Where we're at so far ...

In a nutshell, at the time of commencing this blog (23 April 2011), this is where we're at ...

The slab has been poured.

Brickwork to the garage is complete (although some minor rectification is yet to be done to the front, near the porch). Brick wall adjoining neighbour's house also complete.

Frame is up.

Windows have mostly been installed (although some of the actual glazing has yet to be completed - and we are still waiting for the ensuite highlight window and balcony sliding door to arrive).

Initial plumbing has been fitted, together with gas.

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Here's a quick look at what's been done so far ...

From August 2009 until December 2010 the site of our future home looked like this, sad and forlorn.

Then finally by mid-December 2010 we had cyclone fencing and a concrete slab foundation.
It's funny how one can get so excited by concrete - but at last we could get a sense of how big our house would be (especially as some initial work had also been done measuring and drawing in lines to show where the walls are to go).

But following the initial excitement of construction commencing, the Christmas/New Year lull followed.
It wasn't until mid-February 2011 that we noticed bricks had arrived on site.

By early March 2011 there was sand for the mortar.
And if you look very closely, you'll see we have our very first wall (adjoining our neighbour's house), where some mortar colour testing was done.

Next came the garage brickwork around mid-March 2011.
Finally we get to see how the bricks and mortar look together.  Thankfully we were pleased with the result.

About a week later (18 March 2011) the downstairs frame was complete.

By early April 2011 the upstairs frame had been done, including the roof trusses.

It was fantastic to actually see the plans come to life, and to be able to view the house from various angles - inside and out.  After only ever seeing 2-D floorplans and elevations for so long (almost a year and a half), at last we can now see the full shape of our house.

Mid-April 2011 the windows were installed - well most of them.

Rather surprisingly, it was quite satisfying seeing the windows in place.  So instead of just seeing large square-ish holes in the walls, the house now has more of the narrow rectangular shapes I was keen to incorporate into the design.

Up until this point I had been "somewhat"(?!?) obsessing about window sizes (450mm vs 670mm widths) - even to the extent of pulling out my measuring tape (which I now take with me wherever I go - sad, but true!) and checking the sizes of random people's windows that I passed by.

I was also rather impatient to see how well our colour selection would blend in with the brickwork.  Although we have yet to actually see how the bricks will look alongside the windows as such, I am now a bit more quietly confident about how these two elements will both work together.

Oh, and the latches on all the casement windows don't at all look as "busy" and cluttered as I had imagined.  Phew!

Early May 2011 Prep work done in readiness for downstairs brickwork
and remaining window frames (eg. ensuite) installed.

Mid-May 2011 Downstairs brickwork complete ... so excited about having a front porch!  It's nice and wide to accommodate me and all the many bags I carry these days, plus of course the SUV-sized pram ;)   And I'm relieved to see just how well the window colour blends in with the brickwork.

Oh, and we now also have a roof - well, most of it.  Roof tiles done - flat metal roof  still outstanding
(eg. over the garage, porch and al fresco).  Again, happy to see that so far our colour selections for this (ie. "Magnum" roof tiles and "Monument" fascia and gutters) work well.

2 June 2011 ... After much rain, little has been done - but at least the site has been cleaned up.

Naturally, the portaloo remains, but gone is the large pile of sand, the broken and excess bricks, as well as other rubbish from the front.  Backyard has yet to be cleared up, as it was too muddy for the bobcat to enter that far onto the site.

4 June 2011 ... Different angle to show that two days later we have a flat roof over the garage and kitchen.

4 June 2011 - From a bit further away you can better see how both the new flat roof
as well as the regular roof tiles actually look like.

11 June 2011 ... Cladding in place upstairs (in readiness for render work).
Remaining glazing has also been installed (ie. prior to now, many of the windows didn't actually have glass in the frames - something to do with the heaviness of them.

The bricks have also been cleaned (twice, but ever so lightly - so as not to remove the face colour).

30 June 2011: Polystyrene walls in place, with cement currently being laid over the top.

2 July 2011 ... Voila! the "finished" product ... ready for painting.
If we didn't know better, now that the porch has been cemented over, the exterior of the house looks almost as though
it's actually finished.

2 July 2011 ... from side angle

2 July 2011 ... Hooray, we have posts for the alfresco area!  Can't wait for warm Summer nights.

23 July 2011 - Spot the difference ... (aside from more rubbish) ... we have our garage door (Colourbond "Surfmist").

14 July 2011 ...  External paintwork has begun (side of house and ensuite, plus porch and alfresco posts).


Hmmmm, not sure about the Woodland Grey.  In a way, it's looking really dark (so thank goodness I didn't opt for anything darker) and a bit green (although we knew Woodland "Grey" is a browny-greeny-grey colour).  Well .... at least it blends in nicely with the windows.  Hope it looks ok when all completely done - and better yet once it fades somewhat ... AND we have a garden to detract from possibly strange colour selections (sheeeesh, it was soooo hard to do).


Funnily enough, though, the porch and ensuite paint colours look just like concrete colours anyway (which I suppose is what we were hoping for a bit)