Hopefully this is a speedy update because I am super busy with my
uni work (studying interior architecture!) and I’ve sadly neglected my
blog. To bring you up to date, we have officially signed the builder
on. A fabulous husband/wife duo who are locals; they used to live a few
doors up from Almora and have heaps of projects in our area over many
years. They are just "on to it”; know every detail, very professional,
keen to be signed on, obviously experienced. Exactly what we were
looking for! Demo is set to start this week. Eek!!
We
went out to tender and met with about four or five different builders
over the last few months. They were builders recommended to us by our
architects or friends. Ultimately it came down to professionalism, cost
and time. Thankfully our builder duo had the best of all three. I met
two of the builders, and knew right away that the ones we signed on
would be the right fit because the second builder I met hadn’t even
looked at our plans. Tut tut.
Our
builder is really conscientious, pays attention to detail and quality,
and plays by the rules. He told us he keeps his construction sites clean, tidy
and safe according to the building regulations which is very important.
We got to see one of his finished houses also in our area and it was
just so beautiful and obviously had been paid a lot of attention to
detail. It was probably for me what made me like our builder the most
out of them all, getting to see his work in the flesh and imagine our
own house built by him too.
After
we signed on our duo, we had to go and talk to our neighbours in order
to gain access to their property to build the boundary sides of our
house (we go right up to the edge of the boundaries). This involved
bringing the finished, council-stamped plans and paperwork for the
neighbours to sign. But it can be a tricky process. You see, one set of
neighbours signed it with no issues at all, but the other set were
apprehensive, but in order for them to actually see our plans (i.e. what we are building, how far out, shadows, windows, etc. - not that they can object any of these now, that time has been and gone), they have
to sign the first part of the paperwork. They did this. However,
signing that first part puts a time limit on signing the second part -
14 days to be exact. The second part is the final agreement. If they
fail to sign the second part our land surveyor automatically grants us
access (which also involves the removal of fences/shrubbery in the way).
It sort of sounds like this defeats the purpose of even asking the
neighbours but I think it sets up cordiality and friendly relations,
that is if the neighbours aren’t too pissed off about the building going
on. Anyway, they signed the paperwork in the end and we’ve come to an
agreement about replacing the fence, etc.
Before
we signed on our builder he and his wife gave us a list of questions to
answer about our plans that needed to be confirmed or hadn’t been
addressed clearly in the architects notes. I wrote out all the questions
he emailed in a formatted structure and typed each answer my parents
dictated. Real example:
DOORS
Doors = three panel door textured (see picture [not in blog]), but exterior grade for noise reducing
Door handles = pewter colour
Front door = traditional Victorian four panel door, with Victorian style screen door
KITCHEN + PANTRY
Confirm all materials & finishes i.e. benchtops, doors & panels
All kitchen/pantry bench tops = Caesarstone “Snow”
Kitchen cupboard/drawers doors = shaker panel doors, white, 2 pac. Interior of joinery to be timber.
Kitchen splashbacks = feature tiles (not marble, not glass)
Above cooktop bench = overhead cupboards (shaker panel), to house the pull-out rangehood
They were pretty comprehensive. You should’ve seen the entire list! It was every single room in the house.
Some
of the questions involved illustrated examples, like the joinery for my
sister’s and my wardrobes and desks. So, me being the student interior architect, I drew the following plans, and was
subsequently told my plans were too expensive and needed to be toned
down. I am yet to see what the cabinet maker comes up with, as I was
told he/she would be coming up with a new plan that was based on my
ideas.
We
are yet to choose tile and paint colours and all of that fun decorating
stuff that I so desperately love. I seriously hope I am involved in the
tile selections and door handle selections… super exciting to me.
So,
within the next 9-12 months, you’ll be seeing more progress photos and
updates of the actual, physical build! I can’t wait for this time next
year when we will most likely have moved in! Seems surreal!
I’ll
leave you with a picture of the spray painted walls my family recently
completed (without me, begrudgingly) for fun before demo! I’ll be back
soon with a post about the demo!
XO
