This has clearly been a busy week on site. The first and most obvious development is that the scaffolding is gone, so now we can really see what the house is going to look like from the outside.
Also, the roof framing for the garage and the alfresco are complete.
The rear bi-fold doors have finally been installed - I presume it had to wait until the scaffolding was removed before the tradies could get proper access.
The internal doors, architraves and skirts have all been delivered, as have the cabinets for the laundry, bathrooms and kitchen.
But, for me, the most exciting development is the installation of the staircase.
Here are some pics!
 |
| From the Front |
 |
| From the Front |
 |
| From the Rear |
 |
| From the Rear |
 |
| The Bi-Fold Doors |
 |
| The Staircase |
 |
| The Staircase |
 |
| The Staircase |
 |
| Panorama shot from Kitchen with Dining Area (left) and Living Area (right) |
 |
| Panorama shot from Rumpus Room with hall and staircase (left) and living area (right) |
 |
Panorama shot from Living Room with Rumpus Room on left and Kitchen / Dining Area on Right
|
 |
| Panorama shot from Dining Area with Living Area and Rumpus Room on left and Kitchen on Right |
 |
| Upstairs Living Area |
Wow! It's looking more and more complete! Love the stairs- is that extra?? It's amazing how it looks with no scaffolding. We should be heading to site within the next 4 weeks, just waiting to hear about our site costs.... Fingers crossed. All the best Adam
ReplyDeleteThanks, it really is all starting to come together now. Off the top of my head, I think the widened first step on the stair case was extra, as were the railings and newels (I think that's what they were called). Re site costs, there has been a lot of media coverage in Melbourne this week about houses falling apart in the Western suburbs due to incorrect slabs being laid down. My advice would be if you get a quote for a straight 'M' class slab (wherever you are), look very closely at it. But it is good to hear you are close to starting. Hopefully your build will go as smoothly as ours has (touch wood) to date.
ReplyDeleteYes we should know about the slab soon, as we are a knock down rebuild, like yourselves there is no chance of getting a m class slab. We have already been quoted on a ph1 slab classification. I know that p is for piering (to stop soil moving) and h is for the slab type (if it's not h, if would be p "problem site" and they would not build) but I could not understand what the number 1 stood for. I have seen on other blogs ph 2 but jot sure if what the number stands for!!? Did you guys have something similar? Also pd does not want to use our asset protection, as my demo caused some minor damage to the crossover, it will mean having to wait till end of build now! Not worth getting repaired!?
ReplyDeleteHi Adam, I am not an expert and certainly not qualified, but I would suggest the following interpretation for "PH1". The thing to remember is that the letters describe the condition of the soil, not the nature of slab. For example, "M Class" refers to a particular class of soil and a "M Class Slab" is any slab that meets the engineering requirements of that soil type.
ReplyDeleteIn your situation, I believe the correct interpretation is that the "P" stands for "Problem" - all knock-down/rebuilds have destabilised foundations and so end up being classed as "P". The "H" is another soil classification, which is short for "Highly Reactive". Basically, "H" class foundations will either expand and contract with moisture, or are at risk of washing away in a flood. I presume the "1" refers to a scale of just how "H" the soil is. Hopefully for you, H1 is better than H2.
Regarding the Asset Protection, it is weird how PD handle different customers differently. We agreed with PD to retain the asset protection for the specific reason that our demolition had caused damage to the footpath and if we repaired it, there was every chance that the same damage would be caused again.
Also, our damage was relatively minor, so the council is not hassling us to get it repaired (yet). They just won't give us our bond back until we do.
We still cannot believe your developments in the building by only week 14. It's amazing! We got our final site costs, luckily no shocks, just a little rock and extra piering, so not much more costs. We got our final drawing sent through, which to be honest are just confusing, they don't really show what you actually are getting in one easy document, we find ourselves looking over many documents. Anyway we have been told that the file moves to building on Friday and we will have a site start date next Tuesday, very exciting time ahead! Keep enjoying your build.
ReplyDeleteAdam
Great to hear that your site costs came through without any surprises and all the best for your build. Don't get me started Porter Davis' convoluted documentation. Fortunately for me, my wife has a keen eye for detail and was able to go through everything thoroughly before we got started.
ReplyDelete