Patient and Optimistic

Well yesterday came and went, without PCI which was originally scheduled to happen. In the end we made the call to postpone it. Our SS had agreed to push forward with the inspection (with our understanding of some things not being done) but I think he was secretly pleased with our decision to put it off a few days.

We decided that really, PCI is best done with the things that should be done complete. After all of this time, we thought that an extra week is no biggie! So PCI will happen next Friday. And realistically, handover may not be delayed a whole week as well if SS gets the invoice to us early this week (as mentioned although not holding my breath) and if there isn't too much to do after the inspection. Will wait and see.
Yesterday wasn't a complete waste. I met with our landscape designer who was showing us his initial concept plans for our front and back yards. From here he will develop further plans that spell it all out in close detail. Very pleased with his ideas. Definitely beyond what we would have come up with. Also a million times better than what we put in for our DA - yes we can, and will change from that extremely average - never happy with them  in the first place - just get us approval plans.
Here is a hint of them - not scanned yet, just a photo of them at the moment sorry (i'll put them on here big) - but hopefully you get the gist of it.

So, the only thing left to do now is rob a bank and we'll be fine! haha! No, really we plan on doing it in stages, as the money comes along. There was no point in paying a professional (a fair sum) to come up with short term/low budget plans. We will prioritise, do some work ourselves and at the end of the day, love our yards!

In other news, we weren't expecting anyone to be there today BUT there was! The plumbers did some work - but crazily enough didn't finish the job. They left with 2 toilets left to install (they even started one - then downed tools!) and considering they were gone quite early it seems ridiculous to me! But they hooked some more pipes up on the water tank, in the laundry, hooked up the showerhead where a tile had been replaced and also installed the bath!

There was also a guy there doing some finishing off in the garage - concreting some fill-in bits (very technical term!) under where there was a gap between the skirting and the slab.

Anywho, thats the weeks round up. Are you proud of my positive outlook (even though not everything went our way)? Here's to a good week for everyone!

Cheers

Kylie

At a Snails Pace

I've read endless blogs, so I know that the trend is things slow down at the end of peoples builds, but it completely baffles me why this happens. We have a few simple things to do and have sorted inside the house, and I am starting to pull my hair out about why they have NOT BEEN DONE.

As of Monday, PCI was meant to be this Friday. When DH rang to confirm a time today, our SS was hoping to push PCI back to next week. This is very difficult for me, as to arrange a day off is complicated. It requires a replacement to be booked - I'm a teacher - and with casual teachers scarce, they need to be booked well in advance. DH explained this, so our SS said we could go ahead this Friday, with the knowledge there is still a few things to do. (Nice of him - he is pretty flexible )

My questions is, what happened (or didn't happen) since Monday for there to all of a sudden be a fair bit still to do that won't be done for this Friday?!

Yes, this post is a bit of a rant (apologies) but seriously... Toilets and bath (and re-put on a shower head) were meant to happen Monday. It's all there ready to go. But now it may not be done ready for Friday...WHY NOT? How hard is it to get a plumber in to do this simple work when you have plenty of notice  - it was known last week they'd be delivered! Front portico - still not done. Splashback came but was wrong so has been taken away.

So what's the good news? What has been happening?

Broken tiles have been fixed - sort of. Check this scenario out:

Tile broken when putting on powerpoint



Tile fixed! (sorry about the photo)

Mirror was put on today and...oops, the powerpoint is in the wrong spot!!! Aghhh!

Other bits of progress:

As mentioned, mirrors went on today. They look great. Open up the bathrooms and reflect lots of light.

Can you see how high above the mirror they put the vanity light - not good for the strip shape light we've bought. Not sure whether to ask for it to be moved (it should be just above the mirror) or buy a different light where it doesn't matter as much. It's the same in the ensuite.

Plus the window will look excellent once the shutters go on!

Yesterday I found this orange piping all around the house. DH thinks it's to do with the termite reticulation system???

Water tank is in and by the looks of it hooked up.

Finally the kitchen bench has been sorted. They replaced it rather than cutting it down. Looks much better than before and the dynamics of the room work better. Will be perfect when we furnish:)







So, I know that seems like a bit has been done, but really, why not the rest too? At least the tradies can't be dirtying my new toilets - and the port-a-loo is gone, so maybe the later the better with the toilets!!!

Thank you for listening to my frustrations. It really does feel better to write it down. At the end of the day, a week hold up is no big deal.

Hope all is going well for you all. Good luck for handover tomorrow Reinsey! Tonia, bring on the pics! Thigee, you are so going to be in before us - good on you!

Cheers
Kylie

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

The house has had a tub! Today the cleaners went through the house and did a thorough clean. Unfortunately my ploy to leave the laundry door unlocked so that I could get in for a good look this afternoon failed. But looking through the windows, I could see the house looks great!

It wasn't until I was leaving in the car that I realised why it looked different from the outside too - the windows have been de-gooped! Hopefully this is a good sign for next week.

This morning I did manage to sneak in. It was my first chance to see the electricals done. Our large open plan living, kitchen and dining area was a little difficult to configure with lighting. Looking (very quickly I must admit) a couple do look out of line/out of place. I can see why some are where they are but this highlights the problem with doing the electrical plan before kitchen alterations are done. We completely changed the island bench shape and I think this is where our lighting problems lay. I will need to have another good look. Also, written on the plan was instructions to refer to clients for placement of a pendant light - this wasn't done and we will have to have a good look at where this light was put in.

Difficult to show 'electricals' in pictures. I didn't take picks of powerpoints - ours are not exciting upgrade ones. (Apologies for iphone quality pics)

This is an example of lights not lining up. (they will be swapped for downlights we have bought after handover)

These are over the bench. Again not what I had pictured - maybe they will look better when the downlights are in? The placement of these was affected by the skylight (I think)

These lights in the bulkhead, on the back bench look really good.

Another broken tile.

Heater/light/exhaust fans in both bathrooms. 

In happier news, we've saved ourselves $$$ by putting in this smaller plunge pool - lol!

You should see the place - we're lucky the house hasn't floated away in all of this rain! Will need to sort out drainage!



That is all from me today - off on a school mum's night out. Too wet to go really but will solider on! Hope everyone isn't too water logged. Bring on the SUN I say!!!

Cheers

Kylie

Can You Repeat That?

Did someone say possible PCI date? Did I hear right? Our SS is hoping to confirm PCI for Friday of next week...that's like a week and a bit away!

Now I know that this weather isn't doing us any favours, as the front portico still needs work done and that is meant to happen over the next couple of days...while it is still meant to be raining so I'm not getting my hopes up too much.

Electricians had taken over the place this morning - tradies swearing everywhere - they do have a way with words! When I went back this afternoon it was all locked up so I couldn't get in but it looked like it had all been done. We had our 10 downlights put in from our promotion package. We put battens where all other downlights will go and we will swap these over after we get the keys. Of the ones we got we put 8 in our outdoor area and 2 in the kitchen bulkhead.

This shows the downlights outside. The 2 battens are for the ceiling fans we'll pop in afterwards.

One of the outdoor power points.

Yesterday we had all of our handles put on. Happy with how these look. I had forgotten which ones we'd picked!

The handles on the bifolds 

I apologise for how dark the pics are - but you all know about the need to take photos - any quality, when there has been progress!

The handle on the cavity sliders 

The other thing I noticed today they had been done was the towel rails - well one of them.

Our ensuite rail was missing...this is why

Oops!

Must say, it is strange to think of the number of mistakes there can be in a brand new house. If you put towel rails on for living, how hard can it be!

Our back to the wall toilets are due next Monday and I'd say the bath will go in then too. We are still waiting for the kitchen bench to be fixed - it's the wrong size, and splashback and mirrors which were measured early last week, but besides these few things, most of the big stuff is done now. A couple of paint bits need an extra coat but they may be happy to leave that until after PCI - I don't really know.

Last weekend we did the dash to Domayne to take advantage of their 2 day sale items. We got some white cafe style dining chairs - these will go with our old dining table.

Not the dream chairs we will have one day - and they look much nicer than in this picture, but they were a steal!

We also bought an entertainment unit and a desk for the study. Again, both of these were about 40% off so bargains. I plan on having built in cabinets in the rumpus made when we put in the fireplace so only needed on to make do for a while. It will then replace the old one in the kids leisure room.

And seeing as the study will have a UK theme/feel to it, I picked up this cute lamp too.

Ditto for the study - I'd love built in furniture there too, but this will do for now. We bought a rug in Deco rug - a nice big one (3.4m by 2.4m) for the living area. It's an off white to brighten up the dark flooring. We also ordered online a cowhide rug for the kids leisure room - love this choice, it feels a bit 'fun' for the kids!

So friends, that's all for now. Lets hope the rain goes away so that my outdoor stuff can get done (and anybody elses stuff that is dependent on good weather). Fingers crossed we do actually lock in PCI for next week - how excitement!

Cheers

Kylie



Getting Close Now

Happy greetings. In my opinion, this has been one of our most productive weeks of the build. Maybe not on a huge scale like when the slab was poured or hebel went up, but so many little things have happened that make it one of the most satisfying. Or maybe it's just that we are just getting so close to the end that I can almost smell it.

As I've mentioned previously, our SS has been terrific with communication. He has always replied straightaway to emails and called to update us often. In fact I popped to the house a little over an hour ago and as I was walking up to the house, he was inside trying to call me - second call of the week.

So after a great start to the week with plumbing etc, the trend has continued. Yesterday they fitted out wardrobes and shelving in the pantry and linen. Today they installed wardrobe doors, shower screens, hooked up the underfloor heating in both bathrooms and put on our garage door!. Exciting stuff! Here are some pics:

Kids bathroom shower screen (looks unclear - this is due to the plastic protector sheet still being on) This screen looks lovely - semi frameless.

The wardrobe doors are opaque glass in 3 bedrooms.

We put simple fitouts in the wardrobes for convenience when we move in.

Shower screen on our ensuite. This shower is larger than what comes as standard in this house design. Semi frameless again - happy with this compromise (being mindful of budget we didn't go with frameless)

Underfloor heating control - hooked up today in both bathrooms (instructions attached)

Garage door. This is in 'Surfmist'. We were worried that next to the Lexicon White it would look average, but today I was really happy with it.

So as you can see, lots of bits and pieces happened this week. Electrician didn't come as was scheduled, but I'm not complaining with everything else that happened. Plenty to still happen next week so stay tuned. Fingers crossed it's as good a week as this was. SS is hoping for PCI end of July or first week of August and keys a couple of weeks after that:) That is soooo exciting!

Cheers

Kylie

Get the Latest Low-Down

Hallelujah! The tiling is finally complete! I'd love to know the record for the longest time taken to tile 2 bathrooms...we must be close! But it is true, once it's done you soon forget how painfully drawn out the job was. Happy with the job done - although haven't had a close look...why? because it was too hard with the plumbers in the way installing our taps!!! Woohoo, giddy up!

I drove past twice in the morning and no one was onsite so when I popped for another check (I was wasting time in the area whilst the kids did an art class) I couldn't get over how much had been done. The outdoor room piers had been painted the correct colour, the skylight was in, hole cut for the manhole and the plumbers were well on their way to getting taps and showerheads installed. The bath had been delivered too but no sign of our toilets yet...maybe tomorrow??? Caught off guard, I only had my phone for pics so excuse the quality:)

Outdoor room piers painted western myall (finally)

Kitchen mixer. Happy with it - may upgrade at some point, but nice smooth lines for now. Kitchen bench size not resolved as yet.

Laundry mixer - this was a good value upgrade - much nicer than the standard.

Kids shower head. 

Our ensuite basins with the taps installed. 

The super dooper shower head we got - part of the promotion package. The tilers will need to come back to fix a few odd tiles and do some sealing (do they do that or someone else)

The skylight. Positioned perfectly over the sink. Would have loved  more around the place but at $1200 a pop they soon add up.

So yes, I am very happy with what's gone on this week. Hopefully the next couple of days will be equally productive. I had been told to expect the electrician this week so hopefully he'll be there tomorrow and maybe the plumbers  will come back to do the bath and toilets (if they turn up). Really starting to feel like we are getting there now. The other thing I must ask SS about is our front portico. It's not complete yet and I can't see why it isn't being completed at the moment - work there wouldn't be getting in anyones way whilst the other stuff is happening, surely.

Yesterday I ordered the chair for my bedroom. As I've mentioned, I'm going for a touch of luxury in my bedroom so a rich velvet chair definitely adds to that look:

The light I bought for my daughters girly room was hanging up so I took a quick pick (it's in storage)

 

Standing outside looking around, I can't help but feel increasingly daunted by the amount of work to be done - it is just such a mess at the moment! I am also preoccupied with storage and how I will arrange cupboards and wardrobes so to best make use of the space, make it user friendly and easy to keep tidy. One thing I've seen on another blog, is the use of big hampers as storage. I like this idea for things such as the kids school bags which are big and bulky. I saw this one, which came in a variety of sizes. Fairly expensive so I might keep a lookout on ebay to see what I can find.

Will get back to you all later in the week. Looking forward to hearing if handover happens for a few of you lovely people this week and next - good luck!

Cheers Kylie