Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Photostitched picture
I took these pictures today and used photostitch to create a merged photo of the house.
04 November 2008 Bricks
Since my last update - there has been rain...and more rain...
At least most of the bricks are up well about 60%. All the bricks for the back and garage side of the house are up.
Spoke to our SS and he advised me that the roof tiles and bricks should be finished on 13-14 November. This will then be the time for my independent inspector to come around and have a look at the place. Lets hope everything goes smoothly.
Over the weekend we went to see some possible carpets/tiles for the house. Narrowed down the carpet to a couple and have chosen our tiles - no photos have been taken of the tiles.
I have also started to see some problems with the house:
1. Stud missing from frame
2. Burnt frame and board
3. Bad bricks used for the house. All photos are below.
Stud missing from frame
Burnt hole from welding the plumbing. As you can see the welder burnt the frame and the board!
Dud bricks used, this is just careless the tradies should know to leave these two bricks out. The brown stands out in the white.
We have chosen this as a possible carpet for the four bedroom, its dark gray.
A nice bright red carpet for the cinema room...
At least most of the bricks are up well about 60%. All the bricks for the back and garage side of the house are up.
Spoke to our SS and he advised me that the roof tiles and bricks should be finished on 13-14 November. This will then be the time for my independent inspector to come around and have a look at the place. Lets hope everything goes smoothly.
Over the weekend we went to see some possible carpets/tiles for the house. Narrowed down the carpet to a couple and have chosen our tiles - no photos have been taken of the tiles.
I have also started to see some problems with the house:
1. Stud missing from frame
2. Burnt frame and board
3. Bad bricks used for the house. All photos are below.
Stud missing from frame
Burnt hole from welding the plumbing. As you can see the welder burnt the frame and the board!
Dud bricks used, this is just careless the tradies should know to leave these two bricks out. The brown stands out in the white.
We have chosen this as a possible carpet for the four bedroom, its dark gray.
A nice bright red carpet for the cinema room...Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Brickies....21-10-2008
I went early this morning to take some photos before i went to work, surprised to see that the brick layers was already there working.
This afternoon i went back to the building site and the brick layers have completed part of the house. From my estimate, all the brickwork should finished either this week or early next week. See photos below...
This is where the Gas water heater will be installed
Plumbing has been put in for the bath taps.
This afternoon i went back to the building site and the brick layers have completed part of the house. From my estimate, all the brickwork should finished either this week or early next week. See photos below...
This is where the Gas water heater will be installed
Plumbing has been put in for the bath taps.Monday, October 20, 2008
Windows In
Friday last week, the builders had put all the windows on the house. The black frame on the windows look good.
I arrived home today to find the bricks have been delivered, it was too dark to take photos so i may have some tomorrow depending on if i have to work late again.
I arrived home today to find the bricks have been delivered, it was too dark to take photos so i may have some tomorrow depending on if i have to work late again.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Gutters up 15-10-2008
The gutters that was delivered yesterday have been put up by the builders. First sign of colours, the black and white looks good. I also took a panoramic of the house... will do this from now on because it just looks so cool!
About the 21K from Rudd, looks like we are not getting it. Basically it applies to all who sign from 14 October 2008 to 30 June 2009. Bummer... 14K extra would have been a big help.
See my creation below....
About the 21K from Rudd, looks like we are not getting it. Basically it applies to all who sign from 14 October 2008 to 30 June 2009. Bummer... 14K extra would have been a big help.
See my creation below....
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Rudd the man...
Some very good news this morning from the Rudd Government, as a result of the financial crisis they have raised the FHOG. See below:
As of yet there is very little information regarding the grant. Hopefully when more details come to light we find ourselves 14K richer....
The builders have finished the frame today (even thought it rained for most of the day in Sydney) and already the colourbond gutters have been delivered.
I purchase a Canon IXUS 85 IS yesterday, one neat function it has is a stitch function, this allows you to take panoramic photos. This is the photo i took using the new camera.
As of yet there is very little information regarding the grant. Hopefully when more details come to light we find ourselves 14K richer....
The builders have finished the frame today (even thought it rained for most of the day in Sydney) and already the colourbond gutters have been delivered.
I purchase a Canon IXUS 85 IS yesterday, one neat function it has is a stitch function, this allows you to take panoramic photos. This is the photo i took using the new camera.
Gutters...well i think?Monday, October 13, 2008
Garage sticks up
Today the builders have put up the garage roof - its starting to take shape. I also found an off-angled stud. Hopefully they will finished the roof this week.
Friday, October 10, 2008
House of sticks....
I came home on Thursday and was surprised that in one day the builders had transformed a slab into something that resembles a home. Whoohoo! Our house is taking shape at last. It was exciting walking through and getting a feel of how the place would look like as Allworth did not have our home on display.
I can see my cinema room..... :)
Today the builders had started the on roof, looks like they have finished half of it. It's good to see that our single story's roof is nearly as high as our neighbours double story house - so we don't feel like we are sitting too low. This is because we have a cut and fill - as you can see from the picutres of the back of the house there is a drop of 1m.
I've added a video - taken from the front of the land.
So far with part of the roof up
Our bay window to my study
Drop from the back of the house
I can see my cinema room..... :)
Today the builders had started the on roof, looks like they have finished half of it. It's good to see that our single story's roof is nearly as high as our neighbours double story house - so we don't feel like we are sitting too low. This is because we have a cut and fill - as you can see from the picutres of the back of the house there is a drop of 1m.
I've added a video - taken from the front of the land.
So far with part of the roof up
Our bay window to my study
Drop from the back of the houseWednesday, October 8, 2008
A big pile of wood....
I went to the land today after work and found that they had delivered the house frame - thanks to daylight savings i can still take some decent photos as the sun had not gone down yet.
I noticed that the frame was half assembled and ready to be connected together. I guess this will allow them to assemble the frame quicker. I also noticed that one piece of the roof frame had broken - i will talk to my site manager about this!
On to the plumbing, part of the plumbing tube that is protruding out of slab was broken - looks like the concrete machine hit it. I spoke to my site manager and was told that it doesn't matter as the plumber will cut it off flushed with the slab when he is ready to do the plumbing.
It looks like the frame will be up soon - hopefully by the end of the week...
Drop from the back
Broken plumbing pipe
Broken part of the roof frame
I noticed that the frame was half assembled and ready to be connected together. I guess this will allow them to assemble the frame quicker. I also noticed that one piece of the roof frame had broken - i will talk to my site manager about this!
On to the plumbing, part of the plumbing tube that is protruding out of slab was broken - looks like the concrete machine hit it. I spoke to my site manager and was told that it doesn't matter as the plumber will cut it off flushed with the slab when he is ready to do the plumbing.
It looks like the frame will be up soon - hopefully by the end of the week...
Drop from the back
Broken plumbing pipe
Broken part of the roof frameFriday, September 26, 2008
We have a slab....the non-alcoholic one!
Haven't updated for a few days but a lot has happened since.
On Wednesday (24th September 2008) the builders had put down the pods and metal ready for the slab to go down. I was hoping the slab would be laid later this week and what happened - I came home today and saw that the slab has been laid. Very exciting! Lots of photos below :)
Pods down ready for slab (24 September 2008)
Extra slab for our 4,000 litre slimline water tank
Plumbing for the main bathroom
On Wednesday (24th September 2008) the builders had put down the pods and metal ready for the slab to go down. I was hoping the slab would be laid later this week and what happened - I came home today and saw that the slab has been laid. Very exciting! Lots of photos below :)
Pods down ready for slab (24 September 2008)
Extra slab for our 4,000 litre slimline water tank
Plumbing for the main bathroomTuesday, September 23, 2008
ipod.....well just pods
Arrived at the land before work yesterday and saw that the pods and wires for the slab have arrived. It rained overnight so no work was done today. Fingers cross slab gets laid this week :)
Just a note for the first home buyers. FHOG - you can get this once you have made your first progress payment ie. when slab is laid down if your loan provider is an approved agent (most banks and financial institutions). I just found this out and called my mortgage broker, but he has not put in my FHOG form yet, quite annoyed! Hopefully we can still get this once the slab is laid otherwise we will have to wait until the house is completed.
Just a note for the first home buyers. FHOG - you can get this once you have made your first progress payment ie. when slab is laid down if your loan provider is an approved agent (most banks and financial institutions). I just found this out and called my mortgage broker, but he has not put in my FHOG form yet, quite annoyed! Hopefully we can still get this once the slab is laid otherwise we will have to wait until the house is completed.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Pipes In
We visited the land on Friday (19 September 2008) and the builders had put in the plumbing pipes, they also flattened the surface - ready for the slab, which i think might be done next week.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A re-cap of what has happended in the last few months...
Been so busy but good news-we have started building...
Here is a list of what has happened since my last blog.
26 June 2008 - DA was approved by Council. Had to get an engineer to have to look at the ground storm water run-off before council was to give us a Construction Certificate (CC). Thought this was done by Allworth Homes, but no it is not part of the building price. BTW for those who are not aware you will also need to pay a storm water bond and S49A Levey Development Contributions to the council. To me these were hidden costs that the builder did not tell us about :(
NOTE: this is a couple of grand
4 August 2008 - Received the drawings from engineer regarding the storm water. Thankfully the natural storm water is fine and we do no need to install extra plumbing.
12 August 2008 - CC issued by council.
We were hit with an increase in price because we have passed the tender date of 120 days without signing contract. Allworth homes waived part of this increase as we were very close to signing.
A day before signing contracts Allworth homes contacted me and advised that there would be an increase of $3K for extra provisions. They said that the engineers got the estimates wrong at the start and it was better to tell us now than later when we signed. Got it wrong? Anyway
26 August 2008 - Contract signing day. The bricks we chose had to be changed as the manufacturers do not make them in exposure grade any more. We also changed a few of the colours for our house and added another TV point. There was more provisions in the contracts than i expected - this still kinda worries me as the price is not fixed. We were in and out in 2 hours. Just in time for the wife to make it to work. I however spent the afternoon photocopying as Allworth only gave me a copy of the contract when i specifically asked for three copies, one for me and two for my lenders. On the day they said it was a procedure thing that they cannot make any more copies for me. Not happy!
15 September 2008 - Action! I went to the land on Monday and in just one day they have finished the cut and fill. It was great to see that they have started.
17 September 2008 - Went to the land today to meet the guys drilling the piers, we measured each of the piers and some good news, it was under the allocated provision amount.
Here is a list of what has happened since my last blog.
26 June 2008 - DA was approved by Council. Had to get an engineer to have to look at the ground storm water run-off before council was to give us a Construction Certificate (CC). Thought this was done by Allworth Homes, but no it is not part of the building price. BTW for those who are not aware you will also need to pay a storm water bond and S49A Levey Development Contributions to the council. To me these were hidden costs that the builder did not tell us about :(
NOTE: this is a couple of grand
4 August 2008 - Received the drawings from engineer regarding the storm water. Thankfully the natural storm water is fine and we do no need to install extra plumbing.
12 August 2008 - CC issued by council.
We were hit with an increase in price because we have passed the tender date of 120 days without signing contract. Allworth homes waived part of this increase as we were very close to signing.
A day before signing contracts Allworth homes contacted me and advised that there would be an increase of $3K for extra provisions. They said that the engineers got the estimates wrong at the start and it was better to tell us now than later when we signed. Got it wrong? Anyway
26 August 2008 - Contract signing day. The bricks we chose had to be changed as the manufacturers do not make them in exposure grade any more. We also changed a few of the colours for our house and added another TV point. There was more provisions in the contracts than i expected - this still kinda worries me as the price is not fixed. We were in and out in 2 hours. Just in time for the wife to make it to work. I however spent the afternoon photocopying as Allworth only gave me a copy of the contract when i specifically asked for three copies, one for me and two for my lenders. On the day they said it was a procedure thing that they cannot make any more copies for me. Not happy!
15 September 2008 - Action! I went to the land on Monday and in just one day they have finished the cut and fill. It was great to see that they have started.
17 September 2008 - Went to the land today to meet the guys drilling the piers, we measured each of the piers and some good news, it was under the allocated provision amount.
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