And the walls came tumbling down...

The demolition started the week before the walls actually came down.

The first step was to have the asbestos removed. In our case, the good old 'fibro-cement' sheets that we all used to play with as kids, needed to be removed. They were only present under the eaves. So it was a fairly simple process.

I went to pick up some paper in the letterbox, and I found out that it was their site operations guide/details; just in case WorkSafe stopped by. By the end of the first day, they had completed their work.

The following day was there the skirting boards and architraves were removed. The concrete roof tiles had also reached the end of their operational lives, so no salvage value and there were also removed.

Then the next crew came through and they removed all of the wood (that was usable). This included the floor boards (with a chainsaw!) What was left over was to go to the tip.

Over the weekend the digger was floated in.

The demolition itself was scheduled to start at 7am on Monday. My boys, and to be truthful, myself as well, could not wait!

We really had to make sure that it all came down before the National Trust got a hold of that picture on the wall (comprised of 6 A2 pictures wallpapered onto the wall).

It was raining slightly when we got there. Fortunately, it had stopped by the time we actually started.

By the end of the first day, it was just a pile of rubble. What was once a happy home of 50 odd years was gone.

The rubble had to be sorted into different piles as each pile (brick, concrete and the rest) each went to a different location. The house could have been brought down in 20 minutes, but to demolish and sort it took around 3 hours.

By the end of the first day, we still had a lot to do, mostly the driveways and other concrete bits.


By the end of the second day, most of the remaining rubble had been removed.

Here is some video.

On the morning of the third day, it was pretty much done. I arrived in the morning to see some expert backing up of a long trailer and the final load being loaded.

And for the boys.

There was considerable rock in the loads, as they had bound in with the concrete footings. So hopefully given that some 70-80 tons of a double brick house had not moved at all in 50 years, that our slab will not either!

So, at the end of a week of effort, we are left with one very vacant looking block of land, which looks a lot bigger with nothing on it.

So, next step, the power pit! Ideally before the build starts, which is still due in February.

Does size matter?

Evidently it does.

We found out at our contract appointment that Hobsons Bay council has a 9m building height limit.

Our Waldorf with the 2590mm first floor ceilings comes to 9070mm.

So, is 7cm too big?

We're hoping not and we've applied to the council for dispensation. That is a 6-8 week wait. Hopefully that can be considered at the same time as the submission of the plans for approval, as they are somewhat related.

If they do not budge, then the only (not utterly expensive) option is to revert back to the standard first floor ceiling height of 2440mm.

The expensive option is to lower the roof pitch from 30 degrees, to less, which we'll consider if we need too.

The frustration about Porter Davis's Tender Process

One of the most frustrating things about dealing with Porter Davis are their processes.

Particularly the Tender Process.

So much of it is shrouded in secrecy until the day of the tender itself. It is only then that you get your first view of the plans, and the tender document itself, which is basically pretty much the same as your sales quotation. It is also where you are informed of the site costs, which may be an unpleasant surprise.

I believe in getting things early. Early access allows for greater (unrushed!) time to review and spot mistakes, and avoid the correction merry-go-round. However, PD will not send the tender documents out, and they are quite open as to why. They will not send them out because you have not paid your money yet. Some people have taken the site costs etc, and use that to bargain a better deal from other builders. Whether this is true or not, is irrelevant, as PD believe it to be so, and they control this.

It's their game, and you are forced to play by their rules.

So, to that end, I have included ALL of the pages of the tender diagrams that we received. UPDATE: It was pointed out to us in our contract appointment that these drawings were ordered especially for us, as our build was flagged as an out of the ordinary one. So please don't expect to be presented with the same type/number of drawings. These are simply what were presented to us in our particular circumstances.

Hopefully, this will help people and ease their anxiety about what to expect from the tender process.

I particularly like page 16, the Slab Layout, which states that it is only for construction and not to form a part of the client documentation.

Tender-Page01

Tender-Page02

Tender-Page02A

Tender-Page02B

Tender-Page02C

Tender-Page03

Tender-Page04

Tender-Page05

Tender-Page06

Tender-Page07

Tender-Page08

Tender-Page09

Tender-Page10

Tender-Page11

Tender-Page12

Tender-Page13

Tender-Page14

Tender-Page15

Tender-Page16