Foundations are Down!

Sunday 7th November 2010

Woo!

I drove past the block yesterday and braked to a sudden stop when I first saw a large hole dug up in the front of the block. Then, as my eyes crept upwards, lo and behold -

I HAD A CONCRETE SLAB!!

I sat in the car, in the middle of the street, jumping up and down in my seat and squealing in disbelief. Then as I rounded the corner to the rear of the block, I started tearing up. Tears of excitement, joy and relief. Relief that all the heartache and frustration I've gone through over the past year is finally materialising into a physical form.

As with all other slabs I've seen, mine looks incredibly small. It's hard to believe that it's going to big enough to form my house. I had to peek into the neighbour's house (who are building the same house as me) to convince myself that my house is going to be of normal size and not a miniature version.

The view from the front.

The view from the back.
The large space is for where the garage and alfresco are to go.

These are the plumbing works for my ensuite bathroom.

Here's where the kitchen is going to be!
It's such a far cry from the state it used to be in.

*sings*
I'm so excited!
And I just can't hide it!
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!

Let the Construction...BEGIN!

Thursday 4th November 2010

In between errands on Sunday just gone, I drove past my block and squealed in delight when I saw that the rubbish had been cleared and the dirt had been levelled out!!


It's about frikkin' time!!

I drove back on Monday after work and was fortunate to meet my neighbours. We'll be discussing fencing quotes shortly.

I also received a progress report from the builders to inform me that my house is now 1% complete. HA! Only took over a year. I hope the rest of the construction goes relatively smoothly and quickly.

Let the Construction Phase....Begin!

Saturday 16th October 2010

Yes, folks.

I finally received word from the builders that I have now entered the 'Construction Phase'.

I drove past my block today and there is a huge pile of yellow sand sitting in one corner of it. Is it there in preparation for levelling out my block??

...stay tuned!

Wednesday 13th October 2010

I drove past the block on the weekend and was irritated to see how much garbage had accummulated from the ongoing construction on the neighbouring properties.

It was rather windy too, so this metal mesh had actually blown up off the neighbour's block and was obstructing the road.

The builders told me they'd written a cheque to cover the verge bond and inspections and forwarded it to the Council. I'd better call up tomorrow to check that they have received it.

Saturday 2nd October 2010

Good thing I didn't hold my breath.

I drove past my block yesterday on the way home from work and just like it's been for the past few months, it's just accummulating leftover bricks and debris from the construction of the houses on either side.

I was able to get home in time to call the builders up to ask them what was happening with my builders licence that I was told should be ready last week. They told me that they were still waiting on the Council to sign off on it. They suggested I could call the Council and try to push things along.

So, I did.

I spoke to a lovely lady in the Building Services department and she informed me that my licence was on hold (and has been since 21 September 2010) because they're waiting to receive payment from the builders to cover the verge bond and inspections that are required. The verge bond is to cover any damage that may be caused to the concrete verges that are in place on the front and back boundaries of the block of land.

I was so not happy, Jan.

I called the builders straight back and told them the situation and they replied that the payments were already made because they make a combined payment by cheque for all their jobs each month. Being 4:55pm on a Friday, there was nothing I could expect them to do to chase this up so now I'm expecting a call Monday morning to let me know what is going on. Did they make the payment and the Council have stuffed up, or have they not made the payment but think that they have?

Either way, it's annoying. If I hadn't chased this up, it could have been months down the track before someone bothered to find out what was going on. I doubt the Council would call the builders to remind them of the payment. My licence application would probably just sit 'on hold'. The builders would just tell me that they're waiting on the Council and that it is not unusual for the Council to take forever to get through paperwork.

I need a chill pill.

Still waiting...

Monday 20th September 2010

Yes, I have been slack with the updates, which is pretty much representative of the progress. Nothing is happening.

I've checked in with the builders a few times in the last few months but they're waiting for the Council to approve my builders licence before they are able to make a start on the construction. It's been about two months that my paperwork has been with the Council and waiting for them to sign off on it.

I got a call from the builder today to let me know that I should have the builders licence by the end of the week. I'm not holding my breath.

Every few weeks I've been driving past my block of land to see how my neighbours are progressing with their construction.

Here's a bit of a pictorial to show what's been happening on both sides of my block:


20 May 2010
Nothing much is happening, as you can see.

25 June 2010
Neighbours on the left are levelled out in preparation for the slab.

21 August 2010
Neighbours on the left are ready for the walls to go up.
Neighbours on the right are getting ready for their slab to go down.

18 September 2010
Neighbours on the left have the framework for their roof up.
Neighbours on the right have their slab drying.

[sings] "What about me? It isn't fair..."

When I drove by on the weekend my heart paused a beat when I saw that my land looked like it had been levelled out. But as I got nearer, I realised that it was probably just a side effect of the builders clearing the debris of bricks and cement that they had dumped onto my land while my neighbours' construction was getting underway.

The irony of all this is that someone from West Australian Housing Centre (my builders) called me on Sunday to let me know that they are offering a 'reward' of $500 for each person that I refer to them to sign up to build. I was quite frank with her in saying that after all the dramas I've been through and the way in which my contract has been handled, I would not be recommending them to anyone. That's why I got the progress call today.

Let's hope that the next post I upload will have a photo of a nice, levelled out piece of land.

Little steps...

Tuesday 23rd July 2010
I've had some dramas with the builders charging me an extra $3500 because they claim my titles took too long to issue. I've disputed this since I have email evidence that I informed them when my titles were ready and it was their oversight and lack of attention to detail that has caused a delay in my construction progress. They've backed down to give me a 'discount' but I don't think I'm going to get them to waive the whole cost. *Aargh!!*

Anyways, I'm trying to fight the battles that I can win. I got in touch with my new neighbours on the strata and they are two months ahead of me. They're expecting their slabs to go down any day now.

I went to prestart last week and finalised all my colours and fittings. I was extremely disappointed to find out that the kitchen splashback tiles I had chosen were going to cost almost $2000 extra!! Needless to say I'm not going ahead with those.

I've also changed my choice of roof tiles so that it will suit the rendering colour that I want. I think I am very happy with my final choices.

I also spent time altering my electrical plans. I consulted my cousins who are electricians by trade and I think I have come up with a good electrical plan. Lots of power points! Pity that my strata only has one phase power available.

All there is to do now is show proof that I have the available funds to pay for the variations and additional selections. They say it will take about six weeks for my final building plans to be ready and then the slab should go down very soon after that. So I'm looking at about two months until the slab goes down.

It's all getting very exciting!