Site start today. Scrape and porta loo

The day before site start Neighbour sends this pic along with a message saying concrete truck reversed over your mains and drove off water everywhere. 

Amazing Neighbour, he then reported to police the license plate number and slowed the water flow by bending remains of water pipe. South East water fixed the pipes within an hr of me calling them. No cost to us, just a quick bit of stress and all over. 

Yesterday's water gone, today site was scrapped and ready with a porta loo in situ. Wow this is getting real now. 

We still don't have final site costs yet and they've started already. 

Pool concrete shell complete

So happy I changed deep end to fence side. Concrete looks good and was poured on warm day and no rain for several days after so it well set. 

We can also see at 4.30pm this is the shade on the pool courtesy of neighbours massive tree. Unsure how long shade from tree will be there as house sold next door and they're building 2 townhouses we think so tree will probably be removed. 

This will be ledge for kids to play and sit on. Corner steps look small but hopefully they will be ok, have to trust pool guys that is what works. 

Kids decide mounds of dirt better play on than looking at than concrete shell. 

Exciting news is site start will be 28 November; I've called and pushed for earlier date so much but at least they're starting in November as contracted to do. Slab pour set for 11 dec. 

Front temporary fencing removed by demo team. Temporary fence around pool inanity now. Soil mounds gone. Bamboo forest starting in backyard thanks to neighbours bamboo - eek, time to get out the poison. 

We await slab costings still and insulation costing in post contract variation. Weird to start building before we even know site/slab final costings!

Pool - stage one the dig & framing

Marking out the pool dimensions and location on site was fun. A few hours with our pool BC was really helpful, so much so we changed the layout of the steps completely. He has 4 kids and thought the design was bad and unsafe, the sales guy and him need to team up I think. So instead of having a swim up ledge all the way along the pool we moved it to just one end and steps were to be triangles not squared as this will avoid cuts, injuries and things that i need want to think about. Great advice. 

Suddenly things just didn't seem right when I was thinking about the steps and location against the fence. I tossed and turned all night long on Thrs and on Friday when they started digging I suddenly needed to move the shallow end to the other end and deep end against the fence. It was an 11th hour change of mind and TOTALLY stressful. I called the BC and he talked me out of changing, but 5mins later I call him back and changed it. Ahhh the guy was digging it and managed just in time to alter the deep and shallow ends, it was mentally exhausting but so glad I followed my instincts and changed it. 

Now our pool will look like the pic on the right instead of left, will probably put in 2 pool gates instead of just one and make left pool fence a bit further to left:

 

Depth of pool 1.2-1.8-1.4

Dimensions 4x7m

The Integrated Pool team worked over the weekend including Sunday to get all the steel framing done in time for the concrete pour/spray on Wednesday (today). The plumbers then came and installed the skimmer box and other pipes they needed to do. Later today I will visit the site and see our future pool complete.

A few pics

Unsure what copper pipes for, will have to ask later. 

Final construction drawings - signed off

So excited we are almost ready and paperwork issues almost finished. Signed off on final drawings now. Here are final images:

Final construction drawings - errors

An email asking when we sign off on final drawings as November was approaching got the ball rolling and bang I have the final drawings. The first set had multiple errors on it and lucky i was able to spot them all. Type of errors noted were:

p. 2 - Note re lattice screening to be full responsibility of owner "after" handover; this is not consistent with all other documents that state it must be complete "before" handover in order to get occupancy certificate.

p.5 - OVEN incorrect location; kitchen culture drawings are correct

p.7 - Note for front door incorrect; front door is PSLM201 translucent DG glass to sidelight (not PMAD104).
p.7 - the evaporative cooling unit is hovering in diagram, probably better to have it attached to roof!
p.7 - Vent for rangehood location not correct if you measure exact location of rangehood base on kitchen culture FINAL drawings.

p.11 - Section X-X must have 20degree roof pitch not 25degree pitch

p.12 - A construction drawing has been removed here for some reason. 'HEBEL' PANEL 470X470 PIERS scale 1:20

p.12 - Also a construction note has been removed
"-Top hat supports at 600CTS to manufacturers requirements"

"-Adjust nogging size to make assembly fit"
 

p.13 - for clarity drawing on right should be titled "GUEST" BEDROOM PROJECTION DETAIL - DETAIL 'A', not "Master".

p.14 - We have finalised all Kitchen Culture drawings and they are perfect as per designed in our Sales Meeting. The plans never reflected the exact Kitchen Culture drawings but we were always told to not worry as on our final plans they will be fixed once cabinetry confirmed. This is where I got worried when reviewing drawings today.  The rangehood and oven are incorrectly located. Our rangehood will not be centered against the window in final construction and this is due to bench requirements with oven not literally next to sink, there is to be a small bench between oven & sink. Here are correct measurements:
KITCHEN - A  drawing (sheet 14):
- along bottom are 5440 not 5430; this is reflected in p.5 also states 5540.

- along top are 1100 (correct), 2855 (not 2383), 950 (not 910), 1635 (not 2137), the top measurement is 2110 CL (not 2592CL).

This does mean the fidly drawings need to be altered, by doing this now come installation of cabinetry it will all fit and we wont suddenly have errors and lots of stress which no Site Supervisors wants.

 

p.15 - Missing half wall tiling to PDR - A & PDR D

p.15 - Missing Full wall tiling to BATH - A & B &C & D

p.15 - BATH - D drawing the mirror is a shaving cabinet the same as ENS - D on page16. The shaving cabinet is meant to be deep recessed BATH - A drawing, the same as ENS - C on page16.

p.15 - No birdseye view of WC toilet set up.

p.15 - WC - D missing location of towel ring next to mini basin

p.16 - ENS - D missing full wall tiling

p.16 - missing drawing of Ensuite toilet (Master bedroom), this toilet will have full wall tiles and also a toilet roll holder.

p.17 &18 - shower bases are tiled too.

Engineering drawings - does the slab to accommodate a concrete pad for hot water system or is this done post slab?

- part of front facade tiled as per national tiles contract, should this be mentioned on page 7 & page 8

Awaiting:
- final slab/site costs now
- insulation variation form
- confirmation of new rangehood as Meile promotion rangehood no longer available
- confirmation of site start...
- pool should be finished soon.