doors & windows - done and dusted

Well, not quite dusted, but done nonetheless.  I must add that that is the aluminium doors I'm talking about.  In theory, the wooden doors (both internal and external) are arriving tomorrow.
What else? Pool is in.  Off centre, but in.  God has sent these skew things to test me, I know it!!!
The kitchen and BIC's  (in theory) are arriving on Monday.  The tiler arrived on Sunday and has already managed to incorrectly tile all three bathrooms and has broken at least 20 of my extremely expensive Travertine tiles in his efforts to correct his mistakes.  The less said about that, the better.  Personally, I think I am being very calm in the face of extreme adversity!

Last thing to add... I finally finished crocheting Megan's blanket for her new room.  I started crocheting it at the same time we started building and I wondered which one would be finished first.  Sadly, I can now officially confirm that it is quicker to crochet a blanket than to build a house.
Anyway, I think the next couple of weeks are going to be very exciting, if extremely stressful.

windows and more

I cannot believe it has been so long since my last entry.  To be honest, the pace of progress has become glacial, so I keep thinking there is nothing to report.  But, that's not really true.  Our windows are going in, and the pool.  What else?  Cornices, retaining walls, window sills etc.  Sadly a large part of the work done these past two weeks has actually been repairing and patching what should have been done correctly in the first place.  The plumbers also seem to cause their own havoc, and we have patched and repaired one particular place 4 times now!!! 
Anyway, here are a few pics....

and on and on...

I'm running out of titles for our progress.  The roof is still being completed, despite the blistering start over a month ago.  But, the house is really looking so good now.

The downstairs ceilings are mostly in and rhinolited (here is a pic of our diningroom).

I love our big window on our stair case.  It lets in the most lovely morning sun.

The garage roof is also nearing completion and I think we are going to be very happy we made this late adjustment to the house and added this room above the garage.  Problem is, we are all fighting over it - Carl wants it for his cave, Ali wants it for his scalectrix and model train, Megan wants it for sleep overs and parties.  Me, I don't get a say!  In fact, the only space in the house that is truly mine is the little sewing nook which is open plan to the PJ lounge.  I'm not complaining, I'm just saying....

Now that the brickwork on the house is mostly complete, we are able to get busy with building the retaining walls for the garden.  So, it is all coming together, SLOWLY but surely. 

The roof goes on (and on and on...)

After a flying start by the roofers, things have slowed down somewhat.   The major delay was because the slab for the garage roof was delayed, so once the slab was laid, the brickwork could happen, and then the trusses over the garage could be installed. 

The sheeting is now going on over the main house, so it is starting to look more and more like a house!

In the meantime, while the roofers have been busy(ish), the builder has got on with the other tasks at hand, which fortunately don't need a roof in order to do them!  Like, rhinoliting (I have NO idea how to spell that!) which, for the uninformed, is a very fine, smooth layer of plaster over the exisiting plaster.

They also fixed up the wall & pillar at our entrance to the house from the road; the floor screeding is happening; the electrician is busy with wiring; foundations for our retaining walls are being dug etc. etc. etc.

So, 3 steps forward, 2 steps back still means an overall forward motion!

The roof

As hoped (and prayed) for, the roof trusses arrived on Monday.  Within 24 hours of working, the roofing contractors have transformed the place. 

Also, the builders got busy with the ribs and blocks which finally arrived last Friday. 

This is one BIG project!!

steady progress

Our house is really starting to take shape.  With the addition of the gables, it is easier to see how the house is going to finally look.  Sadly, there have been a lot of small changes that have had to be made - many wall have been built off centre and have had to be bashed down and corrected (one wall was knocked down, rebuilt and it is STILL in the wrong place - eish!!!). 

The ribs and blocks for our garage slab have finally arrived, and the roof trusses should be arriving this week.  Then we'll really have something to show for ourselves!

In the meantime, my head is swimming with all the decisions to be made.  I wish I had a nothing box in my brain that I could escape to every now and then!!

This is the view as you come down the drive way.  If you look carefully,  you can even see the columns have been put in at our front door (I won't even go into the fact that they cut them too short and had to add an extra piece onto them!!!)

The front of our house is looking great now, with the addition of the gables. 

Here I am standing in the kitchen looking  north towards the open plan TV room/dining area and out to the patio and garden.  

This is our formal lounge looking south.  On the right it goes through to the formal dining room, and on the left is the entrance hall.

First Floor Slab and beyond

It has been about a month since the last post, and in that time, quite a bit has happened.  This is the 'fast part' of the building process and then I know everything will slow down for the finishes. 

The most exciting thing ever was watching the first floor slab be laid.  The builder hired an enormous pump to get the concrete up to first floor level, and several ready mix trucks came and off loaded their concrete into the pump and up it went.  Amazing to watch.

They worked well into the evening to get it completed. 

Once the slab was laid, the brickwork for the first floor began.  It is so amazing to finally have a 3D house to look at, instead of reading off plans.  Things look very different in 3D and it has been a shock here and there seeing how it actually looks. 

The funniest shock of all was not our miscalculation but the plumber.  The plumbing for the toilet and basin for the main bathroom has ended up in Carl's study!  There have been several jokes flying around about him sitting on his throne working!!

Currently our method of accessing the first floor has been a fairly wobbly home made ladder.  The stairwell is now underway, and hopefully it will be completed in the not too distant future.

While all that is going on, a team of plasterers has come on site and are already almost finished the ground floor.

In the meantime I am getting busy with all the decisions of taps, basins, baths etc. etc.  It is quite overwhelming to have an entire house to think about.  Normally, one does one thing at a time - renovate the kitchen, or the bathrooms or whatever  -which allows one to really focus on that one thing and do it well.  I hope that I am managing to not drop too many balls in this process, and not make too many mistakes. 

Another awesome accomplishment is that Joburg Water finally came to install our water!  Hey, it only took 7 months and 8 trips to their offices, but it is finally done.  That being said, the builders are still using our amazing borehole.  Really, and truly, I thank God for that borehole, otherwise we would be nowhere right now!