Week 10 - Our first walk upstairs... plus brick delivery and plumbing rough in (29 June - 3 July)

Week 10: Brick delivery and plumbing rough in (29 June - 3 July)

 Mon 29th June we had the big stockpile of dirt removed and bricks arrived. Tues 30th June plumbers rough in, then 4 working days of nothing while we waited for the brick layers to start.

 

The highlight of this week - meeting the site supervisor on our build and going upstairs for the first time. We discovered this is what the sunrise looks like from our Master bedroom. It's absolutely gorgeous!

When I think about waking up to that view every morning for the next few decades, I feel like this... (my happy little lark at 6 months old this week!)

 

 The week started with (finally!) having the stockpile of dirt out the front removed, just in the nick of time as a couple of hours later 9000 bricks were delivered (the first instalment of 14,000 total bricks to go into our house on both storeys!)

Here are our bricks - Austral Metropolis in Alabaster colour. We chose this brick because it is quite neutral in colour - more a stone than a blond/honey colour so hopefully won't date too much. It is also a through and through coloured brick, where some are just painted on colour and can chip. We were really keen to see plenty of variation in colours - this first sample pallet looks pretty acceptable in the range of colours.

 This is what 9000 bricks looks like! The red common bricks in the left corner are a cheaper brick and used where there are portions that are rendered - like our front pillars.

And now for the walk through upstairs with our site supervisor...this is looking NE into our master bedroom - this room is going to be full of gorgeous sunshine and sweeping district views. Love it! Despite being upper floor, you can see the north facing windows we were permitted to have low set, where the east facing and the kids bedrooms we had to have high set 600mm high windows for safety.

Here are the north facing low set windows from the master bedroom. I am not quite sure why they permitted low set in the master bed, but I am very thankful as it makes the façade look much better!

 

 

 Here is Bedroom 2 on the rear SE corner - here you can see the high set safety windows. To the rear we are not missing much view as they would be blocked by the pitch of the rear playroom roof below, but the E side windows would have had a nice district view (they still do, you just have to be on tip toes!)

 This is Bedroom 3 on the rear SW corner. Not missing much view on this side with the high set windows as it overlooks our yard and the neighbours yard. The W side window here is a special glazed thermal window to block out heat and late afternoon sun. To the left of this frame is a mirrored sliding door robe - oodles of storage, and matching layout as in Bed 2.

 This is a view looking north into the front of the house - the flooring here is temporary and this will be a double storey height void above the entry door. The square fixed glass window will frame a nice artistic hanging light/chandelier that can be seen from the street -designs still under discussion! It will probably be the only window on the façade without plantation shutters so the feature light can be seen from the road.

 Another view of the fixed glass window that will frame the hanging light. I love this aspect looking down the cul de sac out front of our place.

 This is looking to NW corner of the house upstairs, looking at our upstairs sitting room. I am calling this the 'quiet room' where I am thinking TV, tepee, bookcase of books to read and some quiet activities for the older kids to play while the little ones sleep... or ideally while Mum and Dad have a Saturday sleep in (maybe wishful thinking!). The western wall directly in front will be a solid wall so we are not overlooking the neighbour, but to the right are three 900x900 windows which will have lots of sunshine and northern light, most likely with plantation shutters for privacy.

 This section of the floor is temporary and will be removed and replaced with a stairwell and void that will be just stainless steel post uprights. Access to the upstairs is currently a ladder! Room for improvement there!

 Having the roof on, and especially the sloped pitch room under the 3 upper living room windows (above the garage) has really changed the façade and it feels much more balanced and complete.

 The other roof trusses added this week are over the rear alfresco. This view is from the laundry door, looking down a pathway past our kitchen to the rear alfresco. This will likely be the spot for fold down washing lines. As you can see, this side also needs a new fence - top priority when we move in!

 The plumbing rough in finally happened and there were flexi pipes like this running all through the roof and walls connecting each of the wet areas. One day this house is going to be liveable!

 

What next for WEEK 11: Planned for a Monday start for the bricklayers but instead we got a pile of sand and more metal supports. By Tues 7th July the bricklayers started work, and the electrician was in to fit the meter box (fuelled by chocolate muffins and coffee!). We expect 1-2 (week 11-12) weeks to brick downstairs, then they disappear for 1-2 days while the scaffolding goes up, then back or a couple of weeks for bricks upstairs (Week 13-14).