Floorboards Down, Wardrobes fitted

I know I said there would be no posts for a little while however I couldn't help myself. I had to go down to Baxter today and as the house is only a few short minutes out of the way I thought I would drop by and see if anything was going on.

The big pile of dirt is still down one side of the house and nothing yet has been done to the facade (I expect that will be another week away at least) however there was a guy there fitting out the wardrobes so I stopped to have a chat with him. He said to go on in as he had just completed the walk in robes and was about to start on bedroom 2. He will probably be finished tomorrow.

Master Robe Behind the door

I checked my drawings and I did not have a rail behind the door. He said he was not sure if there was meant to be one so he did it anyway, (I wont be paying for it) but it will be great as I can hang my shoes along here (not wide enough for hanging clothes).

This shot really does not give a true indication of just how big the robes are. This is every woman's dream. The lower rack is half again as long and there is plenty of room for storage boxes on top as well.

To my surprise the floorboards have gone down and I am really happy with them. There are a few boards here and there that are either a bit darker or a bit lighter however that is the nature of Tallowwood. I was advised the other day not to put a rug down for at least six months as it will darken up a little once the light gets on to it and if a rug is down it will leave patches. They have covered it with corrugated cardboard at the moment to stop marking.

Front Entry

Entry to rumpus room

Shower doors, taps and bath have now gone in as well. All that needs to be done to the bathrooms is the corking and a good tidy up. I am really happy with the pebble feature tile in the showers. Just needs some accessories to the rooms to add that oomph and it will look great.

Main Bathroom

En Suite

Pebble Feature Tile.

The next two major things to be done will be the carpet and the driveway which can't be too far away now. Then it will be just the little things here and there. Hopefully by this time next month I will be just about in. Fingers crossed.

One step forward two steps back

Met with my SS yesterday to go over what had been done in the last week or two and I wanted to speak with him about the front facade. Last weekend when I was there I noticed that the cladding on the right side of the facade was just over an inch narrower than the cladding on the right. It was only one sheet and it would not have really bothered me (I have looked at the facade dozens of times and never noticed before) but this is the sheet that my lights are going on and because the right is so much smaller my light does not fit. SS took a look and said it was not good enough, to leave it with him and he'd look into it further.

This morning I got a call from the SS to tell me that they will have to rip the facade out, re do it correctly and then re-paint it. He was wonderful about it and apologetic but it's going to be a couple of weeks before it's done as the contractor is on holidays. I'm just hoping that it does not hold things up as we were going so well.

A load of dirt has been dumped at the side of the house from from another site scrape on the estate. My SS arranged this as I need some dirt down the side and around the back so it helps the both of us out.

The deck has been finished as has the tiling. Both the outside and the wet areas inside still need to be corked however the SS has said they are finding it hard to find someone reliable to do this. My stone bench top went in on Tuesday (I'm very happy with it) and the shower screens, bath and toilets will be going in today or tomorrow. All that's left now are the wardrobe fittings, doors and the flooring.

I've decided to put the glass pendant lights I bought over the kitchen bench top. They don't do anything for the hall way and look a lot better over the bench tops. I will have quite a bit of electrical work to do after handover as I'm putting in a fan in the alfresco room, have all the outdoor lights to be done as well as a half a dozen lights inside to be wired in. I've also decided to put another power point in the laundry.

I'm not going to get down to the house for a little while now as I'm really busy over the next two weeks, hopefully the next time I have a blog update the floors will have started.

If anyone knows of a good curtain and blind place I would appreciate some feedback. Until next time here are a few more photos.

Three Months, Two Weeks, 3 days

Well this week there is not too much to report. Seems that very little was done this week. Perhaps all the rain is the cause for the painting not being completed. The painter has been working on it for 2 weeks now and still hasn't undercoated the front of the house. Just as well this does not hold up other work being done.

I couldn't get into the house as there was no one working on site so I could only peep through the windows. Love the job the tiler did in the laundry (sorry no photos) I'm hoping the bathroom and en suite look as good now that they are grouted.

All the locks are on the windows and the fly screens are on as well (I guess something was done) My bath has been delivered as I could see it sitting in the middle of the Master bedroom so I guess that will be going in this week. Dean said last week that the shower screens would be going in this week as well.

Have added some photos below.

Above: Garage door, I don't remember it being this dark when I chose it however I guess when I saw it at Studio M I was looking at it under bright lights and inside. Being against the lighter brick also makes it look a little darker.

Above and Below: This will give you an idea of the blue I have chosen and now you will understand why I am having my doubts about it. Friends keep saying that once I have my garden in and the different coloured foliage it will make it look completely different. I have to believe this.

Finally two of the three Metricon display homes opened on the weekend down at my estate. I dropped on to have a look at them. One is the Talbot and the other is the Santorini (my house) although I would not have recognised it. It had a huge butlers pantry, bi fold doors from the rumpus room onto the entertainment deck and the grand outdoor room. The bathroom en-suite was a little different to mine as well however I think they had to make the walk in robes a little smaller to have the bathroom the size it is. That is something I would not compromise on, robe space is important to me.

The lesson here I guess for anyone who is at the contract stage of building a house is to ask what your options are and when they tell you ask them 'is that all'. I had mentioned the butlers pantry and was told this was not an option with the Santorini, I also asked about having a bench right along the one side of the laundry and was told this could not be done. I have now learnt that you can do anything, it just takes $$$.

I think I've made a mistake

Ever have an idea of how something is going to look and then once you see things come together wonder if you have made the right decision. That's how I'm feeling about my colour choices, more about that later.

The SS called me yesterday to ask if I would come down to the house and have a look at the tiling in the laundry. The tiler and he were not happy with what Metricon had specified should be tiled as they had only made allowances for tiles to be placed behind the laundry basin not along the bench. Because my wall tiles are large only 1.5 tiles would be needed. The tiler thought this would look silly and wanted to know, if there were enough tiles, would I like the whole bench to be tiled. Of course I agreed as I had wanted this all along but was told this could not be done. The tiler said that it was just Metricon staff being lazy, hmmm.

Anyway I took a couple of photos of the tiling in the two bathrooms. I was happy with the floor of the shower recesses as he cut the tiles on the diamond. I am however so unhappy that I chose the stupid shelving Beaumont tiles had as it really does not go. As my friend said people wont notice once you have your shampoo and soap on there but I will.

The garage door is on however I couldn't see it as it was open, will have to take another trip down on the weekend when they are not working and see how it looks.

Finally the biggest hmmmm. The paint colours. I love the greens I have chosen for the rumpus and the family room feature walls however the master is very strong and I really am having second thoughts about the external blue. I'm really starting to think that it is a little bit 'out there', the neighbours are going to have a fit. It really does not look like the colour on the paint chip, it looks a lot brighter. Will wait and see the completed product and decide what I am going to do, it may look better once the door is painted and the blinds are on the windows. Once the front is done I will put up a photo.

Anyway, below are a few photos for you to check out.

Main bathroom shower, tiles are still to be grouted. The tiler is a really lovely guy who takes pride in his work. He also had great things to say about my SS and said he loves working with him as he really has his act together. Metricon had the tiles for the main bathroom cut square however he had enough nounce to know that it's all about consistency and because the en-suite tiles were cut on the diamond he did the same for the main bathroom. I am going to make the room 'pop' with hot pink, bright orange and charcoal towels and bath mats. I will post a photo at a later date of my inspiration for this.

En-suite tiles, I'm really happy with the pebble and it will look great once the grouting is done.

Master bedroom. The colour is Dulux Slippery Moss however it is a really strong colour. This photo makes it look a little on the olive side, it is by no means olive. Will have to wait until carpet and furniture is in and then decide if I like it or not. Just was well I only got two walls done, four would have been a bit too much.

En-suite vanity and basin. I love the basin and rather than having two basins I wanted to make this a feature so that I could have some big glass jars or a vase on the side. I'm happy with this and happy that I upgraded the handles. I am having small charcoal tiles around the mirror and a large long light above the mirror (same in the master bathroom) Once again I will make the room 'pop' with the accessories I put in there. Colours here will probably be in a green the colour of celery.

Happiness is a Busy House

Well there will be a hive of activity going on over the next week at my place as things really start to fly along.

Dean called this afternoon to say that fit-off will continue tomorrow ( robes linen closet and pantry) along with security. They will also begin finishing of the Electrical and Heating tomorrow and if the weather is good also the outside painting.

Within the next week stone bench tops and ceiling insulation will be in. Floor tiles to wet areas will be complete, decking should be complete and hopefully garage door will be on. Glass splashback will also be ordered however this usually takes about 10 days to arrive.

My sister is down from Brisbane this weekend so we are meeting with Dean on Saturday for a walk through. Will be exciting to walk through without having to to look through dirty windows.

I will update when there is more to share.

Now We're Talking

I wasn't going to go down to the house today as I have so much to do but I just couldn't help myself. I had to see what has been going on over the last week and I wasn't disappointed.

I'm sorry that the images are not that great, all were taken with my iPhone through the windows and some through plastic at that, however, it will give you an idea.

Internal painting is complete and I have a feeling that this week external painting may begin as I can see places where they have started to patch ready for the painting.

The first pic was taken looking through a hole in the front door, (they are getting ready to put on my additional locks I have upgraded to). This is looking up the hallway into the family room and the dining and alfresco beyond. To the left is the master bedroom and the right is the sitting room.

All the feature walls are painted and I am happy with the colours. I've not posted any of them here as the photos I took do not look anything like the actual colours. I will post when I have better photos later. I plan on getting someone in to do some more painting after handover.

Below is the laundry, looking a little yellow I must say as it was taken through green plastic. The washing machine will go under the bench and I am looking at having further cabinets put in to the left of the trough at a later date. The stainless steel trough is an upgrade. You can see one of the feature walls of the rumpus room in the background however in this photo it looks like an olive green which it is not, more of a moss colour.

Master bedroom below, with a glimpse of the en-suite cabinets through the door. I love my basin, now I wish I had done this in both bathrooms. Really love the walk in robes as well, can't wait until all my clothes are hanging in there.

Now to the kitchen. Below is the island bench. I am having one single under-mount sink. I don't feel I need a double as lazy water using me uses the dishwasher most of the time. The under-mount is quite deep and still is a reasonable size being 40cm x 40cm, good for washing those large pots you don't put in the dishwasher.

I really hate the big white air vent on the side of the cabinet but it is a necessity as it allows the steam to escape from the microwave. Without this condensation builds up and the cabinets warp, at least this is what happened to my girlfriends kitchen cabinets. They could at least make the vents in different colours to match the cabinets.

I have 11 drawers, four underneath cupboards and 4 overhead cupboards. I had thought of having shelving above the fridge but decided against it. I now wish I had and may now install this after hand-over. I have a friend who works for Metricon, I may ask her who does their cabinets and see if I can get them to do something for me.

I am supplying all my own appliances but will have to wait until after hand over to see them installed.

Finally the bi-part doors have been stained. They are not quite as orange as they look in this picture. It seems a shame that they will be covered up with crim safe. I'm also definitely glad I paid to have fly-screens put in. When looking at my garage ceiling it was covered in mosquitoes and some of them I think may have been on steroids, they were whoppers. I will be burning the citronella candles constantly.