20th December 2011Starting the excavations

Starting foundation excavations

Inspection time

Starting to pour the concrete

Tuesday 20th December 2011

Tuesday 20^th December 2011

Two long days Friday and Saturday the team worked energetically marking out, digging and setting up reinforcing steel for the foundations. Three different machines were onsite, two at a time continually working on various activities, plus a truck carting away surplus fill as it was dug from the foundations. This is where unavoidable costs come in, you pay to have fill brought in to raise the levels then you pay to have it removed as they dig the foundations.

During Saturday morning a vehicle pulled up outside followed by a large truck with an excavator on it, another with a large concrete water tank and yet another large crane truck to lift the tank into place. The plan being that an underground 5000ltr water tank was to be installed at the rear of the house, why this wasn’t done before trenches were dug and steel work set up has got me beat, I guess the best of plans can go wrong. After a lot of pacing up and down measuring access for various sized trucks, a lot of irate gesticulation and heated discussions they decided they couldn’t do it and all disappeared so I presume plan B will be eventually carried out, whatever that may be. (wonder who picks up the tab for that lot?)

Just after lunch on Saturday a large concrete pump arrived and set up in our driveway (the cottage) and for the next few hours a string of concrete agitators delivered concrete which was subsequently pumped around the site into the maize of trenches keeping the kids in the park opposite intrigued for ages.

When it was all over just on dark, and all but the concrete contractor had gone, I lent him a hand and hosed off the road and foot path, he told me he was pleased with how it had all gone but was pleased it was all over as it was one of the most complex jobs he had carried out due to the restriction on a narrow block, the fact that piers and bridging beams had to be established over the line of the sewer and the foundations had been engineered very deep because it was all on compacted fill, 46 cubic metres of concrete went into the footings and the slab is yet to be done, an average house of this size would normally take about 35 cubic metres for footings and slab.  The house shouldn’t fall over.

No more activity until the New Year although the surveyor was back onsite yesterday to re-establish all the key alignments. The concreter intends to start in the first week of the NY so if they get the slab done early at least the concrete won’t be quite so green when Casey’s crew start a couple of weeks later.

Someone posted an anonymous comment to my last post suggesting I should stop stressing as it will all happen. I couldn’t agree more, it will happen as the builder wants to get it done as much as anyone does. To be honest I don’t really stress over it, perhaps I make it sound as if I do, but I do get frustrated mainly with people procrastinating such as the Council and certifying engineers that nit pick and timing of activities that get affected by inclement weather, something we’ve got no control over but annoying just the same. Anyway as anonymous said, “it will happen”.

 Funny thing a large crane truck arrived a little while ago the driver wandered around for a while making phone calls he eventually asked me about access to the site via the cottage driveway, a few more phone calls and it disappeared for the second time, this is a well travelled water tank.

Don’t know if I have mentioned previously our family of four and one of Nancy’s sisters plus companion are joining us for Xmas Day lunch at the Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club where there will be an emphasis on seafood plus the normal Xmas fare should be most enjoyable and a lot easier than the normal preparations. In the afternoon weather permitting other family members and our old neighbours are joining us at the cottage and if anyone reading this is in the area you will be most welcome to join us, bring your own chair and drinks.

Apart from all that I sincerely hope everybody has a most enjoyable and safe Christmas and the New Year brings us all good health and happiness.

Cheers for now.

Update since I started this post and hadn’t published it.  Around lunch time “the tank man” arrived and marked out where the notorious underground water tank had to go,  he then proceeded to bend down all the reo starter bars sticking up in the concrete, in a wide enough path for a truck to back over the site. With that an excavator arrived and they went about digging an almost 3 metre deep hole to accommodate the tank which suddenly re-appeared on a large crane truck and this time the driver promptly and carefully reversed across the site from front to back along the tight avenue of bent reo starter bars. While the crane truck was setting up to place the 5000ltr concrete water tank into the appointed hole a large tanker truck arrived with potable water so the tank could be partially filled to prevent it floating should ground water be present (just as they do with swimming pools). Once in place with its content of water and connecting points temporarily capped, the hole was backfilled to ground level. Thankfully it all went very smoothly.   

Footings and water tank installation

A  continuos supply of concrete into the pump

filling the trenches

Delivering the water tank

in place and filling

Back filling around the tank

16th December 2011

They've started, thank goodness machinery is onsite and there is some activity. They're probably doing it wrong but at least it's a start and I won't be interfering. The weather looks iffy but it is forecast fine all day so fingers crossed. It will be interesting to see how far they get today, traditionally Friday is a short day but who knows what will happen, I guess the challenge now will be to get the slab done before Xmas.

15th December 2011

Here we are Thursday and of course it has rained all day **@x*&##*@!!! At least the builder has been in touch and is going to try for tomorrow as it is forecast to be fine for the next few days fingers crossed - theres nothing we can do about the weather, it just gets more frustrating.

Week Commencing 12th December 2011

14th Dec 2011

Well nothing happened on site last week the builders had booked machinery on the Monday for last Thursday to start the footings, when they told me of their plan I checked the Met bureau website and of course they had forecast rain for Thursday, sure enough it bucketed down so no action. The annoying thing is, it has basically been dry for yonks and now with the build up of heat and moisture (humidity) we will continue to get unsettled weather for some time to come.

Monday past (12^th), we had an appointment with an interior decorator consultant that does all of Casey’s work (the builder), a really switched on lady and really good, we felt very comfortable with the whole process although after 5½ hours of it we were a bit brain dead. At least the bulk of it is done, roof colour, house colour inside and out, floor tiles, bathroom tiles, benches, kitchen colours and finish, taps and sinks, vanities and toilets. I’m sure all we have to do now is select lighting which can be a nightmare and bedroom carpets, carpets shouldn’t be too taxing as we have samples of the tiles to match up carpets with. Lighting may be a different story.

While we were at the builders display room I grabbed the opportunity to quiz them as to when they thought they would get onsite to start the foundations and once again they had planned on Thursday of this week, why Thursday I do not know but as soon as I got home I logged into the websites again to check the predicted weather – rain for Wednesday, showers Thursday – shit!!!

Monday’s weather was ok, we did have a shower Monday night, Tuesday was great it threatened and sprinkled for ten seconds (I timed it) but basically was great. Today I think I was awake as it got daylight and was totally relieved to eventually see blue sky appearing and so far so good the day has been hot and sunny with a good breeze although there are large cumulus clouds building across the Bay to the south east where the weather is coming from so there is plenty of moisture around and certainly the risk of rain or a storm later. As long as it is not torrential the builder should get onsite tomorrow, I don’t know how long it will take them to get to pouring concrete stage but once it is down and set it can rain as much as it likes (within reason), then no more from the middle of January when they start again after Xmas. – Not too much to ask is it?   

I’ll keep you posted

7th December 2011

7th Dec 2011

Here we are well into December and a promise of the slab being laid by Xmas. Last week a surveyor was onsite to mark out specific measurements for the footings excavation so we were expecting some activity to take place but the week dragged on and nothing eventuated.

Tuesday of this week I had occasion to phone the builders office, our house money had come out of term deposit and we needed to have some idea of time intervals for progress payments so we could re-invest before interest rates dropped, which they did today. Speaking to the builders manager he informed they had machinery booked for Thursday of this week (tomorrow the 8^th) to start digging the footings etc and once again confirmed they would have the slab down by Xmas. Great that’s what I wanted to hear.

Wednesday 7^th, I’m currently watching a truck unload concrete reinforcing steel onto the site and it is piddling down, the forecast is for plenty of it for the next few days, TYPICAL.

I forgot to mention they have dumped a few truck-loads of RED soil at the back of the block to spread out over the fill. What was the builder thinking of RED soil and white tiles ????

Geez another truck has arrived with steel on it no wonder building costs are so expensive.

Maybe it’s not such a good idea renting next door to where you are building.

My watercolour art classes have finished for the year but I was fortunate enough to be invited tomorrow to the last oil painting class for the year with Todd Whisson. I used to attend Todd’s class before we headed down south last year, there is a long waiting list to get into his classes and although this is a one off I feel privileged to have been invited.   

28th Nov 2011

Note the request message in the Title bar, I have suggested using anonymous as a profile for sending comments but if you have a Google account you can use that in preference as there are less actions required, you can also establish a Google account very simply and easily, it is quite handy at times and FREE. 

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28^th Nov 2011

Last week we saw a flurry of activity with the new house as you can see from the photo. I neglected to mention previously that when I was looking over the approved and stamped plans we had picked up from the certifiers office, I discovered the wrong set of plans had been submitted for approval by the structural engineer (and theoretically checked by the architect). By this stage the builder had been onsite and carried out some preliminary work as mentioned previously and to cut a long story short the builder wasn’t prepared to continue until he had a correct set of plans and specifications to build to, which is fair enough. Needless to say we had a few cranky emails flying about the place. So to see the sub-contractors onsite last Tuesday was great and at least indicated the issue had been sorted, over the next few days they constructed a concrete sleeper retaining wall which will have a fence on top once completed. I presume the idea is to then fill out to the retaining wall so the whole area is flat. Although they are not onsite today they are aiming to get the slab down before Xmas (they keep telling me this).

My latest oil painting

While we were in McLarenvale SA we checked out a few wineries. During one brief sampling session that latest several hours we got talking art with the very congenial lady who was acting as host, she suggested checking out this old heritage listed winery situated a short distance away on  the same property. While poking around taking photos we had the added pleasure of meeting the vineyard owner who turned out to be an artist also. This painting was based on one of the photos, the old tractor visible in the gloom of the old building and a hint of other things, the subject appealed to me so much I just had to paint it.   

21 st Nov 2011

Flinders Range SA 

This is my latest oil on canvas. I started this when we were down in South Australia and decide it was time to finish a few. this scene is based on a photo I took at Arkaroola in NE Flinders Range. The trees are magnificent down there.

We are running out of room so this one will be up for sale.

19th Nov 2011

At long last a start

At least we won't get flooded

As you can see I have made some changes to the Blog appearance. Note the request message in the Title bar, I have suggested using anonymous as a profile for sending comments but if you have a Google account you can use that in preference as there are less actions required, you can also establish a Google account very simply and easily, it is quite handy at times and FREE. 

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17th Nov 2011

17^th Nov 2011

Well I said it was up to the builder now and I can’t complain. It was late yesterday (Wednesday) that I delivered the building permit approval to the builder and he was onsite today. By mid afternoon Casey and one of his supervisors plus a subbie with a tracked Bobcat levelled the piles of fill they had previously stockpiled onsite and shot their levels in preparation for foundation excavation. Not a bad response

17th Nov 2011

At long last the building permit has been issued, I picked it up as soon as they rang and delivered a copy to the builder, didn't wait for the post. It's up to the builder now, if he can get the slab down before the  rains start it will be great as the rain will aid the curing of the concrete.

16th Nov 2011

As you can see I have made some changes to the Blog appearance. Note the request message in the Title bar, I have suggested using anonymous as a profile for sending comments but if you have a Google account you can use that in preference as there are less actions required, you can also establish a Google account very simply and easily, it is quite handy at times and FREE. 

In the menu bar to the right hand side you will see a place to "Join this site", click on that and you have several site options to sign into or in smaller print in Blue it gives you the opportunity to sign up to one of those sites - Join the party it's very easy.


Nigel

Building application still has not been approved, however I think the building certifier has finally run out of things to ask for (one at a time) and surely to goodness it cannot be much longer.

A little excitement during last week, Urban Utilities (Brisbane City Council) arrived onsite to make the new sewer connection. Three trucks, five men, a bobcat, a mini excavator and a truck delivery of some parts while they were doing the job. The job itself didn’t take that long but with all the lead up discussions and wandering around it ended up a long-winded process, thank goodness we weren’t paying by the hour. Even so I believe a private contractor would have been a fraction of the cost and at least it is a start in the right direction.

We have had several weeks of fine weather that is starting to warm up considerably, fortunately we get a lovely bay breeze where we are so it is quite pleasant.

Finally getting the time to re-hash and finish some oil paintings I started while we were down in South Australia last year, I’m reasonably pleased with how they have turned out, they are mainly scenes with large trees. When we were down south I was really taken by the magnificent trees you get in SA, particularly in the Flinders Ranges, grand stately old things that must have been around for hundreds of years.

3 Urban Utility workers hard at it!