wasn't happy though because I don't think the chippy got around to making the frame for the gas fireplace when he installed the noggings so that's going to have to be done later on. At least we can make this a feature wall after we install the fireplace. We plan to use the darkest Hogs Bristle colour just for this wall. It should look great! (Hogs Bristle is in the colour selections below)

Bedroom 4 or study room with highlight window facing the west.

Casual room looking from kitchen toward the fireplace wall with TV room behind the left wall. Colour selection showing feature wall (fireplace) paint colour circled. Hog's Bristle colour. The main paint colour is the middle colour selection (Hog's Bristle Half).

Garage looking toward the internal door. Just before bricking and plaster.

More progress

I happened to run into the supervisor today whilst I was at Doreen. I thought i'd buy him a coffee as he was at the house making sure the frame is ready for plaster. He mentioned the plaster arrives on Friday and will start next week. Bricks are due to start on Wednesday (tomorrow). The SS mentioned that the DR bricks are very hard to lay because of the undulations (bannana bent) of the brick. But they are a feature brick and will look fabulous. He says has a good brickie to do the job.

I have the chippy arriving tomorrow to add cavity sliding doors/noggins/fireplace frame and the plumber to add an extra rainwater pipe to the laundry for the washing machine which will be a fantastic water saver.

The guy fitting the insulation was on the job today. He had enough left over to almost fill the wall between the theatre room and casual for added sound suppression. I bought some extra from Bunnings for $40 to fit in wall between the master and the ensuite/toilet. The SS is pretty easy about doing a few things ourselves which is really helpful. I've already siliconed and tied the water pipes to prevent noise behind the walls.



I've been searching for a rainwater tank to add to the rear of the house. I'm intending to get a slimline tank (as above) to match the colour of the roof. They're only half a metre wide! This way we can water the veggie patch and provide water to the toilets and laundry.

Can't wait to see the bricks done! Photos tomorrow.

We have Ducts (not ducks) in the roof!

We have ducts in the house!


Zoned heating and evap cooler ducts

It has been really wet today. Good weather for the ducts (I mean ducks). It cleaned the roof of all the dirt and the rain would also be good for the water tank which is non existent at this stage.


I went around there at midday today to talk to the carpenter about a few things and I noticed all the ducts have been installed in the roof. Sorry I couldn't resist with the ducks thing! Some of you might understand my sense of humor.
Note: puddle in centre is not for bathing in.

The chippy also had temp doors attached to the internal garage and front door. I asked him to add a few noggins to the frame in the TV room for a future wall mounted tv and in the laundry where dryer is to go. The fireplace frame needs to be measured and cut so he's going to come back and do this at a later time before plaster.

The bricks haven't started yet and I'm not sure when this is going to happen. It's probably one of the last things to do prior to lockup to ensure ease of access to tradies. I was chatting to the guy fitting the ducts. I asked if he could run a pipe (as he's a plumber) from the rainwater line to the laundry for future connection to the washing machine. It's not a hard job but will be difficult after plaster. I think a good filter is required prior to use in a washing machine.

That's all for now folks!