Good on ya' Brickies

The brickies started yesterday, just as Peter said they would. We are extremely pleased with how Peter is running the job and the workmanship thus far is definitely of a good standard.

Really happy with how the bricks look. Definitely the best looking house in the street :-) (totally unbiased opinion of course).

Go Pete and go brickies!!

What goes on behind closed doors

Yesterday we spent the day at the house finishing off the pre-wiring for the data, speaker and alarm cables.

No bricks up as yet but when we got into the house (good thing the laundry door was unlocked) we saw that the little oompa-loompas had been hard at work during the week.

Work completed last week:

1. Ducted heating
2. Insulation
3. Some plastering (ie. part of the entry, top of fridge area and entry into the kitchen)
4. Bricks laid out around the house - hopefully ready to start today (Monday)

This week should see some big changes with the bricks and plaster going up. There are a few things we need to speak to the supervisor about so we'll do that today and head back down tonight to finish off the last piece of cabling (we ran out yesterday).

Also worked out a small problem with the TV in the main bedroom (which is going to be mounted on the wall). The powerpoint is down the bottom of the wall and we really need it to sit behind the TV so we don't have a cable running down the wall. John will speak to the supervisor today and see if we can move it to the right place -not the builder's fault, we should have specified the height we wanted the powerpoint.

Will post photos tomorrow and more at the end of the week.

A present from the builders

All we need is a big red bow!! The house is wrapped up ready to be bricked.

It's looking great and well on truly on track. The weather has been exceptionally kind which has enabled the tradies to get out there and get everything done on time or ahead of schedule.

All of the electricity has been done (ahead of schedule) and we are heading down tonight with Dad to pre wire for data and alarm system .... and our good mate Tony is coming down from Stawell on Sunday to finish off the cabling ready for the plasterer on Monday. Good on ya' Tone!

Blink and you'll miss it

2:00pm ... having a moment of madness at work so I decided to hop in the car and go down to the house. According to Peter's schedule, the roof tiling was due to commence tomorrow so my plan was to check that the tiles had been delivered to site and check they were the right ones (that way we could stop any work and have the right ones delivered).

On a scale of 1 to 10 ... 10 being the highest 1 being the lowest .... my shock factor was 11 when I saw that our entire roof had been tiled!! The tradies were working on the guttering and bits and pieces and when I asked the young guy when it would be finished he said 'tomorrow morning'.

After the initial shock, my next shock was to inspect the tiles and was a little bit disheartened when I saw that the colour was not what I had expected. We had chosen 'chocolate brown' roof tiles, and the tiles in the sun appear to be a reddy/brown colour. They look great, but not what I had expected. I have put a call into the builder to find out if in fact they are the correct ones. I'm thinking that perhaps when you have one tile you don't really get a good feel for what it's going to look like.

Anyway ... even if they are wrong I'm not too fussed because I think they look good.

Mood - really excited.

Gutters and supervisor (not a Guttered Supervisor)

Gutters are on - just have to be painted.

Plumbing is in - just need the rest of the house built to be able to see if it works!

We met Peter (our Supervisor) this morning on site. Nice bloke and not bad looking either! Seemed to know what he was doing (which is always a good sign). He is very happy with how everything is going and hasn't come across any delays (yet). He tells us that the roof will be on by the end of this week and the bricking will start next week. Our next door neighbour (also building with PD) is having their bricking done at the same time so he is supervising both crews.

Wiring for the electricity will be done by the end of next week also, so we will get Tony down hopefully that weekend to help John put all of the data cabling through.

WAY exciting.

Our Valentine's Day gift

Who needs flowers, chocolates or tools on valentine's day when you can go down to your block (with effect from this post, the block is now favourably referred to as the house).

As we drove down the street, we both let out a 'woo hoo' when we saw what is going to (very soon) be our beautiful house.

Peter (our supervisor) & the gang have done a great job (we think so anyway - I'll get Dad to come and check out their work) and are certainly working to the timelines that they have said they would.

We are meeting Peter on site on Monday morning so will be good to get an idea as to how he thinks the project is tracking.

Enjoy the photos! We sure did.

Base of frame laid out & windows delivered

Now where are those instructions?

Visit to the site today revealed that our house had been delivered on the back of a truck and is ready for assembly.

John looked at the bits and said 'hope he's got the instructions for that lot!'.

I'm sure the builders know what they are doing .... let's hope so anyway!!

With a bit of luck, all should be put together by Friday!! More pics then..

Concrete down

Well as you can see by the photos above - the slab has been laid! It was good to be able to really get an idea of how much (or should I say, how little) backyard we have. Good thing we don't want to raise sheep and chickens. We are sure the dogs will have enough room anyway, as they have a much smaller area now to run around in.

Frame starts middle of the week hopefully. Will update on Friday ... so until then .... farewell.

2 latte's please

Well the 'coffee cups' have been laid ready for the pour of the cement today.

For those that don't have a clue what I'm talking about, we are using the Waffle Pod System to lay the slab. It looks like a sea of upside down coffee cups ... perhaps the builders use them at morning tea as well?

Last night we took Zach and Roxy down to have a look at the progress of their new home. They had a ball running around, checking out the neighbours house and smelling everything around the building sites. Must have been puppy smelling heaven!!

The Piping Fairies have been

The concrete cows have been

It appears that the concrete cows have been and deposited large 'cow pats' on our block!!!

We were thrilled to drive down the road and see the following:

- Temporary fencing

- Piers have been done

- Lines drawn ready for plumbing

The block next door is also a Porter Davis home and they have put temporary fencing around the 2 blocks. They already have the plumbing in (no piers required on that block) - a big difference to day 1 of building when they had nothing done. Amazing how quick they actually work when they start.

See you in another couple of days with some updated pics!

There was movement at the block, for the Supervisor had got around ...

23 January 2007 ... a momentous day in the life of John and I when Porter Davis started work on our house. It feels like this day has taken forever to come, but now that it's finally here, it's a bit scary to think that in just a few months we need to start thinking about packing up the current place and moving (if all goes to plan).

We still haven't heard from the Supervisor (apparently his name is Darren) but we're taking the fact that they started as a very good sign.

A bad sign from last night was when we ran into Sarah and a new friend she has made in her street. They were riding around the estate and happened to be at our block when we arrived. Sarah introduced us (in a very adult way!) to Kristie who proceeded to tell us that they built with Porter Davis and during the building of their home they had 2 fires, a flood and a cracked wall!! We were quick to say goodbye to Kristie as we didn't want to hear any more horror stories in case the bad luck bug jumped across to us.

The photos above show the block, scraped of all grass and debris ... the very important porta-loo for the builders .... and Sarah doing a 'da daaahhhh' showcasing the block.

An Ode to Priscilla

The plans arrived,

We took the time,

To check that they were right.

A minor change,

Here and there,

Even added a light.

But lo and behold,

What’s that we saw,

It looked just like a truss.

Now don’t be daft,

Don’t be silly,

It’s just a Hippopotamus

Stuff is getting done!

First day back at work yesterday for both John and I *groan*. By midday when the last 2 week's holiday were becoming a distant memory and I was on to my third coffee, an email popped up from the lovely Megan (our PD Consultant).

How sweet to see the words "we are currently ordering the materials for your new home"!!! Cheers of elation were heard throughout the office. We will find out who our supervisor is this week (hope he's nice!) and on Friday he will start to arrange his crew for the start of the build process.

Ripper Rita!!

Merry Christmas to all

Well the year is almost over. It's been quite a year for John and I and we are really looking forward to what 2007 holds for us.

Thank you for sharing our journey so far and we look forward to updating you on the house and other ramblings when everything starts up again.

Site start for the house is the 16th January so until then ... merry Christmas to you all. Stay safe and have an awesome christmas and new year.

Love to all

John & Andy

x

Picnic at Hanging Block

Settlement Day - felt like knob heads sitting on a blanket on the block drinking wine but we had fun! Our neighbours (not really neighbours as such but the closest house that has been built to us so far) were out in the front yard seeing off a visitor. We waved and they waved back .... we thought perhaps their conversation went something like this "... oh dear, look at those people sitting on their block. Just smile and wave and move slowly back into the house - no sudden movements. Lock the door as soon as you get inside." :-)

12:30pm today we are much poorer

Well it's official.

We are a large sum of money poorer and own 649 m2 of dirt.

Breakfasts at our favourite restaurant have been cancelled and we expect more invitations for meals from our friends and family :-)

I love being a grown up

Andy
:-)

We settle tomorrow

Well tomorrow is the day ... that a small piece of this fine earth becomes ours.

After what was a very trying week last week (won't bore you with the fine details but it has to do with Australia Post taking 5 days to get something from Melbourne to Brisbane), the mortgage documents finally arrived and the all clear given to proceed with settlement at 12:30 on Tuesday, 12 December.

John starts his new job tomorrow so when he gets home we are going to put the picnic blanket in the car, grab a bottle of bubbly and head down to the block to have dinner .... will locate our ample bottoms somewhere in the vicinity of the kitchen.

Very excited.

:-)

Good luck will surely run out soon ....

For those that regularly read our blog, you will know that I made a sweeping promise a few weeks ago about a 'non related house blog. Unfortunately I am breaking this promise and giving you another snippet into the lives of John and I.

So ... I give you the opportunity now to close the window and not to read on any further if you are only interested in house updates.

OK ... so you're still with me - thanks for sticking with us :-).

Friday was an awesome day ... AWESOME. Why? Well firstly because I took the day off to spend with John. He drove down from Hamilton on the Thursday night as he had an appointment with the ENT Specialist on Friday morning. I have resigned from my job so what do I care about using up my sick leave (shocking work ethic I know but that's how I feel about this place).

Anyway ... we set the agenda for the day as there were a few things that needed to be done.

Agenda went as follows:

1. Breakfst out at our favourite breakfast place
2. Pick up Season 2 on DVD of SG Atlantis (just released)
3. Specialist appointment for John
4. Interview for John (for a job in Melbourne)
5. Sign documents by local police and return to lawyer (nothing serious to worry about for those that have just had images of us dealing in some form of illegal substance).

Outcome of the day's agenda is as follows:

1. Breakfast was lovely
2. Season 2 purchased - the Raith are back in full swing looking to dominate the Earth once more
3. Specialist appointment revealed that John's burst ear drum from 2 years ago (whilst Scuba Diving in the Whitsundays) has completely healed and he has been given the all clear to get back in the water again
4. John scored a job in Melbourne (this is the best new that we have had since the engagement this year!!) For those that are unaware, for the 3 years we have been together, John has only worked in Melbourne for 12 months of that time .. all other work has been commuting to country areas or interstate. This is brilliant for us as 2007 is a huge year for us.
5. Documents signed and returned

So all in all, Friday was an awesomely successful day. If we could have more days like that I reckon life would be perfect.

On another note, Sarah had her CPCA performance on Saturday. She did brilliantly!! She looked so confident up there singing and dancing. I am really thankful to her dad and his partner for allowing her to do this out of school. She really seems to love it and I am so proud of my little girl. Her dad did take some photos so I will see if I can get a couple off him so that I can display my gorgeous girl up here.

Mood: Deliriously happy