31/08/09: The first thing I would like to do is apologise to my parents who drove up to our block to take photos for me and to watch over the slab being poured. This didn't eventuate, here is the story...
I organised for my parents to go up to our block today to watch over our slab being poured, I wasn't sure of what time they would start so I rang our site supervisor at 7:30am to ask. He told me that "it was going ahead today and that the guys are normally on site between 7:00am-7:30am". I rang my parents to let them know that they should be on site already, my parents then took off to our block.
My parents called me at work at around 9:00am-9:30am to tell me that there wasn't anyone on site. I rang my site supervisor but couldn't get through until around 10:00am, I asked him what was going on and why no one was on site? He couldn't tell me, he checked his books and said that everything was booked in and that he would call the concreter to find out what was going on.
The site supervisor left a message on my mobile almost straight away, I didn't know he had so I called him back about 10:15am, he wasn't happy. The concreter (let’s call him the wicked witch, because he obviously melts if any water hits him) had decided that because it was raining in Brisbane (where he comes from) that it must be raining in northern NSW so he called off the pour, he didn't even call the supervisor to let him know. The supervisor was very annoyed as it was a beautiful, sunny day down here, plus now he will have to call off the frame that was booked in for later this week.
I am so annoyed about this. I wouldn't be half as upset if it was actually raining but it wasn't, it was a beautiful day. I'm guessing that if this guy comes from Brisbane that almost all you guys on the Gold Coast are going to have this guy do your slab, I hope the day that he does yours it’s not overcast in Brisbane because he might not come. As you can probably tell I'm really cranky, so I'm just going to finish this here.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Our slab frame work is done, this is so exciting.
27/08/09: Today when my fiancé arrived at the block she was so surprised, she couldn't believe how much work had been done on the block today. All the frame work has been put into place, we can now see how the house is going to look on the block, this is so exciting.
I can already see where all our downstairs rooms are going to be, I can't wait until the weekend when I can go up and have a look and walk around the block myself, I have only seen the same pictures that you are looking at on this blog. I can't wait for the slab to be done so I can walk around in our house. Bring on Monday.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
We have pipes & a power box
26/08/09: Today the pipes have been placed on the block, it looks like the pipes are there for the internal piping as well as the down pipes, it also looks like they have placed our gas connection in ready to be connected to the natural gas when we reach lockup. They have also put our power box in place, everything is starting to come together for our slab pour next week.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
The start of a very busy week.
25/08/09: Today they pegged out our block, this is the start of a busy week on the house front. The block is being prepared for the slab which is set to be poured on Monday 31/08/09 as long as the weather holds out, fingers crossed.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Cut side retaining wall, finished
16/08/09: Today we built the retaining wall on the cut side of the block. This was one of the last things we are responsible for until our house is completed. Neither of these walls were as hard to build as we thought, as the ground was not as tough to dig as we thought it was going to be.
The cost of both of the retaining walls came in at around $400. This included all of things we needed to build the walls such as; the wood, cement mix, screws as well as a string line spirit level. This wall was completely DIY and there was a lot of hard work put in by both of our families. This wall would not have been built without them, so we would like to say a big thank you to them for their much needed help and expertise.
We also owe a big thank you to one of our soon to be next door neighbours as they let us use their water and electricity. We needed the water so we could mix the cement and the power for the use of our drills. We are very lucky to have such a nice neighbours and again our walls would not be complete without them, so a big thank you to them as well.
Next week there is nothing planed for the block, they allowed one week for the completion of the second retaining wall, so there probably won’t be any updates until the following week. Then we expect the plumbing to be done, along with the screw piers, this finishes off with the slab being laid on the 31st August, we can't wait.
The cost of both of the retaining walls came in at around $400. This included all of things we needed to build the walls such as; the wood, cement mix, screws as well as a string line spirit level. This wall was completely DIY and there was a lot of hard work put in by both of our families. This wall would not have been built without them, so we would like to say a big thank you to them for their much needed help and expertise.
We also owe a big thank you to one of our soon to be next door neighbours as they let us use their water and electricity. We needed the water so we could mix the cement and the power for the use of our drills. We are very lucky to have such a nice neighbours and again our walls would not be complete without them, so a big thank you to them as well.
Next week there is nothing planed for the block, they allowed one week for the completion of the second retaining wall, so there probably won’t be any updates until the following week. Then we expect the plumbing to be done, along with the screw piers, this finishes off with the slab being laid on the 31st August, we can't wait.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Our site has been cut
14/08/09: I called our site supervisor to make sure that the site was being cut today, he advised me that it would be done today. One thing that we didn't know was that it was our responsibility to have any excess dirt removed from the block, I was told to call the excavator driver to organise this.
I called the excavator driver and was told that there would be three truck loads of dirt to remove, his cost was $220 plus $60 per truck load, a total of $400. We couldn't imagine that there were three truck loads of soil as part of the block had to be filled, but I guess there is not much we can do. I think the $220 was a bit steep too, as he was already onsite with the equipment he just had to put the dirt in the truck.
I have included some pictures below of the block after the site was cut. This is now starting to feel real, it's such a relief to finally see some work done after the eight months of paper work we have had to do just to get to this point.
I called the excavator driver and was told that there would be three truck loads of dirt to remove, his cost was $220 plus $60 per truck load, a total of $400. We couldn't imagine that there were three truck loads of soil as part of the block had to be filled, but I guess there is not much we can do. I think the $220 was a bit steep too, as he was already onsite with the equipment he just had to put the dirt in the truck.
I have included some pictures below of the block after the site was cut. This is now starting to feel real, it's such a relief to finally see some work done after the eight months of paper work we have had to do just to get to this point.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Start day, we have a key!
13/08/09: I met Coral onsite this morning, the first thing they gave me was a key to our site so we could gain access any time we want. I also noticed that the block had been pegged out and was ready to be cut.
My fiancé stopped by the block on her way home at 4:00pm to see what had been done, we were very disappointed to find out that the only thing that had been done throughout the day was a portable toilet had been placed on the block, the block had not been cut.
We hope the block gets cut tomorrow.
My fiancé stopped by the block on her way home at 4:00pm to see what had been done, we were very disappointed to find out that the only thing that had been done throughout the day was a portable toilet had been placed on the block, the block had not been cut.
We hope the block gets cut tomorrow.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
We built our first retaining wall.
04/08/09: I had an on-site meeting this morning with Coral to explain to me what was going on so we had a better idea where to place the retaining wall that we will be building it on Sunday.
09/08/09: We built our first retaining wall with help from our family, I don't think it turned out to badly, what do you think?
Here is a picture of our block after we built the retaining wall, there will be a lot more pictures on the way after we start building. We will be starting on Thursday this week, as long as it all goes to plan. We will then be building the retaining wall on the other side of the block on Sunday next week after the block has been cut. We can't believe this has really started to happen, we can't wait until Thursday.
Monday, August 3, 2009
This process has taken so long, but we now have a start date
26/06/09: I contacted Coral to find out if they had a start date for me yet, but was told the private certifier still had the paper work, I was told to try again next week. I was initially told that this process would take a matter of days, it has taken over a week.
03/07/09: Once again another call to Coral, this time though some good news. Finally after a delay of two weeks, the private certifier has our building certificate. I was told that Coral would receive it on Monday or Tuesday, and that they would go through the conditions to see if there were any that had not been met. When I got home that day I had a letter from the private certifier with the building certificate and the building condition. It’s getting exciting, it’s so close now.
10/07/09: I received a call on my mobile while I was at work, I couldn’t answer it so it went to message bank. When I finally got around to checking it, I went into freak out mode. The message said “Can you please call B*** back, there is a council requirement that needs to be met regarding your block being in a bushfire prone area. Can you please call me back as soon as you can?” Now you can understand why I went into freak out mode. I thought to myself “what does he mean bushfire prone area, where are the trees?” I called B*** back, he told me that we needed to have Level 1 bushfire protection. I asked why we had to have it, he couldn’t tell me but advised me to ring the council, he gave me the person’s name, contact number and the DA number to help me out. I then asked him what was involved in the level 1 bushfire protection, he ran me through the list...
All fly screens have to be metal, including those on the doors and windows, this would also including having to have fly screens over our lovely front doors, which we didn’t want. All vents and weep holes will need to be covered in stainless steel mesh. The garage would need to be sealed around the door to prevent ember attacks. All roof gables will need to have fibre cement backing with no timber trim. I asked him what this was going to mean to our facade as we had upgraded to a wooden gable with wooden trim in the gable and portico. He told me that I could get it changed to hard wood (Merbau) and that we could only stain the hard wood not paint it like we wanted to and had spent 2 hours choosing the paint for only 5 weeks ago. This was particularly frustrating as we are building in an urban area, and when we raised this issue with our sales consultant he told us that a house they had built a few doors down did not require any bushfire protection.
So what was this going to add? I ask, not really wanting to know the answer. He told me that at a rough estimate it would be around $2500, but he would send out the variation for contract tomorrow with the final price. I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or not, I was sure he was going to tell me $5000-$6000, but then again I was chucking away another $2500. I just kept thinking about other things we could have done to the house with that money. Bloody councils.
I decided to call the council to find out why we needed to pay for this, as I’m not sure where this “bush” is. His reply was that you are within 100m (90m to be exact) from “bush” and that level 1 bushfire protection is needed, no questions asked. All I can say is that his definition of bush must be different to mine as all I can see are a few trees. Nothing could be done, we would just have to wear it.
11/07/09: I got an email from the mortgage broker telling me that Coral had sent the stamped approved plans through. But she had some bad news for us as well. Because the process had taken so long we had to resubmit our paper work to get reapproved by the bank. Great, just what we needed another hold up, can there really be any more?
13/07/09: After trying to get our current payslips and other paper work that the bank needed, we emailed the mortgage broker the paper work and she took care of the re-approval paper work. Our mortgage broker has been one of the handiest people to have, she has been just brilliant. She has mediated between us, the bank and the builder. I don’t think we could have done a lot of this without her as she filled out and sent everything to the bank. I hate paper work so it has been great to have her.
14/07/09: We got one of the variations regarding the bushfire protection, it didn’t include the hard wood with staining as he had to confirm the price. This variation was $2392 for the bushfire protection alone, I hope the wood and staining doesn’t cost too much. One thing I will say that is helping speed things up is that the variations are being sent via email, we can just print it out sign it, scan it and email right back, it is saving two days of postage.
17/07/09: We got the second variation and cost of the wood is another $592, damn that is a total of almost $3000. We really hated the council right now. We then noticed that they had forgotten to take off the extra we had paid for a deep base paint to the wood trim, yah, it will be a little win back for us, every little bit helps.
19/07/09: The variation with a credit came back, it was only a little win, but a win is a win I guess. It was -$174, so this bushfire protection was costing a total of $2800. Total crap, but hey, what can you do? Nothing.
20/07/09: All paper work has been done, Coral are now being delayed by the bank and are not happy about it, I’m told that if there is another week delay that the contact will have to be reassessed and the pricing updated accordingly. We didn’t want this so we were straight back to the mortgage broker who called the bank to get the paper work fast tracked.
22/07/09: We have finally received unconditional approval for the loan, this is one of the best feelings we have had in the past few weeks. It can’t be much longer now.
24/07/09: All paperwork from the bank arrived at Coral, I have been told they will now work on get us a start date. We have an appointment with the bank on Tuesday the 28th to sign off on the loan.
28/07/09: WE HAVE A START DATE, oh my God, this is a truly awesome feeling. Six months of work have finally come to a head. This is how the day unfolded; I received a call on my mobile, because I was at work I couldn’t answer it so it went to message bank. When I got around to checking it, it was the customer service officer from Coral letting me know we had a start date, when she said the date a huge smile came to my face as it was my birthday, the date is the 13th August. That’s only two weeks away!
02/08/09: We went to the block today to mark out where our retaining wall is to be built. We both think this is a joke as the wall is only 8m long with a total height of 45cm, most other houses have tapered the land down with a fall this small, but Coral won’t start without it so it has to be done. We will be doing this next weekend.
Again another big update, sorry. We have been so busy getting stuff done for our house and wedding that I haven’t had the time for updates. I plan for these to become more frequent as things start to progress with the building process. I will place photos of the block and the retaining wall up on this blog next week after it has been done.
03/07/09: Once again another call to Coral, this time though some good news. Finally after a delay of two weeks, the private certifier has our building certificate. I was told that Coral would receive it on Monday or Tuesday, and that they would go through the conditions to see if there were any that had not been met. When I got home that day I had a letter from the private certifier with the building certificate and the building condition. It’s getting exciting, it’s so close now.
10/07/09: I received a call on my mobile while I was at work, I couldn’t answer it so it went to message bank. When I finally got around to checking it, I went into freak out mode. The message said “Can you please call B*** back, there is a council requirement that needs to be met regarding your block being in a bushfire prone area. Can you please call me back as soon as you can?” Now you can understand why I went into freak out mode. I thought to myself “what does he mean bushfire prone area, where are the trees?” I called B*** back, he told me that we needed to have Level 1 bushfire protection. I asked why we had to have it, he couldn’t tell me but advised me to ring the council, he gave me the person’s name, contact number and the DA number to help me out. I then asked him what was involved in the level 1 bushfire protection, he ran me through the list...
All fly screens have to be metal, including those on the doors and windows, this would also including having to have fly screens over our lovely front doors, which we didn’t want. All vents and weep holes will need to be covered in stainless steel mesh. The garage would need to be sealed around the door to prevent ember attacks. All roof gables will need to have fibre cement backing with no timber trim. I asked him what this was going to mean to our facade as we had upgraded to a wooden gable with wooden trim in the gable and portico. He told me that I could get it changed to hard wood (Merbau) and that we could only stain the hard wood not paint it like we wanted to and had spent 2 hours choosing the paint for only 5 weeks ago. This was particularly frustrating as we are building in an urban area, and when we raised this issue with our sales consultant he told us that a house they had built a few doors down did not require any bushfire protection.
So what was this going to add? I ask, not really wanting to know the answer. He told me that at a rough estimate it would be around $2500, but he would send out the variation for contract tomorrow with the final price. I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or not, I was sure he was going to tell me $5000-$6000, but then again I was chucking away another $2500. I just kept thinking about other things we could have done to the house with that money. Bloody councils.
I decided to call the council to find out why we needed to pay for this, as I’m not sure where this “bush” is. His reply was that you are within 100m (90m to be exact) from “bush” and that level 1 bushfire protection is needed, no questions asked. All I can say is that his definition of bush must be different to mine as all I can see are a few trees. Nothing could be done, we would just have to wear it.
11/07/09: I got an email from the mortgage broker telling me that Coral had sent the stamped approved plans through. But she had some bad news for us as well. Because the process had taken so long we had to resubmit our paper work to get reapproved by the bank. Great, just what we needed another hold up, can there really be any more?
13/07/09: After trying to get our current payslips and other paper work that the bank needed, we emailed the mortgage broker the paper work and she took care of the re-approval paper work. Our mortgage broker has been one of the handiest people to have, she has been just brilliant. She has mediated between us, the bank and the builder. I don’t think we could have done a lot of this without her as she filled out and sent everything to the bank. I hate paper work so it has been great to have her.
14/07/09: We got one of the variations regarding the bushfire protection, it didn’t include the hard wood with staining as he had to confirm the price. This variation was $2392 for the bushfire protection alone, I hope the wood and staining doesn’t cost too much. One thing I will say that is helping speed things up is that the variations are being sent via email, we can just print it out sign it, scan it and email right back, it is saving two days of postage.
17/07/09: We got the second variation and cost of the wood is another $592, damn that is a total of almost $3000. We really hated the council right now. We then noticed that they had forgotten to take off the extra we had paid for a deep base paint to the wood trim, yah, it will be a little win back for us, every little bit helps.
19/07/09: The variation with a credit came back, it was only a little win, but a win is a win I guess. It was -$174, so this bushfire protection was costing a total of $2800. Total crap, but hey, what can you do? Nothing.
20/07/09: All paper work has been done, Coral are now being delayed by the bank and are not happy about it, I’m told that if there is another week delay that the contact will have to be reassessed and the pricing updated accordingly. We didn’t want this so we were straight back to the mortgage broker who called the bank to get the paper work fast tracked.
22/07/09: We have finally received unconditional approval for the loan, this is one of the best feelings we have had in the past few weeks. It can’t be much longer now.
24/07/09: All paperwork from the bank arrived at Coral, I have been told they will now work on get us a start date. We have an appointment with the bank on Tuesday the 28th to sign off on the loan.
28/07/09: WE HAVE A START DATE, oh my God, this is a truly awesome feeling. Six months of work have finally come to a head. This is how the day unfolded; I received a call on my mobile, because I was at work I couldn’t answer it so it went to message bank. When I got around to checking it, it was the customer service officer from Coral letting me know we had a start date, when she said the date a huge smile came to my face as it was my birthday, the date is the 13th August. That’s only two weeks away!
02/08/09: We went to the block today to mark out where our retaining wall is to be built. We both think this is a joke as the wall is only 8m long with a total height of 45cm, most other houses have tapered the land down with a fall this small, but Coral won’t start without it so it has to be done. We will be doing this next weekend.
Again another big update, sorry. We have been so busy getting stuff done for our house and wedding that I haven’t had the time for updates. I plan for these to become more frequent as things start to progress with the building process. I will place photos of the block and the retaining wall up on this blog next week after it has been done.
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