As the clock strikes seven in the morning, the utes and trucks begin to make their way into a cul de sac in the middle of the coastal suburb of Mullaloo. It’s the beginning of an exciting custom home built by Glenway Homes.
This extraordinary block of land is a rare find with sun dunes and beach the front yard. Mullaloo offers a fantastic beachside lifestyle combined with a safe, friendly community. Sitting on the cusp of the Indian Ocean, there’s a cooling afternoon sea breeze to enjoy in summer and the tempering effect of the ocean during the odd cold nights in winter.
The 455 square metre parallelogram shaped block came with its challenges including parapet walls on the south side and powerlines at the entrance. From our years of experience, we’ve learnt that being prepared in advance to avoid hold ups is imperative. Day one of the build saw our team preparing the block for cementitious grouting to the north side boundary to stabilise the existing retaining wall, allowing for preparation of works for the sewer and basement.
With grouting complete, the remainder of the week saw the commencement of excavation for the basement and installation of the soak wells. When we have tight small blocks with established residences either side, the need for a bobcat to relocate the excavated sand is a must to make the site workable.
Once the footings had been poured, we engaged a surveyor to set out ready for engineered steel columns. These columns are the supporting structure to the terrace pool on the first floor level so it is critical that they are placed in the correct position.
With a weight of approximately 200 kilograms per column, a crane is a necessity to mobilise columns into position readying for bolting to footings using pre-drilled chemical anchors.
Our next challenge came whilst building the retaining wall. Reinforcement was a must prior to the internal leaf of brickwork. Once complete, the cavity was filled with concrete ready for brickwork. Following brickwork, it is then left to cure for seven days prior to filling the cavity to give us our completed retaining wall to the basement. We added an additive to the concrete to improve the waterproofing, this of course being most important to avoid rising damp.
Follow us over the coming months to watch this transformation from block to contemporary seaside home in magnificent Mullaloo.
