Building Progress: The Roof

Yes, indeedy, finally we have the roof going on! The gutters have been sorted (and look quite stylish I must say - although I never thought I'd say that about a gutter!). And we have a pretty productive schedule up until Easter, which includes: windows and doors, insulation, cladding, the planting of a large number of 2.5 m Lilly Pillies from one end of the garden to another, more brick work, the garage being built, plus electrical and plumbing work and, of course, the roof.

Phew, I'm exhausted just writing it down. But it's great to see the place humming with tradies once again and to find our end-target date has not moved much - it is closer to the end of July than the beginning.

A piece of roof sheeting. Boring, I know.

Oh silver quilt, keep us warm: roofing insulation as seen from inside the living space.

Not a lot going on here: some roof sheeting over the bedroom and the timber roof frame over the stair well.

Roof over the deck with an unhappy looking tree fern in the foreground.

 

Hugh the Digger in action.

Happy weekend!

Building Progress: Mr Water Pipe

Well, I'm feeling a lot better now that my pesky cold has gone and the good news is we seem to be back on track with the build and more action has been happening and is scheduled for the next six weeks. The roof will be going on, the windows going in, the gutters being hung and the cladding being clad! And I can't wait. Watch this space for concrete signs of productivity on site.

In the meantime, you'll be pleased to know that Mr Ginormous Sydney Water Pipe that appeared in our garden is on its way to disappearing into its own little house.

Mr Pipe has a nice little brick wall around it, is secured in concrete and will eventually be covered by a sandstone pier and lawn.

And here it is as seen here from the upstairs TV room with the retaining wall behind it which will support the timber walkway that will lead to the front entrance.

View to the right of the water pipe, showing the entrance to the laundry and and the concrete slab which will house the water tanks under the walkway.

So long Mr Pipe!

Still no Roof but think about the Kiwis

Well, we're nearly at the end of February and we've still got no roof on the house when it was supposed to be on before Christmas!

And the reason is the gutters. I know - who would have thought a gutter could cause such a lengthy delay?

Turns out our architect had specified a special design of the guttering in keeping with the aesthetics of the build (which we weren't really aware of or maybe we just weren't paying any attention?!) and this has been causing some design problems for the company making it. While we, of course, appreciate good aesthetics,  we would much prefer a gutter that worked than just looked good!

Anyhow, I believe progress is being made and it is now on 'critical path' as they keep saying (which is builder's speak for being urgent!). 

Yet despite all of this, I feel hesitant to really complain about anything at all when my fellow Kiwis in Christchurch are suffering, what is being said to be, the worst natural disaster New Zealand has experienced. My heart goes out to them and so, really, who cares about gutters?

It's all coming along nicely

Having not posted many photos recently of the house, you must be wondering if we are actually still building one! But yes, despite still not having a roof over the upper living space - problems with some new-fangled gutter design our architect is wanting to have! - and being a few weeks behind, the build is forging ahead and we are supposedly still on track to meet the completion date. This time, at the site, I remembered my camera and, with the interior scaffolding now removed, I was able to click away with a vengeance.

It is so exciting to see the main living and kitchen space being formed - as it is the only part of the house that won't have internal brick cladding, we've had to wait for the steel supporting beams to be installed so that the timber frame and roof can go on. Even though there are no walls, we really got a sense of what it will be like.

Looking skyward on a scorching day.

 

The steel beams show where the house ends and the deck starts (excluding the beam that fixes itself to the deck railing). The roof will extend part-way over the deck for shade.

The steel work table to the left is kind of where the kitchen island bench will be.

Looking through to the pantry, mini wine cellar (I hesitate to use the word 'cellar' as it's more like a holding room for wines we will be about to quaff!) and toilet (not all in the one room, of course).

More images to come throughout the week ...

Holidays and all that carry on

Howdy folks! Am back from my blogging hiatus after an amazing two weeks in Japan. Now I won't bore you with a  load of holiday snaps (phew, I hear you say) but I will show you two, if I may. Not only did we go from 30-something degrees celsius to around minus 8 in the snow, but hubby decided to show off a Christmas present I gave him and in light of the current trend in homewares for all things with the British wartime slogan (or something similar) 'Keep Calm and Carry On', I feel the need to show you the result. I'm sure he won't mind ...

Image by the girl in the brick house taken at Hakuba in beer-freezing temperatures.

I found this little gem (the T-shirt not the husband) at http://www.drinkbeerandcarryon.co.uk/ - a typically British male website if ever there was one. When I saw it, I knew just who would love it!

Says the site: In these rather trying times we simply can't allow the backbone of Britain, its pubs, to wither away and die. It's time to get a grip, gird our loins, dig for victory and stiffen those upper lips (around a pint of fine British ale, of course). So, show your support for mine host on the frontline and don one of these rather dashing undershirts.

Apart from taking silly photos, skiing and trying to speak Japanese, we also made a visit to the snow mt the Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park near Nagano who love to wallow in hot springs in the wild and don't mind human company. I just have to show you one I photographed only centimetres away from us. So cute I could have taken him home!

Image by the girl in the brick house taken on her little old digital camera.  

P.S. A quick update re the house: there was a delay with the roofing steel because of the application of zinc spraying which protects the steel from corrosion so it didn't go in pre-Christmas. But tomorrow it does, as well as the timber rafters and then the roof sheeting. Yay! Still waiting to hear official confirmation that the privacy screening is all a-go but it's looking good. And we have a site meeting on Friday so will hopefully be able to show you the new roof then!