A smile in the sky

It's got to be a good omen.

Tonight there was a happy face in the sky looking down on us.

Venus and Jupiter were aligned with a crescent moon, an event they say will not reoccur until July 21, 2036.

As we captured it:


















How it happens:













Image from Astrovisual Astronomy Calendar, reproduced at http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24732104-5005962,00.html

Pool inspiration

Here are some pictures of pool features I like:


White surrounds; wide coping integrated with the pavers.



Stainless steel water feature, against a white feature wall. Not as noisy as a sheer descent.














Crimsafe mesh panels in pool fencing. It's expensive - like glass panels - but it allows air to flow and cuts glare.


Water jets, for added fun.


Wide, shallow entries.


Plants in pots


Or plants low to the ground (no mass of palm trees)

Garden inspiration

Here are some local plantings that I like:

And this is one of the street trees. Anyone know what it is?

More fence arrogance

OK, I'm trusting that when the builders get together they're going to be able to sort out this boundary fence problem.

I figure, be patient, hassling's not going to solve it.

I mean, it's only been a week since I contacted the neighbour's builder. On Wednesday I followed up to see if the meeting had taken place yet and was told that they were still trying to arrange for both supervisors and the fencing contractor to get together.

Sigh...trust in process...

But yesterday I turn up to find the fencing contractor's been back alright - and finished nailing the palings on!

What the......?

Draft landscaping plan

As the building part of the project zooms along at breakneck speed, I have turned my attention to the outdoors and am trying to get a solid plan in place for the garden, pool and fences.

The look I am hoping to achieve is one of a predominantly native garden with splashes of purple and white and grey/green foliage, to complement the white and grey of the exterior.

I still have lots of research to do in relation to plant selections and their locations, but I think I'm finally happy with the layout. You can click on the image to see it bigger.

Pool fence problem

After taking on the neighbour's builder about the boundary fence, my attention has turned to something else that has been puzzling me for a while.

How do they intend to fence the pool?
















There is currently a temporary fence, but when this goes they will be using the boundary fence as part of the pool fence.

The problem is that the boundary fence butts up against a 3.5 metre high rock retaining wall that runs through both our back yards. I have read the pool fence regulations about ensuring there is a clear span of 1200mm (measured at all angles) from the top of the fence to any climbable structure. This fence is right next to a climbable structure!

First I contacted council, who put me onto the private pool certifiers, who pleaded ignorance about the height of the rock wall. I then had a meeting onsite with the pool builder who states that they will be using a type of chicken wire on the rocks on their side of the fence and has suggested I might like to do the same (no, thank you).

They then suggested that if I chose not to I may be assuming responsibility for any accidents. But my argument is that it's not like I built a garden shed right next to their pool fence. This rock wall is a permanent structure that was there before either block was titled and long before the pool was planned. Shouldn't the owner of the pool have to get compliance right from the outset, rather than rely on me to guard the weak point?

It was next suggested that a barbed wire fence be installed on top of the 1.8m boundary fence. Hmmm, I wonder if that was a proposal or a threat? A final suggestion was for a perspex screen above the fence. Not sure how high that would have to go or how it would be affixed!

Once again I'm left thinking that not enough planning has gone into this and that those responsible hope I'll just shrug my shoulders and let it slide.

By the way, I have spoken to the owners, who are interstate, and they weren't even aware they were getting "chicken wire".

Storks

Clack, clack. Today the sound of the site is that of the wandering plaster storks moving from room to room, their metallic feet clattering slowly and rhythmically against the concrete.

From time to time the taller of the two hunches down to avoid a brush with the door frame.

The house must look so different from up there. Need to put your trowel down for a moment? No problem...here's a crevice above the door to lodge it. Need some more gyprock? The buckets are stacked high.

It's a painstaking process to cover every nail and every seam in the gyprock, and there's a few days' work in it.

Tools of the trade, or boys' toys?

Fence arrogance

Still disturbed about the fence, I arranged a meeting onsite with my builder first thing Monday, only to learn that the situation is far worse than I thought.

Citing GPS precision, the builder says:
The fence encroaches 125mm at the rear.
It encroaches 65mm at the front.
It is therefore not parallel.
It hasn't allowed for a sleeper at the bottom to control water flow.
It will make access difficult for my builder to excavate my side to the required level.
It will have an unacceptable gap at the bottom once this excavation is done.

So not only has it been built without regard for my rights, it appears it has not been done competently.

I have since established that the work was authorised by the builder next door who told me quite dismissively over the phone "we don't have to tell you".

Hmmm, this from the builder who also found it very convenient to park a fibreglass pool on my lot without asking and then proceeded to bring earthmoving equipment across my freshly cut
site to install it.

After pointing out the alignment errors they reluctantly agreed to have their site supervisor meet with mine to discuss the situation.

I am just flabbergasted at the arrogance, and can't help feeling that a difficult and potentially expensive problem could have been easily avoided. I mean, it's not like I'm a difficult person to contact.





A rough job

Stiltwalkers

The aliens have landed! I couldn't wait to show the kids these pictures of the plasterers on their stilts.

Bricked up!

Meanwhile, the bricking is nearing completion.















Chalk up another one for brickie top dog, "Red"!

Fence surprise

After visiting the site every day lately I was a bit shocked to turn up on Thursday and find that fence posts had gone in down the left hand side of the house and that fencing contractors were just about to add the rails and palings.

How can that happen without anybody consulting me?

And couldn't they at least have had the courtesy to let my builder know, with brickies hard at work on that side of the building?

This is my fence too. I'd like to have a say in it. What style will it be? What materials will be used?

I hadn't yet settled on a fence design but I have been considering something along the lines of a "good neighbour" fence, with palings on both sides and a capping timber at the top. Something with a little style, in keeping with all the other choices I have been making, and with the better fences around the neighbourhood.

Now I know it's just a fence. A fence down the service side of the house. It pretty much can't even be seen from the road, due to fencing covenants. But this is what we'll see from the bedrooms. I want it to look nice.

And then there's an issue of consistency. Have you ever looked at a property with different styles of fence on every boundary and wondered how that could have happened? I didn't want it to happen to me.

My builder confirmed that if I hadn't been consulted I couldn't be obliged to pay for it. That added to my confusion. Why would the neighbours proceed, knowing they couldn't claim back half of the cost? Perhaps they didn't know and their builder had just bundled up the full cost of the fence in their contract?

Thoughts were swirling in my head. If it wasn't going to cost me anything I could put the savings toward upgrading the fence on the other side - the more-used entertainment side of the house. Again, on the plus side, the neighbours have a pool and they were proposing to put the palings on my side to prevent climb-overs. This would give me the more attractive side to look at.

But I'm still left with a sense of betrayal. Isn't this something I should have had a say in? Isn't it an act of arrogance on the part of the builder next door to proceed in this way?

What have I learned? Time to start negotiations with the builder/owner on the other side to ensure it doesn't happen there too!

Walls up (more pix)

It's the end of Week 8 and yet again rapid progress has been made. We have gone from this:









to this:

There was lots of hammering and sawing and the sound of nail guns on site again. And teamwork was very evident as the subbies manoevred wall and ceiling sheets into place. Here are some shots of the lads at work:

And here are some shots of the kids at play:

Rain days

It's the start of Week 8 and the morning after the destructive storm that damaged thousands of homes in Brisbane's west. The site supervisor has left a message on my phone. How did we fare, I wonder. Have we lost our new roof? But no, North Lakes has been spared and he just wants to discuss some wall issues, such as whether or not to add decorative MDF inserts to the internal cutouts, or leave them square set so shutters can be installed.

There is some impact from the rain, though. The new roof has sprung a leak over the master bedroom and while I'm on site the site supervisor is up there checking it out personally. Didn't know that was in the job description! But I suspect there are many things this man does, purely for the satisfaction of a job well done. I count myself extremely lucky to have him as a supervisor. You be careful up there, won't you!


But the impact of the rain is much more evident next door, where the run-off has pooled around the back corner of the building and is rising up the brickwork. When the render was applied the workers had to wear gumboots. Any more rain and they'll need a diver's qualification! I'm just glad it's not my drainage.


Soon after our slab was laid, a layer of gravel was laid down and this has really helped improve drainage and movement around the site. Before that, if you walked around after rain you would end up with shoes caked in clay, slowing you down like a pair of concrete boots! The layer of gravel is not something that was done on the neighbouring sites, so I can't help thinking it's an added extra that really speaks of quality, both in the builder's construction technique and its conditions for workers.

Inside, you'd never guess that this was a day to count as a rain-affected day delaying completion. The brickies have got the day off, but the wall-sheeting team is in full flight laying out plasterboard and starting on the ceilings.

Bricklaying

It's the end of Week 7 and bricklaying is under way. With four men and an ageing red cattledog on the job, they say it'll take about a week.

Here's some shots of the brickies at work:

Measuring and levelling

A string line at work

Trowelling mortar and laying the first courses

Half a wall