Old House Gone

Its been exciting times this week with the announcement that the old house is officially gone.  We saw it on Tuesday morning and it looked roughly like this :

I managed to get back out on Wednesday evening to see how it all went :

Unfortunately I was beaten by the sun.   I'll go out tomorrow and have a proper look around but by all accounts (and my dark viewing) Hughes have done a great job.  Sending the invoice before they had finished seemed a bit cheeky but it seems like the way in the building industry.  Thanks to Darren for his excellent work on the site.

Debbie and I picked out the "granite" (I would suggest its really a biotite schist) slab for our kitchen benches at TTI's warehouse.  They have stickered two slabs to cut the tops from, and we'll be able to go out and make sure they cut the pieces the way we want once the templates are complete.

Most of our colour selections are done, just waiting on Cathrin to call us to arrange a meeting time.   We should have an updated set of drawings early next week. Hopefully not too many rounds of corrections on these and Ashford can get cracking on the building permit.  I'm still hopeful of them getting to site by the 1st of September.

Floor Plan

Not 100% exact but pretty close.  A few changes still with Ashford to sort out.  The street is to the right of the drawing.
This is all copyright of Ashford Homes :

Demolition begins!

Good progress this week, not quite as much as expected but I've got to be patient.

Temp fencing when up on Tuesday, Westside right on time.   SPAusNet have installed the power pit, the old power pole is still in place.  I'm hoping its still a work in progress and that the pole will disappear soon.
Hughes have made a start on the asbestos removal, the eaves and most of the internal is completed.

Debbie and I have been out picking plumbing parts and colours ready for our colour selection appointment. 

Some photos of the site....

                                                              Temp fencing

Power Pit, neat tidy up.  Sorry about the lawn Bob.

No more asbestos :D

Pre-demolition update

Well its been nearly a month since I last posted.  Its been a busy month!   We've finished lifting up all of the pavers, pulled out the sleepers to reuse and pulled out a rooms worth of hardwood floor boards to use in the landscaping.  The floor board removal was a horrible job, I don't recommend it to anyone.

After getting a few quotes for the demolition we decided to go with Hughes Demolitions, they came in with a reasonable price and have been very helpful thus far.  They obtained the permits quickly and are ready to go before we are.  Have arranged Westside to install the temporary fencing next week before the demolition starts.  Its all running smoothly at the moment.  The sticking point has been SPAusnet abolishing the power connection.  All the services said it would take 20 working days, the others showed up after 2 or 3.  SPAusNet arrived on day 16.

The building contract is finalised and ready to sign, after some discussions regarding liquidated damages.  Varitations are all completed and ready to be signed off on.  Once we sign it then thats it for changing our mind, it seems that the projects that go wrong are those that have changes after the contract drawings.

Next post will hopefully be the heavy machinary wreaking and leveling....