[Progress.015] Sign is Up, Taiger Tail to be Installed Next Week, Tree Protection Fence Fixed

Sign is Up
As shown below, our builder setup a sign on our block a few days ago. We are all very exciting although it has been quite frustrating in the past few weeks due to continous bad weather.


Taiger Tail to be Installed Next Week
We have electrician Frank on site this afternoon to inspect the neighbour's power cable for tiger tail installation. Hopefully he will have everything ready some time next week.

Neighbour's Backyard
We found that the other neighbour's landscaper only has time to finish the excavation before our builder blocked the whole site with fences. As shown below, they still have plenty of soils all over the places. We have given them 5 weeks since end of May and they still can't finish their work. Probably not much choice but to remove them manually without using any bigger machines/trucks.

[Others.005] 2 old photos from early 2006

Found 2 photos we took in early 2006 just after we bought the house. Compare to the 2 recent ones during demolition, you can imagine how many trees & plants we have removed...



Before Demolition:


After Demolition:

[Progress.008] Are We There Yet?

Weather
It has been pouring like hell in the past 2 days. The weather forcast for the long weekend doesn't look good either. Yes, we need more rain, but how can I start my construction in such bad weather? Hopefully before my construction starts, we got enough water and the rain stops...

Report Required for Tree Removal
Council wants us to find an arborist to write a tree report before they could approve the tree removal. Still struggling on this, as we don't want to spend $500+ to be told that the tree is healthy...

Are we there yet?
Still working hard on the drawings and tender, already picked up a few mistakes:

The ensuite door was changed to sliding instead of hinged, but the drawing wasn't updated.

The space reserved for dish washer under kitchen benchtop was moved to cater for sink position, but the power point still remain in original location.

They added extra robe door in one of the bedrooms as requested to fully utilise the space. But from the drawings, it shows that the newly added right hand side door will hit the room door when both opened.

Felt like dealing with IBx, our outsourced partner at work. You paid them money for service, but you still have to double check what they did...

They even put in a note on all drawings: "It is the responsibility of the owner to ensure that the layout and all special inclusions are correct".

Just received the "plain English" contract yesterday. Looks like need to spend another week on this document...

[Progress.007] Final Tender received, tree removal sort of approved...

Finally received our final "Contract Tender" and "Construction Set" drawings today via email. Will spend the whole week going through all items, figures and drawing details. According to A**** from our builder once contract signed, they can start construction within 2 to 3 weeks. Hopefully everything will be sorted out before end of June...

Council was on site to check the sick tree with bracket fungus and big mushroom this afternoon. Looks like they are ok with the tree removal, only problem is, our DA was approved with the condition of some tree protection clauses. Now that we want to remove the sick tree, we need to put in an amendment to the DA and wait for approval... This is a bit ridiculous, we were told to put in a tree removal application, now there's another application, extra $ to pay and possibly even longer delay as well.....

[Progress.005] Water pipe fixed, trees pruned

The pipe connecting to main tap was finally fixed yesterday morning and the hole also been filled up. I contacted Sydney Water to find out the cost for the emergency service, and was surprised to be told it's free. Sounds too good to be true. Will call again tomorrow to re-confirm...

Photo of hole filled up:



Philip from Tall Timber Tree Services was here this morning to prune the 2 big trees. As shown below, they did a pretty good job.

Before:


After:


After spending almost $1000 on this pruning work, Philip told us they found some "bracket Fungus" and big mushrooms on the taller, white colour, blue gum tree at the right hand side. They reckon that tree is very sick, and will die and probably collapse in 6 to 12 months time. Don't know what the hell is that, Philips said it's quite common for gum trees to attract those fungus during dry weather, and as they grow inside the trunk, when it's been discovered it's normally too late and almost impossible to remove or kill it.

We are quite shocked and don't want to worry about the huge tree might collapse during the construction. Philip said it would cost at least another $2000 to remove the whole tree, sugar, another unexpected surprise... Will get a few more quotes from others... We also contacted council to confirm these details, quickly lodged a tree removal application, and another long, painful wait for council decision. Hopefully all these will be over before the construction starts...

Photo of Philip's huge machine behind the truck: