Sub floor....tick!

Yesterday we had the steel guy come back again (*sigh* this was meant to the finished 4 weeks ago) to move the posts to the correct spot. He turned up on time which was a bonus and was still here when I returned from work.

So he did move them to the correct spot and also made sure they were level this time as they were 2.4cm out last time. Hopefully they are correct now.

Here is the posts set in position, not to be moved again.

He still hasn't finished all the other work he has quoted us to do so we are not to pleased with him right now. One of the things he has done was this small bracket/post thingy.

So we need to get a list of all the things he still needs to fix/do and email them to him. Apparently his mistakes have cost him a lot more than he quoted so he isn't playing very nicely right now. Makes it difficult to deal with and makes me quote anxious.

The surveyor dropped in today to check the subfloor. We got the tick of approval to start fixing the floor in place and start building walls. Yep, you read right; we can start building proper walls now! I feel like doing a little gig. :)

So tonight, Dave ran to the hardware shop and bought some glue to start sticking it down. Got a tiny bit done. Here you can see the glue.

Then it was put in place and nailed.

We got these too end pieces done tonight before the kids called Dave in to play cricket. It is Summer after all!

Have a nice weekend!

Cheers,





Label update

Just wanted to post pictures of my organised keys. I added a key label on the name place at the front too.

Here is a better close up.

I realised that we are missing some keys so I will have to get some extras cut. No idea where they have gone.

Then I got a bit carried away and label the shoe cabinets too.

Now the challenge comes in trying to get my husband and kids to use the correct hook and cabinet. Surely if I nag them enough it will happen. Right?

Cheers,

Australia Day Long Weekend

Woo hoo!!  It is Friday afternoon on the eve of a long weekend. What a great feeling.

So what is happening at This Little Yellow House this weekend?

Well this afternoon the engineer and steel guy is coming to inspect the error with the steel beams and hopefully come to an agreement on how to best fix the problem. Fingers crossed it can be fixed very soon. They want us to pay the bill but I don't want to until it is all finished. Comes close to $6000 so I want to be sure it is right first.

Dave is planning to finish the rest of the subfloor and hang and set the last stump so hopefully the rain holds off. Then after that we can start building the walls but I think the surveyor has to inspect the subfloor first so that might be a next week job.

I have to get the kids school gear ready because my eldest starts grade 2 on Wednesday then little Sammy starts Prep the next Monday. I am very excited to have two kids at school this year. Gives me little bit more free time with just Heidi on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

I also want to try out my label maker and make some labels for our key cabinet. Somewhat like these:




This is the key box that we currently have:


I do love it but it needs labels!!!

Cheers,

Organised earrings

I was cleaning my bedroom today as it has been a big mess since we condensed the house to begin the extension and came across an old problem for me, of jewellery storage. My poor dressing table and drawers are littered with little boxes filled with random earring and necklaces with no real home.

So in my typical fashion, I did some Googling and blog searching and came up with a neat little idea that would work for me. I stumbled up this blog called Utterly Organised and saw a cool earring storage trick.



It just so happens that I have a small spot in my wardrobe where this could work. So I strung up a small picture wire with some spare picture hooks and hung up all my dangly earrings.

 

 

This really freed up a lot of space in my little jewellery box which feels great. However, I think for my birthday in March I might have to request a bigger and more organised jewelley box.

 

Cheers,



 

Steel posts and beams

It is always one step forward too steps back in this journey it seems. Is nothing destined to go smoothly for us?

On Saturday the steel fabrication guys came to install our steel work to support the second storey. We knew he was having troubles with a supplier getting the galvanised posts for the overhanging second floor so this was to be done today (Monday).

After being about 2 hours late on Saturday morning, they installed four posts against the existing house and four at the rear. Two of the posts against the house were too short.

Here are the posts before installation on Saturday.

Here are the posts at the rear. These ones are correct:

So today they came and added a piece at the top of the two short posts which you can see here:

Then they brought a crane in and parked it in the driveway next door and lifted the other beams over the top of our house and into place.

When David got home from work, he noticed that the galvanised posts at the back weren't up against the gazebo deck. So he measured them and they were 1840mm from the black posts instead of 2 meters. Grrr... not happy Jan.

And the base plates at the bottom were meant to be larger as per the engineers instructions and should have been Chemset into place. That is a strong gluey stuff that you put into the holes in the cement to help keep the bolts in place.

The steel guy is coming back in the morning to do some more welding so is going to take a look at the error then and see how he can fix it. He will have to get the crane back again and I will be furious if he tries to charge us for it.

So we will see how tomorrow goes I guess.

Finger crossed he can fix it as soon as possible.

Cheers,

A house with a wall

Last week the kids and I went on holidays to Tassie to visit my family while David stayed at home and got some work done. I was dreaming that I'd come home to a pretty red brick wall on the boundary and the steel framework up and some flooring done.

The steel guy couldn't get the steel he needed so that didn't happen :( But at least the bricky turned up after we had some doubts as he is a bit unreliable. Apparently he is a hard but very slow working which sucks as he charges by the hour. Dave put did all his labouring for him for the whole 3 days (some of which were 12 and 13 hours) and finally got the wall up.

Look how pretty it is:



Yesterday, we started the framing up of the floor to join to the wall. So now most of the bearers and joists have been done.

We are starting to get a feeling of how much space we will have. I think we will still have to be wise with our choice of lounge etc as it will soon feel like a crowded room I think. We will choose lowish backed lounges and small tables.

There is so much rubbish to get rid of in the front yard too. Must order a skip some time soon.

Keep cool this week fellow Melbournites.
Cheers,

Finally some framing

Happy New Year!!

Welcome to 2014 everyone. I hope it is a prosperous one for you all.

Today is New Years Day 2014. It's been over 2 years since we first lodged our application with the council to extend our house. And finally we have actually started to see some real building happening.

Dave has laid the 4 big bearers in the extension and had concreted in the stumps.
Some of the stump holes had massive rocks in them so he had to put metal dowels into the rock to secure the cement.

Some of the stump holes were double stump holes like this one under the edge of the existing house.

And here are the four main bearers in place waiting for cement.

Also, he has been framing up the existing floor in the out living room. New bearers and joists and it now feels solid as a rock.

We had a big timber delivery yesterday and thanks to the cool lady at the hardware shop, saved almost $400 on this lot. It was for some of the joists in the new house. Today we started laying them. Hooray!!

The rain came though so we headed off to the pool for a swim with the kids in the afternoon. We have covered the timber with black plastic because the weather is not looking good for the rest of the week.

Other things happening in the background are that the bricklayer is finishing a job off at the bosses house and will be doing our job after that (hopefully next week but I think he went on a big bender at Christmas so may be delayed). Also the steel has been measured up and is being made to also hopefully go in next week if we can arrange another concrete pour asap.

Next Monday I am taking the kids to Tassie to visit Mum while Dave stays to do work without the kids under his feet. I just hope the weather ad delays don't make it a wasted time for him.

So that's what's been going on over this holiday season. It is all a bit exciting :)

Cheers,