Sub-floor, frame and garage slab

Well, it's been almost a month since Easter - time certainly does fly when you are building!
Lots of progress has been made on the house in the last 4 weeks, the garage slab has been poured, the sub-floor has been installed and today, the frame for the ground floor went in.  I walked around site today and, for the first time, I felt the lines on pages I have been agonising over for almost five years, jump off the page in to what is fast becoming our dream family home.   These last four weeks haven't been without its lessons and the inevitable ups and downs.  After a ridiculous amount of negotiation, all of our neighbours finally realised that they weren't going to get their boundary fences for free and agreed to contribute equally to the fence - unbelievable right?!  The fencer starts this Thursday after Anzac Day - I cannot tell you how much I am longing for the privacy and sense of personal space a fence brings.   They say "good fences make good neighbours" - build me a compound then I say!!

Just before our first progress payment, we were doing our due diligence and checking our builders' warranty insurance - thank goodness we did as the company who issued our policy has had its underwriter go in to liquidation and its parent company go in to voluntary administration.  Being an accountant myself, this translates to not good news for those who hold a policy with the company.  Fortunately, our builder, Grant from Jigsaw Projects understood our concerns and helped us to secure a more suitable policy.  It is so important to have a good relationship with your builder.  Without doubt, there will be differences of opinion, discussions regarding costs and variations, challenges with selections, however if you have a relationship that is honest, open and transparent and you approach problems in a manner which recognises each others' interests, this is sure to build respect regardless of the issue at hand.

So here are some picture of the progress to date:

Sub floor joists and bearers going in

Garage slab - colour: Eclipse the chip board is covering the pool

Front elevation:  Verandah, formal lounge and master bedroom

Formal lounge room

The Edwardian Bay in our master bedroom

The view from our master bay window, looking forward to sitting on the box seat which will be going in here. 

Standing in our master ensuite, looking back toward the walk in robes and master bedroom

Standing just in the front door, looking down the entry hall to the family room, love the split level in the entry hall.

Formal lounge and study

Lounge window looking out to the verandah on the driveway side

Standing in the kitchen looking in to the laundry

Laundry

From the laundry looking over the Alfresco and in to the family room and mud room

Looking out over the alfresco to the pool and "south lawn"

Thanks for stopping by
Jo

Retaining walls and stumps

This week, the retaining walls and stumps will go in.  A lot has been happening on site thanks to our builder Grant Jennings and site manager Stephen Henshaw from Jigsaw Projects.

Last week all the holes were dug in preparation for the stumps.  While our builder was digging the holes he came across an old septic tank and house footings that had been left behind by the demolition company that Jon and I hired to clear the block.  I would not recommend Hughes Demolition, not only did they submit an additional variation which amounted to about a third of the original quote, they were not prepared to back up the claim with receipts for the extra work.  We took photos of what was happening on site each day and they claimed that work was being done, trades and equipment were on site when in fact they weren't.  In our experience, we found Hughes Demolition to be dishonest in their dealings with us, and now, to add insult to very expensive injury, they didn't do the job properly in the first place.  Back in the day, an unhappy customer would tell 16 people - now we set up a blog and broadcast it around the world, I guess that's Karma at work!!

Fortunately, the uncovered septic tank and a little bit of rock found while digging the stump holes have not held us up more than a day.  I definitely would have preferred to be back in Melbourne at this crucial stage, but that's council planning permission for you. We were supposed to be out of the ground by February if it wasn't for the delay caused by the council due to the change in overlay requirements (see past blog posts for that painful exercise).  Our builder is working very hard to make up the time and it looks like we will have handover by December 1st, exactly one year after the demolition started and on our 11th wedding anniversary, that would be incredible!!

Here are some action photos, hot off Grant's camera.  What a difference a day makes, out of the ground by 5pm, great job by Grant, Steve and their crew.

These stumps needed to be put in form work as this is where the septic tank was found 

The cut out for the step outside the laundry, those bins are the neighbours' - bring on those fences!!!

Form work for the footings for the retaining wall which is around the pool

More retaining wall footings going in

There are all our stumps laid out ready to set in the ground - say 'Hi' to the neighbours everyone....grrrr!!

The stumps ready to go in this morning

All the stumps in by the end of the day - great job Grant and Steve!

Thanks for stopping by!
Jo

Oven decisions

Who would have thought that selecting an oven would take so much thinking!  From my research, it appears most of us who build Hamptons inspired homes opt for Ilve ovens that provide that gorgeous industrial edge.

My first thoughts included an Ilve 90cm upright oven for the mantle in the main kitchen followed by a Miele or Bosch 60cm built in oven and integrated microwave for the butler's pantry.  Ideally, I really wanted a 90cm oven cavity to allow enough room for trays of food when entertaining.

So here are some pictures of what I thought I would go for...

I had the Bosch integrated microwave in my last house, and while it was good, it wasn't great.  Then as luck would have it, necessity changed my thought process entirely.

When we sold the house, of course, we left the integrated microwave with the house.  That meant while we were renting, I needed a new microwave.  My best friend of 31 years (who is also a qualified chef!!) pointed me to the Sharp Carousel for all of $300!  Really?  Could a cheap bench microwave be better?  Hell yes!  The Sharp microwave is the best I have ever owned, powerful, intuitive and easy to use, not to mention it defrosts to perfection.  I love it!!

So what does that mean for my kitchen plans?  As luck would have it again, Falcon, for the first time ever had a 20% off sale just before Christmas 2017.  That meant the oven I have swooned over for years was now within reach - yes, still a couple of thousand more than the Ilve, but not $8,500!!  Considering it has a double oven, I no longer need the second oven in the butler's pantry or the expensive integrated microwave.

The Falcon oven I have chosen has two ovens in it, not a 90cm oven, but considering I have two ovens, hopefully I will be happy with the two smaller ovens.  I am going to keep my cheap and cheerful microwave and place it in a cupboard in the butler's pantry along with the kettle and toaster.  Now that I am not having an additional integrated oven and microwave in the pantry, I have room for a cupboard to house the microwave, kettle and toaster which provides the added bonus of more bench space in the butler's pantry now that the toaster and kettle has it's own place in the cupboard.

Here is my gorgeous falcon 110cm oven and sirius integrated rangehood.

Now to decide on the dishwashers.  We are having two dishwashers, both semi-integrated, one in the main kitchen and one in the butler's pantry.  I thought it would be a no brainer, just go Miele, however after doing some research, a few things have caused me to rethink this decision.  Miele do not do half loads and also do not have cutlery baskets...I know that might sound like a strange consideration, however we like being able to pick up a cutlery basket and take it to the cutlery drawer.  A few friends have the cutlery trays in their dishwashers and I am not a fan - it takes longer to load and longer to unload.  You might say, "just get a cutlery basket for the Miele." Yes, I considered that too, however an additional cutlery basket as an accessory is about $300 - crazy isn't it.

So now I am leaning towards the Bosch series 6 dishwashers which have the option of both cutlery trays, baskets and half load cycles.

Believe it or not, I come in under budget with these selections as well!

Our current Fisher and Paykel fridge will go in the butler's pantry and we will be getting a Fisher and Paykel side by side fridge and freezer for the main kitchen.

Thanks for stopping by.
Jo

The final approved plans!

Some of you may be wondering what this house is going to look like, so finally, now that we have approved plans, I can share with you "Roehampton" in all her glory. 

Site Plan

Ground Floor Plan - we have redesigned the Master WIR to be a suite of cupboards.

First Floor Plan

East Elevation

North Elevation

Fences - Sigh!

Hi Everyone,

You can tell we are on holidays as I finally have the time to update the blog on all that has been happening with the build.

One of the difficulties we have encountered is the replacement of the boundary fences.  Unfortunately, our block of land had post and wire fences to two and half sides.  As you can imagine, they don't provide you with much privacy or security.  Considering we need to contain three children and hopefully soon, our new golden retriever puppy, fences are a priority.

Our neighbours to all three sides have lived in the area for decades and were happy to build new fences, but not happy to pay for half of them...sigh!  One neighbour was happy to have a fence, so long as it was lower than 1.4 meters high to allow him to continue to look in to our front yard from his kitchen window....yes, seriously!!

Fortunately, the Victorian Fencing Act was updated in 2014 to require that boundary fences must be sufficient to meet reasonable privacy and security concerns of all neighbours.  That means if you are living next to retirees like we are, they cannot say that because their grey, nomadic lifestyle means that they don't have pets or children, they don't need a fence better than a post and wire fence!    Furthermore, it is now mandatory that neighbours contribute equally to the construction of a sufficient boundary fence.  A sufficient boundary fence is generally a timber paling fence, 1.8 meters in height.  If you want a standard of fence that exceeds a basic timber paling fence, of course you have to pay the total of the difference if your neighbour doesn't agree.

When you start discussing fences, you certainly get a good picture of who the people are that you are living next to...which has been quite confronting and disappointing.  Let's just say that it is unlikely that we will have the neighbours over for drinks when we move in!!  Unfortunately, we have had to issue fencing notices to our neighbours in order to comply with the law and force them to take responsibility for their fencing obligations.

There is also this scary little law which allows your neighbours to take your land if the boundary fence has been incorrectly placed and the neighbours have used this land as if it was their own for at least 15 years and 1 day.  This law is called Adverse Possession and it is a doozy!  Of course, as luck would have it, our neighbours to both sides have been living there for decades so this has been an interesting one to negotiate.  When we bought the block, we did measure the block and the measurements were correct - that was because we have lost some of our land to the West side and taken some land to the East side boundary which isn't ours.  This 'clandestine' land taking has been happening unbeknown to any of us.  You would think it would be a simple process of having the land surveyed and re-establishing the boundary - think again!!  When one neighbour has the opportunity to get land for free in Lower Plenty, then it is on for young and old, literally speaking.

Fortunately, the fact that we had lost land and gained land through the poor fencing,  helped us when negotiating with the neighbours.  Our neighbour to our east side (who from now on shall be known as scary, grumpy old man) wanted his land back.  We were of course happy to oblige so long as we got our land back to the west boundary from "sometimes nice, sometimes horrible grumpy old man".  Basically that meant that the situation became "the battle of the boundaries" between two grumpy old men. 

In our case, the lost land was the least of our worries.  The impact the lost land had on our house design was far worse.  You see our house has been designed in accordance with minimum set back requirements from boundaries, in our case, 1 meter on the west side. Because the fence wasn't on the boundary, if the neighbour to our west side was to claim adverse possession of that 30cm of our land it would mean that our set back would not meet regulations and we would have to redesign or shrink up our entire house in order for it to be compliant.  You read right!! That would mean a third trip around the council merry go round!!  Not only can your neighbour claim (steal) your land, they don't have to pay you a cent for it either.  A very outdated law that needs to be changed - that's my next pet project!!

If you want to know more about the rules that apply to boundary fencing in Victoria, check out this link below and remember, I am no expert, so always get your own advice.

http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/home/justice+system/laws+and+regulation/civil+law/fencing+law+in+victoria

Thanks for stopping by.
Jo

The pool

After much research, reading many blogs and discussing our options with friends who have been through the process, we decided to install a fibre glass pool.  The pool is 9.6 meters long and 4.5 meters wide, it is called the Brooklyn and it includes a spa and shallow play platform (which can also be used by us parents juggling a cheeky bubbly while the kids are in the pool!). 

Our pool contractor has been exceptional.  We went with Reef Pools, located in Warrandyte and run by Matt Borrak.  Matt has been great to deal with, he was able to refer us to a number of his past customers who were happy for us to come and look at their finished pools.  It was great to be able to see shell colours and sizes of pools in the landscape.  This helped us a great deal when deciding on the size of the pool and the colour of the shell.  The most important part of this process was talking to Matt's past clients and hearing their experiences.

Matt has been very honest and great to work with.  We encountered a couple of variations due to exisiting site works, however Matt kept us informed with cost estimates and was happy to produce invoices from his subcontractors to support variations, this has built trust between us and our pool contractor which is so important.

Barrier Reef Pools was one of the only fibre glass pool suppliers that produces a shell which includes a spa.  Most fibre glass pool companies only offer separate spas from the shell.

The colour we have gone with is Royal Blue Shimmer which has a glittery effect in the sunlight, the colour is darker than I first imagined I would go with, but not as dark as it looks in the photos of the pool being installed.

You really need to see the pools installed to get a good idea of the colour of the shell - the first client of Matt's that we went to had the colour I thought I wanted - Matt said that once we saw it, we would change our mind and he was right.  When we went to Matt's second client's home and we saw this colour, Royal Blue Shimmer, glittering in the sunlight, I was hooked.  Also, this client has the same north/south orientation of the pool that we have so it gave us a really good idea of what our pool would look like in situ.

One of the other things that this research helped with was deciding on the plumbing fixture colours.  We thought that white stood out too much so we opted for grey fittings which was a special order.  We had grey fittings in our spa at our previous house and we liked they way that they faded in to the background, sort of like painting your fence a dark colour.

Here are a couple of photos of the finished product, and some action shots of the pool going in.

photos courtesy of www.barrierreefpools.com.au

The finished Brooklyn

Looking forward to next summer!

Thanks for stopping by.

Jo

Easter Update

Happy Easter Everyone!

My family and I are taking a much needed break over the Easter holidays in one of our favourite holiday locations, Noosa. 

The last few months have been challenging to say the least.  When I left you last, we were embarking on yet another planning permission process.  While the council did everything they could to expedite the process, there is only so much that they can do.  Our advertising period ended on December 22nd, however, just after Christmas, the council notified us that they had received an objection from a neighbour.  The neighbour basically objected to everything except us breathing, fortunately, none of the matters he objected to required us to change our plans.  When an objection has been received however,  a planning permit cannot be issued until three weeks after the council have considered the objection and issued their decision.  While the council did issue their decision in our favour we then had to wait for the VCAT period to expire.  The VCAT period is the time allowed for the objector to appeal council's decison to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.  With all the public holidays in December and January, we finally received our planning permit on February 2nd.

The site cut started that week and we held our breath to see if we would encounter the costly unknown...rock.  The building Gods must have decided that we had encountered enough bad luck and I am delighted to say that the site cut and the excavation for the pool revealed not only no rock but the best soil conditions to build in....Clay!

When we left for Queensland, the plumbing was in, the site cut was finished, the pool was in and the meter box was done.  The electrical pit works were completed during the planning permit phase....much to our grumpy neighbour's discontent.  Hopefully when we return, the piers and stumps will be in, the retaining walls will be done and we will be out of the ground....fingers crossed!

The lower section is the garage foot print, the upper section is where the pool will be

Plumbing is in

All that dirt at the back of the block will be used to level out the "south lawn"

 Footings for the retaining walls are in, these will surround the pool.

After reading Belinda's advice from one her posts on Gallerie B, we made sure that the meter box and switch board were positioned correctly.  The meter box will be on the back of the stone clad pillars either side of the driveway and front gate.  This is its temporary home, on a pole, until the driveway pillars are built.  The switch board will be located in the garage, out of view and easy to access without going outside - the last thing you want to do in a blackout!!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Easter!

Jo

Building lesson #5 - Getting through the evil that is council planning permission: the sequel

All good horror movies have a sequel, why should council planning be any different?

You may recall my post last year which detailed blow by painful blow, the struggle we had to obtain council planning permission, the ridiculous amount of bureaucratic red tape and the decision in the end that after all that time and effort, we didn't need a planning permit as we had complied with the requirements of all of our overlays.

You can imagine our reaction when during the Building Permit phase, our building surveyor told us that he couldn't issue a building permit because we didn't have "planning permission".  I thought he must have missed the letter we receive from council indicating that we didn't need permission - think again!  Our building surveyor told us that one of the overlays had changed in February of this year and now our build which was 100% compliant three months before is now subject to needing a planning permit.

So what happened in February I hear you ask?  The Victorian Government changed all significant landscape overlays to include protections for the Yarra River.  That means that any development close to the Yarra River which may have an affect on the banks, watercourse, or public viewing, must now meet these new requirements.  These new requirements adjust wall heights from being compliant at 8 meters to now needing permission for anything over 6 meters.  As our block is slopping and we are building a double story house, in one section we are at 8 meters.  The provisions of the overlay I fully support, you only need look at the development along the Yarra River in Richmond to see that protection was needed, however our block is about 1km away from the river up and over a hill.  We would need to be building the Eureka Tower to cast any shadows over the Yarra.

Surely there are transitional arrangements for those who went through council prior to the changes?  Absolutely!  If you have a planning or building permit in place prior to February this year, then you don't have to comply with the new provisions.  Our problem, council informs us, is that because we were compliant, that is, we obeyed every rule and designed the house to meet every overlay condition, we didn't need a planning permit so therefore, we don't have a planning permit and the transitional rules don't apply to us.  That means we now have to go back to council planning, advertise the development and get permission....again....for the second time in 12 months....sigh, yell, scream, curse!!!!

Our council have acknowledged how unfair this is for us, but has basically told us that we are unlucky and to get on with it.  Supposedly no one owed us a duty of care to inform us of the changes which occurred in February, even though we had a letter granting permission that was no longer valid.

The positive to come out of this situation though is that I have taken the issue to the Victorian State Government and have spoken directly to the planner who drafted the amendment.  This planner told me that he and his team spent a day work-shopping who might be affected by the new rules to ensure everyone was being dealt with fairly - it never occurred to them that there would be anyone is our situation.  This planner was a shining example of a public servant, he apologised for the situation we now found ourselves in and we worked together to draft a third transitional arrangement which will now be used when planning overlays change.  That way, hopefully none of you will find yourselves in this planning predicament.

Our council have also provided assistance expediting the planning process and waiving the fee!  I guess I should be thankful that they are at least trying to help us out of a most unjust and unfair situation.

We will be delayed (all going to plan, pardon the pun!) by about 2 months.....fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by

Jo

Building lesson #4 - Keep having fun along the way

Building is a long, often tough and stressful journey - that's why it is so important to have some fun, dream and be creative along the way.  Nothing shakes off the building blues like meetings with your cabinet maker - just try not to think about the budget while you are being creative!!  One of my favourite interior designers, Belinda, from Gallerie B, recently shared on her blog her great ideas for storage - it is definitely worth a read.  We have recently finished our cabinetry design with our cabinet maker and I wanted to share with you all some of the great little ideas we have come up with for each space, in this post, I will walk you through the kitchen.

Kitchen

Well there she is, the bones of what will eventually be my dream kitchen

The most important part about designing this kitchen was to think carefully about how we use our kitchen, how we needed traffic to flow through the kitchen and what space I would need for storage. My current kitchen is a U-shape which is fine for one or two people, however you add three little poppets to that kitchen and it is a recipe for disaster.  It is so important to have two points of entry and exit to allow all family members using the kitchen to move freely in the space.  

Our island bench design was next on the agenda.  Many friends have questioned my decision to include the sink in the island bench, however, for our family and the way we live, this was a conscious decision.  I can be at the sink, working at the bench, cooking, making lunches and still be a part of whatever is going on with the family as my view is to the family room, not a fence or the side of the house.  We designed the seating at the bench to be situated all at one end creating an informal table space where the 5 of us could have a quick bite to eat while still seeing each other.  Most island bench designs have the seating all to the rear, lined up next to each other in a row - we wanted to create a space where we could gather around and talk to each other.  Creating this space also prevents the kids homework from getting wet as they are not sitting behind the sink.  Our island bench is 3.5 meters long and 1.3 meters wide, as such, there is plenty of room for gatherings at one end, food prep and food presentation, even with the sink in the island.  The bench has storage on both sides.....oh the storage.....

This is the "sink" side of the island bench.  To the far left we have a bin draw, the bin draw has a bin for rubbish, a bin for recycling and a shelf at the top.  The shelf stops the bins from being over filled (hmmm), keeps any smells contained by acting like a lid and also creates a space for storing spare garbage bags.  Next to the bin draw is the dishwasher and either side of the sink are my gorgeous little creations...the slide out cupboard drawers.  One slide out cupboard drawer has baskets in them, the other has towel rails, like these ones below:

One side will be used for storing sponges, dish-mops etc, the other will have rails for a tea-towel and hand-towel.  This should keep my gorgeous butlers sink free from sponges.

Under the butlers sink is another drawer which has a very clever, "draw in draw" design.  Having a draw under the butlers sink makes access a breeze - no more searching for that illusive cleaner at the back of the cupboard.  The draw in draw means small items like spare sponges, cloths and scourers can be easily found.

The other side of the island bench has full sized cupboards which will help with table setting duties. You will see what I mean when you look at our family room floor plan.

Ground Floor Plan

Our dining table will be situated between the kitchen and family room, so the cupboard at the back of the island bench will be very handy for storing all the things we need for setting the table each night.

We have included a study nook (hmmm, nook?  It is 1.5m wide) in the main area of the kitchen for the same reason the sink is in the island bench - I can keep a close eye on homework, or internet activity, or I can do some work while still being in the main living area of the house.  The study nook is at bench height so the bar stools can be moved around from the bench to the study nook.  There is a draw under the bench in the study nook which acts as a "charging station" - this should keep all the devices neatly stored away while they are charging - they can also be checked in at night so they don't find their way to the kids' bedrooms!

The butlers sink decision was a change of heart.  Originally I had a double bowl undermount sink planned, however after some prompting from our cabinet maker, we changed to a butlers sink, not just for aesthetics but for practicality.  Our butlers sink is about 80cm wide, we favoured the space for washing large pots and platters rather than the need to fill the sink.  This did lead to our decision to include a smaller sink in the butlers' pantry and a double bowl sink in the laundry - which may act as a double ice bucket from time to time!!

There is so much to love about the butlers pantry, an additional dishwasher, room for a 60cm wall oven and microwave, room for a second fridge, a place for the kettle and toaster and so many shelves for food storage.  Those are all a given in a dream butlers pantry, but for me, what I am really excited about are two little storage additions.  The first is the vertical shelves that we are including above the wall oven - these vertical shelves act as dividers for platter storage - no more deconstructing platter towers to get to that super large platter I need at the bottom!

Pinterest

The second storage addition is the book shelves above the fridge.  My cabinet maker suggested keeping the kitchen free from clutter but was all for having shelves for my recipe books above the fridge in the pantry.  We also have a large blank wall in the pantry - this is likely to become the family organisation station and include the whiteboard calendar and a place for the endless stream of school notices and birthday invitations.

Either side of the main oven are two slide out drawers (the same style as either side of the sink) for oven and baking trays, either side of the mantle are condiments cupboards.  The banks of drawers either side of the oven include a shallow top draw for spice racks, tea-towels, foil, cling wrap etc.

Pinterest

Designing this kitchen, thinking about how we will live and come together as a family in this space has been such a joy.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jo