Housearama

It’s been a particularly shitty day. These guys make me smile =)

Feeling somewhat less financial having just paid progress payment #1. We have received an email from our builders stating that the drainage works are scheduled for next Wednesday 30th September, although no acknowledgement of failure to comply with Engineer’s recommendations re. having it done prior to commencement of footings works. We figured that one was going to be a hard fight, and not worth the effort. We feel pretty secure that we have done what we need to do to protect ourselves, and we have plenty of photos and data on record to show the whats and whens should we run into problems in future and need to provide evidence.

So I guess now it is full steam ahead!! Drainage next Wednesday, delivery of frames is scheduled for 6th October and framing to begin shortly thereafter (which pleases me as it is an appropriate length of time for the slab to cure).

We’re working on getting quotes for various other works at the moment. The tiling, the fencing, the pergola area, etc. Basically anything that lends itself to either sustainability or cat friendliness – stuff that we want done immediately upon completion of the main house. We’re planning to open the house for Sustainable House Day, although not likely to be in 2010 as we want a good solid year of data on the house before we go sprouting the benefits of the design and materials! Greatly looking forward to having all the CBus stuff installed to be able to automate the data collection and the correcting of temperate conditions and the likes. Lots of work to do. No rest for the wicked!

I think I need a coffee…

The site has been significantly cleaned up. Most of the mound of excess dirt and rubbish has now been removed from the front, and it is a much more pleasant scene. Albeit a muddy one!! The rain! The rain has prevented our swimming pool from drying up, although it is significantly lower in levels than when we had the water meter constantly working at filling it.

We heard from the fabulous John Goldfinch yesterday! Not only is he exceptional in his knowledge of all thing concrete, he’s also a heck of a nice guy. Highly capable of explaining himself in terms that even I (with my dreadful case of baby-brain) can understand. The result is that we’re both feeling much better about things. John checked the rainfall in the months preceeding the pouring of the slab, and is happy that the resultant levels of moisture in the soil mean that the current moisture levels due to the water pooling will not tax the foundations greatly. Apparently the danger is in too great a variation in wet/dry conditions which then result in movement in the concrete. We shouldn’t have any of this. We have also taken precautions now in case of future problems with the footings by employing John’s firm to come out and take a bunch of measurements of the slab which can then be used for comparison at a later date should the need arise.

We have also had the footings inspection done as a part of a standard staged construction inspection process (performed by a neutral party of our employ, not Longridge). Kym Buckley from HouseWise gave us the (almost) all clear on the slab, and we’re very close to being ready to make the payment. The result is that the measurements are all within acceptable levels with the exception of the toilet in the ensuite (which is positioned too close to the laundry wall). Oooops!! Waiting to hear from the builders as to what they plan to do on that one.

Kym also recommended that we get it in writing (email is fine) from the builders that they will “rectify the situation with the pooling water ASAP” prior to making payment, and that they include acknowledgement in this letter that the engineers report recommends this work be done prior to the laying of the foundations (which clearly was not done, otherwise we wouldn’t have our swimming pool!!). I’m just waiting on that email to come through with my hand on my mouse, hovering over the “submit” button to make the payment!

I’ve been on the phone for most of the morning attempting to organise building inspections. We’ve signed on with HouseWise Building Inspections, and Kym Buckley will be doing our first inspection on Wednesday.

I have also been in contact with an engineer’s office with regards to testing the slab for structural integrity. I have left a message about the problem and am waiting for them to contact me back. John Goldfinch was recommended by several inspection service companies as THE MAN to talk to about concrete footings. I hope he calls back soon!

We have also just received our first invoice – the footings bill. I have been in contact with the Terry at Longridge (the Commercial Manager), and have had a chat about the water around the slab. He agrees that having the slab sitting in a couple of inches of water can’t be good for it, and payment should be delayed until we’re happy with the structural integrity of the slab.

Now I just have to wait for the engineer to contact me, then the fun should begin!!

Keeping all fingies and toes crossed that everything is ok… A problem at this stage would cause massive delays, and we just really want to be living in our own home again! Trying to keep upbeat (it will be fine!!! It has to be), but feeling a little nervous and sad right now.

We went to visit the block again today (who wouldda thunk it, right?). The water was still leaking, our swimming pool was getting deeper. I have my suspicions as to whether SA Water were informed or not. I called them and told them that it had been ‘repaired’ the previous Tuesday, was found to be leaking again on Thursday (when the SS was informed and said that he would be contacting SA Water about it), and that it is still leaking several days later. I told them that I was concerned for my recently poured foundations, and that they had been semi-submerged in water since only hours after they were poured.

Add to this that our neighbour is REALLY pissed that her front garden is now under water. And what’s the point of water restrictions if they couldn’t care less that we’ve effectively had a tap running at full pressure for at least 4 days?!?!

From the time that I got off the phone with them, it took them about two hours to get it fixed.

Wondering at the old addage “If you want something done properly, you have to do it yourself”. Anyways, fixed now. Hope that the slab hasn’t taken any damage!

One of the contractors broke our water meter when working on the foundations earlier in the week. SA Water had been out to fix it. Apparently not well enough!! We now have a swimming pool!! I’m considering installing a diving board at the front of the garage

A quick snap from this morning:

And my fave pic from yesterday:

And because I was so excited, I thought I’d post a quick pic of our kitchen selections!! This shows the Essastone in “Basmati”, the high gloss white vinyl wrap of the cabinetry and the stunning black glass splashback in a mirror finish.

The concrete trucks arrived today