Timber Frame Completion and Plumbing

Our structural frames reached completion in September. Wow, this house is really taking shape!

Aerial View 6/10/15 (thanks Raj!)

29/9 Front right - Garage and Driveway angle

29/9 Left side - Study and Entry view

29/9 Extra garage 'Workshop' roof and Bathroom window

29/9 Kitchen splashback window (note missing reveal as the kitchen bench extends into this area)

29/9 Master suite (large window in retreat)

29/9 Bathroom picture window (not really)

Lets discuss whats been happening since last month.

Plumbing;

The rough in started shortly after the frames on 5/10/15. Plumbing in now complete with Sydney Water mains connected and gas lines ready for connection later on. On with the pics....

10/10 Main bathroom - Bath mixer

10/10 Master BR - Ensuite shower mixer

10/10 Master BR - Twin sink mixers

17/10 Plumbing stack in Lounge/Kitchen ceiling

17/10 Entry Hallway. Lets hope there's no issue with the downlights eeek.

Issues so far....


Bricks;
As you can see in the photos above, we received the bricks shortly before the carpenters finished. When we first sighted these pallets, our immediate reaction was 'they are very dark'.  When compared with a brick sample from the brickyard in 2014, we immediately figured it must have been another style from the same brick range.

28/9 [Rosewood] Site delivery (Left) - Brickyard Sample (Right)

We raised this with Rawson and Austral. (28/9/15)

Hi XXXXXXX,

As discussed over the phone, the bricks delivered to site appear to be different to the range we inspected/selected last year. I understand there are different batches in each preparation but these are the problems:
1) darker tone and hue (black/grey tone rather than red/brown)
2) hearting character in the pallet sample that was not present in the sample we received last year, and wall display at the Austral selection centre in Horsley Park.
3) texture loss
I'd like to discuss these issues with yourself and a rep from austral if possible. I'd like to clear up these issues before we launch into  brick construction.
I have attached the pic of the pallet sample (left) and the original brick (right) that we thought we were getting. The brick range selected is Rosewood, but i feel we got something different.

We heard (7/10/15) from the regional representative and it kind of sounded literally like a brick wall (pun). The response however, was to be expected.
a) The delivery was representative of the range we selected and these bricks were first class quality.
b) Variations are to be expected as colour and texture ranges from batch to batch.
c) The bricks were manufactured as per Australian & New Zealand Standards (AS/NZS 4455 & 4456) and comply with Masonry Code AS3700.

Not willing to accept this, we visited the Austral selection centre again to look at the display walls. The samples in the shed were different to the wall display, and the sample was quite similar to our delivery pallets. There was clearly more to speak about this, so I followed up the rep with a phone call and he was fantastic!
I was quite taken back considered the attitude contained in the email. We exchanged a few calls and the rep was adamant they wanted us to be happy. Austral agreed to allow us to inspect the yard batches, and swap out if needed.... at no cost!
We booked in a visit (17/10/15) to the brick yard and the helpful site manager escorted us through the yard.
We checked out the batches of the Wilderness range; Rosewood and Blackberry and also actually found an older batch of Rosewood. We liked the older Rosewood batch as it was the tone and texture we preferred in the sample in 2014. Unfortunately most of these pallets were quite damaged. We considered the options and ultimately decided to keep the current delivery.
Regardless of the result, it was reassuring to check the yard and the batches that Austral held.


Ensuite Window;
During our discussion with the bricks, we also requested a change to our ensuite bathroom window.
In the display home, this is a large feature window.

Edge 39 'Display' home in Kellyville - Bathroom picture window

Firstly, we missed this detail numerous times in our design sign-offs and interior selections. The window on our plans was clearly shorter than the one pictured above.

I raised this with our SS, and we plan to look closely at this during an onsite meeting on Monday (26/10/15).
UPDATE 26/10/15: After further investigation, the window is not able to be changed to the one displayed in the Kellyville display home. This is due to the workshop pitched roof section. Unfortunately we would have to change the roof section to flat, which would amount to a large variation. We just had to let go of this. My better half is rather deflated with this news.


Now we are up to date.

Sand delivered late this week for the brick layers. Next post; Brickwork.....

23/10 Sand delivery