Delays... hmmm

We have had no work on our house for the last three weeks. Last week we found out why. The builder hadn't recieved the third payment (for lockup) and so our contract was extended by 14 days. The reason it wasn't paid was:

1. I was away when the email was sent in JULY and didn't know anything about it until early August
2. Hubby doesn't check his emails anywhere near as often as he should :S We also thought it wasn't at lockup when it was as the front door wasn't on. The plaster was the next stage, so that's when the lockup money was due.
3. When I gave the release form to the SS he held onto it for a week not knowing what to do with it as the Builder was away in Perth for a month.
4. The bank held onto the form for another week before they processed it.

We are very lucky that the builder didn't charge interest on the money - as they are entitled to this according to the contract :S

So the GOOD news is that the drama is all sorted, the builders will be back to work next week :D, the front door needs to be reordered (which means i can now upgrade to wood stain, something i was going to pass off if they already had it ordered) and the tilers will be coming soon :)

I think the delay actually helped in a way, as it meant they could catch up on all their other work. So *hopefully* they will now have some more time working on ours :)

The builder also said that we were lucky that our slab went down when it did, as they have another house that has been waiting 6 WEEKS for good enough weather to get the slad done :S

We also got to decide on our cupboard set out while we were there.

So back on track and hopefully lots of progress soon :)

Delays :( and Outdoor ideas

We went to see the house on Friday, hoping to see lots of new additions. We found no changes at all!  :(  Everyone is busy and booked out for the next few WEEKS :( The builders are busy with one of the government funded school building upgrades (A huge new school hall) plus two other big housing developments. Apparently our little house isn't much of a priority, the Site Supervisor said he comes over 'When I get a spare day' BOO not happy! Looks like we won't be finished anytime soon :(

He did say the tilers might be over in two weeks time, but not to expect anything else between now and then. I guess they would be delayed anyway as the tiles for the wet areas were out of stock. We had to reselect the tiles ( now we will have the same cream 333ml floor tile throughout the whole house, and the same wall tiles and feature tiles throughout the whole house) I guess it will keep it simple, i decided to just go with one floor tile rather than have to go through the whole selection process again.

We also had to order extra floor tiles as DH decided we were having diagonal floor tiles in all living areas (adding an extra $10/m to lay plus 5% extra order for tiles = $500+!!!) The wet areas will still be straight except for the tiles in the shower which will also be diagonal. I can't say i mind either way in terms of direction of the tiles, but as we keep saying, we can only do them once so we may as well get what we want. Too bad it all costs money.  This pic is a small tile on a wall, but you get the idea!

In other news we are making plans to have an alarm system installed by a family friend. It will be a fancy set up with movement/glass break sensors on every window, corner sensors is every room, a blue flashing light out the front and connected to the security monitoring company in case of break-in or firealarm activation. DH's mum used to sell them and has one installed in her house so we will get a good deal :) It won't look like this, I just put it in to break up the writing!

We are also looking into getting a double garage with workshop for the backyard. It will be colourbond to match the house with side access along the narrower side of the house (the right side of house) We are not sure whether we will pay for it's completion, pay for a slab and put up kit ourselves (my choice) or do the lot from scratch as a kit. It will look something like this: (same colours too but stretched to make it a bit longer)

Hubby gets the shed on the condition that I get my timber decking, shade sails and garden :) Hopefully we can also get a good price on the timber as one of Hubby's friends works at a timber mill :) I think the boys will all chip in to help with all of these builds - boys and their toys :P

My ideas for the deck are a combination of this:

And this:

With a pergola looking something like this: (i have found an Bali imports shop in our town who sells them for a decent price, there are also different sizes available, some with seating attached)

or this is a more realistic option:

Then i plan to add lots of lovely green plants! And a few flowers of course!

KITCHEN!!! Garage door & front door :D

Hi everyone, sorry for the lack of update as i've been away for the weekend.

We now have a kitchen! We think it was installed last thursday, around the same time the garage and front door went up :)

I LOOOVE  the kitchen! The colours have come together really well, maybe even better than i expected. Everyone else seems to go with black and white but there was no way we were having that in our kitchen, It would feel depressing to me for some reason (oh, and black gloss benches are a NIGHTMARE to clean, trust me) The only complaint is the size of the kitchen itself, i really wish we could have somehow made it a bit bigger. Oh well, we will make it work :)

Things i love:
The diamond gloss bench top (Lunar Stone)
The pot drawers
The touch-catch door under the breakfast bar
The overall colour scheme and how it's come together :)
ALL OF IT!!! : D : D

I should also mention that i love the look of the garage door, and the remote that comes with it! The front door is actually the wrong one so we will have to get it changed.

As you'll see in the photos the shower tap fittings have been changed to a mixer :D and are now awaiting the gyprock.

Onward to the photos!

duckboards and wading pools at the front step/garage (It was flooding in Tamworth)

wading pool!, post on stilts wating for concrete and a plop of mortar left from the brickies

Swimming pool in background, anyone?! You can just make out a line of floodwater in the distance.

Ooh a tap! Two actually, and they even work!

Front of the house today after we found an unlocked window to climb through! We'd been locked out for a week now.

Internal doors ready to go

Remote controlled door :D

Here it is! :) Top cupboards and kick board -peruvian clay, Bottom cupboards -Pumice, Bench - lunar stone diamond gloss (covered by cardboard). All laminex selections. Handles are slim bow handle in satin chrome, also by laminex

Loving the drawers! Dishwasher space

Oven space and gas cooktop space above it covered by cardboard

Top cupboards with room for exhaust fan and fridge space

The best shot i could get of the sink under the cardboard

The offcut from the gas cooktop space - we scabbed it out of their bin along with the one from the sink space! If we can find edges for them we might be able to make a little movable trolley or something to match the bench. It's a shame to waste such beautiful glossy bench top!

Yes! please be careful and look after our lovely kitchen!

Skirting boards ready to go in

The offending shower pipes have now been changed and we have our mixer tap installed. I wonder how cranky they were having to re-do it??

The view out of our bedroom window, this will eventually all be built out :(

Close-up of bench top and breakfast bar

Best shot i have of the touch-catch cupboard door at the back of the breakfast bench

Taken through the window when we were locked out - the best colour indication of the top cupboards plus the pantry and linen in background