Love your work Chippies!

Start of a big week I believe..........

Monday and roof trusses on Garage and Alfresco - like your work chippies!

Did I mention though that I am so eager to see some more happen on the inside (greedy I know), it is just that when you know it is due to happen this week, I just want to see it!

It's a wrap - week 6

Thursday and the Carpenters back on site working on some of the roof trusses over the garage and installing steel beam across the front of the garage.  Originally in the plans this was listed as timber, however due to the width, it was changed to steel.

Garage - photo taken from the back,
you can see steel lintel on far side

On my little drive by, found a PD car in the driveway - yes, great opportunity to finally meet my SS.  So a quick chat.  They were discussing the double stud wall at the back of the garage and discussing a different way to resolve this issue.  Would love to tell you what that is, but a little bit over my head...........Something about building the roof trusses into the wall that is already there.  As the 1st Storey is higher than the garage, they will install the roof trusses between this gap.  Shall show a photo when it happens.

With the end of Week 6 - the 1st Storey has now been wrapped with sisalation foil, the first layer of insulation.  Getting ready for Hebel...Yippee!

Amazing how warm it is inside now that it is all wrapped up.

Frame Stage Independent Inspection

Saturday Morning opened my letterbox and found invoice for "Frame Stage Complete", posted on Weds prior to this.  Ooops, this really eats into the 7 day payment terms and dealing with the bank.  Emailed accounts at PD asking if they could please email invoice in future as they did the first one.

Suddenly occurred to me that I should be arranging for the Frame to be inspected prior to being wrapped up for the Hebel.  So got onto this on Monday.  However as I knew there was an error on our plans at the back of the garage where it joins the house - it is supposed to have a double stud wall to support the garage roof trusses, I needed to get the altered plans from PD and also the Building Variation for this.  Took till Tuesday for me to get the BV, then apparently my BC had to get the Drafting Team to change the plans.  Strange as I know the Carpenter informed them back on 10 May of this error!!!!!!  After a little harassing, BC managed to get me the plans (not the actual framing plans though) on the Weds morning.  This was in time for the Frame Independent Inspection on the Weds afternoon.  I had delayed this inspection a day, however I shouldn't have, as the double stud wall hadn't even been built yet!

The inspection went well.  

They re-looked at the issues from the Slab Inspection:

• Concrete rebate needed to back bi-fold door - been corrected
• Slab is level and should be sloping on southern side of Alfresco - needs to be corrected still.  SS asked what we are doing to this area post handover, but we don't know yet.  I do want this slab fixed.

Frame Inspection - Very good overall, mainly things still to do:

• Garage Roof Trusses not yet completed
• Alfresco Roof Trusses not yet completed
• Back Bi-fold to be installed
• 2nd Storey windows to be installed
• Side flashing to the front entry both sides of door frame to be installed

Inspector's Photos:

Concrete rebated ready for Bi-Fold Doors

Alfresco - it is the area above the drain pipe in the middle
 that isn't sloping towards the drain.

2nd Storey Windows

Framing done - Roofing started - Week 5

Well, little did I realise (my ignorance), that my last post actually shows the "Completion of Frame Stage".  I have worked out that obviously the roof trusses on the garage and alfreso get built after the Hebel goes on the house

Wed/Thurs showed no activity on site.  

On Friday, the site was cleaned up of rubbish following framing and the guttering and fascia was added to the roof.  This will all be ready for the roof to hopefully go on on Monday.

The Concrete Rebate has still not been fixed in the back bifold door.  SS informed me Friday week ago that it was probably being fixed that day.  I think I shall start a little book of questions so when I get my fortnightly call from SS on a Friday, I can follow these things up with him.

Almost to the sky...

With the arrival of scaffolding and 2 more days work, the roof on the main part of the house is almost complete.  Still needs roof trusses over Alfresco and Garage.

Garage framing and Alfresco framing is underway.

Alfresco Beams begin

Sun is setting - this shows the garage framework

Build it up, Build it up, Build it higher.....Week 4

I can't believe how quickly the frame goes up and it all of a sudden looks like a house.  It is so exciting going in through the front door and checking out the layout of the house.

At the end of Week 4 (1 week of Carpentry), we have the first floor frames and windows inserted and today they have put up the external walls of the second floor.  There has been a little rain on and off this week, but this hasn't stopped anything.

Apparently, as we are building with Hebel, there was a wall at the back of the garage that wasn't accounted for that the trusses need to sit on for the garage roof.   Carpenter was straight onto this on Day 1, he had to arrange for the plans to be re-engineered to fix the issue and work with the slab as it is.

Every fortnight on a Friday my SS is calling me with an update, which is fabulous.

View from the backyard looking over Alfresco

Looking out through Dining Room from Kitchen

Guest suite bedroom with our Casement Windows

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A glorious Saturday - found the builders there working away
From the backyard

Let the Carpenters Begin!

Friday morning I met the carpenters, morning tea time so a great time to have a quick chat without disturbing them. Great to see that the head Carpenter is on the ball and reading our plans.  He noted that there is supposed to be a rebate in the concrete slab for our bi-fold door, which isn't there.  Also discussed that as we are building with Hebel, the engineering plans weren't quite accurate where the garage meets the house and should have been another 90mm wide concrete section for hebel to sit on.  All easy fixes (or work arounds) apparently, however he needs the Drafts people and Engineers to redesign some of this area as they are load bearing I think for the second storey.

So after Day 1, they had marked out the rooms on the slab, sorted out a heck of a lot of timber and have laid out timber for the walls, just need to get nail gun happy.  

My only concern is it is now the weekend, so hopefully everything will still be in place with their jigsaw on Monday!