Slab

Day 11 the boys were busy first thing in the morning pumping cement.
Over half way there and it was only 10:30 in the morning.
I ask the guys how many cement trucks were needed. There were 7 trucks each with 5 cubic metres of cement. There was definitely a lot of cement. I'm all cemented out!
Starting to smooth out the slab and remove the timber framing.
All done.

Waffle Pods

Day 8 we came home to see that the waffle pods have been installed. These guys have been busy. We went down on Saturday just to see if there was anyone there and no. Looks like the concrete may be poured on Monday.
Picture from the alfresco area.


The extra bit for the water tank. This will have additional bricks on top to raise the tank higher for the stormwater.

Balcony and Alfresco Tenches

Well day 7 we saw some trenches dug around the balcony and the alfresco area. Gravel now covers the site and we were even there to see the delivery of the re-enforcing and plastic bits and pieces.
The balcony area or front door.

Temporary Fence Up

Day 7, It rained yesterday and the dusty block is now a slippery mud pit. The temporary fence has been put in place and there is also a pole where the electricity box will be. It was Teagan's first visit yesterday and she is very excited. It's been all talk for months and months and now she can see that something is happening.

Teagan is pointing up to where her room will be.

Now that's a big smile. Temporary fence behind.

Waste Pipes

Day 6 has seen more soil moved, trenches dug and waste pipes installed. We can acually see where rooms are going to be. The site is very dusty. It could do with a bit of rain to settle it down. When we go there our shoes need a clean everytime.

Remember that you can click on the pictures to see them larger.

This is where the Powder Room and Laundry will be. The large pipe on the right will be the toilet.

There has been additional soil removed from the fence side. The stormwater will be run along here.
The has also been a toilet and cage delivered today.

Piering Completed

Today the concrete piering has been completed. There are 36 of them. The house is going to be closer to the fence than expected.


This corner is going to be the theatre room.

Site Scraped and Leveled

Well the 14th of February 2008 - Valentine’s Day will be one to remember. We drove up the court hoping that some work had been done. When we pulled up we started giggling, amazed at how much soil had been moved. We knew that the cut into the block would be quite significant, but when you see it for real, its a different story. It looks like there will be a fair amount of landscaping to be done when the house is complete.

This is the before view from the back corner of the block.

This is the view after the site was leveled.

This is the view from the other back corner. The house will be 3.5 metres from the fence.

There is quite a drop in front of where the study will be.

This is where the driveway will be.

Power Pole

On Australia Day, we cleaned up the block. I saw a surveyor parked out the front who was finalising the position of the house. The following day we had pink markers around the block.


Two days after this PD rang to inform us that the Site Survey noted that there were 'Significant Fencing Discrepancies'. As it turns out two of the fences are in the wrong place. This will need to be discussed with the neighbours at a later date. This won't stop the start date.


On the 11\02\2008, we dropped in to see that a power pole had been placed out the front. We were also told the the site start is schedule for the 14\02\2008.

Tree Removal

A requirement of the building permit was to have a tree removed, which would have been very close to the new alfresco. It also happens that Marita is extremely allergic to this tree so we were happy to remove it. The tree removal was completed on the 12\11\2007.

Picture of the Grevilla Robusta in September. You can see the stakes in the ground where we think the alfresco will be.

Here are the guys taking down the tree...

A year ago

About a year ago the idea was to demolish the current house and rebuild in the same area. This proved difficult due to council rules with minimum setbacks etc. The block is in a court and is approx 1100sqm. To maximise the block, we wanted to build as close to the front as possible. We soon realised that this was not possible as we wanted to build a double story which requires further distance from the back fence. After months of discussion we agreed on a suitable position, which is in a reasonably flat area of the block.


When we first started looking at new homes to build we knew it would take awhile before building would start. We first needed to demolish the existing 2 bedroom house. This involved moving all our belongings into storage and moving in with the in-laws. What was going through my mind?!!! --- Just joking!!!

This was the old house.



We chose the Cremorne because the Kitchen\Living and Alfresco will look out to where the garden area will be. We are dreaming of a pool in the future but lets not get ahead of ourselves. The main drawback is that the garage would have been better on the other side so there would not be as much land wasted on driveway. Other reasons we liked this house are that the upstairs games room is big and there is not a lot of wasted space. Oh, and the pantry...


On to the house later. First thing was to demolish the existing house. Well, I wanted to set it on fire but apparently you are not allowed to do that so we had to pay for someone to demolish it instead. The house had a fair bit of asbestos so that was an extra cost. The demolition was finally completed late October, earlier than expected.

House with asbestos removed...

Shed without asbestos...
House tiles being removed... 26\10\2007



Tiles all gone...

Most of roof gone...

Here is the shed...


And now it's gone...

House pretty much destroyed...

Almost gone. The floorboards are recycled also.


Now the house is almost gone apart from some rubbish and the septic tank. The demolition company argued that the septic tank was not part of the quote. Why would anyone want to leave it in the middle of the block??!! We rang them and they agreed to smash the tank in and cover it up.