Nearly there?

Not nearly finished but nearly ready to move in (one more week...but heard that before!) This week the carpenter came on Thursday but when he arrived to install the front door he found they had delivered the wrong size door jambs. He made do with what he had, just joined them - won't notice once painted. Then today we had to wait till almost midday before the other doors were delivered. The skirting and architraves around all the doors are almost complete now.

The kids toilet was also installed (and tiles patched) so that was a major achievement this week. And the downlights were fitted as well as the alarm system. We also got the hot water system installed along with some strange control pads which aparently have to go on the wall of each area requiring instantaneous hot water.

rugs

We locked in the two rugs today from Rugs Carpets & Design who are doing the carpet. We chose the Bauhaus design to go in the main living area with the new chocolate lounge.


And this is the design for the other rug to go in the purple room, but the colours will be dark grey base and silver pattern. I never knew there were so many shades of grey - chosing one was very time consuming!

a little more

A few more things have happened, the painters have put the colours on the kids walls and finished off most of upstairs. The carpenters finished all but the architrave around the kids bathroom so that just leaves the grouting and patch tiling behind the toilet to be done. Then the toilet plumbed in and shower screens in and finished.

Couldn't get the wardrobes man to come out for a measure until next Monday week. Then of course there will be a lead time on getting them installed.

The frameless glass fence in the back garden around the pool went in - I'm assured it will look tonnes better once the tiling is finished.

Another set-back - the front door still hasn't arrived and the floorboards are to be polished on Monday and they won't do them until the door is installed. The door has been promised for Monday morning but we can't get hold of a carpenter. If the floors don't get done then we can't move in. Still no news about the carpet either.

slow

I can't believe how slow things are progressing. I'm tired of hearing 'three more weeks till we move in'. So once the floorboards are polished I'm in there no matter what. Because we can empty the furniture from storage - and if need be, we can sleep in the old bedrooms.
Still waiting on a date for the carpet. On Monday the carpenter came and finished the skirting upstairs. Today the guy came to measure for the stone benchtops. We are going with Latte cesar stone. That's it!

Carpentry & Painting

Finally got a carpenter to start on the doors this week. After finding that we had mistakenly ordered outside doors and were going to have to start again, we were told that they could infact hang them. First the jams and then the doors were hung and then the architrave around. Almost done. We still need them to do the skirting boards upstairs so painters can finish off and carpet can go down.

The painters did a great job on the outside of the house. Once the contrasting dark colour is on that'll finish it nicely.

kitchen installed

The kitchen was finished today. we had to raise it higher than usual to be inline with the windowsill, and also to accomodate the kicker for the aircon. The overhead cupboards are interesting - we no I will need a step ladder to get into them! NOw we have to wait for the stone benchtops to be measured. And the glass splashback. We are also missing some downlights in that area too.

Nice features of the kitchen is the sliding, internal bin and the self closing drawers (with no handles).

kitchen started

The kitchen was delivered today and work started on instalation. Luckily the aircon guys were there because there was a problem. We had intended to have vents in the kickboards of the kitchen but the vent size and the kickboard size didn't match....a compromise was found. The plumbing for the island bench also wasn't quite right so there has to be mods there too.

Talking of aircon, we had to find a place to istall a return air vent - which is rather large and the only place that was central enough was in the downstairs linen cupboard next to the bathroom. This is ok, but it means there will be a large vent in the door. Hopefully will look ok.

kids bathroom

The basin was installed this week and the hole behind the cistern was patched. Still need the tilers to come back and finish grouting, plus silicon the corners and behind the cistern so the toilet can be fitted. Then this room will finally be finished.

Floors and carpentry

This week we reached another major milestone in that the floorboards were started. They had to raise the level of the old part of the house with batons, as the two parts are not level (surprise surprise). Then they started to unload the wood into the house and lay the planks. The apprentice told us this was the longest single length he had laid since he started work (but he's only been working for a few months!) Anyway the spotted gum with secret nails looks good so far.

The tilers have finished the bathrooms but still need to finish grouting. One serious problem in the kids bathroom is that the toilet cistern has been plumbed wrongly (bottom fed rather than wall fed). So we asked him to re plumb it and he smashed the tiles with a sledge hammer (by the looks of it). So now we need to get the plasterer to redo the wall, then the tiler and then the plumber again. On a positive note, the kids bath looks great.

The carpenter started work on Wednesday. We gave up waiting for the wood and went to buy it piecemeal as the doors were still not available. He lined the stairs with ply ready for the carpet, and also built the small flight of stairs to the garage. We are thinking we may line these stairs with the spotted gum rather than tiles.

Mark also did a huge cleanup operation at the weekend- why are subbies so messy and why can't they clean up ttheir own crap?

Driveway

Today the driveway concrete was poured. We decided on black which looks great against the house. The garage roller shutter door was also fitted last week so the front is almost finished now. They also lay concrete down the two sides of the house (paths) and the screening louvers were fitted at the side of the house too. This series of photos shows the stages to completion and the final one of the concrete pump, explains why the guys refused to do the work last week when they turned up and we said they could use a barrow to move the cement round the sides. They had bigger ideas!

We lost a lot of time this week because of the public holiday on Monday. No-one was back to work till wed. and then the wood for the carpenter was delayed so he couldn't begin. Still waiting for it.

Ensuite

The bathrooms were (supposedly) finished today because the grout was done. But when we went to look, the tiling isn't actually complete. There is lots of fiddley cutting in that still needs to be done. So still messy stuff plus more plumbing too. This pic is the feature wall tile and shower in our ensuite. (This is the shower I wanted for our downstairs bathroom and I couldn't have...Everything comes to she who waits :)

Picture of our spa bath. It's a double, and still needs the panel and step fitting to the side. As you can see, it doesn't quite fit (bit short)...but still, at least it made it into the bathroom in one piece. The bath taps/spout is also the one that took an extra month (on top of the 4 months) to source and deliver.

Bathroom tiles

A sneak peek at the floor and wall tiles for our bathrooms. Still need grouting and then bathroom furniture fitting. Hopefully finished by end of the week.

Once this is done then the 'messy' trades are over and we can think about putting the carpets in upstairs and the floorboards in downstairs.

Had a quote for curtains for our bedroom today, with a matching fabric bedhead for our bed. At $4,000, will be looking around!

Render

The first stage of the render was applied on the 29th Sept. This had to be hosed down daily ready for the finish coat. One week later and the boundry walls were finished. Now just needs painting.

The next major milestone outside is to concrete the drivelway and the side paths. This was supposed to happen this week but there was a delay because they didn't have the right pump and now it will be end of next week before they can come back. This obviously puts us back because no one can walk on the driveway till it's dry. Other set backs this weeks include the national holiday, so no one coming until at least Wed. But on the bright side, we finally found a carpenter who starts on Tuesday and needs 6 days to finish all the skirting, door jams and stairs.

New Fence

Finally got the go ahead form the landlord of the property next door to erect a new boundry fence. That means we can now think about getting the pool guys back to finish off because previously they had refused quoting OH&S reasons. We have pumped the rainwater from the pool too.

Front

The front entrance has been modified slightly to make the stairway wider. We have built the wall a little higher and raised the front wall too. These will all be rendered and painted the same colour, contrasting slightly to the house facia. There will be glass balustrade to complete the entrance. We also plan to have an awning and possible porch but that will have to be in stage two as the budget for this part has run dry.

The stairs are still not finished and we have a huge mound of bricks in the driveway. Why is it that tradesmaen can't come and do a job in one hit? It's a bit like pulling pints here. There is some stupid rule that you have to turn the tap off half way through then turn it on again and finish pouring? Note a hint of frustration creeping in here? :)

The front door is still on for security, but the doorway has been made larger to allow a larger, more impressive door.

Bathrooms

We have had major headaches with the bathrooms. Firstly, after the plumbing and waterproofing was finished, the plumber checked the tech specs of the bath that arrived from Germany and found the floor waste is not quite right and the drain needed recutting and therefore the waterproofing guy needed to come back.

Then the bath in the kids room needed a special frame which wasn't delivered so this put us further back because the tiler won't start until everything is ready as he wants to hit both bathrooms at once. The recess for shampoo etc has been cut and will be tiled with the mosaics.

The business end

Haven't posted for a while, as I didn't feel like there was much happening. However looking at where we are today we really are getting to the pointy end of the project and the following are all finished:

*All gyprock walls have been completed including dividing wall up the staircase and fireplace with shelving surrounds;
*the bathrooms have been waterproofed ready for tiling.
*Bathroom furniture has been delivered;
*Internal painting has started;
*external painting of side wall and back beams complete (although we are not happy with the colour at the back - it's decidedly different to what we expected);
*bubble-gum to all joints and gaps around windows etc has been completed (although they forgot to do one place along the roof beam and we got water in the bedroom last weekend after heavy rain).
*Roof capping finished (although roofer needs to return and replace 2 missing tiles);
*garage concrete slab has been laid but the dimensions are larger than planned so the roller shutter garage door has to be refabricated to fit;
*front garden flattened ready for landscaping

Today the electricians were back to finish all internal wiring. The new powerpole in the garden is all wired up and a new electrical panel installed on the opposite side of the house.

The rain last weekend has filled the pool and waterlogged the garden area, underneath the house and the side courtyard. So tomorrow we have hired a pump to clean up.

Hiccups and fixups

Somehow, we had overlooked the need for pipework for the sinks under the kitchen window. Had to pull flooring up to get pipework in. Small hiccup.

Another fix up pictured here is in the front kids bedroom. Brace has been removed so we can construct a built-in bookcase. Glass yet to be replaced with alucobond externally but framing complete internally ready to receive gyprock.

inside and out

This is the internal courtyard area - the holes in the bricks are for a water feature. Downpipes and cladding of open gable of 'old' roof is now complete. Still need to do soft linings and eaves. The whole areaalso needs waterproofing and the rain-water tank needs to be installed and concreted over. This window looks into hallway and 'open-sided' family-room.

Another area that is now ready for waterproofing is our ensuite. Pictured here the louvered windows and main window with walls ready for tiling.

bits and bobs

This is a bit of a silly photo really as it just looks like a load of jumbled up wires....which is exactly what it is. But just to report that the power, light, AV, data, phone, and security rough-in to all rooms is almost complete.

And this too - the AC fan coil indoor unit. Installed in ceiling space of walk in robe in our room to service upstairs rooms. I hope it's not too noisy?

This is the view from the doorway of one of the kids bedrooms. It looks tiny from this angle...hope we can fit a bed in there. The bulkhead is rather large but covers the aircon and other pipes.


And finally the ceilings over the kitchen and dining room are in now. Can't do ceiling in back 3rd ofopen plan room until we build fireplace etc. Setting and sanding of all walls will hopefully begin next week.