The news we have been hoping for.

I finally had the oppourtunity today (I actually answered my phone) to ask the question "When will we get the keys" the reply - Definatly before Christmas, likely in the next 4 to 6 weeks.

Beyond excited by this news, it means we can start making plans for our festive season which up until now, we had no idea where we would be. It also means we need to start organising our retaining wall, driveway landscaping, furniture, electrical goods, ect ect. All the fun stuff we have been dreaming of over the past 12 months.

Next week our front and laundry door will go on and tiling will begin. I imagine this will take some time due to the incredible amount of tiles involved in both our bathrooms and all of the house will also be tiled (except bedrooms and media) by the builder.

Very much looking forward to seeing the house evolve into a real liveable space over the coming week.

KITCHEN!

The progress of the past week has been very pleasing and We once again find ourselves visiting the block with a certain level of excitment. We have seen the kitchen go in and it appears to be fully assembled. Just waiting on sinks benchtop and plumbing, laundry cabinets and bench have also been also installed, our pantry fit out has been done and it is amazing.

All the architraves and skirtings have been put on, linen and wardrobe shelving complete, power and light point holes done, doors all installed. Only disappointing thing is that we still do not have external doors. We are currently in pseudo lock up with a sheet of gyprock blocking the front door and anyone has access to the laundry.

 Pantry Shelving

 Island Bench

Just waiting for the benchtop

 Laundry installed without an external door

Skirtings and architraves complete

Not sure what to expect next but a call from our SS tomorrow should put us on the right track. Hoping that it will be as productive as this week.



Making up for lost time

After all the headaches, dramas and delays, I feel like these past few months that have really taken it's toll on our spirits, may be behind us.

A quick look in the house today, I was completely blown away with the sight of lovely internal doors most of which have all been installed, cornices complete, architraves going on and biggest and best of all our newly installed kitchen. Definitely was not prepared for this kind of progress which unfortunately meant I went without my camera or phone, so I  have no photos as yet but they will come.

We will keep a close eye on the quality of what is being built and keep in contact with our private inspector to make sure everything is as it should be but the faith that we once had in our builder may slowly be returning.

Seriously..... How good is Gyprock!

For the first time in what seems a very long time, we have walk on site with a feeling of complete elation.

Gyprock! Is there any better sounding word, any better looking product. Short answer NO! and with Gyprock will certainly come Lock Up in the very near future. Our recent addiction to Reno shows has taught us that Lock up is considered the half way point. Just a pity it has taken us 15 weeks to get us almost there.

No need for too many words this post. I think the pictures tell the story a better:

WARNING - Photo overload

 View from the entry

 Ensuite

 Shower hidden behind the ensuite vanity. Still no sign of the recess

but I guess it will show up soon enough

Lounge room

Dining / Living area

Kitchen / Pantry

 Laundry



Main Bathroom

Main Bathroom Vanity

 Shower - also in need of a recess

 

Not sure what happened here but our Pillar has seen better days

 

We have also been considering what to do with our landscaping this week. We are lucky enough to have purchased a block surrounded by house and land packages which means the fencing is done without a cent of our money. Only problem is retaining walls are not. We had originally thought that as our block was practically level, we would need very little retaining. However, our rear neighbours cut and we filled = Need for a 600+ retaining wall, which should required planning and engineer approval. Another lucky break, we caught the neighbours fencer on site, found our way around the planning, threw him a couple of bucks and just like that a retaining wall appeared. The big one still to go and is scheduled for this week but at least now all we have to do when we finally move in is a few agpipes, a little bit of fill, some turf and a drive way then we are done.

Happy Times.

A glimmer of hope

The past week has been a little frustrating. A week when Gyprock should have been going up was instead spent fixing all the issues that were highlighted in our inspection report. A chat to the Bricklayer fixing up all the dodgy work only added to the frustration when he told us that he would be the only one doing the repairs as he could not afford an extra labourer.

We were on site today with the Builder and our private inspector from IBAS (who we highly recommend) and it seems that apart from a few relatively minor issues like some missing weep holes, it seems that the majority of the work has been done. Andrew our inspector recommended that there was no reason to hold off on the insulation and Gyprock any longer. The builder agreed to fix the few remaining issues in a timely manner (which we have faith will happen) and has scheduled for insulation to happen on Wednesday and Gyprock to follow on Thursday.

We are happy to give credit where credit  is due and One Three have actually been very accommodating in going ahead and fixing what needed to be rectified, which we were not sure would be the case after the initial drama with getting the inspection. Although in saying that, we still find it hard to give anyone a pat on the back for doing something that should have been done properly in the first place. Important thing is that we can now move forward.

During our meeting today we also got the news that our SS has now left the company, for whatever reason we don't really care but we are hoping that the change in supervisor will be just what we need to get this build back on track. Not really sure when the new guy starts but we are told that he has a lot more experience and will hopefully be easier to deal with. With 11 weeks left in our contact we can only hope so.

                                                                 Window Sills removed

And again

                                                           Window Sills replaced

 They are now angled not flat to match the rest of the house

Holes have been patched

Hopefully we will have some better photos next week when the interior of our house starts to take shape. Exciting times ahead.