Foundations/ The Slab

It’s funny how certain terms become second nature to you after hearing and using them for a while. Before building, the slab would most definitely have been referring either to a box of beer or a huge piece of cake. Now, it is good old buildtalk and we talk about the upper slab and lower slab.

Watching the slab being poured is pretty exciting. It is one of the first eventful things to happen on a new build and I reckon every new builder would be there with the camera and a truckload of enthusiasm. In fact the pics speak for themselves. A controller manages the speed and amount of the cement flow whilst a team member directs it to the right place. Quite an art I suspect. (I’ll stick with writing). Once poured the cement is screed, or levelled, then left for several days before being worked on again.

At this point I left my narrative to look for the pics to download.  I looked and looked. All my build pics are neatly loaded into  the PC, but apparently not these. So I can only say sorry and I’ll come back to them. promise. After all, I’ve already spent 2 months looking for them…because it is now July. What happened to that New Year Resolution of mine?

It’s never April

Seems like I just can’t keep up. But instead of blahing about it, I’ll hit the update NOW. Okay (deep breath). When we got back from NC to Perth in October, life was crazy. Though we had a rental we slept in swags, sat on the floor and ate on the floor for a good few weeks until our container arrived. Then Crazy Part 2 happened as we unpacked and ran out of space almost as soon as we started unpacking.

In the meantime, the footings were laid. As our house is somewhat multi-level, this was a little trickier than normal. Doesn’t look like much but these bits of concrete support a lot!!

The house is built on several different levels hence the need for footings beneath each drop (or rise). It looks cold…and to think that summer has come and gone and the cold is returning. Aaaaaargghh!

Miele or Bosch?

Sometimes you just don’t want to settle for second best. You’ve done the research. You’ve done the sums. They don’t add up but so what. You want something fabulous. The problem is…which oven is fabulous?

The answer is that there are many, but I, at present, have dwindled my list down to the above.

This is by no means a debate about who wins the oven war but rather one subjective viewpoint bearing in mind such rationale as price, value, reliability, and quality.

I am looking for an oven. A built-in. I have never bought one before but have always inherited them…hence my phobia against deadly grease build-up and tweeny ovens.

I want an oven that:

- cleans itself. (Pyrolytic)

- fits 2 big pots of curry in without losing one of the lids.

- is reliable and cooks well.

- looks good and is safe.

Before starting to research this I absolutely definitely without any question wanted a 900mm oven. Then I looked around. And I looked at my checklist. Bosch doesn’t do a 900mm pyrolytic. Almost as bad, Miele do, but it costs big time…$

For a moment there I thought that I could live without pyrolytic. But I was wrong. And yes you are right that pyrolytic ovens are not eco given that you must heat them to 500 C for a good few minutes to get that delightful ash that you simply brush out. But I have convinced myself that it is ecoish if I only zap every few months and save my time and energy to engage in other eco activities…like install a native garden for instance.

Choice magazine seem to like both Miele and Bosch although they don’t always leap to the top of the table. Miele has changed certain aspects of its oven’s make-up drastically of late. Whereas once its 60cm wide oven had a pitifully small interior space, now it boasts 66litres, 3 litres more than Bosch who sits on 63 litres. Bosch kindly classifies their ovens into Classic, Lifestyle and Premium and provides a comfort oven light, which looks fabulous lighting up the inside of the oven. On the other hand Miele’s oven light switches off to save energy…Miele advertise the price of their merchandise on their website which is really helpful. Bosch don’t. But there again, the price of Bosch merchandise can be negotiated which is a highly attractive feature.

Run your finger around many an oven and you are likely to cut it. Joins are messy. Cleaning would be horrible. A Miele oven is a joy to touch, with its Perfect Clean finish and smooth lines…I think I might be rambling now.

My conclusion is that Bosch and Miele are both fabulous. But just for today, for me, Miele is fabulouser.

PS. I love my Bosch dishwasher.

MyAussieBuild New Year Resolution

Some people do fitness, others do drink; my New Year’s Resolution is to get back into My Aussie Build mode and get writing.

Things have changed mind you.  

We have moved back to Oz and the build is now going on just down the road where I can keep a leery eye on it.

Lots of leeriness has been required because there have been a couple of points of contention…demolition and bricks.

There’s lots to tell and all will be told. Tomorrow maybe. But I am resolute. The writing will recommence.

It’s Been So Long

Well, I guess that life just took over for a while there. Sorry about the break. I have loads of news, pics and info to pass on but I also need to work on some yukky stuff like spammers hitting the site and photos not downloading with my wordpress upgrade. Bear with me. And if you can’t, pop over to the House & Garden website where I have another blog running.

Demolition Doubts Dissolved

Several weeks ago I would have left the title of this post as ‘Demolition Doubts…’ because for a moment there it seemed that our house would never get demolished. Fortunately now things are moving (the asbestos cladding is being removed). It’s a good lesson on how things can tend not to go according to plan. In my how to demolish your house post (written in December 07), I said that our house would most likely be demolished in January 08. Yes well…

Photos being taken as I write (thanks Phil and John) to be posted as they come through.

The Beguiling Tile

I have to admit that I was deeply apprehensive as I walked into my first choice of tilers during pre-start selections. Most women seem to know their dream tile intimately. I on the other hand was a more insecure candidate. A ‘’something like” ”maybe” ”not bad” kind of candidate who was happy to put complete trust in a total stranger who happened to be working there. The stranger was one Meredith Splatt.

Her name struck me as being highly Tolkienesque . Was it even real I thought to myself? For this expanse of room… these tiles of all shape, colour and texture… these lights…beaming like a UFO… were all quite and completely surreal.

There seemed to be three ways to go.

The first was the simplest option: the 40 something dollar tile allowed for in the builder’s specifications. Not much choice but highly practical with all the tiles displayed together. Plenty of white, patterns and mix and match options.

Second choice was the buyer’s market. Someone who didn’t want something in the first section but also didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg for the look that they were after. It was probably there for you if you could find it. That was me.

Choice three was the ridiculous. Beautiful tiles of all shades and textures that turned the humble ensuite into a Roman Bath and made the hallway so alluring that it whispered ”Come hither, come hither…” as though Heathcliff were waiting ten steps beyond.

And where was my Meredith?

She was everywhere.

”Natural” I explained…”Almost as though I could be outside…”

And ”natural” Meredith produced from those busy walls that I could find nothing on. She produced natural for a hundred dollars and she produced natural for half the price. More to the point she found me exactly the tiles that I wanted for exactly the price that I wanted to pay.

By the time that we were finished (several bathroom floors, cabinets and a laundry later), we were exhausted. Meredith gave me a look that said I could eat a horse but I’ll probably have to settle for a salad which meant that it was time to go.

I walked out of my first choice of tilers in a slightly tipsy manner. It could have been starvation, or dehydration or both. But whatever it was, I was beaming like the lights had been earlier.

For I had achieved the impossible. I had my tiles…in a thousand shades of sand.

A Concrete Reminder

Well it was a fairly mad time in Perth but it felt good to get stuff done and meet more of the people that will be responsible for the build. Nor did it take long to reacquaint myself with Osborne Park and its amazing compliment of absolutelynecessaryshopstovisitifyouarebuildingahouse. I mean really…what isn’t there? Within a camel’s breath of each other I found tilers - all conveniently located on one street - carpet shops, wood flooring dealers, Rick Hart, Tilly’s Lights, bathroom showrooms, the Laminex showroom and last but not least, Ross Griffin Design Solutions - and Rene, who designed our house.

That’s sidetracking though.

One of the highlights of my week was of a far more humble nature. I met Gordon Stimson of Enviroplumb at the house to go over the underground water tank scenario. I discovered amongst other things that garden space really is to be valued. Gordon let me know that the cost of one 14,000l round above ground tank would cost in the region of $5,000 less to buy and install than 2 x 5,000l underground tanks. Oh so tempting…

But wait. If you put a 14,000l water tank on an area of approx 2.5m squared you are essentially losing that bit of land for all other purposes. Yes, there’s creeper cover…and a great passion fruit already thriving in the area, but most importantly, what happens to the feeling of space? As I mentioned in an earlier post, House v Dream House, there are subtle differences between building a dream home in the bush where space is of no matter and building on a narrow surburban block. The question is, ”Can we afford to give away this space?” And the answer is ”No!” The space is worth more to us than the money it will save. This is all worth taking into account when you size your garden to your house.

But now the piece de resistance.

In a previous post I mentioned how sad it was not being able to salvage more from our house due to the fact that we live overseas.

Take a look at this. Gordon to the rescue.

A picture speaks a thousand words… Great stuff. We have Jess Willow’s hand back in the family.

PreStart (a few days late)

Have you ever watched Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory? (Early version with Gene Wilder).Well if you have ( and surely you can’t not have..)you may remember some scenes in the film of Grandpa Joe and all the other Grandmas and the other Grandpa tucked up in bed together. Well that was us at the end of the week. Sick as sick could be. Not good. But we’re on the mend and not a minute too soon as I leave for Perth tomorrow and the PreStart meeting.

This is quite an important meet…for us anyway seeing as we can’t just pop in and organise another. The meeting is to discuss the plan and any last minute changes. In other words, if we decide that we want to move a window or change a wall, it’s a pretty good time to say so.

It will be a manic week. New Caledonian resident let loose in Perth for a week without her kids. And oh so many things on the shopping list….

solid wood flooring

water saving showers

himalayan sandstone tiles

water tanks

present for Jess Willow’s 8th birthday

fire box

bench tops

cooktop

laksa paste

front doors

decent clothes to wear for my new job

oven

and so on

So au revoir from Noumea. And here’s to a week of fabulous Australian tucker…starting with the Maya Masala (eat your heart out Kim), followed by The Wild Fig……..then the……..rounded off with a ………from the …………Too exciting for words.

4/30 L’Ile aux Goelands / 5/30 Demolition Update

L’ile Aux Goelands

No excuses, I’m behind schedule. But hey - if you had the choice between being the first to set foot on a local picture-perfect island just re-opening after being closed for 4 months for birds to nest, OR take up the opportunity (on a boiling hot humid day that is yelling loudly in your ears GET WET) of turning meekly to the computer to look deeply into yourself to find out why you are failing to keep up with something so seemingly attainable as Post 4 (a day late) of Thirty Days of Everything…..WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE???

So instead of dwelling on the finer attributes of failing, I’ll concentrate on the pretty fish I saw snorkelling. Nemos in their hundreds of course and Picassos. Only the one turtle today and no sharks. Many beautiful butterfly fish and lots of blue fish. If I’m not careful then this is going to become Seuss’esque.

Demolition Update

Photos have recently come through of our floors (thanks Mel). Good to know that they are moving on to a new home as there is very little of them left in ours. As we see this we wonder if we shouldn’t have tried to keep more things from our house. But the truth is it’s harder from overseas, and in the only flying visit we have had we were sleeping on those floors.

Demolition is due any time now (have you heard this before?). The plans are almost in to council and we must start deciding prestart stuff. What is prestart? I’ll tell you tomorrow.

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