Half a kitchen!

Spoke to our builder yesterday and as a second thought, after telling me nothing had really happened at the house this week, he remembered the joiners had been in and started installing the kitchen. Despite having a meeting there tomorrow morning, I couldn't wait all that time, so dashed out during lunchtime today to have a squiz.
The breakfast bar is not installed yet - it's piled up in the Walk in pantry. Benchtops are also not on yet, at the moment it's just chipboard.

I'm guessing that's the upstand part of the breakfast bar sitting on the bench

the blue sticker on the drawer is because the rails are missing

The study desk is also in place now, as are the shelving. I think this colour has come up great, I'm really pleased he edged the shelves to match, I hadn't expected that, but it finishes it off nicely.

They have also prepared the boxing for the concreting for the alfresco, front porch and back porch.

Look at all that beautiful winter sun, perfectly sheltered from the wind. Can't wait to use this area!

More winter sun flooding the house and warming up
the concrete brilliantly. Love it.

Now to update on a few things that have been brought up in the past.
The sliding window that had those little beads in it has now been replaced; the cupboard in the powder room has been removed as it was made larger then it should have been which is why there was no space for the toilet; and the big 'X' in the living room will be staying. They think it was caused by the trowelling machine back when the concrete was poured. To get rid of it would mean grinding down the floor so much that it would have a dip in it. Looks like we now have a very special character mark and talking point!
We also managed to finish choosing our lights last weekend, and are currently working out what to do curtain wise. Looks like some compromises will have to be made due to budgetary restrictions. I'm disappointed but not devastated.  The hose is still connected to the septic. I'm hoping that can come off soon and then the rain can start properly and get our tanks filling.

Lock Up!

The house is officially at lock up today with the brickies finishing their work on the house structure. The only thing they have left to do is the remainder of the veranda wall outside the laundry. They did the bottom part, went to install the window and found it bowed out of shape, so will have to come back once it has been replaced.
The only parts of our house not with permanent coverings on it are the small triangle near the front entry and one between the house and garage roof. Looking forward to these bits getting done soon.
The polisher has still to show up - surprise surprise, I was told it would definitely be done by yesterday..meanwhile there's been a big delivery of our doors and I presume the archs and skirts as well but didn't really bother looking to closely to confirm this.

front view

looking down from Master

Back view from master WIR

back view looking up - with garage cut out of picture

Odds and Sods

The plasterer has been delayed until Monday now, which is probably just as well as Stu still hasn't quite finished the wall insulation (between some of the rooms as a soundproofing measure), despite the fact he has been there every evening this week.
We had some doors put on yesterday which was pretty exciting until I realised that the wrong front door had been put on. It's the right style, but has been primed for painting rather then being a wood ready for varnishing. KB have told me they will change it later on, which Freya is upset about as she likes the door being aqua. The laundry door is also on, and the internal door into the garage as well.
We were contacted by Beaumonts yesterday, giving us the news that the carpet we wanted is no longer available. I asked if we could find something similar, and today Karen got back to me telling me they had managed to find a roll in Sydney that will do our house. It then got a bit strange as she told me despite the price not changing since we did the selections, it was now going to cost me more. I queried this, and spoke to Ian at KB who contacted Karen then got back to me within 10 minutes assuring me that we were not being charged more and were still within our budget.
The other thing that came up is that Stu discovered one of the windows had these strange little beads between the two glass panes. So I took some pics and forwarded to the window company, who agreed immediately that it was faulty and have ordered a replacement.
The plumbers have also been back, doing some more fitting off, and the carpenters have done some bracing to my book shelf/wall, and have now attached it to the floor.
So although not much has changed at the house, there has still been quite a bit happening.

The faulty window

Windows

I thought it important to tell you why windows are such an important part of sustainable building. Apart from the obvious points like catching breezes and cross flow for air ventilation and allowing natural light to brighten a room, windows can also be an active agent in keeping cool air out and warm air in.
Double glazing contributes a lot to this, but there are other things that can help as well.
The windows we have chosen are all double glazed and also thermally broken. This means that the frames also help to maintain temperature unlike standard aluminium windows which conduct heat in and out of buildings constantly. Our windows are made from UPVC which along with wood frames are the best choices - with sustainably sourced timber probably the better option. UPVC however, not requiring painting, are a lower maintenance option. Additional to this, we also have Argon gas between the two glass layers. This is a transparent gas that again helps prevent the disbursement of heat.
The compromise we had to make for our window selection was we couldn't quite get the styles we wanted. Ideally we preferred to have double hung windows, but getting these in UPVC proved quite a challenge. There was one company who could do this - but they couldn't provide flywire for our high light windows and a retrofit option was not available. Their price was considerably higher too. So we have many Tilt & Turn windows - also known as European windows. These have two ways of opening. One like a door which opens wide, and the other where the bottom locks down, and the window tilts back leaving a gap at the top. I'm really happy with the windows we have chosen, I just wish I had paid more attention to which way they open as I should have had a couple opening in the opposite direction.

Tilt & Turn window closed. Without flywire looks  like a door

Tilt & Turn fully open (should have had this one open the other way)

Tilt & Turn window at tilt

Windows finished

All the windows and glazing (excluding one for our small porch at the back of the house) has now been installed and Stu has completed the data cabling and TV wiring as well. Yesterday we had the electricians out doing some of the rough in, and they managed to get most of that done, hopefully it will be finished on Monday, then Stu can start doing all the insulation.
The bricks are supposed to be arriving at the block any day now. Hope the delivery goes smoothly as it's a mud pit out there now.

Garage window (single glazed, frosted) is hidden under the insulation flap

Some of the mud mess

Busy week..

So much has happened at the site the last few days. The roofers have been busy with half the house done and all the gutters and fascia finished, the window company have also been and have installed most frames and some glazing, and the wrapping has started as well. Freya was very concerned that this was how blue our house was going to look. Some of the eaves have also been lined with cement sheeting.

Extra long sheeting for the raked ceiling in the foreground

Back of the house

Very muddy on site with all the deliveries, workers and rain lately

Next week should see the roof finished, house wrapped, windows done, electrical started, data started and insulation installed too. Also the garage and shed floor were pressure cleaned on Wednesday so they can get sealed, but it's taken days to dry, hopefully a coat of the sealer is going on tomorrow, and then the second coat on Monday.