Street view. Tails installed on the upper roof for the eaves overhangs and verge. Ceiling framing installed in the entry area. Finally the dead trunk of the tree in the front has been removed and cleaned up.

Nearing the end of work for the year but not before Rylock come to the party with some windows and the roofer at least has a look see.

It is nearing the end of the working year and after a lightning bolt start, the progress has dwindled a little as the holidays approach. So even though the house has been moving forward over the last week or two, progress has slowed due to a few days being lost to rain, and Andy and Chris having a couple of other commitments.

For those of you who are interested and wondering what has happened over the last week or so, and judging by the phone calls there are not many of you, here is an update:

• brickie has finished for the time being and will not be backuntil early next year;
• internal concrete steps at the change of floor levels have been done and the footings to the steel columns have been completed;
• roof framing has been completed and the installation of the roof battens has commenced;
• roofer is due to commence with fascia and gutter later this week and should get the upper roof on before christmas;
• ceiling framing has nearly been finished and Mike is still thinking about the ceiling in the main bedroom (and no he is not lying on the bed staring up at it with his eyes closed)
• the aluminium windows arrive this week and will be installed before knock-off next week;
• some polystyrene wall sarking (foilboard) will be installed next week.

The brickwork to the garage is finally done. A couple of different views of the angled and raking wall over the extra wide (5.2m garage door)

A view up to the ceiling area in the stairwell. 5.7 m high ceiling in the centre of the house - I only hope it oly has to be painted once and not on a regular basis - and who is going to change those light bulbs up there anyway?

A view from the very nack of the house, past the cantilevered roof over the BBQ area all the way down to the narrow windows next to the front door - is that good fung shui?

Where are all the workers, it is 8 am and no one is here, the sun is shining and no one is here, the materials are on site and there is no one here. Oh what is that you say? It is what? Saturday. So, isn't that a work day in the building industry? Apparently not in Dimaond Creek. It is the day the owners arrive and clean up. The garage wall is not finished yet, the left hand side goes up another 700 and slopes down to the right hand side. I think that garage door is wide enough for Mike to park without hitting either side of the door opening.

Our feature tree in the front yard (minus the dead trunk that Mike O'Toole chopped down). The last of the prefabricated trusses in the foreground are ready for installation next week in the garage. The frame has taken only 3 weeks to put together by our two chippies - well done Andy and what's his name? (Chris).

A different view - from the rear of the block looking towards the BBQ area (some people call it alfresco but I say who is Al Fresco?). The kitchen on the left and meals area in the centre, living room on the right, oh yes and our spider tree in the foreground - ooooo hate spiders.

This photo is taken across the back of the house, east/west, showing the new river water feature that flows downhill past the ensuite dunny.

The 100 year storm hit on Thursday. It came in from the the North West. Lee was up to her ankles at her work, clearing drains to stop water flowing through the buildings, placing buckets and bins in strategic places under waterfalls from the ceilings. The water that came through the downstairs door at home wasn't revealed until the next day. Anyway, back to Everleigh Drive. Next door has their roof on but no gutters yet, so the water just poured off the roof in torrents and flowed through our place.This shot shows the water down the sideway.

Looking all the way down the hallway from the front door to the back of the house. Imagine a water feature right at the end to which your eye is automatically drawn. The hallway looks narrow and straight, but it is quite wide. There are different widths as you walk though it - set backs for door and window openings as well as for feature paintings and sculptures. It's a journey that has interesting vistas all the way along.

Looking from the courtyard up to the dizzy heights of the first floor - how much higher do we go?

More photos to come before the weekend - the garage is nealry done and Andy and Chris are framing up the entry roof today - stay tuned

Photo of the outside (north facing) wall of the living room looking towards the BBQ area under the cantilevered roof. Don't be fooled, the framework in the back

ground is not our house, it is the house next door - we are racing them to finish first, they are elading with their roof going on already, but they did start 2 months before us. The outriggers for the eaves have yet to be installed on the skillion roof.

Photo taken from the kitchen area looking into the main living room - down two steps. Andy and Chris have installed the first of many roof rafters. The blue steel beam is at the roof level over the kitchen and meals area and there are three windows (facing east) above that beam, count them, 1, 2 ,3. which will let early morning light into the living room - or so Mike says.

Photo of the front of the garage - left hand side taking shape and the black bricks. There are another 17 courses to go top of this to reach the completed height and yes they are dark and that will be high!!!!

Six Week Update

No new photos today - just some useless information from Mike.
It is 6 weeks today since we turned that first sod of dirt and in that time 180 cubic metres of dirt has been dug out and carted away. 90 metres of you bute PVC has been laid and backfilled with quarter minus, 18 metres of red sand spread out, 210 polystrenes were slaughtered to create waffle pods for the slab. about 800 metres of water pipe installed in the slab for in-floor heating (and look how effective that has been - phew it is hot) and then it was covered with 70 cubic metres of concrete. About 6 pine plantations have been cut down, sawn up and renailed to form the ground floor walls, 430 retaining blocks delivered and moved by the night fairy to the back of the site to make way for 4,000 "black" bricks and now we have had 4 of the hottest November days strung together and Andy and Chris sweated through it to complete the ground floor framing and they will start on the first floor tomorrow. All this and the actual Builder has not yet set foot on the site. Just goes to show you how organized John Dore really is. Apart from all that the architect / labourer and his boss are really enjoying it so far.
In answer to your question - anticipated completion date is 1st June 2010