As we crack into the new year, we are getting closer and closer to having our foundations finally completed. According to Matt from Building Logic 'this one's a bloody stagey job!' -with the nature of building a slightly architectural home on a slope meaning it has a few complexities that have seen other more straight forward builds pop up around us and leap frog us in the build process.
The slope, and the way it has to be retained, has meant that rather than being able to come in and do all the footings at once, then all the blockwork at once, and all the concrete pour at once, Matt has had to do different sections (stages) of the site for each particular part of the process, then loop back to the start for another part of the site. The garage pad and downstairs pad have been poured for example, while the top storey pad (further up the slope of the hill) needs to wait for the block work for the downstairs to be completed before it can be poured as well. Having a great builder means that those stages are all laid out and planned well, but every time you have a trade onto site, then have them leave after finishing a stage, you will need to then wait for that trade to finish on another job before being available to do your next stage. As I mentioned in our last post, there are alot of moving parts with a job like this, and it just means something that might have taken one month on a conventional site, ends up taking two as you wait for small delays of 2-3 days between part's of stages that quickly add up. Alas, that's the joys of building something a wee bit different from the norm!
The reason I've included this blog post is really for both those considering a conventional build AND those with a slightly trickier one. For those with a square house on a flat section, you'll pop up in no time. While we've been watching blockwork slowly go up on our site, across the road we've seen a conventional house foundations and frames pop up within a few weeks. For those of you with a trickier house, or one on a slope, just remember that you might need things like cranes dropping materials into different parts of the site, and different trades coming in at different stages of the build based on their schedule with other projects as well. We wouldn't change it for the world - we want a house that isn't the norm - but with uniqueness comes complexity.
The good news is that once you are out of the ground, things should start to speed up. Although...that may be a blog for next month as we sneak towards having our foundations completed.
The slope, and the way it has to be retained, has meant that rather than being able to come in and do all the footings at once, then all the blockwork at once, and all the concrete pour at once, Matt has had to do different sections (stages) of the site for each particular part of the process, then loop back to the start for another part of the site. The garage pad and downstairs pad have been poured for example, while the top storey pad (further up the slope of the hill) needs to wait for the block work for the downstairs to be completed before it can be poured as well. Having a great builder means that those stages are all laid out and planned well, but every time you have a trade onto site, then have them leave after finishing a stage, you will need to then wait for that trade to finish on another job before being available to do your next stage. As I mentioned in our last post, there are alot of moving parts with a job like this, and it just means something that might have taken one month on a conventional site, ends up taking two as you wait for small delays of 2-3 days between part's of stages that quickly add up. Alas, that's the joys of building something a wee bit different from the norm!
The reason I've included this blog post is really for both those considering a conventional build AND those with a slightly trickier one. For those with a square house on a flat section, you'll pop up in no time. While we've been watching blockwork slowly go up on our site, across the road we've seen a conventional house foundations and frames pop up within a few weeks. For those of you with a trickier house, or one on a slope, just remember that you might need things like cranes dropping materials into different parts of the site, and different trades coming in at different stages of the build based on their schedule with other projects as well. We wouldn't change it for the world - we want a house that isn't the norm - but with uniqueness comes complexity.
The good news is that once you are out of the ground, things should start to speed up. Although...that may be a blog for next month as we sneak towards having our foundations completed.
Disclaimer: Building Logic is constructing the home of the author - Jamie Twigg. Jamie is friends with Matt Symonds (of Building Logic), and the founder of 543 Website Design - which created the Building Logic website. This is not a sponsored post - and is an honest reflection on how the build process goes for a keyboard jockey and newbie to construction. As such, nothing in this blog post should be considered expert advice.
