Bricks Arrive

But no pile of sand yet :-(

We have two different bricks as Bowral Blue was ridiculously expensive - too expensive to have the entire house bricked in it.

So instead we have it at the front facade only, then Bowral Simmental Silver for the remainder. It will be split in the same fashion as houses that have the front facade rendered - there will be an articulation joint around the sides near the first downpipe.

Both bricks are completely solid meaning they are verrryyy heavy (sorry brickies!) but should provide good soundproofing and insulation properties. They're also coloured all the way through which means no dramas if they chip.

Four palettes of Bowral Blue

 

Sixteen palettes of Bowral Simmental Silver

Bowral Blue -shiny, metallic goodness

 

Bowral Simmental Silver & Bowral Blue

 

 

Roof

View from the front - spot the wonky gutter! I assume this will get fixed when the guys come back to remove the rails

Roof Complete

After a slow week, our Monument roof was completed yesterday. I haven't seen it myself yet (my dad kindly supplied these photos) however I will drop by this weekend and get a shot from the front

Gutters & Fascia Complete

Hopefully our roof will be on tomorrow!

It's definitely starting to get the Balinese facade look about it :-)

Small Update

Things have certainly slowed down the last couple of days and will probably continue at a slower pace leading up to Xmas. It's amazing how used you get to things happening on your site every day - we had two sunny days without action and it felt like an eternity.

Today at least involved the delivery of some new goodies - gutters & fascia that will go up tomorrow and a whirly bird that will be installed with our roof on Monday or Tuesday.

Surfmist fascia, Monument gutters

 

We also got a meter box!

 

Our alfresco stacker doors have been removed for some reason and are now laying flat in our living area. No idea why!

We were told today that bricks should've started already but will be delayed til 18th December due to no bricklayers being available. So we'll possibly have two days of bricks before Xmas break.

Plumber that was due to arrive yesterday didn't show up but given the bricks won't be starting for a couple of weeks, there's no rush really.

Before site work began, I was thrilled at the thought of a frame by Xmas and now I need to remind
myself that I shouldn't be getting disappointed by no bricks. I think when it all starts happening, you ALWAYS want more and more.

Things are coming along well though and we're lucky to have such a lovely SS who has been keeping  us updated on everything

Frame Complete

The frame is finished and our windows and stacker doors have been installed.

I think some plumbing may have been done around the driveway and garage area? The land looked like it had been dug up recently and was verrryyy soft - ended up with a whole heap of dirt in my shoe after my first step haha

Stacker doors to alfresco & home theatre window

 

Master bedroom windows from street

Master bedroom windows from inside

Weekend Update

Windows, stacker doors and front door frame have been delivered and hopefully will be installed this week with our colorbond roof

Door frame is skinnier than expected (920mm - we would have loved the 1200 but couldn't fit it in) but looks pretty tall at 2340mm

The height of the house is also deceiving - looks fairly normal from the street but as you can see below, I look like a dwarf next to it haha

Frame Continues

Unexpected progress on our build as we had been told yesterday that it was unlikely anyone one be on site today (lots of other sites to attend to!).

Roof trusses almost all complete, with the exception of the front patio, master bedroom and some of the garage

Our next door neighbour (Sett Homes) also has 9ft ceilings and 26 degree roof pitch. Their block sits higher than ours though!

My partner spoke to our lovely site supervisor Mark for the first time today. Mark advised that he's having difficulty finding brickies to complete our job (all booked out with other MJH builds) so he's going to arrange for our roof to be put on, fingers crossed next week

Frame Starts

Everything done today except the roof - didn't get a finished photo of the completed alfresco and garage though!

Frame Delivery

MJH, you make some really pretty frames

Termite Proof

No frame delivery as anticipated but instead we got some fluorescent termite  guard around the house perimeter.

You would think that steel frames alone would be pretty termite proof. Pretty sure we're now invincible

In other news, we were pleased to received a variation notice from MJH today advising we would be getting almost $3.5k back from piering.

That takes us one step closer to plantation shutters!

Sunday Slab Fun

Too much time on our hands and too much excitement for our build. Figured I'd have a play before the frame goes up

Slabbed

And what a fine looking slab it is.

Waffle pods went in yesterday (rather than Tuesday) and slab went down today (rather than yesterday). Monday was absolutely shocking weather (torrential rain) and I suspect all MJH jobs ended up pushed back by 1 day.

The size of the slab is a pleasant surprise - I've heard they can look teeny tiny! Now I just need to prep myself for it to get smaller once the frame/bricks/gyprock go in

Frames are meant to be delivered on Monday 25th so fingers crossed :D The weather has been so miserable lately and I can hear a thunderstorm brewing as I type this

Waffle pods

Slab pour

Formwork removed

Tadah!

Formwork

Despite some torrential rain, MJH still managed to get the formwork done and waffle pods delivered wooohooooo

Garage/entrance

Waffle pods

Backyard/alfresco

Piers

Today was finally piering day and what a nerve wracking day it was.

Walked in with an allowance of 60 lineal metres and was happily informed by slab supervisor James that we had only used 14.1

Our soil tests indicated weathered shale approx. 500mm below the surface and this has proven to be a great outcome for us

Look at the baby .2m pier (awaiting concrete)! We had mainly pier depths of .2, .3 and .4m

Slab supervisor and concreter overseeing the works

Slab is scheduled for Wednesday 20th November, followed by frame delivery on Monday 25th November.

I have started becoming an avid weather watcher, and unfortunately it looks like we've got a few wet weeks ahead of us

Rain

Today we experienced our first delay of our build due to wet weather, but I hope the rain is doing wonders for the farmers and those effected by bushfires.

Piering now scheduled for Thursday

Fence

Yes I know it is silly, but seeing this fence is so damn exciting to me.

Please excuse my weak attempt at a panoramic shot

Plumbing

Plumbing was completed today and hopefully piering to take place on Tuesday (12/11).

No rocks were found during the excavation, thank goodness! The plumber told us they encountered some shale along the left hand side however they dug through this easily.

View from front of block

Sewer

View from rear of block

Plumbing along left side of house - ensuite, main bathroom and laundry

 

This side will be quite close to the neighbours however we will have 2.7m access on the other side of the house

 

All cleaned up