Week 13: Our Boutique Home, Airlie 38: Scaffold comes down

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Dapple Grey

So I’m a couple of days late in getting this post done – sorry!!!

Week 13 was another busy week. The electrical rough in was done, the weather boards were completed and painted, and the big deal – the scaffold came down. The scaffold came down on Saturday and was picked up on Monday of Week 14.

I’m so in love with the facade. Here are a couple of pics of my White House…

Scaffold down and ready to be collected

Garage roof still to be done – the scaffold was in the way.

Close up of upstairs

Wires, wires and more wires

View of our house from the estate across the road

A long distance view from the new playground across the road

Has anyone else built a White House?

Do you love your tin roof?

Week 12: Our Airlie Continues, Boutique Homes Victoria

Posted on October 11, 2015 by Dapple Grey

Week 12 has been and gone – and our beautiful home is continuing to develop. This week we had to come up with a plan for a heating/cooling vent that couldn’t be. Basically the plumbing stack on the plans doesn’t line up correctly. We were given a few options to overcome this, but I came up with my own… we are going to have a small box built into a wardrobe in the master bedroom which allows the downstairs study to get a vent. I’m not really sure how to explain that all correctly, but the point is we got it sorted with minimal fuss. A minor hurdle really, and given that we have a whole room for a walk-in robe, this box in the separate robe isn’t a big deal.

I actually thought the bricks were finished last week, but they weren’t quite done, so the brick layers were there again this week. The weather board also went on the front facade, however they ran out – somebody has maths skills worse than mine!!! The painters painted the eaves and the weather boards that have been installed. They look great painted – and I’m still loving my ‘white house’. My hubby said he saw some electrical prep too. I believe the upstairs bricks were cleaned also.

Here are some pictures, still hard to see past the scaffold – which is due to come down at the end of the week all being well. Can’t wait to see the house fully.

So here is to another week – and another step closer to lock up!!! I love my house already…

Week 11: Airlie 38 by Boutique Homes Victoria

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Dapple Grey

It’s been another great week – the house is looking great (even with scaffold covering it). The bricks look finished to me, so the facade just needs the weather board (or whatever it’s technically called) added. I’m pretty certain that is due to get done next week. The eaves are also done, and they look great. I’ve always loved eaves – a random thing to love I know, but I really think they finish a house. And with our house being so high up, it would look bald without them, as you can’t see the roof from the footpath.

There were a lot of cars on site on Thursday. The garage wall on the boundary was completed and it looks great. I think our neighbours will be happy with that. They are currently overseas, with their daughter housesitting, so hopefully they love it. We had a brick wall on the boundary previously, which they loved, but we had to knock it down for structural safety reasons. The new one is further to the front than the previous one, but it looks well executed. Unlike our neighbours on the other side who have a brick wall running close to the entire length of the property – with one section that looks like it could easily fall down on us.

The scaffold is due to come down in roughly a fortnight – so I think the next two weeks should see the eaves painted, the weather boards put on and painted, and the render painted, and I would also assume the air-conditioning unit put on the roof??? But I don’t actually know, that’s just me guessing. It will be exciting to the see the house in all its glory with the scaffold down – I can’t wait.

Here are some pictures – again some of them have terrible lighting as from the front you are looking towards the sun.

Hard to see, but the eaves are there

The inside of the garage wall – it certainly isn’t as pretty as the outside – but you won’t see that so I’m not worried.

The weather boards (I think) ready to go on next week. They will be upstairs at the front of the house only.
The new garage wall on the boundary – still loving my bricks. So glad we upgraded them, and because we upgraded them, we took the render off them. The original facade design was completely rendered. I’m not a massive fan of render, unless it is the whole house, and with these beautiful bricks why would you cover them up???

Week round up:

Mon Sep 28, 2015 – Didn’t notice any change or see anyone on site

Tues Sep 29, 2015 – On site

Wedensday Sep 30, 2015 – On site. I think most of the brickwork is now done, just the garage to go. And possibly plaster delivered (or something that looked like that?)

Thursday Oct 1, 2015 – Very busy on site; brick work looks finished, eaves on.

Friday Oct 2, 2015 – AFL Grand Final Public Holiday – I didn’t go past today, but I’m assuming nobody was there! I guess they deserve a day off. lol.

Sat Oct 3, 2015 – AFL Grand Final Day – didn’t see anyone. I guess they were watching the footy – how rude, I want my house finished! lol.

Looking forward to another progressive week – and maybe next year we can host Grand Final Day!!!

Week 9 & 10: Building Boutique Homes Victoria Airlie

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Dapple Grey

So after a trip to Dubai we came home on Sunday to a roof on our beautiful Airlie. It was so exciting, and certainly another big step forward. So during the past two weeks the brickwork has continued, the scaffold went up, more bricks, some plumbing prep, bath hobs are in, sliding door frames are in and the lovely tin roof. There may have been other things, but they are the ones I noticed anyway!!!

Our build is continuing to move forward and I think we are getting closer to lock up. It’s so great to be moving forward, and I’m loving our home already.

So here are some photos:

View from our neighbours

View from the vacant land across the road

Solar panels on

Render is on – just needs to be painted

Front entry

Bath hob frame in

The other bath

Downstairs powder room with outside entry

Sliding door frame in

Front room double sliding doors in

Laundry door – not the real one though

The tin roof from the inside

Scaffold on the outside

You can just see the house

I’m really looking forward to seeing the scaffold come down, and I’m still happy with our brick colour and excited to see the render painted.

When I look at the front landscape I’m still at a loss as to what to do with it. We have an approved landscape plan, but I’m not sure that will work with the height, and we will certainly need retaining walls…. hmmmm… does anyone have any good suggestions for landscape designers?

Week 8: Brick by Brick; Our Boutique Build – Airlie 38

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Dapple Grey

So Week 8 was all about the bricks… I’m loving our colour choice which is great, and once those red ones are rendered it will look even better. Our delivery of bricks has been staggered, as expected, due to being in a built up area there isn’t much space to put them!!! So once the first drop was laid the brick layers had a couple of days off as there was nothing for them to do. On Friday I saw more bricks had been delivered and on Monday of Week 9 they were on site working!

The bricks are called Indulgence Praline – I can’t remember if they are Cat 2 or Cat 3 to be honest, but they were an upgrade.

So here are some photos….

Front of house

Front door

Front post – red bricks are rendered

Kitchen windows

Alfresco support

Love our bricks

Second round of bricks ready to go

Austral bricks

No idea what you call these, but I’m assuming the bricks go on top to create the features

Kitchen windows from the opposite direction

How are we going to landscape this??? Insert confused face here….

Has anyone used Praline in their brick choice?

Has anyone hated their brick choice?

Our Boutique Build – Week 7: Windows

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Dapple Grey

So week 7 saw the windows put in and our fantastic framers move across the road to frame a new Boutique home… I wonder what house they are building?.

As for the windows there are quite a few missing glass panels and my neighbour said she heard the sound of glass smashing a few times – oops!!! I did see a glazier turn up, but from the front it still looks like the panels are missing. I’m not worried – I know the glass will get fixed. I also braved “The Ladder” and had a little sticky beak upstairs. WOW – we have a great view!!! But sadly, across the road will be houses so that view will most likely go. There is also a view of the playground at the park from the back bedroom which I didn’t know existed. This view will be lost also, as it is a wall. Even if we had put a window, it would have been frosted glass as it looks into the neighbours backyard so no view regardless. The space in the kids bedrooms feels good, and our Grand Master is MASSIVE, and I am told the rooms feel even bigger when they are plastered!!! I have ideas for the children’s bedrooms, but not so much for our room.

So the summary for Week 7 Stalking is:

Mon August 31, 2015: Carpenters working on the frame, and windows put in.

Tuesday September 1, 2015: Support posts put in. Frame inspection. (Result = excellent job done. Yeah.)

Wednesday September 2, 2015: Ground floor wrap. Small batch of bricks arrived

Thursday September 3, 2015: Noticed a glazier truck pull up

Friday: Don’t think anyone was there

Saturday September 5, 2015: Noticed a delivery of sand for the bricks

So I am assuming that brickwork will start in Week 8 – can’t wait to see the bricks – hopefully I like them. We did upgrade them, so I am hoping it was money well spent.

Timber support pole put in at front entry

The fridge & microwave area with timber backing

My favourite window – the dining area. LOVE LOVE LOVE this giant fixed window.

I am so in LOVE with this giant fixed window in the dining space. This window was in both display homes of the Airlie and both hubby and I loved it. It looks just as wonderful as I hoped it would. I had the vision of putting the old metal inserts from the original homes front brick fence on the wall outside the window – but sadly somebody stole them. I’m pretty sad but there is nothing I can do now. So I think we will pull this timber fence down and just have the brick wall – maybe a cool painting on the wall???

Master Bedroom windows

Hello Walk-in robe

Staircase window

Maybe a bigger window was required here??? But with a view like that from next door – maybe this will be fine.

So that is a sample of the windows – the fixed splash back windows are still to go in I believe.

Wrapping and bricks

The dark bricks I am assuming are the ones that get rendered as I certainly didn’t choose them. The light ones on the right look like the ones I picked!!!

I am so excited to see the bricks start and am thrilled that everything is going well so far.

Hopefully my week 8 update has some great photos to share!!!

Has anyone else been over-excited by windows or am I the only one???

Week 6: The roof begins. Our Boutique Home. Airlie.

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Dapple Grey

Monday August 24, 2015; Week 6 of our build saw the roof start. As I did school drop off a crane had just finished placing the roof trusses on the top of the second storey, and by the end of the day I think most of the roof was done. This week also saw the windows arrive – they are currently stacked in the garage. Friday the 28th of August the garage roof trusses were completed and on Saturday I noticed the front timber support pole was in. I didn’t get out of the car this week for a close look as it was raining or I was on my way to an event or work or whatever else was on. A couple of days this week it was pouring rain, but the carpenters were still there slogging away. My hat goes off to them – cheers boys!!!

It is hard to actually see the roof from the front of the house as it is so high up, but you can see the timber for the eaves poking out. Hopefully it looks good – as it kind of looks bald at the moment. lol.

Roof trusses on

garage roof is on and windows inside the garage

The timber support at the entrance – this will be covered with bricks

The timber support at the front door is a beautiful piece of timber – does seem a shame to box it up. I’m still interested to see how the eave at the front of the garage will work.

Who has built a double storey – what comes next, roof covering or bricks? Excited to see more happen. It’s amazing the difference 6 weeks can make!!!

Week 5: Build it up, build it up build it higher. Our Airlie Build with Boutique Homes Victoria

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Dapple Grey

So I’m a little late with my week 5 update… It was an exciting week as the second storey went up!!! It was amazing to see how quickly it happened, and it gave a real insight into the actual height of the house. And it is certainly big!!! My son was pretty impressed as I was able to point out his room. He loves driving by and seeing the builders working – he currently wants to be a builder. I haven’t been upstairs as yet… I have a small fear of heights and hate climbing ladders. So as much as I want to see and get a feel of the bedroom sizes I’m yet to do it. I also tend to the have the children with me, and it’s not a place for them, as much as my little man would love to climb the ladder.

Second storey goes up – late evening photo so very dark.

Close up at the front of the house

The Lounge – happy that light does get inside

The kitchen – super excited for our window splash back

The alfresco

Looking from the backyard to the house. The alfresco and the guest bedroom upstairs

Down the ‘dead’ side of the house. Jack’s room is up there!!!

The other side of the house. Guest bedroom, bathroom, kids retreat, master

Side of house, looking towards the road

Back of house. Alfresco and lounge downstairs. Guest bedroom & Anastasia’s room upstairs

Master Bedroom upstairs

More of our HUGE master bedroom upstairs

So it is certainly coming along – and it is very exciting. The children can now actually “see” the house, and it makes much more sense to them now.

Week 4 – Airlie, Boutique Homes Victoria

Posted on August 16, 2015 by Dapple Grey

Wow – what a week we had!!! I’m pretty sure this will be one of the most exciting as it really marked the start of our new home.

Monday 10th Aug 2015, saw our slab pour!!!

The garage

Wednesday was our slab inspection – tick

Thursday 13th Aug, 2015 was the beginning of our frame. I couldn’t believe my eyes, it went up so quickly. As I dropped my daughter to school the frame was being delivered, and by 10am majority of the walls were up!!!

The carpenters worked hard today

The dead side of the house

The kitchen – future window splash back

Looking towards the lounge

Looking from the kitchen to the alfresco

The front window (theatre, rumpus, home gym room – TBC)

Friday the 14th, 2015 – the steel beams were installed.

Steel beams

A giant beam across the garage

Thinking we should have lifted the height of the garage door???

Looking towards the front door

Looking from backyard toward the alfresco and into the kitchen/dining/lounge. You can also see the large kitchen/dining/lounge beam – with timber inserted.

Close up of the garage beam

And on Saturday the 15th the carpenters were on site again.

Seeing the frame go up has really been a turning point for me mentally. I’ve really struggled at times to find the strength to continue and really questioned our decision, but all the stress has quickly moved to the back of my mind as I can actually see it happening now. So far our build is going smoothly, well from what I can see anyway. I’ve got a couple of things to clarify, but I’m going to wait and see what happens this week before I start annoying my SS. I’m really happy and the space looks great. I’m really loving the back open plan area – it’s certainly open and large, and will be perfect for entertaining. I can’t wait to have our family and friends over.

Week 3 Round up – Boutique Homes Victoria; Airlie

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Dapple Grey

This past week has been a great one!!! I’m feeling really positive about our new home, and thankful we stuck it out, as there have certainly been times when I questioned our decision to knock down and re-build.

I met our Site Supervisor (SS) during the week, and he seems excellent. Our neighbour had called us a little concerned about a few things so I organised to meet with them both (neighbour and SS). The SS was incredibly understanding towards our neighbour and explained what was going on and what else to expect in the next couple of days. He was calm and caring and it gave me a good feeling. As it turned out though, the guys doing the slab prep had already explained everything to our neighbour in the morning, they even knew his name – so in my eyes another tick.

Cheers again to the slab prep guys – they were digging trenches and doing their stuff in the pouring rain!!! I was certain when it was pelting down on my way to school drop off that nobody would be on-site, but to my shock there they were not huddled up in their cars, but outside in the mud. And there is plenty of mud, between the mud from our site, the naturestrip which the council dug up next door for pipes or something, plus the development across the road where they are creating driveways and also digging up the naturestrip, there is a lot of mud going on. Lets hope some sunshine dries it all up soon.

And lets hope the sun shines tomorrow (Monday 10th of August, 2015) – I think the concrete will be flowing… yeah!!!! And if the concrete flows, expect a photo of the champagne flowing at our slab party!!! lol. BUT, the forecast is showers I think so lets hope the rain stays away.

So, a great week was had in the land of Build – lets hope this coming one is great too!!! It’s all about being positive at the moment (and K-Mart – kmart home wares to be specific.)

Check out the photos below of the past week… yes, I’m still stalking. lol. But I’m more of a “Drive By Stalker” – most of these photos are from my hubby… so who is the stalker now??? ha ha.

Did you or will you have a slab party? I’m pretty sure I will – well, i’ll just have a glass with my hubby, it certainly is a big step worth celebrating!!!

Slab prep