Piering and Pods 9/03/11 to 11/03/11

Peering at our land (excuse the pun), we could see that the piering had been completed! Ready for the waffle pods and the slab to be poured shortly afterwards. Finally we were able to get a real feeling for the size of our new home. Wisdom Homes moving at a steady pace so far.

I was also able to spot some work going on in the neighbourhood, interesting photo of how they do the piering and slab below

Expect lots of pics to come!

The almighty port-a-loo 17/02/11

Today we discovered the port-a-loo, a reason for great excitement as this meant that construction was finally underway! Our site was fenced off and excavation completed. Luckily we had mowed the grass/weed in anticipation, so we did not incur any fee from the builder.

Things to remember

Below is a list of things that I feel are essential to consider during a build. They are things one can easily forget to add in the tender and can be very difficult / costly to do during / after a build. Some of these things you may be able to do during construction depending on the leniency of you site supervisor

Kitchen:

·         Check dimensions of fridge space. Increase to 1000mm or more if possible.

·         Plumbing near fridge for those with ice/chilled water dispensers. Preferably in a cupboard above or next to it.

·         Check dimensions of microwave space.

·         Consider upgrading from laminate to granite

·         Two bowl sink with filtered water tap

·         Consider provisioning for outdoor / second kitchen. You will need a gas point, water, and power point

·         Extra cupboards, especially overhead with bulkheads

·         For wooden flooring and some tiles height of kitchen appliances need to be adjusted as well as first step of stairs

·         Ask skirtings to be only tacked in so they can be easily removed for floor covering installation

Bathroom:

·         Frosted windows

·         Medicine cabinet

·         Heater/fan/light

·         Granite basin

·         Floor to ceiling tiles

Bedroom:

·         Mirrored sliding robes

·         Double glaze windows for sound and heat insulation

Garage:

·         Consider dimensions especially if you own a 4wd

·         Consider Widening for extra storage space

·         Drive through roller door can be very useful

·         Auto garage doors or at least power point provisions for future installation

·         Power points for tools. Will you need 3 phase power?

·         Power points for second fridge or dryer and ducted vacuum motor

Electrical:

·         Telephone points, TV points and double power points,

·         Power points for vacuuming

·         Cordless phones also need power points

·         Power point / light provision for garden shed

·         Provisioning for garden lighting

·         Ducted vacuuming

·         Doorbell  / video intercom and or alarm system

·         Height of power points e.g.: wall mounted TV or projector

·         Sensor lights around house

·         Check positions of power points and light switches

·         Data points. Consider Foxtel, IPTV, Internet connection in other rooms, printers, and also for streaming data.  

·         Outdoor power point or in alfresco.  Also consider outdoor gas point.

·         Low voltage floor lights / niche lights or along stairs look great

·         Consider Dimmer switches for some rooms

Other:

·         Solar power

·         Consider positions and number of fresh water / recycled taps

·         Insulation

·         Consider backyard drainage and any pipes you may have to lay

·         Recessed electrical meter box

·         Zoned ducted air conditioning with control pad for upstairs and downstairs

·         At framing stage, take photos of walls in all rooms before gyprock goes on so you know location of all studs and wooden frames

Tender Presentation to Council approval - 07/10 to 12/10

During this period we had a number of changes / revisions that we made to our tender. Our preliminary plans were drawn by 14.08.10 but we made even more changes and this delayed the start of our build a bit further. Also we had to get approval by The Ponds Board before it would be sent off to Blacktown Council. Finding a suitable brick that The Ponds wouldn’t reject was our biggest nightmare as it seemed as though their minds kept on changing. We wanted to avoid spending extra on bricks if possible.  Our bricks were rejected about three times between the Board and Wisdom homes. Some reasons being: discontinuation and not being able to make them in an exposure grade for the so called saline soil at The Ponds. However we finally did it! The Ponds Board took about 2-3 weeks to approve. During this time we also had to lodge a landscape plan. We decided to save ourselves some money and do this ourselves. How hard could it possibly be? It took me two attempts, but it passed without any major hurdles.