Sorry guys - I gave up posting - it's bad enough keeping up with the blog !! April was kind to us (but not…

Ummm... bit late guys - but thanks anyway!
I got 4 quotes & we ended up going with Trojan - They are very professional & really worked to get us a…

Hi Revup
Firstly, I wouldn't be taking advice from people who don't know your specific site conditions (i.e. on this forum). If your site has highly reactive soils, there is…

Phew - it's OK!!! In fact it is pretty awesome We have 3m high ceilings (much to the disgust of builders) so the…

Oooooo - we have the ground floor frame up (well, not straightened but roughly in place). We're now worried about the room dimensions - just off out with a…

Neighbours were a bit worried, but they were quite far away from where the old house was, so they weren't in any real danger. The fireys were there too…

Gah! Photos are bigger than I wanted them to be... never mind!

Weeeeeellllll it ended up being Thursday, not Monday - but the concretors worked really hard (on Saturday too), and we now have a floor! (Well, the joists anyway). …

Hi All
Anyone got any recommendations for a scaffolding company in Sydney? We need it around the whole of our build - double height...
Cheers!
Lucy

In the end the window quotes weren't that different - we went for Trend because their standard bushfire windows look like Bradnams posh windows, but the Bradnams quote was for…

Concretor coming next week - and so is a bit of the frame!!! Then trusses & stuff the week after Hurrah! We…

We used a company called Brookvale Insurance Brokers (Craig - 02 9934 9770), and AllRisk were nearly as competitive (but not quite!) (Mark 1300 255 747).
Its all very straightforward…

We have a little bit of progress:
Moved out of the large palatial rental home into the 15 ft Site Office. Tash the Dog is probably the least happy (although…

Nice work! I can't believe how low your budget is - awesome! Hope you can give that leg a chance to heal properly - look after yourself!

Has anyone got any thoughts about which company to go for when choosing BAL40 windows (we have 2 elevations in Flame zone, so they have to be BAL40 with bushfire…

You can still do the online one - you just have to take your course certificate to Fair Trading with a bunch of ID, rates notice etc. then they issue…

I did an online course - which was most convenient. You can study when you get the time, the course notes seem very concise and thorough - and there…

Well, apparently the insurance company is only liable for removing the asbestos that was made hazardous by the fire. So if we were getting them to rebuild it exactly…

Total amount of contaminated material
130 TONNES
Which means our demolition was... approximately 4 times as much as it should have cost - and this was after the insurance company's hygienist…

Over 80 tonnes of asbestos-contaminated material removed so far... And more to go!

Hi Bel - That'd be awesome to get the joiner's details
So there's EVEN MORE asbestos on site than the demolition guy originally thought - tens…

Ummm - Not too sad - we've had such a long time waiting. I'll be a lot gladder when it's finally all cleared

We have some progress! The good news is that the house has been demolished - the bad news is that the concrete slabs and fill are riddled with asbestos…

I have heaps of questions about how to go about figuring out the inside - there is SO MUCH to think of!
Kitchen - I would like matt finish Shaker-Style (have…

Yeah - it really depends on who's certifying the build. Our PC has given us his list of what is required - I imagine others will be slightly different.…

Ooooookay! I have got around to making the plans .jpgs. These are actually the working drawings - we have a lovely colour set from the architect, but these…

Hi
We are rebuilding our house & it is in Flame Zone. There are new bushfire regulations that came into effect in May 2010 - and apparently they're only going…

Brilliant! Thanks Kiwi! The plans will have to wait until later (they are in PDF & will need some work...)
This WAS our bedroom
House just after all asbestos had…

Gah! Photobucket must be having a bad day (or my computer doesn't like it) - it won't let me sign up (and you have to have an account for…

OK, I will attempt to upload some photos... I thought I was OK at this stuff, but apparently not
Nope it is telling me…