Time is close

Well we are nearly there, I the Optimist and Mel the Pessimist and we are both saying different times that we are going to be in. I am saying this week and Mel doesn't think that that will happen. Time will tell! Rain has halted the progress of our fences and should still be completed by the end of the week, we need some dry days so the driveway dries and then we can unload all of our stuff inside. No Photo's as yet as not much has changed since last report, just the little things.

It's not a light, the tunnel opening is near!

No Pictures today because we didn't take any photo's when we went inside our house for our inspection. I will say that the work that has been done in our house has been of a High standard and the Jared (site supervisor) has done a great job with our house, not only has he kept us informed through the whole process he has answered all our queries in a quick and timely manner. Only once was a job put on hold because of our query relating to skirting board design and that was rectified within 24hrs and the job was back on.
Jared has a small list of issues to resolve but they won't take long to complete. Being our second house we spent more time going through every room looking up at the ceilings and then the corners then the walls then the skirts then the floors then the doors; you understand what I mean. It was a good feeling to look around and not find anything to serious. We also took into consideration that we do have 3 months after handover to find any issues that we might have. Excitement does effect your eyesight and because you don't usually see through the house of a nighttime you might not see what the lights in your house highlight!
Fences have been organised with one neighbour and our other fence should be sorted soon with our other neighbour. We then have to organise our driveway, we are using crushed rock as a base with a lily dale topping as the top product. This will keep us for a while until we save for concrete or something similar.
Inside we have organised our tiles and Tiler to come in after handover which won't be to far away. Around 4 days it should take to complete then we will be able to start moving in and then that fun will begin with our front and back yard and then and then and then and then. No I don't stutter but that is how my list of tasks are stacking up. We are looking forward to the challenge ahead.
The boys have started an induction program with Exford primary School, where they spent a few hours with the kids that they will be in class with next year and they also met there new Teachers.
Next time I will have photo's of inside the house, we might be in? well we have to pay our final bill before we can move in! Like our heading states, we can not only see the light we can see the tunnel opening.

The inside Scoop

Only 1 photo of the outside and that is of the Roller door that was only just fitted. All our colors have come together. Our Gutters Match our Doors and windows including the roller door, Our fascia matches our cladding and down pipe colors and hopefully the bricks are a good match for all. We have had quotes done on our fencing and they should be done within 2 weeks (temp fences come down next week) Everything has really come together and we are really pleased with the work done so far and hope that it continues for this last final stage. The shower in the En suite. The shower head is hanging down the wall, it is able to be used while in your hand or it attaches to the rail on the wall, I only hope that it can go High enough that I can stand under it. The main tiles are a beige type color and the decorative tiles are different shades of browns. Our En suite has double vanity and cupboards, we have also put down lights in here as well above the sink area's. It has a large mirror and I think is finished off nicely. You can see the red dot in the photo that indicates a blemish in the paint. I had a look at some of them and couldn't really see what it was there for but some of them were really obvious, they should all be fixed by next week. The boys bathroom, we have kept a lot of the colors right through the house from tiles to cabinetry. The color of the floor tiles is what is going to be in most of the house. This photo was taken in the morning so you can see plenty of natural light coming through even though it is obscure glass. The Shower in the Boys bathroom, we have had fitted an adjustable shower head that can slide down the rail for small people or you can take the shower head and hold it in your hands, This may help with cleaning! The Bath with the decorative tile pattern, the bath is nice and deep and the tap is at the end not in the middle like ours currently. Our island bench has room for a dish washer and a micro wave. We got a larger double sink than normal, usually they are 1 large and 1 small sink , we got 2 large sinks. Looking at the kitchen from the dining room, the front door is wide open with plenty of light coming through. The door at the end of the island bench is the pantry. I have left some jobs to do once we move in that include a shelf system above the the fridge, we might have to get a new fridge (our current we have had since we got Married, believe me that was a while ago). The new walk in pantry has 8 shelves, 4 on either side. The pantry has an upgraded door seen in a previous picture which goes with the timber look of the kitchen. Mels new Linen closest is massive, we were able to make it bigger because the Garage was moved to the back of the house. The normal entry to the garage would have taken up half of this space with an extra door. Considering that our linen closest is the size of the right hand side of the picture from the middle support. Our walk in robe has the one shelf and hang rail that covers 2 walls, there is a small section also behind the door that is the same. Fairly plain and we spoke about upgrading later on to include more shelving and also a bottom shelf for shoes etc;

First Official Inspection

It has been 11 days since our last post. Over that time a lot has happened at our house and we now have an official inspection happening next week. I called past tonight and noticed that Metricon have done a preliminary inspection and highlighted any defects that they may have found, most of these are blemishes in the paint work that I could see. I only have photo's on my phone but I will take that camera with me tomorrow and post some updated photo's. We are not far away from moving in and we are now getting excited about living in our new home.

The Color of our Future

Our house has it's color both inside and out, everyday now brings it closer to completion. We are in the process of organising boundary fences between our new neighbours, just waiting on a few quotes to come through. The floor tiles in the wet area's go down this week, tiles in the ensuite, bathroom and laundry also the splash back in the kitchen are all put in. The plumber then comes back and fits the downpipes and the taps inside the house. It is all coming together. All our electrical fittings have been finished off in the house, light switches and lights etc; A view from the back of the house, now that the painters have finished outside and in the plumbers can come back and finish the downpipes. Our french doors out of the rumpus room, we have had some power fitted to the left and right sides of the doors for lighting. The switches are also done inside the house, It cost $60.00 each to have these put in during the build, I could only imagine what the costs would be to have this all done after we were finished. Looking into our dining room french doors and the area that will be under cover, The window to the left is rylie's room. A view from the back of the back yard, just to give you an idea of how much space we have! The garage wall and garage side door here painted all the same color which is what we wanted, you can now see the Fascia and the walls are the same color and the gutters and the windows are the same color, We think it all blends well together. Our kitchen bench tops have been delivered and installed, Tiles have been delivered and are due to go up this week, we have to arrange the remainder of the floor tiles for the house this week. The master bedroom doors have been stained during the past week, they are a dark brown color to match our other woodwork in the house, a little blurry because we took the shot through the front window. Here are the boys standing at the back of the house in front of the garage, the roller door has been measured up and should arrive soon.

Light at the End of the tunnel

A view from the right front side of our house, the cladding has been completed, the painters come in next week and they spend 4-5 days inside and then they come out and paint the cladding which should take a couple of days. We went to the house today after they completed a site clean up, all the broken roof tiles, bricks etc were all cleaned up. We gathered all the brick that we wanted to keep and put them onto a pallet. The date for completion may be around the start to mid November fingers crossed.A view from the left side of the house, our front veranda with our front door set back in the middle, we still have a green film covering the windows for protection. This photo is at the back of house, Brick work and cladding has been completed. Our garage door has even been fitted. I met Jared our builder at the house and i was able to go inside and take some snaps, I think it has been 3 weeks since we were inside and you can definitely see the changes, I am looking through a wall cavity that we will get a plantation shutter put in, this will be the separation between the rumpus and family room. looking out our french doors into the back yard, having now the big block and seeing the house in position, we can now see the boys playing in the back yard with no restrictions for space, cricket and footy shouldn't be an issue. I took a photo in this same location when the frame went up and you could see across to the golf course, the view is the same you can just look at it in any weather now that we are closed in. Th e view from the kitchen bench looking across to the family room, plenty of light. Plenty of light was coming through the windows on the left hand side of the house, the afternoon sun will come through this way. Our Ensuite has double basin's in the square design, we have laminate tops in the ensuite , bathroom and Laundry. This is our Kitchen , The up top cupboards are a chocolate color with the pot drawers below are a cream color, the gap between the up top cupboards is for the range hood and below for the stove. The middle section is to be tiled. Our island bench has our double sink cut in, our kitchen bench tops are Ceaser stone that hasn't been delivered as yet. Our base cupboards are a light color with the chocolate brown being the back surround. Our Laundry Trough is in place, all our cabinetry has been matched together to keep the same look throughout the house. Our Master Bedroom doors, our walk in robe to the left of the photo.

Night Visits

I have been doing some night time drive by's this week after work, I first drove by on Monday and went again tonight, fitted with my trustee black diamond head torch i go in and wander around looking through windows and looking around the outside. Progress this week has been made inside and out, The skirting and architraves have been completed(from what I can see), brick work is almost complete and the cladding just needs to be finished at the front of the house. I recall Jared saying that the painter was coming in on Thursday and starting there prep work inside. I am going to drop by on Friday morning and see if I can meet Jared there to get some shots inside the house.

Another Week Closer

Another week has passed and our home gets closer to completion, in this photo you can see our brick work and how our cladding will look(not painted yet), our bricks are a dark brownish color, all our colors will come together once the cladding is done and the windows are clean of tape etc; our gutters and windows are the same color and the fascia is similar to the color of the cladding, next week should see the finish of the brickwork and cladding. Down the offside of the house we are using brick because this side will be hidden with the side fence etc; we will have the clotheslines down this wall as well.the end is where the garage steps out passed the edge of the house. The back garage is taking shape with the brickwork nearly complete, there is a big Steele beam at the front of the house that goes in front of the wood to support the bricks above the door, you can see the cladding running down towards the house(not painted yet) This photo was taken looking through our rumpus room window through to the dining room and in the distance you can see the toilet door. All the doors in the house have been hung, and you can see that holes have been cut in for the electrician to come back in and finish off the power points. Our kitchen has been installed(no appliances yet) the island bench is a chocolate color as is the wall cupboards, we have 2 sets of pot drawers which are a cream color, all the wood on the floor is our skirting and architraves, you can see all the cornices are complete also. Once again looking through the windows this is the master bedroom, we have wooded doors with glass as our main doors, these will be stained a dark color, you can just see the vanity cupboards.

SSSHHH we might be doing xmas

I have been asking if we are going to be in before xmas since we started building, I think they are getting sick of me asking and are now telling me that that is the plan! I am more than happy to wait if quality is to be compromised to speed up the process, however our inspector told us all was well. Today I had 3 calls from Metricon staff, Jared rang and told me what was happening, Cynthia rang and asked how we are feeling about the progress and Max rang the Building manager and asked if we were happy with the progress and if we were happy with Jared our Site Supervisor. A lot has happened this week at the house, Cladding is nearly done, brickwork is nearly done, plaster is finished, internal doors have been hung, Kitchen benches and cupboards have been installed, laundry trough and cabinet installed, bathroom and ensuite vanity's installed,electrical points cut out of plaster. Coming up next week , Skirting and architrave's put in, Painters coming in, brickies finished, cladding finished.

The Roof is complete

Our roof is now complete as you can see the rails have been removed, the carpenter has started and the brickie has also started laying bricks, the inside has seen the plaster go up with only the cornices to go. Next on the agenda is plastering finishes on Monday, carpenter starts to clad and the brickie should be finished by the end of the week. The kitchen gets delivered on Tuesday and the other cabinets get delivered Wednesday. All going very well at the moment, touch wood (the carpenter can touch as much wood as he likes, the more he touches the closer we are to finishing). We can now see the rooms inside from a size perspective and can start to look at furnishings.

The biggest difference in this last week has been the plastering, we could only take pictures through the windows but they came up like we were inside, all the cornices are on the floor cut to length and ready to go up. This photo is looking across the lounge room towards the kitchen dining room. The whole in the wall to the left is through to the rumpus room (we are getting a wooden blind to go in this cavity). The doorway ahead leads to the kids bedrooms and Babysitters room and the back wall area is for the kitchen and the black pipe coming up out of the ground is for our island bench. Looking through the dining room window straight to the front door, all the cornice's are on the floor ion this photo cut and ready to go up. We have a feature door going on the pantry door that is frosted glass with stained wood (same style of doors on the master bedroom). This photo shows a couple of different things, left side door is to the passage ways and bedrooms, the light that can be seen is in Bayley's room, the cavity with the bulkhead is where the kitchen cupboards and stove go, the door straight ahead is the pantry. this photo was taken through the dining room french door. Another picture taken through the window, the door on the left is the ensuite and the wir is on the right, there is also a bulk head in the master that has been discussed in earlier blogs.You can see they used different plaster in the ensuite for wet area's. The Carpenter has been, getting his timbers in place ready for the cladding to be put in place. The next row of bricks are turned on there side and are put in longways, similar to under windows in normal brick houses, The carpenter will fit the cladding first with the brickie to brick up to the cladding which should give a better finish (less gaps) The eaves have also been started from the carpenter, this picture is just in front of bayley's bedroom window. The front of our house is coming together, the brick work comes up the window with cladding going up the rest of the way. Our front door gets painted the same as the window frames. A view from the rear fence of our house, looking at the roof now that the roof rail is now down and the roof tiles are now complete, you can also see the plaster up in the garage. All the bricks have been broken down off the pallets and spread around the house.