We're in #3: Wallpaper, family rooms & buildings sites

Am in love with wallpaper and am so glad we've used it here and there, as in the rumpus room toilet (just for my English hubby!) ...

The mirror on the floor will, of course, go above the vanity!

And the Triple Masala walls in the TV room have come up a treat ...

 I'm so happy we decided to keep some of the original bricks exposed in the rumpus room ...

But let's not forget it's still a building site! 

External study louvres showing the entrance 

... and the front garden

Over the next two weeks we're hoping to see a lot of progress so watch this space!

Building Progress

There's been a lot going on at the building site and I finally feel like a proper house is taking shape slowly but surely which is exciting. I took a stack of photos when I went down on Friday to share with you ...

The big news is that the final window we were waiting on has gone in: the kitchen splashback! It is made from reinforced glass as the cooktop will be under it and when the joinery is in the frame will be invisible.

The rumpus room exposed bricks (from the original house) have been cleaned up and are ready to be coated in a special sealer and the cupboards either side are being built.

The downstairs rooms have been gyprocked such as seen here in one of the girls' bedrooms.

These are two views of the entrance way (above and below - timber stairs to come) and I am just envisaging the ostrich feather pendant light I've bought hanging above (which thankfully got through customs without too much of a hitch - although I do wonder what I was thinking when I ordered it direct as Australian customs officials do not like to see the words 'feather' in a shipment! But that's another story ...)

The electrician is nearly finished wiring the place and there are wires for Africa everywhere!

The garage is well underway and the roof is now on.

There are all sorts of other bits and bobs happening and plenty of decisions to be made ie heights of light switches, placement of heated towel rails, curtaining/blind specifics, confirmation of all light fittings, bathroom tiles, pool tiles, fencing issues, plant decisions ... the list goes on!

All I can say is rock on September 10 which is the date we've been told we can move in. What's more, we've now also been given a letter to vacate from our landlord, which means we'll have to be in whether it's finished or not!

More building progress ...

Just realised I floated a way for longer than I intended!

But I'm back and pleased to report some more progress on the house.

The site office has been removed from the back garden

and set up in the TV room (through the door) and dining space (seen here)

Ceiling insulation has been installed (and, no, I didn't just take a photo of used tinfoil!)

The electrical stuff has been roughed out or in or up or whatever the expression is, I always forget!

Study

The plumber has been in

Guest bedroom ceiling

Styligh green buckets have been left lying around

Master bedroom

Hugh the Digger has been preparing the site for the garage

And the water pipe is slowly disappearing under layers of cement and brick.

This will one day be a garden

It is certainly still hard to imagine how this mountain of brick, cement, rubble and mud will ever be transformed into a home and that one day we will be living there but technically it's only four months away!

Watch this space next week when the windows will be going in and the cladding going on!

 

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!

Building Progress: Second Level Slabs Get Poured

Finally we have half of a second floor slab! I thought the rain would never stop, but it did (although it's started again, I might add) and at the end of last week and on Saturday the guys were able to do this ...

They formed the slab and poured the concrete over the girls' bedrooms, above which will be our bedroom and the study. To the left is the guest bedroom and you can see the frangipani at the front of the property start to bloom. And although you can't see it yet, in the middle will be the stairway linking the two 'wings' (for want of a better word) and the front entrance, which will be set halfway between the two levels.

Hugh has been busy moving mounds of muck but the mound of rubble in front of Amy's bedroom has made the boundary fence start collapsing! Oops! But at least we were going to replace it anyway.

In the far distance, if you squint really hard, you can see the sea!

The next stage now is to do the same on the upper level wing and then the brickies can start building the second storey walls so the whole thing can start to look more like a house!

Ideas, excitement, patience ...

Am very excited as next Tuesday is the day planned for the second level floor slab to be poured! To actually get up there and see what it will be like in our living/kitchen/deck area is what I have been waiting for for ages.

But settle petal, I hear you say. And quite rightly too. Patience is a virtue in this building business. Have to settle, instead, for gorgeous styled images of other peoples' homes which are bursting out of the magazines I buy and the websites and blogs I peruse.

One potential change to the interior - which may or may not happen as it will depend on how it looks - is that we could keep one wall in the rumpus room in the original brick (instead of cladding over it) to give it a bit of an industrial feel. I got quite excited about the idea (as I am wont to do) but hubby isn't so sure and he may be right as in a relatively modern house it may just look weird or stupid or just plain wonky. Anyway, this image is the kind of the look we could achieve ...

There would be two long, large windows either side of the TV on the wall, and facing it a fun sofa plus a pool table on timber floors, if you get the idea. Silly? Who knows. We'll just have to wait and see.

Building Progress: Week 19

Remember last week I showed you the super-duper bedroom slabs? Well, now they're getting walls!

Even though there is still some of the original bricks left, they are using new bricks for these walls (and thank goodness they won't be seen as they're really don't have the character of the old ones). This is Hannah's bedroom east-side wall with a lovely view of the neighbouring trees.

Same room; other wall. I'm impressed at how high the ceiling studs and door frames will be. Our architect specified these and I think it will make a difference to the feel of the rooms - giving them a lofty feel rather like that of an older, more traditional home.

The view of the concrete jungle from the far end of the pool.

And Deb the Digger has been hard at work clearing rubble and earth to make room for the second level slab. Hugh the (other) Digger has been languishing in the guest bedroom for goodness knows how long! I'm guessing that soon they will no longer be required.

Weatherboard Cladding

I've always liked weatherboard. Whether modern or traditional in style.

contemporary exterior design by san francisco interior designer Amoroso Design

contemporary exterior design by san francisco interior designer Amoroso Design

Images via Houzz

Which is why our house, while modern in design, will be all-white weatherboard. Here is an unpainted mock-up of what the cladding will look like. Not the greatest photo but you get the idea and it will be white, not cream.

And this is a little like what our upstairs living will be - with the timber decking, an extended roof for shade and kitchen window overlooking the decking.

{Apologies: I cannot source this image as I've had it on file for ages and didn't keep the web source. If anyone knows it, please let me know!}

The brickwork will be tucked away inside, in between insulation and the internal cladding. So I will still be, technically speaking, 'the girl in the brick house'!

News from the Building Site

Popped down to the site today for a meeting with the architect and project manager. And this is where they're at ...

The brick work on the lower level living area is complete.

This is a view from the rumpus room through to the guest bedroom.

The rumpus room wall and windows (which will be louvres), east-side.

The guest bedroom ensuite (I know it looks a little prison-like, but squint a little and you'll get the idea).

You walk in and there's a window to your left, the vanity and mirror straight ahead and the toilet and shower to your right.

5.5-tonne Deb takes a break in the guest bedroom.

The old garage is gone and is now replaced with excess soil from the levelling of the second 'wing'.

A pile of old bricks ready to be used on the second wing.

The pool is formed.

Yipee for progress! Have a happy weekend folks ...

And The Bricks Keep Going Up

A new house is being transformed from the old. 1920s bricks are forming the internal wall structure of the new house and the guest bedroom takes shape.

The rumpus room east-side wall and windows are formed.

Hugh takes a rest, but I am worried that the dimensions don't look right. The wall length between the two long windows is meant to be 3 m but doesn't look like it to me! Of course, as it turns out, it is an optical illusion but I'm thankful the architect checks it out for me as he discovers that all the door heights are too low!! Oh no! While they would have been picked up as my husband would have skimmed his head on them, it is much better the error can be rectified now rather than later.

{Moral of the story: It pays to check everything!}

There's now a delay with the pool formation because the poolman has been held up on another job, which means we can't lay the second slab and progress the brickwork on this wing. Grrr!

{Moral of the story: Must remember that patience is a virtue}

 

Spring may have sprung but there are still no buds on our frangipani tree.

{Moral of the story: See moral # 2 above}

Wishing you all a very happy weekend!

Let the Brickwork Begin

After not a lot of action, we now have lots happening. I had a site meeting on Friday with the builder-project manager, the architect and his side-kick, an Irish work-experience architect and the foreman, plus four brickies and three other workman working on the site. As the only female there, you could say I felt outnumbered! But it was very exciting to see the old bricks from the original house being laid as part of the reverse brick veneer cladding. Already the outline of the downstairs rumpus room, guest bedroom and ensuite and their window placements are clearly visible. It was amazing to finally get a concrete - so to speak - feel for some of the house and to walk through it. Over the next two weeks, the pool will be formed, more bricks laid and all the dirt next to the concrete slab moved so the second slab can go down. And next time I'll remember to take my camera on site so I can take better pictures - instead of taking them behind the fence after everyone had left for the day like I did here!

The alcove, if you can call it that, in the middle is the guest ensuite.

View through Hugh, the digger.

The concrete block retaining wall on which the second slab will be formed. The rectangular bit sticking out is where the bath in the master ensuite will be, with a window so you can look out at the trees beyond.

My friend, Hugh the digger, takes a rest after a long week's work.

I think I know why I love him so much: his colour brightens the drab grey of everything else!

Even the frangipani tree, which hasn't come into flower yet, is grey.

Hugh's girlfriend has come onto the scene. I think we might have to christen her, too ...