Private Inspection - Frame

Bit of a backfill this one as spare time as been scarce lately. At the end of the Frame stage, we opted for an independent inspection. Nothing to do with any problems with the builder but more for the peace of mind. Building a new home is a big venture and a massive expense. We don't know anything about building and only seemed rational to get a second opinion as we would for most major decisions in life.

We went with Urban Property Inspections based on feedback from a fellow Metricon customer who is sharing a very comprehensive blog. Check it out www.tim-and-tina.blogspot.com

Onto the report... Fortunately, it was mostly favourable with only a handful of items to be addressed. The biggest one being some beams that were supposed to span all the way from the stairway wall to the front wall, but only went to the study wall. What seemed like a big problem at first has thankfully turned out to be relatively minor. The reason the beam does not span this entire length is because of a large sliding door we added to the study which is a modification to the standard design of the Tribeca. All that was required was amended engineering documentation, which take some time to acquire.

Overall, we were pretty happy with the level of detail we got from the inspection and more so from the minimal problems that were detected. Now we just have to make sure the items identified are rectified!

Roof done and some doors

It's been a while since our last post but with a newborn and toddler, your spare time certainly twindles. As mentioned in the last post, our Colorbond roof arrived as did some bricks. We selected them back in Feb so I was praying we still liked them, especially the roof which we mulled over in length before going for Colorbond over tiles. The tiles would be traditional and timeless but we love the durability and energy efficiency of Colorbond steel. Relieved to say we still love the Colorbond and colours for both roof and bricks.

The roof took a matter of days to complete and not a day too soon given the heavy rain that followed.

Noticed that the sliding door cavity for the study has also been done. This is going to be my home studio/office space so I'm pretty excited about it. Have always worked from home but never had a suitable space to meet clients. It's not a big room but it's all I need and it's at the front of the house so perfect really. Hopefully the heavy timber doors we selected for the room will keep the kids from getting in too easily. Fingers crossed...

The timber bi-part doors for our outdoor area has also been installed, though with the wrong handles so we've had to contact Metricon to have them replaced. The doors will look great after they've been stained. We also love the look of the 4 section bi-fold doors but decided that our kid's fingers would be safer from harm with a bi-part door. Funny the things you have to consider when you have kids!

Arrival of Bricks

Given that my wife has done every single post on this blog so far, I thought it was about time that I chipped in with a few comments and pics.

I've been fortunate that during the time that I'm on paternity leave, there has been plenty of action on the site and I can go down each evening and see what's been done.

Today I was stoked to see that our Bricks have now arrived, which means that Stage 3 - Lockup, is soon to commence.

(nice self-portait shadow too, we can tell who the dud photographer is!)

The bricks are called 'Ironstone' and they are by Selkirk.

We almost went for the 'Hawthorn' by Austral, but in the end thought it was a bit too popular. The bricks look like a nice batch, with a good range of tones across the browns and reds. This pic shows the variance in texture between the individual bricks. I think we've done well as it is a very tough choice. Our mortar is off-white and with a raked finish, again probably because a flush finish is so popular these days.

The other thing that arrived today was some of our Colorbond Roof, which is going to be in a colour called 'Monument' which is an 'almost black' blue. The roofies have already started to put up the framing for the Colorbond. I just hope they remember to put the 'sarking' (basically additional insulation) up before they put the roof on, as we paid a fair bit more for it!

(Framing for Colorbond Roof)

Colorbond Roof (Correct Colour!)

2nd floor frame looking good!

It's been less than a week since frame started and we've got a 2nd floor! Woohoo!! The builders are certainly making up for lost time which is fantastic. At this rate, the entire frame might just be finished within a week.

Here's a couple of views of the house from the sides...

This one's taken from the front along the left hand side of the house (when facing the street). Met our SS on site yesterday and was told the roof trusses for the garage don't go up until after the garage brick work is done which makes sense. Didn't think about that but guess that's why we've seen houses around with just the garage bricked up.

This shot is from the back outdoor area looking up the right hand side of the house. Looking forward to lounging on the deck here whilst kids play in the backyard. I can see it now, sunny day, beverage in hand.... dream dream dream hey.

Have organised an independent inspection once frame complete. Hopefully builders have been both efficient and thorough!

Bottom floor frame up in a flash!

So we weren't mistaken when we drove by Friday night to check out the block. There is in fact a bottom floor frame up on our block. That took all but a days work, amazing. Considering our three month wait for our slab, we are thrilled with the frame progress. Here's to Spring and sunny days!

Noticed they have replaced the Metricon sign on our fence which had been previously vandalised. It's now also got our name on it which nice to see :)

Frame start

From three months of zilch activity to a hive of activity this week! The timber for the frame was delivered yesterday two days after the slab was done and to our surprise, work had started on it this morning.

Despite the drizzle, there were a few guys working on site laying out the materials. Great to see them making up for lost time.

Drove by tonight and could not believe our eyes, the frame for the bottom floor appears to be almost complete. All in a days work! Amazing. Can't wait to check it out in daylight tomorrow.

The LONG awaited slab!

Our site was excavated at the beginning of winter, just before a period of heavy rain resulting in an extremely damp foundation. As they couldn't excavate further our only option was to wait for it to dry. This, in the midst of The Drought Breaking Winter, proved frustrating. A sunny day was few and far between, let alone a few consequetive ones enough to dry the block.

We waited and waited before finally resigning to the fact that the 3 months of Winter was a writeoff in our building plans. A Spring slab it would have to be.

Sure enough, within the first 2 weeks of Spring we got enough of that perfect sunshine and northerly winds to dry the foundation of our badly neglected block. On Sunday14th Sept our concrete slab was poured and finished, 2 days after the birth of our 2nd bubs. What a gorgeous Spring it's turned out to be!