The dream .... Baan Sa-wan.

The philosophy behind the style of the design has been described, and the name we have given to the house reflects this - a literal translation of the Thai is "home in paradise". We had decided on a building design which we felt would fit with our love of things Asian, and also complement the rural West Australian context... in this case one of rolling hills and valley views, vineyards and wheat fields, olive groves and grazing land.

We opted for a steel framed house, and decided that cladding should be colorbond (the modern equivalent of good old Aussie zincalume/corrugated metal) , and Scyon Linea board, reflecting the timber and weatherboard houses of  pioneering days. We set out to seek advice and find someone who could translate this sketching into real life plans. Statewide Building solutions fitted the bill, and they drew up detailed plans and costings. As I have already mentioned the firm supplies the house in 'kit' form but does not offer building services. So 'owner builder' it became.

 Happy with the costs, happy with the firm, happy with the timings we signed the contract for construction and decided to apply for the owner builder licence. Poring over books, attending seminars and advice seeking began, and confidence grew. There was a fairly significant delay with the issuance of the Shire building licence, caused by a dispute over the use of a specific bolt, but problems are created to be solved and this was eventually all ironed out.

As it turned out these delays were not a problem, as they allowed time to investigate contractors for earthworks, concrete work, plumbing and electrician.... and build up the action plan in detail. It should be said at this point that all the 'tradies" have been great to deal with. They suggest/recommend other people they have worked with successfully, and where necessary have talked to Shire directly. I think this is one advantage of being 'in the country' ... people know each other, trust each other and are happy to all work together in an easy sort of way.

So .... December 16th, earthworks completed. The next step was the laying down of the concrete - house and shed pads. This was done very early January when the concrete works re-opened after the xmas holidays!

January 29th 2009 ........... all the pad work done - foundations down.

End of February the shed was finally erected, the service trench dug, and the water and power taken to the house. The shed is to be the 'centre of operations' for the coming developments, water is in there, as is power.

I decided that landscaping could progress alongside planning, preparation and construction of the house. Part of the attraction of this project is the context. The landscaping is important, and has been designed to complement the wholeness of the project - native plants, fruit groves, an oriental garden, a waterfall, pond, pathways, dry creek bed and 'bridges' (my silly indulgence!)

The landscaping will be detailed in diary and piccy form ....check out this link landscaping.

.............. June 25 - house in train. The steel fabricators are busily putting together the bits of 'meccano' which will be slotted together to make the house. A company called 'Statewide Building Solutions' are contracted to supply the house - see link Statewide . Work on site will hopefully start next month.

Update - 28.08.09. The frame of the house is due to be delivered on site on Sunday 30th. Work on construction will begin next week - a real red letter day!!

Sept. 5th ..... only 2 days in the frame is up to ceiling level, awaiting the roof battens fixing.

Sept. 24th - even with a couple of days lost through bad weather, the roof sheets and insulation linings are going up. Next up is the windows and then the cladding.

October .... windows all in, cladding begins. Small delay due to illness of the one of the 'tradies' , but should be looking at starting the pre electrical and plumbing fit out soon.

November is drawing to a close and the house is secure. All windows and external locking doors are in. The cladding is almost complete, and work is well under way for the the gyprocking of internal walls and ceilings. The plumber and electrician have completed their 'first fix'.

Dec. 3rd and the house is nearing completion of phase 1 ie. watertight (which it now is) and at lock up - awaiting 2nd fix. The gas fire will be fitted next week, and then the cabinets, lighting tiling etc etc can commence. Christmas holidays looming of course and Oz shuts down for the period. Hopefully all construction workers and gear will be off site in 10 days, and the 'finishing' can set its own pace.

Jan. 1st 2010 .... looking forward to the final phases now. The internal plastering is 90% complete, the kitchen and bathroom cabinets will start to be fitted very soon, the plumber 2nd fit will start next week, and the outside painting starts Jan 10th. The landscaping is doing well. The 'dog' fence is almost finished ... we are looking forward to being able to take the dogs up with us and letting them run free whilst we work.

Bathroom cabinets are installed, 90% of the kitchen units have been delivered, the appliances are awaiting the final fitting next week. Then it's the turn of the tiles, bathrooms first.

I have encountered the first difficulty in finding tradesmen. Getting a tiler has proved to be elusive - one answered the call to Karatha fortunes - and another had the gall to quote $20000 to tile 3 bathrooms!

So I asked myself 'how difficult can this be?" my inner self replied 'It's not rocket science mate' .... so I decided to tile the place myself. Initial help from my trusty Jack of all trades Bill, signing up for a short course on tiling and bingo! off we go.

The first bathroom is now completed and hey - it looks pretty darned good.

This week the plumbing went in to the new bathroom, and the kitchen was fitted. The hot water heater - a heat pump - was fitted and will be up and running as soon as the electricity is up and running, next Monday (22 Feb!!!!) the sparky arrives for final fit. The other two bathrooms will be left for a while until I get around to the tiling ( I need a rest!!!). The tiling of the rest of the house will also wait a while - money has disappeared!!

Monday 8th March is a red letter day  .... that is the day the sparky finishes (fingers crossed) and power is on. The last tradie (bless their hearts) will have left the site. the house will be ours again, the final clean up can begin (again), and the finishing off which we will do can start... decorating final tiling, close proximity hardscaping etc.

Now mid May and things are progressing well. Painting is going steadily, I have put down some turf, and some gravel around the house. Kitchen is complete - just the fridge to put in place - and we have a functioning bathroom. Finishing off - decorating - is a slow process. All walls and ceilings etc need three coats, but slow and steady is the watchphrase.

We now have a deck under the front verandah, and a second deck/walkway is under construction leading to the main entrance. Tons of 'moss' rock have been delivered to place in the creek bed, and to landscape the pond area. Trees and shrubs now line the driveway leading to the main parking area - things are coming together.

July 2010 .....This last week the walkway from the drive to the front door has been completed to match the verandah decking. It looks great. Work has started on the pond, shifting earth, bringing in sand, positioning the upper and lower sections.

I intend to start the interior floor tiling this week - the small bedroom first.

August .... the bedroom is finished, furniture in and we have slept over for our first night in the new home! Fantastic. I have also done the hallway - 90% .... just the tricky bits around the doors to finish. I have started work on tiling the main living area. Around a third done to date and it looks pretty damn good though I say it myself!

The pond is in, rocks have been stacked up all around it, and mini landscaping will start next week, prior to setting it up with plants and fish.

All decorating is complete - walls and ceilings anyway. Internal doors are waiting for a decision on colour finish.