THE PLINTH! THE PLINTH! Finally finished!!!

Here it is:  the front verandah - minus its roof - but with the plinth on all the way around the house, including the verandah!  It feels amazing, whole, complete.  And so, so grounded.  We have both noticed more support in our lives.  For example, Vic has had trouble with his recording studio for more than a year.  Finally he has been able to rectify the problems with it, and it is up and running again perfectly.  And while Annabel has been very busy at work, she has found several times now that when she has allocated a particular task to a day, when that day comes along, she finds the task is already done ... the Laws of Nature at work again?  Anyway, let's see how the front verandah roof turns out ...

Fully tanked

Now what is that you may be wondering?  
A few days after the water tanks were installed, it poured with rain for a day or two.  When we went down to check out the house afterwards, we climbed up on a ladder to look inside the tanks, and that is what we saw - more good fortune - full water tanks already!  

THE PLINTH! THE PLINTH!

I hope you are sitting down for the BIG news - yes, it has finally happened after more than 3 months of delays - the rest of the plinth is on!!!  

You might remember from the 17 September 2010 post, that there was initially a bit of a problem with the way the shape of the slab was poured.  This also means that there is now a problem with the very specific plinth measurements.  To complicate this further, the guys putting on the plinth used great globs of glue which altered the plinth measurements themselves, and the verandah was not quite built according to the measurements given.  Through some clever thinking by the Maharishi Vedic Architect, the overall plinth measurement could, however, still be attained by modifying the placement of the front verandah posts.  

So, the plan was to get the plinth put on the entire house except the front verandah, measure the plinth, feed this measurement back to the Architect, have him calculate where the posts of the verandah would need to go and then finish off the rest of the plinth and the verandah.  

We weren't all that keen to have the verandah posts back from their corners, but knowing that the measurement was vital for Maharishi Sthapatya Veda integrity, we decided we could live with the verandah however it was going to be.

When we gave the plinth measurements to the Architect, he could hardly believe it - there was now not only the opportunity to get the plinth measurement right but also one of the other vital house measurements that was compromised when the slab was poured 'incorrectly'.  But to do this, we would have to put the posts ... exactly in the corners of the verandah as it had been built - WOW!!!

All along, every little 'mistake' was building up to give us not only the look of the house that we wanted but also a whole series of perfect measurements.  Now that is the Laws of Nature working at their best! 

Loo door handles to the sky

Yes, I know, you'll never guess - we're STILL waiting waiting waiting for the plinth to go on.  

Fortunately, there has been a little bit of action in other areas to keep you entertained.  

We now have very elegant 'Empress' door handles.  

Also, it seems that the plumber has been back again.  This time, he has installed the toilets.  All we need is a bit of rain to fill the water tanks, and they will flush with water collected from the roof.  

Last time we spoke to the project manager, we decided that we would not put the planned skylight into the hallway but would stick with the one in the laundry.  We noticed, however, that a skylight has appeared in the hallway but not in the laundry.  Oops!  That was a bit of a mix up.  But once again, we think this is a fortunate mix up, as the hallway looks great with the skylight in it.  If it wasn't there, we would have had to leave Vic's bedroom door open to let the light in - not such a good idea with his floordrobe tendencies!  

So, we are sure that the delay in the plinth must also some be unfolding just perfectly...

Verandah landing

The waiting waiting waiting for the plinth continues.  In the meantime, the floor of the front verandah and the side landing have appeared - feels great up there looking out at the world.  But the plinth paranoia is a real mystery!  We are wondering if it is hard to get to because it involves one of the crucial measurements for the house.  If only the builder would even speak to us, and I am sure we could work it all out.

Water works

While waiting waiting waiting and waiting some more for the plinth to go on, we noticed that the water tanks had been delivered.   These are going to run the washing machine, flush the toilets and water our 'extensive' vegie garden and orchard.  10,000 litres - that should do the job!  Unfortunately, the gravel delivery truck got bogged and had to dump the gravel for the tanks outside the double north doors rather than around the back in the southwest corner.  So, a digger machine had to come back again and attempted to level out the land.  This then allowed the gravel to be dumped in the correct corner for the tanks to sit on.  And they were rolled around into place and hooked up (last photo).  

But when will that plinth ever go on?!?

Plumbed up in & out

While waiting waiting waiting (and waiting some more) for the plinth to go on, the plumber returned.  Outside, it looks like we now have the bits & pieces for the solar hot water system as well as shiny new brass taps.  Inside, the laundry trough and the flash new double bathroom sinks and taps have been installed - no more toothpaste all over my sink, but don't turn on the taps too hard or you'll get soaked by the horizontal tap flow - might have to fix that one!  And the plinth palava persists ...

Making a start on the plinth

The plinth has started going on!  This is like a decorative finishing touch around the base of the house, however, it is much more than decoration.  It helps create some of the vital measurements of the house, and perhaps this is why we have really noticed it being built.  We have both felt a much deeper quality of silence within since its construction started.  Here are some photos showing the piles of Timbercrete when they were first delivered.  Timbercrete is an environmentally-friendly product made of waste sawdust and concrete.  The next photo shows the big pieces of Timbercrete being stuck to the smaller pieces to create the correct size and shape for the plinth.  Below that, you can see the slab around the bay windows where the workers have very creatively solved what was going to be a bit of a problem by hacking away at the slab so that the corners of the bay windows will now be aligned with the joins in the plinth ... fingers crossed!  And finally, you can see the plinth starting to go on the house.

Piping Roof

Recently, when we drove down for a sticky beak, we found the carport had been finished off:  it had a brand new blue roof as well as a downpipe linking it to the water tank system.  The plumber had also put all the downpipes on the house - special round ones to hopefully avoid drip torture!

Psycho shower screen

While we weren't looking, the building spurt continued, including this fancy new shower screen - even safe against psycho attacks - ha, ha, ha  :)

The carport that Vic painted

Here's Vic under the carport, blissing out.  Hopefully, he will also finish sneaking a coat of paint onto the frame before the roof goes on.

Car House

When I drove past the house the other day on the way to work, there was a new structure in the front yard - the frame for the carport.  I remember the vedic architect asking us if we'd like vedic measurements for the carport.  We hadn't really thought about this, as we (hopefully) won't be living in the carport.  Nevertheless, we said 'yes' and then forgot all about it.  But now that the frame is up for it, even just looking at it and walking under it, I can feel that there's something special about it - what a vibe for those lucky cars!

Totally tiled (almost)

It's really starting to look like a house now that the terrific tiler has worked his magic and put tiles down in the shower, behind the basin and on the floor in our bathroom, as well as around the bath and on the floors in the guest bathroom and the laundry.  He also did the hearth where the toasty fire box heater will go one day soon.  Unfortunately, the kitchen cupboard mob forgot to put the laundry bench & cupboards in, so the terrific tiler will have to return and do the splash back behind the laundry bench when it finally appears.  

Gutsy cupboards

A while back, we went down to the house to meet the grumpy cupboard rep & go through what we wanted inside each of the cupboards.  And now when we went down to sneak a peak at the house, we saw the fruits of our desires:  the guts of the cupboards were in - all very simple and practical.  What a change it will be from baskets of undies piled up on suitcases in bursting cupboards!

Light up

Things are smoking at the moment - all the electrics have gone in, including the light bulbs, light switches, ceiling fan in the living area & the decadent heater lights in the bathroom.  We are definitely starting to feel every time someone is working on the house - very interesting.

Cooking with gas

We are now a little behind with the blog as there had been a miraculous flurry of activity - since we delayed authorizing the fix payment because the job wasn't finished, and we mentioned the words 'penalty payment' ... 2 months after the contract finish date of 25 February 2011!  Here you can see the brand new kitchen going in. 

Slip, slop, slap

The painters have arrived to bring a little colour onto the scene.  First they sprayed the ceilings, then slapped a bit of 'new vanilla cream' on the walls and finished with 'builder's white' on the trims.  It's really starting to feel like a house now rather than a construction site - more softness.

Fronting up to arcs & skirts

Here is the new front door, with windows through the centerline of the house that are also aligned with the bathroom windows on the opposite centerline of the house.  At the summer & winter solstices, the sun will have the opportunity to shine straight through the entire house.  It will be interesting to see if it actually happens!

Here you can also see that the architraves & skirting boards are going in.  Wonder what will be next?

 

Let's get plastered

This time when the plasterers arrived, it was full steam ahead!  Now when we walk around the house, we are really starting to get a feel for what it will be like - how big the rooms will be, how the light will be in each of them and what each of them feels like.  For example, the master bedroom in the southwest corner feels very very settled whereas the meditation room in the northeast corner has a feeling of lightness & liveliness.  In the picture below, you can see where we will one day be cooking our meals, looking out over the park to the east...

Snug as a bug in a rug

March seemed to bring a little more enthusiasm from the tradesmen.  The next door neighbour told us that a van full of plasterers appeared one day, unpacked all of their tools, stayed for about half an hour, packed up their tools and headed off again.  Of course, we had to go and investigate - why didn't they stay and do the job?  Peeking through the windows showed the obvious problem - the insulation had not been put in!  A few days later, low and behold, the insulation was pretty much all in place and the house was feeling very snug.

The house that Vic painted

Christmas came & went.  And January slipped by.  Then it was February & still virtually no progress on the house - perhaps a tradesman here & there for a couple of hours every fortnight or so to start work on the electrics & the plumbing.  So, while we were waiting waiting waiting for something to happen, Vic jumped in & painted the outside of the house - what a GREAT job!