Saturday 31 May 2014

These are our selected house bricks and roof tiles

Saturday 31 May 2014

While we're now waiting for our selected bricks to arrive and for the Brickies (Brick Layers) to be rostered, I thought I'd show you the house bricks that Pete and I have selected.

We have selected a lovely new brick that's manufactured by Austral Bricks.  We're very fortunate that it had only just been released at the very time that we had to view our preferred bricks prior to our Colours Selection appointment.  The brick was so new that, at the time, it hadn't made it into the brochures for Austral Bricks' products.  The staff at Austral Bricks told us that they can't guarantee the exact colouring and shades of the bricks that we'll get.  That's because the colours of the bricks can vary depending upon: from where they're quarried; the different minerals and make-up of the clay(s); and how those variants react during the manufacturing process.  So we're hoping to get bricks that will be the same as, or similar to, these ones.

The brick comes from Austral Bricks' 'Expressions' range of bricks and it's called "Gunmetal Blue".  We didn't have to pay too much more to upgrade the selection of our preferred bricks, it was really quite reasonable.  McDonald Jones Homes will be laying the Gunmetal Blue bricks with an off-white coloured mortar.

For our roof top we've selected modern-looking, flat-profile, concrete roof tiles manufactured by Monier.  They're from Monier's Horizon range of roof tiles and they're called 'Sambuca'.

Pete took this photo of the Expressions' Gunmetal Blue bricks when we visited Austral Bricks at their Horsley Park exhibition centre way back on Saturday 10 August 2013.

(Click on photos to view enlarged images)



Here's a picture of the Monier Horizon's 'Sambuca' roof tiles. 



This is an image of the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade.  The colours and [front] cement rendering that we’ve selected will look very similar to this image, with the exception of the Monier Sambuca roof tiles that we've selected in lieu of the Colorbond steel roof.  The only part of the house that will be cement-rendered and painted will be the front wall towards the west (left) side of the house.  All other walls will have the exposed Gunmetal Blue brick surfaces.



Thursday 29 May 2014

Plumbers on site today

Thursday 29 May 2014

The plumbers were on site today doing some work on the various pipes that have been laid in the concrete slab.  They have also laid connecting pipes and hoses that will link the 4,500 litre rainwater tank (which will be located external to the house and directly next to the garage wall) to the various other water outlets (for the washing machine in the laundry, the toilets, and the garden taps).  Some of these hoses seem to climb up the frame work and across the internal ceiling space.

Here's some photos that were actually taken on a cloudy, overcast, Saturday 31 May 2014, which show the status of the plumbing work that was actually completed on Thursday 29 May 2014.  It's really exciting now seeing the gradual progress.  The house is really starting to take form.  We've even noticed that the steel framework for the bath tub in the main bathroom has now appeared.  This is located directly behind Bedroom 2 at the front of the house.  After all these past months of trying to visualise the new home from staring at 1 dimensional drawing plans and pictures on paper, it's really exciting to finally see the new home and its dimensions taking form in real life and real 3D!

We're really impressed and very happy with McDonald Jones Homes.

(Click on photos to view enlarged images)

  

The concrete slab that will support and hold the 4,500 litre rainwater tank is pictured at the right in the above photograph, and directly next to the garage wall.  Note the pipes and hoses that have been installed to connect that rainwater tank to other water outlets.


Copper piping and a garden tap have been installed at the front left of the house in the photos that appear above and below.


 

Wednesday 28 May 2014

Completion of framework

Wednesday 28 May 2014

When I drove by the site this morning on the way to work there was one worker on site finishing the work on the frames.  At 9:30 a.m. I received an SMS Text Message from McDonald Jones Homes advising me that the framework had been completed.  It's a week today since the work began on erecting the frames and it appears to be all completed now.  

The Site Supervisor has told us that there's a problem with rostering the Brickies to lay our bricks.  There's apparently so much construction work going on around the place that there's a 3 week delay before the Brickies will be available to do the job for us.  So unless there's a miraculous change of status, there will be little progress to report on for the next couple of weeks or so until the Brickies confirm their availability.

We’ve been having the most incredible, warm, balmy, sunny weather which has extended through until the end of autumn this year.  Last week, every day reached a warm sunny average of 24⁰C (75.2⁰F).  This week, every day has been a similar, warmer, 25⁰C (77⁰F).  The current weather patterns in Sydney, New South Wales and Victoria are breaking new records yet again.  Both states report having the longest, continual number of warm autumn days (some 20+ days) all with daytime temperatures consistently exceeding 22⁰C (71.6⁰F) since our weather records commenced back in 1859!  The El Nino is expected to return this coming Spring/Summer/Autumn (which means extended hot and dry summer months).  Winter is due to commence in Australia from 1 June (only 4 days away).

It’s an absolute pity and shame that with all this consistent evidence of increasing climate change, Australia is currently being governed by a bunch of ideological conservatives and sceptics who deny the existence of climate change and actively ruin the courageous environmental initiatives of our previous Government.  The Australian [Abbott] Government does not speak for all of us and they certainly don’t speak for Pete and I.

Here's some photos that I took at midday today which show the completed framework.

(Click on photos to view enlarged images)









    Here's an image of what the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade looks like again
  

    This is the floorplan for the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade

 

Dimensions for the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade


Overall Home Dimensions

Dimensions quoted in metres (m).

Home width:
  8.45m
Home length:
21.21m
Width of block of land:
12m
Depth of block of land:
49.5m
Size of block of land in square metres:
594m²
Internal Ceiling Height (raised to):
  2.70m
Height of doors (raised to):
  2.34m

Room Dimensions

Open-plan Family & Dining rooms:
4.4m x 6.6m
Master Suite:
4.1m x 3.6m
Bedroom 2:
2.9m x 2.9m
Bedroom 3:
2.9m x 2.9m
Home Theatre room:
4.1m x 3.5m
Single Car Garage:
3.0m x 5.5m
Alfresco Cabana:
3.0m x 3.9m