House Lifting and Restumping Schedule

What I thought was going to be an easy process looks now like it will be taking a lot longer and be a lot more involved then I thought. Here are the steps that we are going to have to go through before the house is even enclosed under:

  1. Architect still needs to complete the plans (this is a lot more complex than I thought it would be and is taking over two weeks now for completion)
  2. Plans from Architect need to go to the Engineer who needs to take soil samples and check the structural integrity of the house as well as working out the structural needs of the new stumps and beams
  3. Plans need to go back to the Architect for any changes that need to be made for structural purposes
  4. Architect plans and Engineering plans need to be submitted to Townsville City Council for approval (minimum 6-week wait, but probably longer because of Christmas)
  5. Architect and Engineer may need to make changes to suit council requirements
  6. Resubmit to council if needed
  7. Plans go back to contractor who will be lifting the house
  8. Builder will come in and put three steel beams down the length of the house to support it as the old bricks and stumps that currently support the house are knocked out and removed and the old slab is also removed
  9. House is jacked up to about 3.5 metres above the ground
  10. New beams and stumps installed and left to set
  11. House is lowered onto new stumps
  12. New Stairs are built
  13. New slab laid under house
  14. Now finally at this stage it can be enclosed under

All of this is going to take them about six months from when we got someone to do it for us. The timing could be pretty bad as they will start about the middle of March and it will take them at least three weeks to get the job done. Our baby is due in mid-April. So we sure are cutting it close…

Replacing the Upstairs Windows

We are replacing four older windows upstairs windows with new ones. One of the windows that we are replacing is an old timber double casement window that doesn’t quite work right anymore.

Old Double Casement Lounge Room Window

We are replacing that one with a single casement window that will match the double casement that the previous owners installed next to it.

New Double Casement Lounge Room Window

The other three windows that we are replacing are old sash or double hung windows that we are replacing with new double hung aluminium windows.

Old Double Hung Bed Room Window

I actually agonized over what kind of windows to get to replace the timber double hung. I even considered repairing and restoring the old windows, but I was too worried they would be unsafe for the kids. In the end we chose to go with what looked good and was in line with the period the home was built, but that was more economical and practical with the aluminium framed windows instead of timber.

Our Back Yard

I am really looking forward to moving into our place and for our son to have a good back yard to play in.

Back Yard Panoramic

In our previous yard I have not been able to grow grass, so it’s nice to see a lot of grass already in this place. We’ve already cut the garden back a bit to give us a bit more grass for the kids, which I know goes against the common trend, but it’s what we have always wanted for our kids. This should be a good backyard for backyard kicked or kicks of the footy.

We are planning to build a cubby house in the back right corner of the yard and next to that we plan to have a good swingset. All these things we will look at putting in a bit down the track.

Photo of the New House

Here’s a photo of the front of our new house.

new_house

It’s on a 500 square metre block with about a 12 metre street frontage and around 40 metres deep. It’s a lot more usable that our old yard was, even though it’s actually 100 square metres smaller. It’s got a great back yard that our kids are going to have a lot of fun in we hope.