A very belated post-handover update

For the benefit of family and friends interstate and overseas I will endeavour to keep updating this blog with progress in the garden etc even though the actual build is completed. 

Where do I start? Let's back track to handover day. 

We gained access to the house on Thursday 8th May around midday and after pinching ourselves to confirm that it was really ours we spent a few days taking car and ute loads of possessions over so that we could unpack them at our own pace and put everything in it's right place to start with. No double handling if we could avoid it! We included the spare bed in on of our loads so that we could stay at the house on the Saturday night - we were too excited to wait any longer. By Monday mid-morning the removalists had brought across all of the heavy items and we started the heavy duty unpacking.

Our side and rear fences were installed the same day as the removalists moved us. It was really nice to have some privacy right from the start, as most of the street would have been able to see me bumbling away at the oven if the fences weren't there.

The following week we headed back to do a final clean of the old place. It was the last thing we felt like doing but it had to be done, and we were absolutely exhausted by the time we handed back the keys to the unit.

In amongst the moving and cleaning we were madly fitting out our WIR with PAX wardrobe units from Ikea. We are rapt with how they turned out. We have fitted much more into our unusual shaped wardrobe than we expected. 

Drawers plus shoe, bag and shelf storage here.
More shelving and shoe racks plus hanging space is over to the left.

Nine days after handing back the keys to our old place we had our first and then second sets of house guests, so we got the spare room ready, enjoyed our time with them, and then set aside some annual leave in mid June to work on the garden and a few other projects. 

One of the first things we tackled was a study nook in the family room. I was nervous about painting the feature wall (Dulux Malay Grey) but we knew the colour looked great as we have it in some other rooms, and it didn't take long for me to get my painting mojo back. This is a great spot for charging our devices and keeping the bills and filing under control. We'll be putting a light-faced clock at the top of the dark wall as soon as we get the perfect one. 

By the time the study nook was nearly finished the weather cleared and we got stuck in to a section of the front garden. The area on the right hand side of the driveway will have to wait as it provides temporary access to the backyard for getting landscaping supplies through.

And then our decking contractors finally turned up! Yay!

Plenty of room for BBQ's and relaxing in the sun.
We will put a pergola over this area when funds allow. 

These chairs have had a lick of paint since this photo was taken. 

Other tasks we've tackled include: 

• painted the garage floor (Berger Jet Dry)
• painted the wicker outdoor furniture
• sealed the concrete in the cupboard under the stairs
• sealed the enormous deck (Cabots AquaDeck)
• installed various shelves, hooks and pictures. 
• installed some roller blinds and made some pelmets for the dining and family rooms
• made most of our flyscreens - what a nightmare - never again.
• started moving soil in the backyard in preparation for further landscaping.

Stay tuned for more photos and progress reports. 

Where have the last 11 weeks gone?

Handover of our house went smoothly on 8th May but the same can't be said for our telecommunications connections, hence the lack of blog updates over the last 3 months. It looks like we will have our phone line connected tomorrow and hopefully we can get ADSL connected shortly thereafter. 

Me working from home (our lovely new home) means that we've had to stretch our portable broadband internet to the absolute limit. Once the ADSL is connected I will make up for lost time posting photos of progress on the house and garden since we moved in. Stay tuned! 

Pre-handover meeting - Lots more progress photos

This morning we met with our Site Supervisor to do a thorough check of the house and make sure everything was on track for handover next Thursday.

Armed with red sticky dots we were asked to help him mark any paint issues or plaster imperfections so that the painters can repair them all when they come back to do the last of the painting.

While we were there we got to see the new oven and dishwasher. 

Plus the semi frame-less shower screens and the mirrors.

And the lovely clear coats on the staircase.

Red dots on the left are spots for the painters to fix.

We also got a better look at the kitchen splashback tiles.

Gorgeous!!!!

The lower level render on the left hand side has received it's first lovely rich dark chocolaty coat of paint and the ground was levelled out and flattened. It makes the landscaping task look a bit more manageable although I'm not sure Andy agrees. 

Some of the temporary fence has also been removed and put to the side. I expect it was being picked up later today. 

Our fencing contractor is on standby to commence the left hand fence and retaining wall on Monday 12th May (the same day as the removalists) so I may need to clone myself if Andy needs to go to work. Hopefully the rear fence will follow straight on from that. The people behind us are keen to cooperate but are having their fence included in their build package so we need to get their builder involved which complicates things a bit.

The bank did their inspection yesterday and we received the certificate of occupancy and passed it on to them this morning, so hopefully all is in order for our balance installment to be paid on time.

8 days until handover - we have a driveway!

Since 8th May was confirmed for our handover, time seems to have slowed down for me. Next Thursday just can't come soon enough. Things are still ticking in the right direction though, giving us confidence that all is going to plan.

The painters were back yesterday and have made a start on the lower render colour and some touch up's inside. They also painted the alfresco timber work out the back. 

Dulux Namadji on the right hand side of the garage.

The dark coloured render will also be on the lower level
(the palest section showing in this photo).

They have also stained the staircase timber.

And installed the speakers in the ceiling.

I couldn't get a good shot of the speakers through the window
 due to all of the reflections.
They still need to terminate the wires in a wall plate.
With all of these wires, the house is going to be 'smarter' than me by far!

The oven has also been installed although it can't be tested until we get gas next week.

Not its best angle I'm afraid!

And since I am as far from a MasterChef as you can get, by far the most exciting development so far this week is the driveway! 

As if the original porta-loo wasn't obvious enough, they "upgraded" to one that practically glows in the dark. Thankfully the fence and loo will be gone very soon and we can enjoy our driveway and start developing landscaping ideas.

Its easier to see from this photo how the dark lower render
colour will tie in with the roof tiles.

From the left hand side of the house. The bare muddy area will have a small
garden bed towards the house to provide privacy to the front windows
and then grass down toward the road.

Looking from the right hand side across the front of the house - just
because I got carried away and took a gazillion photos of exposed
aggregate concrete I felt the need to share!

I can't tell if the mirrors and shower screens have been installed yet but I'm sure we'll find out at our meeting on Friday morning. 

Is it normal to be this excited about a splash-back?

This last week has been full of excitement with the installation of the timber laminate flooring and the carpet. 

The carpet is a warm grey but it looks a different colour in every photo we take!

The mesh screens on the upper sliding windows (which are a compulsory safety feature) were also installed.

On top of that, they have also cut away the concrete gutter and excavated in preparation for laying our exposed aggregate driveway and crossover on Tuesday.

Quite a bit of the existing gutter was removed.

There will be a small path from the front porch across the front of the
house to the left side where the gate will be.

It's hard to inspect progress when you're locked out so we haven't been visiting the house as often of late, but Thursday night on a whim Andy and I headed around after work to find that the tiler had just arrived to do the splash-back tiles. They couldn't be done when the other tiling was done as they needed to be done after the bench top was installed.

We took the opportunity of the tiler being on site to go inside and get a closer look at the flooring and take a few more photos. We are delighted with how it is all coming together.

Downstairs Powder Room

Ensuite - plenty of storage!

Since we knew the tiler had been on Thursday night, we headed around on Friday to inspect the splash-back through the windows. OMG! It looks gorgeous! I did a little happy dance as I watched it sparkling and glinting in the sunlight. Its very hard to show it properly in a photo. This is the best we could do through the window in bright sunlight, but I can assure you..... it's delightful! 

Pendants are currently looped up out of harms way.
They will actually hang quite a bit lower.

Lovely and sparkly!!!!!!

We also decided after careful inspection that our timber dining setting is going to clash spectacularly with the flooring. We love the size and shape of the table so we are now looking at sanding it back and staining it a more suitable colour. Hopefully that does the trick.

I think they only have mirrors, shower screens and minor touch ups to go. We are distracting ourselves from the impatience by culling and packing. Ebay has worked pretty well for getting rid of some un-needed furniture, and the local op shop received a car load yesterday.

Only 11 sleeps to go!

15 Days until Handover - flooring underway

After some tidying and culling over the last month or so, the Easter weekend prompted the official start of our packing ready for the move. We have sold quite a few bits and pieces on Ebay over the last several months as we plan to only take what we need to the new house. We certainly don't want to start living there with a cluttered garage right from the start!

In an effort to spread the workload over the next few weeks, we started by packing up the smallest upstairs bedroom and moving its contents down to the garage. The less flights of stairs we need to negotiate on moving day, the better!

We then moved on to my office and did as much as we could whilst still allowing me to work up there this week. I might eventually need to camp out at the kitchen table for a few days in order to make some more progress in this room.

The small spare room is now ready to be cleaned top to toe and the bathroom and office are not far behind. That will probably be part of next weekend's task. Two long weekends in a row have come in handy!

We've also packed a few boxes of non-essential kitchen items and also created a pile for the op shop so the kitchen is starting to look a bit bare.

On the build front, our Site Supervisor is on leave this week but everything is motoring along in his absence. Today I met with the guy laying the driveway next week, to see if we can afford to get some extra exposed aggregate pathways laid at the same time. We hope to have the quote some time tonight so that we can make a decision. We have some retaining wall and fencing bills to juggle at the same time so we'll see how we go with that. I'm sure its cheaper to get it all done at once but unfortunately we don't have a money tree, and I never remember to buy a lotto ticket.

While I was there discussing the pathway options, the downstairs flooring was being laid. The guys were cracking through it and didn't have much more to do when I took these photos. It looks fantastic, and really warms up the space. 

I believe the carpet is being laid tomorrow, and the shower screens and mirrors will be done next week. Soooo exciting!

Handover date confirmed!

At this morning's meeting with our Site Supervisor our handover date was confirmed! Our handover meeting is on Thursday 8th May, with a pre-handover inspection on Friday 2nd May. As you can imagine we are very excited!

Today's walk through confirmed that all electrical and plumbing work has been completed. 

Our lovely kitchen with goose neck tap. Awaiting splash back tiles
now that the stone bench tops have been installed.

The air conditioner has been installed and the vents have been placed in the ceiling. 

It might be Andy's job to figure out the aircon programming.

Next week the timber flooring and carpet will be installed. The driveway is scheduled for Tuesday 29th April and the inbuilt speakers will be installed some time soon too.

There are lots of other little bits and pieces being done along the way. One of the internal doors is being replaced and a couple of light switches need checking, plus a few plaster touch ups are needed here and there, but our SS seems to be really on top of things so we are pretty confident that everything will go to plan over the next few weeks.

The oven, dishwasher and rangehood will be installed just before handover to prevent theft.

Hopefully the Easter and ANZAC day public holidays don't slow things down too much. We will no doubt be spending our Easter break packing!

Week 18 update

With the house being locked up and with protective film on the windows it has been difficult to keep track of the progress of late. However, since my last post about the lighting and electrics, the following items have been ticked off the list:

• Quantum Quartz bench tops have been installed. We can only see the kitchen ones but I'm guessing the bathrooms have also been done. The kitchen one looks lovely!
• The baths, basins and toilets are no longer in the front living room, so one would hope they are now installed upstairs rather than missing!
• The kitchen and laundry taps are installed so once again I'm guessing that upstairs has also been done.
• The hot water service has been installed.

We have another progress meeting with our SS tomorrow morning so hopefully I can get some photos then. 

In the meantime, we have sourced a fencing contractor and are finalising our rear deck dimensions. We've also been given the contact details for the guy doing our exposed aggregate driveway in case we want to add in any matching paths etc, but that will all depend on the budget. 

Hopefully we'll have our handover date confirmed tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Happy Easter everyone!

Week 17 - Let there be light!

I think today has been the most exciting day of the build for me since the frame was assembled. Early this morning we dropped off all of our pre-purchased light fittings to the house as the electricians were ready to fit them. Both our cars were full (not hard given their respective sizes) and I had to come back for a second trip to get the last and largest one. 

This afternoon I called around to drop something else off to the electrician and they were 80% done with all of the lights and power points. Please forgive the less than great quality photos once again.

I am totally in love with our kitchen island pendants!
 Andy's choice - great job Babe!

The tiles either side of the splash back window will also be black.
Benchtop is a speckly white colour.

Family Room

Over the Dining Room table

I was so worried this would look too
big but it's awesome!

LED Downlights are scattered throughout.

Our Indulgence. Clipsal Saturn Light Switches

Research indicates that this type of light is the best kind for
shaving and makeup application.
We have them above the mirrors in the main bathroom and ensuite.
Apparently downlights just cast a shadow on your face. 

Both garage doors have been installed but the large one
was retracted so I couldn't get a photo.

Our fancy lights are going to need some fancy new things to match them. But not until we have paid for essentials like fencing and window coverings. It is going to be an expensive year. Baked beans on toast for dinner perhaps?

Painting Update

As scheduled, this morning we met with our site supervisor to have a look at the painting progress and find out what to expect for the next few weeks. The paint colour looks great! It looks either greyish or light beige depending on the light and has a nice warmth to it without looking yellowy or old fashioned. It looks a bit brown in this photo, which is a bit misleading.

Dulux White Duck - Half Strength.
It looks it's warmest here with a North East aspect.
It looks like the painters have set up camp!

The feature wall in the front living area has also been painted. We love the colour and can't wait to see our light coloured lounge in front of it. I think the contrast will be lovely! 

Dulux Malay Grey feature wall to front living room and master bedroom.

Believe it or not the wall on the left in the photo above is the same colour as the wall in the top photo but this room faces South and the light quality is very different. I'm sure the dodgy camera on my HTC One doesn't help! (I take back my comments about user error with the camera in previous posts. It turns out it is a software problem!)

This pendant will go in the room above.

And a couch in this colour - 3 seater with a chaise on the left.

Next week we can expect to see:

• Plumbing fit off for baths, basins taps, toilets etc. We can't wait to see the freestanding bath in place. (I'm not sure if that includes mirrors and shower screens. I think they come a bit later to minimise damage).
• Stone bench tops to kitchen, powder room, main bathroom and ensuite will be installed.
• Electrical fit off. We have to drop all of our light fittings off for the electrician on Wednesday morning and explain where everything goes including the height of the pendants etc. My current office will look double the size when all of those lighting boxes are gone!
• Garage roller doors installed - large at the front and a single at the back.

Also between now and Easter we should see the outside render touched up and painted and the block retaining wall out the back finally done. The brickies have been hard to pin down to a time to come back for that task apparently.

The driveway, carpet and timber flooring are all due by the end of April. Not long to go now!