Week 19 - 21: More Brickwork (week 12-14)

More bricklaying has been commenced. 

Relatives from Malaysia were here to visit Perth and all they wanted was to visit the half built house. I'm glad that there were at least something to show. 

study room interior 

 The living room, dining room and bedrooms. Partitioned walls have not been installed as yet. Surprisingly the house turned out to be slightly bigger than I thought it'll be. 

 Living area

The garage. 

Week 17 & 18: Brick Laying (week 10 & 11)

Much to my disappointment, these past two weeks are considered week 10 & 11 instead of week 17 & 18 of building. It took almost 1 month for brickwork to start since delivery of bricks in late October. I've called up the pre-start lady from Celebration Homes to ask what was the delay and also to request for the expected date of completion. To my horror, she replied that the completion date will be end of March 2014 which according to my calculation is way more than 26 weeks as per agreement by the Builder. She clarified by saying that week 1 of building is only considered when the slab goes down. So technically the preliminary stages of earthwork from removal of vegetation to leveling of the ground are not considered commencement of building which does not make sense to me at all. Hence, it was approximately a 7-weeks delay due to the previous horrible weather in Perth. On the other hand, Celebration Homes also mentioned that there was a shortage of brickies/brick-workers in Perth during this busy period of time. Well, according to the fine prints in the contract, builder will only considered commencement of building process when they say so. So, I guess there's no way around this to seek for compensation. 

Oh well, I shall not ponder on the compensation as I am a very happy girl this morning. Finally some bricklaying has started with one side of the wall erected. This is getting exciting for me again. I guess I shall be patient with Celebration Homes and let them do whatever they have to do. 

Messy work-site

Internal part of the house

Internal part of the house

Another view of the house internally

I hope it's fine with the gaps between the bricks. Maybe it's some bricklaying technique which I am not aware of. 

The external area of the house. I love the dual shaded colour of the bricks. Just in case you wonder what bricks I've picked, it's the "Jurien" bricks. 

a close-up view of the bricks

Yes, exciting times now. Hopefully it shouldn't be too long before we start seeing the shell of the house =)

Week 14-16: No Progress (week 7-9)

Bricks are still sitting on the concrete slabs. 10 more weeks to week 26 which is promised by Celebration Homes that the building process will be completed. 10 weeks to erect a house? Hmm...I wonder that's possible?

Week 13 : Bricks Delivered (week 6)

Bricks,Window and Door Frames have finally been delivered to the site. I wonder when the brickies will be around to commence work? Definitely got my excitement going again..

Week 9-12: Man Hole Installed (week 2-5)

The construction process has not progressed much  for quite a while now. The excitement has definitely died down a little for me. Still waiting for the bricks to be delivered.

Good to see that the 2 man holes have been installed underneath the ground.

Week 8: Slabs Down (Week 1)

What can I say?  Conslabulation! *beaming with delight* It's definitely a significant milestone in house building. I am so stoked to see the concrete slab finally installed and it shouldn't be for too long before the house is completed, I am hoping end of January.

I wonder if this is considered a good job or not? I'm just going to trust Celebration Homes on this. 

I think this is what they call "manholes" Correct me if I'm wrong. Definition from Wikipedia is " A manhole is the top opening to an underground utility vault used to house an access point for making connections or performing maintenance on underground and buried public utility and other services including sewers, telephone, electricity, storm drains and gas" 

2 man holes required for this tiny house. 

Next stage will be brick delivery and bricklayer commencement. 

Week 7: Footings

Parents are here to visit and looks like they've brought me some good luck. Finally some progress with the construction.

Seems like a very tiny platform.

footings are now set in and ready for the slab to go in next (pending on the weather again)

Consecutive rain for 7 weeks and looks like it's not going to change any sooner. This is by far one of the wettest winter I've witnessed in Australia. 

Week 4-6: Still Raining

Week 6 and still no signs of consecutive sunny days. Hence, no progress with the construction. My anticipation and excitement is gradually wearing thin.

Week 2 & 3: Clouds and Rain

It's been raining non-stop for the past 10 days and so far no signs of sunny day till next Monday.

As duly noted, apart from the appearance of two steel containers, no progress has been made so far. 10 days of rain and 3 more to go. Who's the murderer here? The weather of course, cause it's killing my patience. 

Week 1: Earthworks

The weather has been looking very gloomy and wet for Perth the last two weeks. It was finally nice to wake up to a warm and sunny Saturday morning. In order not to waste such a beautiful weekend, as always, I took my bike out to cycle with my brother. Our usual cycle path was from our current rented property to the new land. Due to the wet season, I wasn't expecting much to happen as the construction process are usually delayed.  But to my surprise, the builders has already started with the earthworks and it was awesome to see some changes to my once awful looking land. Still looks quite terrible with the pile of sand at the front but at least the vegetation has been cleared and the land has been leveled thus far. Glad I chucked my camera into my bike pouch, guess I had a gut feeling that the nice weather was a good omen. 

Unfortunately the weather forecast for next week is not looking great, probably a few showers. The next step will be a critical one as they have to lay the concrete slab and footing as the foundation of the house. To have a sturdy mixture of concrete, the right amount of water is essential. Extra rainwater to the mixture will be a horrible idea. Don't think the builders will want to get the foundation of the house wrong. Shall be patient then! 

Situated behind some warehouses. 

Nicely leveled. 

Such terrible looking bricks. Will paint the brick wall with white or cream colours!

Counting Down to Site Work

When 4 months of patience is gradually wearing thin, the city council has finally approved the building permit and given the green light for Celebration Homes to commence site work. 6 more days and counting to construction. Yeah!

After such a long-delayed approval from the City of Canning, my vacant land subsequently became a fly tipping zone and it's definitely not a pretty sight at the moment. Stay tune to see how this piece of land will be transformed in the next 26 weeks by the builders. I am so overwhelmed with excitement and anticipation right now for the building process to begin. Can't wait =) 

Selections for Pre-start Session

Prior to pre-start session, it's advisable to return to the showroom as frequently as possible to look at all the variety of colours and choices Celebration Homes has for the construction. You will receive a folder beforehand to tell you what selections are required during the Pre-Start session.   This might sound gibberish to some individuals. But for those who have decided to build with Celebration Homes, these are my selections during the pre-start session.

Face Bricks: Jurien

Face Brick Joints: Conduit

Colours for Aluminium Doors & Windows: White Lustre

Roof Cover: Colourbond roof –Dune

Gutters: Dune

Downpipes: Classic Cream

Roof Fascia: Surfmist

Brickpaving: Atlas Designer Pave – Mocha

Garage Door: Surfmist

Locks and catches: Privacy locks changed from Ensuite WC to Bedroom 1 door.

Doors: Corinthian PMAD 103 Transglazed

Sliding Door Robes to Bedrooms 2&3: Thoroughbred

Ensuite and Bath Cabinets: Top – Caeserstone Iced Snow ; Fronts/Drawers – Oyster Linea ; Door handles changed to #22

Kitchen Cabinets: Top – Caeserstone Almond Rocca; Cabinets- Antique Wiluna White; Doors handles changed to #22

Laundry Cabinets: Top – Laminex Earthly ; Cupboards- Husk

Towel Rail for both bathroom and ensuite: Upgraded to double line Caroma Cosmo Metal (Chrome) 900mm

Ceramic Tiles to Ensuite,Bathroom,Laundry and WC : Wall Tiles – Lanka Fashion Bone; Feature Tile: 300x75 SCC Impulse #3 Honeycomb; Floor Tiles: Lanka M-637 Cinnamon #64

Showerhead: Upgraded to Caroma Track Rail Shower with overhead with Mixer tapware

Laundry tapware : upgraded to  Veggie Mixer

Kitchen tapware: upgraded to Gooseneck

Shower Mirror: Trim

Paint for doors and frame: Fusilli

External render : Matt stone beige

Contrast render: Toffee

Barge & Scribe: Surfmist

Added multiple conduits and power points. (Make sure you go through the electrical plan with your electrician and add conduits wherever necessary. No harm having more power points at home) 

2x Saturn Clipsal Pure White to Kitchen

Upgraded to Westinghouse Gas Hotplate

If you wish to find out more about the pricing of the upgrades, please send me an email at littlepinkbirdanditsnest@gmail.com. Best of luck with your pre-start! 

My Journey with Celebration Homes Part II

Pre-start session is one of the first few milestones of house building. Most people called it the "fun" part where you get the chance to customise your house however you like.This was a 2-3 hour session taken place in the builder's show room which is filled with a wide variety of items to choose from such as roofing, bricks, garage doors, tiles, taps, mixers, flooring etc. The photos below will definitely paint a better picture of the pre-start session.

A carpark was reserved under my name during the pre-start session

bricks

I narrowed down to these two bricks. 

Dune roof, surfmist garage door and white lustre window frame

I chose Almond Rocca Caesarstone for my kitchen benchtop (right bottom) and Ice Snow Caeserstone for the vanity benchtops (right middle)

 knobs for drawers and cupboards

 my selection of tiles for the floor and walls , caeserstone benchtop and laminex cupboards for the bathrooms

Brickpavers

vanity mirrors

 semi inset basins versus fully inset basins. I chose the right semi inset basins

the display kitchen

shower area is my sanctuary, hence it's a must to upgrade the showerhead =)

laundry area

I am currently pending for the city council to approve the building permit. As promised by Celebration Homes,the house should be completed in November 2013. Fingers crossed!! --this entry was written on the 17th March 2013--

My Journey with Celebration Homes Part I

The journey of finding the right suburb to settle in  Perth started in early July 2012. Basically I chose where all the good Asian food are which is south of the river. After months of searching for the right location, I've decided to build my nest in Cannington, Western Australia. All these years of endless moving from one rented property to another, from one state to another, I can finally call Perth my second home. I've bought this relatively small subdivided piece of survey-strata land that is approximately 348sqm in size (11.5m wide and 30.264 long). Hoping for a small but cosy first home.

The negotiation process of purchasing the land from the previous land owner wasn't a particularly good experience. He is described as a typical Australian rich bloke in his 50s with a rough edge living in Applecross. It must be my young female Asian complexion that gave him the impression that I could be bullied. He was just loud and constantly talking down on me when I asked for a better price. Maybe if there was a male partner around to be my shield, he would have treated me otherwise.

When I thought shopping around for builders would be a nicer experience, I was so wrong. I was tempted with all the promotions and freebies given by various builders in the display villages. It was shocking that once I've started comparing apples to apples on the Excel spreadsheet, alot of them were actually quite overpriced! The transparency in the house specifications for many builders were poor and I had to break it down to see the obvious. Among the lot, Celebration Homes was the winner. The building price was reasonable and the basic specifications were clearly outlined. Besides that, the service provided by the Building Consultant was superb. Roger was not only friendly and patient but very attentive to the minor details of my preferred house plan. There were various times he knew what I wanted even before I opened my mouth. However,there was a little hiccup with the construction site cost along the way but that it was an inevitable one. For those who are interested to buy a land in Perth or other areas of Australia, make sure you obtain an Engineer report that classifies the reactivity of the soil and footing of the land prior to making any purchases. To have clay in your land is bad and to have C6 /C7 as a footing will incur really high site cost.  Be mindful that with a land like mine, you have to set aside at least AUD20k to 30k on top of the starting building price. A good land with little soil reactivity should only cost you AUD7-10k for site cost. 

After looking at different houseplans from different builders, in order to minimize the modification costs, I have narrowed down to the Como design. As a bonus, it came with a special promotion by Celebration Homes where I can upgrade to higher ceilings in the living area from standard 28c to 31c and have caeserstone kitchen benchtops at a minimal cost. I made some modifications to the house plan by enclosing the lounge with walls and doors; and adding an extra storeroom. I have chosen the Easton Elevation  as shown below for the exterior but unfortunately it does not come with the magnificent landscaping. A different colour for the roof,door,window frame and rendered walls will be chosen. 

Como Layout

Easton Elevation - the exterior of the house. Landscaping not included though

This is by far one of the most exciting times in my life. I hope in the next few months, the journey of building my first home with Celebration Homes will be a fruitful one!Stay tune for more updates =)