Day 12, 13 and 14

October 24, 27 and 28

George, Brian, Damon and Todd work like possessed men to get the frame up....









...with a little help from Will :-)














According to Better Homes and Gardens (ahem) spotted gum is one of the hardest woods in Australia.

It certainly makes a beautiful deck.

Damo is a little unimpressed - it's too hard to nail with a nail gun, so he has to do it all by hand....

Day 11

23 October 2008

The windows have arrived, the decking timber has arrived, and the frame has gone up.











The roof trusses, however, are going to be measured on Monday and may take awhile to be made. There is enough to be going on with though!








The blokes are doing such a great job and are such nice guys, that Daisy and I made them a cake for smoko tomorrow.

Daisy likes to Lick the Spoon.

:-)

Day 10

22 October 2008

The blokes are building like mad things. While awaiting the decking timber and windows, the deck frame goes up and the floor plan is laid out.

Day 9

21 October 2008


After much banging and crashing, the floor went up. We really are amazed at how quickly it is all happening!

That is Will's room to the left. As you can imagine, he didn't get much sleep today. From now on, he is going to have his day sleep's in a portacot in Daisy's room.

Day 8

20 October 2008


In one day, all the stumps go in!

This comes as a great shock and surprise to John and I, as it took John, my father and brother an entire day to build....









...Daisy and Will's cubby house!!

I guess experience counts for a lot.

















Daisy has her tool belt and hard hat on, ready to help George build her new bedroom.

We're all very excited with the rate of progress.

From tomorrow, there will be four people on the job. George's nephew Todd, a second year apprentice, will be joining the crew.

Will have to make more muffins next time :-)

Day 7

17 October 2008




The concrete for the stump pads arrives.









George (far left) and Brian (next to Brian) have a new helper - Damo (middle). More hands make light work!

Or something.









The fill the holes with 2 or 3 buckets of concrete. It looks like hot, heavy work.














Brian came to get me and Daisy, to show us this lovely spider. Daisy loved him, and thought he was "sweet and kind". Ha ha ha.

Days 3 - 6

13 - 16 October 2008

George and Brian peg out the site and start preparing the area for the stump holes.












Surely the most arduous and boring part of the process from a builder's point of view - digging the stump holes. Ok, so they used an electric auger, but still.











The hills were dug, then cleaned, then inspected by the Building Surveyor.

Day 2

10 October 2008




George is away on family business, so Brian dismantles the walkway outside our bedroom by himself.


Brian makes excellent progress, and by the early afternoon, the walkway has gone.

Renovations, Day 1

Day 1, 9 October 2008




The area behind the house where the extension is to go is a mess - scrabbly old trees, weeds, and the remnants of the old chicken run. This area has been ignored by us and the previous owner and is a bit of a wasteland.

George and Brian turn up at 8am and begin to clear the area.




At 11am, the first of the wood arrives and is stacked beside the house and on the lawn.


George and Brian remove the trees where the extension is going to go.

We're starting to get excited!