Finally getting there

Its been a while since i blogged.. went on holidays and been a bit busy after we got.. but there has been work happening throughout the weeks..

Currently they have done undercoat to all walls..they have also painted most of the doors..
Currently the bathroom tiles are happening.. they should be finishing up this week and then the painters will be in to finish off the painting.

During the last couple of weeks they have installed cupboards and skirting and cornices.. We are still waiting for the caesar stone and the sinks.. our front door is here which is great! finally the house has some character..

The stairs being installed was a massive thing.. it allows us quick and easy access upstairs!

Some more work

There has been a bit of work happening last week and this week. Most of the electrical wiring has been done and was sorted out by Saturday. We had our inspection guy go in on last Monday. We got the report back Monday night and we're able to go through it and then forward it onto our SS. There were some things that needed fixing and sorting right away and something things which will be done as things come together. Last Wednesday they did all the water proofing to the wet areas. There was also a carpenter last Wednesday to do the frames for the toilet downstairs.

Last Thursday we went in for an inspection before the insulation went in. It was a long and detailed inspection which was really good! But we also came across some problems like the air condition unit and it's pipes we're blocking movement in the roof if we were to access it from he man hole. We have a dilemma regarding the man hole. If we put it in the walk in robe we won't have access to the back of the house and if we out it at the back we won't have access to the front. The air conditioning unit has been done in a way that it blocks every passage to each room! This makes the man hole pointless!

Last Thursday  there were carpenters on site fixing up things and finalising the place so it would be ready for insulation on Monday. But this man hole is really giving us grief as it's made future electrical work difficult!

We emailed our SS about our concern and he has brought in the air condition installers and getting them to change the route of the air conditioning unit so it will give us more access to the rook area :)

This monday they have started and done most of the insulation. We went in and took some more photos so it would make it easier for us to hand things. They have also installed the timber floor and metal beam the for the balcony.

Also this week they have done all the basic gyprock to both floor and today they came into the seal the joints together. They are working pretty hard and long hours which is making this process go quickly! I think it should all be done by this Saturday!  YAY!!

Then it'll be time to move onto the next step!

One step at a time..

This morning I drove by our house and there were already workers unloading stuff! Couldn't stay to see what was in plan for the day but definitely a good surprise when I checked out the house this afternoon! 

Seems like they've done or at least started on electrical rough in because we have our electrical meter box! 

They have also done the eaves to the garage.. not sure about the alfresco cause I can't see it from the outside but hopefully garage done means the alfresco is done too! 
Also the front entrance has a cover thing has been installed today too! So many things happening which is great! 

Is it greedy to ask for more? 

Not sure what's happening tomorrow.. i'm happy with.anything! As long as work is happening everyday and we try and make up as much time as possible without rushing and cutting corners! Main thing we are concerned about are corners being cut due the time we have lost over the months of brick layer stuff ups! 


I think tomorrow they will finish off electrical rough ins.. fingers crossed!

Wining the rain race...

It’s been nearly a week since I've

 blogged again. Seems like it’s becoming a regular thing to blog once a week.. Just so much happening and seems like not enough time to fit blogging into the evening.. 

Anyway let me update what’s happening.. There has been a little bit of progress regardless of the weather that keeps coming into to make our lives so difficult.. last week they put the scaffold to the garage and alfresco so roof tiling can be done.. That got done today.. Most of it... I think there is still a little bit of patch up work on the site.. but most is of it is done which is good cause there’s forecast for rain tomorrow..

They have also cleaned the ground floor bricks.. We are not happy with the brick clean at all! We had an inspection with our SS today..we pointed this out to him.. he said he'll get a guy to come and fix up the brickwork.. but only to the front.. I don’t understand why he thinks that we'll be happy with crappy brick work to the side and back of the house.. true no one sees it, but I do and I live in this house! I want a nice house, regardless of what other people can or cannot see.. 

Before roof tiles were done the gutters and fascias to the garage and alfresco were installed which is good.. 

During our visit we were told that a new law has come in that makes it compulsory for balconies to have a metal beam across it.. Which means our balcony won’t be worked on until the new beam is made.. but what’s going to happen is that the size of our balcony is going to reduce! we don’t want our already small balcony to become smaller! we will have to speak to our SS again and discuss what they can do to fix it.. 

This week our SS said that they will do electrical rough ins. Lets hope he sticks to it. 

So that’s it for the week. Hopefully more progress to come..

                                                 

External work Vs Rain

So seems like theres a battle going on with the rain and the external work that needs to get done! The weather has been terrible.. on and off rain throughout the whole day since the weekend! Such bad timing especially when we are so close to getting started on internals.. yet we cant get started because of some small things that need to happen on the outside...

Yesterday they took down the scaffold and it really opens up the house and we get a proper feel of how the house.. its very exciting to see it coming together.. its pretty tall...tomorrow we should get the alfresco and garage roof done tomorrow and thats it! external will be over and time to get started inside.. and that will mean no worry about weather.. it can rain, hail or shine but work better happen!!!

External work

Its nearly been a week since i blogged.. there has been some progress but not a lot of great photos available to show the progress..the weather has been terrible and not as much progress as expected but still more for the weather we're experiencing... its like when they are ready to work the weather doesn't want us to move along..

Anyways they have done the brick cleaning for the first floor and it looks terrible! The bricklaying work is bad and they haven't done any better at the cleaning process.. we haven't said anything to our SS yet because the ground floor still needs to be cleaned and maybe they will fix up the first floor while they are at it.. but it looks terrible! We asked for flushed joints.. thats not what we've got! we've got jagged and all sorts of joints!

apparently my husband heard that they are not offer flushed joints anymore to clients.. interesting isn't it? i wonder why...?

Other than that they have done the eaves which is good and they have started on the balcony..i don't have any photos yet but will get some this weekend..

We have been informed by our SS that the joint sealant is expected to be applied today and the eaves painted tomorrow.. todays weather has been alright.. but tomorrow is another story...hopefully they can get some work done..

The fascia's and removal of scaffolds are booked in for next week and then ground floor roof tiling after.. weather isn't looking good for next week either..just have to hope and cross our fingers..

Brick day 51 & 52 - Final day

There has been work happening everyday this week which has been great news for us! 

They finished bricks yesterday! It has been such a long wait! Its soo good the hear it! It seemed like we were never going to finish! The bricklayers have some window sills to do on the ground floor but due to the scaffold being there, they will come later to do it. 

They finished off the alfresco pillars at the back and that was it! its all over for bricks!!


Today they delivered the eaves so they can start on monday... but the weather this weekend and the during the week seems terrible! Mind you thats what we thought about this week and it held out. The weather forecast for this weekend is def rain and it seems like its going to continue into the week too :(
We have been given a run down of all the things happening next week and I'm looking forward to the cleaning of bricks and windows because it looks so terrible! 
So next week will be very exciting and lots of changes happening if the weather holds out. 
Fingers crossed!!!

Brick day 46, 47, 48, 49 & 50 - Finish line...?

So its nearly been a week since i blogged.. its not because theres been no work..i've had some problems with my computer.. but its all good now..
so surprisingly there has been work every day this week including the Saturday that went by. .

Today very unexpectedly the brickies worked with the rain sprinkling here and there..we could see that they created a make shift cover for them to complete the main pillar and the side pillars..

Also the gutters have been installed!! Our colours are coming together and the main brick is starting to take shape.. even with the all the mess the brickies have created..

Its back to watching the weather like a hawk again as this week is forecasted for rain and all.. hopefully it doesn't come this week..

If weather holds out roof tiles might go on this week.. fingers crossed! if that happens then a whole lot of other things can get started!

Brick day 45 - One step at a time..

Today the brick layers were on site...seems like they are slowly making progress.. at least they are coming.. but it seems like they are taking their time to finish this job.. they were supposed to be finished by today but thats not happening.. hopefully by this week.. but theres still soo much left to do!

They finished up the rest of the first floor on the left right hand side.. then a little bit more around the front door and some on the side of the house.. its hard to tell what else they have done.. nothing has moved with our front pillars.. i dont know when they are going to get that done.. since they are split bricks it will take longer..

Brick day 38,39,40,41,42,43 &44 - Finishing soon?

There has been some progress in the bricklaying process..last week was wasted with the bricklayers only moving bricks onto scaffolds on Friday.. that was the only work they did all week! even though the bricks had arrived on Tuesday...

This week seems promising as there has been some movement.. the front scaffolds went up on Monday which was a start and also some bricklaying occurred on the side of the house..

Today they did some the some bricklaying to the front of the house.. finally the front! it actually feels like brickwork is happening! The tilers have been booked in the week with the carpenters to finish off the roofing.. Also more brick has come in.. so bricklayers can keep going without using pathetic excuses!

The bricklayers have left their wheelbarrows and things behind so i'm guessing that means they will be back.. but last time that happened they didn't come back for the third day and following week! 

We have been told that the brickwork should finish up by Thursday so fingers crossed that its not going be another broken promise.

Brick day 33, 34, 35, 36 & 37 - Out of hand!

This whole stage of bricklaying is getting out of and hand and I am so angry and fed up with the bricklayers and the SS!!! 

It seems like everyone's giving us the run around! I'm sick and tired of it! Just because we are the ones stuck in the middle, they feel that they can treat us any way they like. I'm really fed up with our site supervisors! He hasn't kept a single promise he's made regarding the timing of things and now he seems not to care.. 

So the day they left their wheelbarrow behind.. they cam the next day, which was great. That was it for them. They haven't come since! been a week nearly! Doing 2 straight days work is nothing! Our site supervisor who keeps turning dodgy and dodgy everyday! He was saying he'll be going to supervise and check on the bricklayers twice a day... seems like 2 days work is all that he can do too!

I called him today and he said the brickies called Friday evening saying that the bricks have finished so he had to order more hence why the brickies didn't come on Monday.. but if he was checking site twice a day how did he not see that on Thursday? Or Friday? Seems like he's just lying to get out of having to chase the bricklayers.. just excuses it seems! 

Apparently they would come today to put the bricks out to do work.. from what I've seen, seems like no ones been on site..the thing I don't understand is why our site supervisor is not chasing it up? The last time we talked to him, it seems like he had made it clear to the brickies that they need to finish up on our house before going anywhere else.. seems like he cant keep his promise or do his job! 

Apparently they will come tomorrow.. we'll see.. 

Brick day 21 & 32 - Final ultimatum

Yesterday no one came even though the weather was amazing! I was fuming when I found out no one had come once again! especially when they were supposed to be coming on both Monday and Tuesday and they didn't come either of the days! 

Today the bricklayers were on site and they have don't the left side of the house and a little bit more of the pillars.. the pillars seems like they aren't moving much..

Our SS sent us an email saying that the bricklayers have been warned and told that if they don't turn up everyday, they wont be working for Rawson again.. its good that that they are aware of the seriousness of them slacking off but if they decide to push boundaries and not come its still bad for us because our SS said its hard to find brickies who will work on half started job.. so in the end we will have further delays..

It seems like the brickies got the message because today, for the first timethey have left their wheelbarrow and things behind.. which means that they will be back tomorrow. They have told our SS that apparently this is the only they are working on and it will take only another 3 to 4 days. I just want them to finish up and go! 

There still needs a bit of work on the front,, but it will happen when most of the bricks have been used and  there's space in the front to put the scaffolding in.. it still feels like not much done because the front still has the frames showing.. but there has been a little bit more work.. i just need them to FINISH it!

Brick day - 27,28,29 & 30 - Ups and down

From my last post the weather on Thursday was good but due to the rainy weather on Wednesday the site was wet..so no work.. they did come on Friday..there was a been a bit on that day.. they did some work on the left side of the house reaching the first floor.. its hard to see since there's so much scaffolding and all.. 

From Friday no work since..some of them were supposed to be here today..but no sign of anyone.. 

There was more sand delivered on site today.. so all the supplies are being taken care of.. 

Hopefully more brickies are back on site tomorrow to keep going.. they just need to push through and finish it.. how long do they want to drag a house...?  I don't see or understand why they would do that? 

Fingers crossed for tomorrow! 

Brick day 26 & 26 - Bump in the weather

Yesterday there were some workers on site continuing with brick work.. they started on the third and last pillar in the front.. not like the others are finished... but I think they are trying to get everything to a certain height to clear bricks..this will then allow them to put up the front scaffold and get started on the first floor.. 

First floor hasn't been touched at all! The brickie who they only needed 4 - 5 days to finish the brick work was lying...xause its nearly been 4 days of work..and the house is nowhere near finishing! 

Can you believe that in this week they have done the same amount of days they have done in the last 12 weeks! That's a joke!! 

Unfortunately today the weather didn't hold out and it was raining for most of the morning.. no work on site today... but the weather is back to being good for us tomorrow and Friday so hopefully some more work and more workers on site.. from what I've heard there's only been a couple of workers here and there.. when they have their whole team a lot more work gets done.. I don't know whose houses the other brickies are finishing off..I don't know what they have against our house...? it seems like its always someone else's house being finished off! never ours! 

Brick Day 22,23,24 & 25 - Ever so slow...

Last Friday and today there has been a little bit of progress.. i just get a picture of a snail or turtle trying to get somewhere.. that's the amount of effort and enthusiasm which was seen on the only bricklayer laying the pillar to our house. he was very reluctant to talk and seemed quiet rude.. at least he was doing work.. he was the only one on site Friday..

Today I didn't get a chance to see what work was done but my husband saw that more work to pillar was done and the side of the garage wall is up.. the weather is getting shaky now.. today it held up but tomorrow is not looking good...

As i mentioned earlier its a vicious cycle that we're in.. weather, no bricklayer, no bricks and it just keep going around and around...

No photos today.. but hopefully will get some this week..

Brick day 16,17,18,19, 20 & 21 - Nothing!

There has been absolutely nothing done since last week! NOTHING! 

The unexpected day was the only day they've come! They were supposed to come Monday but didn't.. and then Tuesday apparently the main brickie guy's car broke down.. and today once again nothing! No explanation from our SS even though i called him when i checked our place around 9 this morning..

This is getting just beyond bearable! I don't understand why it is taking so long to do the bricks! 

All we can do is just wait, never knowing if there's going to be work done or not.. the weathers been absolutely great! not a cloud in the sky type of weather so there's nothing really holding the bricklayers back.. we just want to get our house done!! That's all we want!! 

Brick day 14 & 15 - So unexpected

Yesterday we got an email from our SS saying that we would most likely finish in late November!! This is so late and longer than we anticipated..I am soo crushed by the news!!! The frames went up so quickly and I hoped we would finish early or at least in our contracted time.. that's what our SS has been saying all along till yesterday.. I feel very deceived... in our contract it is due to finish in October but due to this long wait our SS thinks it will be in late November! It is so heart breaking and frustrating to hear this!! Everything is out of a control and all we can do is read emails,wait and hope that bricklayers turn up on site.. 

We were also told that no work would happen till tomorrow and they would work for the rest of the week.. but today I went by the site and there are about 5 bricklayers working :S I'm not complaining.. its great that they're there..But I was talking to one of the bricklayers and he said that they won't be back again till next week now!! 
Also he said that they are doing about 4 other houses with ours.. I guess that explains them only coming once a week.. and he did mention that they only need about 5 more days to finish off all the bricks..but if they only come once a week that's like another month or so we'll be waiting!! 

I don't like this information being incorrect and everything just happening whenever.. its very unreliable to have a building process this way.. 

We''ll just have to wait till tomorrow to see what happens.. most likely nothing...

Brick Day 10,11,12,13 - Only one day...?

So once again we've been told one thing and a totally different thing happens..

We were told that from Saturday one wards the bricklayers will be working on our house and that's all.. it started off well on Saturday.. there were about 5 brick layers in the morning and then 3 remaining for another couple of hours... it was very exciting to see part of the pillars come up with the split bricks.. you can really see the bricks being thinner than the others and a lot sleeker..I've attached some photos below..

But we were very disappointed to hear from the bricklayer who said they still had another 2 more days to finish off on another house..however he did cover his tracks saying there would still be some working on our house.. 

However yesterday and today there hasn't been a sign of anyone on site.. Very disappointing! It seems like the bricklayers aren't able to work on our house more than one day at a time! This brick stage is dragging so long... 

You might think its only brick day 13.. why am I sounding so frustrated.. its not really the 13th day.. its 9 weeks and 13 days so I feel that I have every right to feel frustrated and annoyed at the lack of work happening and so many promises being broken time after time! 

Brick Day 9 - Soon to be all ours...

Today once again no work.. 

However we did find out why the work has been going no where..apparently these couple of weeks the bricklayers were finishing off another job.. we don't know if our SS knew about it all along or just found out.. but apparently and I say apparently because nothing that seems to be said actually happens..anyway apparently they will finish that job Friday and from Saturday onwards the bricklayers are only going to be working on only our house..i will believe it when I see it. Hopefully they stick to this and we get some more work done.. 

Everything is there for them.. the bricks, the sand, the scaffolds.. what else do they want? 

Brick Day 8 - Why more bricks?

Today once again no work has happened...its very deflating when the weather is great and there's brick there and no work is being done day after day! 

Today there was some bricks delivered but that's is... and now all the space in the front of the block is filled with bricks, sand and scaffolding equipment.. I'm hoping something gets done this week.. just at least one day where there's been work on the house.. its so disappointing with everything there but no work being done.. 

Brick Day 3,4,5,6 & 7 - Not much happening...

Well from the lack of updates through the brick stage it can be predicted very accurately that nothing has really happened...unless moving around bricks around the house is called bricklaying.. that's what the bricklayers seem to be doing!

I was driving by the house Monday and was able to catch our SS for a chat. He said the bricklayers were going to be coming in about 5 mins or so and that the scaffolding would definitely be coming in Tuesday so they needed to do some so its easier on them.. obviously I was very excited! I decided to come back later in the day to check out the work.. Unfortunately it seems that either they didn't come or that they just moved more bricks around the house.. its like they just keep prepping rather than actual laying! 

This morning the scaffolding came in and was put up on the sides..not the front though cause there are too many brick palettes sitting in the way..so hopefully due to this they can at least start with the roof tiles.. some work needs to happen! Its been 9 weeks since frames finished and only half of the ground floor and been bricked! That's just ridiculous!!