Tiling in the laundry
Kitchen
Kitchen
Front porch tiling
Friday 25 September 2015
Tuesday 8 September 2015
Plasterboard
Mid-week update! No pictures
4-9-15: Insulation in walls and ceiling - 80% laid, eaves soffit lined with a few vents. Have not yet confirmed rating on wall insulation, it should be 3.0 not the standard 2.5.
8-9-15: Gyprock linings fixed, 99% of joints are taped and plastered over.
4-9-15: Insulation in walls and ceiling - 80% laid, eaves soffit lined with a few vents. Have not yet confirmed rating on wall insulation, it should be 3.0 not the standard 2.5.
8-9-15: Gyprock linings fixed, 99% of joints are taped and plastered over.
Friday 21 August 2015
Colorbond Roof
22-8-15
Over the last week the 'Manor Red - 0.42mm' metal deck roof had been fixed. Capping, roof vents and fixings are mostly completed. Roof is fixed down to Topsan 40 (steel) battens spaced at 900 centers that span between the trusses. Fixing down screws to the battens are at 450 centers or so. I'm not sure about the fixings from batten to truss though. I would assume two screws at the intersection.
Anti-con blanket was visible from the under side, sitting in between the battens and roof sheeting. The blanket is simply a glass wool layer on top of a reflective foil.
Not too happy with the anti-con blanket installation. I don't think enough of an air-gap between the roof sheeting and blanket has been allowed for - thus significantly reducing its effectiveness.
Over the last week the 'Manor Red - 0.42mm' metal deck roof had been fixed. Capping, roof vents and fixings are mostly completed. Roof is fixed down to Topsan 40 (steel) battens spaced at 900 centers that span between the trusses. Fixing down screws to the battens are at 450 centers or so. I'm not sure about the fixings from batten to truss though. I would assume two screws at the intersection.
Anti-con blanket was visible from the under side, sitting in between the battens and roof sheeting. The blanket is simply a glass wool layer on top of a reflective foil.
Not too happy with the anti-con blanket installation. I don't think enough of an air-gap between the roof sheeting and blanket has been allowed for - thus significantly reducing its effectiveness.
Crisp lines of a Colorbond roof.
On a side note we had to re-select main bathroom wall tiles since the supplier discontinued that particular tile - the wife was furious. Also, received a letter from Allworth explaining a shortage in trades people, specifically brick layers and together with inclement weather delays have notified us of a 25 day delay in the construction time line.
Sunday 16 August 2015
Brickwork
16-8-15
Today the brickwork has been completed. The brickies did most of their work last week and to my surprise finished it off yesterday which was Saturday.
The brick tie spacing is adequate many still need to be nailed off, I hope they do this quickly. Termi-mesh has been installed correctly and under the flashing where there is no drop edge beam. Brickwork over the garage door also looks good.
All plumbing (that is hot & cold water and gas) I believed was done last week. The lines to the hot water system and rainwater tank are all in. Lines run above the ceiling, entering from the master bed room and go through to the kitchen, laundry and bathrooms.
The lines are a sort of slightly flexible PVC material which are about 3mm thick.
I checked many of the truss plates and nailed connections in the roof and walls as I was worried about the extended exposure of the timber to the elements, but they looked okay.
Not sure if I mentioned this earlier but underground charged stormwater lines are installed.
Today the brickwork has been completed. The brickies did most of their work last week and to my surprise finished it off yesterday which was Saturday.
The brick tie spacing is adequate many still need to be nailed off, I hope they do this quickly. Termi-mesh has been installed correctly and under the flashing where there is no drop edge beam. Brickwork over the garage door also looks good.
All plumbing (that is hot & cold water and gas) I believed was done last week. The lines to the hot water system and rainwater tank are all in. Lines run above the ceiling, entering from the master bed room and go through to the kitchen, laundry and bathrooms.
The lines are a sort of slightly flexible PVC material which are about 3mm thick.
I checked many of the truss plates and nailed connections in the roof and walls as I was worried about the extended exposure of the timber to the elements, but they looked okay.
Not sure if I mentioned this earlier but underground charged stormwater lines are installed.
East elevation of the house showing one of many articulation joints. At the moment the joint is just a foam backing rod the flexible sealant is yet to go in.
The awesome wife with 1% of her family (she looks taller than she really is). Front elevation in the background - I feel the external colours compliment themselves enough so when the roof and garage door is installed there will be a good balance of colour.
As viewed from the master bedroom: Plumbing lines above the ceiling level. Yellow is gas. Green (the inside one) is sewerage and Black is cold water which gets split into hot and cold down the line.
Tuesday 21 July 2015
Roof Frame
18-7-15
As of this date not a lot has happened due to inclement weather. Roof framing has been completed with the addition of fascias and gutters.
Speed bracing has been nailed off at the ends to the walls and trusses themselves have framing anchors to the top plate. A girder truss runs over the dining and living room bearing on a stud cluster at one end (dining) and a door lintel on the other.
A down pipe near the front entry (which was not on our plan) has been added in. Apparently a down pipe or over-flow allowance is made near every valley - which is stipulated in the contract somewhere. I made a few attempts at trying to convince them to delete this down pipe but didn't press my point as I don't want to hold up the progress.
Second progress invoice has been paid at completion of this stage.
As of this date not a lot has happened due to inclement weather. Roof framing has been completed with the addition of fascias and gutters.
Speed bracing has been nailed off at the ends to the walls and trusses themselves have framing anchors to the top plate. A girder truss runs over the dining and living room bearing on a stud cluster at one end (dining) and a door lintel on the other.
A down pipe near the front entry (which was not on our plan) has been added in. Apparently a down pipe or over-flow allowance is made near every valley - which is stipulated in the contract somewhere. I made a few attempts at trying to convince them to delete this down pipe but didn't press my point as I don't want to hold up the progress.
Second progress invoice has been paid at completion of this stage.
Saturday 27 June 2015
Frame
27-6-15
We have timber frames erected with roof trusses ready to be fixed. Windows, wall bracing, lintels and frame connections mostly done, there is a little bit left to do.
Steel beams (2 off) over the garage are in. Props will be kept to under the garage lintel beam until the supporting brickwork goes in. Couldn't see any termite mesh or SmartFilm under the external frames.
We can finally get an idea of room sizes and see overall shape of the house - which I am happy with.
Got a receipt of first progress payment from Allworth on 26-6-15.
We have timber frames erected with roof trusses ready to be fixed. Windows, wall bracing, lintels and frame connections mostly done, there is a little bit left to do.
Steel beams (2 off) over the garage are in. Props will be kept to under the garage lintel beam until the supporting brickwork goes in. Couldn't see any termite mesh or SmartFilm under the external frames.
We can finally get an idea of room sizes and see overall shape of the house - which I am happy with.
Got a receipt of first progress payment from Allworth on 26-6-15.
Front entry and corner of master bedroom
.Living room door and entry to kitchen/dining
Thursday 18 June 2015
Slab Foundation
13-6-15
Conducted a site inspection today to see completed formwork and all steel reinforcement laid, couldn't really fault anything, it was all as specified and done well.
Got a variation cost letter today, looking at a $3000 (extra) bill for removal of excess fill - I was expecting about half that cost.
16-6-15
Did another site visit today to see the slab poured and formwork stripped. Also got a letter from Allworth for first progress payment - they don't much around.
Conducted a site inspection today to see completed formwork and all steel reinforcement laid, couldn't really fault anything, it was all as specified and done well.
Got a variation cost letter today, looking at a $3000 (extra) bill for removal of excess fill - I was expecting about half that cost.
16-6-15
Did another site visit today to see the slab poured and formwork stripped. Also got a letter from Allworth for first progress payment - they don't much around.
Monday 25 May 2015
Foundation
25-5-15
Site inspection today to measure pier holes, came to about 112 lineal meters. 90 l/m was allowed for in the contract so I'll be expecting around 1000 in additional costs already.
Personally, I think they've gone overboard with the pier depths, many were over 2m deep. The pier depths varied considerably from 1.6m to the deepest at 2.7m, they aimed to get a white clay bearing (which is good). However in my experience all you really need is 1.5m in red clay for a single storey brick veneer house to get out of the soil suction zone. Anyway, can't do much about it, at least its not the other way around.
Also got an idea of the house level. The ground I was standing on is pretty much underside of waffle pod level. So if you add another 400mm on top, you will be at finished floor level since they will use 300 pods with 100mm concrete over. Looks too high by my reckoning.
Site inspection today to measure pier holes, came to about 112 lineal meters. 90 l/m was allowed for in the contract so I'll be expecting around 1000 in additional costs already.
Personally, I think they've gone overboard with the pier depths, many were over 2m deep. The pier depths varied considerably from 1.6m to the deepest at 2.7m, they aimed to get a white clay bearing (which is good). However in my experience all you really need is 1.5m in red clay for a single storey brick veneer house to get out of the soil suction zone. Anyway, can't do much about it, at least its not the other way around.
Also got an idea of the house level. The ground I was standing on is pretty much underside of waffle pod level. So if you add another 400mm on top, you will be at finished floor level since they will use 300 pods with 100mm concrete over. Looks too high by my reckoning.
Saturday 16 May 2015
Dirt
16-5-15
We have security fencing around the site, fill for under the slab and gravel which I believe is for backfilling the drainage trenches.
Looks like the neighbors uphill are a few weeks/months ahead of us.
I will start counting the four months from now.
We have security fencing around the site, fill for under the slab and gravel which I believe is for backfilling the drainage trenches.
Looks like the neighbors uphill are a few weeks/months ahead of us.
I will start counting the four months from now.
Friday 24 April 2015
Construction due to commence
Received the letter to commence construction from the bank on 22-4-15, just within the 15 working day dead line set by the builder.
Allworth will send us kitchen layouts and final plans for us to authorise within 20 days. This 20 days is apparently their ordering stage.
Just making a note of heavy rainfall ( 1:100 ARI or worse) last week between 18-22 April 2015. I wonder if that will affect the foundation material under and around the piers when they drill.
Received kitchen layout and final construction plans from Allworth on 7-5-15, sent it back to them the next day. Construction should begin within a week from 8-5-15.
On the financial side of things, I submitted the First Home Owners Grant application (on 5-5-15) to my lender who forwarded it to the CBA. The funds will hopefully be ready in time for the first progress payment - After slab is laid.
Allworth will send us kitchen layouts and final plans for us to authorise within 20 days. This 20 days is apparently their ordering stage.
Just making a note of heavy rainfall ( 1:100 ARI or worse) last week between 18-22 April 2015. I wonder if that will affect the foundation material under and around the piers when they drill.
Received kitchen layout and final construction plans from Allworth on 7-5-15, sent it back to them the next day. Construction should begin within a week from 8-5-15.
On the financial side of things, I submitted the First Home Owners Grant application (on 5-5-15) to my lender who forwarded it to the CBA. The funds will hopefully be ready in time for the first progress payment - After slab is laid.
Saturday 28 March 2015
Introduction
This
page was to gather my thoughts and process as we went through the build
of our first house at Caddens (next to Orchard Hills, NSW).
1) Background:
House price affordability for first home buyers is a big issue. After researching the market for about two years i.e 2012 to 2013 and also glancing at future outlooks it became apparent that buying an existing house and land is not what we wanted.
With a limited budget as a basis -an existing house has the benefit of large land, but lacks everything a new home has to offer (i.e. clean kitchen and wet areas). But a new house means small land but all new finishes and good house design/architecture. The government grant of 15k + no stamp duty on land was the deal sealer for buying land and building.
We are situated in Western Sydney so we were looking at everything west, south and north of Blacktown and directions in-between, even looked as far as Gosford-Wyong.
2) Land:
Housing Estates
There were a number of land estates available in late 2013. We have those around Narrellan-Camden areas, Orchard Hills - Caddens, and not yet released land near Riverstone - Elara and Greenway these are the areas which are affordable for us. Caddens appears to be the best choice in terms of distance to work and parents. The new estates are very appealing with many communal parks and playground facilities so missing out a backyard is not so bad, furthermore Caddens backs onto my old Uni. UWS which has its own bicycle paths, soccer fields and basketball courts. Another reason I was inclined towards Caddens was the results of a noise study for the new airport at Badgerys Creek, some estates near Camden may be within the noise perimeter as planes take off and land.
3) House:
As a first home buyer in mid 20s options are limited for new house and land estates. So automatically we are fixed to small land size and a basic house design. There are few builders that cater for this requirement, one such builder is Allworth Homes with their Price Leader series featuring a basic house and inclusions unlike say Wisdom Homes where you're pretty much forced to get an upgrade package for 5000 but they say its worth 15000 - a great offer but not what we need.
Allworth was ideal as a first home buyer or more specifically builder, a house design called Lumina maximised our living space on our small block of 365 sq. m.
4) Buying the Land:
I hadn't done much research on Caddens at this point in time as my thoughts prior were on a Willowdale release near Edmondson Park. On a spur of the moment in late 2013 I registered to receive information about land releases in caddens.
A few weeks later I responded to an email from Landcom and was put into one of those priority lists but was not in an ideal position, I think it was no. 43 (last third of the pack). However, luckily I ended with a land size as mentioned above. The land had a 1.5m drop from front to back, it wasn't what I planned on but nevertheless not a deal breaker so I put a deposit on it in May 2014. The land was eventually settled/registered in November 2014, 2 months late.
Our Lot is near toward the bottom part of the hill, well away from Caddens road so I don't expect to hear the M4 traffic. Being in a new suburb/community is also beneficial since I believe, there will be many young couples such as us and young families around.
5) Pre-Build
Initially began with looking at a few builders, namely: Wisdom, Eden-Brae, Montgomery, Wincrest, Jandson, Rawson, Champion, Fowler and Huxley Homes then narrowing it down to - Eagle Homes, Casaview Homes and Allworth Homes.
Gave up on Eagle homes after reading numerous poor reviews, Casaview Homes gave us contract price which was slightly higher than expected (215000) and I wasn't too happy with the design we chose from them (which was the best for our block). So we ended up with Allworth Homes. The staff at Allworth Kellyville saw our survey was done with Casaview Homes and as an incentive dropped our price by 1200 (which was the deposit price Casaview charges for their initial plans) which I thought was a clever gesture.
The pre-build phase started in April 2014. Plans were then drawn up with contours mid year 2014 with a confirmation price of $3000. After which we selected internal and external colours and finishes, such items were needed for council approval.
Variations made June 2014:
-Tempo elevation to front
-Extended side of meals/family room to by 130mm (max. i can extend to side)
-Wall oven cabinet
-NBN package
-1.2m high tiling in bath and en-suite
-Overhead cupboard to fridge
-Tiled splash-back to underside of range hood
-Slide out basket under sink
-400mm sq tiled recess/niche to shower
-Anti-con blanket to roof
-Upgrade to 2.0 wall insulation
-Tacked on skirting - so we can do tiling/flooring after handover
-Laminated glass + q-lon seals to master bedroom windows (acoustic requirement)
-Brickwork over garage door
-Chrome floor wastes
-Corner bathtub
Below is the type of tiles for the en-suite as demanded by the wife, appointment with Tile Power was in September 2014.
We noticed new houses have many greys, dark blue tones (monument -,-) and the like. We went slightly traditional with a Manor Red colorbond roof, Vanilla bricks (i think now called silica) from PGH, pale eucalypt downpipes and paperbark gutters. I tested the colours on those virtual programs, they look okay but I wont really know for sure until its up in natural light. fingers crossed. Our internal colours from Wattyl are 'Fleecy Lined' for the bathrooms, 'Moondust' on other rooms and all woodwork is 'Augathella'.
New silica brick, under are some external colours and bottom row are some internal colors. Appointed was done in July-August 2014.
Clipsal appointment for electrical provisions done November 2014, with an additional price 1200 which goes on-top of the standard inclusion of 3000 from Allworth.
There is a about a 1.2m drop from our rear sliding door to the yard so I need to construct a temporary stair access for the side and rear for an occupation certificate, later on I will build a timber deck at the rear and sides and connect the two with an elevated walkway. I also need to do the driveway and surface drainage to the front corner of the house.
I did a quick landscape plan as required by council, all this time I was expecting we could have had it approved through a CDC (Complying Development) but it wasn't to be. It went through as a DA and as you can imagine took nearly four months to come out of council, when it eventually did, the rest ticked over pretty fast - the certifier provided a construction certificate and finance was ready to go.
Contracts were finally signed on 1st April 2015 with a base price increase of 6000 - cant forget that date nor my signature with how many times we had to sign and date our contract.
Got a look at the engineer details when signing contracts. The rear half of the waffle pod slab is suspended on piers due to the excess fill (over 300), the zone of influence also impacts on the rear piers but pier depth should be 1500 deep anyway so it shouldn't really matter. 230 PFCs (parallel flange channels) 2off are used as a truss support due to the zero lot boundary at the garage, the other is over the garage door holding a few bricks with a plate.
Our major delays were with Commonwealth Bank and State Custodians and Penrith Council, probably up to 4 month delays.
This marks the end of pre-build phase.
Cost Summary:
Land : 285000
House contract price: 206000
=491000
-15000 (first home owners grant)
= 476000
At this point in time there is very little chance of finding an existing house that is catered for what you want for such a price. Four bedrooms, double garage, etc etc. Its the logical choice for a first home buyer.
1) Background:
House price affordability for first home buyers is a big issue. After researching the market for about two years i.e 2012 to 2013 and also glancing at future outlooks it became apparent that buying an existing house and land is not what we wanted.
With a limited budget as a basis -an existing house has the benefit of large land, but lacks everything a new home has to offer (i.e. clean kitchen and wet areas). But a new house means small land but all new finishes and good house design/architecture. The government grant of 15k + no stamp duty on land was the deal sealer for buying land and building.
We are situated in Western Sydney so we were looking at everything west, south and north of Blacktown and directions in-between, even looked as far as Gosford-Wyong.
2) Land:
Housing Estates
There were a number of land estates available in late 2013. We have those around Narrellan-Camden areas, Orchard Hills - Caddens, and not yet released land near Riverstone - Elara and Greenway these are the areas which are affordable for us. Caddens appears to be the best choice in terms of distance to work and parents. The new estates are very appealing with many communal parks and playground facilities so missing out a backyard is not so bad, furthermore Caddens backs onto my old Uni. UWS which has its own bicycle paths, soccer fields and basketball courts. Another reason I was inclined towards Caddens was the results of a noise study for the new airport at Badgerys Creek, some estates near Camden may be within the noise perimeter as planes take off and land.
3) House:
As a first home buyer in mid 20s options are limited for new house and land estates. So automatically we are fixed to small land size and a basic house design. There are few builders that cater for this requirement, one such builder is Allworth Homes with their Price Leader series featuring a basic house and inclusions unlike say Wisdom Homes where you're pretty much forced to get an upgrade package for 5000 but they say its worth 15000 - a great offer but not what we need.
Allworth was ideal as a first home buyer or more specifically builder, a house design called Lumina maximised our living space on our small block of 365 sq. m.
4) Buying the Land:
I hadn't done much research on Caddens at this point in time as my thoughts prior were on a Willowdale release near Edmondson Park. On a spur of the moment in late 2013 I registered to receive information about land releases in caddens.
A few weeks later I responded to an email from Landcom and was put into one of those priority lists but was not in an ideal position, I think it was no. 43 (last third of the pack). However, luckily I ended with a land size as mentioned above. The land had a 1.5m drop from front to back, it wasn't what I planned on but nevertheless not a deal breaker so I put a deposit on it in May 2014. The land was eventually settled/registered in November 2014, 2 months late.
Our Lot is near toward the bottom part of the hill, well away from Caddens road so I don't expect to hear the M4 traffic. Being in a new suburb/community is also beneficial since I believe, there will be many young couples such as us and young families around.
5) Pre-Build
Initially began with looking at a few builders, namely: Wisdom, Eden-Brae, Montgomery, Wincrest, Jandson, Rawson, Champion, Fowler and Huxley Homes then narrowing it down to - Eagle Homes, Casaview Homes and Allworth Homes.
Gave up on Eagle homes after reading numerous poor reviews, Casaview Homes gave us contract price which was slightly higher than expected (215000) and I wasn't too happy with the design we chose from them (which was the best for our block). So we ended up with Allworth Homes. The staff at Allworth Kellyville saw our survey was done with Casaview Homes and as an incentive dropped our price by 1200 (which was the deposit price Casaview charges for their initial plans) which I thought was a clever gesture.
The pre-build phase started in April 2014. Plans were then drawn up with contours mid year 2014 with a confirmation price of $3000. After which we selected internal and external colours and finishes, such items were needed for council approval.
Variations made June 2014:
-Tempo elevation to front
-Extended side of meals/family room to by 130mm (max. i can extend to side)
-Wall oven cabinet
-NBN package
-1.2m high tiling in bath and en-suite
-Overhead cupboard to fridge
-Tiled splash-back to underside of range hood
-Slide out basket under sink
-400mm sq tiled recess/niche to shower
-Anti-con blanket to roof
-Upgrade to 2.0 wall insulation
-Tacked on skirting - so we can do tiling/flooring after handover
-Laminated glass + q-lon seals to master bedroom windows (acoustic requirement)
-Brickwork over garage door
-Chrome floor wastes
-Corner bathtub
Below is the type of tiles for the en-suite as demanded by the wife, appointment with Tile Power was in September 2014.
We noticed new houses have many greys, dark blue tones (monument -,-) and the like. We went slightly traditional with a Manor Red colorbond roof, Vanilla bricks (i think now called silica) from PGH, pale eucalypt downpipes and paperbark gutters. I tested the colours on those virtual programs, they look okay but I wont really know for sure until its up in natural light. fingers crossed. Our internal colours from Wattyl are 'Fleecy Lined' for the bathrooms, 'Moondust' on other rooms and all woodwork is 'Augathella'.
New silica brick, under are some external colours and bottom row are some internal colors. Appointed was done in July-August 2014.
Clipsal appointment for electrical provisions done November 2014, with an additional price 1200 which goes on-top of the standard inclusion of 3000 from Allworth.
There is a about a 1.2m drop from our rear sliding door to the yard so I need to construct a temporary stair access for the side and rear for an occupation certificate, later on I will build a timber deck at the rear and sides and connect the two with an elevated walkway. I also need to do the driveway and surface drainage to the front corner of the house.
Contracts were finally signed on 1st April 2015 with a base price increase of 6000 - cant forget that date nor my signature with how many times we had to sign and date our contract.
Got a look at the engineer details when signing contracts. The rear half of the waffle pod slab is suspended on piers due to the excess fill (over 300), the zone of influence also impacts on the rear piers but pier depth should be 1500 deep anyway so it shouldn't really matter. 230 PFCs (parallel flange channels) 2off are used as a truss support due to the zero lot boundary at the garage, the other is over the garage door holding a few bricks with a plate.
Our major delays were with Commonwealth Bank and State Custodians and Penrith Council, probably up to 4 month delays.
This marks the end of pre-build phase.
Cost Summary:
Land : 285000
House contract price: 206000
=491000
-15000 (first home owners grant)
= 476000
At this point in time there is very little chance of finding an existing house that is catered for what you want for such a price. Four bedrooms, double garage, etc etc. Its the logical choice for a first home buyer.
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