Construction begins....exciting, scary or fun?

The commencement of construction is a huge milestone for home owners.  You have invested hours over several months in working with your architect, who has designed the home of your dreams, be it a renovation of your existing home or creating something new.  

Pinterest and Houzz have become your obsession in finding the style, which reflects your personality.

You may have visited suppliers, searching for the perfect bath, kitchen mixer, toilet and shower rose, or you have left this leg work in the hands of your architect and absolutely love the tiles, vanity, bench top and flooring proposed.

Then with the help of your architect, you have selected your builder, a tricky prospect as there are so many things to consider; price, personality, timing and ability to get the job done.

Finance is the next step, sealing the deal with your bank to finance the project, signing contracts and your architect suddenly has a building permit in hand.

This means construction…it means packing up and often moving out, if renovating.  There’s lots of emotion around this time…excitement, mixed with a tinge of anxiety, it is a huge commitment.  You may be renting or looking at having to share with family (and this has a whole emotional energy of its own).

Finally, after many months the day arrives, the builders move in, temporary fencing goes up, the porta-loo is in place and demolition crew hits the site hard.

This is exactly where our gorgeous Surrey Hills clients found themselves at the beginning of March.  Racing to finish packing up and relocating to temporary accommodation to make way for their builder.

Then the builder sent the first picture of demolition…

The clients commented “WOW”.

We commented “Exciting…but scary”.

You see, we are as invested in this project as our clients!  We have also renovated homes and understand the roller coaster of emotions as the walls come down to make way for progress.  It can be a technicolour mixture!

Luckily our fantastic builder on this job responded “Never scary….Always fun!”

And that puts us all at ease, as do his regular progress pictures.  Our clients are in great hands and we will take this journey with them to ensure a smooth a sailing as possible.

Want to hear more about how we can guide your journey? Let's have a coffee and chat!
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Photos and construction - Area Projects Pty Ltd

Projects currently under construction wrap up ! (alternatively titled, "Yay the sun's finally come out !")

With three of our projects currently under construction, we certainly have our hands full at the moment.  We thought we’d share a little of each project’s journey so far, as each project is quite unique and is at a different stage in the build.

Project 1 – “Mid-Century Renewal” (Blackburn)

Construction started on this project back in December 2015.  The project scope is effectively an extension to the existing home, including a basement and carport with a few internal tweaks here and there, like all new bathrooms, kitchen and laundry, a new studio / retreat in the backyard and a swim spa plus associated landscaping !  Phew, I’m exhausted just explaining it ! 

Lucky for these clients, the project was up and out of the ground before winter, which means it hasn’t been substantially effected by rain (unlike some others …)

Currently, the interior of the home and studio are being plastered in readiness for kitchen joinery to be installed in the next week or two.  The windows for this renovation have been pretty tricky, because as you can see from the photos, the windows follow the line of the ceiling / roofline and therefore need to be millimetre perfect.  The location of the window in the wall has a huge impact on the height of the triangular windows, so even a tiny deviation in location can have an effect – just ask our builders ! 

This project has very much been a labour of love for all the people involved but is sure to be a stunning example of how a period home can be renovated to suit our modern way of life.  Kudos should also go to Alistair McLean of Secret Design Studio who worked with the clients on the original design. 

Project 2 – “Weatherboard Chic” (Malvern East)

This project takes the prize for “construction project most affected by the wettest winter in 11 years”.  Commencing in May this year, this project has been constantly hampered by the constant rain we have been having, but true to form, the brilliant builders we have working on this project have worked hard to minimise the overall delays experienced.  Wet weather creates delays for a number of reasons – firstly, using power tools in the rain is a big no no, secondly, it makes everything slippery, meaning that working on a construction site becomes a whole lot more dangerous, and thirdly, it makes it impossible to pour concrete footings when the stump holes are full of water.  Even after weeks of pumping, the stump holes continued to fill because the ground around was saturated. 

Finally the sun has come out, and so construction has picked back up with a frenzied pace – meaning that all framing, including the substantial new roof structure is up and ready to be clad in the coming days.

Project 3 – “Renovator’s Delight” (North Fitzroy)

The final project we have under construction is this former bachelor pad in North Fitzroy.  Originally built in the 1870’s-1880’s, this tiny worker’s cottage is about to become a stylish inner city home. 

The old part of the house needed extensive underpinning before we commenced construction to ensure that the new work we are doing to the house will be built on firm foundations.  As a result, apart from demolishing all of the rear / non period part of the house – including the outside toilet (yes, the only existing toilet for the house), all of the existing floor needed to come up to give the under pinner’s access to the foundations.  With no rear access and houses built on either side, in all, 10 skip loads of soil has had to be excavated form this tiny site in order to ensure that we achieve the required sub-floor clearance for ventilation and to make the way for a new concrete slab to the rear. 

So, with all the messy, scary part of the build behind us, and once the plumbers have worked some magic with pipework out the back, the builders will be ready to pour the floor slab, ready for new framing to be erected.

The existing period part of the home will have new timber floors laid, while the new extension at ground level will be getting a concrete floor – great for energy consumption.  A second storey will also be added above the rear extension, providing the home with another bedroom, bathroom and study area.

Can’t wait to see progress over the coming weeks – it’s bound to be exciting !

Check out our completed projects at www.detail9architects.com.au