Demolition Time....

Very exciting to see the demolition take place, the actual process didn't take long at all.

Day 1 (Mon 18 Feb)
Stripped out the most of the asbestos, this also entailed removing the roof tiles.

Day 2 (Tue 19 Feb)
Flooring all removed and anything else that is being salvaged.

Few photos here taken through the eye of my 7 year old....

Master M thought it very funny that
the toilet looked like this!

Day 3 (Mon 25 Feb)
Digger arrived on site.  Greenery removed off the sheds and some of the other plants removed also.

Day 4 (Wed 27 Feb)
9.00am - Last of the asbestos was being removed off the sheds, big truck waiting out the front.
2.30pm - Drove past and the house was flattened and pretty much gone, no one on site at all.

Day 5 (Thu 28 Feb)
9.00am - Last of the house rubble was being taken away
 

 
12.00pm - The Liquid Amber Tree had majority of its branches removed and they we now working on lopping it to the ground.  I had a tinge of nerves, hoping it really did fall in the middle of our block......the chainsaw was brought out and away they went chopping it down.  By 5.00pm the block was fully cleared and levelled out...Job done!!!  Exciting.

The Liquid Amber Root - didn't fit in, he had to take out again!

CLEARED SITE.....

Processes to get site cleared

I didn't realise how much had to be done to clear the site ready for PD to come in.

Obviously we need to get the site cleared.  As mentioned on earlier posts, we were looking at trying to remove the house for 2 reasons: 1. To see the house kept and being used be someone else.  2. Save us costs on demolition.  Unfortunately due to the fall of the land at the front of the house, we would have had to remove a fair chunk of soil to get the house out, which sent our costs sky rocketing.  Also the house remover we were talking with wasn't getting any interest in anyone wanting to purchase the house in our timeframe.  So we made the decision that we will just have to demolish.

To help others, these are the steps we have had to follow:

• TREE REMOVAL - Gain Council Approval to remove a large tree in the front middle of our block ($30)
• ELECTRICITY ABOLISHMENT - Apply to United Energy to Abolish the electricity from the house - this can take up to 20 days, for us it actually only took 12 days ($171)
• GAS ABOLISHMENT - Apply directly to Gas supplying company to Abolish Gas Meter and Line from the house - again, this can take up to 20 days, this actually only took 12 days ($152)
• ASSET PROTECTION - Apply to Council for Asset Protection ($226 + $600 bond) - this is to cover the Demolition and Pool - took about 7-10 days
• DEMOLITION - Engage Demolition Company - they need 3-4 weeks to get Council Approval ($13,500)
• POWER PIT INSTALLATION - Apply to United Energy to set up Underground Power Pit - they come back to you with a quote within 20 days and then once you pay and confirm their quote, they will then install the Power Pit within 20 days.  Note: this has to be ready for PD to start on your site. (I haven't received our quote as yet, just posted off documents yesterday) - (Edit - received quote today (31/01) - $2,830)

We are also installing a pool, so have had to coordinate this along the way as well.  The pool will be installed after demolition but prior to the build.  They need electricity, so I am hoping that the power pit is installed by this time.....

Everything is now starting to fall into place on this side of things, hopefully it keeps running smoothly.  Our hope is to have the site fully cleared by the end of Feb, pool going in during March and hoping for April start date for the house.  Lets see what actually comes to fruition!

Clearing the land and preparing for Tender

Following from my last post, still no closer to choosing exterior colours..........

However, after the Christmas and New Year break, I hit the phone on Monday morning to line up Tree Removalists and Demolition Companies to provide some quotes on helping to clear the land.  We have also been looking at trying to remove the house instead of demolishing it.  I still need to get 2 more demolition quotes this week and then we will make a decision as to which way we will go - remove or demolish the house.  

Exciting news is that we have received council approval to remove a tree that is centre front of the current house and would have been very difficult to try and build a new house around. We are very excited about the approval.

Yesterday we went to visit the Wembley display again, unfortunately it is all the way round the bay near Geelong.  So I took heaps of photos and worked out some finer details as we prepare for our Tender Meeting this coming Friday.......Yikes!

We are planning another trip to Hopetoun and National Tiles next weekend in preparation the selection appointments.  

I have loved reading the homeone blogs from many other people and also the following ones titled "Porter Davis Homes",  "Things You Forget" and "Porter Davis Upgrades and Costs", they have been invaluable in preparing for the meetings with PD.  How did people get all this information 10 years ago!

Exterior Colour Discussions

Colours, colours, colours.......

We headed to the new Ambrosia Display Centre at Cranbourne today to have a look at colours and see if there is anything new and fancy there. We are really finding it tough working out the External Colours for the house.  We are going with the Hebel option, so therefore the house will be fully rendered.  Also we love Colourbond, love to hear the rain!  

So the decision is between:
Monument Colourbond roof - light renders - white windows
 or 
Lighter roof (Surfmist or Shale Grey) - darker renders (?Dune) - white windows.  Perhaps with some Monument guttering/fascia???

We love the Cool white/grey tones, so chosing between Monument down to Windspray down to Surfmist.  So we are going to walk the streets looking and hoping someone else has just the colour scheme so that this can help us chose!

Think we will be visiting Hopetoun Interiors in the next couple of weeks to look at colour options again for this.

Now that we actually own our house and tomorrow being the first day back at work for many, I am going to hit the phone calls for Demolition and Tree Lopping businesses to line up getting some quotes hopefully this week.  Lets get this ball rolling.......