First of all, let's go on a minirant here about HP/Compaq and their shitty quality products. You'd think a multinational brand like HP would be able to build a laptop that doesn't break their hinges after a few months, randomly freezes, loses sleep/hibernation modes and have a battery life longer than 50 minutes, but apparently not. And let's not talk about the fact that HP have decided that a 2 year old laptop (that was top of the line when new) is simply waaaaay too obsolete to be worthwhile supporting under Windows 7. End result, don't trust, buy, or recommend HP/Compaq. Meh! My old Acer laptop is still used by my sister with 100% reliability; and I bought that one in 2002 - far superior.
Aaaaaanyway....got an express post envelope from Metricon today, with just a few pages, but a big bill to pay - 20% of contract! It's interesting to note though, that the progress payments are based on the contract price that you sign off on, at the final contract meeting. We had about $15k of postcontract variations (mainly electrical, roof tiles, tile upgrades), but they will be added to the final invoice, along with any other changes that may come up along the way.
No work done on site today - weather in the low 20s and constant light rain. Again, good for concrete curing, but not so good for deliveries or getting work done. Maybe some framing to start next week?
sarahv: yeah, the old house was a nice house to live in - unfortunately it was on a very busy road, right next door to a petrol station, opposite a big bunch of units. Not a great location for a residential property, but not too bad for a medical clinic! Would have liked to have the house and land (about 700m) in a different location, but alas not to be. Fond memories, but can't wait for our dream house to be finished!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Day 44: Termite protection (?) installed, and delivery of wood
Today, the skies finally parted to allow a bit of rain to wash away yesterday's humidity. Apparently a bit of rain is good for the slab, so we're glad to see it today! We didn't expect much to be done for a few days, but arriving at the site after work, seems like people had already been at it today!
The sight that greeted us first was a few big piles of wood. Probably not enough for the ground floor frame, but certainly enough to get started! A couple of sheets of yellowtongue for the first floor as well.
Also, our slab now has a nice blue skirt on. Tina dug a bit of paper out of the bin, and apparently it's a delivery slip for termite guard protection, we think... the rain kind of ruined the paper. It runs the perimeter of the main slab, but not around the portico of outer garage wall (no timber there, just brick piers).
So far, we're quite happy at how things are progressing - lots of work has been done since the xmas/new years shutdown period! Certainly didn't expect anything done today - the problem is, now we might get disappointed if we turn up at the site and nothing has been done! MyMetricon was also updated today - a huge "Completed" bar across the slab stage of construction!
Of course that means Metricon will send me a big invoice for 20%, but who said you could get a house built for free?
R&T: Hope your selection process is going along well too... I'm still hunting on Domain for Metricon houses for sale/inspection, as we still like to stickybeak at other builder's houses. Especially looking at "real people's" houses, not just the over-the-top display home. We saw a Porter Davis house in Bundoora for sale, just off Grimshaw St, and it was done pretty nicely! Also; have a drive all along Shannon St, as you'll see another Nolan being built with Hawthorn bricks, in case you haven't seen it already!
JT: Welcome to the blog! Donvale is a beautiful area, we had a house in Mitcham that we sold to buy our redevelopment site. You'd probably drive past it a bit, it's next to United Petrol on Mitcham Rd, and the new owners are converting it to an osteopath clinic - here's a photo we took of it the other day.
It's kind of a pity that they're converting it as it was a great house to live in (except only 2 windows in the house could open because the previous owner to us had painted them shut!).
I wouldn't worry too much about the "420 days" in your contract - from what we've seen of Metricon in our area they generally get the double storeys done in 7-8 months, and single storey in about 4. Also, we don't have Gena anymore, it's Joanne now :) We liked the Hampton plan, but because it wasn't on display we went with the Nolan :) I think you're right, in that the Sycamore has replaced the Hampton, but to be honest I think the Hampton is better, mainly because of the shared bathroom between Bed 2/3 - I think that's more practical than an ensuite to all bedrooms!
As for the kitchen, I just had a look at our onstruction drawings - there's definitely a cupboard door to the island bench (I think about $150 or so?) and the pot drawers appear to have a smaller top drawer and bigger bottom 2 drawers (I think we paid $880 to get a dozen pot drawers), though there are no specific dimensions to reflect that. Unfortunately I think it depends on the salesperson/consultant you get on the day as to what kind of options you can choose to get.
One thing about building - I think it makes my working days go faster, as I can't wait to be out the door and go to our land to see what's been done!
T&T
The sight that greeted us first was a few big piles of wood. Probably not enough for the ground floor frame, but certainly enough to get started! A couple of sheets of yellowtongue for the first floor as well.
Also, our slab now has a nice blue skirt on. Tina dug a bit of paper out of the bin, and apparently it's a delivery slip for termite guard protection, we think... the rain kind of ruined the paper. It runs the perimeter of the main slab, but not around the portico of outer garage wall (no timber there, just brick piers).
So far, we're quite happy at how things are progressing - lots of work has been done since the xmas/new years shutdown period! Certainly didn't expect anything done today - the problem is, now we might get disappointed if we turn up at the site and nothing has been done! MyMetricon was also updated today - a huge "Completed" bar across the slab stage of construction!
Of course that means Metricon will send me a big invoice for 20%, but who said you could get a house built for free?R&T: Hope your selection process is going along well too... I'm still hunting on Domain for Metricon houses for sale/inspection, as we still like to stickybeak at other builder's houses. Especially looking at "real people's" houses, not just the over-the-top display home. We saw a Porter Davis house in Bundoora for sale, just off Grimshaw St, and it was done pretty nicely! Also; have a drive all along Shannon St, as you'll see another Nolan being built with Hawthorn bricks, in case you haven't seen it already!
JT: Welcome to the blog! Donvale is a beautiful area, we had a house in Mitcham that we sold to buy our redevelopment site. You'd probably drive past it a bit, it's next to United Petrol on Mitcham Rd, and the new owners are converting it to an osteopath clinic - here's a photo we took of it the other day.
It's kind of a pity that they're converting it as it was a great house to live in (except only 2 windows in the house could open because the previous owner to us had painted them shut!).I wouldn't worry too much about the "420 days" in your contract - from what we've seen of Metricon in our area they generally get the double storeys done in 7-8 months, and single storey in about 4. Also, we don't have Gena anymore, it's Joanne now :) We liked the Hampton plan, but because it wasn't on display we went with the Nolan :) I think you're right, in that the Sycamore has replaced the Hampton, but to be honest I think the Hampton is better, mainly because of the shared bathroom between Bed 2/3 - I think that's more practical than an ensuite to all bedrooms!
As for the kitchen, I just had a look at our onstruction drawings - there's definitely a cupboard door to the island bench (I think about $150 or so?) and the pot drawers appear to have a smaller top drawer and bigger bottom 2 drawers (I think we paid $880 to get a dozen pot drawers), though there are no specific dimensions to reflect that. Unfortunately I think it depends on the salesperson/consultant you get on the day as to what kind of options you can choose to get.
One thing about building - I think it makes my working days go faster, as I can't wait to be out the door and go to our land to see what's been done!
T&T
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Day 43: SLAB DAY!
Wooo, what a day! Had to get up early, as we figured we could fit in about half an hour of concrete watching before work :)
A lucky gold coin for the slab?
Concrete trucks rolled in about 7:50am. Apparently they're not allowed to get started any earlier, and with the concrete pump truck attached, it's easy to see why - it's a pretty noisy operation and lasts for hours! Anyway, they were all setup and pouring concrete by 8:05.
The crew hard at work. They started off in the furthest corner of the slab, pouring the trenches around the outdoor room, then moved towards the front of the slab. Kind of like sanding a floor - start at the furthest corner from the exit! Meter box still crooked, but obviously will be fixed as the frame/bricks goes up.
Then, we had to leave to go to work... came back in the afternoon to see this...
yaaaay! Big huge bit of concrete! Now we're really starting to see our dream take shape. Garage on left, portico at front, and rest of the ground floor behind it. It really does take up a huge amount of land (I think our plans say it's around 49% coverage), not much at the front, sides or rear! Which is a good thing - less outdoors stuff to maintain.
View from rear of the slab. Directly in front is the home theatre room, then family room, then study, then the setdown area for garage. On the "left" of the slab from this view is the outdoor room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, powder room and sitting room. Hard to visualise right now!
Today was a pretty hot day too, around 33. Fortunately the next few days will be a little cooler with some light rain, which is apparently ideal for the concrete to cure (set) properly.
And checking MyMetricon, apparently the wall frame is due to be complete by Feb 15, just 2 weeks away!
What a journey - from buying the old house in May 09, to finally getting the foundations done Feb 2010. The next few months are sure to alternatively rush by and slow down, depending on what stage the house is up to - can't wait to see what happens next!
T&T
A lucky gold coin for the slab?
Concrete trucks rolled in about 7:50am. Apparently they're not allowed to get started any earlier, and with the concrete pump truck attached, it's easy to see why - it's a pretty noisy operation and lasts for hours! Anyway, they were all setup and pouring concrete by 8:05.
The crew hard at work. They started off in the furthest corner of the slab, pouring the trenches around the outdoor room, then moved towards the front of the slab. Kind of like sanding a floor - start at the furthest corner from the exit! Meter box still crooked, but obviously will be fixed as the frame/bricks goes up.Then, we had to leave to go to work... came back in the afternoon to see this...
yaaaay! Big huge bit of concrete! Now we're really starting to see our dream take shape. Garage on left, portico at front, and rest of the ground floor behind it. It really does take up a huge amount of land (I think our plans say it's around 49% coverage), not much at the front, sides or rear! Which is a good thing - less outdoors stuff to maintain.
View from rear of the slab. Directly in front is the home theatre room, then family room, then study, then the setdown area for garage. On the "left" of the slab from this view is the outdoor room, dining room, kitchen, laundry, powder room and sitting room. Hard to visualise right now!Today was a pretty hot day too, around 33. Fortunately the next few days will be a little cooler with some light rain, which is apparently ideal for the concrete to cure (set) properly.
And checking MyMetricon, apparently the wall frame is due to be complete by Feb 15, just 2 weeks away!
What a journey - from buying the old house in May 09, to finally getting the foundations done Feb 2010. The next few months are sure to alternatively rush by and slow down, depending on what stage the house is up to - can't wait to see what happens next!
T&T
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Day 42: Waffle pods and slab preparation complete!
I like Tuesdays, as I have a day off every week! Went to the site just before lunch, and caught the tradies just as they were finishing up the slab preparation. Bought them a few 6 packs of beer as thanks for working through a pretty hot morning (about 30 degrees in the sun!)
Apparently they started early - about 7am or so? Until nearly midday to get everything done.
I've seen plenty of pics of other people's slab works, but never look at it up close. From what I can tell, they've laid a big plastic sheet over the gravel, then some spacers and a steel/iron frame. On top of this, a bunch of big polystyrene waffles, then spacers, then more reinforcement. The wood bracing is just held in place with star pickets and a few metal corner joins. Looks fairly simple, but there were many string lines for measurement - looks good to me! In the above picture, the step down bit to the left is for the garage (about 150mm lower than the ground floor slab).
This pic shows the portico area. The first floor balcony will roughly go over this bit.
This pic is from the rear of the block. The trench at the bottom of the pic is where some concrete will be poured to reinforce the outdoor room pillar. The pipe sticking up roughly in the centre of the pic is for our kitchen sink! Miscellaneous other pipes in the slab area are for the powder room, and upstairs ensuite/bathroom. Pipes outside the slab area are stormwater pipes.
And the best news? Tradies said they'd be back early tomorrow morning while the slab is being poured in case any adjustments are required! I'm going to get up early and see if I can get there for half an hour before work. I threw in a few gold coins anyway, just for good luck - in case I don't get the chance tomorrow!
So stay tuned for tomorrow night's pictures - hopefully we'll have a whole lot of concrete, and a 20% invoice for the slab very soon after!!
T&T
Apparently they started early - about 7am or so? Until nearly midday to get everything done.
I've seen plenty of pics of other people's slab works, but never look at it up close. From what I can tell, they've laid a big plastic sheet over the gravel, then some spacers and a steel/iron frame. On top of this, a bunch of big polystyrene waffles, then spacers, then more reinforcement. The wood bracing is just held in place with star pickets and a few metal corner joins. Looks fairly simple, but there were many string lines for measurement - looks good to me! In the above picture, the step down bit to the left is for the garage (about 150mm lower than the ground floor slab).
This pic shows the portico area. The first floor balcony will roughly go over this bit.
This pic is from the rear of the block. The trench at the bottom of the pic is where some concrete will be poured to reinforce the outdoor room pillar. The pipe sticking up roughly in the centre of the pic is for our kitchen sink! Miscellaneous other pipes in the slab area are for the powder room, and upstairs ensuite/bathroom. Pipes outside the slab area are stormwater pipes.
So stay tuned for tomorrow night's pictures - hopefully we'll have a whole lot of concrete, and a 20% invoice for the slab very soon after!!
T&T
Monday, February 1, 2010
Day 41: SS first contact and powerpit connected
Got a call from our Site Supervisor (SS) Brian this afternoon to introduce himself - how nice! He said we'd be getting a slab this week, and we're going to meet next week - not sure what for exactly, but I have a day off and want to meet him. Brian is looking after quite a few Metricon sites in the middle eastern suburbs, so we're hoping he's experienced and got good tradies organised!
Briand is also looking after our "partner" site in Blackburn - the other Metricon redevelopment that started a week before us. We went there on the weekend, and they've just had their slab done, so hopefully this is an indication of what we have to look forward to!
Went by the site today - no work on the land, but our underground powerpit has finally been connected!
So I know - it doesn't look like an underground powerpit, right? The actual powerpit is on our side of the road on the corner of our land, connected under the road to this powerpole opposite. For months now the power cables haven't been connected, but if you look at the grey conduit running up the pole, it connects to a box under the main overhead power lines to three big cables (three phase power, right?). The good news here is that now we have a powered site, we should be getting a $1000 credit on our build as the builder doesn't need a temporary power pole.
I've said it before - to anyone redeveloping their site, if you don't already have an underground powerpit near your land, organise for one to be installed well before you plan to start building!
sarahv: not much has happened so far, but really we should only be counting activity from about Day 26 or so, as there was the xmas shutdown during that period. We're hoping that once the slab is down, then some real manic activity can start! Your newhaven is certainly moving along quickly - from what I've heard of NSW builds, M are building much faster there!
mai: Expensive way to fix your fence problem is to tear it down and replace it with a taller one. But you should enquire as to whether a trellis extension added to the existing fence is sufficient to meet the 1.8m height requirement - it's cheap and easy to add in yourself! The Nolan 50 is a maaaaaasive size house!
T&T
Briand is also looking after our "partner" site in Blackburn - the other Metricon redevelopment that started a week before us. We went there on the weekend, and they've just had their slab done, so hopefully this is an indication of what we have to look forward to!
Went by the site today - no work on the land, but our underground powerpit has finally been connected!
So I know - it doesn't look like an underground powerpit, right? The actual powerpit is on our side of the road on the corner of our land, connected under the road to this powerpole opposite. For months now the power cables haven't been connected, but if you look at the grey conduit running up the pole, it connects to a box under the main overhead power lines to three big cables (three phase power, right?). The good news here is that now we have a powered site, we should be getting a $1000 credit on our build as the builder doesn't need a temporary power pole.
I've said it before - to anyone redeveloping their site, if you don't already have an underground powerpit near your land, organise for one to be installed well before you plan to start building!
sarahv: not much has happened so far, but really we should only be counting activity from about Day 26 or so, as there was the xmas shutdown during that period. We're hoping that once the slab is down, then some real manic activity can start! Your newhaven is certainly moving along quickly - from what I've heard of NSW builds, M are building much faster there!
mai: Expensive way to fix your fence problem is to tear it down and replace it with a taller one. But you should enquire as to whether a trellis extension added to the existing fence is sufficient to meet the 1.8m height requirement - it's cheap and easy to add in yourself! The Nolan 50 is a maaaaaasive size house!
T&T
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