Internal Fitout progress

April has come and gone with not a huge amount of progress but incrementally the internals are getting ticked off.

The garage door was installed and glass panels in the large fixed windows installed on 15/4 ( one panel didn't make it over the stairs as it smashed into tiny grains of sand).
Rainwater tank installation and door/timber deliveries.

15/4 - Garage door (Colorbond - Surfmist)

15/4 - Garage door installed

15/4 - Internal Doors (Corinthian)

15/4 - Front door (Eden 4 1020 wide Pivot - Veneer finish)

15/4 - Caroma Newbury 1675 Bath x2

15/4 - 3500L Tankworks 'Evolution' tank

Genneral Stairs installed the Victorian Ash Closed Stringer staircase on 19/4. For some reason, they installed a temporary handrail and railing upstairs. Still no sign of when the final balusters and handrails will be installed. The stud frame needed to be removed as the opening for the stairs was incorrect.

19/4 Stairs

19/4 - Removed section of stud frame

Kitchen and bathroom vanity cabinetry was delivered on the 3/5, and later installed on the 4/5. The Kitchen is comprised of Finger pull /Shadow-line drawer sections with door and drawer facing based on Polytec Polar White -Sheen. The kitchen island face is Polytec Belgian Oak -Matt, with a 70mm thick drop down seating bench in the same finish which will be installed after the Cesaerstone bench is mounted.
NOTE: The bulkhead needed to be shortened due to the splashback window being lifted as it needed to match the finish height of the bench.

4/5 - Kitchen installed

4/5 - Kitchen (cooktop run/window splashback)

4/5 - Ensuite vanity & mirror board

4/5 - Main bathroom vanity & Mirror board

4/5 - Powder room (semi recessed) vanity & mirror board

Painting has been getting done over the last couple of weeks 'on and off' since the 30/4. The walls and ceiling have got some sealer coats, with more recent work on the doors and skirtings upstairs. The gloss top coats have been completed on the windows and doors.

10/5 - Main bedroom (painting progress)

The site was also cleared on the 10/5. All rubbish has been removed which now makes the house look alot closer to completion!

10/5 - Site clean!

Benchtops were later installed on 13/5, with sinks installed and the kitchen cooktop cutout. The kitchen bench and bathroom benchtops are 40mm and 20mm Caesarstone Osprey (respectively).

13/5 - Kitchen bench (Caesarstone 'Osprey')

13/5 - Powder room vanity (w/ Veda semi recessed sink)

13/5 - Ensuite vanity (w/ Veda counter top sink)

This week will see the start of the tiling, more painting and a front door! FINALLY!.

16/5 - Sand delivered for floor tiles

March Wrap up - Electrical, AC, and Internals

March has been a busy month, with lots of positive progress to report. Since last month's roof completion, several key items have been completed with the plaster work being completed last week.

Before we get into the building works of March, its time to share some information that others may benefit from.  For those building with Rawson, or other project builders, its important to have independent advice on this critical stage. We never received the Tyrrells' report, so this report was the only issue register that we got. 
Several things that were identified in the report were mostly rectified by our Site Supervisor. Most of these items were quickly fixed to avoid delays. A few key items were;

• Brickwork (delayed until the brick layer returns)
• Garage soldier course not straight
• Some poorly cut bricks on the right side garage door opening
• Cracked and eroded mortar joins
• Poorly installed brick sill with oversized mortar joins on the rear elevation

• Structural (all rectified)
• Hoop iron straps in the alfresco not wrapped and nailed to the timber beams
• 80% of internal frames require straightening (studs bowed or warped due to weather exposure)
• Missing fixing bolts to post and beam in the Family room
• Brick wall ties yet to be nailed to the stud frame in Family room
• Speed brace tails yet to wrapped and nailed to underside of top plates
• Remove all water from PVC pipework within kitchen floor
   
  

To be fair to our supervisor these items were mostly known areas or minor incomplete works, but the report being an independent unbiased expert opinion, it is critical to measure the structural integrity of your home. In my personal opinion, you cannot have too much advice, especially at this stage.

So onward with the March.

The floor fiberglass waterproofing was completed on 18/3/16. The first stage treatment is fiberglass sheets and resin lapped on the stud frame corners with additional fiberglass sheets layered on the upper yellow-tongue floor areas. The second treatment is a high viscosity resin (blue in colour) top coat to protect the fiberglass. I expect the floors will get another top coat when the walls are treated.

18/3 Master Ensuite (looking though the vanity nib wall)

18/3 Main Bathroom (Upstairs)
Note: lapped corners on the stud frame far right

The Indoor air-conditioning unit was installed on the 23/3/16. The system is plumbed (the white insulated pipes) to the ACU concrete pad on the ground level (eastern elevation services area). The unit is suspended from the roof trusses and mounted over a drip tray which is connected to a pvc drain pipe. The electrical circuit was prepared last month, so the AC contractors have now connected this circuit to the indoor condenser unit. All the duct work has been run to the outlet locations through several voids upstairs, located at the end of the bedroom 2/3 hallway, the bed 4/linen cupboard void, and the master bed entry pillar.

23/3 Indoor AC unit

Further progress on the electrical fit out occurred over a couple of days with the enclosure mounted on the garage wall on the 17th March. The service fuses, digital meter and point-of-attachment (POA) was later completed on the 24th.
Despite all these things being complete, the switchboard is still un-energized, with the main power breakers tagged and shutoff.

17/3 Meter box mounted on garage wall

24/3 Switchboard, service fuses and digital meter installed

24/3 Underground mains information and POA

The gas meter was also installed on the 24/3/16. So the front of the site got churned up with trenching both the power and gas.

24/3 Gas Meter connected

Insulation for the walls and ceiling was delivered on Good Friday 25/3/16, and installed on Easter Monday 28/3/16. All walls and 80% of the ceiling space was completed with the remaining bulk ceiling batts to be installed after the ceiling is lined (left in the roof void).

25/3 Bulk insulation packs delivered (note the finished waterproofing surface)

28/3 External lounge wall

28/3 External kitchen wall

28/3 External Staircase and WIP wall

28/3 Hallway and garage insulation

Finally, the plaster was delivered on the 30th of March, with the team arriving on Friday 1st April.
A whirlwind of tradesmen (5 in total) whipped through the panels, lifting massive sheets in a pair and a team of three lifting and fixing the ceiling sheets. Simply amazing to see these guys at work.

1/4 Midday inspection - Trades at full swing

1/4 Work in progress (Garage)

1/4 Work in progress (Laundry) NOTE: Blue panel is CSR 10mm aquachek

 

1/4 Work in progress (Dining room section) NOTE: Two massive panels on the back wall

1/4 Alfresco complete

By the next day, all corners, joins and edges were set. simply amazing! Not a cornice in sight! love it!

2/4 Garage

2/4 Even the cub scout thinks the entrance is massive

2/4 Further down the main hallway

2/4 Kitchen

2/4 Dining

2/4 Master suite nib wall

2/4 Master ensuite vanity wall

2/4 Master ensuite shower

2/4 Stair void and upstairs hallway

2/4 Main Bathroom shower and vanity wall

Whats next?
Downpipes and rainwater tank installation
.....

Roof Finished

Long time between posts, but we are finally weatherproof with the lower roof sections being completed this week. It's been a challenge to get to this final stage on the roof as Monier (Rawson's supplier of product and trades) controls the whole process. Two contractors were provided the job, after a major back end stuff up last year. Two teams arrived and sorted out the top roof section without much of a drama in January.
Weeks have gone by after the last update. Our SS has struggled to get either contractor back to finish. In any case, after several weeks he managed to get them back to finish after alot of to-and-fro.

Suffice to say, the roof stage has been frustrating that it has taken so long. A site clean has also been completed and the site looks very smart and clean!

9/3 Garage and Home Theatre Roof (sans oxide coat)

9/3 Study Roof in progress

Our independent inspector (Stephen Ryan) inspected the site on Wednesday and provided his Frame report yesterday. I am working with our SS to focus on these issues at the moment. I hope that the rectification work doesnt contribute to delays of other trades and progress like plastering.
This does raise a question though. Would the contents have likely come up with Rawson's QA inspection conducted by Tyrrells? Who knows what would have been contained in their report and would i have been given a copy of their report?
This is certainly a grey area for owners.
Did i just invest in a report that is already part of Rawson's process?
I was not aware that Rawson conducted independent inspections on their builds. This is certainly an area that Rawson could improve on. I feel that Rawson could be more transparent to their clients by explaining the quality control / certification event.

Whats next?
Eaves on the lower roof sections are being completed today.
First stages of waterproofing / shower trays today.
Rawson's certifiers and inspectors will be going through the site next week as they complete their compliance (warranty) and QA process.



I'll post more on the subject of the Frame report next week after Rawson have responded to the rectification works.