Progress, But

Our SS called us last Tuesday to advise that the level at which one of the windows was placed upstairs was incorrect, affecting the installation of eaves. He got it refitted, with the bad news that the Hebel surrounding the windows had to be brought down and replaced sometime soon.

I was relieved to see the SS action not only the removal of debris at the front of the site, but level the mound of soil that was left on the site for over a month; the soil would act as the necessary fill for the future driveway, which is good news.

The rear garden tap was installed, along with the provision for the front tap, but that is all I could see as progress made in the last week as seen from outside of the site fence.

SS had apparently ordered the materials for the eaves, along with down pipes, but I do not see those activities happening anytime soon, as those materials are not on site.

We still have not received the invoice for the Frame stage, prompting an email to our CSC, who advised us that we are unlikely to receive it until closer to the completion of the Lock-Up stage that would see the completion of the remainder of the frames on the Outdoor room / Dining room extensions.

A slightly disappointing week overall in terms of real progress, and I hope this does not become the norm in terms of the pace of progress.

Bristle Coal Roof Tiles On

We have a hat! Our roof covering on the upper floor is mostly complete; some tiling on the front elevation next to balcony can be completed only after a part of the scaffolding comes down. Also, roof pointing is yet to commence. There appears to be some broken tiles, which I suppose will be addressed eventually.

More plumbing work was completed last week.

Overall, a productive week, but only after a dramatic event – Our Site Manager, Josh C left the company we are building with – I heard he landed a commercial job…A great bloke, and will be missed professionally.

We got an email from our Construction Support Coordinator reassuring us that there would be minimum delay and disruption, and advised the appointment of new Site Manager, Greg KP. I caught up with Greg on the phone the day he got appointed as well as a few days later, and he appears to be well experienced on the building front, although he says that he is yet to become completely familiar with Metricon building process and formalities. Greg assured us that he would call us every Tuesday to update us on the build – time will tell whether he keeps up his word. He also advised us that we can visit the site only under his supervision – so, I suppose this is the end of all those sneaky photos. But at the same time, he wants to take care of the site and advised us he is going after a pad lock to secure the building site.

Windows, Fascia & Gutter Installed; Hebel Almost Complete; Plumbing Started

With the completion of installation of roof trusses, windows on the upper floor and paperbark-coloured fascia and gutter, part of the scaffolding came down to make way for installation of Hebel panels on the upper floor. You can see from the pictures that Hebel on upper floor is almost complete, considering that tradespeople moved the panels upstairs on Thursday to commence work, only to abandon the site early afternoon owing to the constant showers.

The remainder of the upper floor (sections where Hebel are not installed) would have lightweight cladding, the materials for which are yet to be delivered on site.

Notice in the below picture how wide our extended eaves would look (600 mm), which we will have on the entire upper floor, and above outdoor and dining room on the ground floor. They are not only functional (block summer sun; reduce the need for mechanical cooling; shield furnishings), but also aesthetically pleasing (a grander look).

Today was also the first opportunity for me to see work-in-progress on upper level, as the chippies' ladder was available to climb up. All room sizes look reasonable, except one, where our baby son would sleep. However, it is bigger than the room he currently sleeps in the rental property we live now; so, I suppose, it is ok. 

Below is the picture of our Leisure room and the view as seen from the Leisure room window.

Our roof tiles were also delivered – Bristle Yeoman Shingle Coal – ready for installation next week.

Here is a sneak peek of the view from our Balcony

The plumbers also rocked up on Saturday to commence plumbing work and got heaps done – a few pictures below to checkout the kind of work they did.

Plumbing work for the double vanity in our Ensuite;
Immediately behind is our adult study room, and beyond that is our toddler son's room

Scaffolding Up and Progress on Frames

Got an update from our Sales Consultant, Rebecca that three chippies are working on our site today.

Josh (SS) also left a message on my phone advising that work is currently progressing on the front roof including some tidying up that is expected to be completed tomorrow, followed by work on fascia and gutters on Monday.

You will see Scaffolding in the picture below – looks now like a major construction site – Some of the scaffolding is expected to be down sometime next week.

I am also glad we did not prematurely commission work on retaining walls - as scaffolding has occupied the entire space on our side yard space. 

Work on Hebel on the upper level is scheduled to commence on Wednesday next week and is expected to be finished by the end of the next week, after which work on roof would commence.

I suppose we will be receiving the invoice for the Frame stage sometime early next week.