Site levelled

Went past our block today and noticed the site had been levelled. This was good to see as not much had been done for the past two weeks. We spoke to one of our neighbours and she told us it was done on Saturday.

Sediment fence

The sediment fence was put up this week. This is stop any sediment which could be washed away by rain water, running into nearby rivers.

Demolition inspection

After the demolition work was complete, we arranged with Allcastle to inspect the site. This was done within 48 hours. They informed us that we had to have the water meter moved as it would interfere with site access. We intended to move this eventually anyway as it would be in the way of the driveway, so this prompted us to get it done sooner rather then later.

We were also told we had to get rid of the stump which was left near the water meter. The demolition guys left this as they were worried they would damage the water meter if they tried to remove it, which is understandable.

We phoned around for some quotes to move the water meter to the right side of block. These ranged from $1800 to $500. It certainly pays to get a few quotes. The stump we managed to remove ourselves with the aide of a spade, chainsaw and pick.

We saved some money by digging out the soil ourselves for the new pipework. We thought we might as well since we were removing the stump ourselves anyway. The picture below shows the meter now to the right hand side of the block.

Demolition

Day 1 – The windows and doors were removed.

Day 2 – The roof tiles were removed.

Day 3 – The roof timbers and asbestos shed were removed.

Day 4 – Tree branches and external walls begin to be removed.

Day 5 – All walls had been knocked down.

Day 6 – Removal of waste materials.

Day 7 – Final levelling of ground.

Pre demolition

Here is a list thing’s that needed to be organised before demolition could commence.

Electrical disconnection - This has to be done by a service provider Electrician. We contacted Energy Australia and they booked an Electrician for us. This cost us approx $350.

Telephone line disconnection - We contacted Telstra about this and they said this should be done be the Electrician doing the electrical disconnection. Unfortunately this wasn’t done and was still attached once demolition started. Luckily the guy’s doing the demolition removed the cable from the house and neatly tied it to the service pole.

Gas disconnection - We contacted our gas supplier about this. They required 10 working days notice to arrange for someone to remove the gas meter and service pipe.

Fencing - We had to arrange for the temporary fencing required during demolition. This cost approx $350 per week.

Portable toilet - We also found out we needed to arrange for a portable toilet to be put on site during demolition. We only found out halfway through demolition when the guys told us that if we don’t get one, work cover would fine us if they came to inspect. Luckily we managed to get one delivered with in 2 hours of calling. This cost us $100 for a minimum two week hire.

Contract's signed

Today we signed the contracts, the process has started.

We asked for a copy of the drawings and final tender to review before we went to sign and thank goodness. There were a few minor details that still needed to be amended. Glad that we highlighted these issues before the day of signing, as the adjustments had been made by Allcastle before we arrived. This saved us a great deal of time on the day.

Allcastle are contracted to complete in 34 weeks, weather permitting. The consultant said it's good to have contracts signed before May as they endeavour to complete before Christmas. Fingers crossed!

Planning permission granted

We had a pleasant surprise on 11th April, as our planning permission had arrived. This was quicker than expected (just under 2 months) as we guessed it would take about 3 months to come. Finally we could get the ball rolling towards starting to build the house. We arranged to sign our final contracts on 30th April. There were a few things to sort out before then, like paying various fee's and deposits to Ryde council. Also making sure we were completely happy with what we had chosen for the house as now was the time to make any adjustments.

We were also told by Allcastle that once the contracts were signed, we had 30 days to clear the site. So we thought it might be good idea to start looking for somewhere to rent whilst the house was being built. This is something thats a lot more easier said than done, due to the cronic shortage of rental propertys in Sydney.