Saturday 31 August 2013

Only 3 more weeks to wait

I got a call from our SS yesterday, 3 weeks till handover!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He spent 3 1/2 hrs on Thursday marking up the house for touchups then his boss comes to do a inspection as well on Monday then they book in the plasterers and painter to come back. Only thing they still waiting for is the screens I think then the hot water and appliances go in later. We are really happy with this SS he is really on the ball.

Our fence came down as well and now you can really see how big the block is, love it!! 


Our house!!!

Look at the room on this side 11m from fence to house

Love our huge stacker doors 

We are still waiting on quotes from the concreter, fencer and a kitchen place for our built in desks and shelving. I hate waiting for quotes, if they take longer than a week they don't get the job I move on to someone else, patience isn't my strongest point ha ha. 

So with us not moving for a few more weeks gives the blinds company enough time to make our blinds and they should be installed right on handover. We will try to have the tiles delivered on handover day too so the tiler can start the next day, hubby is moving in then too, I suppose I will have to send him down a bed and some food he he!!!!!

With all this excitement comes packing. OMG it just doesn't stop, who knew we had so much stuff..  Having the day off tomorrow because guess what?  It's Father's Day!  And my husband has only reminded me a million times today, so tomorrow is all about him (something unusual) :). Not!

Wednesday 28 August 2013

House cleaned, I could just move in now

Today the house was cleaned.  All the plastic was peeled off the windows, doors and kitchen.  I would of liked doing that it would be like opening up my new present.  

My kitchen

The splashback changes colour in every pic!!!!

Back door look so good clean

Main bathroom + giant mirror 

Front door, I love how you can see outside and it lets light in the hallway, otherwise it would be quite dark.

Today I met the carpet man to do the final measure up, another thing off the list!!

I met another concreter for a quote and he was really thorough and he is Maltese like my husband, he should have the quote in a couple of days. He also said he would do a little excavating no charge so we will see how much $$$$$ it will be!!!

I also contacted our neighbours regarding the fences, which was a little daunting but they were very friendly so that was a relief, I can't wait to meet them. The fencing guy will do the quote tomorrow.

We are still trying to work out which solar people to go with, this is one thing we are having trouble with.

Oh and our sewerage isn't connected by the developers so our sink and toilet in the ensuite is full


So I will be contacting them tomorrow so they fix it soon, MJH can build a house in 4 months but the developer haven't connect1 pipe!!!!

I LOOOOOVVVVEEEEE MY HOUSE!!!!!!!! Thanks to MJH :)

Monday 26 August 2013

Txt Message

Today I received a txt message 


How exciting but I really need a date now, we need to give 3 weeks notice on this house, book in the tiler and carpet layers.  I'm going to call our trusty SS tomorrow and beg for a date ha ha..


Yesterday we met a concreter on site at, wait for it, 7.30AM!!!!!!!!  Sunday morning 7.30am!!!!!!!  Luckily it was a beautiful morning, not cold and it was so peaceful in Bingara we can't wait to wake up there.  Anyway I'm off in dream land ha ha, we decided on a huge driveway going across the double garage and workshop plus extending out another 3 metres up the side of the house and then another pad at the back of the workshop, it works out at 123sqm!!!!!!! Wow that's a lot of concrete.  The 3 x 6m at the side is for my camper trailer, my pride and joy, it lives in the garage now but I wanted the option of putting it outside if needed and also putting up a carport over it later on..  We found out why the concreter wanted to meet so early, he was going for a ride on his Harley ha ha pity he didn't ride it to our house....

I accepted the quote on a removalist Mt Annan Furniture Removals it seem to be a reasonable amount and a very nice helpful man who is local.  He gave us our online quote within a couple of days, he turned up when he said he would and the sent through the quote that night, I can't complain about the service.  

Hopefully I have more news tomorrow 



Saturday 24 August 2013

Splashback!!!

We met our tiler on site today for a quote so we got to go inside to look at the splashback, what a relief the colour is great..  Yesterday it looked grey, the picture taken through the window was grey, the exact reason I said in yesterday's blog I wouldn't comment because I was having a fit ha ha.  But it's brown yehhhhh thank god!!!!  

Yesterday's picture - greyyyyyyy

Actual colour 

Can't wait till that black plastic is off to get the full effect.

I'm very happy now :)

We went to Ikea this afternoon on a mission to finally pick a lounge and we did at long last, it's the one I picked a year ago of course.  We now have a list to buy online then we will go and pick it up once we move in. 2 x 1 seater, 1 x 3 seater, footstool with storage and a 2 seater with chaise + slimline entertainment unit for the kids lounge room.







Friday 23 August 2013

We are so close......

Handover is looking like 13th September..  We weren't given a definite date yet but apparently the plan is finishing touches next week including fly screens to be installed, then the head supervisor does his inspection then they do the cleaning in and out and removal of the fence and loo.  I think we do PCI and a week later we get the keys!!!!!!  We won't move in for another week as we want to get the tiles and carpet done first.  We need to give 3 weeks notice to move out of here so I hope it all lines up and I don't stuff it up :)

Today the splashback was installed and we had to look thru the media room windows because for the first time we were completely locked out, arrhhhhhh, finally all the doors and windows were locked and we couldn't sneak in ha ha.  I'm not saying anything about the splashback yet until I see it properly.......

The removalist came through to finalise his quote this afternoon he said it would take about 3 hrs to pack the truck!!! I never imagined that, we have always done it ourselves (last time 14 yrs ago) but not this time I don't care how much it costs :). 

The tiler is going tomorrow to give us a quote, he said about $35sqm + glue, sounds ok but not really sure what the going rate is.

We are meeting a concreter on Sunday morning at 8.30am!!!!!  Yes 8.30AM,!!!!!  OMG.  They did a driveway down the street and it looks really good so we are hoping his quote will be reasonable.

I paid our deposit for the blinds today so they will start making them, it will be a 4 week delivery on the blinds and 6 weeks on the shutters.

The carpet measure up is booked for next Thursday, so that should be it for now, I think that's enough for this week anyway.  I'm so shocked with the progress over the last couple of weeks our new SS is the best!!!! We haven't even met him in person yet but the way he's going we don't need to.  So guess what we are doing this weekend PACKING!!!!!!!! Yayyyyy finally 😀

10000 Page Reviews!!!!

Thanks for reading my blog!!!!  I really enjoy doing it, not sure what I will do when we finish the house, I might have to start up another one about chooks or vegie gardens haha.


Thursday 22 August 2013

Steaming ahead!!!!

Today we had all the handles, shower screens, mirrors (except the main bathroom) and the air conditioning finished. I'm so excited but the panic is setting in........  


These handles look great on the Lin1 Doors (powder room)

Pantry with the big handles

Air conditioning return - excitement hey!!!!


Shower screen in main - they look good but they have the big magnet down the door so they make a bang when they close. I hate doors like this and I specifically asked that question at colours and was told no they aren't like that :(. I will be removing the magnet or doing something to stop the noise..

Mirrors

Air conditioning 

Anyway, I met the Blinds Man from TLC Blinds at the house this afternoon to do the final measure and quote, he was wonderful, we did a walk thru and discussed what should go where and he gave his opinion which I really appreciated.

3 Stacker doors - 3 roller blinds each with translucent white
Media room - 2 shutter in black
Kids bedrooms, activity room and workshop (9 blinds)  - double roller blinds with dark grey sunscreen with white block out blind
Main bedroom - 3 double roller blinds grey sunscreen and white  block out and a white shutter for the fixed window 
Ensuite and main bathroom - translucent white blind
And 2 fly screen doors for the laundry and workshop doors 

We are very happy with the quote so that's another thing done off the list.  Next job is to find a tiler........

Tomorrow we get our date!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday 21 August 2013

We have a cool tap

The plumbing fit out was done today and the air conditioning was started, we got to have a look in because the boys were still there, they will back in the morning to finish off.  

The taps look great and I cant wait to use the one in the kitchen, the toilets are in and by the looks of things already christened :( not by me I might add.  The bath is huge, the bathroom is nearly done now just need the screens and mirrors.  The outside taps have been replaced with shinny new ones but I forgot to take a picture of the purple one.


Shinny silver plug, not rubber!!! Ha ha



Ensuite loo - still brand new, must of been a man who installed it and left the seat up 


Cool kitchen tap :) 

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Garage Door at last!!!!


The plan for the week is:

Wednesday - plumbing fit out
Thursday - air conditioning and carpentry fit out (handles)
Friday - splashback 

Still waiting for mirrors and shower screens

And we get the date on Friday for handover woohoo!!!

Sunday 18 August 2013

Our first tree

Today we planted our first tree on our block, Its a Cherry Tree from my mums house.  She lives in the country (3 hrs away) and she is moving closer to my sister and I, while I was visiting this weekend I dug it up and as soon as I got home we took it to the block to replant it.  We cheated and pulled out a sapling gum tree and used that hole, just added some horse manure.  We have 3 rows of saplings on one side of the block that the developers planted but I will be pulling out 2 rows, about 20 plants.  I hate to do it but once they get bigger there will just be too many. 

Anyway here a couple of pics to mark the occasion:


Now I have an excuse to visit every 2nd day to water it :)
 

Thursday 15 August 2013

Shelves

I wasn't expecting to see shelves yet but they are in, the pantry, the linen, walk-in and the kids bedrooms.  Only thing is I wish I had got the kids shelves put up higher but that's ok.

Pantry




Walk-in so much room :)

The splashback has been measured - take note of the warning


Can't wait for what happens next .............

Tuesday 13 August 2013

Time to organise for after handover

I'm having trouble functioning outside of this house, I'm constantly thinking of what do we need to do next......

#Carpet - ordered and deposit paid 

#86sqm Porcelain Tiles 600x600 - quote done and deposit to be paid on Thursday

#Dining table + 8 chairs - ordered and deposit paid

#Built-in cabinetry for media room, family room & desks - 1 quote but still need one more

#Removalist - 1 quote received still waiting to receive another

#Blinds - 2 quotes still need to book 1 in for a proper measure up, the other quote was ridiculous and didn't even take the time to itemise it 

#Driveway and path - to do and have given my husband this job, I think it's a mans thing ha ha. We like a persons driveway down our street so took a picture of the sign out the front smart advertising!!!! 

#Fencing - we have 110m of fencing and hopefully our lovely neighbours pay half!!!  That's on the to do list :) bit scary asking "oh Hi we are going to be neighbours can you pay for half the fence?" Awkward, that might end up being another mans job I think :)

#Decking - 50sqm arhhhhh and that's only half of what we want to do. We are doing it ourselves that's another arhhhhh ha ha, needs to be done before the first week in December for our daughters 18th, anyone out there that wants to help is most welcome :)  

#TV and Surround Sound - most important to get this right just need to get a good deal from somewhere and a salesman that doesn't tell you little lies. 

Then there is still 2 lounges to buy and I just can't find one I like the look of and is comfortable, a lot look great but are so uncomfortable or the seat part is so wide if you sit properly my feet don't reach the floor.  

Oh and don't forget turf and plants, my chook shed and vegie gardens, oh dear what have we done? 

AND most important is packing this house up after 14 years!!!!!!  I have already started the garage is full of boxes and now the dining room is half full of boxes, fun fun fun!!!!!



Monday 12 August 2013

Still painting

Late Saturday we went for a look "again" we just can't keep away. The internal garage door was open so lucky we did go, the plasterers had been back and fixed up where the SS had marked and trimmed down the gyprock in the workshop so hopefully the garage door gets put on this week.  The painters had done another coat on the ceiling.  We had a look around the back of the house and the alfresco, I look forward to the day we can just sit out there in the quiet and relax.  

We finally got to meet our neighbours, well not next door but across the road and down a block, we have spoken by email heaps of times but never met but finally we were visiting at the same time. I'm sure we will have a few laughs with them once we all move in, we are both Leo's so we will get along great ha ha!!!  It's nice to have met them before we move in.

As I said we just can't keep away so off we went again on Sunday afternoon, our daughter wanted to have a look this time. The painters were there on a Sunday, got to love their dedication!!! They were putting the final gloss coat on the internal doors and architraves and had done the first coat on the eaves we quickly showed our daughter the benchtop colour but didn't want to get in the way..  We actually walked around the outside of the house which we haven't done since they started inside and found a little surprise.......


There is a gap between the bricks and window frame at the front of the house and you can see MDJ blue frame and as much as I love the blue frame we had a total freak out.  My husband contacted the SS who assured us its a common thing and they will put a piece of angle there same colour as the windows, so that's a relief.  We find it funny we never saw it before, must of been looking through rosé tinted glasses :) 

I'm not sure what's booked for this week, I'm guessing another few days or so of painting, hopefully the garage door and maybe the electrical fit out, I guess I will just have to wait and see........

Thursday 8 August 2013

Another SS, Stained Lin1 Doors & Benchtops

I got a call from our new SS today, that's the 3rd one we have had!!! He better be as good as our original one, the one that took over after the last one threw in the towel.   He told me so causally our benchtops were installed yesterday, he obviously doesn't realise how exciting that is, so I was straight down there from work to have a peak ha ha..

Main bathroom
Ensuite
The benchtops are covered :( we didn't choose black


Front door very nice - the glass still has the protective coating on it. 
Media room doors 

The painters are still there they have done another coat on the roof and there were heaps of pencil marks on the walls where our new SS has marked things to be fixed like paint drips and dents in the wall, he said the plasterers need to come back then the painters will finish, not sure when that's booked for.  He has ordered the shower screens and mirrors, they should be in the end of next week or so.  One thing we are still missing is the garage door, they need to remove some of the gyprock on the workshop side so the bracket can be put up for the door, I guess that will be done when they come to patch the walls.  Very happy with the progress :)


Tuesday 6 August 2013

Ahhhh the smell of paint - It's Day 77 and we have paint!!!!


The ceiling has a first coat and the way they were going I'd say the walls in the whole house would of had their first coat today.  There is a team of 3, 1 patching and sanding and 2 painting.  The first coat has been done with a roller which I wasn't expecting as a lot of people have put on the forum the first coat is sprayed on, I'm quite happy it's rolled on.  Looking good already.

The main hallway 

Kids lounge room
Kids lounge TV recess

Also the vanities have been put back after the tiling, I can't get over how big the one in the ensuite is, I think I will be using it for towels as well.


Ensuite


Powder room



Main bathroom

Hopefully the benchtops will be put on soon, that will be the last thing from colours we will be waiting to see come together, but I'm sure it will look good.  Oh except the splashback, we have been panicking about that this week, madly looking online to find the colour we chose but having no luck, it's half oilskin and the only picture I could find was this below.  I contacted our colours consultant and she said its browny with a hint of silver, so that should be our last surprise and I hope it's a good one!!!