Steel done

Summary of steel:
14 tonne in total
26 x columns
46 x beams
6 x rafters
139 x floor joists
52 x roof purlins

Roofer measured yesterday and should have wire, insulation, gutter (etc) including roof cladding and some high level wall cladding complete by Wed next week. The plumber has started today, laying pipework and drains etc. Brickie to start Monday and Wall linings on Tuesday next week.

Connecting Pieces

Well the photos speak for themselves. We finally have a framework tostart building walls and floors. Tomorrow they have to come back and drill a few more holes as some of the detailing wasn't quite right and some pices arestill missing (top level of stairs). Other than that, looking good.

Steel Arrives

Finally the steel is ready top be errected. After some initial hiccups with the crane driver not happy about lifting over power cables, the steel started to be dropped off (all 14 tonne of it) and work begun on assembling the beams. There was also some problem with the depth of the trenches but this was overcome with a few choice words.

We had to utilise the neighbours garden as storage for some of the members as there just isn't the room in our backyard to put it all. What with the pool, the actual green garden space is rather small. Good - less mowing to do ;)

Next step is to lay pipe work ready for flooring to go down and to put on the steel part of the roof.

Tidying up

This week, the benefits of the concrete and tidy up of the back yard could be seen. Unfortunately, when they came to fit the holding down bolts in preperation for erecting the steel, they couldn't drill with a normal drill because there is too much reo in the way. Need to get core driller in - another delay plus more money.

Footings

Footings didnt get poured on weekend cause pump was too small and could not setup on street and boom over house. Re scheduled for lunchtime today.
Fence went in ok on Friday. Looks great. also, waterproofing behind retaining walls has been done ready for filling with soil for plants. This week aiming to level site, take away footing spoil and tidy up for steel erection. Also, drill and epoxy the column holding down bolts.
On the fitout side, been thinking more about colour of the floor to ceiling bookcase in the family room. Will put a laminate finish on it so pretty much skys the limit in terms of colour selection. Originally thought white but thinking may be a bit stark. Maybe browny colour? Thinking bottom section to have cupboards with doors and above incl over doorway to be open book case.
Also, want to change window colour back to white. As well as louvres (etc). Want to go back to our original idea of similar to locaql development. Looked at roof tiles, going to run with a flat profiled, shingle looking concrete tile.

Too much rain

Can't believe Sydney has had worst rain in 77 years! Our poor back garden looks like something from World War II. The trenches that were dug for the footings have collapsed and we now needto get the machine back to redig, pump out the waterand wait for them to dry out. Maybe next week?

Starting to wonder whether knocking down the remaining back walls was a good idea or not...

Thinking about kitchen splashback window. It was to be long and narrow abouve the benchtop. Want to delete it as it faces west and concerned with sun / heat. We can always get similar affect with colorback glass splashback.

Underpinning

We had a quote this week to do the underpinning of the back of the house along the side so we can excavate for the garage and laundry. At $16,000 we made the decision to knock down those remaining two outer walls and start again. Much cheaper and won't impact on the timeline.

At the moment waiting for the steel detailing to be finished so steel can be fabricated. Latest estimate is to erect on May 5th.

Demo finished

The front awning has been removed and the internal walls removed. Also the side walls that used to be the kitchen and will become the internal courtyard. Tarp up to keep out the rain and well we now own a house that has just three rooms.

Demolition

This is how the back of the house looks now. Have removed the roof and stripped down the internal and external etc.

Pool poured

The cement was poured into the pool today and now we have to wait for it to set and then will think about whether to tile or to wait till steel is erected and construction at back of house is finished.

According to the Canada Bay online DA tracking tool, it looks like all is complete for senior officer to sign off. Need to call to understand next step & timing. Locked away construction certificate (CC) guy.

Pool begins

The pool was pegged out on Friday and dug out on Monday. Tuesday saw the formwork complete but then the rain started again!

Steel

Met engineer this week. Structural steel framing coming together. Next step is meeting steel detailer to walk him through and get him to produce workshop drawings for fabricator. Sounds like such a long winded process but the way it is designed, the steel bones should go up in 4-5 days. From then, brickie, structural carpenter, roofer, windows and then lock up. Hoping lock up will be early May.

Steel framing plan came back from engineer. Will need to put another column at back of house. If not the beam is way to deep 360mm. Will not get that sexy exposed steel look trying to achieve. Ok, means need to rethink glazing. Bifolds that stack into column, sliders etc. Sort of leaning towards sliders for practicality with kids and user friendly. Only double sliders.

Baths and water

This week we have been discussing plans for the two upstairs bathrooms. We want to have a double spa bath in the ensuite and a big a bath as possible for the kids bathroom too. Going with the Duravit brand and a bath with a wenge coloured panel for us. However got told there is minimum 12 week lead times for some items as must be ordered from Italy! There goes our project deadline sliding along again. Jury still out on tile colours.

Also discussed carpets for upstairs and whether or not to carpet the staircase or leave wooden. I think carpet.

Still waiting for stormwater drawings to submit to council.

Trying to get to window contractor this week to discuss and negotiate. Even though most windows need be site measured hoping he can order framing material, powdercoat etc so when ready he can hit it.

More rain

Big push between now and Easter to get design sorted, materials ordered and steel erected. Weathered has put us further back this week. Forecast is for rain all week. The back yard is like a bad day in Beirut. Dirt has washed down driveway and onto street. Waiting for it to stop so it can be shoveled out.
Demo bloke came out last nite. Will lock him in for end of month. Need more talks with the architect. Need details drawn and more dimensions for window and steel guy.

retaining wall

Finally the rain to dryed out and the concrete was poured to create the base for the retaining wall. We chose bricks by taking a photo of some we like in the nearby Breakfast Point development and sending it to the Bricklayer. He told us that they were the most expensive bricks on the market. So we requested something cheaper that looked similar but he has convinced us to stay with them. So the order is in.

Unfortunately a part of the neighbours fence has fallen down because of the earthworks and the rain so we will have to erect a temporary fix.

Heavy Rain

As luck would have it, although the garden has been levelled and the trenches dug for the retaining wall, it has rained non stop ever since so we have to wait to pour concrete and reassess later this week. Further delay therefore to digging the pool.

Council has approved one of the two alternatives we put forward after their initial rejection, so now we are having the drawings altered and hoping to resubmit this Friday.

Stage Two

Today excavation of the back yard began in preparation for the pool. They had to dig out the front driveway and knock down the wall so they could drive the truck up. Mark brought sandbags home from work to build a temp. retaining wall

They also removed all of the flowers down the side of the garden even though I expressly asked them not to.

At the end of the day, the garden looked like a bomb site with slabs of concrete mounded high. Well at least the ball has started rolling.

Plumbing dramas but kitchen finally finished

Today we had two tradespeople at the house to 'finish off' some jobs. First, the plumber came to fit the sink to the newly delivered vanity unit. However....we found that the mixer set had a bolt missing so he couldn't do it. We called the manufacturer (Dorf) who said it was a known issue and they would sent a fitter out with the part to fit it. So our plumber fixed the pipework ready for the bowl and taps sometime next week (?). He also came with the extensions to fit the bath taps and to replace the shower taps to match. I have to say I'm not happy though as he used these 'metal spacers' behind the shower taps and the bath spout which look disgusting. Also the shower is now dripping so we still need to get him back!

Next the handyman came and fitted handles to three doors, shelf and towel rail in the bathroom and a blind in the kitchen. So the latter is now complete, as a few weeks ago we had the dishwasher panel fitted and the missing handles on cupboards, as well as the vanity attached to the bathroom wall.

bathroom and shutters

Well we are getting closer to finishing the bathroom. Last week the shower screen was installed. We think we made a mistake going for the frameless. The glass is really thick and we made it too big. It's a narrow entrance now into the bathroom and we still don't have the vanity in. Probably have to walk in sideways when it is!

We also had the bathroom plantation shutters installed today and what with the ceiling being painted over the weekend, and the heated towel rack also installed last week, we are almost there.

Shutters were also installed in the two front bedrooms and look lovely although we are keeping Ela's Pooh bear curtains on top!




The painting was also finished in the hallway and kitchen, so there are just a couple of handles that need to be fixed on cupboards, plus a front panel for the dishwasher needed in there. The cooker now has the rangehood connected so we have ventilation whilst cooking. And today the faulty heating unit from Fujitsu was finally replaced so Ela has heat in her play room.

I think I can finally count the remaining jobs to be done, on one hand! They are:
*front door handle
*handle on the linen closet
*two bedroom light fittings needed
*globes for the pendant lamp in the hallway
*smoke alarm hard wired in
*taps fitted in bathroom
*vanity installed (that will need tiling and plumbing)
*lock and handle fitted on bathroom door

OK well maybe two hands, but still, mostly minor jobs so the end is in sight. Lucky that as the baby is due in 9 weeks! May just make it.

taps n heaters

Not much point counting weeks anymore as there isn't too much happening!
However today we had two tradespeople turn up - the engineer from Fujitsu who came to check out why we can't get one of the heating units to work, and the plumber who came to fit the taps on the bath and replace the shower taps, to match.

However.....the technician found that the unit was faulty and needs to order new parts, or a replacement unit. ANd the plumber found that the extension pieces that he had brought/been given (needed because the original taps wouldn't fit due to the depth of the tiling) would not fit the new taps we had ordered. So back to the order book for this job too.

Here are the three tap sets we have gone through to date and the actual (temporary) brass ones in use now! Rollover the pics for comments.