Packing!!! :)

We spent all yesterday packing boxes. We will also spend most of today packing so that we can move this weekend :D :D

The builder has been chasing the council all week. They are meant to be insepecting the house today (fingers & toes crossed!!) Once they give it the all clear it is ALL OURS :D :D and we get the keys and can start moving in.

It's been raining all night and all day today (34mm this morning alone) and it looks like rain all weekend. The roads are starting to flood so it might be interesting :S

The slab for the double garage was poured on tuesday so here are the pics:

It came a day early = happy campers :)

Graffiti ;)

ohhh i like a good slab... (of concrete! lol)

Side of house - now with weed lawn and stakes to mark our pop up sprinklers

Latest pic of the front - complete with weed lawn :P If it keeps raining we might still have grass to mow before Christmas LOL. Oh well, it's better than mud.

Sooo close!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are very close to moving in :D :D

The bank have given us their final approval, the builder has the final payment and the house is officially ours! We are still waiting on the council to inspect and approve for occupancy. The builder has told us that he can give us the keys but we can't move anything into the house before the inspection or we will be fined by the council. We will have our walk through this week.

Although we will soon be able to move in we are still waiting on a few things. We still don't have turf but the builder has applied for a special application to allow us to move in and get the turf after (possibly even in the new year) Our builder says that the turf farm is underwater and our yard is also way too wet to scrape again (our yard is COVERED in weeds after all the rain) We are also still waiting on a clothesline, mailbox and tv antenna which i think will be done this week (?) and the whirly bird won't be here til the new year.

The power, gas and water are all connected and we have to be out of our current rental by the 15th. We have booked the carpet cleaner for the 14th and are hoping that the council will approve everythnig this week so that we can move everything this weekend.

In other news the site for the shed slab was boxed up today and the concrete will be done on Wednesday. We need to start packing but haven't done any yet :S It still doesn't seem like it is real and we are FINALLY moving, even if the move is only ONE WEEK away!!

I can't wait to put up the Christmas decorations! :D :D We plan to have the shed, paving and a basic garden finished before we host Christmas at our house. Here's hoping we get time to get it all done!

Sooo close to keys!!!!!

Today we found out that we will get our turf this week, we are not sure if they will need to re-scrape the site first. They better not wreck our watering system after the massive effort it took DH to put it in. The cleaner has been booked for this week and the council have scheduled their inspection for either friday or next week (can't remember exact day, i was too excited when he told us!!) We also have a shower screen and mirror.

The list of things still to be done:


'Whirly bird' and two eave vents to roof
Tv antenna
Turf
Clothes line
Mail box
Finish shelving in main bedroom
Clean whole house and SCRUB the toilet til it's looking brand new again!!!
Paint - touch up paint /clean walls where needed

Other possibles (undecided how much it will matter, we would rather have the keys if it comes down to it!)
* Turn around blinds above sink (so they hang at opposite end to sink)

*Possible re-paint of paint around front door

Our AWESOME neiche with downlight. Love love love!!

Checking out the dishwasher! :)

The oven is ready for some Christmas cooking! :D :D I can't wait!

We have a shower screen :) I'm a little disappointed it is a white frame. The builder had previously said it would be chrome so i might ask about that















Hopefully all the news from here on in is good news! Bring on the turf...and KEYS!!

The carpet was installed on Monday (i've been busy so i haven't uploaded the pics til now)

I LOVE the carpet! It complements everything else in the house (and even DH approves!) These are the best photos i have until i can get access to the house again.

Third bedroom

Main bedroom













The list of things still to be done:
Install shower screen
Mirror for bathroom
'Whirly bird' and two eave vents to roof
Tv antenna
Turf
Clothes line
Mail box
Finish shelving in main bedroom
Hand towel ring installed in laundry
Turn around blinds above sink (so they hang at opposite end to sink)
Clean whole house and SCRUB the toilet til it's looking brand new again!!!
*Check to make sure all powerpoints are in (especially at end of kitchen bench)
*Check to make sure towel rail is installed in bathroom
*Paint - touch up where needed
*Possible re-paint of paint around front door

That's all i can think of for now :)

We still haven't got a move in date. We've been told it could be up to EIGHT WEEKS for the bank/council to process paperwork if they take the maximum time allowed! :( :S We can't start that process until the turf goes in (condition of council to have the house & land 'finished' and presentable) The problem is it keeps raining in Newcastle (where turf iscoming from) so they can't dig it up and it's been raining here so it would be too muddy to install it :S

digging

On the weekend we did some digging:

We were digging trenches to put in pipes and sprinklers for our watering system.

We dug out all the trenches with the dingo, but were a bit afraid to dig too deep as we weren't sure where all the pipes and underground phone/power was :s
So then we had to shovel out all the dirt and dig a bit deeper in places. We then linked up all the sprinklers but it was getting late so we decided to come back on the monday (which we both had off) to finish.

That night it RAINED and RAINED some more :S  :(  :( We haven't been back to do anymore as we've both been busy.

Light covers are included (for everything that isn't a downlight) We didn't realise we would get these so it's a bonus!! :D :D :D

The best pic i could get of the oven taken through the window on an angle :S

Front door with varnish. Love it, not so much the green :S Told the painter to do whatever he thought would look good!?!. At worst we have the cream paint so we can do it ourselves as if we have to. The rest of the paint looks good.

These were another bonus! :) One set on the side and one set out the back. Love them!

And finally a pic of the door handles. Still waiting on the carpet, hopefully it might come tomorrow. We are so close now, i hope it doesn't take too long. I guess we should start packing huh? Lol

more toys! :D

Here's the latest:

Hand towel holder ( it looks big! :S) And that isn't my drink...

Near invisible soap holder and glass shelf!  :) Hopefully it will match the shower screen :)

They have painted the shelf supports (the ones they forgot to do with the rest)

We have a toilet!
Not so happy to see that it's been used - or should i say ABUSED!! :( :( Bleughh. HOW RUDE. They better be cleaning it til it looks brand new again.


Oh, and you can see what the door handles look like :)

Gas cook top minus the black trivet (?) things that go on top. I realised today that they hadn't put the oven in yet. The electricians were there today doing all the power points and putting the oven in :)

Sink looking good. Not sure why they got the blinds to hang at that end of window :S Might have to change that...

Dishwasher! :D :D

Painters were there painting on the skirting boards Tilers have finished laying the extra tiles (the ones that were missing after they tiled the extra room by mistake)

Not sure about green verandah posts... and they painted green around the door - i think that should be cream as it looks a little strange...

They were staining / lacquering the front door (or whatever it's called :P) Happy to see action! :D

We (meaning I) have drawn up a plan for the garden - and a plan for the watering system with pop up sprinklers and water weeping hoses :D We (Meaning DH) plan to dig the trenches and put in the pipes this weekend! YAY!

Lastest additions

Here are some new things (I can't see in the house because the blinds are all CLOSED - how dare they, lol!)

New front door and door handle :) Door needs staining - this will be done when the painters come back to paint the skirting boards (not in yet), verandah posts and touch up paint.

We have a pump (a teeny one but still it is a pump) This is for the tank water as only some of our inside taps are fed by town water (Part of the BASIX/council water saving conditions). We still need to work out exactly which taps are tank water - each of our neighbours has a different idea! :S

And this is the tank - now fully installed. It will be beside the wall of the yet-to-be-built shed. Shed will be built on the right of the tank. One the left and behind the tank and shed will be my veggie gardens :)

 Another view of the tank and backyard. The shed will be in the foreground, the remaining dirt will be turf, gardens, veggie patch and pavers :D

Speaking of turf - it will be laid in the next week or so. I went to the 'Bunny Warehouse' today to find out about lawn and yard watering systems. The dream is to have one that works itself with pop up sprinklers, burried pipes and timers. Hmmm i think the budget may have other ideas :(

Welcome to our home! :D I'm just imagining a Christmas wreath hanging there in a few weeks time. YAY, i can't wait :)

Don't let this boring box fool you - the instantaneous gas hot water system is one of the best toys in the house! It's going to be soooo good at Christmas with lots of people in the house and not having to worry about the hot water running out. Oh, and we're not paying for hot water that we haven't used! :P

The next time you see it, we will probably have turf! :)

Tile drama sorted :)

We ended up going with the tiles. The builder actually said he thought it looked better as tiles once he saw it this morning. It seems the tiler thought it was meant to be tiled and didn't check the plan.

This means we get a free room of tiles, feature tiles laid for free and we don't have to pay extra for laying diagonal tiles! Wooohoooo. Glad they stuffed up now lol. They have all been very generous and gone out of their way to make up for it. One happy customer here :D :D :D

When we were there meeting the builder it seemed like it was all systems go - we had the guy just finishing up installing the blinds, the plumber doing the vanity and taps, someone else installing the kitchen appliances and the carpet people came to measure the rooms!

Below: Guy taking the dishwasher in the front door :D

It is looking really nice now :) We have kitchen appliances all in, blinds finished, vanity and bathroom taps all done :)

Still waiting on: Skirting boards to be installed, tiles to be finished, paint to be touched up and skirting boards and posts out the front painted, carpet installed, power points, light fittings and switches, gas HWS installed, pump and tank connected (tank now in right place), grass going in  next week, clothesline, mail box and then the KEYS :) Not long to go now, approx 3 weeks plus the time for council to approve and let us in.

Left: Shower tiles and taps yay :D The shower head may not stay though, it's just a water saving one i had already so we didn't have to pay for a cheap normal one.

: D

Loving this! :) Mirror still to go in.

New toys!!!

Blinds in living area. They match perfectly, considering i didn't have a paint sample to comare it too. Mmmm 'biscuit' :)











I didn't get any kitchen pics as the guy was there the whole time installing everything, i thought i'd be a bit strange to ask for him to move or have him in the pic :S  Photos of kitchen next time.

Tiling Mega DRAMA!!

I went around to the house on monday to see how the tiles were going. We had the laundry floor grouted, wall tiles in place, bathroom floor and wall tiles in place and concrete cleaned/polished ready for tiles. All looking good so far :) I thought it was a bit strage that they had polished the loungeroom (which was having carpet), but didn't think much of it. That night i casually said to DH 'I hope they know the lounge is having carpet' and he goes 'They did the feature tiles right so they must be going off the plan. They were probably just cleaning it all up, it'll be fine' And the topic was forgotten.

On Tuesday afternoon I went back to see the progress. The first thing i noticed was the nice cream tiles laid on a diagonal IN THE LOUNGEROOM!!!! Gahhhhhh, they DID lay tiles in the lounge :S :S

The rest of the house was perfect, the tilers did a fantastic job. I called the builder and told him they'd tiled the lounge. He said that they wouldn't pull them up now they were laid and he'd pay the difference. He just wanted to know if we still wanted carpet and i said we'd be happy to keep the tiles. Little did i know...

Left: The room that was meant to have carpet.

When i got home DH was really annoyed at the mix up, and was insisting we get carpet. Here started the many phone calls between builder, tiler, tile supplier and us :S The builder gave us two options:

1: Keep the tiles, no carpet

2: Install carpet OVER tiles, using glue and nails to pierce the tiles, wrecking the tiles completly and having carpet raised higher than tile height.

The third option we came up with was: Keep the tiles, get a piece of carpet fitted to the room (matching bedroom carpet as planned), overlock the edges (?) but NOT install it so tiles are still good underneath - good when we come to sell as buyer has both options there. Still sits higher than tile height.

The builder didn't like this idea and said the only way he'll pay for carpet is if it's INSTALLED. I think he won't give us the warranty if it's not installed and we think he may consider it a trip hazard (?) / hastle if it frays etc.

We had pretty much decided last night to keep tiles and get carpet over the top. Then this morning...

Dahhh dahhh dahhhhh...

The builder rings to inform us he has booked a JACKHAMMER to pull it all up :S

Can we really justify wrecking a room full of perfectly laid, brand new tiles??? So now we are back to square one. I like tiles as it is better value, easier to clean, you can just change/clean the carpet, and it is good investment to leave them for when we sell the house down the track.

DH wants the carpet as it is soft, it creates a different 'zone' so that people know that carpet = shoes off and no eating on our new lounges, carpet is good for crawling little kiddies (when we have some), it's not cold on feet like tiles and it gives us the option to have that room as an open walled 4th bedroom/kids play area/office/formal lounge.

So there you have it. We are at stalemate. By tomorrow morning we have to give the builder either permission to rip it out or leave it (with or without installing carpet over the top) I think he plans to work out where the decision was made and have them pay or have it covered by insurance to cover the extra costs.

action at last!

We have good news :)

The excavator has been and the pipe is moved :) They left the black (power supply?) pipe sticking up though so we will need to look into that, i'm really hoping that we won't need to get them to come back AGAIN to move it too. Really, i have no idea why they didn't just move it while they had the hole dug. Anyway, at least something has been done. It has been raining all day so if they do need to come back it will be a big delay of at least another week :S :(

The REALLY good news is that the tiler arrived late yesterday (thursday) afternoon! He was just setting up but he is finally there! :) :D Today i did a 'drive-by' and there were two of the tilers cars, an open garage and it looked like they were busy so i wasn't going to hold up their progress for anything!

I might get some photos if i go past tomorrow. Sooooo happpy to see the tilers arrive, the builder gave us an estimated move in of 5weeks from when the tilers finish. It feels so close, i want time to hurry up but the tilers to take their time and do a good job :) lol

New Pics :)

We have been talking to the builder again this week.
The good news: The tiler *should* be starting this week :)
The excavator *should* be coming Tuesday to dig up the pipe causing us all the drama


The not so good news: We won't be moving in until AT LEAST mid November :( The builder estimates we will move in 5 weeks after the tiler finishes (the first time he has even given us an estimate of a move in date) Nothing much can be done until the tilers are finished so we are hoping that we will get lots of tiles done this week!

The site has been levelled. This is where the garden goes :)

The line is where we are going to pave. The pavers will go past the sliding door to the BBQ gas point, and around the corner up to where the air con unit is. 2m wide near door, 3m wide along side of the house









Looking towards the street. This side will all be garden (except for paved area)

We have shed roller doors!!











Tile boxes! :D Now we just need a tiler to put them all down!

333ml floor tiles. These are the same throughout the whole house.

 The feature tile for the bathroom will be three rows of these squares wide and will run horizontally above the shower and bath. In the kitchen the same tiles will be used in 9small squares to make one square, laid as a diamond.

Wall tile, feature and floor tiles are all the same throughout. Wall is garage lining painted in 1/4 hog bristle
















The shed kit has arrived. They just dumped it out the front :( so it took us about 3hrs to break it up and carry it into the garage piece by piece :P

The front door is also here :) This is the top of it, it will be stained by the painters when they come back after the tilers come.

The paint is looking awesome! This is the niche all painted and ready to be go :)

 Not a good pic but you can see the finished paint and aircon installed :)

 The top cupboards look darker now that the paint has been done (peruvian clay - laminate)

The daiken air conditioner :D :D

 Bath ready for tiles












Shower base is done

 The backyard and paddock crazy with weeds

 Looking from the front door

The front of house now that the site has been levelled. We even have a strip of turf left over from the house across the road! I don't know if there is much point though, it'll just die as we won't be there to water it :(