Clean Your Act Up! (with pics)

This week brick cleaning has been completed on the upper levels as well as painting of the eaves.  I am quite happy with the colour of the Austral Metropolis Topaz bricks, and the laying quality.  The bulk of the scaffolding has been removed so I guess the rest of the cleaning and the lower level roof tiling can proceed this week.  Looking forward to this so that the internal work can get cracking.

Red bricks will be rendered and painted in Taubmans Vintage Lace

Our internal brick wall was cleaned too.  I think I made a mistake going with raked joints, they should have been flush to make it look more rustic.  Hopefully the white ceiling and floorboards will make this wall 'pop'. These bricks came from The Brick Pit at Smithfield.  The owner was very helpful and the bricks were delivered within a few days.

Recycled brick internal feature wall after cleaning

Also completed were the frames for the  kitchen and cinema bulk heads and a cavity door frame was installed for our ensuite.

Getting there...

I notice Fowler Homes have updated their website.  The plans for the Monaco have changed, there are some new house designs , and the upgrade packages have changed (including the upgraded roof tiles and stair balustrading upgrade that I negotiated into my tender).  They make mention of new processes - it sounds like they really are working to improve their service.

Bricks and Upper Roof Complete

I have been struggling to get to the block before dark hence no photos, but:

• Bricks are complete bar the back corner of the garage - I think there is some scaffolding in the way.  All looks pretty good, especially the piers and parapet in front of the Cinema that I added to jazz up the Contemporary facade (I should have been an Architect!).
• Upper level roof tiles have been completed - Bristile Classic tiles in Gunmetal looking really good.
• Soffit linings have been installed on the eaves

Bricklaying is such a messy and time consuming step. I'd hate to be the cleaner who has to clean the mortar out of the windows and tracks of my sliding doors, I will be making sure they are spotless.

I am following an Eden Brae job blog which is cracking along.  I'm sure Fowler Homes could be a bit better organised and be progressing my job faster.  I bet that speed of build would be a big draw card for most customers stuck paying rent or living with family!  The other suggestion I would make would be around communication.   A fortnightly email would be enough to keep me happy, and might quell some of the angst I read on other blogs.

We visited the new Homeworld Display at Kellyville yesterday.  Although it is listed as  'open' on the website, only one of the three homes is finished which was a bit disappointing given how far we drove.  I was hoping to see some of the package inclusions (particularly the kitchen) but most of it was non-standard.  The two houses yet to be completed are massive.  I hope that all of the tradesmen are not tied up on this job at the expense of mine.

I am at risk of sounding whingy so I think it is time to sign off.  Hopefully a happy post to come shortly with some pictures...