Day 212 - House officially complete

The house is now complete, but we will not move in for a few more weeks while we work to stabilise the mud pit the house is built on.
Progress has started with the driveway and decking at the back of the garage, but we still need a few more retaining walls, decking out the back, some grass, landscaping, and plants.

Day 209 - EOD

Progress on driveway, aggregate to be exposed tomorrow I guess. 

Sideway behind garage starting to take shape with concrete laid, and decking posts in position. 

Care need to be taken with all paths laid next to the Hebel, as the hebel overhangs the slab, care needs to be taken that no concrete goes under the hebel, if it does then it is likely that at some point it will rip the hebel off the house due to the fact that the path is lighter than the house and will move more with the natural expansion and contraction of the underlying clay

Still chasing council to approve my fixing the crossover - that might be enough along with all the kitchen and laundry stuff for a while

Day 201 - Floors going in - just about complete

Bamboo floors looking good

Day 157 - Fixing completed

Painting should be finished on Monday, sparkies have dug holes in the plaster, made somewhat more difficult by the plasters it would seem

Day 150 - skirting boards in upstairs

Plaster false walls added under stairsand extra bulkheads above cabinets. 

Floors leveled and skirting installed. 

Latches being added to doors

And balcony ready for tiles

Day 146- Roof looking complete, stairs complete, balcony ready for tiles, as are the benches

Day 142 - Plaster complete

I was going to give them a blast, but they did finish it in the end.

Day 135 - Plaster hung and in the process of being sealed

Our SS reports all items mentioned in the report have been rectified, and that the ones I thought hadn't been done, will be done - it was just a timing issue to do it at the right time. 

While this has all been happening we have had a little R&R in the Australian outback, with plenty of Roos and Emus to keep us all on our toes, and to take us away from the house while the plaster and rectifications were done.

Day 126 - House Inspection booked - pre-plaster

I have to admit I um'd and ah'd about the need for an inspection, after the last inspection found nothing but work to complement, but in the end as I had to sign off acceptance of this stage to the bank, I thought I would have an inspection and perhaps use a different mob than the last one.  So I organised NHI, and they impressed me from the word go.

The first thing to impress me was the callback after the booking, the lovely lady who took the booking apparently discussed the job with a director, and they decided that they needed to inform me of two facts, first that they have done some paid work for CG, and second that the inspector that they are sending would have no relationship with that previous, and fairly minor it would seem, work.  While I already knew that NHI had been employed by CG in past, that was the rationale for not using them on my first inspection, it was refreshing and very reassuring that they would go to the trouble of making a second call to volunteer such information to me.

No inspection done yet, but I was happily impressed already.

Day 125 - at Lockup

All missing Hebel now installed, all external facing doors and windows in place, and a fetching pink damp proof layer applied at the bottom of the walls

Day 120 - Garage roof complete

In two hours this morning the roof was put up and all the scaffolding removed

Day 119 - Ready to tile garage roof

Roof trusses have been built, tiles delivered, scaffold erected - only thing missing is someone to place the tiles on the roof - hopefully tomorrow.

Quad has been nailed to the eaves, and work has commenced on connecting the downpipes to the roof.  Lockup must be close

Day 116 - Upstairs Hebel Rendering completed

One day blue board

 

the next its rendered with the Hebel.

 Progress is has been good, Hebel is all done and the rendering will be done sporadically until complete, starting at the balcony and working forward and down as other construction completes

Day 86 - Hebel has started going up

A start has been made in putting the walls up, with 1/4 of the ground floor completed on the first day

All the prewiring seems to have been also completed throughout the house, and the flat roofs completed

Day 82 - Scaffold has come down, now the insulation and hebal can go up, and the roofing can be finalised

No other action though.

Promised solar panels not installed, and unlikely to be now due to the scaffolds being down - until the wall scaffolds reach the roof again). 

The rain may be keeping everyone away - from my place, and two other CG builds in the area that I can see (2 builds within 500 metres of our temp accommodation)

Similar Carter Grange build in Camberwell

Had a look at another Carter Grange house that has been opened to the public prior to handover to the owners. 

Happily surprised that they have adopted many of our ideas, prior to us having them. 

First thing I noticed is that they have chosen to use under the stairs for storage. 

Actually looks alright. 

They have also chosen to use bamboo flooring the same as us and it comes up very nice

And a similar island bench too

With no sink in it, seems it might work for us

The sink is also the same as we have chosen, which suits people who will never be called stretch.

Day 81 - Still no action

Delays ongoing! Installation of the hebal was supposed to start a week ago, then it was promised to start last Friday. So far it seems that the insulated hot water pipes to the solar heater have been installed, but not the solar heating panel. 

Still the winter morning view from the balcony is refreshing

Day 75 - Nothing has happened!

Not surprising really - it takes 13-16 weeks to build a house, if  there are no delays.
However there are always delays, be it rain, holidays, or competing projects.  Volume builders quote 26-30 weeks, independents can take up to 2 years depending on other jobs they take on (they really cant say no).  Carter Grange are in between they aim to complete  in the range of volume builders while delivering the quality of a high end independent - but delays are to be expected ( or so I tell myself).
My fill in SS informed that the roof tiling scaffolds would be down prior to last Thursday, they are still up, but hey its only a few days so far!  Until the scaffolds come down, nothing else can go up as the scaffolds are in the way.

I meet the SS tomorrow to finalise the extra noggins for such things as towel rails, wall TV's etc that aren't apparently part of the standard delivery, and for which I can  get the SS to organise directly with the site personnel to conclude at some small cash charge.

Day 63 - Private Inspection of Frame stage

I selected an inspector that had never worked for CG, and whose company was unknown to CG.
The inspection found no defects, but impressed the inspector no end. He took me around to show me all the areas that well exceeded standards, but which were in line with the very best practice. He did mention that this was an unusual outcome and that his experience with other builders, one in particular, often is a long list of defects that apparently are addressed only after lengthy and repeated demands

Day 62 - Tile roof complete

Saturday 27th April extra safety platforms went up around the house
Monday 29th colour bond rear roof and all gutters installed
Tuesday 30th all roof tiles on, and heating and cooling ducts started to be installed