Merry Christmas from Wilson court. Santa did come, delivering a house to lock up stage, and wrapping up 6 months of construction. The build started just after my birthday in late June and I was pleased with a dirt pad as a birthday gift. The Christmas gift is quite an upgrade, and I cannot wait to see what Easter bunny will bring!
The back of the house is complete, and we are blown away with the finish here. Our house design is like a mullet haircut: business at the front, party at the back. The back has a bit going on, with day beds, alfresco areas, extensive glazing, high walls, and massive eaves, while the front is more reserved. It is not yet complete with the portico deck to be built, the portico ceiling to be lined, the temporary down pipes to be replaced and some plastic to be peeled. I am a details man, and my eye is drawn to the unfinished items, so I find it hard to fully appreciate this elevation at this stage.
The last of the external cladding got installed on Wednesday morning. This was the corner panels that get measured last and made to suit the space left. The cladding was not exactly smooth sailing, with some replacement panels required and a lot of separate deliveries out of Melbourne. This is understandable with such an intricate system. Each section of wall has unique custom panels and flashings to suit the wall length, height, and openings. Metal Cladding Systems did very well to get the last panels here in time before Christmas.
The only design decisions made this fortnight centred around the outdoor kitchen, or the provision for a future one. No room in the budget for it now, however we needed to sort the design to get the electrical, gas and plumbing in the right place. I had hoped to leave these items concealed in the floor and wall until they were required, however the advice was that this would be too difficult, so my beautiful clad wall has some penetrations. This will give me incentive to get the outdoor kitchen in sooner rather than later!
Hovenden’s Plasterworks have been chipping away and are close to being finished. There is a bit of work in plastering a family size home, a bit more than I realized. Brian, the main man, will be poking along over the Christmas period to get it finished.
Dale Gitsham has not mucked around and has been working on our joinery. He has our vanities, drop zone and daybed built already and I caught up with him again to discuss the kitchen, pantry and laundry.
After the break, the builders will move inside and work on tiling and the fit out. While the house looks close to finished from the outside, there is still a mountain of work to be done before completion. Haven’t got a date set yet but are thinking March sometime.
I hope you have had a great Christmas with your family. The blog will now have a little holiday, but we will see you back here in early 2021.
