October Update

Sorry, I have been super slack in updating the blog for the past month, but mostly because there hasn't been much to update.... 

The brickwork finally finished on Monday 21st September. Below is a few pictures - bit hard to get good pictures whilst the scaffolding is still up...

Fascia's and gutters went up on the top floor roof of the main house on Wednesday 30th September.

The roof tilers decided to finally show up on Tuesday 13th October

Eaves went up Friday 16th October

Photos start to July 2015

BRICKS!!

Well it's not much, but our first row of bricks and our termite protection stuff got laid yesterday! (25th August). Now we just need to hope / pray the rain goes away so we can get some more bricks laid!

WooHoo!! The termite guys came out and did their thing on Wednesday 26th August, and the brickies came back on Thursday 27th! Here's their progress...

And when I did a quick drive by Friday 28th in the morning they had almost finished the lower part of the whole left side of the house!

Well I am 110% convinced that our brick layers were worth the wait! They are doing an awesome job!! The scaffolding went up on Tuesday 1st September, and they have got heaps done since! There were more bricks delivered on Wednesday 2nd September, and then thanks to the stupid rain, they weren't back again until Monday 7th September or Tuesday 8th September? Not sure which day they started back, as we didn't drive past on the Monday. Either way, it looks like they have got heaps done, so we're happy!

Yay! We went for a drive past the house on Saturday (12th September), and it looks like the brickwork has finish on the right side of the house! Hopefully that means they're on track to be finished by the end of this Wednesday! Fingers crossed the rain stays away!!

Rain, rain, GO AWAY!

ARGH!! So we finally had brick layers booked in to start this morning, and of course it is pouring with rain today! And to add insult to injury, damn rain is forecast for the rest of the week....

Rain, rain, GO AWAY! Come back when we have a roof!

Excitement

Just had a phone call from our Site Supervisor confirming that he has got the brick layers booked in to start Monday morning (24th August). Now to start with our Anti-Rain Dancing so the predicted rain for next week doesn't happen so we can see some progress on the house!! 

Disappointment...

Feeling a bit of disappointment this month... Our site supervisor had told us we should be starting brick laying the week of the 10th August. When I drove past on the Wednesday and didn't see any changes, I called the area manager (site supervisor was on leave), and his response was "hopefully" the first week of September, which he said will then have us at 3 weeks behind schedule. 

I get there is a brick layer shortage at the moment, but what really ticked me off is seeing another person building with Clarendon who's frames went up 2 weeks after ours already has about 5 rows of bricks laid!! I would have thought there would be some kind of order as to who gets which trades first; as in person to reach certain stages first gets them first, but no.... Not happy!! 

August Update

Well a bit has happened since my last post.... 

Our slab was laid on Wednesday 8th July

Frames were up and completed (as much as they could be for now) by Friday 24th July

12 pallets of bricks were delivered on Wednesday 5th August

A sand delivery on Friday 7th August got me excited that we might be able to see some bricks go up... But I was sadly mistaken :(

Colour Selections

House and Granny Flat Exterior Bricks
Austral - Metropolis - Alabaster

Main House Roof tiles
Boral Terracotta - "French" style - Slate Grey

Colorbond - Monument

Granny Flat Roof, all gutters, fascia's, garage door and rain water tank

Garage Door (pic is wrong colour - obviously)
Style - Ranch
Colour - Monument

Timeline to date

Saturday 14th February 2015 - Paid tender deposit to Clarendon Homes

Tuesday 17th February 2015 - Soil / bore hole tests completed on our land

Thursday 19th February 2015 - Land survey completed on our land

Saturday 21st February 2015 - Signed paperwork for our tender preparation

Thursday 19th March 2015 - Tender presentation appointment at Clarendon head office. Paid tender acceptance payment to Clarendon Homes

Saturday 21st March 2015 - Went to Austral Bricks and chose our bricks! Metropolis Alabaster!

Thursday 2nd April 2015 - Contract presentation / signing appointment at Clarendon head office.

Monday 6th April 2015 - Chose and paid deposit on the carpet for the house

Thursday 9th April 2015 - Paid Contract acceptance payment to Clarendon. Also chose and paid carpet deposit for the granny flat

Saturday 18th April 2015 - Visited Clarendon's Colour Studio to make all of our decisions ahead of our appointment on Thursday 30th April. Also visited the display center at Parklea again to get some inspiration for bathrooms, and then visited Tile Direct at Castle Hill to choose our tiles. Unfortunately they didn't have the floor tiles Marty is after, so we are hoping they will let us help them source the right tiles!

Thursday 30th April 2015 - Appointment at Clarendon's Colour Studio to make and finalise basically ALL of our selections / decisions 

Wednesday 6th May 2015 - Appointment at Tile Direct to choose our tiles for our wet area's that are being tiled by Clarendon

Thursday 7th May 2015 - Appointment at Clarendon's Colour Studio for our Security (and data) decisions, and Electrical decisions - possibly the most expensive appointment to date!!

Monday 25th May 2015 - Demolition started on our little old house, and was over and done within 5 days

Thursday 11th June 2015 - Clarendon's surveyor's have pegged out our land!

Monday 15th June 2015 - We are "officially" started at site - Clarendon have started excavation!!

Friday 3rd July 2015 - Clarendon have started framework for the slab to be laid

Monday 6th July 2015 - Plumber has been on site and has done his part to get ready for the slab to be laid. Foam pods and steel have been delivered

Tuesday 7th July 2015 - Site is all ready for the slab to be poured. I receive a phone call in the afternoon confirming the slab will be poured in the morning so long as the weather holds off - so RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY, COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY!