Day 6: Waffles!

Thursday, 15 December 2016
// 1638 HRS UTC+10:00
//// Brisbane, Queensland, AU

Hello and welcome to Day 6! We're live again, but I'm not sure that it'll last; not only am I a shift worker, but so's Nina, so a lot of our visits are (and will be) late at night. As nice as the moonlight is, it's not great for photos 😕. Alas, we will try and get some day time ones... like today, as I'm on a day off! Sucked in all you Monday-to-Friday workers out there 😛 hehe!

Anyways, I've named this update 'Waffles!' because 1) I love waffles, and 2) For some reason, it reminded me of a scene from Shrek where Donkey (voiced by Eddie Murphy) is excited that he gets to stay over at Shrek's place. Ironically, I found a meme of the scene that I'm referring to:

Ahhh, who remembers Shrek? Such a great movie! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on the way you look at things), the waffles I'm referring to aren't edible... but they do work well to form a structurally sound slab!

When I was on site today (sans Nina, as unfortunately she had to work), I got to have a very brief chat with one of the tradies who was hard at work with the polystyrene waffle pods, steel reinforcing bar and form work. My final comment to him was that I'd only be there for a few minutes to take it all in and snap a few photos, exclaiming "I know how much tradies hate people watching them work!" He seemed OK with it though, and there was a good 4-5 on site, so we'll try and keep them happy with baked goods and drinks when we can. Nothing like a mid afternoon morale boost!

Without further adieu, here's some pics that I took this morning; I'm hoping to return this afternoon to check progress, but we'll see how I go as my Thursday night is full enough as it is!

See!! Lot number, silt fence and orange spray paint! 😜

That looks like all (or most of) our steel reinforcing bar, and I'm presuming that it'll pretty much all be set in place when we visit next.

Our 'white slab'! Well, it's basically just polystyrene and boxing (form work), but you get a bit of an idea as to what things will look like at base stage (just imagine that, but grey hah). Our electrical distribution box is currently standing on stilts/star pickets, but when the frame is up and the brickies are finished, that will be attached to the wall down the side (so flip it 90 degrees to the right, and it'll be on that exterior side wall). Otherwise, there's not a whole lot to look at aside from random plumbing sticking out through the waffle pods - it's kinda funny, as whilst the slab is thick, it's not quite as thick as I thought it would be (granted, I'm no structural engineer, so have no idea how thick slabs are generally). I just hope that there's enough pipe sticking out to properly hook everything up - I'm assuming this will be the first of many dumb statements of concern from Matt, but I guess I'm paranoid hah.

I got a call shortly after I left from Eric, who advised that despite his best efforts, he couldn't arrange for concrete tomorrow (being Friday) so he's arranged for the slab to be poured on Monday. I questioned him as to if the waffle pods are safe left as is over the weekend, and he assured me that there shouldn't be any issue... dumb Matt statement number 2 😝👀.

Anyways, that's all we have for you today; I might do another update later on (call it Day 6 Part 2: Waffle digestion  😂) but otherwise, see you tomorrow! I'm expecting progress to slow until Monday, but nonetheless I'll visit over the weekend to check things out.

Take care errybody!

Matt & Nina

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Day 5: Plumbing!

Thursday, 15 December 2016
// 1548 HRS UTC+10:00
//// Brisbane, Queensland, AU

Afternoon all! And yes, we're running slightly behind schedule again, so I have two updates for you today - Day 5 and Day 6, but again, I'm going to try and seperate them out to do each of them justice 😊. Unfortunately that will be difficult with Day 5, as Nina and I visited the site late last night after I finished work, so the only photos we took were in the dark... such is the life of a shift worker unfortunately! Anyways, on to Day 5's update from Wednesday the 14th of December.

So, a lot happened today compared to Day 4... and as you'll see in the update for Day 6, I have evidence of orange spray paint on the silt fence 😂😜!! But more importantly, today saw the beginning and end of all underground plumbing efforts (at least the main ones), and this was one of those big ticket items to tick off before the slab can be poured.

It also saw the arrival of some prerequisite concreting materials such as steel reinforcing bar and the waffle pod polystyrene which must mean that the slab is not far off!! Lastly, we (or rather our Site Manager Eric) took receipt of a large pile of crusher dust/fine grey sand, which I'm presuming was used throughout the day to partially to fill the plumbing channels/trenches after the pipe work was laid. There seemed to be a fair bit left over, maybe 10 cubic metres, but I'm guessing this is to cater for any requirements on Day 6, seeing as the pile was just off centre to where the slab will soon be.

Here's a crappy pic we took late last night:

So that's pretty much all we have for you today! It's an eerie place to be at night, as most of the houses in our estate are still not quite finished, but it's nice to see a few dotted around with front lights on and families having moved in. Indeed our own neighbours on the right hand side appear to have just handed over their build with Stylemaster Homes (or are in the final stages of doing so) as we've seen moving trucks come and go over the last few days, and things like white goods arrive. Can't wait for that day to arrive for us!

Until 'tomorrow', being Day 6! Catch yas!

Matt & Nina
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Day 4: Painting? Bit early don't you think?

Tuesday, 13 December 2016
// 1738 HRS UTC+10:00
//// Brisbane, Queensland, AU

Good afternoon Interwebs!! We are broadcasting to you LIVE, straight outta North Brisbane! 😎🎥🎞 Welcome back to Day 4 of Matt & Nina's Metricon Phoenix 35 construction blog! Exits are here, here, here, here and here!

Now onto our first order of business - painting!

"Huh?", I hear you say? Yeah, same here! Admittedly, Nins and I went out to the land to check progress a little earlier than we have the last few days, and even thinking optimistically, there's not a whole lot that's changed since yesterday. Except this...! They have spray painted lot numbers on our silt fence 😂😂😜😜 haha!

Ah, and bloody hell, of course Matt didn't capture it when he took the photo... trust me, they're there in orange spray paint just to the left and right of this picture (just out of frame). On the silt fence!

My thoughts are that the plumbers and excavators will start tomorrow digging trenches and so forth, but today must have been more of a planning day (as I think someone was on site at some stage).

I might visit again with Nins tonight to double check (yes, apologies in advance to our diligent tradespeople, we're going to be those annoying owners who constantly check - and double check - and triple check - everything). Aside from that, it has cleared up quite nicely since late last week, and we have more of our neighbour's bricks living dangerously close to our la... wait, they are on our land!!

Here's hoping they're shifted by tomorrow, otherwise... free bricks!! 😂😀 (N.B. Obviously I'm kidding hah 😛)

Weather tomorrow is looking pretty good, here's hoping it stays like that for the foreseeable future! As promised, I've included a 7-day forecast below and I'll update that on the blog in 7 days time (unless the weather changes beforehand).

Until Day 5, being Wednesday the 14th of December, enjoy what's left of your Tuesday my esteemed visitors!

Matt & Nina

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Day 3: Paving the way to success

Tuesday, 13 December 2016
// 1655 HRS UTC+10:00
//// Brisbane, Queensland, AU

Back again! Just think, only 227 of these left to go (plus or minus a few). I wonder if Google offer a 'Publish to Book' function hah!

So Day 3 delivered the goods, only yesterday in fact (being Monday the 13th of December). We now have a rock gravel driveway (temporary only, very rustic appeal) and a designer silt fence stamped with Metricon. From all accounts (well, mine and Nina's) that's all that's happened on site (which I kind of knew would be the case) but at least it's forward progress (something we're not at all used to)!!

I might throw in a few 'Interlude:' posts throughout this whole thing, especially when the progress slows down over Christmas (and I've had enough ham/turkey/chicken/duck etc.) which will help to explain our elation over simply getting this far, and also what not to do when deciding to build a house. There is so much advice out there that it can often feel like you're jumping into a cess pool of mixed opinions, and if you top that off with all the well meaning advice you'll get from the proverbial sideline, you'll end up in quite a rut. So if our experience helps 1 out of every 10 visitors, then that's a Good Thing (tm). 😊

Anyway, I'll get off my high horse and onto some photos:

Houston, we have a gravel driveway and silt fence! Yay! Honestly (and this might sound silly to those who've never built before), but this simple gesture was such a nice sight to see (even before the slab is poured) as at least now we have a defined building site! I'm trying to figure out a way to take photos without going on site, so I'm thinking either a really really long selfie stick or a drone (Chrissy present babe? hah!)... Here's some more angles:

I think from here you get an interesting perspective as to how close each of the lots are together. Also shows you how advantageous having a second storey is (or will be)! Most land parcels you can buy in new estates around South East Queensland are simply too small to support comfortable living in a single storey, and I'd say that the allotments in our estate are right on the border between affordability and not having to live in a shoebox. Throughout our extended (very extended) decision making process as to if we'd build a single storey or double, we were counselled one way more than the other, but ultimately are very happy with the decision we made (that being double). Both Nina and I grew up in big two storey houses, and the thought of downsizing just left us feeling a bit disinterested in the whole idea of building (and we probably would have preferred to spend our money on an overseas holiday instead)! Here's a few more angles:

'Gotta stop interrupting... but I'll comment here (more for my own knowledge and recollection) that our boundary peg was moved slightly to fit the silt fencing in; it was driven in closer to the underground power junction box. No biggy I'm guessing, as we're talking horizontal movement of no more than 10-20cm along a straight line, but something to note that must seem to happen on the odd occasion to support building requirements. One final piccy below of our nice flat land 😊.

Here's hoping excavation starts soon to lay the underground plumbing and pipe works! And then after that, concrete slab!

Until next time, and we'll be more or less 'live' by then! Stay classy North Brisbane 😏!!

Matt & Nina

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Day 2: Scraping our site

Tuesday, 13 December 2016
// 1552 HRS UTC+10:00
//// Brisbane, Queensland, AU

Annnnnnnnd we're back (feels like I was just here 😉) for Day 2, which was actually only just the weekend gone (specifically, on Saturday the 10th of December). Who knew tradies worked weekends?! My apologies to tradies everywhere who I've probably just insulted with that statement; you're the lifeblood of so many industries, construction being the biggest one, so I take my hat off to you all 👏🙌😃!!!!

Day 2 didn't really entail much, aside from a drot/dozer/earthmoving equipment being on site an cutting off the top layer of earth to reveal the 'fertile' and level ground with which our slab will lay on top of. I can say this now (given that I'm from the future, and we're actually at Day 4) but I feel the next few days will seem to crawl.

I'm told that frame stage goes at a rate of knots (which I tend to agree with having seen other homes pop up) but I have seen a number of slabs sit for weeks at a time without any obvious movement on behalf of the builder. Here's hoping our guys (and gals) are back on the tools after the Christmas and New Years break - Eric told us that we should have a frame going up around mid-January 2017. Very exciting, but at the same time, I guess I'm happy that our slab will have a good solid chance to cure and bake for a few weeks (not that that's really necessary, but I'm slightly paranoid hah).

Some piccys...!

Nice and flat! Again, compare all the rubble and tyre tread marks to the pristine turf that was laid down earlier this year! Solid two weeks work by the developer/council to get that looking good again I think! You'll note too that the builders assigned to the neighbour's house next door (on the left hand side) are starting to brick their exterior. It was just luck that our Day 1 site meeting occurred at the same time these bricks were being delivered as it presented a rather unique opportunity for Eric to specifically request that they be laid right up next to our future neighbour's house. This was to allow for the correct earthworks for our block and it just made me think (and laugh a little) how much these happenings are left up to chance and that there's no specific margins that building materials must be kept within. Granted though, there's not a lot of space between their dwelling and our future one. Legally, even with building to boundary, we have to have 200mm (20cm) gap, with at least the same on the neighbouring side (if they're building to boundary, which it looks like they are). For all those playing at home, that's 400mm or 40cm between the surface of their bricks, and ours... just enough for a sparrow's fart to echo down the side at dusk 😂😜! Here's hoping also a fence (although that will be part of the way down, where there's a bit more clearance).

Here's another pic, showing the 'business end' (you'll see... 😜💩)

Can't have a building site without some amenities, please 🚽! And that's all folks, see you 'tomorrow' for Day 3 where we hope to see a few other things pop into place (gravel driveway for all the trucks and wheelbarrows, and yet another silt fence).

Matt & Nina

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Day 1: Site Start

Tuesday, 13 December 2016
// 0748 HRS UTC+10:00
//// Brisbane, Queensland, AU

Hi everyone, and welcome back... to Day 1 of the rest of our lives (or at least the next 30-something years of it hah)! As you may have guessed, I'm actually three days behind with these blog posts, as we're at Day 4 as of today, but I wanted to document it accurately as we go along, so consider this a backdated post (though I don't believe Google actually allow you to do that with Blogger). Anyways, moving on...!

As this becomes more 'real time' - i.e. I catch up on the last three days of construction, I'll post things like the expected weather for the following day/week and give you brief insights as to things like our colour selection, interior design elements and perhaps a few shout-outs to people who've helped us immensely along the way. I also really want to outline (in detail) the struggle we had with the various lenders we approached, in addition to brokers and builders, but I might shelve that for now until a rainy Sunday afternoon or something 😊. Plus, re-living it is really quite depressing, as you'll discover when I put up that blog post!! Onwards and upwards though!

So Day 1 didn't involve much - an on site meeting with our site supervisor (or manager) Eric, taking in the serenity and discussing what was on the cards as we moved to construction phase (or site phase, or 'transitioned to site'... builders love having multiple terms for the same thing I've found). We glossed over things like progress payments (draw-downs on our home loan), when we could expect a slab (he said we should definitely have one by Christmas - music to our ears 😍), plumbing design, where extra piering might go (the soil where we're building is a bit crap - H2/M sort of level, and we've built to boundary on one side, as have our neighbours, so Metricon did say it might be required), how to organise site visits and walk-throughs (we can't be on site without Eric being present, I'm guessing more for insurance purposes) and how bad weather might affect the build process. We happened to have some light to moderate rain here in Brissy on Friday (oh yeah, Friday the 9th of December was Day 1 😉)  and thankfully Eric assured us that rain like that won't stop the pour (of concrete for our slab) but it would put the breaks on trades when we get to that part. Good to know, and here's hoping the weather is kind to us for the most part!!

Here's our block on Day 1! For those wanting details of how big it is, it's 490m2 (in total) with a 14m frontage and 35m depth. Is made up of mostly natural soil, but there is some fill (sourced locally) down towards the back - another reason for a rather expensive slab as quoted by Metricon (but to be honest, we're totally OK with that as I'd rather a slab over-compensate than it crack years down the track)! And just on that, our slab (as alluded to above) will have to be quite thick, with screw piers securing it to the natural ground whilst also containing things called 'waffle pods'. After doing a bit of my own research, they're basically polystyrene blocks that look like waffles, used to reduce the amount of concrete needed to create a slab, whilst delivering increased structural integrity to the base of the building. A relatively new invention apparently, but I believe they're used in favour of (or in addition to) metal reinforcing bars.

As you can see, there's a completed home above us (that retaining wall is made up of concrete sleepers stacked on top of each other, and is about 8 metres high), with an almost complete single storey to the right, and a mid-construction one to the left. If you refer back to Day 0's post, you'll note that our Phoenix 35 is two storey, so we were really really happy to learn that all the dwellings around ours are single - privacy! Here's a few other angles:

I guess a few other things that you mightn't immediately notice with respect to the area we're building in is that there's underground everything... including power, water, storm water, sewerage, NBN (fibre to the home) and natural gas. Some of those are a given, but it's quite nice not having unsightly overhead power lines and brings with it a nice modernistic street scape. As with most land you could build on in South East Queensland, our little block is part of a master planned community (including covenant) and forms a myriad of estates in the local area - so you're really buying into the surrounding services and what will hopefully mature into a suburb full of convenience and lifestyle. Or at least that's the general idea from reading the community's brochure (yes, our land purchase came with one 😂). I've included a few photos below from when we bought the land (way back in January/February this year), and the difference is chalk and cheese (for starters, the silt fencing is still in tact prior to it having been driven over by tradies!!)...

1x Nina for scale purposes 😉😜😂... And see below with all of the kerbside landscaping having been done, and compare that with the first pictures in this post!! From immaculate lawn to mud ridden tracks, rock, silt and building waste! I'm no tree hugger, but you'd think they'd do the landscaping AFTER the majority of homes are built! Such a waste!

Anyway, I think that's enough for Day 1! Tune in 'tomorrow' for our Site Scrape on Day 2 (and I'll write something for 'yesterday' and today, being Days 3 and 4, so tune in for that as well hah 😜)!!

Matt & Nina

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Day 0: The last day, and the first...

Monday, 12 December 2016
// 1829 HRS UTC+10:00
//// Brisbane, Queensland, AU

Hi one and all! Welcome to our home building blog where we hope to keep friends, family and idle Internet travellers informed (and entertained) as we build our beautiful Metricon Phoenix 35 in North West Brisbane. Hopefully, in just under a year, we will 'love where we live' and enjoy a tangible version of what currently exists only on paper... to say that we can't wait would be an understatement!

To provide a bit of background, my name's Matt and I'll be your host throughout the majority of this journey - Nina likes the idea of blogging but I've relegated her to be my creative inspiration and occasional photographer, as I lack skill in both of those areas (hey, I only just joined Instagram - very proud of myself might I say 😏). Thank you darling 💏 xx!

After some 11 months of frustration (and there really is no other word for it), we're finally at Day 3 of 230 expected build days and have unanimously decided that the hardest days are now behind us (please please let that be the case). We were hit with curveballs literally every step of the way, and if I could give one piece of advice to people looking to build, it would be this - choose your builder, budget, broker and bank wisely!! The number of lessons we've been forced to learn (and learn quickly) could fill a book - but in the meantime, this blog will have to do. With the housing market continuing to become harder and harder to get a foot in, as young 20-somethings we're doing something smart (or so we hope) yet at the same time, counter-cultural.

With many many of our friends personifying the enviable work/life/holiday balance, we were of two minds when a unique opportunity presented itself in late 2015. Do we build, buy or go to Barcelona? Fast forward about 4 months, and overseas travel was looking pretty bloody good! At the time, having done battle with countless banks, valuers, assessors and the hierarchy of another major Queensland builder, we were feeling all but defeated!! That is until May this year, when we thought we'd give building our dream home one last shot - and the patience and flexibility of Nathan Spence from the Stoneridge Display Village led us to exactly that. Meet Metricon's DESIGNER range - the Phoenix 35.

AND I could go on... But let me cut to the chase, fill you in along the way, and show you our story as we experience it ourselves - starting with our site on Day 0 (just one day prior to site start)!! Eeeeee, so exciting!! 😅

I'd apologise for the dark, otherwise-uninteresting photo that shows more of our neighbours almost-complete house than our patch o' dirt, but I think that just makes it all the more alluring and suspenseful...! 😉

Until next time, see you on Day 1: Site Start!!

Matt & Nina
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