kitchen layout...

Here's a rough look at what our kitchen will look like....we will be blocking off the space up to the ceiling, above the fridge cabinets to finish it off. Oh and seeing we will be living in a wine region, we thought we would have lots of wine racks and a wine fridge :-))

The cabinets will be in white and the bench top will be in a light grey granite, with white tiles behind the cook top area.

And here's the walk in pantry, with adjustable shelving, to store everything. The entry of the pantry is to the left of the fridge.

Now I just have to find another job to pay for it!!

Progress!

The ground has been cleared, and the piers have been concreted!! The slab was supposed to have been laid last week, along with the drainage, however we have been experiencing torrential rain - so that's been put on hold until we get some dry days....hopefully soon! The framing is supposed to be delivered tomorrow.

Looking towards the rear of the property....the swimming pool in the distance... Looking towards the front of the property....check out the portaloo...the large white stash on the left hand side are polystyrene blocks, what they call waffle pods - for the slab.

Apparently polystyrene rafts and waffle pods have revolutionised the concreting industry over the last decade. A waffle pod system can save considerable money as site preparation is much simpler and there are significant savings in the amount of concrete used. (Isn't Google wonderful!!!!)

The polystyrene raft is also a great insulator, reducing heat transfer through the floor. The on-ground system (rather than in-ground) slab, eliminating the need for labour intensive trenching - formerly essential to create underfloor concrete beams in conventional slab construction methods. Construction takes place on cleared level surfaces, allowing work to continue uninterrupted in inclement weather conditions.

The Wafflepod system uses polystyrene void formers arranged on the levelled building area in a grid (waffle) pattern with reinforcing between and above the voidformers. Concrete fills the spaces between and across the Ribbed Raft to form a slab over the entire area. The spaces between the void formers effectively become concrete beams on ribs resulting in a slab which is a structural element of immense strength.

...We have encountered an issue with the building company!! They have advised us, after we have signed off on all the plans that they need to build a blade wall (1.2 metres in length) inside the garage...between the double garage and the third garage. This is to structurally support the steel beam for upstairs!!! Go figure....you think they would have suggested this right at the beginning of the planning process...but no, they spring this on us now!!! We went back to them and advised that the display homes, the ones with the triple garages don't have this blade wall. Their answer to this, was the display garages are framed and gyprock lined (like gib board in NZ). So we have asked them if we could frame the inside of the entry garage wall to avoid the need to have a blade wall, as this will keep the openness of the garages. Fingers crossed!!

We are meeting the site manager, Gary, a week on Monday, to introduce ourselves, build up a relationship, and to establish the timeframe for each step of the build.

We also finalised the kitchen plans today with the external kitchen designer, Nancy, from Marquardt Granite Kitchens. This was an exciting and fun process. Outline of the sketches in the next update.

We received a phone call on Friday from the pool contractor, to advise the pool shell is complete!! They broke the ground on Wednesday and by Friday they completed the shell, along with the feature wall. Without complication! So we took a drive today, to see what they have been doing.

Yeah, we have a pool!!! Well a shell anyhow, so far. Take a look....

Davey, picturing what it would be like to take a dip!

The steps into the pool...

A view from the South-East boundary line...

The size of the pool is 9 metres x 3 metres, and the depth at the deep end is 1.8 metres. So, big enough for a few strokes - back and forth, and deep enough to aqua jog. Then there's refreshingly enough to cool off in the high heat.....and for lounging on a blow up sun lounger, floating with a margarita!!!! Can't wait :-)

Now we have to find out when they are going to start our home...until the next post.