7th December - False Alarm

So, Steve was up at 5am, excited by the prospect of the pool liners arriving at 6am this morning as scheduled. However, they did not show!  Steve rang them and it seems they got confused between Kellyville and Glenbrook (well, they have 3 letters in common).  I tried to see the funny side, but I confess to having struggled with that.

So the contractor said we would be on the list to do next week (subject to rain delays).  

5th December - Pooling our Resources

We have had a long and stressful experience with the pool but it looks as though we are nearing the end.  We were advised we were not allowed to proceed with our chosen paver and directed instead to choose a natural stone.  The reasons behind this seemed spurious to me and having challenged the site manager, the pool supplier backed away from this position. We selected Travertine in the end just to avoid any further conflict and the landscaper (A Turner) did a fantastic job with the installation. They even replaced the plastic skimmer box lid with a piece of travertine with a handle which looks beautiful. 

We had some difficulty with the safety certification after the certifier advised that we are now breeding exceptionally agile toddlers these days who can somehow single-handedly scale a 2M fence and then (tight-rope like) balance along the top edge of a fence before nimbly climbing down the other side into our pool area using the thin metal fence bracing to spring to the ground! Surely such superhuman babes are likely to be able to swim.

After many tense emails and wrangling over the financial status, we have finally had a call from the pool lining folk who are coming in the morning to line the pool – hoorah. Everything else is looking good.

5th December - Update

Lots has happened since my last update.  Following a long internet drought, I got out of the habit of updating the blog but Telstra brought us out of the online wilderness a few weeks back and I have been meaning to get back to it.

As you know, Steve was desperate to buy a leather sofa and we ordered his dream suite 3 months ago and it arrived on Saturday.  We spent around 20 minutes ‘testing’ the motorised recliners at either end.  I have mined the cushion mountain for a variety of beautiful scatter cushions that Steve has to admit has transformed the room! 

We still have a long list of snags (not sausages but defects) which require rectification and we had an inspection from Metricon’s QA bloke who seemed surprised there was still so much to do.  Given their responsiveness to date, I’m not unduly concerned but I am getting annoyed with their reluctance to replace the damaged sill of the stacker doors. I’ve agreed to another attempt at repairing it but if it still looks rubbish, I will demand a replacement.

27th August - Moved in but not yet moved out...

So, I decided half way through last weekend to just move into the new house rather than make a gradual transition over the next  couple of weeks. It was too exciting to leave our new house empty and sleep in the rental.  The kids slept in the new house on Saturday and Sunday (Andrew having the head start as Evie was at a sleep over at a friends house.). We have had a number of firsts - first sleep, first wall painted, first bath, first meal, first piece of mail etc. 

Its chaos - no time even to download photos for this blog entry and we cannot find anything. I am also moving campuses at work so my life at both ends is about boxes and packing tape.  This week, we have moved a load of boxes in the house, put in a modified planning application for a flatter garden, installed a mailbox (in order to receive said first piece of mail).  The driveway man will be starting this week and then we hope to complete most of the landscaping.  The heating has been installed and hoorah Foxtel is coming tomorrow to install an unseemly, ugly but nonetheless very welcome satelite dish on the top of our house. Welcome back Downton Abbey.

Steve got his own way and ordered his leather corner sofa.  Sometimes its easier just to cave.  We had some contingency left over and he spent some of it on his much desired sofa although it was in a sale and not purchased from the man with the vulgar watch and ridiculous sports car. Should be here in 3 months (need 3 or 4 cows to be born, grow enough to be slaughtered for the sofa presumably).

Anyway, much progress this week and we have hopefully transferred the rental to a family from Birmingham (small world eh?).

24th Sept - The Key to it All is....

...in our hands.  Yes, today we reached practical completion and have in our hands a shiney new key.  There is still a list of snags as long as your arm but at least we can now arrange to move in and can wander around the house whenever we like.  Steve will be there all the time from now on just to keep an eye on things and ensure that no-one messes with our lovely new house.

The Key 

There is some cleaning up to do and I will now start painting some of the rooms - especially the kids bedrooms.  That's my weekend mapped out.  Metricon handed over an enormous pile of documentation today but they also left us 2 beautiful, Royal Doultan crystal champagne flutes.  We had brought some plastic flutes from Coles ($20) which looked rather shabby in comparison so didn't bother with those. 

Ah, yes, these glasses beat the $20 for 4 flutes from Coles.

These didn't stay full for long

Me, outside my front door with the cork from the champagne bottle.

20th August – On the Level

Whilst the builders are working their way through the massive 'to do' list we left them last week, we have arranged a 'landscaper' to come and start work on the exterior.  For those up north, a landscaper down here means a bloke with a digger or a bloke with access to large quantities of concrete.  First off the blocks is the bloke with the digger who has levelled our back garden in preparation for the turf, retaining walls and fence.  We have recalculated what we need and therefore need to submit a new planning application for more retaining walls.  In the meantime, we'll just do 1 side of the garden for which we already have planning consent.

We also skipped down to Bunnings (UK translation: B&Q) and bought ourselves some paint, brushes and other stuff.  It was good fun to be able to go shopping for the house after a 2.5 year halt on our DIY talent. Well, what we lack in talent, we make up for in enthusiasm.  It's all very exciting.
I'm having the most fun planning the kids rooms.  Hopefully we will get our keys this week.  The builder is attempting to repair a couple of gashes in our stacker doors but I'm not convinced it will look good as new and if it doesn't, I will be demanding the parts are replaced. I'm trying not to let this stifle my joy at the prospect of having our own home here in Oz.

Might have to pack a couple of boxes soon....

9th August – They Think its all Over…

Well not quite.  We have a ‘walk round’ scheduled tomorrow with the site manager. Tonight we have put together our snag list, which is actually quite long but hopefully not too difficult to overcome.  The carpets are in and pretty much all of the finishing work is complete. 

Carpet, delightful woodstain on the balaustrade.  Hey wasn't that supposed to be painted? Never mind. It matches that door that is not in the contract.  Hhhmmm, scouse works in mysterious ways....

 You can see from these 2 pictures above that our luxury package came with a free pair of manky sandals with each room.

The fence is down too and so we can now see the house free of bars.

Free at last!  Apart from the monstrous mortgage that is.

Steve has spent the last few weeks since the last blog update trying to get tradies to turn up on time.  Probably easier to fly to the moon and back.  Speaking of impossible tasks, the phone company confirm they are unable to connect a phone to the house until Sept 20th!  I mean, the house and all the other houses in the street have appeared magically overnight so no wonder they have no idea that there is a need to provide modern infrastructure to the street. I love the fact that there is ducting to the street but when you lift the branded manhole covers, they are empty. 

Of course this is not the worst of it, what this means is that we cannot have Foxtel (that's Sky to you up there in Blighty). Yes, that's right no proper TV.  Just re-runs of Home and Away, Lateline and Private Practice.  No quality entertainment such as Come Dine with Me (Lucy won't come round) or the Sharks and Nazi channel (aka Discovery channel) but perhaps worst of all, the children will have no kids telly. This tragic turn of events also means that there is no internet.  That is no shopping, no daily mail online, no skype, no shopping, Oh and Steve can't work, no kids homework sites, no shopping.  Bummer.

MacDonalds has free wifi, Steve will be sat in there conducting his business every day coked up on fizzy drinks. Do do do do dooo, I'm not lovin' it.

 

4th – 6th July - Tanked Up

This week has seen a flurry of miscellaneous activities including the installation of 2 enormous rainwater tanks.  These are designed to ensure that rain run-off will not overwhelm the street’s drainage system by flooding into these tanks and then gradually drip into the drains. This rainwater is also used to flush the loos.  How very green! 

Each tank holds 5,000 litres. Along with the 50,000 litres in the pool, we’ll have plenty of water on site.

Lots of other things going on this week. Grouting is complete on the tiles and the whacking great hole in the side of the kids’ playroom has now disappeared – hoorah.

Horrah - the hole has now gone

On this side, they have left a little niche for us to use to store the kid's books.

They’ve also done a rather neat job on a retaining wall to stop our driveway from getting washed away. However, they used the left over house bricks which Steve was planning to use  to build a letter box.  Of course, in the UK, you just have a letter box flap in the door.

 

22nd – 29th June – Floored!

Hah – puns are back, how satisfying.  Yes, this week the flooring went in.  Feast your eyes on this fabulous transformation:-

Tiling in the family room.

Ah, lovely

 

 

And this is it finished.  This photo was taken by a cockroach squeezed right in the corner.

13th June – From Workshop to Worktops

The house is resembling a house rather than a construction site.  Our Site Manager, Trevour is a master of his craft.  Yet again, Metricon are ahead of schedule.  Take a butchers at these piccies which show our shiney worktops and sinks in the kitchen and other wet rooms. If I get more excited, I reckon I’m gonna burst! Looks like the moving in date is coming forward.

Missed a bit

His and hers (big people)

His and hers (small people)

And for the Butler...

Lots of exciting things happening.  The sparkies start at the end of this week for the final fix and the painters are in. A man came round to measure for bug screens today so at least we won’t have a house full of wasps at the first whiff of summer.

This nice man is painting one of our Evel Knievel ramps which you'll note have been installed in each room.

 

Steve asked for a new leather suite this week, which will cost the same as a small Japanese car. This he wanted to buy from a bloke who owned a Lamborghini and a chunky gold Rolex.  I was less keen.   The Lamborghini man assured us that $7K was absolutely the best he could do.  Poor guy, with discounts like this, he will end up dropping down to a Mercedes.  Needless to say I have been managing Steve’s expectations and we will make do with our old beanbags for now.  

2nd June - Tiling Starts

Master En Suite - sorry about the mess

Tiling in the wet rooms has started and the sparkies are back doing their 2nd fix. Its going great guns at the moment and they seem to be ahead of schedule.  Looking really good.

Main Bathroom - missed a bit

Guest En Suite

23rd May - Kitchen Cupboards Installed

Have run out of puns temporarily. Never mind, the kitchen has arrived. Steve has been fussing around ensuring it is positioned perfectly. He got up at the crack of dawn, unable to sleep because the island was 3cm off-centre and he couldn't let it lie.  Bless.

Anyway here are the units....

Kitchen Units - you'll note that the island is 3cm off-centre in this picture.

We're now at lock-up stage so Steve will have to turn up the scouse if he wants a look-see!!

Lots of other stuff going on - skirting, architrave being fitted and the doors have arrived (well, obviously - difficult to lock up without doors).

Butler's pantry also kitted out:-

Butlers Pantry - this is where we will keep the Butler

22nd May - Balcony Painted

The balcony, which is rendered, has now been painted - freshening it up and making it look clean.  The garage door will also be painted this colour which will give the front elevation balance. Steve is pleased with the result too which is a relief because he found it hard to visualise when I tried to describe it during the planning phase. I only have to say the word 'palette' and his eyes glaze over.

15th May – Upstairs/Downstairs

Stairs are in. 

This is what the house looks like without the scaffolding.

7th – 11th May – Internal Walls

The Gyproc has gone up – yippee!! Wandering around with proper walls was pretty exciting – feels even more real. 

However, somehow the designers forgot to mention that they designed a ‘feature opening’ in the playroom (which wasn't in the display home).  Given that we asked for this room to be closed off with sliding doors, we’re perplexed at this little 'design feature'. Poor Trevour – not his responsibility because it was, apparently, on the plans (listed as “sill and bulkhead” – eh?? Wouldn’t it have been clearer listed as “whacking great opening in the side of your wall!”??) Anyway, I’ve come up with a solution but I’m hoping that Metricon will sort it out.

Still, my joy at wandering around the rooms with the walls up cannot be spoiled. Great fun.  We even had the neighbours round. Alas they caught us unprepared - we simply had nothing in!!!

Look, real walls inside!!! 

Had some minor hiccups this week - the bathroom floor tile was discontinued and I had selected a finish for the kitchen cupboards that apparently doesn't exist so have been reselecting.  Glad about the bathroom tiles actually - I suspected I had made a mistake but I have made a better selection now.

Len has got keys to his place now (show off) and will shortly be moving in which was also pretty exciting.  Congrats to Len and Mrs Len and the little Lens.

5th May - Rendered Speechless

I’m probably pushing my luck with these puns but I intend to persevere, however tenuous.  The balcony/portico has now been rendered (yet to be painted) and looks lovely.  

 

25th April - Interior Panorama 1

Lots of little things have been happening over the last week or so - cabling of different sorts, neatening up the wall ties, stuff like that. They have started tidying up the site and cleaning the bricks ready for the interior fit out.  It is a relief to know that my new home will not be accessorised with empty salmon tins, coke bottles and wrappers from fast food restaurants.  Steve thought it would be good to share where we are up to inside with these 2 fabulous panoramas:-

Ground Floor - Double click on this to open the photo in full size.

First Floor - Double click to open the photo in full size

Steve has labelled the various parts of the photos so you can see which room is where.  Still lots to do but it gives you an idea.  

17th April - Blowing Hot and Cold

We have been waiting for a plan from our air-con supplier for us to sign off. Steve rang them last week to chase it up to discover that they had already been and gone!!! We discovered that they had put cables for the controllers in all sorts of odd places.  However, they very quickly resolved this once we brought it to their attention and today it is all good. The true measure of customer service is how well a company responds to issues so Vaccaro get a thumbs up at this stage.  The installation looks as though a giant silver octopus is roaming around in the rafters:-

The electric cable, data cabling and alarm cabling also went in over the last few days.  

2nd - 13th April More Bricks

In all seriousness I am not sure how we keep running out of bricks.  Len has finished this phase so it can’t be him.  Are they buying them in singles?  “1 brick please …. Nope, that’s not enough lets get another one. Nope still not enough, try 1 more”….arggh!!  Anyway, nearly there – I guess they can only buy bricks in small quantities at this stage.  The pillars on the outdoor room are up and the balcony is almost finished. However the rendering due next week will probably have to wait since Mother Nature has decided to schedule some rain at the same time.

Over the last week or so, some other finer details are starting to be added such as the soffits :-

and the roof tiles are pretty much finished:- 

 

12th – 17th March 2012 Roof, Some More Bricks and Solar Panels

Steve has managed to do his duty and take a photo of the roof from the outside. 

How smart!  I know they are just tiles but pretend to be interested….

Our lovely roof tiles....

The other thing that happened this week is the installation of the solar panels….

Shiney!

The brickwork is progressing well – up to the first floor but alas they have almost run out of bricks so we have to wait another 2 weeks for them to manufacture more. I laughed when Len’s builder ran out of bricks – seriously how ridiculous is it for a builder not to know how many bricks they need? However, it wiped the smile off my face when we were in the same predicament (sorry Len). [Hey – I hope Len didn’t pop over and nick some of my bricks…..] 

My fabulous bricks (which are suspiciously similar to my chum Len's bricks ...hmmm)

In the meantime, the plan is to put up more soffits (eh?) and remove the scaffolding to the main part of the house so they can roof the garage and the back of the house. This is the good news. The bad news is, of course, that we have now slipped into 2^nd place – our neighbour’s house is a nose in front. I suspect she has whipped her tardy builders into shape since her house is almost bricked and her roof appeared after just 1 day.  Damn and blast!  Steve says its not a race…..

6th March - Getting a Roof over our Heads

Steve has been anxiously sweeping the floorboards clear of excess water following each heavy rainfall. He is therefore very relieved that the roof tiles arrive last week.  Despite some showers, Metricon have made good progress and the whole of the top floor is now roofed (is that a word??).

Steve has been slacking with the camera and I haven't got any piccies of the tiles themselves, but here is a nice photo of the roof from the inside.

Look - no daylight 

 

Steve spent 20 minutes this evening strolling around the site with his hands in his pockets looking skyward.  (He really needs a hobby).

21st - 28th February - Bricking It

The arrival of our bricks have caused some discussion with our neighbours who were comparing colours etc. Who would have thought that an oblong piece of coloured clay would be the subject of such animated and interesting discussion?  Having the bricks go up is exciting but very soon we will not be able to walk around on site.

Steve was panicking about the fact that some of the bricks were orange and not brown and suspected that a mistake had been made. I explained that there would be a small number of common bricks for the construction of the balcony, which would then be rendered.  Steve turned his nose up at the sound of ‘common’ but then I reminded him that he is a scouser and should be quite at home with the notion.

Bricks arrive

Walls....actual walls!!!!

OK, half walls but its progress

Metricon seem to have been ducking around the weather efficiently and are not losing nearly as much time as our other neighbors. They plan to stop at this stage, bring scaffolding on site and then get the roof on before returning to complete the bricklaying. Starting to catch Gabrielle up a bit.