Goodbye 2015!

What a year! It's hard to imagine that just 12 months ago we had barely thought about moving house, let alone buying land and building again.  But here we are with just one day of 2015 to go and we are the proud owners of a beautiful waterfront lot with a rapidly growing new home taking pride of place on it. The frame was officially completed on Tuesday 22nd December and, true to form, PD kindly sent the next invoice that very afternoon.  Oh well.  The following pic was taken on Christmas Eve and I think it fully explains why we're doing this.  Bring on 2016 and our brand new home in Sanctuary Lakes.  Happy New Year!

Taking it to another level

Another big week on site with the second floor frame going up, along with the roof trusses on Friday 18th Dec.  There's just a little tidying up to do and then it will be time for another invoice.  Wonder if they'll crack it before the Christmas break? For once, I'm hoping it all slows down a little ;-)

First floor frame on Tuesday 15th...

South side, Eve's WIR on the left, master WIR on the right.  Windows above the kitchen bench top are centre. 

Progress to Friday evening.  Roof trusses on. Porch and balcony frame done.

North side.  We're normally there in the evening and can't take pics in this direction as we face the evening sun.  No problems this morning, though.  Al fresco and terrace to the left.

View from the terrace out to Port Philip Bay

First floor, looking from Master bedroom towards the front. 

We've been framed!

Amazing progress over the last week.  Just 3 days after the pour, the guys were back on site to backfill the footings.  That was a huge relief because I was wondering how I would get the levels back without pouring hundreds of dollars into the hole.  Fortunately, the levels are looking reasonably good and I can once again visualise how the landscaping, pool etc will look.  

Sonia had a call from out new site supervisor, Matt, on Tuesday 8th December. He introduced himself and said that the frame had been delivered to the site and that the framing would begin that very day.  Yes, everyone has an opinion on leaving the slab to set, not leaving the frame exposed over the Xmas break, blah blah blah....but it's such a good feeling to see real progress being made.  True to Matt's word, we took a walk to the site that evening and found that work had indeed commenced.  

The next day (Wednesday) our house took on a third dimension and started rising from the ground.  Awesome feeling!  After so much stress and grinding delays, it is now starting to come together.  Matt assured us that the build would proceed smoothly (...only time will tell), and that the frame would be complete by Chrsitmas.  Very happy with that.  Its's been non-stop over the past week and the tradies were even there on Saturday (probably much to the dismay of our fellow islanders!). Keep it up PD....you may yet redeem yourselves.  Here is a sequence of pics showing work over the last week.

Framing Day 2....

Framing Day 3...

Framing Day 4....

A teaser of the views from our kitchen/lounge/diner...

SLAAAAB....!!!

Awesome week this week.  The tradies have cracked on and the slab was finally poured on Friday 4th December.  I was away in Malaysia for the majority of the week but Sonia sent me updates each day along with pictures of the progress being made.  Fortunately, though, I got back home at 7am on Friday to see a procession of concrete trucks awaiting their turn to unload.  A total of 16 loads (around 1000 tonnes) and 11 hours later, the slab was complete.  

I spoke to the concretors in the evening and they commented on how big a job it had been. In fact, they had to return on the following day to begin clearing and removing the form work.  That is a tough job, especially because it was a very hot day on Friday with temperatures reaching the low 30s. We visited a couple of times on Friday and then went back to see the finished product on Saturday. 

Very surprised at the sheer size of the slab, especially the depth.  Even the concretors commented that this house wouldn't be moving any time soon.  Around the edge, the depth is almost 6ft in places but, then again, the slab cost a small fortune due to the fact that we are on a man made island. It has certainly led me to wonder how I'm going to get the levels right around the house.  I might need to rethink my plans for a pool that is at the same level as the al fresco.  

Overall, though, we're really pleased at how the house will sit on the land - it will have a great presence.  

Friday was an especially big day because Sonia finally received her 50th birthday present - a Mercedes A Class with all the trimmings.  It's the updated model and the first in Australia - gotta love it!!!  So, a very expensive day as well. The slab invoice arrived around 3pm, swiftly followed by an invoice for the Merc!  To round out the weekend, we met with our good friends the Whittakers on the slab this afternoon and shared a champagne toast.  Happy days!!!

Early morning pour....

Starting the pour....

One of 16 loads....

Deep footings....

Champagne on the slab....

Looking at the triple garage to the rear of the house...

From the laundry, across to the al fresco....

Garage, looking back. Plan is to have a pool behind the garage....