Frame up, then stop for Christmas

Just before Christmas we had a request for payment for the frame stage, the slab was only poured a week before...Took a trip out after Christmas and yes, frame up, roof trusses on. A few truss infills still to do. We can now see the overall size of each room and picture where the furniture will be going. Can`t get over the size of the kitchen / dining / family area. Our 32" TV will be lost in the corner. Already thinking about the boring stuff like blinds, curtains, toilet roll holder, door bell etc etc. The builder is off for the Xmas break and not back until mid January. Just hope no one thinks about breaking the windows lying about in the mud...


The double storey next door is almost finished. They have opaque windows on the first floor which overlook us. The house on the opposite side has not started yet although we had a letter from the local council with a notification of a small change to their plans so could be starting soon. Our tree in front of the house is growing well, it was provided as part of the plot landscaping and we are responsible for looking after it.
The new Point Cook town center is well on with construction, should be open early 2008, around the end of the first quarter which should suit us as we are aiming for a May completion.
This is me holding up the wall at the end of our new hallway, picture taken from the front door. Hopefully the builder will come back soon and nail the wall in place....You can get an idea of the ceiling heights, we have gone for the 2600mm ceiling height for maximum light and ventilation.

Also heard that the new Point Cook marina is starting soon, a 10 minute drive down the road from us.
The new freeway off ramp is also nearly complete, could be open early 2008. This will make joining the freeway a lot easier as there will be 3 junctions for Point Cook. Has traditionally been a bit of a bottleneck in the past as the town gets bigger.
There are rumours of a new railway station for Point Cook but nothing confirmed yet.




Looking back towards the kitchen area. Dining area is the bit that sticks out the side and the area closest is our family area (with large window). Kids play room behind the camera. Area beyond the window is the future patio / verandah. This is the West side of the house and will get the setting sun as long as possible.

The strange shape of some of the pics is due to the stitching process in Photoshop, a number of overlapping pics are automatically joined together. A very clever process and if the original pics are done well then its almost impossible to see the join. A simple way to get a very wide angle shot with a normal lens. I have cropped some of these but think it looks very effective as shown.

it`s started at last....

At last the house has started, although no one told us soon enough so I missed them pouring the floor slab. Was looking forward to checking the formwork, rebar etc..
They should start erecting the timber frame next week, then promptly stop for the Christmas holidays (3 weeks at least over here). However, our supervisor said that some of the trades may be working over the holidays. The house behind is a double storey but they are set fairly far forward so not too close to us. The house beside us is also double storey but they have had to put in opaque glass as they will overlook us. The house on the other side has not started yet but it will be a single storey (same builder as ours).

Spotted the deliberate mistake on the slab, they have cast the bathroom sink waste on the wrong side of the partition wall, is in one of the bedrooms.
Oh yes, we have also had the demand for the first stage payment, cheque`s in the post (nearly..)

They quote a 20 week build (excluding holidays) so looking at sometime in May 08 for completion. Saying that, we understand that they normally finish early, watch this space.

our first bill

Had a letter from those nice people who supply our water & sewerage services. A bill for water & sewerage used in the past few months. Interesting, as we do not have a house yet. A quick phone call to complain, turns out to be an estimated bill. We will have to pay the standing charges but we were asked to check the meter reading and get back to them. For those unaware of this all buildings here have individual water meters, usually just inside the front boundary so the man can nip over and take readings. Most of Melbourne has been on water restrictions for some time. No filling pools, watering the lawn, washing the car or washing windows. Our new place will have a rainwater tank which takes water from the gutters. This is then used to flush toilets and water the garden. The system will change over to mains water if the tank gets too low. We are considering getting a second, slimline tank, to make sure we have water to establish the new garden and keep it going.

main bedroom, nice...

Another pic of the show house, our new bedroom and parents retreat. En-suite is off to the left, walk in robe adjacent. Our house will have an extra 3 small windows at high level, behind the bed. The big windows look out to the front and street. We will be looking for a small couch in the near future to go in the same position as shown (been getting a few things off ebay at present).
The house will come painted a neutral colour as standard but we will be painting a few feature walls as soon as possible. The colours in the photo are not too bad, what do you think....

more information

Here is a photo of the kitchen and family display house we looked at. Our house is handed so the photo is reversed to suit our layout.
Their display house is decked out with all the best furniture and fittings, ours will not be as pretty for a while.
We will have the breakfast bench in the kitchen, patio doors to the outside area, large sitting area with doorway through to the kids play room. Note nice high ceilings. We will likely go for timber flooring or possibly a quality vinyl, still not sure. We will be building a timber deck outside, as shown, one day...

new blog

As the building work should be starting in November we thought this would be a good way of keeping you people up to date on progress.

We are building in a new estate in Point Cook, about 25km South West of Central Melbourne. It is basically a new town, close to the freeway and a couple of km from the sea.

Our new place will be a single storey on a rectangular block. The plot faces North South and our main living areas will be facing North and West to catch the sun as much as possible.














We have gone with Porter Davis homes as their Monteden design suited our room layout requirements, was a good fit on the plot and the rooms faced the right directions as standard so no expensive re-designs or alterations.
The house is 28 squares, the local unit of house measurement. A square equates to 9 ft square I think so the area is about 270 m2, big enough....

4 bedrooms, master has a sitting area (retreat) and en-suite. Rumpus room, open plan kitchen / family area, separate laundry, living room and study.