Sealed At Last

Finally the weather was not too wet or excessively hot and the driveway got cleaned and sealed with an amazing polyurethane finish. The drive now looks glossy and sparkles in the sun and we will be able to put our cars away in the garage from tomorrow. I am now taking bets who will be the first one to ding the car going in and out! (Most likely me sadly).

The renderer for the pool was supposed to trun up yesterday, hmm unless he was invisible and the new fashion in rendering is to leave it looking like a block wall I figure he didn't turn up. I'm cross as this is delaying the final payment on our building loan and costing us a higher interest rate until its converted to our mortgage. The pool company will be getting a firm email today.

On a positive note, we have a gardener and landscaper coming to plant out the final beds which are too hard for us to dig after all the trucks and builders going back and forth and to pour concrete steps, a slab for the shed and put in pavers, gravel and more planting for us. The raised bed containers for the vegetable garden have been ordered and all we need now is the shed and the garden is almost finished. We would also like to create a BBQ area by making a deck with covered pergola extension off the back of the outdoor room so I will be getting quotes for that soon.
Doesn't look like it will be long before the garden is finished and the fencers are returning next week to finish off the side gates and fences so the yard will be fully enclosed and hopefully puppy proof! Good timing as Angel spoodle puppy arrives tomorrow.

Litlle Angel

What a sweetie

Glitches

Sorry for the lack of photos so far, there seems to be some strange glitches with my computer, Picasa and my memory card. Photos disappear or simply wont import so I will have to try again from work today if I get time.

Anyway the blinds are up and look fantastic, much nicer than cardboard! and you can pull them up to look out the window, great to be able to appreciate the views from our balcony across the fields. It's a lovely spot to sit and watch the sunset or rather it would be if we had some chairs to sit on! Add those to the wish list.

Sunday was spent digging a hole and mixing up some concrete so we could erect our new postbox. It took us several attempts to work out the angles and which bit should be level but it the end I think we made a very decent job. It also helps that you can get bags of ready mix concrete from the hardware store simply add water and mix - just like baking a cake!
Following lunch it was time to put the tree up for our very first Christmas in our new home. Rainbow lights, hearts and doves are the theme for this year and I must say that it looks quite beautiful (you will have to imagine it for yourself until I can resolve the photo issues).

If the weather holds today the coping and pavers for the pool will start and the driveway will be cleaned and treated prior to sealing. Fingers crossed for dry weather but the forecast is for showers. Doesn't nature know we want the pool ready for the Christmas break!

How's It Going?

Well it's been 2 weeks since we moved in and so far the house is going really well. We are mostly unpacked and are now deciding what additional furniture and bits and pieces we need. After a good and rather ruthless sort out we have a lot more items to sell on ebay as we felt that some of our old things no longer worked for us.

Up until yesterday we have had no glitches then one of our ovens which was having its second use became possessed and over heated, the display/control screen went blank and the muffins for our son's birthday nearly cremated. Being unable to find a power switch for them inside the house we had no choice but to switch it off at the circuit breaker in the meter box. The exterior of the oven was boiling hot as was the work bench and cupboards around it. Pretty worrying! I managed to speak to the SS and he said there should be a power point behind the drawers in the workbench - there is but there is nothing plugged in to it! Anyway he is coming round today to replace the dodgy microwave trim so he can have a look for himself then. We will have to call Techinika today to get it attended to. Psycho oven aaarrrggghhh.

The blinds for the windows are ready and will be fitted tomorrow. Yippee no more attractive cardboard curtains. Once they are in the place will look quite different. We went for roller blinds in a brown/grey tone to match our carpets and colour scheme and will probably add some curtains in the master suite at a later date. The family room is so open plan with very large windows and bifolds so we didn't want any window treatments in that space - we may change our minds once the houses either side get built but only if we feel too over looked.

Exciting news on the swimming pool front. The tilers are running ahead of schedule so will be coming to do our coping and paving from today, 5 days earlier than arranged. Amazing, fantastic, brilliant. It now looks very promising that the pool will be completed before Xmas and we wil be swimming and relaxing in it over the holiday period. That's if the weather holds and we don't get torrential rain and if the fence gets installed as planned and everything is certified and signed off.  Nah it'll be fine don't know what we are stressing about!

The driveway is aggregate and as we want it to look its best and last a long time we are having it sealed with a polyeurethane treatment that gives it a glossy wet look finish and really shows off all the different colours. It also protects the drive and makes it easy to keep clean. The treatment we have gone for is more expensive than a normal sealer but lasts twice if not three times as long so actually works out cheaper over the long run. That will take place on Monday and Tuesday next week as they have to pressure clean the drive and then apply two coats of product. Should come up really nice. We have also booked them in to seal the garage floor in the new year - this involves them grinding back the top layer of concrete to remove the powdery layer at the top and expose some of the aggregate below.

The other project that we would like to get completed before Xmas is to get some top soil, grass and garden beds made up and then we can relax a bit before starting with planting. It seems like this will come together as we are using the same person who did our native plants - we are waiting for the final quote and then it will be action stations.

Telstra were supposed to be coming to connect up our landline today but this has been delayed due to works in the area - as of yet I don't have a new date for this. I absolutely hate dealing with Telstra it is so painfull and long winded and now I have to call them again to rearrange a new installation date. Hopefully our modem will be here soon though.

Phew there is a lot going on and a lot to do but it feels great. I have been emailing all our firends and family telling them how much we love our home. I hope that feeling never wears off.

We will be celebrating our boy's 5th birthday here on Saturday and have his Nana coming to stay for the weeked, we are excited about having our first house guest and having a weekend off from house projects. The Christmas tree will be going up on Sunday to add to the magic and I will hopefully be able to post some photos for you.

Driveway Poured

The driveway is now concrete and needs time to harden before it can be used. Nice team who did the job well and asked us to check the position of the mark out and talked about how we wanted things shaped before finishing off the formwork.

There were a few tradies on site fixing things up so now we have a white infill at the end of the white kitchen cabinets, completed carpets and a few other odds and ends sorted out. Sadly we got a "no way are we changing the diamond laid tiles in the showers". Hmm I guess we have to just suck that one up but I will be writing to Metricon to point out how disappointed we are with that and that we feel the displays etc are misleading and there should be a discussion at tile studio about not always being able to straight lay tiles in the shower areas. I feel it is best just to move on rather than keep pressing my point and possibly delay progress. I don't even do showers so I don't know why I'm so bothered as I won't even see the tiles when I'm relaxing in the bath! (Ha ha).

Here's some photos of our driveway in concrete (it will be nice when I can show pictures of grass and plants and soft landscaping too)

Front Path

Portico Area

Drive - The Team In Action

Portico - Again

The Left Side of Portico and House

Path From Drive To Front Door - Either Plants or Water Feature To Go In Garden Bed Area

The Drive Being Poured

Entrance Way and Side Path

Here's some shots of inside for you:

Air Con Control Panel

Study Carpet

Master Bedroom Carpet

Bedroom One Carpet and Inspection Hatch

Leisure Room With Our Son Running Around In Circles (He Did This In Every Room With Carpet!)

The Kitchen Infill (Very End at Right) Is Now White

 And now some shots of the finished driveway:

Ta Da! It Looks Beautifull

Ready For Your Close Up Miss Bushfire Exposed Aggregate?

Oh by the way we got the refund amount for the temporary fencing....$1950.00 well worth chasing that one up as now we can probably stretch to a new sofa for the family room!

Driveway

The form work for the driveway, paths and portico area have been completed ready for concrete today. We have gone for an exposed aggregate in a colour called bushfire which has blacks browns and greys through it so hopefully it will look good against the brickwork.

The fly screens have been fitted, the carpet layers have finished and now the end is so close I think there are only the kitchen appliances left to do.

Formwork and Steels For Drive

The drive has worked out really well and has ended up wider than it was drawn on the plans so we are really happy with the shape of it and it should make it nice and easy for getting the cars in and out of the garage. Eventually there will be a gate next to the front of the garage with a side fence to close the back garden off.

 





Drive Front Path and Portico Area



Fly Screens Fitted

Sliding Fly Screen Door on Laundry

Powder Room Window Fly Screened

Portico Area - We Have Left A Garden Bed Either Side

Side Path For Gas Bottles and Bins

I am yet to hear back about whether they will reconsider about how the tiles are laid in the shower areas so will chasing that up again today. I sound like a stuck record but it has become a matter of principle as if we want to make amendments a variation has to be drawn up, signed and paid for but if the builders want to change something they just do it without even asking you. The problem: builders love building houses but they don't like building them for people! On another note though we have had a result not only did we get the refund on the pot drawers that couldn't be accommodated we also got after much pushing and asking several times are refund on the temporary site fencing which was never supplied. Score! So for all of you who are building if it says in your site fees provide X amount of lineal meters of temporary fencing which you never got you can ask for a refund. (San and Revi I would be straight on to that if I were you, every dollar counts!).

Concrete today and then I'm not sure what happens next.

Sans Scaffolding

Sans = french for without

Today should see the scaffolding come down, it will be the first time we get to really see the house in all its glory. Quite exciting!!!! This weekend will then involve carting 3 pallets of bricks from one side of the block to the other so they are out of the way when excavation works start on the pool. That's 300 bricks per pallet with 2 petite women 1 small boy and 1 wheelbarrow, sounds like one of those maths problems you had to solve e.g if it takes 2 women 1 boy and 1 wheelbarrow 10 minutes to move 50 bricks how long will it take them to move 900 bricks .... answer quite a lot of time!!

Sandy bumped into the SS on site yesterday as he is in charge of a few builds on the estate, the Soho behind us should be finished in 5 weeks as they have the painters in now and 2 more Metricon builds are starting next week. Of 36 blocks I think 10 are now Metricon, 4 Plantation homes, 2 Adenbrooke, 2 McCarthy's and a few different smaller companies. Over half the blocks have had builds started so it all looks very different now, neither of our next door neighbours have started theirs yet though.

The big news from the SS is they will be concreting the driveway and pathways next week.....amazing. Hopefully one of us can be on site to get some happy snaps. I hope it happens Tuesday as our son will be able to watch it all happening otherwise he'll be at kindy and will be upset to miss out. By the way he isn't even 5 yet and his new favorite TV show is the Renovators!!

Promise to post more photos soon.