We have peg off! Our lovely little neon pegs.

We have been surveyed!!  I know it's small, however any action is good! I really can't wait until we see some concrete.

I had a good look and tried to walk myself around some parts of the house as marked out by the pegs, however it's really hard to get a good idea of the dimensions. What struck me today was that it all looks like such a small space - I'm hoping it's an spatial - visual illusion, however I hope the spaces feel larger than it looks, and more as I have been imagining!

Here are some photos of our dirt avec some lovely neon pegs!:

Our first bits of steel! I am excited! 

Fingers crossed for some concreting next week! I will try to post my plans in the next couple of days and back track a little to complete the picture for everyone.

Chat soon xx

Dirt Photos! Back at the block on the weekend :)

I thought I would share some photos I took on the weekend (12 May). We now have a "real" fence up, however I haven't been back to see it yet. I don't want to go back until we have some action !

Patience is a Virtue! Waiting for things to really start moving :)

Well it has been a slow couple of weeks and we have changed the sequence of the build slightly. I'm dying to post more some tangible signs of progress!

We had planned for the pool to be dug and concreted last week, however due to a couple of unexpected issues with the block, we made the decision to put the pool on hold until the end of the build. The only concern we had in doing this was access, however we have a clear 3 metre strip down one side of the house, and so we can still access the back yard, it will just take a little longer to dig, and we can live with that :) It also means that once the house in place, we can change the location of the pool if we think it suits. It will be much easier to visualise at a later point.

So now our house builders have the all clear to go for it! I'm hoping the footings and piers are dug this week, however I'm not too sure yet.

One of the issues we have to address is retaining down the back of the block. The contour map we received from the developers does not actually match the reality of the block. So when we cut the block, the height of the lower level of the block is much higher at the covenant point line that we were anticipating. Looking at this, we have decided that it will be much better to retain this than leave it open and sloping. Retaining will give us a larger flat backyard area and also be safer for the kids. The only thing I don't like about the retaining is the cost of course! It's not a cheap exercise. However I just have to think that it will make such a difference to the house and our useable space. So our lovely designer Kevin is back onto the job to design the retaining wall for us.

I might be a bit slow off the mark, however I'm quickly learning with building that unexpected situations and problems arise all the time, and when you least expect it. You need to be prepared to rethink your plans and make on the spot decisions (which I find really hard!). And I know everyone says this, however always expect to go over budget! I'm working on the lotto plan to try to alleviate this issue, however no luck yet ...

We are going to retain along this line

Fingers crossed for further progress reports soon!

Have a lovely day :)

There's a hole in our block, dear Liza, dear Liza!

Today our block changed from a gentle sloping site into big dirty steps! I love the dirt! Photos are taken from our lovely neighbour's laundry!

Looking up towards the road

This is the approximately the convenant line on the block, looking east to west.

We met our fantastic Site Manager Steve for the first time today, a really lovely guy. We also met out Site Foreman Mark, another lovely guy, consistent with the excellent service we've had with Garth Chapman. In only one day I've been really impressed with their communication and service. 

Our first hurdle of the actual build came on Day 1. Deciding where to put the excess dirt! 

We weren't sure how much excess soil we would have, or how much we needed to hang on to in case we needed it to retain down the back of the site later on. The problem is storing the soil while the house is built. We have nowhere to store the soil and it is a hazard (especially if it rains). We hope that we can give it to our neighbour's who do need extra, however they may not be in a position to store it now either. Watch this space! 

Next step is the pool! The pool builders will be onsite next week to dig out and concrete our pool. After that, Steve and Mark will be back to dig out a little more of the site and dig out the piers. Exciting times ahead! 

It starts tomorrow!!

Well I still have a bit of catching up to do with the blog, however I had to let you know that we start the build tomorrow!

Our builders will be on site at 7am to start the cutting in. I can't wait! We only had the news on Friday - after all this waiting it is still a little surreal that we are actually starting!!

Here are some photos of the block as it is now:

Let the digging begin!!