We have a slab!

Slab was poured yesterday, and looks great. Next is the frame, but not sure how much activity we will see this close to Christmas.

Formwork complete and ready for slab pour

Popped round to the site yesterday and was really pleased to see some significant progress. All the formwork looks complete and the steel is done, so I guess it means it's ready to pour the slab now. Time to give Provincial a call :)

Also, Narellan have been in to complete the pool concreting. I was initially worried that the finished level was too high, but now that the house footprint is done, the levels look perfect. Phew!


View of rumpus room, alfresco area, and kitchen





Pool stage 1 completed.

We have a loo! Yay!

In building terms, the delivery of a portaloo indicates one thing - the imminent arrival of People :)

This happened on Tuesday and on Friday "the concreting guy" said they would begin the piering on Saturday. I went over to site to take some pics and they were everything really fast, in total 122m of piers dug ready for the slab over the next two weeks or so. Next steps apparently, are cleanup, formwork, steel and then slab pour
.

Finally some movement!

After what seems to be ages since the levels with council were sorted out, Provincial did the site cut on Saturday 14th. This officially starts the 'build process' and their clock starts ticking down (38weeks plus 5weeks for Christmas downtime).

We are really pleased with how the block looks now, but didn't realize how big the 'step up' through the levels was going to be.

At least we are on the way...


Looking down the block

Pool is now in, but still lots to do


Step up between garage and rear living spaces

All that glitters...

...are diamonds. In our case, a diamond edged rock saw! Work continues at pace to cut out the pool. Hoping for the install early next week.

A few pics taken from site today

Pool dig

Great excitement on the block yesterday as we finally started the pool excavation. I know it's only a minor step, but it's great to finally see some ACTION!

Of course, there were some issues and we hit rock at 2.5m. Serious rock. Ironstone or something. I'd like to take my hats off to Tim at Narellan Pools who was so helpful, full of suggestions and accommodating. So far, I can't praise Narellan enough. The jackhammer onsite was clearly not up to the task, so a 20ton machine is on order for later this week which will "go through that stuff like cheese."

Let's hope so :)


First turning of soil


Something bigger needed

Contracts Signed :)

Finally, after what seems to be an absolute age since we bought the block in January, we signed off the final build contract with Provincial today. The whole experience was fairly painless, but we did get a bit of a shock when they informed us that there was something wrong with the contour survey and that the levels might need to be changed!

We are hopeful for a quick resolution - the pool guys are due in to excavate in the next 2-3 weeks and need to know the final levels. Sometimes this whole experience feels like 2 steps forward, one step back...

More to follow on this I'm sure.