Wiring works has begun

26th June 2008

You may have noticed that it has been a while since this blog is updated.. My wife and I have been busy preparing for my son's birthday celebration. He turns four today, but we celebrated it in advance last night, together with the birthday of my mother-in-law. Nevertheless, I have been visiting the site to view the progress every afternoon after work, so there are lots of pictures to show..

Last Monday (23rd June), the wiring works has begun. There are lots of protruding wires coming out of the wall and the floor. At the same time, I also met up with one more security company personnel as recommended my Mr. Lai. Altogether, I have obtained price quotations from four different companies, and I think that gives my wife and I quite a big range of choice. My advice: choose a company that offers good quality products but does not charge too much for installation works (this installation fee varies greatly from one company to another).

Wall mounted socket in the main living room. We personally requested the sockets to be of that height from the floor.

Heaps of wires...

The floor mounted socket in the dining room.

Wiring in the store room under the double staircases. Perfect for my fridge and standing cooler.

I guess work hours are over. The workers helping themselves out in the pond, hunting for food.

As at yesterday, I am really glad to see that the wooden frame for the roof gutter has been installed at the front portion of the house, on top of the porte cochere. I believe the architecture design of that particular part of the house makes it quite a complex task to finish up the area. Hehe.. and I was quite brave to climb up and walk on the roof beam frame myself and took lots of pictures. By the time my wife saw the pictures (I was at the site alone), she was quite shocked and a bit worried.. I'm not sure if I am allowed to climb up the roof beam again in the future!

Anyway, enjoy the extrinsic and delicate 'artworks' of the roof gutter and roof beam frame, as shown in the pictures that I took. I really hope that the concrete will be poured in soon, so that my wife can see the concrete gutter before she heads back to Brisbane mid-July.

The house viewed from the front, as at 25th June 2008.

Up close and personal with the finished roof gutter frame on top of the porte cochere.

Wooden frames for roof beams.. ready for concrete.

Look at how the metal bars are put together. A real artwork.. no wonder it takes a long time to finish, and that also explains the price which is quite a huge amount to pay!

A real close up look at the concrete roof gutter frame.

Finalising the installation works.

I noticed that the electrician has misplaced the wire connection for the spot light (see the long white pipe). I wanted the spot light to be put under the concrete gutter because having it on top would be awkward.. I think.

More planks are needed in the finishing touches of the gutter frame.

I also notice that plastering works had also made a good progress. The workers are doing a pretty good job, but I am really paying attention on this point because I want to make sure that the walls are smooth and not patchy.

Plastering works at the entrance to the dry kitchen from the entrance foyer.

View from the dry kitchen towards the spiral staircase area and the door leading to the informal living room

Plastering work in the dining room

Roof beam works.. continued

22 June 2008

Since the morning today, my wife and I together with the kids left home quite early to do some more hunting for furnishings for the house. We began our hunt by visiting Cotto Tiles in Sengkurong, in order to show my wife the jacuzzi and toilet bowls that I have suggested to be put in the master bedroom and the powder room. My wife added that it may be worth it also to get the taps from Cotto as well for areas which will be frequently used, such as the master bedroom, hoping that it will last longer than the ordinary ones.

In the middle of the hunt, we dropped by an electrical store in Gadong and looked at some fridge and freezer units, and we plan to buy four units (Oh my, that's a lot!). My wife wanted a double door fridge and freezer in the dry kitchen and a common fridge to be put in the wet kitchen. However, I insisted that we buy a standing cooler as well as a standing freezer for extra storage, and we were glad to find ones perfect to be put in the storage area under the staircases. We also surveyed for optional hobs and ovens, and found one that will be nice to be put in the wet kitchen (a 'heavy-duty' one, that is!). USEFUL TIP: Bring along a measuring tape, pen and paper when choosing the electrical items, especially if a built-in cabinet is to be installed.

After a tiring day, we ended our outing with a visit to the site. When we arrived the workers were having an afternoon break, so while waiting for them to resume work, I did some weeding in the back yard, with lots of help from Syafi and Safiya. My wife took our picture from the top floor of the house. You can view the pictures at the other BLOG.

As at today, there's a good progress with the roof beam frame installation at the front, and some workers are also busy finishing up plastering works in the laundry room, maids' bedroom and kitchen areas. Oh yeah.. Mr Lai is right.. the roof beam and gutter works does take quite some time...

Getting a closer look at the roof beam installation works from the AV or home theatre room. This picture is taken from the top of the staircases.

Thai workers busy with the roof beam works.

The view from another angle.

The house viewed from the back. Notice the shape of the concrete roof gutter.. Picturesque!

My wife likes this picture showing the roof beam frame at the left side of the house.

Strong winds and heavy rain

21 June 2008

It has been a few days since my last update. After two days of minimal work in the plastering 'department' since the workers had to give way to the air-cond personnels to install the pipings in all the rooms at the ground floor, the work has now slowly resumed. The heavy rain and strong wind that Brunei is currently experiencing also interferes with the completion of the roof beam. Oh well, we can't fight nature... so we'll just have to bear with it.

Today, there were black clouds all over the skies, and we popped by the house for a quick visit and got back in the car just as the rain started to shower. Nevertheless, I notice the workers didn't stop their work until it rains, and we managed to take some pictures of them at work.

Then, we went to Mayer showroom, located at Home Centre, Tanjong Bunot (Thanks Mr Lai for the info). I made suggestions, but I let my wife choose the final built-in oven, hobs and hoods. I only look at the price, but my wife definitely knows better which ones would be suitable to purchase. After all, she will be using the kitchen lots more that myself. Yummmy, I can already taste her delicious cooking, scrumptious cakes and biscuits! Hey, focus! Hehe... A tip from my wife: Hunt for cooking hoods manufactured by professionals. My mother-in-law bought one (not branded) few years back from a general electrical company in Brunei for B$700++ but it didn't take long to deteriorate. Such a waste...

Alright then, more pictures next time!

Syafi and Safiya on the way to the site, ready with their boots.

Installation of wooden frame for the roof beam at the front, the only side that has not been completed.

One of the workers put a sand barrier along the spiral staircase wall to minimise rain water flowing down to the ground floor that has been nicely plastered. The hole was then covered with plywood.

The camera captured sand debris and water vapours.. You may also notice the trees swaying back and forth due to the strong wind.

Insulated copper piping for air-conditioners installed

18th June 2008

The house viewed from the very front. I think this is the first time that I took picture of the house from this angle. And we realised just how huge the house is (you can't really picture it by only looking at the house plan, which was what we have been doing until now!).

As usual, after work, I met up with my wife at the site to view any progress made so far. We notice that the workers were still installing and arranging the metal bars in the roof beam frames and I had the liberty to see them at work up close. It's a moderately slow process since the metal bars are arranged and tied together by hand using metal wires. My wife said that in Australia, she noticed that the metal bars there are welded together, making the job faster to complete. Oh well, we don't really mind, as long as the job is properly carried out.

Installation of metal bars in the roof beam frame.

The walls under the double staircases now complete. Now we're thinking of a design for that protruding ceiling above the door, but my wife told me an idea of hers and I think it will work well.

Testing out the storage area under one of the staircases. Looks pretty tight but with clever organisation, I think the storage area can hold lots of stuff.

This area is specifically requested to place the gas tanks which will be connected to the stoves in the dry as well as the wet kitchen. The area on the left is for storing hardware and tools, etc.

Another progress... apparently the Mitsubisihi air-conditioners personnel had started installing insulated copper pipes for the air-conditioners in the living rooms. In other areas, I notice some brick walls has been hacked to leave room for the pipes.

Insulated copper pipings for the air-conditioners.

Hacked walls, and the pipings are yet to be installed.

In addition, my wife also told me that she has collected a price quotation from one of the local electrical items suppliers for some chandeliers that we thought would be beautiful for the formal living room and the dining room. We are quite amazed with the offer price, but I'm still definitely thinking of getting a better bargain. I guess we'll drop by the shop again soon to finalise our order and get some discounts. According to them, the chandeliers will be custom made and may take around 2 and a half months to arrive. Oh well, we're not in a hurry anyway, since installation of light fixtures will only take place by the end of the year (or perhaps early next year).

Metal bars for roof beam installed

17th June 2008

Today, the progress is mainly the installation of metal bars in the roof beam frames. There's quite a huge area to cover, and I estimate that this work will take days. There is little progress with regards to plastering works, but the walls under the double staircases is almost completely bricked. Now my wife and I can completely appreciate the space under the staircases that is intended as storage area. It's definitely easier for us now to measure which type of freezer and fridge that can fit inside, in addition to a pantry, if possible.

My brother-in law, my sister-in law and her daughter visited the site today.

Whole overview of the house as at today.

Metal bars being installed in the roof beam frame.

Roof beam in front of the home theatre room.

Syafi discovered this plank and imagined himself playing a skate board.

Syafi excited. The curved walls are almost finished.

The triple doors under the double staircases completely covered with bricks.

Socket ready for steplights at the double staircases wall.

Another angle. Notice the socket for the step lights marked by the red circles.

Cement bags... Lots of it!

Plastering work begins

16th June 2008

I called my wife on the way home from the office to meet up at the site. However, she was already in the Sengkurong area because she was bringing Safiya to meet up with a doctor due to her cough and flu. As such, my wife and kids had to wait for me for about 50 minutes and they enjoyed a light snack at the nearby KFC.

Anyway, back to the house.. Workers had achieved quite a lot for the day (now that we actually visit the site almost everyday). Metal bars are now being brought up to be installed in the roof beam frames. At the same time, plastering job has begun, firstly at the ablution room adjoining the prayer room area. All door frames have been installed, and the wall under the double staircases are then being constructed.

Apart from the good progress, what really caught my eye is the apparent curve of the double staircases, which can be really appreciated from the reception foyer, the living rooms and from the top. Now that I think of it, this house has lots of curves, not to mention the huge curved windows in major parts of the house! Enjoy these pictures!

Welcome to our Hindi-style staircases.. Hehe.. at least that's what my parents told me.. We really like how the staircases turn out to be.. Months of imagining by looking at the house layout plan has made us very anxious!

The curved staircases viewed from the top.

Plastering job... good progress!

Discussing sewerage issues with one of the workers. This plastered wall area is the ablution room.

The three doors under the double staircases taking shape. Hmmm... what three doors, you say? It's clearer in the next picture.

The doors viewed from the dry kitchen. If you notice my labels, doors no. 1 and no. 3 are doors leading to storage areas under the staircases, while door no. 2 leads to the reception foyer. The original plan was to have 'hanging' staircases, but in order to optimise space usage, we decided to cover the bottom of the staircases with walls and convert the space into storage area.

The workers had started bringing up long metal bars to be installed in the roof beam frames. Just look at that height!

The curved wall in the formal living room. That opening will be covered with a three-fold sliding door which leads to the dining room.

The curved wall in the informal living room. You may notice two door frames in the right corner.. One leads to the powder room, while the other is entrance to the guest bedroom.

Welcome to our home... Hehe, imagining myself welcoming guests at the main entrance.

I'm glad to see the immersed wall especially moulded for the wall light.

The dining room viewed from the garage.

Wow! That's a spacious roof gutter! Hehe, I asked the help of one of the Thailand workers to take this picture with his friend smiling. My wife didn't let me go up there and take the picture myself (hehe.. as if I have the guts to do it anyway!)

I told you it was scary.. Look at this view from the roof gutter.. The cars look tiny!

Syafi and Safiya playing in the huge backyard.

Trying out the grass that I planted earlier. Love you very much, kids!