DAY 146 - We're almost there!

Wednesday 9th January 2013

It's been 5 weeks since my last post.  We didn't move in for Christmas, but that's ok as we had a nice break for a couple of weeks whilst the builders were on industry shutdown.

Before Christmas, a few more things were completed -

- the kitchen splashback was installed

- the internal painting & staining was finished, though there will be some touch ups needed
 
- the front battens were painted, however the paint across the master windows is incorrect as it was painted the same colour as the battens but it should be the lighter colour used on the infills above the other windows.  This will be rectified.

- the front door was finally hung but it doesn't fit!  That's pretty funny for a supposedly tight fitting fire rated door.  It seems the door is the correct size but the frame is wider than the door so there's an approx 2cm gap.  Hmmm, not sure how they work that one out.

 
- whilst the builders were on break, we had our main floor tiles laid and presealed to hopefully keep them cleaner whilst the final trades fit off.  After handover we will have them cleaned, sealed and polished.

- we began our electrical fit out before Christmas, but just for light switches, fan brackets and power points.  Final fit out began on last Saturday and after 3 days of work it's 99% done - the rest will be done close to or after handover.  Down lights, fans, exhaust fans, power points, spotlights, feature lights, tastics, tv & data points, speaker points and smoke alarms are all in.  There are 2 down lights and 2 fans which are not working so these will be replaced.  The fans have an in-home warranty so the company sends out an electrician to replace them.  The down lights will be replaced by our electrician when he comes back to install the rangehood & oven, terminate the data points at the hub, and install the door bell.

Pendant light with a concealed fan over the dining table

Downlights in the family room

Ducted exhaust fans for powder room & laundry

My indulgence - high power points in the alfresco and porch for Christmas / party lights :)

Daniel's indulgence :)

Today the incorrect bricks on garage wall were replaced.  I chased this up yesterday as tomorrow our outdoor aircon unit will be installed and I really didn't want them cutting out bricks and rebricking over it.  Thankfully it's all done today.

These are still the wrong bricks - I'll take a pic of the correct bricks tomorrow

Tomorrow and Friday the plumbers will fit off - which means install the bath, toilets, shower heads, towel rails, sink & taps.  They will also connect up the downpipes to the tanks and waste pipes to the hstp.

Also on Friday the HSTP & water tank will be commissioned which means we'll have running water and flusing toilets!  Yay - much nicer than using the port a loo :)  Fingers crossed the tradies don't use the house loos!

After that there's some painting touch ups, cleaning, screens installed, and site clean up and then it's done!


Oh, and we have a handover date... January 29th!

The tile sealer, carpet installers and removalist are booked... and packing has started :)


20 days to go!

DAY 111 - Fit off has started!

Wednesday 5th December 2012

The painters were hard at work today and did the final coats on the inside walls, a second coat on the cavity doors, the rear garage door, the window lintels, the alfresco, eaves & lower downpipes.  They also did another coat of stain on the front door and stained the first 4 stairs (the rest of the stairs get painted).

Still to do are the battens and around the master bedroom windows.  They will need a really long ladder for that!

I questioned them about the stain on the stacker door and pantry door, and it seems it is the wrong stain.  Oops... another thing to get sorted.

A nice surpise is the linen shelves are in, as well as the wardrobe shelves and hanging rails, the bathroom, ensuite & powder room mirrors, and the shower screens!  It may have been done yesterday but I didn't go looking.  I forgot to take pics of the powder room and walk in linen off the laundry. 

 

I may have to go shopping to fill the wardrobe ;)

 

Elec fit out has begun!

Ugly fan switch!  Weird to have 2 different switches together. 
I have to find out tomorrow if the switches can be matched.  Lighting shop says yes.  Elec says doubtful. 

87 days to go!

DAY 110 - Just a little bit of *bling*

Tuesday 4th December 2012

Today the glass splashback was installed.  The colour is Stone Drab but we had pixie dust added to it.  Also known as mirror flakes, but most folks call it glitter!

It's very subtle and when the splashback pieces were laid on the counter I thought they had forgotten to put it in even though the delivery docket said it had it.  But now it's up, you can see a slight shimmer in the sunlight.  I like the colour and think it matches well with the bench and cabinets.  Our colour consultant had some good ideas :)

There is a piece of the splashback missing, on the left, so not sure what happened there.  From the rubbish on the ground it looks like it's put on with double sided tape... hope it's industrial strength!

The colour is clearer in the pics below...

Missing piece returning along the counter (see above)

The painters were delayed (car trouble?) Monday and Tuesday, and are now due tomorrow.  Our electrical fit out also starts tomorrow.  Today I picked up all our light and fan fittings.  The car was full!

After the electrician finishes and maybe a couple of little bits & pieces (like fitting the front door!) that's the end of work from the builders for this year.  The tiler will then come to lay our main floor tiles.

I've booked in our air con fit off & hstp/water tank commissioning for the first week trades are back from holidays in January, and the electrician will also come for final fit off of fittings.

The admin lady at Plantation is starting our handover paperwork before they shut shop so they will have a head start on the paper side of handover when they reopen.  We've told them when our lease is up and they've said they will book in a handover date in January before they close for Christmas so at least we will have a date to work towards.  Yay!  Almost time to start packing for the big move :)

After handover we will have our tiles sealed and polished, the carpet laid, our kitchen appliances installed, and then we can move in.  Yippee!


88 days left on our contract... but it will be no more than 56 days!  Hoping for around 45 days.

DAY 109 - Our front door is here!

Monday 3rd December

In the past week we have most of the internal painting done, the downpipes and rainwater headers installed, the garage door installed (love it!), the glass splashback for the kitchen delivered, and the rear garage and the FRONT door has arrived... at long last!  And we've had a site clean up which looks so much better.

Work seems slower now it's all the fiddly finishing off bits.  The painters haven't finished yet.  There's some rooms that need another coat and outside still needs to be done.  My guess is the chippies need to come back and put the doors on and finish a bit of trim outside and then the painters can have a full day finishing off.  Our site super has been away so hopefully today I will get an update from him. 

Pic taken through the window as I couldn't get in.  They've done a coat of stain and I
expect more to come and get the white marks (handprints) off it.

Rear garage door - solid fire door

Paint colour is not as yellow as this (see below)

The paint in this pic is close to the actual colour

 

This week will hopefully see the painting completed, some more internal fit out (splashback, maybe internal door handles), and the start of electrical fit out.

We definitely won't have handover before Christmas.  But we're hoping we can get access to lay our main floor tiles during the break.


No more than 89 days to go...