Render and staining complete

The render and wood staining are now complete! We're estimating handover in about 4 to 6 weeks. The builder is completing the final touchups before quality control gets involved. The downlights under the porch still need to be installed along with the rangehood roof vent that they've agreed to. Everything is installed except for the appliances and hotwater system. Things are looking great.

Slowly.......getting there!

Gas meter, storm water and shower screens in!

EDIT...........Guess what??................The builder has decided to vent the rangehood out of the house after I argued the point that it SAYS TO DO SO IN THE CONTRACT! How good is this? Pretty shitty though that this is their 'standard procedure'.

The shower screens and gas meter have been installed. I just hope they listen to me and they cap the gas line behind the fireplace wall before they hook it up or it will be the quickest way to burn a house down. The storm water (see next to gas meter) has also been hooked up which will reduce the amount of water pooling around the house. There was a guy cleaning the house today which included all the windows. Geez, it makes a difference without mud all over everything.

Vanities and BIR sliding mirrors installed

Today we had vanities and sliding mirror doors fitted to our BIR's. The house is really starting to take shape on the inside with things being fitted out.

We have been in discussions with our builder about our ducting from rangehood to outside the house. The builder was just going to duct it to the roofspace until I pointed out in the contract that they must either vent it externally or the rangehood must be a recirculation one. The rangehood I have chosen is a ducted one (not a recirc) so therefore it must be vented to outside the house. This wasn't explained though during the tender meeting and now the builder is interpreting the wording of the contract to suit themselves in an attempt to get out of it.

They see it like this: because the location of the external vent was not nominated on the plan, they are not entitled to include it. However, it's pretty clear in the contract that it is.

Fitoffs and final clean is booked in for next week. Very exciting! All that's left is porch celing with downlights, final render, wood staining, fitoff, shower screens, flyscreens, maintenance, gas meter, hot water system and inspections and that it! Not long now.

more stuff done..............

We're getting closer! We have new garage doors, sink, trough, taps, toilets and a bath fitted. Ceiling insulation is in also.
I was lucky enough to catch the guys digging the trench for the gas the other day and I asked how long they would have the trench open for. They said 1 hour and so I madly dashed off and bought some conguit and joiners for my telstra cabling. When I got back, they happily installed it for me for a carton of beer! That saved me a few hundred bucks.

And no more portaloo!

Rear rollerdoor

Bathroom/ensuite tiling complete and shelves fitted

We've recently had our kitchen tiles, ensuite and bathroom tiles fitted. They look great! The mirrors and shelves have also been installed.

The electrical fitoff and network connections are in place.

Evap cooling and Brivis heating unit installed

Today we had our Evap cooler and Brivis heating unit installed. All vents have been fitted and the controller is in place. The cooler itself on the roof is in a great spot. It's not noticeable from the front of the house and it sits quite low on the roof. There's heating and cooling to all rooms except for the main bathroom, toilet and laundry. The ensuite has a heater vent and the study has a heater and cooling vent. It's zonal so rooms can be turned off when not in use.

I went to National tiles yesterday and had a look at some porcelain tiles for our floor. Straight away I found the tile I want for the main areas of the house. The grout colour will be antique white which is the same colour as the kitchen cupboards so it should match nicely.

More work done to the front porch.

A drop down ceiling frame has been built into the porch/verandah ceiling today. I thought it would look a bit too low but it actually doesn't look too bad.

They've finished the eaves all around the house and have changed the pier height which looks much better and is easier to walk past now. The piers also don't block the view standing in some areas of the porch and exposes more wood post which will be sanded and stained. It cost a variation but i'm glad it was done. I'm enjoying seeing more progress of late.

Painting complete

The painting is complete and it's starting to feel like a home. All doors have been painted white gloss. I was looking at a porcelain tile range today and have almost decided on the tile. It's a bit dearer than ceramic tiles but, like bricks, it's something that we're unlikely going to change in the future so we're better off choosing wisely now.

We have chosen Hog Bristle Half as our wall colour. The paint colour looks great in the bedrooms during the afternoon sun.

The waterproofing was done today with the tiling to start tomorrow (Wednesday). The garage door has been ordered and electrical fit-off within a week. The change to pier height at the porch has also been done. Check out the new height. One of the brickies said he didn't like the height or that it would looks silly. I don't think so. I think the area was too 'busy' in the first place. It's much better now and there is more wood post exposed.

We have a new Customer Service rep and have had a new Construction Supervisor for about 2 weeks now and I have only just been informed. Thanks for letting me know! One thing noticeable about these guys is their lack of communication. They have a very high turnover of staff also.

We have quite a few defects, fairly minor though. One problem are cracks appearing next to window architraves. I have been watching closely to certain areas and i'm a bit suspect to whether the builder closed the gap (reveal) enough between the window frame and plaster and just put the architrave over the top perhaps without using packers. It's only the windows with large gaps that we're having a problem with.

During the inspection, the CS said they won't be taking off the architraves. He said the the gaps 'should' have been filled correctly. How do I know that it's been done properly? It wasn't so when they fitted one architrave as I could see a small gap at the edge of the wood. Just goes to show the size of the reveal and is evident by the problem we're having with it.

Thankfully the CS now knows about the uncapped gas line behind the fireplace wall (that's been plastered over and painted by the way). Glad he found that out! I was the one who told him!

Hopefully these small issues will be sorted out in the coming weeks and we'll be at handover. The CS says that we'll be in ' 2 months at the most' which is promising.

Fixing out.......

It's been about 3 weeks since my last post and the house is coming along really well. I recently got back from the US after travelling to LA, San Francisco, Seattle, Canada, Las Vegas and New York. We are now engaged after proposing at the Grand Canyon!

Since fixing out the house with kitchen/laundry and bathroom cabinets, plaster has been sanded and inspections in progress. The front door has been fitted but is yet to be stained and chosen door handle fitted. Painting is due on the 20th July after plaster inspections complete.

The initial render (at least I think it's the initial layer because it's not the colour we signed for) on the front facade is complete with the pier height change still yet to be done.

The French doors have been fitted but the wrong way around.....obviously a temp thing and the bricks have been cleaned showing a fabulous brick texture. The French doors are yet to be stained along with the window frames. The colour: a rich red/brown mahogany.

I plan to use some left over brick to build a letterbox that will stand at the front of the driveway. It'd be great to have a matching letterbox. Leftovers will also help with landscaping etc.

At this stage, if current progress continues, my estimate of handover is September but could be later obviously. We've got painting, tiling and electrical fit off to go along with inspections etc. Hopefully it'll be 2 months.