building contract

on the last day of last year, zac and i signed off on a contract to finally, FINALLY, build our tiny house. the deal isn't yet done, however, as the lovely folk at the bank need to agree to everything and give us some money before we can proceed. however, this is the real-est it has been since we embarked on this project so many, many months ago.

if things go well then i will be able to return to blogging the project on a far more regular basis, with photos and what-not. fingers crossed.

builders

i have dealt with 3 builder's since my last post.

builders are draining and they cost too much. this is my opinion. and through no fault of their own, they are not in love with your design the way that you are. they don't hurry themselves because they want to see it built. they don't want it as bad as you do. so i've been sitting around on my hands waiting for prices and responses. but i think we have found one...

second meeting this morning on a cold and rainy site. we located the service points and discussed footings. we discussed how to go about building it and what it is going to cost. and i think we have found the right builder for our situation.

nothing is signed yet and we have to speak to our bank man again, but i think we might be looking at going forward sometime before christmas. which would be brilliant.

next stop is the money man...

jo pickup doors

jo came back to us a few weeks ago with the designs for the painted doors, in the colours that zac and i have selected (unfortunately these do not come up very well...). we have had to think about rationalising the cost of the job, so are only going to paint 2 of the doors - the door from the study to the bathroom, and from the study to the bedroom. this will create a little corner of art, which is a nice consolation. not sure which 2 we will go with...whatever jo suggests will be the go.

interior sketches and pricing progress

i am now bored with this drawn out tender process.

i feel like the house is now in the hands of people who have more important things on their plates and our project is not being shown the love it has recieved up until now. of course, that is only because it is our project and it's the most important thing int he world to us. and we have gone with a big builder who understandably regards our job as a small one.

so to stave off boredom and to reconnect with the project i have been so intimate with up until it went to the builder, i have been sketching the interior spaces to try and get a feel for it and convince myself it's still a good design!

prices are due back end of next week, so until then, here's my scribbles. note the simplified cabinet on the wall in the living room (this one has the cabinetmaker stumped - it's made up of 26 boxes of 4 different sizes in 5 different colours). i've also included the beautiful sofie refer lights that we are intending to use in the dining area and over the breakfast bar.

a view towards the study, without the study. open doors give a view to the wysteria-covered carpoert and the laneway beyond.

living room from the 'front door'. requisite plasma and split-system on the wall above the boxes...

sofie refer's beautiful bulb pendant.

view of the bedroom. those wardrobes are supposed to be yellow/mustard...this blog thing isn't very good with colours. the gap in the wardrobes is the door to the ensuite.

builder price...

the fellow who is supposed to be pricing our job at the builders is apparently on holiday until monday...so no price to celebrate with my birthday tomorrow. hopefully we'll have something mid next week...

builder response

have just spoken to our prospective builder who has said we will have an initial price in our hands by the end of the week. this is great news. things have been slow of late with the plans being in council and the builder considering whether they will be able to do the work. even if they come back with the wrong price, at least it'll mean i get to do some work (wheeling and dealing or re-drawing), and won't feel so impotent.

the target is $2000/sqm with not a lot of wiggle room at all! can't wait to get into it.

zac and i have just booked a europe trip for feb, so i want to get the house rolling so we have somewhere to move back into!

building license + builder feedback

after submitting to council for our building license last week, we got some very quick feedback from our planning officer (i'm actually very impressed with the attention paid and the speed applied to the project by the planning dept). it was really just in the form of questions about how the building license drawings differed from our planning approval set (my own drafting errors) but it was good to see they were getting into it.

there was one question about setbacks and overlooking and our ingenious solution to avoid the full height screens the whole way around our roof deck. we have decided to push the balustrade on the north side of the house back to a 7.5m setback, thereby avoiding any kind of screening. it really doesn't mean we can see less of the neighbours' yard, but that's what the codes allow for, so that's how we will play it.

meantime, the builder told e yesterday that despite handing over documents for costing 2 weeks ago, he hasn't had a look at them yet! he's been on holiday in bali! well, i'm having dinner with his boss soon so i plan to lean real hard, talking up the pros and ease of the project and how it can slip easily into their busy schedule.

will let you know as soon as we have any info at all.

d