Framing almost done...

So after all of that concern last week, the doorway issue turned out to be a non-issue after all. At the same time that the framer was informing Ben of the problem, FK had already noticed the issue on-site and informed one of the other framers as how to fix the problem...so no changes required to the design, and the doorways will be wide enough to comfortably walk through - great outcome all round I think!

In other good news, the framers have now finished the framing for the garage and have started on the roof trusses:

Front shot - roof trusses almost done

Long shot down the hallway

Side shot

Side view of garage / bed 2 / bed 3

Back view of the garage/laundry

Back of the house

Ben is very impressed with the height of the garage ceiling. It has been raised to 3.1 metres in order to match the roofline of the main part of the house, which is actually quite huge once you are standing inside - great for storing pet giraffes!

Ben jumped in the back of the ute to see if that would help him touch the roof...

Moving inside the house, not much progress has been made in terms of laying down the flooring inside. Apparently the local building inspector paid a visit to the site last week and decided that a higher level of ant capping was required. So the builders have been busy lifting up the floor joists piece by piece and replacing the ant capping on each of the stumps. From what we could see, they are almost done now, just a few more stumps in the family room to do.

New and improved ant capping

Just a handful of stumps left to change over

While the flooring is still up, PK took the opportunity to get the plumbers in to start on the drainage on Saturday. We now have lots of pipes running up the hallway to each of the wet areas and the kitchen.

Pipes running to the en suite, toilet and bathroom 

Changed our minds at the last minute on Friday afternoon and decided to
go for the double vanity in the en-suite

Kitchen pipes

Even more framing complete....but some small door issues (literally!)

Ben managed to scoot past the block this afternoon for a special mid-week update: the framers are continuing to crawl over the site like ants, and the garage/laundry framing is now complete. 

They have also started putting up the lintels and the thin plywood sheets around each of the windows. The roof trusses have arrived on site and have been laid out in their respective areas; the framers are aiming to have the roof trusses installed by the end of the week. Then it is really going to start looking like a real house! 

The bad news is that while Ben was there, the framer mentioned that he has come across an issue with the width of the door openings for the en-suite and walk-in robe for the master bedroom. On paper, these are specified as being 620mm cavity sliding doors - narrow but do-able. However, in reality, when you take into account the little overhanging part needed to actually grip the door to slide it out from the cavity, this reduces the actual space to about 500mm - not enough to comfortably walk through. 

I absolutely loathe the "open plan" style of master bedrooms in many new display homes where there is no door on the en-suite at all, so unfortunately it is not just a simple fix of taking out the doors altogether. Who wants to be woken up at 5am each morning when Ben has his shower and is getting ready for work?! Not me, that's for sure...

We are still working through the issue with PK, but potentially we may need to revise the configuration of the entire robe/en-suite/bathroom/toilet area to adjust these door spacings. The good news is that as these are not load-bearing walls, the framers can continue with the roof trusses and other framing without waiting for us to make a decision this minute. Stay tuned...

In the meantime, some updated pictures:

More framing...

What gorgeous weather we had this weekend in Melbourne! I spent the weekend relaxing at a Leader's Retreat in Riddells Creek with my fellow Girl Guide leaders - it was a lovely way to spend a weekend. My legs are killing me after all of that Zumba and Yoga though!

On the way, of course we had to do a slight detour and check on the block - turns out that the chippies had a busy day on Friday and the framing is almost all completed, just the garage/laundry and a few more windows to be framed, and a bit more flooring to be put down. Then comes the roof... It was great to be able to walk through each of the rooms in the meantime though (even if we did need to use our balancing skills in a few of them!).

Now for the most important part - the pictures! First, the outside shots....

Front view

Another front view

Another front view - from the opposite corner

Back view - theatre room and family room

View from the other back corner - garage still to be framed

Now for the inside shots....

Looking out of the window in the "theatre room"

Family room - this is the framing for our fireplace

Another shot of the family room - as you can see, still need flooring here

Dining room and kitchen

Kitchen - framing for fridge space and mantle area

Sliding doors from dining room out to the deck area

Loving the size of the pantry!

Study

"Server cupboard" in the study

Bedroom 3

Bedroom 2

Looking down the hallway

Things are starting to feel real now...

Happy Easter everyone!

Hope you are all having an enjoyable few days off. We have spent the past few days camping with friends at Mt Disappointment. 

Mt Disappointment is located conveniently close to the block, so on Friday we took a quick trip into town to check on progress. On Wednesday, PK had told me that he didn't expect the framing to have started yet given the short working week. We drove up expecting to see just the flooring laid (at most), so you can imagine my excitement to see this:

We have walls!

So far, they have framed up our master bedroom, the walk-in robe and en suite, the bathroom and toilet, and the theatre room at the back of the house. We actually got to walk through some of our rooms for the very first time  - very exciting! Now it is starting to feel like a real house...

En suite

En suite window (looking out from the shower) - eventually there will be a fernery out here

Walk-in robe

Main bathroom

Back view of the theatre room

Long shot from the front corner

We also took Oscar and Kody with us, and they had a great time exploring the backyard and meeting all of their new doggy neighbours!

Oscar trying and failing to jump up

Kody: 'Like this Oscar!'