Schools In Next Summer

A slight digression, the local state school have accepted our son's enrolment. He starts prep in January and will be able to walk to school which is brilliant. After speaking to some of our new neighbours there are a few families who have children around his age who will also be attending the same school. So hopefully he will have local friends to play with which will be really wonderful and was just one of the reasons why we decided to buy and build where we did. That plus the fact there are great playgrounds and open spaces, walks along the river and it is close enough to work and the shops. I'm loving it already.

And Now For The Next Bit

Being locked out is mildly frustrating as we haven't been able to check on progress but after a call from our SS we can confirm that painting is completed and that fixing and floor tiling is about to commence. By fixing they don't mean repairs they mean fixing things in place like shower screens, baths and toilets, taps, and electrical fittings including lights, switches power points etc. We're not really sure how long these things take and know the water tank, air conditioning unit, water heater and carpets will then also need to be attended to, however the SS did mention that by the end of this week he might be able to look at an approximate Practical Completion date!!!!! I can't quite believe that our house is going to be finished soon it seems like it only just started a few weeks ago.

The pool construction is due to start  a week on Thursday so it's going to be a very busy site again over the next few weeks. Hopefully I can sneak out from work for long enough to get some photos and actually see for myself what has been done.

Smells Like Paint

Couldn't get in again but when you walk around the outside the house smells of paint so I know they have been in there doing more work. The rear garage door has had a primer coat applied prior to being painted jasper from the colorbond range. Here's hoping we made the right decision with that as the dune looks great and I am now wondering if we should have simply had dune on all the exterior areas. The beams over the outdoor room will also be jasper so fingers crossed.

I have noticed a few more brick colour defects these ones have a reddish patch so I will have to speak to TC the SS about whether these can be replaced or not. I haven't seen any chipped ones but then again it's almost impossible to see the bricks higher than about 2-3m off the ground. Binoculars anyone?

The plantation build next but one lot over looks finished, I can see red dots stuck on the walls and skirting so they must have had their PCI, I wonder when they will be moving in? The soho behind us looks like it is about 2 weeks from being ready and all the other builds are progressing nicely. The weather is glorious so I hope it stays that way ready for our concrete pour as preparation for the driveway is due to commence.

Sprayed

Had a peek through the windows as the glad wrap is now down so they must be done with spray painting. I like the colour we picked for the wall it is a pale grey-brown and looks quite different to the white of the ceiling and cornices. It is fairly obvious that there are more coats of paint required as you can still see the unevenness in colour coming through from the plasterboard.

We will have to take a trip to Bunnings as according to the people who manufacture the robe doors the paint colour we have chosen is not available in the metallic range so now we have to choose one that is. Glad they picked up on it and didn't just choose something that they thought would be a close enough match.
Will let you know what we decided on once we have had 5 minutes to pop out for sample chips.

First Coat

Spray paining commenced - first coat applied - no photos couldn't go in.
We are having Metricon white for the ceilings and crystal gazing for the walls which is an off-white colour. Very adventurous I know but we can add and change colours at a later date. Plus it was really too expensive to pay to have feature wall colours at around an additional $130 per wall.
Thinking we may do wallpaper for some of our feature walls?

Glad Wrap

The painters were on site yesterday getting everything prepped to start painting which means they have wrapped and taped the windows, bathrooms, kitchen and stairs in plastic prior to spray painting which starts today.
They reckon it will take them a week to complete all the painting , no way!!!! it would take me a week just to the laundry.
It will then be approximately 7 weeks until all is finished...I know I can't believe it either.

Plastic Sheets On Windows

Not The Sort Of Window Dressing I Had In Mind

Stairs Wearing A Very Fetching Drop Sheet and Plastic Bag Ensemble

Laundry Protected

Finished Shelving In Butler's Pantry

The scaffolding has been removed from site, concreting is actually next week and the works for the pool is penciled in for the 29th Sept (it may be sooner if they can move us forward). We have handed in the necessary paperwork to the bank so they can pay for fixed stage, the guys at St George have been brilliant thanks Paul and Brian for being so efficient and explaining things in terms we understand. That means the next payment will be for PCI/handover da da dah. I know we will need buildings insurance etc in place prior to the bank handing over the cash and they will also need to do an inspection/valuation of their own before its all official. Sandy is super organised when it comes to that sort of thing so I know she will have evrything in place when the time comes.
Here's looking forward to a move date in November.

Get Down! Pipes

Did the usual drive by the house as we can't bear to be away from it for more than a day and low and behold they've put the down pipes on. We stayed with the standard range which are square and actually look alright now they are on the house. It is wierd trying to pick things from samples in a showroom. The down pipes are colorbond dune and match in well with the exterior colour schemes.

Portico Side On With Down Pipe

Garage Down Pipe - Now Its On Its Not So Ugly Still Would Have Been Nicer On The Side

Square Profile - Standard Inclusion

They've Had Another Coat of Stain

Front Door With Additional Stain

Motar Drop Out There's A Few Of These To Patch

Build progress on other sites is zooming along. Glad no one is building directly next to us yet as it really makes it a squeeze for the trades and deliveries when two houses are being done side by side. Some bickering has broken out with accusations of your builders trucks have cracked our crossover and everyone is driving across my block and so on but what do you expect its a building site and if you had already started your build your trades would be doing the same on someone elses land. I just smile and swiftly move along.

Oh and the bill for fixed stage has arrived.....I told you they all come at once.