Ky's Big Adventure

Another Big Adventure

2011-02-05T09:35:00.009+11:00

I probably shouldn't have gone into town after work last night but there were a few things I wanted to do. When I decided to leave to come home I had a little bit of difficulty. The city had been hit by flash flooding and every road I tried to get onto to get out of the city was flooded and police were there turning people around. When the radio said that the Monash freeway was closed at Toorak Road and that it was down to one lane at Jacksons Rd I decided to take the Eastern Freeway and join the Monash at East link.

Things seemed to be working out well for me until I got to Thompson's road which is the road my estate is on. The corner was flooded so I turned back, drove through a bit of water and then onto Glasscocks Rd. All seemed well until I got to the roundabout at William Thwaites Blvd and Mountain View Blvd. Water across one side of the road and running fast and deep.

I was anxious to get home so did one of a number of illegal turns I did last night and drove down the opposite side of the Road.

This morning I took a bit of a drive around the estate to see how things were looking and below is what I found. It seems that there is a dam at the Market Gardeners and it burst last night. That is what I was told by my SS who was out taking photos of his builds.

Just a heads up for anyone going down to the estate today to check your house. I picked a number of pieces of wood up off the road that were full of nails. Watch yourself when driving through the water as you don't know what has swept up of the building sites. Also take note of the large rocks on Mountain View Blvd, who knows how many may be in the water.

If walking by foot try to walk on the road or the footpath. The ground is like quick sand in some places and you may sink to your calves like I did.

Above: Driving along Chantenay, the debris across the road are vegetables washed down from the market garden. Very little flooding along this street. May have been different last night. The roundabout it the end is under a little water on the other side.

Below: Water running out from the market garden on to William Thwaites Blvd. Some of the houses along here had silt and vegetables washed up their driveways.

Below: Mountain View Blvd, this is down near Burford Way.

Below: Mountainview Blvd near Evesham corner. Both sides of the boulevard are flooded here. This is what I drove through last night.

Left: Mountainview again

Above: Again this is Mountainview Blvd near Burford again.

Above: William Thwaites Blvd

Below: William Thwaites Blvd. Look at the fencing and you will see where the water came up to last night.

8 Weeks In - Progress Report

2011-01-26T11:38:00.008+11:00

Well it's now been 8 weeks since I took possession of the house. I would like to say that I am all unpacked and nicely settled but due to illness I have not done as much as I would have liked and still have quite a few boxes left to sort through.

It's not until you move into your new home and start cleaning and looking closer that you find the little things that are wrong. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that there were a few spots of glue on the floor boards which the SS said was no biggie and would just scrape off. Well the few spots of glue ended up being an enormous amount of glue and while I was crawling around on my hands and knees scraping it off I noticed the little splatters of paint also on the floor boards and the odd scratch here and there. I have managed to get most of it off but am still finding more every time I clean. Of course when it comes to the 90 day report these things will be cosmetic and not covered.

My beautiful bi-part doors are also not that beautiful. It seems they have not been kiln dried properly and there is sap seeping out of one of the doors, this will be something for the 90 day report as it is not cosmetic as far as I am concerned. A little word of advice for those about to take possession of their house is to go around and check all the light switches, I have one that is really difficult to switch on. None of these things are huge and when I hear about the traumas others are having I think I got off quite lightly.

There are so many positives about the house however and these will always out weigh the little things I have found wrong. Having the Colourbond roofing meant that the pitch of the house is quite high. This allows the heat to rise high into the roof and the house remains cool even on the hottest of days. I still will be getting a split system but at this time there is no rush.

I've also found with the design of the house I get both great natural light and also wonderful cross breezes. I had been worried about the light as I found each of the display homes I visited a little dark. I now believe it is because they all seem to choose brown, brown brown and more brown for their interiors and this is why the rooms seem dark even on the brightest of days.

My blinds were finally installed a couple of weeks ago. As they were a gift to me by a very good friend I didn't want to go over board and spend too much money so I just kept it simple. I got the Blind Factory to quote and brought the guy down about $1400.00 on what he originally quoted as I had shopped around. I have learnt from working in sales that you should never pay the price you were first quoted and by shopping around I knew what blinds were worth. My advice is that it pays to get several quotes. When I first started shopping I was looking at $14,500. I can tell you that in the end I didn't even pay a quarter of this.

Above are the roller blinds I have in the living room. I also installed the same blinds in the rumpus room, the laundry and over the bi-part doors to the alfresco room. They are block out blinds and supposedly dust, mould and rot proof, we shall wait and see.

I chose White 61mm Shutter Venetians for all the bedrooms, study and bathrooms. Plantation shutters were over my budget so I chose the 61mm as that was the next best thing. I'm not going to compromise on the voids in my family and dining room and will wait until I can afford the shutters for these spots. I have been quoted by another company who's quality and style I really like and will go with them when the time comes.

As for furniture I am yet to buy any new furniture. I was ready to go out and buy a new lounge but have decided that I want to live in the house for a while and get the a feel for it before I decide on a what type I want and where I want to put it. I'm the type of person that doesn't like to rush into things so my old couch and chairs will do for a while.

Sunrise from my alfresco room, just beautiful!

Will be a lovely spot for breakfast when I finally get my outdoor setting.

There are so many projects I need to get started on however my first has been the garden. Last weekend with the help of my Brother-in-law, my sister and another friend we top soiled, weed matted and planted out my front garden. I'm really happy with the result and no longer feel like I have the worst front yard on the street.

Before

After

Its a garden full of Gardenias, succulents, a few cordylines and as per the estate covenant one tree. I had to put two of the Gardenias in pots as there is a mix of concrete and gravel in front of the windows and I was afraid that there may have been other poisons in the soil. There are 9 Gardenias in total so my next summer my garden should smell heavenly. I chose one of the Japanese Maple varieties and was assured by the guy at the nursery that if I pruned it every so often I would be able to keep it at 2 metres in height. I had a Japanese Maple at my old house which was around 60 years old. It had not grown any more than 2 metres so I am hoping this one will be the same.

Plants for the Garden

I still have my back yard to do. I have a lovely lawn growing but need to get out and poison some of the weeds that are coming up. At the moment I'm not putting an outdoor setting in the alfresco room as I am still having problems with one of the neighbours with regards to erecting the fence so am hesitant about putting anything outside that could grow legs and walk away.

Will keep you updated as things progress. The kitchen should be finished shortly so I will upload some photos soon.

The House of Never Ending Dramas

2010-12-13T08:13:00.002+11:00

I must apologise for the lack of blog updates in the last couple of weeks, I have been one very busy person and have not had the time.

I took possession of the house on 30 November which just happened to be my 43rd birthday (no smart remarks about the age thank you). I could not have asked for a better birthday present and I started moving in that night.

I had a mad three days of moving into the new house while cleaning the old house ready for hand over to the new owners, my thanks to June, Mark and Leanne for all their help with the move, I would not have been able to do it without you.

While the new house had been professionally cleaned it needed another one as dust had settled everywhere. I have since discovered that when living in a new estate with trucks going up and down each day it's hard to keep the place clean however it's funny how you love house work when it's a new house.

I had a blind company come out during the week to measure and quote on blinds. While plantation shutters are a little out of budget at the moment I have ordered Shutter blinds for all of the bedrooms and the bathrooms and roller blinds for all the other windows and doors. I don't expect to have them until after Christmas so am living with sheets at the moment.

So what about these dramas that I speak of, well where to begin?

As some of you who have been reading my blog will know I was installing my Kitchen appliances myself however the builder was installing the microwave. I was quite happy to live on frozen meals for a week or so. The first Saturday of the move it was 9:00pm, I was dead tired and had not eaten since the bag of jelly beans I had the night before. I take a frozen meal from the freezer, place it in the microwave press 'start' and nothing, not a thing! Call customer care on Monday morning and they say they will have to get a technician out, first day free is Wednesday. Technician comes out and says 'It's dead' we will have to replace it. Can't do that until the following Thursday so it looks like toasted sandwiches and salads for a week.

Sunday, after finding my TV cables I hook up the TV to the antenna only to get a mass of snow on the screen. So it's a call to my SS Monday morning and another one to the Antenna company who have installed the antenna but not hooked it up. It seems the antenna was installed before the star system and no-one connected the two.

Monday the Foxtel guy comes to install my satellite dish. I put some carpet off cuts down on the floor where he is going to work so it does not get scratched. Low and behold he still manages to scratch it. He offers to pay for it but I'm thinking I can polish them out. He is kind enough to give me a digi path for my trouble.

Tuesday morning I open my beautiful Bi-part doors to the alfresco area and one of the doors falls out of it's track. I catch it in time, put it back in place but cannot slide it. I call the SS and he is there within 30 minutes to fix it himself. Seems that the painters took the door off to paint and put the guides back in the wrong place.

Wednesday the guys come to install the oven only to find that the cavity is 5mm too small, yes the oven fits in but the door cannot be opened, another call to the SS who is yet to rectify this problem. The electricians remove the top trim so that I can have an oven and all is well.

The dishwasher is also installed on Wednesday but alas there's a leak, the gas fitter who installs my cook top fixes this and I am happy.

Thursday my phone is to be installed, I get to 4:00pm and still no technician so I call Telstra only to find that they installed my telephone (and the new number I gave to all my friends) to another house in the estate. I'm not happy as it was such an easy number to remember. They re-schedule for the next day, give me a new number and true to their word the technician is there at 10:00am to install it (takes less than 5 minutes)

Lastly Saturday morning I decide to do some washing. My friends husband kindly hooked up my washing machine for me when I moved. A lot of people warned me not to be surprised if after moving the washing machine I go to do a load of washing and the thing wont start. I put a load on start her up and it goes, I breath a sigh of relief and go off to continue unpacking. Twenty minutes later I think that the washing machine has been a little quiet. I go to check it and sure enough, not going, pumps gone. So it's off to buy a new washing machine, something I did not budget for but thanks to 'The Good Guys' I got a good deal.

So to sum up. While it has been a drama filled week I would expect nothing less. All new houses have teething problems and mine have not been anything major, just a number of them one after the other. I love my house and will love it even more when the 100 odd boxes are unpack, I have some more money to visit ikea and get my scrapbook room set up and my brother-in-law pays a visit and helps me get my garden set up. Once I have a couple of months to put my stamp on things it will start to feel like home.

Will update with photos once it starts to feel like home.

In a Whirlwind (Final Inspection)

2010-11-28T09:12:00.002+11:00

Well it is almost time for handover and the last few day have been complete craziness!

In between preparing for a Garage Sale (which was advertised to start 8:00am Saturday morning but in fact in the eyes of the professional dealers started Wednesday morning) and packing I had my final walk through and inspection on Friday.

I was most impressed. Everything that I had been worried about when I walked through the house a couple of weeks ago had been taken care of without me having to point them out to my SS. Both the windows have been fixed. I took a friend along as an extra pair of eyes and with the companies inspection, the independent inspection and mine I am pretty happy.

My SS advised me that the feature wall in the rumpus room had been re-painted again due to damage made by the carpet installers and that they had also repainted the two walls in the dining as there had been a scratch in the plaster work and some dirty marks.

The only disappointment for me is the splash back in the kitchen. Although the colour ordered was 'stone' it does not seem to be the colour that I had picked out and taken a photo of all those months ago. Instead of a green tinge it seems to be more of a latte colour.

I could kick up a fuss and have it replaced but this would hold up the hand over for another four weeks! Do I want to do this? No! I know some people will say do not compromise but I am in a corner at the moment with having no where to live after this week, I just want to get into my home and if a green tinge on a splash back is all that's holding things up than it is not worth it. I have been told by several people who have spoken to sales people that the colour can vary from the show room once installed so maybe this is the case. Never mind, I will get used to it.

There were no other problems, just a few splashes of paint on the brickwork that will be removed in the final clean. I have even been given left over paint in case I needed to do touch ups after I move in (there can always be the odd accident even if you are so careful).

So - Where are we at? After much drama with my bank about getting the valuation and cheque (I am still waiting to be told when I can pick up the said cheque but have been guaranteed I will have it by Tuesday) We are set for hand over on the 30th of November! Could not be a better day as this is my Birthday and I could not ask for a better Birthday present. (Well maybe George Clooney wearing nothing but a bow tie but I won't let bore you with my fantasies).

The hot water service will be put in that morning, no appliances to go in as I am doing that myself, cleaning will be later that morning and I will have the keys that afternoon. Look out for the lovely curtains (aka sheets) in the windows that night.

As I have a hundred and one things to do between now and then this will be my last post until I move in. Look out for some photos next week.

Oh and one final thing. I had the pleasure of meeting two of my new neighbours who are also building the Santorini just a couple of doors up. Unfortunately because I am old and have the memory of a gold fish I have forgotten their names but they are a really lovely couple which makes me feel even more content that I have made the right decision in where I have chosen to live.

Waiting is the Hardest Part

2010-11-18T10:18:00.002+11:00

For the last week my SS has been very quiet, rather than him calling me to tell me what is going on I have had to call him. Twice now he has said he would get back to me that afternoon with answers and twice he has not called back. Is there something going on I should know about?

The house has been finished now for a week. I received the Certificate of Occupancy over a week ago and was told that I should be getting the keys 19 November. When I spoke with him on Monday his Manager was going through to check things out at the time, yesterday it was QA so hopefully tomorrow it will be my turn. I need to get my Inspector in to have a look through, however they won't even give me a date that I can do that. I need to allow for the fact that my guy is probably going to find mistakes that need to be rectified so I guess I am looking at another week again.

So close and yet so far. Wish me luck!

November 19th

2010-11-08T21:31:00.002+11:00

Yes that's right, November 19 is set as the date for handover!

Had a call from my SS today to advise that the Certificate of Occupancy has been approved, he has the painters coming in tomorrow to fix the facade and touch up around the house. His Manager will go through with him probably Wednesday and then Quality Assurance. He will then walk me through the house and my Inspector will go through on Monday.

It's now happening so fast. I have so much to do and so much more to pack. I am surrounded by 'to do' lists and have not crossed anything off. It's time to get organised!

Will keep you updated.

Photo Update

2010-11-06T10:34:00.003+11:00

Had to go down to the house this morning to put my number on the window for the Gas connection so I took a few photos.

The facade has been fixed, didn't take much at all by the looks of things. It is yet to be painted however that will happen when the touch ups are done. There are a few more red stickers here and there but not as many as I want to see (I know no one wants to see red stickers but I know there should be a lot more).

The drive has been poured however it is yet to be finished as it needs to dry before they seal it.

There was a lot of work being done at the estate today with trucks coming in with loads of dirt. The end of the street was being rolled so it looks like they are getting ready to finish the road (this should make you happy Janine). I took a drive around the estate and noticed that there are four Metricon homes going up in Maplewood court, I'd love to know which ones are being built.

There has also been more tree planting along the boulevard and one of the side streets. I am just hoping that we get the same trees in our street as they provide wonderful shade and a shady street means $$$$ to the house.

Now I have to start thinking about the garden and what I am going to do there. I have three months from hand over to get it complete however I want to get on to it as soon as possible. I'm open to suggestions, I want something that is going to take care of itself but I'm not into natives. It looks like a visit to the nursery is in order. Does anyone know a good one.

Anyway, here are some photos, possibly the last before handover as there is very little left to be done now. I'm sorry if the quality is not too good, they were taken through windows once again.

Nearly a New Home Owner

2010-11-05T23:14:00.003+11:00

Well it's been a little while since I have blogged as I have taken a little time off and been to Queensland to catch up with family. Had a wonderful time but I'm home now and it's all go, go, go as I start packing ready for the big move.

It seems like things have moved a little slowly in the last couple of weeks as it often seems to with building. I had a call yesterday morning from my SS saying that all the flooring was now in and all that needed to be done was the splash back which was going in on Monday and the driveway which was being poured today.

He said he would be going through the house with his Manager next week to check everything (this is where they put those little red stickers all over everything). The facade will be fixed this week and then he will get the painters to come in and do their touch ups.

I didn't tell him that I went to the house on Tuesday, found it unlocked and let myself in to have a little look around. I really was not happy with some of the things I found. There were scuff marks on several walls including a deep scratch in the plaster, paint on brick work and windows, paint scratched on skirting, paint on my nicely stained bi part doors, fly screens that were not in properly because they were too big, blood all over one wall from someone who had obviously cut them selves and one window frame badly dented.

I've made note of all of these, taken photos and if they have not been picked up in the Metricon inspection I will point them out to my Private Inspector when we go through the house. It's better that these come from him than from me.

I also noted that there was a sign on the window saying that the house had been cleaned however I still thought it was very dirty. My SS advised me that he would be getting the house cleaned again next week before hand over.

He also said that they would be applying for the certificate of Occupancy on the 8th of November which is Monday. I thought they would have everything finished to do that however it must not be the case.

Also got a call today from the energy company saying that they were putting in the gas metre on Monday or Tuesday and connecting the gas.

Oh and I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I thought the garage door was the wrong colour.....it is, however, this is my fault. I had chosen the darker door when I was having the original darker coloured paint work on the facade. When I changed the paint colours we had also talked about changing the colour of the garage door to the lighter one, it seems the colour consultant missed this and I did not pick up on it, my own fault but it is a lesson to any of you still in the contract stage to check things very closely. I'll live with it, 12 months down the track I will probably change the facade colour anyway.

So according to my SS I should be in my house some time between the 15th and the 20th of November. Keep your fingers crossed that this is true. If it is it will be Christmas Drinks at my house.

Keep you updated.

Floorboards Down, Wardrobes fitted

2010-10-26T15:33:00.004+11:00

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

2010-10-21T14:02:00.002+11:00

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

2010-10-17T21:38:00.002+11:00

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

2010-10-12T18:58:00.005+11:00

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

2010-10-06T17:47:00.003+11:00

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

2010-10-03T16:25:00.004+11:00

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.

Almost Three Months Down

2010-09-26T12:02:00.002+10:00

Well we are almost three months into the build, while things are not going as quickly as I was lead to believe I'm still happy.

Dean, my new Site Supervisor took over this week. I had an introductory phone call from him giving me an update on where things were at. Cabinets would be in by Friday, plaster completed, bricks being washed and painters starting Friday.

When I arrived yesterday the painters were there so I took off to get them a dozen (much appreciated Krispy Kremes for morning tea). When I returned Dean was parked out the front doing some paperwork so he introduced himself and then took me through the house. He said he was disappointed that the cabinets were not in (He was disappointed!). His palm pilot had been updated as being installed so he was going off to chase that up and find out what was happening.

He has come from another building company (I forgot to ask him which one) and said the Metricon do things very differently (don't I know it). He was chasing up my Caesar Stone bench on Monday and the back deck as well so he seems on top of things. He said he was still feeling his way and apologised.

I took this photo from the front door with my phone just to give you an idea of how the house looks now that plastering is finished. I didn't take too many photos as I forgot my camera.

Dean hopes to have the cabinets in this week and expects the painting to be finished next Saturday. The tiling will be next on the list. I can't wait for tiling and bathroom to be completed. I'm nervous about my tile selections.

He also said to me that he would see if they can install my kitchen appliances for me. I told him I was advised that they could not do this due to insurance issues, however he's going to check with his Manager all the same. It would be lovely if they could do this.

Finally it looks like we are still on track for a finish some time in mid November. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me as this would be perfect.

I'm really happy that I have been fortunate enough to get another good SS. I was dreading the change as I really liked my previous one but it looks like Rob trained him up well.

Took a quick snap of the back of the house now that the bricks have been cleaned, very happy, nice colour, the odd dirty brick has gone and there is no green like some have had with the lighter Austral bricks.

Just a little post script. Does anyone know how I can get rid of crows? I have a resident Crow who has found that my antenna is the best place to sit and look out over the estate. He has kindly 'crapped' all over my lovely colourbond roof. Just as well it is at the back of the house and not the front! Any suggestions - and no, I don't have a gun.

Another week goes by

2010-09-19T18:29:00.003+10:00

So it's Sunday and after a lovely brunch at the Middle Park Hotel it was down to the house to check things out and see what went on this week.

The back yard is lovely and tidy now however, there are two pallets of bricks sitting there just begging for me to do something with them.

The neighbour at the back has moved in despite no fences being up (the developers must not be too fussed about this) and there are heaps of houses just about ready for hand over. It is really getting exciting.

Looking at the house seemed that not too much had happened this week however, the cladding has been put on the front of the house, the down pipes are on, cornices are on and a few doors have been hung. There was also a big sticker on one of the windows saying that the garage had been measured for the roller door. There still seems to be so much to do and I can't see it being finished in 8 weeks. Here's hoping cabinets will be in next week and painting begun like the SS said.

More photos next week.

Anyone want to buy some bricks?

2010-09-17T20:55:00.002+10:00

Spoke to my SS this morning about a number of different things (no issues) just getting info on when would be best time to get the fencing done, and the cross over changed etc. He mentioned that there were a lot of bricks left over (a bit of a worry there, did they forget to do something?) and he was kind enough to tell me that they are all mine, why thank you, and just how many are there? I guess I will see when I go down to the house this weekend. My neighbour tells me that people sell them on e-bay all the time so maybe I will do that.

On a better note I was able to get out of him a finish date for the house. Seems I am looking at 60 days from now for the house to be finished! That makes it the middle of November!!!!! I said to him I would plan on the first week in December as I don't want to get too excited and then be let down. Painting starts next week. It will really start to feel like a house once that is finished. Will post some photos Sunday night.

I'm waiting to hear back from the Rental Agent for the house I'm living in at the moment, she called yesterday saying that the Landlord has had a change of plans and would like to know if I wanted to stay on a little longer. I told her I wanted to have it for only another 6 weeks and she said she didn't think it would be a problem but would have to put it to the owner. Here's hoping that she agrees, it would make life a lot easier. Nevertheless I will continue to pack in case they don't like my terms.

Fixings

2010-09-15T18:03:00.003+10:00

My SS called me this morning to give me an update on what's happening with the house. Doors were being delivered today and fixings are to commence tomorrow with the expectation that they will be completed early next week. My kitchen will be in by the end of next week however, the best news of all was that I will most definitely be in my new house before Christmas!!!!

Sadly Rob, my SS is being moved to another region and I will have a new SS named Dean in the next three weeks. Rob said he is responsible for training him (obviously new to the job) so will make sure he does a good job. He also added that if I have any problems after the change over I have his phone number and if I want to call him he will get things sorted, I believe he would too as he has been true to his word so far.

Given the slow start I had pre-construction I am very happy with the way things have been going since the build begun. With any luck I may even be in for my birthday which would truly be a bonus.

Will be back down at the house next Sunday so hopefully will have some more photographs.

We're Getting There

2010-09-12T19:41:00.004+10:00

So it was another Sunday trek down to the house today to see the weeks happenings. After last weeks visit I sent an email to Nicole by CSC asking that the lights in the dining room be rectified. By the time I spoke to Rob on Wednesday he had already spoken to the electrician and had arranged to have them corrected despite the fact that the position of the lights was not stated in the contract. I would have thought having lights over the dining table would have been a given but anyway there is no need to dwell on it.

Plastering started last Tuesday and Rob expects that it will be finished by Wednesday of this week. From what I could see today all that needs to be done now is the cornices. Kitchen and bathroom cabinets should begin at the end of this week. Everything seems to be going well. I had to make a compromise with the cabinets. I was having rounded bench tops in the bathroom and laundry but it seems that with a recessed basin you cannot do this, a small issue which really does not bother me one way or the other. I am happy to be flexible if it keeps the peace and keeps the build going.

I also went and did some shopping today. I have now done just about all my light shopping. The rest I will add slowly when I get into the house. I have added some photos below. Unfortunately the house was locked up when I was there today so all the photos have been taken through the windows. Rob said he could come across and open it for me but I don't want to get him out on a Sunday so I will wait until mid week and go down when the cabinets are installed.

The Estate is a real hive of activity even on weekends. The display village is along the main boulevard and there is already one home finished with another expected to be finished any day. There are two people already in their homes and I would expect in the next couple of weeks there will be a great influx of new residents as a lot of the homes look like they are almost ready for handover. It's now been two and a half months since my house began, so far no hiccups, let's hope it stays that way.

By the way, for those of you who have posted a comment in the last week I wanted to let you know I have not moderated your comments, I have a new phone which the comments go to and for some reason it has been deleting your comments when I approve them. Think I have it under control now.

These are the lights I will be having at the front of the house. There are four in all, one on each of the brick pillars and then one at each end of the house. I had narrowed it down to three. The other two would have been fine if I were only having one on each pillar however as they were quite large having four of them looked a little over done.

The hardest room to find anything for was the family room, everything was either way too modern or very outdated. When it comes to lighting I think we have very little to choose from. I have chosen the above lights for the family room. They look like a giant ball of string and the colour will match the plantation shutters (which I will get when I win tatslotto lol) and the bi-part doors.

I have two of these lights which will go above the dining room table. I fell in love with these when I saw them in Home Beautiful and had to hunt them down but finally found them in Sydney. They will look good above the table as I have a very heavy rustic wood table.

These lights are for the hallway, something simple again and not to every one's taste but I like them.

Kitchen and family room.

Kitchen and family room again with the rumpus room to the left. When my budget will allow it there will be plantation shutters separating the two rooms as well as the dining room and hallway (background).

Garage, can't wait until my car is siting in here.

Brick Work Completed Insulation Begun

2010-09-05T19:44:00.003+10:00

Well I know I've been a bit slack with updating my blog however there really has not been much to report on in the last two weeks.

I went for my regular Sunday drive down to the house this morning to see the progress and was happy to see that the bricking (apart from a few bricks above the garage) is complete. They are still to be cleaned and they are a bit patchy but that will change as they dry out. I was a little concerned when I went down last week as there were great patches of darker brick. Janine (one of my new neighbours) and I had come to the conclusion that they were quite damp having sat in water for the past three weeks. I am happy to say that a check with my SS and a visit today confirmed that this was the case. As you can see from the photos below the patches are less noticeable as they start to dry.

Last week when I was down there the house was locked and I therefore was unable to get in to check that all the lighting and power points were in the correct places. I am glad to say that this weekend some kind person left a door unlocked and I was able to get in for a bit of a look.

Insulation has begun in preparation for plastering which will start at the end of this week. The rain has put us a week behind which I am not happy about.

I'm glad I was able to check as the lighting in the dining room is in the wrong place so I guess it is an e-mail to my CSC to get this rectified before plastering begins.

The framework for the cavity doors in the sitting room has also been added and I must say I think it is the best bit of carpentry in the house so far. I also noticed that there was a check list from the Building Inspection tucked in to one of the frames. I had a little look and it was nice to see that each one of them had been completed and marked off. (There were only 5 this time).

Until next week here's a few photos.

This photo was taken a week ago. You can see the darker brick at the bottom of the wall. Compare that to the one below. You can see that the darkness has shrunk as the bricks have begun to dry.

Insulation has begun. I also noticed that the lock up carpenter had been in and has planed away and or nailed little pieces of wood to different parts of the frame in preparation for the plastering so that there is no bowing in the walls. (There was a lot to do).

Quick update

2010-08-25T20:20:00.002+10:00

Had a call from my SS last night to say electrician had been in and completed his work and that the brick work was half done.

Lock up has been moved to next week as all this rain has slowed the brickie down. The lock up carpenter is coming in on Friday to put the external doors on and he thinks lock up will be middle of next week with plaster work starting at the end of the week.

This weekend will probably be the last time I get into the site as after lock up I will be looking through windows unless I make an appointment to see my SS (SS in pretty fussy about going on site without permission).

Will post some photos Sunday.

Brick Work Begun

2010-08-22T16:56:00.004+10:00

Today is officially day 53 of the build and around 1/3 or the brickwork is complete.

I must say (although I don't know too much about bricking) that the brickie does a very neat job compared to some I have seen although he has left a lot of broken bricks around the yard. I'm not complaining as he's the one that has to work in the mess.

One half of the back of the house, and all the whole of the south facing side has been done up to about 5 feet. There is very little brickwork to be done at the front, just below the windows and the pillars of the front porch along with the front of the Garage.

The progress chart on myMetricon says that they expect lock-up on 28 August which is next Saturday. This is too good to be true, at this rate I could really be in before Christmas. I just don't want to get too excited as I don't want to jinx myself.

Rob my SS works on two week blocks and says he does not look ahead any further than that. This is not good for a Sagittarius who likes to be organised and organise everyone else - heck I'm organising next Christmas before this Christmas arrives. I've just got to take a step back and have patience.

I have 9 weeks before I have to be out of the house I am living in at the moment. I am surrounded by packing boxes and garbage bags sorting through what I'm taking with me and what I will throw away (fun times).

Anyway below are some photos for you to look over.

There are now quite a few houses springing up in my street and looking around I think there is one couple who have moved into the Estate and another who are just about ready too.

This photo is just for Janine, Amanda, Leanne and Barbi. This is the scrap booking room - lot of late nights to be had in here girls and plenty of room for guest scrappers lol, oh and it is a kid and husband free zone...how good is that?!?!

Heating installed

2010-08-15T12:57:00.003+10:00

Took an early drive down to the block this morning to see what has been happening.

The roof is finished and is looking great. Seems to change colour depending on the time of day, as you can see below it is not looking as dark as it did the other day.

I now have a wirliebird, a solar panel and an antenna. Inside the heating unit has been installed as has the gas and water.

Rob my SS has been true to his word and called me on Monday night to let me know what was going on. The house will be wrapped on Monday 17th, bricking will start Tuesday and if you can believe 'myMetricon' it is due for completion 23rd August. Things just seem to be flying. Rob said he is going to do all he can to have me in before the Christmas break which is December 10.

I checked all of the points that appeared on my independent inspection and from what I can see they seem to have been attended to.

Hopefully next week I will have some brickwork to show you.

Solar panel and antenna now up. The roof is looking a lighter grey than it was when I photographed it last weekend. I can't wait to see how it all comes together when the brick work goes up

I was thinking that the Alfresco dining area was looking rather small but now that I can see it in real life it's looking good.

Internal fittings, the yellow pipes are the gas, purple is the re-cycled water and black is normal water, electrical still to be done.

Plumbing in main bathroom. Shower on left, bath on right. Vanity will be in between.

Roofing Started

2010-08-07T16:59:00.003+10:00

Popped down to the block after work today to see if there had been any progress with the house. To my surprise there were two guys there working on the roof. As you can see by the photos below the gutters and fascia are on and the roof is almost there. I said a quick hello to one of the guys but didn't want to go on site while they were working. From what I could see outside it seems that the things that appeared on my building inspection have been attended to. Yet again I received no phone call from my SS on Thursday confirming this, I'm not going to call him next week, I will just wait and see how long it takes him to contact me.

Also noticed that the bricks have been delivered which means we can't be too far away from the brickwork starting. The bricks seem to be a little darker than the sample bricks I have at home but I guess that is to be expected as my sample brick is probably a couple of years old and comes form a different batch.

I noticed that some trees have been planted along the main boulevard to the estate during the last week. These trees are the same type of tree planted in the area I live in now and are a great shade tree. I hope that they plant these trees right through the estate as a nice leafy street adds great value to the house.

I dropped into the Land Office while I was down there as I had spoken to them some time ago about getting the cross over to my block changed. I had accepted that it would be my responsibility however the ladies in there told me that it may be possible to get the developer to do it when they were doing the cross overs and pathways for release 10. I was told to bring in all my paperwork and they will put it into the developer. Looks like they will be doing this stage in about two months time which would be great timing for me. Will see how things go.

Hopefully next week I will have some brickwork to show you.

Back of the house, rumpus room in the back right corner.

Front veranda and garage are all that is left to be completed of the roofing. I can't believe that somewhere in that front yard I am expected to plant a tree that will grow to over 4 metres in height. I will have to start doing my research to find a tree that doesn't have roots that travel too far. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any ideas.

Austral Mushroom bricks. I just hope I have made the right choice. Choosing the brick was a very hard thing to do. I disliked most of the choices on offer at the entry level. Every brick I liked was quite a few thousand more and just didn't fit into my budget. I guess I will have an idea by this time next week.

Frame Update

2010-08-02T19:05:00.002+10:00

Spoke to my Site Supervisor this afternoon to see if he had received my Private inspection report and he said he was meeting with the Carpenter tomorrow morning at 7:30am to go over it and also to look at a few other things which he had found himself.

Maybe I am gullible but I do like my SS. He seems to be quite honest and makes himself freely available. I will forgive him for not contacting me for the first couple of weeks given that he was off work with a slipped disc and just hope that he does the right thing by me.

He said he would call me later in the week to update me on things.

I've just been advised that I have to be out of the house I am living in by the end of October. There is no way my house will be finished by then so I may have to pitch a tent in the back yard of my block until the house is ready lol - then I could really keep an eye on things.

Keep you updated

Frame Inspection - Things not looking good

2010-07-29T18:45:00.003+10:00

Well I just received a copy of my Frame Inspection from Alex at Urban Inspections and I guess after hearing from Jay about his experience I really should not have been surprised.

I guess I should think myself lucky, I only had 11 things come up on the report but it still is not good enough. My suggestion to anyone building a house no matter what builder you are with - get an independent inspection.

I've sent the report to my SS and asked that the matters be fixed as a matter of urgency and before the building goes any further. We will see what he has to say.

Here are the things he had to say I have omitted the photos

1. As per AS 1684.4 for timber framing, external corners, internal corners and wall junctions are to be installed with a minimum of three corner blocks which are to be 200 mm long and spaced and a maximum of 800 mm spacing. This is also indicated as a requirement on the structural engineer

drawings. there are a number of external corners and wall junctions around the property where this has not been completed. Further to this, although a full-length stud is installed on the corner of the frame, blocking is still required, this requirement is also detailed in th Asutralian standard

and on the supplied engineering documents.

2. The BR2 brace installed on the entry / bedroom one wall is the single angle brace option. The engineers details require that stud straps be installed at the both ends of the angle brace on the top and bottom of the studs. This has not been completed.

3. Sheet brace BR4 is required on the rear left hand corner of the rumpus room as detailed by the engineers documents. This has not been installed.

4. The Jack studs installed under the the opening in the family room/rumpus room wall have been spaced at centers greater than 600 mm and are installed out of vertical alignment. The studs will need to be installed plumb and at centers no greater than 600 mm, as required by AS1684.4 for

timber framing and also to allow sufficient fixing to plaster wall lining.

5. As per the Australian standard for timber framing, internal non-load bearing walls with openings which extend further 1.2 m are required to be installed with timber lintels. This has not been completed in areas such as the opening in the sitting room facing the entry area and the bedroom

robe openings.

6. The engineers documents require that hoop iron be placed down the front porch posts P1, and strapped over the top of the beam. The hoop iron strapping is not placed over the beam and is not 12 courses long as required by the engineers documents.

Also required by the engineer is that sufficient hoop iron remain available for the bricklayers to triple bend into the mortar beds. This has also not been completed.

7. The engineers documents indicate that steal lintel L17 be supported by double studs with additional jamb stud and that all the double studs are to be nail laminated. Only one stud has been installed under the end of L17 at the front end of the beam.

8. Engineers documents also indicate that one M10 bolts to be installed at each end of L17 through the top plates and along the beam at 1 metre centers. This has not been completed.

9. The engineers documents indicate that the double studs supporting the front garage little L1 be wrapped with a hoop iron and triple bent into the brickwork. There is no hoop iron installed to allow the bricklayers to complete this requirement.

10. As per the Australian standard for timber framing AS 1684.4, concentrated loads, such as roof trusses, are to be located within 1.5 times the plate thickness away from a stud. As the top plates are 70 mm thick, trusses must be a maximum of 105 mm away from studs. This has not occurred

in the following areas:

a. The garage/sitting room wall.

b. The garage/bedroom two wall.

c. The kitchen/bedroom two wall.

As a result, top plate stiffening is require under the top plates spanning between the studs.

11. As per the Mi - Tech gang nail installation guidelines, the installation of saddle trusses must contain 75 x 25 mm battens installed in between and parallel to saddle trusses when they are spaced further apart than the roof cover battens. This has not been completed.

SUMMARY

The items listen in this report are of significant importance. Some of the items will need to be completed prior to proceeding to avoid the access being concealed.

Windows in and more Frame Photos

2010-07-25T12:16:00.002+10:00

Early start today and down to the block before 9:00am to see what has been going on over the last couple of days. I now have windows and door frames and most of the roof trusses have been put up.

Got a chance to walk through the construction and have a closer look at things and take a few photos.

Although I am not a chippy and know very little about construction I was a little disappointed with the workmanship. Maybe I am just anal about things and like everything to be perfect (perhaps I just look a little too closely or expect too much) I was just commenting to a friend who is a builder about it a few minutes ago and he says a lot of tradies on project homes think that their slap happy work will slip by as it gets covered in plaster and no-one will see it. What happened to taking pride in your work?

I was just a little unhappy with the quality of the wood used as some lengths were split noggings not straight and nails being either above or below the noggings and not in them at all. Hope that this will be fixed.

Major thing I noted was that the sitting room, which I am closing in has not been closed in at all. Will have to mention this to the 'Elusive' Site Supervisor' if I ever hear from him and will send an email to my CSC tonight just so I have put it in writing.

I have taken Jay's advice and am getting an independent Building Inspector in to check over the frame before plastering starts.

Anyway enjoy the photos below

Rumpus room looking out to the back yard and the Alfresco room on the right.

Family room looking from the kitchen, rumpus room on the right. It looks so much smaller to the display home. Hope it will look larger once plaster is up and furniture in.

Dining room off the kitchen with my beautiful Bi-part timber doors onto the Alfresco room. The rumpus room to the left and hallway and bedrooms off to the right.

Looking from the South side of the house. Garage at front, Bedrooms, main bathroom and laundry at the back.

Looking from the main entrance down the hallway. Master is to the left, Sitting room (which will be a study come craft room on right.

Hope by next weekend I will have a roof and be wrapped. We seem to be making good time. Keep your fingers crossed that this will continue as I can't keep paying the rent that I am as well as pay of a loan.

Until the next update, have a great week and to all of you who are building - hope it's a productive one on the building front.

Framed

2010-07-22T16:06:00.007+10:00

Just a quick update.

I had a call from a friend on Tuesday who had been down to the Estate on business and thought she would drop by my block and see if there was anything going on. She said that there had been some wood delivered and it looked like they were preparing to fix the base wood into the slab in order for the frame to start.

As I had a day off today I thought I would take a quick trip down to see what was going on. I expected to see very little however this is what I found.

They can do a lot in two days can't they? Sitting on top of the structure is all the trusses for the roof. Hopefully by the end of next week I will have windows in and not long after a roof. Given that I'm having a Colourbond roof I wouldn't expect it to take too long to put on.

It's great to finally see things happening and every time I go to the block there is something new.

I still have not heard from my Site Supervisor. He had promised that he would call me on a Thursday night when there was something to tell me - hmm, don't you think the scraping of my block, the pouring of the slab and the beginning of the frame is a pretty big deal? If I don't hear from him tonight I will be having something to say. I have note even met the guy yet!

Noticed though they were pretty quick to send me the bill for the slab. It was poured on Friday and the bill was delivered express post on Monday.

Will update when there is more happening.

Slab Photos

2010-07-17T17:22:00.004+10:00

Headed down to the block today with Gumboots in hand, after all of the water that was on it last time I thought I would need them however, I was quite surprised at how dry things were considering all the rain we had this week.

As I said in my previous post my slab was finally poured yesterday and so now I feel like I am really building. I can't believe that I am finally going to have my own house, something that I can put my mark on.

I noted that the house behind me is set lower than mine which is great, It means I won't be looking into windows while I'm sitting in my alfresco area in my pjs having breakfast and enjoying the sun :-). Still no action on the two blocks either side of me however a couple across the road have had their sites scraped and plumbing has begun.

Above is looking from my front porch. To the right is the living room which I am turning into a craft room and could be a fourth bedroom if needed. The far right is the garage.

Not a lot of room down the left side of the house. This is the master bedroom side with the Family and Rumpus room at the back. The Master bedroom has been extended slightly.

Looking from the back yard alfresco room with bedroom to left and rumpus to right.

This is looking from the very corner of my block, nice little bit of back yard although no where near what I have at the moment. I'm hoping when I get a little more money to extend the alfresco area out a little more and do some paving. When that will be I do not know but you have to dream.

It's a different story below. This is my front yard. Looks like I won't have to do too much lawn mowing and I don't think I'm going to be able to fit that nice little Japanese Maple I had planned to put in. Originally the house was set 5 metres from the front of the street as per the Developer's covenant however, I got a call from the builder a couple of weeks before the build started to say that the Developer wanted the house moved forward as they do not consider the porch to be part of the house. Does this look like a five metre set back to you? I didn't have my tape measure to check but I hope so.

Slab Poured

2010-07-16T14:10:00.002+10:00

Just a quick update. There was a delay in the pouring of the slab due to the rain. I thought I would take a drive past the block today as I had the day off work and they had just finished the pour (3 days later than expected).

No photos yet as I didn't want to get out of the car and walk around interfering with what they were doing so I will pop down over the weekend when I can have a walk around at my own leisure and take photos to my hearts content.

Plumbing and Letter Boxes

2010-07-11T18:38:00.006+10:00

Went down to the block again today just to see how much had been done. As you can see by the photo below the plumbing is done.

Don't know if the slab will get poured as planned this Tuesday as they are forecasting rain. Keep your fingers crossed that they are wrong.

Also went to the HIA Building and Renovation show today and bought myself a letterbox. Given that the developer has restrictions on the type of letterbox you can have I have found it difficult to find something I liked. I found one (pic below) made my 'Milkcan Letterbox Company (available from Bunnings). I will stain it to match my garage door. The letterbox I have in the house I am living in at the moment has been stolen twice. I don't think anyone will be able to run off with this one.

Slab Date

2010-07-08T19:42:00.002+10:00

Got an email from my CSC to advise that the date has been set for my slab pour. All being well it will be Tuesday 13th July. I'm hoping they have not had a lot of rain down that way as it was like a swimming pool the other day.

My Site Manager Rob has been off all week as he has hurt his back however, Nicole my CSC says he is really organised and this should not hold anything up. I hope this is the case.

Finally I have a CSC who gets back to me and so quickly too. I told her how much I appreciated this, credit where credit is due and I thought I should get off on a good foot with her too.

Let's hope that the next time I post I am posting photos of a concrete slab.

Site Scrape complete

2010-07-03T17:51:00.008+10:00

Went down to the block today to see if they had actually started like they said they would. Fence is up, electricity connected, labourers toilet sitting at an interesting angle and I have a lovely swimming pool right in the middle my block as you can see by my photo's below.

Looking at the block with the fence around it I now realise just how big the house is and just how close to the road that it is sited. I have not been given a date for plumbing and slab as yet in fact I have not heard from Metricon for over a week now since they told be I had been given a start date. I'm not surprised given the negative feedback I gave them in their survey.

I have a swimming pool

I Have a fence

and electricity

Official Site Start

2010-06-25T09:38:00.004+10:00

Could it be that things are finally happening? I just received an email from my new Customer Service coordinator Nicole advising that the site will be scraped on 30 June so perhaps with good luck (something I have not known for quite a long time) I will be in my house by Christmas!!!!!

Last week I received the permits in the mail along with the Energy Rating report. I am happy to say that out of a possible 7 star rating my house received 6 1/2 stars (I wonder what I would have had to do to get that extra half a star).

This makes me very happy as I believe the house I am living in now would not even rate a 2. There is no insulation in half of the house and I have been without heat for over a week. Got it back on Friday only to come home on Saturday to find flames coming out of the bottom of the heater. Called the Land Lord who had someone out Wednesday to look at it. Seems the ignition on the pilot light had started a fire and has gone to god. Pilot light is still working but if it goes out (which it has done twice) I have to pull the front of the heater off and light it with a match. Oh I cannot wait until I have central heating.

Took a trip on the weekend down to Lara to the new Santorini display home which has recently opened up. This one had the Great Outdoor room instead of the rumpus room. Very nice but I still like my rumpus room. The en suite was a little different to mine and the master bedroom seemed a little smaller than some of the others I have seen however this could just be an illusion from the colours used as it had the extension. I am so glad that I went for the extension of the Master and en suite as I have a huge bed and I want plenty of room to move around. I don't think I would have had this if I had not had the extra extension.

Have a question for some of you who are building. Are you having eaves? I have noticed so many new houses do not have eaves. I have chosen to have them as I have spoken to quite a few people who do not have them and they have said that if they had their time over again they would as they offer protection from the Sun, hail and rain. What do you think?

Anyway I am off to clean out a Garage that is full of 60 years of my Father's tools and other junk. If I'm lucky I may be out by dinner time.

Site Manager Called Today

2010-06-18T17:59:00.002+10:00

Site manager called today (by accident, thought he had another Kylie who is building in the same street - this could get quite confusing as we are both building the Santorini)

He introduced himself (His name is Rob) and said he thought that the site would be scraped on Monday, footings down next day and the slab poured shortly after. That's funny because I have not even been given a start date yet and my new CSC has not even called me so I think I will take that with a grain of salt.

He advised would call me once a week to give me an update on what is happening and should I want to come down and have a look around at any time just give him a call and we could arrange it.

Funny I had been told that the Site Managers do not give out their telephone numbers however he quite freely gave me the number but asked that I don't call him at 1:00am in the morning or on weekends which is fare enough. He told me not to even call my CSC as she wouldn't know what was going on (He didn't need to tell me that).

He did however get a bit touchy when I said I was getting my own Building Inspector in. There was silence and then he said I was throwing away my money and that they had their own Building Inspector. I politely told him I understood that but just wanted to be on the safe side.

I didn't say that I had heard some negative feedback in the last couple of days.

Anyway let's hope that things start moving now and that perhaps by this time next week there is some action happening down at the block. I'm off down there this weekend to put my sign up for the Builders as asked and have a look at all the development that is going on there. Will take some photos as well just to give an overview of the Estate.

I have some family coming down from Queensland for the weekend so I'm going to take my mind off the house for a few days and enjoy myself without stress.

Have a nice weekend all!!!

I can smell a start date coming on.

2010-06-12T18:42:00.003+10:00

We're getting close. Have been told that I should have a site start date by end of next week. About time!

Final plans were signed off on last week, got an email on Friday saying that building permit had been applied for however before it could be approved I needed to pay a Community Infrastructure Levy to Council and asking could I go down and do this asap. Hop in the car, take the 30 minute drive down to The Casey Civic Centre to pay this only to be told that the Developer paid this back in March!!! Was I Angry? You betcha! Look at another email that came in from my CSC saying that they need a copy of the receipt from the Cardinia City Council - I call her and leave a message (because I can never reach her on the telephone) telling her that I am not building in the City of Cardinia but in the City of Casey, adding that I hope they have not put my plans in to the wrong Shire as I don't want any more hold ups. I later receive another email from her apologising for this and that she was given the wrong information, hmmm.

According to the contract once this building permit has been obtained they have 21 days to start the build so hopefully it won't be too far away.

After looking over the final plans I noticed that the measurements for the driveway have decreased by 6 square metres. I queried if I would be getting a credit back and was advised that it would be looked into. Later in the day I got an email to say there would be a $712.00 credit back so at least there was something to be happy about.

While down at Cranbourne yesterday I took a little drive down to the estate to see what's been happening since I was last there. My block now has the water taps connected (I received my second water bill this week). There are now three houses in my street which have their frames up. There would easily be around 100 builds started now and it is really looking great. I have also had the opportunity to speak to a few of my neighbours through the 'Home One' forum and am so happy to know that I will be sharing the neighbourhood with some lovely people. It has reinforced my belief that I have chosen the right estate to build in.

Hopefully next week I will be able to post the news that I have a site date. Until then I hope you all have a lovely week.

Your lesson for today

2010-06-04T11:39:00.003+10:00

Always check, check and triple check, don't take anything for granted.

I guess alarm bells should have rung when I had my tile selection appointment and the girl asked what tiles I wanted for my kitchen splashback. I told her that I am having a glass splashback as per my contract (which I had with me at the time). She said she had not been advised of this but would check this out before sending me the final paperwork.

We get on to the bathroom and pick the tiles for the floor which I say I will have run through to the shower base (an upgrade I chose at my Studio M selection appointment).

Yesterday in the mail I get my tile selection to sign off on. Wall tile, check. Floor tile, check. Border tile, check. Feature tile, check. Shower base, blank!

Hang on what is this?

Call tile company, no mention of shower base in the documentation they received. Why am I not surprised?

Call CSC, of course cannot get in contact with her. Leave a message and email regarding this and the fact that my Finance provider will not send out Signed contracts until I submit plans approved by council which she will not submit until she has Signed contracts from my loan provider!!!

No answer that afternoon. Leave another message for her to call me this morning. Yet again no answer. Call the builders reception to get the name of who I need to complain to about all of the problems I have encountered thus far (there are more than 10) and am told that they all left this morning at 08:30am for a full day of training.....Well I hope the training works because they are totally incompetent at the moment.

Do I sound like I am angry? To be honest I am just getting fed up, I know that this sounds very minor but I have had so many small problems that really should not have happened if people were organised and did their job properly. All these small problems and disorganisation keep delaying my start date which in turn is costing me money.

I know everyone says that building is a nightmare but surely there are some people who have had positive experiences? I know there are....I've spoken to them.

I guess I shouldn't complain. When I read on the home one site what some people are going through with their bricks being poorly laid or breaking I should not be complaining about my problems.

On a happier note (always finish on a happy note) I have received the name of my Site Manager and by all reports he is a really good Manager (Kylie does a happy dance). So maybe when I get to building, things will swing my way.

Frustration

2010-05-28T19:34:00.003+10:00

It's been four months since I first signed on with my builder. I have been getting so frustrated with the lack of communication, the errors and the slow progress. I emailed my CSC yesterday to get an update on where we were at, if plans had gone to Council yet and if she could give ma a start date.

The answer I received today was not what I had hoped to hear.

Plans have not been put into Council yet, although she assures me this will only take 48 hours for approval once they have. Paperwork is with 'Quality Assurance', whatever that means and once this has all been approved (another week) they will have me into construction in a couple of weeks - this means more than likely building will not start until July!!!!!

What is eating me more is that so many people I have spoken to in the last couple of weeks who signed on with builders at the same time as me have already got their slabs laid and frames up. One of my friends who signed in February has been told she will be in her house by the end of August! I'm probably looking at Christmas at the earliest.

If I knew what I know now I would not have gone with the builder I chose. Too late now, just hope things get better.

The excitement of building my first home has now disappeared. I just hope it returns

Will keep you updated.

Things are starting to Happen

2010-05-25T19:36:00.004+10:00

Well things are slowly starting to happen. Certificate of Title arrived just over a week ago, Developer Approval was given on 18th May (took almost a month as the builder forgot to send colour samples), loan documents arrived yesterday and today I had my final colour selection which was my tiles.

I am keeping the same floor tile throughout my wet areas which is a charcoal in 400mm x 400mm. I have chosen to go predominantly white on the walls, shower and bath with charcoal tiles framing the mirrors and a 100mm wide black pebble feature strip running vertically down one wall of each shower.

I wanted to keep the colours simple and something that is not going to date too quickly. I would prefer to add my colours by using towels and accessories so that when I get board I can change the look easily and with very little expense.

The only think I am waiting on now is council approval and a start date from the builder which I will expect to have in the next week.

Oh and I have already received my first water bill from Southern Water. A whole $11.00, if only they were all going to be that low.

Settlement At Last!

2010-04-30T18:55:00.003+10:00

Well at last after much stress, a few hiccups and a last minute dash into town to deliver some cheques I have my own little piece of dirt. Settlement was at 2:30 today. Now it's just a matter of getting planning approved and hopefully if all goes well we will have a start date for building shortly. Then the real stress will begin!

Exterior Colour Change

2010-04-25T11:55:00.006+10:00

Well for reasons I don't need to go into I have changed the Exterior Colour of the house. The brick colour is still remaining the same which is Austral Homestead Mushroom, however, the colour pallet is now in blues. The roof, guttering and down pipes are now in Colourbond Ironstone, the windows, eves and door trim in White. Cladding in Dulux Sellout, Front Door in Dulux Rainmaker, Eves, Veranda Lining, Portico Lining and Outdoor room ceiling in Dulux Lexcon Quarter (white).

No More changes!!!!!

I also got notice that due to developers regulations my house has to be sited another metre closer to the front of the block. Originally they had the portico 5 metres from the front however they have now been advised that it is the house itself that has to be 5 metres from the front of the block. Something I'm not too happy about as I presently live in a house that is twice that from the front and I like that distance from the street. Thankfully I think the new house will be on a quiet street with very little traffic apart from local traffic. I can only hope so.

My own little piece of dirt

2010-04-17T14:43:00.003+10:00

2010-04-17T14:35:00.004+10:00

I have chosen to have floating floorboards in the entrance, family, kitchen and dining rooms. Left is the colour I have chosen which is from the Boral Silkwood range called Tallowwood.

The picture on the left is of a narrower board, I am having 133mm wide strips. My heart would have liked blackbutt however my wallet said 'no way'. I think it is a good compromise.

House Plans

2010-04-17T13:58:00.004+10:00

So these are the house plans showing the electricals and flooring and the room sizes. Perhaps a little small to see any great information but will give you a basic idea.

I have made two more changes to the house plans. While still having the double vanity bench space in the en-suite I am only having one basin which will be a feature of the bathroom. I am also narrowing the entrance to the sitting room. Because there are so many living areas in the house I have chosen to turn the sitting room into a craft room come study. I will have two cavity sliding doors which I can keep open and when the room is a little messy and someone is coming over I can just close the doors up. It can also become a fourth bedroom if there are a house full of guests.

Because of their added cost I have chosen not to have down lights. I was a little disappointed but after speaking with so many people who have them and have problems I have decided that I am probably better off.

2010-04-17T13:10:00.005+10:00

Kitchen Colour Selection

Overhead cupboards: Nocturne Oak

Splash back: Stone

Caesarstone bench tops: Ice Snow

Pot drawers and lower cupboards: White

Kick rails: zinc (not shown)

Above are the colours I have selected for the kitchen. As the kitchen/family and dining room are combined I didn't want to go too dark on the kitchen and wanted to choose colours that would go well with the other rooms. I'm hoping I have succeeded with this.

I have chosen to have a single bowl under mount sink which will give me more bench space and after much research have gone with all Miele appliances including a gas cook-top and dishwasher.

The only thing that I am unhappy with is the location of the microwave which sits under the island bench. I like to be able to watch what's going on in my microwave so that things don't spill over. Having the microwave here is a little inconvenient. It had been suggested that I put it in the pantry but after watching my microwave at home and noticing all the steam that came out of it I didn't think it was a great idea.

2010-04-17T12:31:00.007+10:00

Colour Selection

External

Brick: Austral Mushroom

Roof, Guttering, Front Door: Colourbond Loft

Facia: Colourbond Shale

Windows: Ultra Silver

Cladding: Dulux Rameau

I was really excited about the colours at first but am now having my doubts. I wanted something that was going to be a little different from the grey or green Colourbond roofs and the white or cream windows that every second house has. This left me with very little choice for windows it was either a green, black or silver. I chose the silver because it wouldn't be as noticeable on the inside but now I'm thinking I should have gone black.

I like the colour of the roof as I thought it would give me some flexibility should I want to change the cladding later on. I could look at Olives, blues, browns or greys.

I am having the standard entry door which is shown in the display home photo above. I thought it was pointless spending a lot of money on a fancy door as it is going to be hidden behind a 'crimsafe' security door anyway.

2010-04-17T12:26:00.005+10:00

Facade of the Santorini

As my house faces west I have flipped the floor plan so that the Garage wall and bedrooms are on the south and the main living areas face North to get the best energy rating.

I have chosen not to have the render so everything rendered in this picture above will be the Austral Mushroom brickwork. The veranda will just be cement until I can afford to pave it later. The garage door is a timberlook (woodgrain finish) colourbond sectional remote control door. I am yet to choose my lighting but will have 5 outdoor lights, one on each pillar one at each end of the house and then one on the front porch so I will definitely see you coming when you come to visit.

For the driveway and path I have chosen to go with the concrete fauxtex Ashlar Slate patterned driveway in Bluestone with Charcoal finish. I am yet to decide what I am going to do with the garden but need to put plans in soon to the developer. I am open to suggestions if anyone has any, just remember the front of the house faces west so will get a lot of sun.

Let the Adventure begin

2010-04-17T09:21:00.005+10:00

Well yesterday was a huge day for me. After paying a deposit on my own little piece of dirt back in January I got notification that after much anguish my block had titled and that settlement would be the 29th of April.

To make things even better I signed contracts and paid my deposit with Metricon to build the Santorini 26, a house I have been eyeing off for almost two years.

Why did I choose the Santorini? I really loved the open floor plan, I loved the entrance from the garage into the house and specially loved the huge walk in linen closet and the huge walk in pantry and the outdoor room sealed the deal. To add to this it was in my price range. I chose the Breeze facade as it is the least modern of all the facades they offer and those that know me will know that while I like 'modern' I want a little hint of what I grew up in.

I guess now it is going to be a long 8 months waiting for the house to be completed.

Your welcome to check back on my progress and follow me through the ups and downs of building a new house.

Let the adventure begin..............