Floor Form Work Done!

Despite the continual bad weather the form work appears finished. We are due for an update from the client liaison office this week so hopefully that will tell us when the concrete will be poured. Then its a three week wait while it dries before work can continue. It also appears that some of the wiring has been put in.

Surprise Progress

We went out to the block yesterday to show our parents around and were surprised to see that not only had progress been made but there were two guys working out there. At 2:00 on a Saturday! Basically we have had the form workers (to create the floor of the second storey) booked several times, but bad weather has prevented them from doing anything.
We emailed our liaison office on Wednesday, after not hearing anything for two weeks, for her to respond with: we email updates fortnightly we would have got to you today or tomorrow anyway. Well that's great to say because previously we went a month without any contact!  She had said that the people were booked for the day in which she replied but she said bad weather meant that wasn't going to happen.
So that brings us to yesterday when the weather wasn't great and hence our surprise at work having been done.

Through the entry way you can see the mock, wooden staircase that has been put in. It seems to be the same style and size of my future concrete one which doesn't get put in till much later to avoid damage to it. I can't wait to walk in and get a feel for the size but we didn't want to do that while the builders were there.

Back view of the staircase ^

Scaffolding

Due to the rain, the scaffolding is the only thing that has been done this week. 

Somehow still exciting though, and I can't wait to get up onto that scaffolding and walk around, too windy today.

The lounge room is flooded which the dogs think is great- indoor pool!

Ground Floor Brickwork Complete

W  We went out to the block today and my laundry is finally built! So that's all the ground floor brick work done! There was a brickie there but he was just leaving. Below are some pictures of the laundry including the plan to help them make a little bit more sense.

Below is the laundry wall seperating the kitchen and laundry. 

Below is the back view of the house, I think the alfresco looks pretty cool at the moment.

In the entertainment room we discovered the half wall has been completed. It is thicker then I thought it would be but looking back at the plan it is as the builder designed it. We put it in so that we can put up baby gates on either side of the balcony to stop our dogs coming into the entertainment area if Jake gets the plush carpet he wants. They can still be with us in the room but away from the carpet.

Also to our surprise was the bricks are completed for the rendered columns on each side of the house. We added them in to (hopefully) get rid of the 'blocky' feeling of our house as each side is 6 meters from the portico. Picking the size of them was really hard. I think maybe they should have been a bit bigger.

With the site clear of brickie stuff including piles of bricks we could get the lovely side on view of the front featured below. How beautiful is that sky! Very happy with how its looking.

Surprise Progress

We didn't go out to the block last weekend as it had basically rained every day and we didn't think any progress would have been made. With a little bit of sunshine this week we went out hoping there would be some change and were pleasantly surprised by the amount.

This is the view from the entry way. The bricks are now at a higher level and there are bricks over the window frames.

With the increased height comes the feeling that the rooms are bigger. The above is Jake's Study.

The one thing I went out really hoping had been done was the laundry/kitchen wall. But nope, still just a lonely door frame (to the right of the photo)

The front is definitely looking 'boxy', but some rendered columns on either side and the top floor should help with that. Eventually I want to get some external window trimming/moulding but that will be a while down the track.

Internal Walls

Despite the weather, the build has progressed quite well this week.

 Above picture is the dining/kitchen/laundry. The wall between the laundry and kitchen is still yet to be built.

All the alfresco columns are built and T-bars are in. Feels very small at the moment.

View from where our couch will be in the lounge room. Jake is pretending to be the T.V. screen.

 

This massive room is the entry way. It is 4 metres across to allow for our grand staircase. 

Jake in his study feeling very happy as it is starting to feel bigger.

Our portico is taking shape with the columns and T-Bars in.

Front view of our home!

Overview of our house starting at the garage.

The ensuite wall is up in the guest bedroom. The space next to the door is for a wardrobe. We wanted an ensuite so the guests wouldn't have to go upstairs for a shower and in case we ever need to switch our bedroom to the bottom floor (i.e. we can't climb the stairs)

This is the lounge room wall. The bricks are indented to allow for a hidden sliding door.

Meeting the Site Supervisor

Yesterday afternoon we met the site supervisor.

He seemed nice enough but talked a lot! We were there for over an hour! He liked using building terms that non builders don't know, so there were times when I had no idea what he was on about.

He said because of the rain they were behind where they thought they would be but assured me that they would be finished by this time next year. As expected, he wouldn't give us an estimate of when we could hope to be in by. He kept making excuses for things that hadn't happened yet like delays. He also would not give us his phone number and said we are to continue using our liaison (who we are currently very happy with).
Apparently lots of people that have been working at the site have been trying to guess what our sunken section in our lounge room is. Guesses include an area to store a projector that would raise up, a sunken bar and room for a special chair.

The only thing that really took me by surprise was when I asked about the yellow stain on some of the bricks and whether it would come out when they washed the bricks at the end, he said 'no!' and started talking about all the things that won't get it out. Eventually he said that come summer the sun will bleach those stains....Not a happy chappy! It would be easy to take if they had only used the affected bricks around the sides of the house, but they are mostly on the front wall. Any one had any experience with this? It's got me worried as it looks horrible and is very noticeable.

Can you see the yellow stains in this picture? There's one directly to the left of the top of the column.

Only three walls left to go on the bottom floor of our house and the extension of some walls to the proper height then time for the next slab!