15 December 2009

Electrical cables and water pipeworks were layed

before installation of insulation batts scheduled

on the 18th of December.

Theatre power points & TV point.

Kitchen

Island bench

Garage with meter box.

Bath

09 December 2009

Bricks were completely layed today. But mess is all over

the place...inside and outside of the house.

07 December 2009

Our home is slowly taking shape: the roof was installed last week while

the external brick walls will be completely layed by the middle

of this week.

Fascade: Can't figure out yet how it looks like at this stage.

Roof: CSR Monier Elabana - Barramundi

Gutter: Colorband - Woodland Grey

Fascia: Colorband - Dune

Bricks: PGH - Chiara (surprise..surprise..the bricks look like

they came from different batches as we got several Chiara shades. The brickies

had to mix the bricks and play around with the different shades

so that it would appear like we have multi-coloured bricks).

23 November 2009

I have raised my concerns to the CSA and to the SS as regards to

the defects that I have noticed. I met with the SS, the plumber and

the carpenters on site and they discussed with me on how they will

rectify the defects. I'm happy that the defects can be corrected and

that they would do them in the next few days when the roof is up.

On this day I also noticed that the windows and doors are

already installed.

The roof tiles will be delivered this week and next week the bricks.

18 November 2009

I guess the carpenters are almost done with their work of putting up the frames and trusses. I noticed some defects and poor workmanship though. Here take a look:

It appears that nail missed the middle of the timber.

And here's a big gap.

Here's one that I am worried of. That embedded pipe is a conduit pipe for H&C water that leads to the island bench. It is supposed to be underneath the cupboard beside that other pipe. The plumber placed it along the hallway. It looks like a floor drain. I dont' know how they will be able to rectify this.

This is supposed to be the pipe for the ensuite WC. Again I guess the plumber made another miscalculation.

16 November 2009

The carpenters have started putting up the trusses today.

13 November 2009

The trusses were delivered today. Subbies will be back

on Monday to finish off the installation

of the frames and to start putting

up the trusses.

12 November 2009

The frames were put up today. Our home is slowly taking shape.

This is the back of the house - on the left is the family room

while the outdoor living is on the right. Behind the

outdoor living is the dining and kitchen.

Front - in the foreground are two bedrooms.




Front - frames for the garage are yet to be installed,
main entrance and two front bedrooms. Behind the garage is the theatre.

Back - family room, outdoor living and principal suite.

09 November 2009

The frames arrived today. It appears that the frames are not enough

to cover the whole house (internal walls and divisions). But the client relations

rep assures me that the frames are enough to cover everything.

23 October 2009

Finally we have a slab sitting on our block. It appears that the slab

occupies the whole of the block of land...but the build-upon-area is only 46%

so we still have plenty of space left for our front and back lawns.

Front - southeastern side

Back - northeastern side

Back - northern side

Front - southern side

22 October 2009

On this day the concreter layed the polythene film (for damp proofing), polystyrene foam pods to form the footing beams and slab itself, reinforcement bars, etc. in preparation for the pouring of the concrete the following day

21 October 2009

Formworks for the perimeter of the slab area were layed and the slab area was screeded level.

16 October 2009

Holes were drilled to give way for the piers. A total of 57 holes were drilled with depth ranging from 0.8 meter to 1.7 meters with total depth of 72.9 linear meters. I forgot to bring my camera, sorry no pic this time.

02 October 2009

Hi everyone, it took me more than a month to get back to this blog. It looks like I'm losing my momentum. Anyway, I'm back to give you a delayed update on the development of my home project with AV Jennings. After the 18 Sept cut-and-fill job, there was a zero activity on site for the next two weeks. The drainers/plumbers came on the 2nd of Oct to layout the subfloor drains, conduits, etc.

21 September 2009

I really have no idea when will AVJ start the slab works. CSO said that the final drawings should be out this week. Anyway, I sent her an email enquiring as to what will happen next and when. Hope I'll get the reply tomorrow so that I'll have something to write on this blog which has been so quiet for the past two days. If you would like to have a virtual tour and picture gallery of Piazza 250, please follow the link below...

http://www.avjennings.com.au/ACT/HomesToBuild/Properties/Piazza_250.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fACT%2fHomesToBuild%2fDisplayCentres%2fDunlop_Display_Centre.aspx%3fShowMap%3dtrue

18 September 2009 Late Afternoon

We went back to the site to see how it looks like after the cut and fill job. Very impressive. I wonder what would be the next move of AVJ. Can't wait to see the slab sitting on that level ground. Wish me luck again.

18 September 2009 - Noon time

I went to the site during lunch break to check if indeed there was an excavation happening. Surprise...looks like the operator of the equipment was very busy with the cut and fill activity. I was so happy the rain did not come to hamper the operation.

17 September 2009

Visited the site today to check if there is any indication that the excavation works will push through tomorrow (Friday). It is so quiet...don't know if the big thing will happen tomorrow as promised by the CSO. Anyway, this is how the site looks like. AV Jennings signage has been there since early July 2009. According to the weather forecast, Port Macquarie will experience scattered showers early or late during the day. I hope the showers won't come but rather the equipment and the excavation team to kick start the construction process. Hi everyone...wish me luck.

This is the site.

This is our site - Lot 408 Rivergum Drive, Port Macquarie, NSW.

Created this blog today.

Hi everyone, I created this blog today with the intention of keeping you informed of the progress of our first home construction here in Australia. We signed up with AV Jennings to construct our home sometime in May 2009. After meeting all the preliminary requirements (deposit,lots of paperworks, soil test, etc.), our client service representative told us that they will move in and start the site preparation by the middle of October 2009. That's 5 and 1/2 months from signing of the contract. What a wait. Anyway, Kim (the client service representative) sent me a email informing me that they will excavate the site on Friday, 18 September 2009, weather permitting. Fingers cross....hope this will happen.