Framing stage - Part 2 (1st Floor)

By this stage, the 1st floor framing is up as well as the roof trusses and the windows have been installed. For the windows, we decided to go with black frames to give a contrast the final finished colour of the house.

Framing stage - Part 1

The following pics are of the ground floor, taken 3 weeks ago. This was before we had 12 days of straight rain and when our slab was nice and dry!

Photo time..

To continue from my last post, I have been periodically taking photos of the development. So in light of that, I plan on uploading some over the course of the next few days to show you the progress made since my last post...ok, i mean my second last post :p

2 months have flown by!!!

Hi everyone,

Well in my last post I indicated that i'll be regularly updating the blog. Evidently that didn't happen! That's not to say that we haven't made amazing progress in the house stakes. Over the last 2 months, we have gotten to the stage where the roof framing is now in and we're nearly ready for the bricking to occur.

The only gripe I have with anyone over these 2 months is that with mother nature! 12 days, i repeat 12 days of continuous rain! A new record for Sydney! If not for the rain, I reckon we'd be up to the brick stage already.

In this regard, I give kudos to Clarendon and the chippies for coming in between rain periods and getting the job done.

To summarise, so far so good!

I'm Back!

Too bad i don't have anything good to report. Our block was pegged a couple of weeks ago. Since then, its continually rained in short bursts which hamper any excavating opportunities as that requires consecutive days of sunshine!

News Update

Well its almost a week now since Clarendon came back up to full speed and unfortunately there really hasn't been much progress made. Still waiting for our Construction Certificate.

Here's to hoping next week will be much better...

Roof tile and colour selection

I was going to put up our roof tile and outside paint selections but unfortunately my scanner has chosen to die on me.

Sorry! I'll put it up ASAP (pending the resuscitation process)

Questions and Observations for 2008

First the Questions:

This is specifically related to Clarendon but it may apply to you as well. The question is will I have access to the construction site during the building process? The reason I ask this is because through my powers of deduction (ok, more like looking at other peoples blogs) that clients/bloggers of other companies have taken photos of their houses during the construction process yet a neighbor of mine who is building with another company to the best of my knowledge, wasnt allowed anywhere near the site until it was finished. Therefore he monitored the building process from outside the fenced off area. Matt on the other hand (who is building with Carlisle Homes) has done a bang up job of documenting everything....see!

I hope Clarendon allows the latter to occur. Time will tell I suppose.

Now for the Observations:

Observation No.1: I'm curious to see how the building of our new home will go if La Nino which already had a bit of impact in November and December last year continues its course throughout 2008. I know I know! We need the rain! But what about my house!?! (...contemplates this conflicting issue...)

Observation No.2: I'm not sure about you, but I read something in the paper just recently that had 'construction union', 'more pay' and 'strike' in the same sentence! I am hoping that by 'contruction union' they mean people that build skycrapers. 'More pay' translates into scrapping work choices and 'strike' means they had a perfect game in tenpin bowling!

News Buzz Update

Well I took a trip down to Clarendon's office today. It turns out we're still waiting for our construction certificate. The gentleman in charge of producing this article is still on holidays until the 14th so Clarendon can't start until that is ready.

I suppose it doesn't make much difference as Clarendon itself is running a skeleton staff until the 14th. The department that is meant to take our money (The Accounts Department) is still on holidays!

The wait continues...

The Land

From the front:



From the back:

The Situation so far:

Land bought: check
Design chosen: check
Council Approval: check check
Construction started: ... ... ...

Unfortunately due to a thing called Christmas and a new calender year, people decide to go off on holidays. This is unfortunate. However, once they come back from their holiday all nice and refreshed, the start making houses again! yippee. It just takes time for people to readjust. Clarendon are in readjustment mode. Hopefully we'll start to hear from them again in regards to when the protective fencing will go up, when our major selection meeting will be and etc and etc.

Coming soon: Land photos and our external tiles/house colour choices!

The Facts

Land: 700m²

Location: North West Sydney

Builder: Clarendon Homes

Design: Promenade

Council: Baulkham Hills Shire

Expected Completion Date: September 2008

Inspirations

Before I start this journey, there are 2 websites to whom I wish to pay homage. Firstly, Matt Walker's "The house that Bob built" which is easily the best building blog I have come across. If I can replicate that success, then this project has been worth it's while! You can check out his website here.

Secondly, Mark and Annette's "The House of Cookies". I'm not sure if they both share the mantle of Cookie Monster but since they too are building a Clarendon, I figure there is much we can share, learn and reflect on as we both undertake this exciting process. Their website is here.

Finally, a link to the Forum that has started this whole experience, the Homeone Forum

Mission Statement

I, Fuzz, will endeavour to document, post and keep up to date this here blog for the benefit of family and friends, neighbours and strangers, the trials and tribulations of building a home with Clarendon in the North West of Sydney.