Pool leaking continues

Well the pool saga continues.  Pool installer finally came out today.  Seems that there is now a crack in the fiberglass, this explains why the water level suddenly went down.  There is still a slow leak in the piping that caused the water level to fall, the lower water level then allowed the fiberglass shell to deform and crack.   

So the crack must be patched first and then they will excavate around the pipes to find the first leak.

Builder now advises that the frame will not be delivered before October 15 so our first delay on the house.

 

Leaking Pool

Leaking Pool
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Well the pool is becoming a real problem. Still can't find the leak, where does all that water go? This was taken only 2 days after filling it up. The pool must be settled for 6 weeks before the concrete surround and coping can be put down. So we are unlikely to have a usable pool before Christmas.

Pool conduit

Pool conduit
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Yesterday the pipes for the pool solar heating and power conduit were put down into a trench between the slab and the pool she in the back ground. Next time we will know to get the conduit placed before the slab is poured to allow it to go straight into the house. Still no one will ever be looking at the back corner of the house.

Selections

About time we posted our colour selections in a nice easy format. These will go into a table later.

Roof	shale grey
bricks	PGH castillo
mortar	black raked
windows	Anotec dark grey
roller doors	paperbark
Barges	paperbark
under eves	1/2 paperbark
gutters	Anotec dark grey
Fascias	paperbark
downpipes	paperbark
Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell

Main colours throughout Internals 

Ceiling /Cornice - 

Walls - 

Skirting / Architrave - 

Windows / Reveals / Frames - 

Exposed Beams - 

Doors - 

Window Treatments - 

Flooring - 

Carpet 
Tiles or Vinyl 

Lighting 
********************************* 

Externals 
Roof - 

Gutters - 

Fascia - 

Bargeboards - 

Downpipes - 

Eaves - 

Soffit to underside of 
Eaves, Verandas & Portico’s - 

Posts - 

Beams / Rafters - 

Masonry Walls - 
 

Balustrade - 

Windows - 

Doors - 

Timber Slats - 

Deck -

Rosewater dunny

Rosewater dunny
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Dropped past today to see that we now have a toilet.

Power into the slab

Another lesson for new players. To bring power into the house a conduit should be put in the slab during the pour. This saves having to put an external wire up the outside of the house. This is the conduit on the front of the slab ready to bring power neatly into the house. What we didn't consider was to have another conduit placed in the rear side of the slab to take power out to the pool pump. So if you are considering having a shed and might like it to be powered this is something to consider.

Downpipe drains in

Downpipe drains in
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Dropped in today to see that the drainpipes have been layed down. As the block is narrow there will not be much access after the frame goes up so it made sense to get this done now. The system will be sealed so that water from all the downpipes will be captured to the tank.

Looking for leaks

Looking for leaks
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Mystery of pool leak continues. Over the last two days the water level in the pool has gone down by several centimeters. So the leak is still there. It seems to stop at the spa jets suggesting a leak there. But after a good look at the pipes today there was no sign of dampness. Not quite sure how to go about finding the leak from here.

Slab is going down!

Slab is going down!
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Today the slab went down, very exciting as there is now something that looks like the beginnings of a house.
Builder says they will leave the slab to cure for two weeks and then work on the frame can commence. After one week the concrete will be strong enough to drive on so the trenches for sealed down pipes will go in as well as some soil for the back yard.

By lunchtime it was all down and being finished off. Very impressed by the builders, they even swept up the neighbor's pathway! Weather was perfect and even a bit of rain forecast for the next day. See the time line here.

The Kitchen

Kitchen design
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Designing the kitchen was hard work. We now know that the next house we build will have a galley style kitchen! Getting to the the actual design was not too hard as we had a wish list:

• Pantry and fridge located so that people would not have to enter the work area to access
• Our wide oven had to be mounted under the bench top
• We wanted a larger fridge so went for a twin door with ice/water dispenser. This means specifying a tap now
  
• Dishwasher was preselected so we could provide exact dimensions. The dishwasher is extra tall so the benches are all higher (940mm) than standard
• No raised breakfast bar but a bench that can double as a breakfast bar. Fits our morning habits

Biggest wish for me was a red splashback. We ended up getting Zenolite. This can not be used behind stovetops but we had glass bricks behind our stove so this was not a problem. We ended up going all white with silver kickers. Handles are rounded to match the oven and fridge and overhead handles small to give a clean look. So I got my red kitchen!

Lucky for us the display house had a similar kitchen so we could try it for size.

The laundry

model laundry
Originally uploaded by sdabel

This is the laundry we based our final design on.

Loved the inbuilt washer design giving a single flat bench top. Specified washing machine taps to be mounted below the bench and providers fitters with a copy of required dimension for our machine- our bench will be a bit higher and deeper than standard. Having the washing machine next to the wall should allow for capture of grey water from washing later on.

The in built hamper seemed a good idea so we specified one of those too. The wall behind will be strengthened to allow for overhead mounting of a cloths dryer.

Variations to date

Just confirmed with our site supervisor (SS) and the pour is booked in for tomorrow morning (9 September)!

I thought that this might be a good time to put up a list of our variations to date and their cost. Might be helpful for others wonding about extra costs.

Details of work	Debit	Credit
Extend bench top in laundry	$161
fridge tap	$330
extra footings (fill)	$10,505
extra external door on garage	$272
half glass laundry door	$123
replace rear windows with sliding door		$167
additional laminate colour to kitchen	$225
appliance unit in kitchen	$340
overhead wine rack	$420
extra for install concealed rangehood	$85
install semi integrated dishwasher	$205
tilt laundry basket in laundry	$245
upgrade cooktop	$517
upgrade range hood	$340
delete dutch gable		$170
13mm plasterboard throughout	$1,440
delete random Santorini brickwork		$1050
delete brick quoins, bands and base		$800
black mortar	$780
change small windows from slide to awning	$270
Electrical extras (extra points and lights)	$1,344
paint gutters and fascias in different colours	$290
reinforce laundry wall for dryer	$90
credit for owner supplied oven		$539
upgrade both showers to hand showers	$198
extra towel rail/rack	$242
deadlocks to 3 external doors and lever to front door	$137
pot drawer	$115
microwave unit	$198
sheen doors to kitchen and powder room	$1,080
3 coats paint to en suite, powder room and bathroom	$150
extra plumbing to both toilets and laundry for rainwater	$210
square set to family, meals, kitchen and small hallway	$880
third window to front elevation- inc thicker glass	$430
zenolight splashback to kitchen	$1445
delete kitchen tiles		$453
alt colour for silver kickers in kitchen	$165
delete kitchen tiles		$453
excavator to remove tree stump for plumbing	$604

First use of the pool

First use of the pool
Originally uploaded by sdabel

The pool has a leak, hard to find because it keeps raining so we can't see what the level is. The level is below the pump intake so it has been getting dirty over the last few weeks. Pool installer returned and dug up some pipes, can't find any obvious leaks. Two ducks seem to have taken up residence and don't seem to mind.

Stopped

Stopped
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Nothing is ever easy! Got a call from the SS saying that the trenchers had hit a snag. Well a large root actually. Seems that the roots from the tree we had removed were still in the ground and the small digger they had was not strong enough to break through the roots. Bottom line was that they had to get in another contractor and that would be an additional cost. Does anyone ever have a block with nothing like this on it? They can't give us an exact cost except top say it will not be a lot. Another great day for the project. The good news is that it shouldn't delay the pour on Tuesday.

Ensuite plumbing but no greywater capture

Ensuite plumbing
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Ready for concrete. Sewer pipes and steel mesh are completed.
This picture shows how easy it would have been to plumb grey water during construction. Builders did not want to know. The drains all go to towards the centre of the house. This means that there is no easy way to catch grey water from the shower. It would only have taken a small extra run so that the shower water was separate from the black toilet water. This run could have gone to a loop outside the slab allowing capture at a later date. One the concrete goes down it will take a jackhammer to change the route of the shower water. That is close to 150L of water every day that goes straight down the drain.

Ready for concrete

Ready for concrete
Originally uploaded by sdabel

More progress last week. Pipes have gone down, steel mesh has been put down and it is ready for the concrete. SS tells that the pour is booked in for Tuesday this week. So hopeful the rain over the weekend won't cause any delays. I am no expert but it looks strong to me. Looking at the hole that was dug for our pool you can see the layers of earth, the good news is that it was constant over the entire block.

The Bricks

Castillo with dark mortar
Originally uploaded by sdabel

Should have posted about the selections before this, but making a start now. Bricks are Castillo, a nice rich colour that we both liked. We decided that the current cream bricks (Bianca) would date the house. Hopefully Castillo will be timeless.

Mortar is black to give a strong look with raked joints . Windows will be Anatec Dark Grey- almost black in colour. And the front door a dark stained wood.

A little more progress

Just got a call from S. who will be laying pipes tomorrow. Following the pipes steel mesh can be put down in preparation for the pour.

He will also quote for drain pipes. With our block being very narrow there will not be a lot of access after construction so he suggests it will be easier (cheaper) to trench drainpipes before the frame goes up.

Construction begins

Well on Thursday 28th August something began to happen. Without any notice workers arrived and after accessing our locked block, knocking on the neighbour's door at 7.30am began to level the land. To my untrained eye it looks like a nice job, lots of extra earth was brought in (justifying the extra cost charged for "landfill" found on the land during soil test.

On the following day trenches were dug for the reinforcing beams in the footings. Looking at it we can't help but wonder if the house is too large for our block. Too late now....