Saturday suprise....

We popped up for a beach day at the weekend and thought we would have a look at the house.  After not seeing it for 2 weeks were hoping for a bit of change and to our suprise there was a Ute and 2 guys working on site! We were over the moon but not so sure they were so happy about the beautiful day outside and being inside plastering! Maybe our supervisor is trying to get us out of his hair and finish a few weeks early! Its looks great inside and great to see again its lighter than we thought it would be and Im sure will just get better with plaster and paint on!

The children labelling their rooms! (Aiden with a bit of help from Sadie)

The kids bedrooms from the rumpus looking toward our bedroom.

Rumpus windows. So nice looking onto bush, so relaxing.

Kitchen on the right and family area on left. Loving the big windows.

Looking in from outside the lounge 

Alfresco roof finished! Last bit of scaffold to come down.

Trying to figure out what to do with the level of the garden!
Where did you say you wanted the football goal Darren?

Back to the front door.

So close now its getting exciting! Kitchen install starts in 2 weeks...there are no words for how excited i am about that. Then xmas new year and in Jan we will know our definite completion date. Fingers crossed for mid Feb!! No harm in being hopeful......please santa!!  

Doors on, Roof on....surely we can move in????

 So again I havent updated anything for a while! Its been a busy few months and we are getting so much closer to getting the keys!

The biggest change really was submitted the section 96 to Gosford council to apply to get the BAL lowered to BAL40 from BAL FZ (Flame zone) so we didn't have to have bush fire shutters installed on all windows (back and sides) and the bi-fold doors. We completed another bushfire assesment with more accurate details than on the original plans as the house was actually situated over 9m from the bush and our original submission off the plans was only 7.6m (the fact we had an asset protection zone and rainforest shrub were the biggest factors not accounted for originally by the previous assessor). After about 4 weeks we received confirmation that the Rural Fire Service had agreed to lower our BAL rating as per the supplied bushfire report. So $25-30K saved and no ugly shutters on the house! Pic below

So by mid October the colorbond roofing was all installed. It was amazing to see it and see all our colour choices come together and look better than we had imagined. Making all your decisions on the look of your house from 3x2inch samples and 1 sample brick was a scary and exciting decision.

Roofing : Woodland Grey

Downpipes and fascias : Aspen Snow

Eaves : Surfmist

Cladding : Aspen Snow

Scaffold still up for painting the cladding and roofing the alfresco

View from the front of our neighbours.
Really pleased with the colour of the roof,
looks much lighter in the sun without the glare of being white!

The 18th November was our walk through with site supervisor. All went really smoothly, we prepared questions prior to the walk through and these were all answered with ease by the supervisor. It was great to finally see the house without the scaffolding (excluding the alfresco which is still having the roof finished off) and to actually be able to walkthrough the house (yes the stairs are in!) to see how the house flows and how big each room is. We still have concerns about the light with so many trees surrounding the house but making the decision to install large windows in the kitchen/dining area has paid off meaning the property is still light and this should only increase with the plasterboard and painting. The building process has been quite in-personal which has resulted in the home still not really feeling like ours, having to ask for permission to access the site or allow contractors through to get quotes adds to this. It has probably been tougher for us as we have been so particular about every decision and selection which means ensuring that everything is done exactly as we envisaged without having free access to the site.

Beautiful double front doors!!!

View from the kids rumpus room to front door, garage on right, main bedroom on left.

View out to the garden from family room, Pillar in the middle will be the start of the island bench.

Kids bedrooms. Can just see the AC ducting and electrical rough ins starting.

....build it high!

So I havent updated anything on here for a while. Progress all seemed to be going so slowly for a while with horrendous sydney weather and delays with contractors so we havent been up to site as often and stepped back a bit. It gets very disheartening going up and seeing no change. Especially for the kids, Sadie doesnt really understand why its taking so long.
As I write this the upper level frame and brickwork has been completed, as are the roof timbers and the fireproofing for the roof (due to BAL40/FZ restrictions) and Im realising that quite a lot has been done! darren worked out we are now two thirds of the way through the whole build...22 weeks into a 36 week build.  Heres a little image of what has happened on site over a year....

House at the top, garden underneath! 

Ok so some pictures of progress, not much say as apart from weather delays its been pretty smooth running.

 Brickwork completed on lower level. Frame for bedrooms upstairs...Sadies window overlooking the garden!

 View from the main road. Can see the pillar for the alfresco roof, still another to go.

 Brickwork still to go but frame for the top and double height porch with the lovely 3 small windows! 

Space for the garage, just waiting for the flooring....but you can see all the underhouse storage 

(or mancave if Darren can make it happen!) 

Roofing timbers! Amazing to see the shape of the house and size! 

 Close up of the Northbridge bricks along the side of the house with the garage windows we both completely forgot we had put in!!

Back of the house. as much as I love a nautical stripe they are not purposeful and hopefully will wash off, 

bit of an aftereffect of the days of rain! 

 I Love these windows above the front door, and will have claddign down either side.

Brickwork completed for the top level, and ready for cladding around main bedroom windows.

 I love this view, from the bottom of the garden with the (treehouse) tree in the middle! Slightly scary as no idea what we are going to do with it all and how we can make it fun usable and easy maintenance! Going through the process of figuring out what our options are for decking (not a lot and $$$$$$) and landscaping! Getting very frustrated with Central coast mentality and noone ever getting back to you with quotes!

 The white on the roof is the fireproofing as required by the RFS due to BAL40/FZ requirements. the actual roof will be Woodland grey colorbond but Im really liking the light roof. Makes the house look so beachy and light. hopefully it wont look so dark when all the scaffold is down and front door and cladding on etc.

Next step roofing, electrical and plumbing and then we get to meet the site supervisor and have our first official walk through and gets lots of questions answered re timeline and access over the crazy 6 week xmas shutdown. We have just submitted a section 96 to Gosford council to reduce our bushfire rating from FZ to 40 so we can hopefully go without bushfire shutters. I don't believe they will be that practical as all manually operated and Im definitely  not staying around to wind them all down in a fire and will improve the look of the house drastically. Hopeful we will get the reduction out in place as it seems to be valid for other houses nearby that have recently renovated (and are closer to the bush!?!?!) Fingers crossed!!!

Im thinking I might start a new thread with all the info re bushfire dramas and restrictions etc as its a complete minefield and would hopefully be of help to anyone going through the same absolute headache. But worth it to get the beautiful outlook and privacy we will have in the end.

TIMELINE..........

01.07.2013 - 1st started looking for land in Avoca/Copacabana
18.08.2013 - Found land
10.09.2013 - Sale agreed
17.12.2013 - Build plans finalised
20.12.2013 - Submitted to council and RFS
08.01.2014 - Plans submitted to BASIX
19.03.2014 - DA approved
15.04.2014 - Finance approved
14.05.2014 - Build commenced
30.06.2014 - Tile and electrical appointment
28.04.2014 - Slab down
12.07.2014 - Lower frame commenced
23.08.2014 - Upper level commenced
18.09.2014 - Brickwork completed
24.09.2014 - Roof Timbers completed
10.10.2014 - Roofing fireproofing completed

13-17.10.2014 - colorbond roofing

20.10.2014 - gutters, fascias and eaves commenced

24.10.2014 - A/C installation commenced
07.11.2014 - All cladding installed
18.11.2014 - Plumbing and electrical rough in
29.11.2014 - All walls and ceilings plasterboard installed
12.12.2014 - Kitchen units installed
15.12.2014 - internal doors, skirting and architraves  installed
19.12.2014 - Bathroom cabinets and bath installed
5.01.2015 - Tiler started

Build it up......

So we are back on track and so much has changed on site its beyond exciting!! Darren went up and checked the new bricks and mortar just to make sure all was going well and it absolutley was. These are the pics of before and after so you can see the difference between the mortar and hopefully see why we prefer and what a difference raked finish...

Bye bye bricks....... 

 The correct raked mortar finish....

Ironed edge (cant rotate it but you get the idea...)

The speed that the brocks went up was crazy, within the space of 2 weeks we went from restarting because of the mortar to having all the brickwork on the lower floor completed. Im going to start a seperate thread with the timline on for those interested if you are doing your own build or thinking baout it and working out timelines....(use caution its SLOW!)

14th August...Spying on the brickies doing an amazing job....BIG THUMBS UP!



Just another week and this is what we found when we popped up ans after a week of torrential rain we were pretty impressed. Our site suoervisor has said that hes really pleased with how things are progressing and roof should be on in 6 weeks ready for 1st official walk through which will be amazing. Im hoping and praying we will be finished a bit early so we can be in as near as possible to my little girl starting school but at this rate going to have to rent for a few weeks so we are local for her starting school.

These pics are the 23rd August, flooring and upper frame completed! Im in love with the big front door hole and the 3 little windows above for the extra height porch. (Pendant arrived this week more on that later) The underhouse storage is crazy! So the gap on the left you can see is the garage and under that is under storage and the same on the other side under the master bedroom....(just need to buy the paddle boards and hope they fit in the doorway...and we can stay upright on them!)

 Pole on the outside is the start of the alfresco roof...

 Below is the view from the road so lots of sneaky hidden house below road level...

makes it all more interesting!

I went up 3 days later and the scaffolding had all gone up for the brickies to start the brick work on the top level. I love how much we are seeing happen at the moment. Darren said Sadies face was priceless when she saw that her future bedroom had windows and walls. Im hoping she is going to remember this for the rest of her life and it will all become an amazing story of Mummy and Daddy building our family home. Let hope we can afford to move in with my obsessive purchasing of lights and bits and bobs, think it is my therapy to make me feel connected to this house and make it feel real. Cushions and dip bowls are essential arent they???? Maybe I need to start a new feed with all my styling obsessions....

View from the end of the garden toward the house...bring on the ride on mower!!! 

Back and side of the house with scaffolding ready to go for upper level bricks....

Looking forward to the next couple of weeks and seeing the development. 

Bricks...now you see them soon you won't!

So the build has started and was going so well! Frame started going up on July the 11th and in a couple of days we had the whole lower level up including bifolds and windows. I can't tell you how exciting it was for us and the kids to see this and start to see the shape of this house we have been talking and thinking and designing for what seems like forever! 

Lower level frame! You can just see Sadie and me in the walk in pantry. 

It feels quite small when you are in there but it will be lovely when it's all furnished and has walls! The house is at a different angle than we thought so angled more toward the bush than the road which is great as when you look out the bifolds you get a great view down the garden rather than the road! 

So another week went by and the brickies started. Bricks arrived Darren saw them and they looked great! We were really particular about the brick as trying to get the house to look as rustic and individual as possible for a new build.  I went up 4 days into the bricklaying...saw the bricks and was beside myself! Beautiful (I know its a little crazy being that excited about a brick but trust me there was a lot of thought and "debate" with the building company) then FLIPPIN heck they have done the wrong mortar! We had literally talked to all senior staff and building team for a month back and forth about having raked mortar to make the sandstone nature of the brick stand out and make it look individual and rustic and it hadn't been done! (Just another case to add to list of muck ups!) 

It's hard to see in a pic but you can just see on the edge the mortar is pretty much flush with the brick where there is meant to be a gap! Agh! 

That's our neighbours extension in the background! 

Don't get me wrong love the colour and so happy with that, we just want the right finish. (which is what the brick maker recommends also!) 

Anyway lots of emotion, cross words and the build co trying to get us to keep it (will cost them $$$$) .....now, luckily, apologies from the build company (site supervisors mistake but he's been good and can see where we are coming from and why we are holding fast to what we want) and the walls are being knocked down and will be started again! Lucky we picked it up now not another week in. 

So it starts again....I'm not going anywhere near the plot for a couple if weeks until back on track and hopefully more been done. And you know what, in the great scheme of things it's just a few bricks and a couple if weeks delay, hurdles wouldn't be called hurdles if there wasn't a way to get over them! 

Fingers crossed that's our one big muck up over and done with! 

Light up those beautiful Tiles!

Electrical appointment done.....panic stations on budget again but to be expected. Although you know times like this are money making for everyone but you its very frustrating how you arent supplied with enough lights, powerpoints and power curcuits for a 4 bed house. Now my challenge is to find allb the lights and fittig for the house for under $1500! IKEA here I come..... Although I am in love with these beautiful pendants from complete pad. Maybe they will be my one blow out.

http://www.completepad.com.au/pressed-metal-pendant-light-0

Light lust.......def open to opinions....

Luckily we had the help and advice of a good friend who is an electrician so although we have gone over we really wanted to spec the house quite highly so we know we have done the best possible! Fancy light switches might have to wait a while though.

We have gone for mostly pendants in bedrooms and and the foyer etc as I think they are more homely and LED's in all the living areas to make the space bigger and brighter when needed. So blue coloured bits are whats included (yep not a lot) and red is extra!!!!! We have gone for just a wiring option then we will get the lights fitted ourselves as that seems to be the more cost efficient way to do it.

So after that was sorted a quick pie then onto tiling appointment at EARP tiles. Our sales consultant was really helpful and helped us get the contempary beachy look we wanted without being too 'clichy beachy' and managed to get everything we wanted (well minus the floor tile we started off wanting as was the porcelain wooden floor look tiles and decided on a more natural stone look. 

FAMILY BATHROOM Matt white wall tile, pebble feature in shower and around bath, and the grey stone for floor and feature wall! Darren found the pebbles and is very pleased with himself!

ENSUITE  Same matt whit ewall tiles laid horizontal, stone mosaic tile for feature recess in shower and dark grey stone for floor.

KITCHEN SPLASHBACK Too excited about these to be normal! Grey handmade subway, small tile is sample of stone benchtop. Love love love!

All my friends together!?! The small hexagonal (aka Kyal and Kara The block 2014) are in the powder room and Ill probably do something similar in the laundry when we do that.

It shard not to go crazy and to remember that neutral is good and stylish and colour can be added in acessories, and I love an accessory! Just cant wait to see it all in place now hopefully in 2014 not 15! Fingers crossed.