Hi ,

If you’re wondering whether I’ve somehow upset the weather gods… I think the answer is yes. Last week marked Week 6 of The Farmhouse build and incredibly, it’s now officially rained during 5 of the 6 weeks we’ve been on site.

We’ve kept pushing ahead as much as possible but building in constant rain is painfully slow. Everything takes longer, everyone ends up covered head-to-toe in mud, tools are constantly wet, vehicles get bogged and the site resembles a chocolate pudding more than a construction site. It’s amazing how much harder even the simplest job becomes when you’re squelching through ankle-deep mud all day.

WE HAD AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR… 🐍

As if the weather wasn’t enough, we also had one of the world’s deadliest snakes decide he’d like a starring role in the show.

An Eastern Brown Snake slithered into my rear machinery shed which also happens to house my temporary site office and all of our filming / camera gear. He wasn’t interested in construction… he just wanted somewhere comfy to sleep, that being one of our camera tripod bags.

Our Creative Director wandered in, opened the bag … and virtually launched himself into another postcode. Thankfully nobody was hurt but the entire drama was caught on our security cameras and it’s all in EPISODE 4 which is NOW LIVE. Just click on the image below.
It’s about 12 minutes long and packed with plenty of laughs too…

THE MAIN HOUSE SLABS

Despite the weather doing everything possible to slow us down, we actually managed to get a significant amount of work done on the slab work to the main house.

Last week, we installed the Dincel wall system and I have to say, I was pretty impressed with the product. Dincel is an alternative to traditional brick work – think structural walls, retaining walls, garden beds, basements, stairwells, even pools and tanks!

Dincel clips together like giant Lego blocks before being filled with concrete. It also requires less steel reinforcement, is incredibly quick to install, leak proof, fire compliant, earthquake tested, VOC tested, rodent and termite proof. It proved a treat around certain sections of the house as the pictures below show.

The new garage walls which a concrete slab will sit on top.

A new external wall went up in hours with Dincel as opposed to days with traditional bricks.

Steel reinforcement goes inside then pieces simply click together.

Dincel being filled with concrete via an overhead boom & trowelled smooth.

IT PAYS TO GET QUOTES

Last week, I organised 3 scaffolding quotes in preparation for the wall frames that will start to be erected in 1 weeks time.

The quotes came in, ranging from $29,469 to $47,684 in price (including GST). There’s a staggering $18,215 difference between the highest and lowest quote for a product that is very similiar from one company to the next. This is why you always need to get 2 to 3 quotes on everything you need in your renovation. Get just one quote and you have nothing to benchmark it against.

To save even more money, I got the scaffolding company to quote the whole job but requested a “staged delivery” according to the works being done and the timing of when scaffold would be truly needed on site. By doing this and not hiring everything upfront, its saved me thousands. There’s no point paying weekly hire fees on scaffolding that’s just sitting on the ground waiting for your works to progress.

Sometimes the biggest renovation savings come from planning, not negotiating. Below is the diagram that I emailed to the scaffolding companies with each stage of scaffold clearly marked.

The coloured lines indicate the various stages that scaffolding is required on site.

INTERIOR SELECTIONS ARE UNDERWAY!

Now we’re getting to the really fun stuff.

During the week, I focused on the material selections for the Guest House which will be the first space in the property to be publicly revealed.

With the rain bucketing down, what better time to duck off site and go visit Stone Ambassador to select the kitchen & bathroom benchtops. If you’ve never visited a stone warehouse before, I’d encourage you to do so. I spent hours in this place and the hardest part was deciding which slabs to run with, with so much choice on offer.

At Stone Ambassador, huge overhead cranes lift each slab up for you so you can see the entire piece before making your decision. It’s amazing how different the slabs look in a large piece, compared to a tiny image on a computer screen or a small sample swatch.

Originally, I had my eye on Marmo Rosa which is a gorgeous, polished surface with cream, light pink, taupe and burgundy veining throughout. But, after seeing everything in person, I opted for Traventino with a matte finish instead.

What’s also great is their Visualisation Tool which lets you upload a photo of your space and see what any of their stones will look like in your own home. Samples can also be ordered online, simply click here.

Last week, I also got cracking on designing the Guest House kitchen on Kaboodle’s 3D Planning software which is very easy to use. I’m planning on using Kaboodle’s premium range and contemplating their Olive Grove base cabinets with walnut wall cabinets.

A lot of people don’t know this but if you struggle with putting interior design schemes together, you can get a Kaboodle expert to design your whole kitchen for you! Depending on how you’d like to meet, there are a few different options:

• In-Store or Virtual Consultation: This costs $49. You’ll get a 1.5 to 2-hour session with a kitchen expert, realistic 3D-rendered designs and a full itemised quote.
• In-Home Consultation: This costs $99. A consultant comes to your home for about 2.5 to 3 hours to measure your space accurately and show you samples in your own light.

The best part is that both the $49 and $99 fees are redeemable if you go ahead and purchase your kitchen through Bunnings. If you have a PowerPass card, the in-store and virtual consultations are FREE!

To get started, book an appointment by calling 1800 099 999 or by contacting your local Bunnings store directly. And …. if you’re a member on my Your Home Discounts Card, you’ll get a whopping big discount off all your Kaboodle cabinets, provided your Bunnings PowerPass card is linked to our National Bunnings Account.

My 1st draft design of the guest house kitchen using Kaboodle’s premium range.

TINNIE UPDATE

Like all new technology, Tinnie has had a few teething problems. Let’s just say he was creating more work than he was saving.

Unfortunately there isn’t an Apple Store for humanoid robots so instead we had the engineers from Unitree Robotics in China remotely working on him.

The good news? He’s now talking far more naturally, he’s stopped randomly switching into Chinese halfway through conversations and he’s finally started speaking proper Australian. I’d call that a bonza result! Time will tell if he’s going to become a valuable member of the team.

See you next week!
Cherie (CB x)