Week Six - The Windows

Week six felt short to us as we went on holiday to the Gold Coast on the Thursday which was a lovely change!  Exciting things were happening at home however, with the windows in the downstairs bedroom and the window and door in the rumpus room installed.  It's amazing how much light they let in - it has totally changed the feel of the rumpus room and provides a fantastic outlook to watch the kids playing outside or at the park.  The stairwell window was also prepped but not quite in - very much looking forward to that one!  

Some steel posts were also put in to support the beam that will be in the roof as we are knocking down a few walls upstairs to provide us with an open plan living/dining/kitchen.  Lara loved investigating what was inside the wall.  It was actually pretty gross!  

Windows in the downstairs bedroom

Rumpus room window - looking onto the backyard

A mighty hole!

Let there be light in the rumpus room!

Janet and Lara checking the door works okay

View from the back

Stairwell window taken out and steel post in

Investigating the goodies left by 60 years of habitation

Week Five - The Concrete

Some more fun machinery at our house this week as some old concrete was dug up to make way for the new.  The form work for our carport and side path was completed and the concrete poured.  I measured Beastie and she will fit in the carport with about 5cm to spare!  Lara and Alex had fun making their mark in the newly poured slab - keeping up a family tradition.

The rest of the week was quiet with our builder on holidays.

carport formwork

carport slab down

front steps from carport to downstairs entrance door

side path poured

new steps on side path

fun with concrete!

leaving our mark

Week Four - The Structure

Lots of structural work going on this week!  First, our retaining walls were filled with concrete and we thankfully have our post back supporting our front porch.  I just chose not to think about it every time I walked up those stairs...

The carport besser blocks were waterproofed (I assume that's what it is!) and a load of dirt was dumped to fill it - looking forward to this bit!

They laid the floor in the upstairs bathroom and toilet ready for tiling (thankfully waited until we were out!) and took out our offending posts downstairs to be replaced with a massive structural beam.

My favourite part though, and a total surprise when I walked around the corner, was that our downstairs entrance door was put in.  Love!!!!

Alex continues to sleep through nail guns and hammers on metal - amazing!

retaining walls in

pretty flower in our front garden - just because!

waterproofing the carport retaining wall

dumping the soil for the carport

bathroom floor in ready for tiles

our rumpus room structural beam

my fave - our new downstairs entrance door - yet to be stained.

Week Three - The Demolition

Week three saw our upstairs bathroom demolished.  We now share a small bathroom with the builders - so far, they have been very clean! Typically Lara got sick and has had fevers all week and we can't pop her in a cold bath as we don't have one anymore!

Outside, the excavation continued, footings were poured, and the retaining walls were started.  Reminded me of my Grandpa who was a brickie.  Lara loved climbing on the pallet of besser blocks and watching the apprentice mix concrete.

The framing continued downstairs and we can now see both downstairs bedrooms, the ensuite and walk in robe.

The plumber visited to do his rough in and Alex tested out our bathroom sink for size - decided it's too small for him so lucky we have a bath!

The electrician did his rough in too and left holes absolutely everywhere!  It's really interesting seeing how much wiring goes into putting power in a house!

Upstairs bath demolished

Upstairs bath rough in

Carport footings begun

Retaining wall built

Our ensuite!

Downstairs bedrooms - view from the rumpus

Alex testing out the vanity sink for size

Sparky woz here

Look at what is holding our front porch up!

Week Two - The Excavation

The plumber visited this week to lay down our pipes for the ensuite.  Outside, excavation began on our side paths, terrace and driveway.  The driveway will be replaced with a carport, and the side paths and terrace are being ripped up as they were originally laid higher then the concrete slab of the house... oh dear.

Arty picture of our plumbing... why not

The ensuite - can't you tell?

Messy!!

There's a digger in our house!!

Clean!!

Excavation begins.

Truck central!

Side path gone

Awesome playground

Driveway is ripped up

No more drawing flowers Dad, I want diggers!

Baby footprints

The driveway rubble removed

First wall frame erected underneath - this will be Alex's bedroom

The terrace ripped up.  Our bedroom will have doors onto here.