Bankers...

The drama goes on with MasterCard (See Oct 2008) they still cannot answer my letters (5) and phone calls (about 6) on why I'm still being charged for some crook who is using my credit card around the world.
I've just received a dispute form re the disputed items, this is the 3rd time I've done this, maybe 3rd time lucky!
What a bunch of incompetent nits, maybe they need to be awarded the order of the bin liner!

Update

The build is progressing quite well at the moment, with all the external doors and windows fitted, so I can now lock up the building, this means I don't need to put my tools away in the container.
This little exercise usually took about half an hour, which was a real drag at the end of the day.
The roof spouting is fitted so any rain now gets diverted.
We should be able to start the internal lining by the end of next week - this will be another milestone.
Had last Saturday off... my aunts 100th birthday! had a little party at the retirement home, she got her message from the Queen congratulating her on reaching 100, my sister had come over from Perth, it was quite fun with all the residence joinng in (really just sitting there and eating BD cake).
So as well as sis seeing M & F and the Birthday party she was able to check on the building progress personally, great to see her and PJ (husband).

More

The roof is done together with all the doors with the exception of one sliding panel.
This has been promised for Monday, again!
It a relief to know that I don't have to be working high off the ground, I know I will need to do some final touches but they are minor projects compared to the last effort.

The Doors (Not Jim Morrison)

By popular demand I have included the antique french doors, that we have been restoring, they are almost 3 meters tall and weigh a ton.

They still need some more work on them and a lot more wax and elbow grease - wax on, wax off!

The sitting-room area has been turned into a builders workshop, Oscar has just rescued some poor defenceless plastic bag and now expects a biscuit.

Design Feature

As we have gone as far as we can go until the doors are delivered - promised tomorrow which is a local holiday! so don't expect them until the middle of the week.
To fill in time we have been repairing (restoring) our very old antique doors and sanding back the old railway sleeper that we will be using as a mantelpiece.
Dust and more dust the whole site was coated, little red eyes but the doors are now looking great.
I had to make some major repairs to the jambs replacing damaged and termite eaten timber, we have oiled and waxed the timber to get it back it's natural patina.

Slow Progress

Although I have been working full time there doesn't seem to be much visible progress, the cladding has gone as far as it can, until the doors are fitted this task cannot be ticked off.
The cladding gets nailed at 150mm centers so it's a bit of a challenge to make sure you dont stick a nail through a power cable or water pipe.
To date I have managed to spear one water pipe and one cable, luckily no power or water was connected so was able to repair quite easily, I getting a bit paranoid about doing it agian and have drawn a layout of the cables and pipes on the outside walls.

Progress

The roof is now on, we only have a few tidy-up things to have it complete - what a mission.

I would not have been able to do it without Mrs DIY who overcame her fear of heights.

We were able to get the new kitchen working for Xmas Day, so we were able to cook the turkey, it was a little like camping but it was better than cooking on the BBQ.

Although all the windows are in, we have only one of the big doors installed, this was a exciting event, after the joinery company fitted it, we were standing discussing the locking system and the middle section fell out! gulp!!

Luckily no breakage, only a bent steel bracket (the fixers hadn't tightened it correctly)

The Piano Man

A last a weekend off - we went to hear Billy Joel in concert in Auckland, the flight 1 hour Wgtn -Auckland the trip from Auck airport to the city 2 hours! luckily we didn't have any plans for Friday night.

It was really good to have a break from building for a couple of days - still felt a little guilty not working.

Very easy to slip back into sitting watching and drinking a flat white in one of the many Auckland cafes, a changed city, not a good place to be 5 years ago but now you can get a decent cup of real coffee almost anywhere in the city.

The Billy Joel concert was on Sunday at the Vector arena which was only a 5 min walk from the hotel, what a great evening of solid Billy Joel, even without hair he still can sing.

The only drama was on Monday with the trip back flight delayed, after we had finally en planed they found some little bit had dropped of the the tail and we un-loaded and sat around.
Finally arrived back in Wgtn at 4.30pm! a usual trip of 1 hour turned into 5 hours...

It was still a great concert.

High in the Sky

At last the roof is going on, if a little slowly, I don't know how the wind knows, as soon as you get the building paper on the roof it starts to blow.
Yes, that's Mrs DIY up on the scaffold, I wouldn't have been able to do this job without help, it's amazing how much braver you feel when the roof frame is covered with safety netting.

Moving Along

The build is moving at a faster pace, although not quite fast enough to achieve the self imposed deadlines.
The electrician installing the wiring system and has almost finished, amazing the amount of cable that you need to run a modern house.
The building inspector has checked the build for the pre-cladding inspection, all was OK, I always get the feeling that I might have missed something but as I normally over-spec everything I shouldn't worry but I still do.