Day 42 - WALL FRAMES provide the 3D experience

Driving down our street today I was actually quite nervous about what I was about to see.

For soooo long we have poured over our plans on paper...  concerned with the feeling of space, the size of the rooms vs having enough of the different living areas in the overall house....  

We tried to be/ had to be clever - we couldn't afford to have a separate hallway wall that hid the bedroom doors from view, extra large bedrooms or a guest wing... especially if I really hoped for a 'study nook', the TV out of the main living area (media room), somewhere for guests at least and and very importantly - an inviting living space (to hang out in together). 

 

 So... the final floorplans had a media room but not too big so that we still had enough room elsewhere for a study nook (media room will double as the guest room) ...  The bedrooms were minimum sized (just big enough)... The laundry went into a space near the garage... The long hallway (which I would have normally maybe avoided) will simply lead out to the 'inviting' living area/kitchen/dining that all face the large stacker doors that open up wide to the Alfresco...

Again, for sooo long I have tried to imagine what these 2D decisions / plans would look like in 3D... what will our 'spaces' be like in reality???

With the wall frames being finally erected, I was about to get a glimpse of this...  the first tangible 3D taste of our new home... hmmm... excited nerves...

Walking around the block, my first impression was that the rooms appeared smaller than I expected. 

I let the kids run up and down the back yard's dirt piles (they were so happy lol!) as I tentatively stepped onto the green framed maze...

Once 'inside' I was impressed with the height of the walls. Thats good for a feeling of space... After walking through (only the rooms not occupied by the carpenters), I began to relax more...

 Just breathe

 

The house is definitely not huge... its not a double story mansion... 

Yet it deliberately planned, thought out and strived for... 

It is a achievement of a dream to build...  

This 'space' is gonna be OUR new home and
the location of our family's sanctuary. 

After work, James joined me on site and we got to explore the rooms together.  How surreal it felt to be standing within the frames of our future bedroom and ensuite... Can't wait :)

As we talked through each space... "here is where the kitchen island bench will be... oh and is the TV on this side or that wall?   Look at the study nook!  I can't wait to see the stacker doors in place...." 

This is the view from the back yard. 

The alfresco is being done towards the end of the build (we outsourced the external concrete as a cost-saving step).  

The area without a frame is for a sliding door from the dining room. 
Next to this is the Media Room wall.

As we looked around, our 6 yr old daughter came in and was calling out into the exposed pipes sticking out of the slab (as one does)... 

Then we realised something...

- in the middle of the Media Room was a pipe... 

...hmmm that's supposed to be in the laundry...  

Turns out the laundry plumbing is slightly out of place... After a stress, and a chat with our site supervisor we are told they will fix it... Whew!  Later, James of course made funny jokes about it not being pleasant if "builders have to fiddle with his plumbing"... Gotta Laugh :)))

So, here is a few more photos to finish up for tonight...  

Photos of the kids of course :) 

A Firm Foundation...

Hello to all the wonderful friends, family and visitors who are stopping by to read this blog... I want to start by saying how much it means to me to have your presence beside me (in the virtual world :) on this journey.
Building Sanctuary


The past week has seen the Building Sanctuary facebook page reach over 100 'fans'.  This is so encouraging.  Now I don't expect everyone to understand my facination with Social Media lol - but it goes hand-in-hand with gratitude for those who support me.   That said - a big THANK YOU to HG for officially being the momentus '100th fan' on facebook.

I've had quite a busy week.  Work and family commitments has meant that I am only just now uploading and sharing the exciting construction photos of the past several days.
So posts from here will be a 'feast of photos' to catch up... YAY!

To catch up -  
1st June 2010 was DAY 33 on the construction timeline. 

Up to then, our site had been continually rained on... The extremely wet soil and pooling of water around the plumbing meant that the construction work completely stalled. There were ditches of water everywhere...

By Day 33, our wonderful builders stepped in and dug trenches to help drain out the crazy pooling of water...  I think a pump was even involved to get rid of the water...

The result was the soil drying out enough for the next stage of the slab to happen...  What a relief!

DAY 36 (4th June 2010)
This Friday was one of the most exciting for a while.  I turned up early to visit the site and what do I see but trucks and men on site working away... Soooo good to see.  I walked around taking photo after photo - who knows what they thought? But I was not going to miss capturing this wonderful wonderful step :) Here is a few of the many I took...

They were digging the 2m deep holes for the piering and also trenches all across the house site.  The drilling machines were awesome to watch...



The other part they were digging out was the trenches. These trenches ran around the edge of the house plot and also across the site.  The long mesh pieces (that had been delivered to site way back on DAY 11) were placed in these trenches.



I will continue this story soon... can only do this post in bits and pieces ahhh...

Forgive this brief interlude :)))

Ok just one more photo :)))