With the holiday break behind us the action on ‘The Block’ is picking up. Early January the scaffolding was put in place, then from that point on there didn’t appear to be much happening. However, we were assured there was plenty going on behind the scenes.

If you have carefully selected your tender list, then choosing your builder should be relatively easy. If you have read my previous blogs you would have already selected builders that can provide what you are looking for. So once you take this variable out of the equation it comes down to scope and dollars. What you are trying to do here is get all of the builders to price exactly the same scope. ...

It is hard to believe, looking at the concrete slab, how much work has gone into getting the project to this stage. The initial setup was done, and once all  the string lines were set out the lower corner of the floor seemed to be so elevated it was difficult to get everything in perspective. The fall of the block seemed to create an optical illusion. However, it was a case of wait and ...

  Who could believe that after signing the building contract, not a blade of grass had been disturbed in three months!! We finally have some action shown in the photos. The clearing of the block has been completed, the cut has been done for the downstairs, and now the foundations have been poured.

The three builders quotes have come in and to our horror they are all more than 30% over our original budget. We will now get the razor out and look at where we can reduce the cost of the whole project.  We met with each of the builders again and went through in detail all the areas where savings can be made without jeopardising the overall design. They resubmitted their quotations and we ...

  Our planning permit was finally approved six months after being submitted to Council. The approved plans state that the works must be in line with the stamped plans, which note that the Manna Gum tree at the front of our property ( on Council land) is to be removed at our expense: The next step in our building project is to meet with our architects and proceed the advanced stage of ...