Our new place in Darlington

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Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:50:11 -0500

Itching with anticipation to have this home open!

Thu, 03 Mar 2011 10:48:06 -0500

Ever had that feeling where you want something so bad, or are so close to reaching a goal that you physically can’t keep still, you can’t sleep and you almost feel like dancing in the street?

That’s the feeling we’ve got now with the display in Darlington as it reaches it’s final stages. The action has been non-stop on site with the home changing every day.The air con has been installed and upon testing - the home is cool. So cool that Supervisor Cookie was tempted to stay the night after seeing how good the system was compared to his evaporative at home. Due to our homes having the higher ceilings, its often a good idea to check with your preferred air con company as to how it will cope on those hot summer days, especially with the amount of glass in our homes. All of our homes come with E-vents as standard to remove the hot air from the roof space, with people often installing awning windows for their high windows to increase air circulation throughout the home. Sadly this is part of the price you pay when having loft style homes or high ceilings. The trade off is that you get a magnificent feeling of space and for most people, the trade off is worth it. That’s not to say your home can’t be cool in summer. Zoning your home is also a good idea as it gives you the flexibility to close off sections of the home which in all reality, is how we should live as it’s not necessary to heat or cool an entire home at once.

The driveway is all finished complete with turning circle and visitors bays looking absolutely fantastic. There’s something so nice about walking on a property when everything is so nice and new - similar to buying a new car i guess. The decking has also been oiled and words can’t describe how fantastic it looks - walking on it i’m envious of the person who’ll end up buying this home as the height has meant when you’re sitting on the deck, you almost feel like you are up amongst the trees. A great spot for an outdoor recliner or wicker chairs to enjoy with a glass of wine in the evenings. It really is about lifestlye with our homes and to be honest, i find myself getting jealous when i see some of the homes we build.

If you’ve ever thought cleaning your home was bad, try cleaning a home that’s been under construction. Throughout the build process a supervisor will always endeavour to keep the home as clean as possible, and major items like wrappers etc will always be binned but sadly, things like dust can’t be avoided. Every nook, cranny, drawer, door jam will experience a coat of dust and with the cleaners in this week, you wonder how long after they’ve done a job that they start to feel their finger tips again. They do a magnificent job though and it’s always great to see the home before its handed over to the client in such a clean state.

When i last visited the blinds and curtains were getting installed and its great to see the difference it makes. Without them, the home is beautifully light and bright but to a degree, you feel a bit insecure about privacy and protection. With the use of timber venetians and shears, it really starts to make the place feel like home. Coupled with the feeling of walking on freshly laid carpet and newly polished timber floors.

Over this week, all the minor little touches are happening with last minute shelving, glass splashbacks, light switch plates etc all being installed. It’s an exciting time but it sure starts to feel like forever.

Landscaping has begun and Peter Rowe from Garden Art with his team are already making serious headway in the garden. We’re quite excited with the landscaping of the home as Peter (Who does all of our displays) has some fantastic creativity and always manages to surprise us with some tricks up his sleeve. Furniture has been installed and i have to say it, Jodie gets it right every time. The brief of our homes is to always highlight warmth. When people come through we want them to feel at home, and feel comfortable to walk around and take a great look at what The Rural Building Company designs are all about. Some of the furniture she’s used is absolutely stunning and i find myself often asking her where she got pieces so i can track them down and put them in my home. It’s funny how a piece in a shop may not look so fantastic but once you see it in a home, it looks brilliant. Designers must definitely see something that the rest of us don’t!

Anywho, next time i post on here the home will hopefully be finished and i hope to post up nothing but heaps of pics of the finished result. Of course, i’d expect many of you to come check it out for yourself!

Jay W

It's all looking good for an opening in March!

Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:49:56 -0500

The Rural Building Company’s next display home is fast approaching completion with the looming target date in March getting very close.

Since the last update, Supervisor Cookie has been hard at it. As a normal client home under construction, we would be approaching a point now where we would be ready to hand the home over, where they would get their keys and from there they tee up the finishing trades with flooring, blinds etc. As a display, it’s a little different as many different people descend on site to get things finished. Similar to our last update, we’ve had painters, decking people, flooring guys, tilers and electricians all working at the home which can get pretty hectic.

The timber floors have been completed with just the trim to go around the fireplace. A lot of people often ask if skirting is included in the build of a home with it most often not included. It’s not usually included as it is very dependant on the type of flooring that people put down. Some put down tiles, others carpet, and some timber. There’s also the few that do polished concrete. Because of these different types and styles, the height at which the skirting is installed will vary, therefore the builder will often leave it as the client may still be deciding.

Outside, the decking is near completion with just the balustrading to go in which is being fabricated as we speak. We chose to do timber decking around the front and paving around the rear to break it up a bit for something different. The timber alfresco at the front coming off the free form living will have balustrading due to height and safety requirements, but along the front verandahs we’ve chosen to keep it open so the view will be less interrupted and will hopefully make for a cleaner look. The steps were also made this week leading up to the decking making quite the grand entrance and approach to the home.

Prep work began yesterday for the driveway and landscaping which is quite a big job for the size block the home is on. In compliance with shire guidelines we are putting in a number of parking bays to the side of the block, which will be a great space for visitors for the future owners of the home once sold.

It’s all getting very exciting now as the home is well and truly coming together, and with landscaping starting in the next week or so, the contrast against the home will be fantastic to see. Speaking with trades who have been working on the home, they mentioned they have been getting a lot of visitors to the site who are anxious to see the new home open to the public in Darlington.

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Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:57:29 -0500

Lots of "bits n pieces" happening

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:52:29 -0500

I guess there was no other way to put a title to our update this week of the Darlington display home. I visited on Friday with Construction Manager Michael for the first time this year and it’s amazing to see just how much progress has happened. We’ve reached that point of the build process where it starts to get quite busy on site as there’s a mixture of trades working there.

At previous stages and throughout most of the process, you tend to only see one trade on site at a time whether it be the brickies, carpenters etc. Right now we’ve had the cabinet makers, timber floor guys, painters, tilers and glass company.

It’s at times like this where a lot of care and patience needs to be exercised as there’s a lot of people walking around, and there’s a higher chance of things getting damaged.

Approaching the site from Coulston Road in Darlington, you certainly get an appreciation of grandeur of the elevation, with some of the locals commenting that they thought it was a 2-storey home. The external painting is mostly complete with the bushland green weatherboards contrasting beautifully with the surrounding scenery. The framework for the timber decked alfresco and verandah out the front is complete and looks to make for a stunning area to enjoy. We changed our minds at the last minute on the timber decking - originally opting for treated pine, we have changed to Batu. Slightly more expensive but has a nicer finish and look to it which will compliment the brickwork.

With the glass in the windows and doors, it’s really come together and feels like a home at lock-up stage. In the free form living area, the timber floors have been laid and received their first sand - i’m hanging out to see them sealed and polished! As something a little different which we also did in our Settlers View display home in Settlers Hills Baldivis, rather than take the timber flooring to the edges of the room we’ve done a tiled border with the timber inset. It creates a point of difference to the usual timber floors you see and really accentuates the shape of the room. It costs a little more but worth doing if you can. The tiles we’ve used for the perimeter have also been used on the fireplace so really brings the room together. We chose to go with an ash/charcoal sort of colour with a bit of a gradient for extra character. I’m in love with the fireplace already and know that whoever purchases the home, will definitely be using it in the winter as it will really add to the warm feeling of the home.

It was a real spin out seeing the kitchen cupboards in after a lot of to and fro over what to do. Myself, our Interior Decorator and our Construction Administration Manager Adrian spent a bit of time chopping and changing the plans as we really wanted to maximise the storage and usability of the kitchen. We’re now seeing a lot more people put in large pot drawers opposed to cupboards, as they are a lot easier to access (especially with big pots and woks) and are fantastic for those who plan to stay in their home for a long time. Thought is also put into things like retractable rangehoods, and electrical cupboards as people wish to keep their kitchen looking neat whilst having easy access to certain things. With the culmination of appliances people have these days, it also means plenty of extra powerpoints, also installed in the pantry for people stowing breadmakers etc. For the benchtops we’ve gone with Corian and are putting it out there to have a Corian splashback as well. As mentioned before, we haven’t done anything too drastic with the colour selections as we find that neutral colours add to the warmth of the home and it’s easy to add character by adding vases etc. Even a simple appliance like a toaster can make a difference with brands offering an array of colours such as red, yellow and green.

The bathrooms are progressing nicely with basins, sinks, mirrors, showerheads and shower screens installed. I had only seen a small sample of the feature tile we have installed and it’s come up looking fantastic. Our Decorator has a great eye for things like this so I often sit back and let her roll with it rather than interfere.

Looking to the landscaping, the back of the block has been raked as we plan to have a sloping sort of garden which will make the home look like its nestling into the side of the hill, and provide a good view from the back bedroom windows. The driveway is being prepared at the moment ready for when the asphalt will be poured so at this point it’s full steam ahead as we plan to open early March.

Will post some pics up shortly.

Sadly, vandalism can’t always be avoided and its always...

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:39:52 -0500

Sadly, vandalism can’t always be avoided and its always heart breaking to see what damage can be done to peoples homes under construction.

If you witness theft or vandalism on building sites, be sure to contact ‘Dob in a dumper’ or your builder. In some instances you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Ticking along nicely....

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 05:37:11 -0500

Well it’s certainly been a while since our last update on the home, and there’s definitely been a bit of action happening out on site.

Sadly, over the Christmas break the home was broken into with some of the rear windows smashed and a bit more damage ensued from there. Black tile grout waiting to be used by the tiler was thrown around the house marking the white walls and ceiling. In the New Year after a bit of cleaning we sadly had to get the home repainted. It’s heart breaking to see this sort of destruction happening out on site and despite a lot of effort to reduce it, we sadly can’t catch them all.

So with the bad news over we can move onto the exciting stuff. After getting more tile grout, the tiling in the wet areas (ensuite, bathroom, laundry) has been completed and come up looking fantastic. I forgot to get pictures so when i’m up there next will be sure to take some so you can see the colour scheme we’ve gone with. Based on experience, i find it best to pick neutral or subtle colours, and to add character and personality to each room use furniture and for really bright or individual characters, use objects that can be replaced easily. Over time your tastes and preferences will change so it’s best to use things that can be replaced easily. Furniture is quite cheap to replace when you compare it to the cost of tiling.

Outside we are starting to do more work which will tie in with the landscaping. Around the home we will be having paving in the back and timber decking out the front. We had previously selected pine but decided to splash out a bit and will now be using Batu. The frame for the decking has been complete and should provide a fantastic front alfresco area which will literally have you off the ground and closer to the trees. It wasn’t until we had started building the home that we really got to appreciate just how high the decking was going to be - at one point we considered installing a spa into the deck. As another point, if you are considering adding a pool, spa or water feature later on, it’s definitely a good idea to at least put a provision in for the plumbing and electrical. We won’t be doing too much lighting externally but have run a number of conduits so that future owners have the ability should they choose to do so.

The floors were sealed in the main living areas ready for the timber flooring to be laid which should have been started this week. A question we often get is what we use in our homes. We’ve previously used Marri Oak for quite a few displays and find it a great hardy floor. Bamboo is becoming a lot more popular and very price competitive. It’s definitely worth doing your research on different floor products as it depends on the lifestyle you lead, and who’ll be living in the home.

This week we also get a little closer to finishing with all of the electrical. What had previously just been plastic switches on the wall will be replaced with their main faceplates which for some reason always gets people very excited. I think it’s one of those things where you start to see your personal choices coming through in the home. The same goes with plumbing fixtures and its that point where people can rest a little easier with their choices matching the tiling etc in the bathroom. It does amaze me how stressed out people can get with these items when i think about how if they were buying an established home, it wouldn’t matter as much. In all reality, it’s quite hard to get wrong unless you are picking the more unusual varieties of tapware and electrical switches.

I’ve posted a few pics of the vandalism done, but will hopefully have some more glamorous pics next week showing the tiling and the frame for our timber decking.

Jay W

It’s amazing how much of a difference the white plaster...

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:33:11 -0500

It’s amazing how much of a difference the white plaster set makes with brightening up the home. By having the open activity area coming into the hallway, it’s made what could be a dull and dark area very light and bright.

Also note the internal doors we have used - more expensive than standard internal doors but make a huge difference. Items like this can be fitted later down the track or even then, only used for certain doorways such as entrances to hallways and passages to make it feel more open.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - at our display!

Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:29:07 -0500

Well Christmas is well and truly around the corner and we’ve been going gangbusters to get this home built ready for a February open.

Admittedly i’ve been a bit slack on the updates on here but that doesn’t mean progress has faltered on the display. Quite the opposite in fact with the home definitely starting to look more like the finished product.

The main windows were completed last week in the main portal frames and changed the appearance of the elevation quite dramatically. Its these sorts of windows that make The Rural Building Company homes stand out and add that point of difference. You’ll see a lot of other builders with farmhouses and farmhouse ranges but you’ll struggle to see some like ours. We focus on lots of large windows as when you live on a rural block, you want to connect with the outside as much as possible. It may add a bit of cost to the home with engineering details, but the finished product is definitely worth it.

The white plaster set was completed on the walls with the raking ceilings installed last Friday. Again this free form living space has been transformed and feels incredibly open, light and bright. If you’ve ever lived in an open home before, if you then went to a closed in home you’ll definitely appreciate the difference.

We focus on bright and open spaces to create a home that feels spacious and by using larger windows, the home feels bigger as it’s bringing the open space outside inside. For rooms such as living spaces it’s definitely worthwhile - pending budget i recommend large windows for bedrooms, even if it’s just the master.

The raking ceiling and catherdral style central fireplace in the Argye home definitely proves to be a stunning feature and means that even we the simplest furniture and colours used, it will be a very individual home and an intereting space to be in.

The doors and mouldings were also delivered last week with the Carpenter booked in for fitting. Inside, we’ve chosen to use timber internal doors and for some of the rooms we have glass fitted on the inserts to keep the home light and bright and not close in the hallways. If you’ve seen our Display homes you may have noticed on a lot of our internal doors we use timber frames with frosted glass inserts. Though they are more expensive, they are definitely a worthwhile upgrade especially if you have a hallway with lots of rooms coming off it. In most homes you’ll often find the hallways the darkest spaces in the home and most people try to address this with the utilisation of a skylight, which often only lights up certain parts of the hallway. The doors with frosted glass mean that even in the bedroom with the door closed, the light coming from that room will go through to the hallway. The issue of privacy is also covered as the frosted glass can’t be seen through yet still lets light in.

So onto wha’ts happened this week!

The bricks were cleaned and washed down and look amazing. On a site with little greenery at the moment, plenty of sand and a lot of workers and vehicles the home has been getting very dusty. With less workers on site now and the landscaping already starting to move, we have been able to give the home a bit of a wash down on the outside. If you look at the pics you’ll see how much the home has taken shape to appreciate what a good clean will do.

The painters are starting today and i can’t wait to see what the home looks like in a couple of days. With plenty of timber to stain and varnish i can’t wait to see the difference it will make. Too often i see homes with plenty of brick and plaster which don’t offer too much character and you’ll now see plenty of bland homes around the place which all look too similar. Smaller features with the use of wood can really add a lot of warmth and character to a home and provide a stunning feature. Even spending the extra dollars and upgrading the wood species can really create a stunning visual impact to your home. Simple things like internal doors, or even a feature beam can create a point of difference. If you have a free form living area with plenty of windows, when doing the landscaping create a timber wall panel privacy screen and plant plenty of greenery around it to create a stunning contrast.

The cabinets will also be going in this week and i can’t wait to see what Jodie has picked. Our displays are fitted out by Jodie Cooper Design who also chooses our internal selections. One thing i love about working with Jodie is that she has a great ability to get into our head space and work out what we want. She’s been doing our displays for years and because of this, has a great feel for the different types of homes we do along with bringing in different elements. She has the ability to pick tiles and types of laminex that as a swatch i would most likely look past and bring them together to look brilliant. Places like the Laminex Showroom are great to visit as the staff there are really helpful and can give you advice on what will work. It’s easy to pick a stark white kitchen but if you are wanting to mix things up a little bit, i recommend speaking to them as Laminex have some awesome ideas. As a personal experience, earlier this year my fiance and i renovated our kitchen and with the laminate we chose for our overhead cupboards, by running the grain horizontal as opposed to vertical it has made our kitchen look a bit wider and we often get a lot of cimpliments on the selection.

Anywho - some more pics and hopefully over the break the tiling and painting will get finished which should definitely start bringing the home together. I’m hanging out for the decking to be done out front and the landscaping to take shape.

Starting to feel a little homely...

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 03:40:30 -0500

Well it’s nearly been a couple of weeks since my update and the home has been ticking along beautifully - our biggest fear is what will happen over the Christmas break with everybody on holidays.

If you’ve been following us from the beginning, you might remember me explaining the tight deadline we were up against as we wanted the home to be open to the public in late January, or early February (at the very latest). The dry winter months were almost a saving grace for us as it meant we could get solid production the whole way through, and the biggest obstacle we were going to come up against with delays would be the Christmas period when a lot of people go on holidays.

So over the last couple of weeks, we had the site tidied up with basic forming taking place on the block for what will be the landscaping and driveway. Already we are putting a lot of thought into how we want the home to look once finished with the landscaping needing to blend in with the surrounding environment. Whilst the dozer was there pushing dirt around 3 soakwells were also installed around certain parts of the home. These are plumbed in to the downpipes so that we direct the rainwater away from the home and in such a fashion that we won’t have a landslide or a breakdown with the sand. The soakwells are also big enough so that they can be buried near the driveway and still have a car drive over them without collapsing which is very important - believe it or not it can happen!

The float coat has been finished with the home looking very grey on the inside, but is really starting to feel like a home and take a lot of shape as to what the finished product will look like. The ducting for the airconditioning has been installed with the ceilings all installed apart from the raking section of the free form living. We often see a lot of people install airconditioning after handover or put in downlights at a later date. Definitely a good way to go but always be mindful of rooms with raking ceilings. Due to the rake, the ceiling sheets are right up against the insulation and roof battons which have the roof sheets or tiles on the other side. With not a lot of room to work in, it’s very difficult and timely to install downlights and air con ducts at a later date. If you plan to put a particular style of light or air conditioning in a room with a raking ceiling, we recommend you do this during construction or speak to the builder about what your intentions are so they can guide you as to the best way.

The raking section has been left until last as they plan to plaster the walls then do the ceiling in order to get a better finish for the shadow line cornicing. The things people don’t always think about until prestart - cornicing being one of them - can change the overall look of a room. Square cornices or shadow line can look more contemporary whilst the curves can look a little more traditional. Shadow line cornices are the most expensive option but generally look quite spectacular with the ceiling almost looking like it’s hovering in the edges. In case i’ve lost anyone - cornices are the plaster moulds or refers to the edging between the ceiling and the walls. By doing this you can provide a bit more character to the room and give it a neater looking finish.

Last week we also had a smaller dozer out on site digging trenches for the cabling that will run externally from the home. If you plan to have outdoor lighting, powerpoints, speakers, water features etc it’s important to let your builder know during construction as they can run a simple conduit from the home which will save you the work later. A 5 minute job during construction can become a 5 hour job once the home is complete, hence why it’s always important to talk to the builder as much as possible with what the plans are for your home.

With a couple of large trees around the block we thought it would provide quite a stunning evening backdrop if we had some uplights shining through the branches and leaves. Our electrician has installed conduits to the foot of the trees for this, along with a conduit to the front of the block in case we ever wanted to have an illuminated letter box or electric gate on the property.

Will hopefully have some more pics this week otherwise i’ll need to head up one morning and take a few more. At this time of year it’s becoming very difficult to get to the block as much as i’d like but on the plus side, when i go there’s always a lot of progress to catch up on!

Looking through the photos, you’ll note in the ceiling...

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:41:59 -0400

Looking through the photos, you’ll note in the ceiling space the wiring for all the lighting, smoke detectors, switches etc. In one pic looking across the free form to the roof space with what will become the raking ceiling, there’s a lot of roof space. It’s definitely a good idea to consider your roof beams and moving them to allow for storage space with the assistance of a drop down ladder. With homes that have roof pitches like ours, roof space is definitely a wise investment.

The silver grates on the edge of the brickwork on the walls will form the beading in plaster coat so you have smooth rounded edges and not the sharp brickwork.

I took photos from both ends of the free form living and you can see that from both sides, there’s views of the bush and surrounding trees. An example of why it’s great to choose a design that capitalises on features such as this. Peering through one window is the view you will have standing in the kitchen at the sink. Not a bad view for doing the dishes.

There’s also a picture of the living room fireplace - some people choose to finish this halfway and just have a flume going up the middle to open the space up more. We chose to do the brickwork all the way up to provide more definition to the living spaces. A two way fireplace acts as a stunning feature and can easily be added to with a recess on both sides, or even a wrap around timber shelf for photos or books.

These sorts of after thoughts aren’t uncommon and if you have them before or during your build, it’s worth mentioning to the supervisor or your new homes administrator as they may be able to come up with an easy way to do it which will save you time, money, and potential damage later on.

Starting to take shape

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 07:31:05 -0400

Well after not visiting the Display home for two weeks, it’s amazing what can happen in that length of time. I’ve always been of the mindset it’s not good to visit your home whilst under construction too often as you’ll feel as though nothing has ever happened, but go too little and you’ll feel like you never really saw your home built and got the full experience. I think the prime time is either once a week or once a fortnight.

As a builder in rural areas, it can often be difficult with some of our clients who are after the sea or tree change as they live and work in the city, are soon going to be getting out but can only visit on weekends when time allows.

So it’s definitely been a busy week for the home, and for myself included. Last weekend i went to a BBQ for current and prospective land buyers for Rosa Park Estate in Chittering - the second time i’ve been there and definitely a place worth a look in. Without bias, i think there’s some pretty special blocks in there with panoramic views and the size of the estate means you have that neighbourhood feel - meeting some of the people there it definitely made me consider buying a bit of land. A home like the Argyle we’re building in Darlington would be perfect for it - but that’s enough of a sales pitch.

So…… As Cookie said, the scaffold would get dropped this week and seeing the home driving up Coulston Road, it looks AMAZING!!! You’d think the home is a 2-storey with the raking ceiling in the free form living. Illuminated at night, the home will definitely emit a warm glow and have a great presence. Rob our Earthworker was back there tidying up the site and put the soakwells in. There’s a fair bit of work to it, and whilst we used to let people do this by owner, we no longer allow them due to the fact that if something goes wrong, we can still get in trouble as it’s under our building licence. It’s these sorts of things people learn about as they go along the building process and something we are trying to educate people more about so they know what parts they can get involved in and so forth.

Rob also started to move some of the clay and large rocks around which will help form part of the driveway, entry statement and landscaping. We’re hoping to get some old rusty farm gear to integrate into our landscaping, but are still hoping to keep it simple. I’ve seen it done a few times now and i have to admit, the secret to a good looking home and garden is to keep things simple. Focus too hard on putting all these fantastic things into the interior of your home - it’ll end up looking very busy and a bit of a disaster. Don’t go so plain though that your home could be a marketing demo for IKEA. With the scaffold dropped, we’ve got a great idea of what the home will look like finished and i can’t wait for the decking at the front to go in. We chose to do a bit of a front alfresco as well so you have two options, and with the raised decking bringing you closer to the canopy of the trees, it will definitely be a great space to BBQ, entertain or enjoy the afternoon sun with a book. It’s always important to stop and think for a minute about how you realistically want to live in your new home, and take advantage of what your block has to offer. Solar Passive Design isn’t just a throw around word - with a bit of thought you really can make a big difference to the areas you’ll live in with your home.

The wiring and conduits were completed this week with mounting boxes for light switches going in, and the lines have been run for the plumbing and gas. The internal brickwork will be rendered shortly and the metal edging which provides the bead for the plasterwork has been installed. To use the lingo for a minute, if you are told the prewires and tube-outs have been done in your home, this is the electrical wiring for lighting and switches, and the pipes for your plumbing. I love it how people smile and nod when you tell them this and they have this puzzled look which they hope to reconcile when they visit their block next and figure out what we were talking about. The walls are first rendered and are then plastered which is also known as ‘plastering’ or the ‘float coat’. I hate walking through homes when they first do the internal render as it’s dark and grey which saddens the mood a bit in the home. The plaster coat brightens the place up again and gives you a better feel for what the internal home will feel like when finished. Walking through the bedrooms on Thursday, it was comforting to see the house is very light with the roof installed as i was worried at one point that the master wing might be a bit dark from the surrounding trees.

So next week, the windows will start to get fitted with our mobile scaffold rocking up early next week. The rest of the windows will be installed shortly meaning we are fast approaching lock-up! It’s at this point where clients can get the most frustrated as it’s the part they want to visit the home the most and due to being locked out when trades aren’t there, they can’t usually access the home. We are always happy to meet people at the site and let them in for a nosey around because at the end of the day - you want to know what’s going on.

So time is fast ticking away and i can’t believe we’re already in November. With an aim to have the home open to the public in late January, we’ve definitely got our work cut out for us. The concern we have is that after Christmas, the building industry literally stops - for most of January many contractors are on holiday with many working throughout the whole year so it will be difficult to get contractors out on site, and work to our tight deadline. We hope to have the tiler in there over Christmas and looking at the selections Jodie (Interior Designer) has made, i can’t wait to see it all come together.

We started making plans for the landscaping on Thursday with Peter from Garden Art who does all our displays with us getting some ideas. As said above, our focus is to keep it simple as the surrounding bush and trees already provide plenty of personality and character to the home, yet we want the home to really blend in with its environment. In all of our homes we also only use Australian native plants as we need to be water conscious and try to plant low maintenance gardens. With water restrictions becoming very tight, it’s definitely a smarter way to go and will cut down in maintenance costs for the home for future owners.

The tin has finished!!

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 03:50:37 -0400

Exciting times over the past week for our next display home with the roof cover finished and the home now undercover. If you’ve seen the home under construction you’ll know what we mean by the fact that this home truly has presence whether it be on acreage or a normal block. The slope of our site has meant that the home has quite a grand elevation with the gable making it look more like a 2-storey. I don’t think i could ever be a roof carpenter after climbing the scaffold for a closer look and seeing how high it is.

After a delay with the roofing team (were a couple of people short which slowed progress) the roof cover has finally gone on and the home definitely has taken on a different feel. Before when you walked through the home it was very light, bright and open with the only real canopy being that from the surrounding trees- it almost makes you wish we could have the whole roof as a skylight to have a tree canopy over the home!

Finishing of the roof cover meant the carpenters were able to fit the weatherboard around the gable which makes for a stunning feature on a home. It’s products such as the weatherboard from James Hardie that can make a simple elevation into a stunning one. We’ve used the ’Linea’ weatherboard, a cheaper alternative is their ‘Heritage’ weatherboard which has a similar appearance from a distance and is competitively priced. Other products from their Scyon range include the Matrix, Stria and Axon. The Rural Building Company has used all of these different products in various homes and we also have sample boards on display in our office. I have to admit and without bias, these products from James Hardie i’d definitely consider using in my home as they are an easy, cost effective product to use which can really provide your home with a certain feel or point of difference. Mixing these with a certain colour can change the look and feel of your home. For instance a traditional design with rendered brick can be made to look more coastal by using a weatherboard painted a sky blue. By mixing the weatherboard painted cream with a brick such as Midland Brick’s restoration red, you can go for a more rustic traditional look. Matrix painted shades of grey can look more contemporary or commercial whilst the Axon painted white can look very coastal Victorian.

All these products and all it requires is a bit of thought and creativity to really make your home stand out and be individual!

So with the weatherboard finished and the painter doing his bit, the scaffold should hopefully be dropped by now and next week, the site will start to take on a new look as the Earthworker moves in and starts to level the site out a bit more and clean up around the place. Because we kept a number of trees and stashed rocks we found on the side, it’s meant limited space on site so has proven very difficult to keep the site extremely tidy. Something i know which is keeping Supervisor Cookie a little frustrated as he often takes a lot of pride in the cleanliness and neatness of his sites. In the next couple of weeks we’ll also need to start considering our landscaping ideas.

The difficulty with building for clients is that they often can’t access their site until the builder has finished and the home is handed over. As a builder building a display or spec home, having access to our own site means we can start looking at landscaping early on so when the home is finished we already have a garden growing and semi established.

Magic Happens!

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 05:37:40 -0400

The last time i wrote on here i have to admit i was pretty upset with the theft and damage that happened on site at our upcoming display home. It’s a major frustration in our industry and even worse when you get a phone call from a client who has arrived to see their dream home has been been vandalised.

It looks like our luck came in this week though when Supervisor ‘Cookie’ called his mate who’s a brick cleaner to stop by and take a look. With his own concoction our brickie was able to remove the graffiti with ease. We only wish we knew what the magical potion was but are so glad we have his contact details.

The alternative to fixing this would have meant cutting bricks out and replacing them which is a very costly and time consuming exercise.

Tin cover progressed on Friday and their aim was to finish on Wednesday. Unfortunately i haven’t been up to Darlington this week but noticed on our intersection some picket signs with the Darlington Arts Festival coming up. Something i hope to get along to and may hopefully be able to buy some art to put in our display when finished!

At The Rural Building Company we predominantly use Colorbond for the roofs of our homes, but have done tile upon request previously. Why? The labour component is a lot less for tin roofs and in areas we build it can sometimes be quite remote, therefore delivery of materials and labour is easier to come by and makes sense. From an aesthetics point of view and pending the style of home you wish to build, i think Colorbond tends to have a neater and more attractive appearance. For a home this sort of size roof cover will take 2-3 days depending on how big the team is and weather. Occ health and safety laws require contractors to stop working with rain as the roofs get very slippery. Walking around on the scaffolding before i know i could never be a ‘roofie’!

After roof cover the timber cladding on the feature gable of the front elevation will be installed with the painter following straight after. At this point we are able to remove the scaffold and get a real appreciation of how the home will look with it’s colours.

Stegbar who we use for our window frames also visited site this week and met with ‘Cookie’ to measure up the frames. A lot of the frames in our homes aren’t standard sizes and often full height to maximise views which means they can often be more costly but we do this for the greater benefit.

Will hopefully have some more pics next week with the scaffolding down so you can start to see what a real Argyle looks like close up!

You can't stop Progress!

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 07:34:44 -0400

Well, despite our setback with the graffiti and site theft you really can’t stop progress. I thought i’d write the progress up as a separate post as it really does deserve it’s own merit.

At site, progress continues to blister along at fantastic speed. Driving up for a look on the weekend it was great to see the home is really taking on it’s finished shape. The roof carpenters finished last week with the roof cover now to go on. Standing in the free form living with my partner Sal, you almost wish you could have a see through roof so your ceiling would be the sky. Everytime i approach this home on the block it really does command a presence - the gable in the middle will truly be an impressive sight once complete and walking through this floorplan, it’s a design i could definitely see myself building one day. The free form living area is massive and the central fireplace is a fantastic feature. The fact that it’s double sided also adds a bit of wow factor.

Standing in the bedrooms, i’m glad we cleared the block as little as possible with only minor pruning as we wanted to retain as much green around us as possible. The landscaping will have a huge effect on how this home looks once finished as the last thing we want is a home with a desert around it.

When we did the earthworks we had a bit of rock unearthed which we decided to keep for landscaping purposes at the end. This great thinking caused us a minor problem this week in that it’s reduced parking available for the trades a bit. With plenty of guys now working on site at the one time it’s made parking a bit of a premium once you factor in the site bin, materials, shed, toilet and existing trees and bushes. Speaking with Supervisor ‘Cookie’ this week he was going to spend a bit of time reconfiguring the site and was looking forward to the scaffolding coming down shortly to declutter the site a bit. Whether it be small sites or open acreage, it’s important to always keep the site tidy and clear. Safety is the most important reason but also to ensure each trade has their space to work in as their cars essentially become an extension of the building site with tools and materials etc.

Plumbing tube has commenced where we will install the pipes for water to run through in walls which will then make way for taps etc to be connected.

I’m looking forward to next week when the scaffolding will start to come away as it will give us a real good impression of how this home will look completed. Despite no windows, doors etc at this point, the facebrick coupled with the window frames and roof cover will give us a great indication on what the home will look like once built.

Will hopefully have some more pics soon!!

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them. If there’s anything you’d like to know more about in terms of the products we use, the process or why we do certain things - ask away!

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Tue, 12 Oct 2010 07:22:07 -0400

Setback - Name & Shame!!

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 07:20:04 -0400

Well i’m sad to say we suffered a bit of a setback last week with the display.

A couple of weeks ago Supervisor ‘Cookie’ visited the site only to find a number of materials and some scaffolding had been stolen. Not only that though, someone had been around the home with spraypaint and tagged the walls - inside and out. The internal walls were no real disappointment as they’d be rendered, but the facebrick on the home has now been vandalised requiring a bit of money spent to make it look good again.

Sadly builders aren’t a stranger to this with their sites. Theft from sites is a huge problem with thousands of dollars of materials disappearing each year which YOU as a client paid for.Timber, bricks, hot water systems, doors, tiles etc can sometimes disappear making it very frustrating for the builder, and causing delays which are not fair for the client. Despite measures taken to keep our sites secure, some people still choose to break the law.

Vandalism is no stranger either with windows smashed, timber work damaged, doors kicked through, walls spray painted and items such as site toilets tipped over. What’s worse is seeing the client’s face when they visit their site only to find a wave of destruction has come through.

Name and Shame is a campaign that The Rural Building Company and JWH Group strongly advocate and support, and ask people to keep an eye not only on their own site but also of neighboring building sites. Reporting theft may entitle you to a reward and i’m confident the builder and client will forever be shouting your praises. I have to admit, in the time i’ve been in this role there is something comforting when we have people ring us up and say they’ve noticed people poking around our building sites at unusual times. It instills a sense of pride and community knowing that there are still plenty of good people out there who at the drop of a hat will help out their fellow neighbours.

I’ve attached some photos with a bit of the graffiti - if by any chance you happen to know any information or recognise the graffiti, we would appreciate your support. It definitely struck a chord with people in our office as we’ve been working hard to build this home in Darlington in a fast time for a home of this nature. If you’ve built or are currently building, you’d be familiar with the pride and effort you take into designing and planning for your home - we resemble those feelings with the work we put into our displays as they often feel like our personal own home.

We get to experience the satisfaction of seeing client’s pick up the keys to their new home, we get to walk through the finished display knowing everyone in the office contributed to making this display home happen.

Build me up!!

Thu, 07 Oct 2010 05:29:15 -0400

The display is really starting to steam ahead at full speed with brickwork, window frames and the portal frames installed.

Once the slab has cured, the site then becomes ‘loaded’. A loaded site means the bricks have arrived, and I guess you could say the home is essentially ‘loaded’ with the goods to build the home. Prior to starting the brick work, the window frames will need to be delivered so they can be propped up as the brickwork takes place, along with any lintels that will stretch over large spans, openings and garages. The brickies will ‘mark out the slab’ before they start laying bricks. This point often happens a day or so before the brickies will start laying, so you often need to be quick out on site to see the slab marked. What you are looking for is a chalk line on the slab which indicates where the brickies will need to lay the bricks. From here you can see how big the rooms will be, and where your door frames and windows will be. Doesn’t really give you too much perspective but at this point, the prospect of having rooms is too exciting not to want to look.

It’s important to be very careful with how the window frames are delivered and kept on site as there is the potential risk of them warping or becoming damaged. If you’ve seen frames on site you would have noticed the tough black plastic they come wrapped in. During the build, they’ll stay wrapped like this until the end when they are removed and any overhanging bits caught between the frame and the brickwork are trimmed with a stanley knife.

You’ll see the difference in a lot of our designs with features such as the windows and what we use. A lot of our homes tend to use awning windows which are a little more expensive than traditional sliding windows, but are fantastic in allowing ventilation to come through the home. In homes such as our skillions we have high louvred windows as a feature and make a significant impact on allowing cross ventilation. Access can be difficult though and there’s the option of fitting electric motors which can open the windows via switch, or we have a device we sell that is custom made in the US. You’ll also notice the difference in the size of our windows. Building mostly on acreage or homes with inland or coastal views, its important to capitalise on this view as much as possible and really connect you with the external environment. Because of this most of our rooms, including bedrooms tend to have full height windows to allow as much light through as possible and really provide you with the feeling of a great connection to the environment.

Over the years we have built some homes with unbelievable views, and it’s because of these windows and the designs that we’ve really been able to help people capitalise on what their block offers.

Back on track: The home quickly starts to take shape once the brickies arrive and it’s quite an exciting time as you finally start to get a feel for the spaces you’ll be living in. For the Argyle, the free form living area will have two large steel portal frames with plenty of glass that will allow views from the living room to the front and rear of the block. Because of the height of this glass, it will also allow plenty of light as well as allowing you to see the tree canopy and skyline, and not just timber poles! A number of our designs utilise the steel portal frame as a cost saving exercise over commercial window frames. Many years ago with some of our earlier designs, a desire to have large window spaces meant using commercial sized frames which attract a much higher cost. The portal frame allows for a large overall window size, and the retrofitting of smaller window frames. This proves to be a more cost effective method and the portal frame is assembled and welded on site to ensure accurate fitment.

Portal frames can be built to a large range of shapes and sizes and really adds to the rustic look combining different materials to have an ‘ecclectic’ feel home.

As a part of the Farmhouse Range, it was important for the Argyle to have that rustic feel which meant the facebrick choice would have a large impact on the overall feel. Using Midland Brick’s Handmade Woodbridge, the colour brings in the earthy tones from the surrounding area and the ‘Handmade’ style of brick has a rugged look to it which adds to the earthiness of the homes feel. The Handmades are a different size to standard facebricks so also add character and are fantastic for those wanting to have a feature wall in their home.

If you look at the photos you’ll see the portal frames, but also notice tin metal straps which hang a couple of feet or so over the top of the brickwork. Known as roof straps, these became compulsory in the construction of homes around the 80’s as an additional measure to ensure the roof doesn’t fly off. The straps are built into the brickwork forming an overlap to the roof timbers for added strength. Looking at them they appear quite flimsy but definitely make a difference. One wouldn’t think it would be easy for a roof to come off a home, but when you think about how much wind can travel under the eaves, through the roof space and provide ‘lift’, it’s a scary prospect to be faced with.

Next - the roof carpenters begin and we get a really good impression of what the finished home will start to look like!

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Thu, 07 Oct 2010 04:59:39 -0400

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Tue, 05 Oct 2010 00:58:01 -0400