Building the Drysdale 25: Gravel

Friday, 25 July 2014

We are almost at lock up!

To my surprise our bricks were being cleaned this morning. I am a bit concerned about the bricks that had to be redone at the front of the house. I don't think the mortar would be set.

J went past the house this after afternoon and to find the bricklayer (from earlier in the week) on site and he advised that now the bricks had been cleaned it was evident that the bricks his apprentice re-laid would have to be done again as they were a bit uneven. OMG! Some of the bricks on the corner had already been taken out.

We did have our Tyrells inspection today, according to the bricklayer. There is another brick near the meter box that needs to be redone as it was not laid straight, but apart from that it is a really good job.

So next week we have our electrical and air conditioning roughin to be done, followed by insulation and gyprocking.

It is coming along nicely...we are so happy with the progress and the finish so far.

Wednesday, 9 July 2014

Another day of bricking

Today is day 6. I am really happy with quality of our brickwork. Our bricklayer is doing a fantastic job (and yes, we only have one bricklayer working on our house). He thinks he will be finished by the end of the week.

The photos taken today aren't the best because of it was so bright but you can see how much he has done to date.

Thursday, 3 July 2014

Bricking continued....

I took a drive past to see how much had been completed today. It looks fantastic....

While sneaking around the site to take these photos, I almost took a fall in the wet sludge on the building site from the brick clean from my neighbours house. It would have been a funny sight to see. I am just glad nobody was around. I didn't realise until the next morning that my shoes were completely covered in mud!

Here are some photos I took tonight - day two

A close up of our bricks with off-white mortar (raked)

Bedroom 4

Wednesday, 2 July 2014

Bricking has started

Our brickwork started today.

I think our bricklayer is doing an exceptional job. He seems very meticulous. The work he has done so far appears to be clean and tidy. They didn't do a great deal (not that I know what to expect in a days work) but I am really happy with the quality of their work and I am more than happy to see them take a little longer if it means we are going to get a great job from them. I believe it is one bricklayer and his labourer (perhaps a father and son team).

Here are some photos from day one.

Home theatre wall, bedroom 2 & 3

Monday, 22 October 2012

The fun stuff...

Colours, Kitchen, Landscaping & Plumbing

Today is day 1 of our colour selection process....I have been looking forward to this day since signing our tender. For the past few months I have spent most nights on the internet researching and preparing for this day. Homeone has been an invaluable resource. There are so many helpful and knowledgable people that are happy and willing to share their expertise and experiences with you. I highly recommend this website to anyone whom is building their own home. There is a link to the website on my home page. The exciting part is knowing you have total control over the colour scheme and finishes in your home.

Our appointment was booked for 9am and we were on time and filled with enthusiasm and anticipation for the day ahead. Don't get me wrong, I was feeling a little anxious and uncertain that I was 100% prepared and ready to make the right choices.

First up, our colour consultant for the day took us through the exterior colours. Our selections went like this:-

Bricks: Gravel

Roof: Monument (Colorbond)

Gutters, Downpipes, Meter Box & Water Tank: Monument

Fascia: Dune

Garage Door: Dune

Cladding: Dune

Front Door: Dune

Eaves: Surfmist

Windows: APO Grey

Next we moved onto door handles for the doors throughout the house, including the front door, kitchen and bathroom cabinetry handles and WIR door handles. As we had increased the ceiling height to the entrance, we decided to upgrade the main bedroom doors. We also added a solid timber door and lock to our internal garage door (door added at tender stage).

Then it was over to choose paint colours. This was a little difficult. We knew what we wanted, but couldn't find the colour within the limited colour choices provided by EBH. In the end, after much procrastination, we settled on Kidskin for the walls and Crisp White for the skirting and architraves.

The last of the colour choices was the kitchen and bathroom vanities and bench tops. This took us some time as the colours in the brochures were not a true representation of the colour samples at HOG (It could have had something to do with the lighting). With regards to kitchen colours, we were planning upgrading but was advised by our colour consultant to choose a colour for the file and this would be over written once we had our kitchen appointment. So our colour selection was done and dusted.

From here we saw Jenni from Outback Landscaping for our driveway. J and I had come into this appointment determined we would have a cement driveway. But after listening to the pros and cons of each, and the general maintenance of both, we ended up choosing pavers. We chose the Baines Charcoal pavers, laid in a stretcher bond pattern. We opted to upgrade to have the council crossover paved as well. Outback were offering a $2 promotion where they would provide additional concrete/paving to the side of the house. I am not sure of the square meterage but it worked out that we would receive paving to one side of the house, the length of the garage.

Next we were off to meet with Alex from Kitchen Culture. Upon sitting down and sighting our kitchen layout that Alex had printed off, we were surprised to see that there were no overhead cabinets. Who builds a kitchen without overhead cabinets?? Turns out, all project builders don't, and it costs you an arm and a leg to include them! We were a little annoyed because we remember specifically asking our Sales Rep at Homeworld Kellyville whether the overhead cupboards were included and he confirmed that they were. So to be told that they weren't was a bit of a blow.

The kitchen is where you can spend a lot of money on upgrades. For example, here are our upgrades.

Two sets of soft close pot draws either side of the oven
Overhead cabinets with a 100mm overhang in lieu of handles
A lift up door cupboard above the fridge space,
A light shelf in each overhead cupboard for down lights
Bulkheads to overhead cabinets, including flyover panel above rangehood
Laminated panel behind rangehood
Sharknose detail to base cabinet doors and drawers
Gloss polyurethane finish to kitchen cabinets, panels, and kickboard.
Catergory 1 Essastone - Crystal Chalk
Glass splash back

If anyone wants to know how much any of the above cost, please let me know. I would be happy to share with you.

We also opted to have KC fit out our laundry rather than try and have someone do it after handover.

Here are our kitchen and laundry plans.

3D Kitchen Layout

Kitchen Plan

Laundry Plan

Our appointment with Cooks Plumbing was next. We wanted to keep the costs down seem as we just went overboard at our kitchen appointment. Here is a list of our upgrades.