May 22-29 was a wet week

Two weeks ago, someone working on excavation called me to check the block of land.  Unfortunately, the rains started to pour down the whole week.  So when Monday came, I thought.. one week lost.  :(

Some changes had to be done on the block of land.  Since our block was higher on the front of the block and for some unfortunate thing, the sewer line runs at the top of the block... so the builder contacted us about an issue.  We were a bit alarmed since they said that the president (PR) wanted to talk to us about some issues in the building.

Since our house plan is split level, with the rear part being lower (about 4 steps), they had to raise it so we won't have an issue with the sewer.  So we were given a few options:
1.   Put in a tank and a pump - costly option, needs council approval, high maintenance cost.
2.   Have an additional split, from the front of the house, split it by 2 steps, then another 2 steps to the rear.  - ending up with 3 levels.  So there will be a 2 steps going to the rumpus and the corridor to Bed 3 and 4.
3.   Raise the rear of the house so we end up with 2 levels and the steps is reduced to 2 steps instead of the original 4 steps.  - the trade off is we will have a bulkhead at the rear wall, impacting the windows.

So we decided on option 3, which is the cheapest option so far.  bulkhead may be the only difference... but i hope our decision is the best one. :)

Impact is that they need to redraw the slab and structural design.  maybe 1-2 weeks off the schedule.

Only good thing this week - the security fence has been put up already.  :)  slowly getting there.  

Rainy Week Ahead

From all the actions last week, with the rains forecasted.. it may be a wet week so far.  

As far as chasing people around.  Just talked with the broker since I was following up on the FHOG submission.  

She said that has to wait until the slab has been laid before she passes the application.  I hope no issues occurs because of that.  The impact though is that we need to do the advance payment for the first progress payment as this was supposed to come from the 24k FHOG.  I guess we should start to expect that so that when the FHOG application is approved, then we have a blessing worth 24k.  

Talked also with the builder to close on the questions about the availability of services upto the Right of Way (ROW).  No news yet hopefully a good answer will come out of their review.  

House Plans

The block of land we bought is a battle axe block.  It is called such because of the shape of the block - notice the handle (driveway) then the block forms somewhat of the head of the axe.  From the road, I have a long driveway before it reaches our land.  It is very common in the area where big blocks of land (bigger than 1000sqm) is subdivided by the current owner to be able to sell it.   The house in blue is an existing house in front of our block. 

While the waiting game is over and I am in the mood to update the blog.  Here is the a snapshot of how the house will sit on the block of land.  The trees shown there has been cut down and will be replaced by 4 new trees maybe next year.  Since the land is a battle axe block, I needed to provide a turning circle for the vehicle to drive out of the block facing forward.  It will be a split level house with the rear being lower by about 3 steps inside the house. 

External Colors

I got this photo from the Austral website which shows the bricks we chose for our house.  It also more or less use the same shade of red we chose for the roof tiles.  Without the second level, this is the external colour that we chose including the fascia and gutters.  Hopefully everything turns out well.

This is a sample of how the color combination we thought of.  The design is quite different but color of the roof and brick should be close.  I think the roof tiles is on the darker side though.  Check out the sample below from the website of Bristile Roofing.

Bricks:  Austral Moccasin

Roof Tiles:  Bristile Redwood












The image below is how the house will look like - front view.  With the actual dimensions.

Is this Week1?

Just after sending the letter to the builder, there was some little things happening that indicates that things are already moving ahead.

1. Margaret from the builder called to ask about if all the services are available already - funny that she'd ask me when it is for them to tell me what is available and what is not so it can be organized. Anyway, the call ended well that she'll check it out and let me know. For the record:
1. Gas connection - I sent an email 2 weeks ago to the person in charge of contracts that I tried to follow up with Jemena but they said that the requestor is the builder so I should coordinate with them.  I forwarded it to margaret to help me follow up. 
2. For the electricity - during the contract signing, they asked me to call a number but ended up that the area is handled by Energy Australia, CC said that they can deal directly with Energy Australia. 
3. Water - I remember filling up a form for Sydney water.  I hope that covers it.  
2. Someone who does excavations called me up today and he said he will check the land tomorrow (Saturday) and let me know about the fill requirement.  
3. I was able to check the block of land again today to see the grinding for the tree removal.  Looks like everything is ok.  Time to pay them up.  
4. Another surprise is to see the silt protection is up.  I guess I can expect some excavations to be done hopefully by next week.  

 I am not so sure what this is for but any progress at this point is good enough. 

Some of the silt protection has been set up already. 

Trees Removed

Finally, the trees in the land has been removed and the stumps grinded. 

In case you are curious to know what trees were removed, they are:
1x angophora floribunda
1x Eucalyptus Saligna
1x Brachyton Acerifolius
1x Michelia Sp

A productive weekend started this Friday

After several follow-ups with the broker, finally the letter to commence construction has been released. So according to the builder they will start within 28 days from receipt of the letter. I have just sent the letter to the builder and hopefully all goes well.

We also got the trees removed.. including the stumps. Land ready for construction.

Then the builder has forwarded the costing for the kitchen. Although upon discussion with Joanna. Looks like we want to reduce some of the pot drawers.

Hoping all is well with the next few weeks.

Photos to follow. :)

It is quiet today

No follow ups from the builder.

No news from the broker after sending an email and a call.  The decided to call only to find out that she's out for the day.  Had to send an email copying the owner as I don't have an idea when she'll be back.

... waiting... how long can one's patience be.. before it is gone?

Still waiting...

On the financing front:
Today we sent off to the broker the details they required for the loan and FHOG. The said that the bank releases the Letter to Commence Construction within 5 business days and today is the 5th day.

On the construction side, we are waiting for the details for the kitchen.. excited to see the plans we wanted... anxious too because we don't have an idea how much it would cost. Carla did mention that this should not delay anything on their part as long as they get the letter from the Bank.