Bricking begins

Bricking has started a day earlier than we were told it would. I'm sure this is going to be photo overload, but it's pretty exciting seeing a partial wall take shape.

Mrs kidsbuggingme was concerned the bricks were the wrong colour but after seeing them laid we're pretty happy with the choice. They are Boral Escura Velour in "Choc Tan" colour.

Big stacks become smaller stacks:

Side of garage:

Happy with the colour:

Plumbing and bricks arrive

The build has slowed to a crawl due to a lack of available bricklayers. I've stopped trimming my beard in protest (or perhaps boredom?) and am beginning to think I might end up looking like ZZ Top by the time the build is complete. I notice some hipsters at work in the city checking my beard out and many people at work have commented on it. "Mate! What's going on?! You're growing a beard! Maaaattttte!" I had no idea it would be controversial. Conchita Wurst, eat your heart out.

Back to the build....

Over the past two days, the water and gas plumbing was installed in preparation for the bricking stage. It looks a bit like a Borg invasion has started.

The Borg start building their cube:

Our plumber:

The bricks have also arrived and been placed throughout the yard. Bricklaying to commence on Thursday.

Bricks, waiting patiently:

Frame and window stage complete

The frames have been completed and remaining upstairs windows installed on Tuesday. How do I know they're complete? Because I received the stage invoice today. I'm loving the efficiency, if only the pre-build admin stage was as efficient then I wouldn't have been so grumpy over the past 6 months. Without whining too much, every time we needed something changed (even if it was the builders mistake) it took 10+ business days to get a turnaround (and I'm being nice here). At least the build has been going to plan so far!

Anyway, pics.....

The front:

Kitchen side:

 Stairs/dining side:

The ensuite spa bath where lucky passers-by may see me relaxing in the nude:

More framing and windows

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Toys in every store. But the prettiest sight to see, is the holly that will be, on your own..... front..... door.

Great, now I've got that song stuck in my head. At this rate, we could actually be in the house before Christmas. Our SS has unofficially said that time frame is likely but we won't know for a few more months. I mentioned to him today that I was impressed how quickly things were happening, before he cut me off and said "Don't get too excited." Haha, fair enough.

The frames have been going up all week and are nearly complete. Most of the windows and stacker/sliding doors have also been installed. To my relief the steel support posts for the massive beam at the back of the house have been installed - I don't need to lose sleep worrying about it falling down any longer! (Yes, I stress and stress over things constantly!)

We got home with a little daylight left and were able to take a walk around and see the upstairs layout for the first time. As the frames, floor and windows start to form rooms we are getting a feel for the size of the house (the display is only 40sq and has a lower ceiling downstairs).

The front of the house has been bulked up with more framing, most of the roof trusses are up, some windows installed and the makings of the balcony have appeared:

One of the steel support posts holding the beam up:

From the back

From the kitchen looking towards living/dining:

Upstairs:

Top floor frames assembled

Yesterday, the windows arrived, the electricity was hooked up, and some more ground level and ceiling work was completed.

Power meters reading 1kw/hr. Sadly, we get charged for power from here onwards:

Windows arrive:

Today, the top floor was assembled and some of the windows placed inside the house. It's amazing how quickly the house takes shape at the beginning of the build. So far, the build has been ticking along like clockwork. We spoke with the SS about the support for the steel beams at the back of the house and he was already aware of it - good to hear he's on top of things!

The front:

The kitchen:

View from what will be the ensuite spa:

View to what will be the balcony (dead Jacaranda to be removed):

The back:

Ground floor frames assembled

There was some action on site today. We got to see the ground floor assembled and the top floor frames arrive. After the tradies left for the day we had a walk through to get a feel for the space (and look for anything dodgy).

Upstairs frames arriving:

The front:

The back:

Inside the front door:

There are several huge steel beams that needed to be craned into position. I'm not exactly sure whether this corner is sufficiently supported, if it doesn't get any additional support in the coming days I'll bring this up with the SS.

Beam at back of house/alfresco:

Frames arrive

I had an interesting phone call from the builder this week. The shortened version went something like this:

ADMIN LADY: I'm just calling to let you know that we're sending a variation through for traffic control.
ME: WTF? (well, not really WTF but I felt like swearing)
ADMIN LADY: The RTA have requested traffic control while your frames are delivered. We're sending the bill through as a variation. I just wanted to let you know beforehand instead of just emailing.
ME: No. We have a fixed price contract with you, that's what the website says, that's what the contract says. It's fixed price.
ADMIN LADY: The RTA have requested it.
ME: Well, you should've included road closures in the tender/contract. It's not my fault that you didn't. You can't just add things as variations when you feel like it.
ADMIN LADY: Was there anything in the contract as a provisional sum?
ME: No.
ADMIN LADY: I'll check the contract and get back to you.

10 minutes later our SS rings.... traffic control has been cancelled. He thinks that someone (from the frame company?) might've just "Google earthed" it and assumed that we needed the road closed temporarily. I should say at this point that our SS has been great so far, he seems like a good down-to-earth bloke.

I can't believe they tried to get us to pay extra and just assumed that I'd sign the variation. This kind of thing should be identified during the tender/contract stage. They claim to have done a site inspection before building, they should've picked it up if it was going to be an issue. If we make a change to the contract now they will charge us a $1000 admin fee, whereas they feel they can just change things as they please - not going to happen! This sort of thing should be covered in the site costs.

The website even states "All of our contracts are fixed priced so there are no nasty surprises at the end. With our fixed price approach you know exactly how much your home will cost before you start to build, making it easier to manage your decisions and budget."

Anyway, the frames turned up on Thursday and were placed on the slab today. It doesn't sound like much, but they had to draw up the rooms so they could make sure everything is placed correctly and fits together. I'm expecting they'll be back tomorrow or Monday to assemble the ground floor.

Frames and steel beams arrive:

Frames laid out on ground floor: