Week 19 and 20

What a difference a fortnight makes. Frames and roof trusses are almost complete now thanks to a cracking good chippy team.

Starting to really take shape now.

 Roof has been time consuming for the carpenters because there is alot of it. Roof tilers will do fascias and gutters between Christmas and new year. After new year the roof tiling will go on and then the windows and extenal doors will be put in. Then we need bricklayers and lots of them to get to lock up.

Week 18

Nothing new this week. Measured up for frame. Waiting for the frame and roof trusses to arrive which will be next week.

Week 17

This is the rear terrace slab suspended above the water tanks. We will build stairs going down to the back yard later. Yellow tongue flooring went down this week. Frame will arrive Wednesday next week and start going up Thursday.

Front verandah slab and north garage were also poured. Garage needs to be bricked up next week so the roof trusses can go on the following week.

The plan is to have roof tiles and guttering on by Christmas which is 3 weeks away. Windows and external doors will also go in. Then it will start looking like a house.

Week 16

Floor trusses went down this week and the chipboard flooring has begun. Concreters also came in this week and have put reinforcing in and boxed up ready for pour next Tuesday.

Concreters will pour for north garage, front verandah(above) and rear terrace. Chipboard flooring will also be completed including under floor insulation. Once all the chipboard floor has been laid we can measure up to get the frame and roof trusses made. They should be ready to be installed in a couple of weeks.

Starting to look like a room now. Just need to clean up a bit.

Week 15

Bay window frames have finally gone in for downstairs. They'll finish getting bricked up next week along with the lintel getting welded in place and then bricked over ready for floor trusses above.

Most of the downstairs brick work is now up to floor height. Still a bit to go until we are completely ready for our floor to go on.

Floor trusses have arrived and are going to start getting installed on Monday. Hopefully the bricking can stay ahead of them. Pressure is on the bricklayer as the concreter comes in Tuesday next week to begin work getting ready to pour our north garage, rear terrace, front veranda and anything else we can think of that needs concreting. With any luck the south garage will get done as well.

Week 14

Getting closer to floor height now for the whole house. Floor trusses have been ordered and are supposed to be on site Thursday next week.

There's still a bit of bricklaying to be done before we're ready for trusses. Here's hoping. Then the pressure will be on to get the garages built so the roof trusses can go on. The plan is to have a roof on and windows in by Christmas.

 We had some mechanical help today diverted to our garden bed and it did ,in less than an hour, what would have taken me weeks to do by hand.

I'm happy with the result. Now we can get the garden beds prepared for planting. The vege patch in the corner will have to wait as apparantly storm water piping needs to run underneath it.

Week 13

Some progress this week with a team of bricklayers coming in to help. They are coming back next week so here's hoping we'll be out of the ground and ready for frame. If the weather looks after us I think we'll get a LONG way next week.

Slab went down this week in the water tank area. Hopefully water tanks will go in next week and then all the walls can go up.

Planted our sad avocado tree today. It's been nagging me to get it in the ground so today was the day.  I hope it's happy there and gives us many years of fruit. More fruit trees to follow along that fence. Lemon, Lime to acompany the mandarin, fig and now avocado. They'll have to wait 'til next week.

Week 12

The final internal timber lintel went in. Another beautiful piece of ironbark.

The posts to carry the t bar lintel above the bay door was installed. The t bar will be welded on top to carry the load of bricks above.

Brickies at work on the footings, not their best work mind you. This wall is technically called a "pig". Due to it's long length an error was made in the levels which meant the wall was going downhill. Luckily this wall will be hidden under the house as it is support for floor trusses, otherwise it would have meant pulling it down and starting again. No effect on structural integrity, just not pretty to look at.

The start of digging up the grass for our garden.

week 11

 We have a room, minus roof, of course.

 Opening between the 2 downstairs rooms. Huge piece of exposed ironbark will be placed next week. Going to take a few strong hands to lift it into place. Once its installed , the brickwork can then be finished off over the top.

Retaining wall is looking good. Will start to fill it with soil in 2-3 weeks. Then start the garden.

Week 10

Quiet week this week. James started bricking over one of the windows today which was great. I'm going to pick up the internal timber lintels on Monday so hopefully they will be installed then.

I went up today (Saturday) and continued with my retaining wall. It's starting to look pretty good. Not really looking forward to digging out all the grass. I think I'll continue on with the back wall and finish that before I carry on with the side wall.

Week 9

Finally got some window frames in today. Only reason we managed to do it was there wasn't any glass in. Very windy today. Bricking them in has started.

 Finished the week off with some nice weather and some reasonable progress. Still a long way to go.

We should be pretty close to finishing the lower level bricklaying in 2 weeks, I hope. Then the fun starts with the floor trusses and frame for upstairs.

Week 8

 Windows didn't go in this week as antisipated. They WILL go in next week even if I have to do it myself. Weather has been unkind to us again. We had a couple of nice days this week but some horrible days also with wind and rain. I don't think next week is going to be any kinder to us. Forcasts for more wind and rain. Sick of it.

 

 

You can see all the water in the footings. 

Week 7

Starting to look like a wall now. Had a fair bit of rain this week which has slowed progresss.

The middle wall is being built out of concrete blocks. Won't be seen and alot cheaper.

Windows will be installed for downstairs on Monday next week and then bricked in.

I Started on the retaining wall for our vege garden.

Week 6 first brick

The first brick goes done.........finally. Monumentus day. We found a local bricklayer that has used timbercrete before. He may take a little longer as he works alone but I like his can do attitude. I'm not scared of pitching in where I can if he needs some help. Tried a little labouring yesterday and I must admit I'm a little sore today. Need to harden up.

First day of bricklaying and we start to see what it will look like. Mortar will lighten up once it dries. This lower level is all double brick so it will take a bit longer for it to go up. 2-3 weeks and we will see some real progress. Weather permitting, of course. Fingers crossed.

Week 4 and 5

Nothing happening at the moment. Bricks have arrived. Trying to get bricklayers now. Hopefully by the end of this week or Monday next week.

 Windows have arrived in Australia from the UK. Everything will move quickly once we get the bricklayes.

Week 3

Week 3 was as expected. We had to wait until the site dried out enough for trucks to come in and remove excess soil. Apparantly over 30 truck loads of soil were removed.

Not much happening next week. Waiting for the bricks to arrive from South Australia. They should come Thursday or Friday. I'm hoping week 5 will show some big differences with bricks starting to get laid.

Need to make a decision about a pool. Worried that we might run out of cash, but on the other side, if we don't do it now we may struggle to do it later as diggers tend to make a mess. The way I see it is we've already got a mess now so let's dig another hole? Going to need a permit first. We'll see.

Week 2

Footings went in this week despite the rain we've had.

 Things might slow down now until the site is dry enough to clear it of all the excess soil. Bricks and water tanks can then be delivered as soon as the site is ready. Then the bricklaying can start.

Started at last

 

                    29/07/13 - We have finally started digging today. The beginnings of plumbing, piers, foundations were all started today. A very exciting time. We should have a slab for our 2 downstairs rooms by the weeks end and then foundations for the rest of the build will commence next week. Hopeful of having regular updates from now on.

  As usual for Warrandyte, we hit a few rocks. We will have a solid foundation to build of, that's for sure.

31/07/13 - Made some great progress over the last couple of days. Inspections have been done and we're ready to pour the slab for the lower level on Friday. The footings for the rest of the house will be completed next week in time for the bricklayers to start week commencing the 12th August.

Meanwhile, some rocky ground underneath has been a challenge but nothing the guys couldn't handle. Weather so far has looked after us.

  The slab went down today for our lower 2 rooms. A great first week. Hope all the trades can keep going at this pace.

   We have a bit of clean fill to get rid of. I was really surprised by the amount of excavating that need to be done. I think the extra soil will be removed sometime next week or, at the latest, Monday 12th August.