Touch Ups

The painter will be coming on Monday to do some touch ups and repaint the wall by the stairs which had to be reskimmed due it it having some pretty poor plastering finishes, namely big gouges and dents that looked like someone had hit the wall with their suitcase, then dragged it down the whole flight of stairs and just to top it off went back and randomly hit it the gyprock with a nail over and over. It'll be good to get that done as it looks quite messy at present.
We are still waiting to hear from the plumber to sort out the lack of flush toilet and then all our service and maintenance issue will be complete - oh that's if we ignore the retaining wall between us and next door which wont be done until their build is nearer completion.

More houses are being started on our little 36 lots estate with a couple of new site scrapes and some swimming pool holes being done. As for who is building with who it looks like the score is now Merticon 12 Plantation Homes 8 McCarthy 3 Others 5.

We got our first proper electricity bill this week for approx $550 for the quarter Jan - Apr.thankfully we got $85 credit from our solar so this brought the bill down to $465. Now seeing as we haven't had to pay any bills on a big for almost 12 months we can't remember if this seems average, reasonable or expensive... any comments?

Service and Maintenance Visit

The nice man from the service and maintenance dept came to pay a visit yesterday with our list of minor issues in hand. We expected he'd just have a look then organise the tradies to come out to do what was needed but much to our surprise he attended to all the jobs himself right there and then! He had everything he needed in his van and was very helpful pointing things out and explaining why we were having issues with things like sliding doors sticking and so on. How's that for service?
The only outstanding work now is that the painters need to come to attend to some touch ups and totally repaint the wall going up the stairs which had such a poor plaster finish that it has almost had to be completely reskimmed as it was full of gouges and dents. Oh and the plumber has to come out to see why the main WC toilet doesn't flush completely. So  for a score out of 10 we give service and maintenance a 9 so far. Well done Metricon Qld!

A Few Photos

That Land Drain Doesn't Work Then

Where's The Ark?

Veggie Patch or Duck Pond?

Pumping Out The Downfall Again!

The Yard In Progress

From Another Angle

There's Going To Be A Shed There So Can You Shift Your Tools

Drainage! And It Works

Stepping Stones

And Its Finishes

Front Yard - We Will Plant Mini Black Mondos Between Paving

Closer View

Angel Appreciating The New Garden

Finally A Washing Line

Well it's only taken 6 months but finally we have installed a washing line in the yard outside the laundry door. Yippee, no more having to dry clothes in batches on the airer, using the tumble drier or carting loads of laundry up to the business and hanging out on the line there. It feels like we have put our final stamp on the house to say yes we actually have moved in and really live here!

The Service team from Metricon are coming to visit on Friday to have a look at the jobs that need attention. I have no idea if they plan to do them on the day or if they are just inspecting as when they called they did ask whether we had any spare paint. They have followed up fairly swiftly as the deadline for having the paperwork in was the 4th.

We've been having a few cold mornings (well cold for Brisbane) recently and I am loving how due to the aspect of the house that as the morning sun comes up it streams right into the outdoor room and through the bi-folds to warm the kitchen and family rooms. Perfect. It also means that you can sit outdoors and toast yourself in the sun whilst a cup of tea and reading a good book. I love it!

Lovely long weekend in Brisbane with perfect glorious sunny days. We have spent time hanging out together, walking the dog, playing at the local park, having BBQs, relaxing in the outdoor room, basking in the sun and enjoying my new car.
Yes we have broken all the new home owner rules and bought cars, had overseas holidays and spent money that could have gone to paying our mortgage down. BUT... as I pointed out to the accountant we are in our early 40's not 80's and we want to enjoy life and have some FUN. There's time to concentrate on the mortgage now that we have those things out the way.

I will be updating photos in a new post soon

6 Month Service and Maintenance

The paperwork has come from Metricon for us to note down any problems or issues with the house as it has been almost 6 months since we did handover (I can't believe how quick the time has flashed by and yet it seems like we have always lived here). Fortunately for us any concerns we have are very minor like the flushes on the toilets being the wrong way around i.e the big button gives the half flush, a ceiling fan that makes clicking noises and few other little things. We dutifully filled out the forms faxed and posted them back so now we wait to see what happens next.

Overall score for our new house almost 10/10 the only thing I would change is to make the actual WC spaces slightly larger as they are a tiny bit claustrophobic if you are not feeling well (if you get my drift). Otherwise it is quite perfect and the space and rooms work really well for us as a family. I wonder if that will still be the case as our son gets older and the dog gets bigger (not that she is going to be huge!).

Surprisingly this week I got an email from Metricons social media people asking me to remove the detailed plans we have posted on the blog as we are in breach of their copyright policy as they do not want other builders to be able to copy or duplicate anything from their drawings. Fair point so I am about to remove the pictures form the blog as requested. Shame as they really do help prospective would be customers with M to have some great ideas about altering the space and the electrical plans are a work of art and a lot of effort went in to organising and deciding where we would put switches and sockets etc. Which may I say was well worth it as it seems like we got it 95% right.

Oh well better find those posts with the plans on......

Paving and Pebbles

The hard landscaping is almost completed, we now have stepping stones, paving and pebbles around the front of the house and around the side from the front to the pool area. All that needs to be finished off is some soil and mulch and the garden is finished - well almost as once the landscaping team is done we will need to get some more plants put in and make a start on the vegetable garden, oh and order the shed. Then when we have the money we will look at getting some feature pots and possible water feature for out the front of the house to give it a bit more wow factor and street appeal.
The long awaited cubby house should also be arriving sometime this week so hopefully we can get our carpenter friend to put it together for us.

Now For The Hard Stuff

At last the hard landscaping has commenced with the formation of a concrete slab for the shed and concrete pads/steps out from the rear garage door and laundry. The land levels have been lowered and recontoured to allow for better run off into the new drains ahead of laying pavers and and covering with gravel. Now that the slabs are down it makes the remaining areas of garden to complete seem much smaller and more manageable, which is a good thing as we do in fact have quite a large area to maintain.I'm looking forward to the shed arriving so that we can move all that stuff that you don't have a home for out from the garage which will make it easier to get the cars in and out. This will  probably be the final work that we are having done on the house for a while as we have now come to the end of our house build budget and need to start saving again to be able to get some built in cabinets and storage made. Luckily we have enough furniture and bits and pieces to make do with for now so we don't feel like it is a big deal to be putting things on hold.

We now have neighbours in the Plantation home next door and the brick work has started on the Metricon on the other side. It's strange having people around and it's sending the dog crazy, good to know that she is protective and will bark if someone is about though.

Metricon have opened a new display at Rochedale so we might pop over later today to see what they have done and get more interior design and furnishing ideas.