More Work

My house grew a roof today! They braved more rain early on and were rewarded with sun the rest of the day. I am liking their work ethic so far...hopefully the other trades follow in their footsteps. There are still a few bits n pieces that need doing. There also seems to be timber for the piers at the entry portico and outdoor room.

Just a couple of pics:)

What's next? I'll try to find out later in the week whether we can expect hebel or tiles next. Bring it on!

Cheers
Kylie

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands....CLAP, CLAP!

Yes, thankfully those nasty clouds passed overhead without dropping too much rain on the workers getting the frame started this morning. My local spys kept me updated throughout the day whilst I was at work. I am very happy with todays progress to say the least. Pictures speak a thousand words...

This pic is looking towards the front door and master bedroom at the front. 

Front entry and garage to the left 

 The very exciting garage!

 This is looking at where the back cupboards, oven, stove and fridge space will be in the kitchen.

 Standing at the entry looking down the hallway.

Love this pic! It is standing in the family/kitchen area looking out to where our 2 big bi-folds will lead out to the outdoor room:) Love it when it looks as good as you hope!

In the afternoon, the crane was there lifting the roof trusses on top of the frame ready to go up properly tomorrow???... Lets hope so. The only thing we can see to raise with our SS is that the waste for the basin seems to be in the wrong spot in the kids bathroom. 

For those that liked the chair I bought for my daughter, here is a pic of the dressing table I picked up on Saturday. More ebay buys to create her 'girly' room!

Old style with the mirror attached. Just what I had in mind.

Let's hope there is more reason to be happy tomorrow - for all of us in buildingland!

Cheers

Kylie

Power & Frame

We saw the power pole go in on Thursday and the frame was delivered today. I would have been much happier if it was delivered and starting to be erected but I know...progress is progress and our SS has done a great job having something happening onsite everyday this week. Woohoo!

As you can imagine I am after sun, sun and more sun next week. I was desperate for the slab so it all felt real and now I want the rest to go up so that it really feels like it is happening.

I am off to pick up an ebay buy tomorrow for the new place. I know what I want to do for the kids rooms so have started buying things to fill them with...fun! My daughter Maya is 5 and I am trying to get a similar look to a room I love on the site 'Max and Isabella Rooms'. All very pretty and girly. I have bought her a gorgeous crystally pendant light from 'Adore Living' in Gymea and a chair from ebay (pic below) Tomorrow I am picking up a dressing table. I'm now looking for a full length mirror and bedding.

For Connor, who is 7, I am going to do a retro room. This has basically come from his nagging for a lava lamp and my need for one of the round Kartell compartment type side tables - I've always wanted one!
 After taking out shares in every magazine publisher there is, I have found I am still at a loss as to decorating the rest of the house even after reading every magazine on the shelves each month. My problem is I like too many styles, so I'm not too sure which way to go with some rooms - especially the master bedroom. I really do need to wait for it to all start coming together before I make any big purchases.

Have a good weekend, I hope everyones builds are going well. Very jealous of all of you who are very close to the end!

Cheers
Kylie

The Money Tree

Today with the rain taking a break we had workers back on site. We had a small digger up on the slab digging down the side for our drainage and plumbing 'stuff' which I think will all be hooked up to the water tank down the track.

Received a call informing us that they hit rock...of course they did...no problem I'll just pop out to the money tree and grab some more to pay for that! It does make me scared for when we dig the pool - maybe it will be a shallow wading pool?? Remember it only needs to be deep enough for me to float on my LiLo!

But the bright side is that there is progress. I LOVE progress! Fingers crossed it continues the rest of the week. I actually drive past the site everyday taking the kids to school so it always improves my mood for the day if there is work happening. 
Cheers Kylie

Taking a Dip

This is a rough sketch of our pool plan. Only fairly small but we think it will do the job. Seriously, all I need is to to be able to lie on my pool float with book &/or drink in hand and I'll be fine! Kids will be able to have a splash and cool off - they are absolute fish so I will have to lock the gate when it's my turn!

It is about 6.5m long and 5.1m wide at the widest point. We will line the pool with gemtex glass beads - can't remember the colour off the top of my head, and have chosen a gorgeous bizazza glass mosaic as a waterline tile. It is a beautiful blue with a copperish swirl through it. Coping and pavers will be travertine as mentioned in a previous post. We will install a frameless glass fence that will edge part of the outdoor room then go across to the side fence - you can kind of see in the drawing.

Nothing onsite to report due to this rain! Fingers crossed the bobcat can do it's thing ASAP so the framing can start.

Cheers Kylie

The Plan

This is our plan.

This is the Talbot 28. When we first started looking at display homes we loved the Milano at Middleton Grange. As I mentioned we have an unusual shaped block and it just wouldn't quite fit. We toyed with the idea of a double story, but it really wasn't what we were after. We were alerted to the Talbot - which was so new to the NSW market it hadn't made it to their website yet. We loved it on the spot. Very similar floorplan to the Milano and only a tiny bit smaller.

In the end, we really didn't change too much. here are some of our selections:

• We are building with Hebel slabs which will be rendered. Render will be painted Lexicon White. The front feature that is part of the contemporary facade, will be Western Myall - a charcoal grey. We toyed with doing a feature tile here but it was an expensive risk if we weren't happy with it. Plus we can do this anytime if we feel the need. The piers on the outdoor room will also be the dark grey.
• Roof tiles are an upgrade - prestige range in Titanium. These are the super flat tile that I love! Because of their profile we needed sarking.
• We added eaves.
• The outdoor room was super-sized. It will be 8.5m long and 4.3m deep. We have had a huge timber deck and couldn't live without another big outdoor entertaining area. We included the slab for this in our contract.
• Two sets of bi-fold doors will open out onto the outdoor room. Another reason why we love our home! These will be in a dark charcoal stain, matching all other timber stained doors in the house. The wall where these doors open from was modified from the original Talbot plan.
• The kitchen received the most upgrades. On top of what was included in our promotion package, we changed the island bench from L shaped to rectangle - 3.5m long! Benchtops to 40mm on island bench with waterfall edges. Undermount sink, upgraded appliances including a built in coffee machine:):) Pure white glass splashback. Lots of pot drawers instead of cupboards, a built in bin drawer, Asian night laminate in the island bench both sides and white satin finish poly on the back wall drawers and cupboards. A skylight will also be over the island bench.
• We will be putting honed and filled travertine though the entry, kitchen, dining and family room. A matching tumbled travertine will flow out onto the outdoor room and pool area. Everywhere else inside will be carpet.
• Opaque glass doors on the bedroom wardrobes. We also put fitout options in the wardrobes.

We have fingers crossed that our selections look good. We went quite neutral and will add colour after handover. There were plenty of electrical upgrades etc and we selected our bathroom tiles last Friday.

Hope that helps paint a picture of what we are trying to build:)

The story so far...

This is my attempt to write a blog about our build. I have learned so much and really enjoyed following other people's builds, that I feel I should contribute too.

The story so far...we lived in our little weatherboard in the Sutherland Shire for nearly 10 years. Very much out grown with our two kids growing up so quickly, it was move or build or bust! We decided the best thing for us, for many reasons, was to knock down rebuild.

Plenty of research later and we settled on a single story Metricon. We really love their homes so in the end going with them was our easiest decision made so far. We didn't need a mansion. We are going from one small living area to three and from three to four bedrooms. The old pool has been filled in (will be built over) and a new one will be built once the house is finished (plans in at council as I type). Our block is an unusual shape, making the process of fitting a decent size single level on our 740sq block difficult. One benefit is that we have only one side neighbour, and no rear neighbours. This gives us great access for building the pool after the house and plenty of privacy.

                                                            This is our house when we bought it in 2000.

We first signed last July. Many months later and we are finally starting the fun stuff. Most of the process has been smooth sailing. We have had great, helpful service with little stress so far.

The first week of February we demolished.

It is now mid March and our slab was poured this week...so exciting!

If the weather behaves, we will do some external drainage this week and the frame is meant to arrive. After meeting our SS this week, we also know that the hebel and roof tiles will follow soon after. Fingers crossed the rain clouds empty themselves quickly so that we can continue to make progress.

Patience is not my strong point BUT I am going to try my best to chill and let things happen (I did say try).

Will keep this up to date the best I can.

Kylie:)