Floor coverings - sorted

well almost... just gotta sort out how to get the bank to release some money so we can put down a deposit on the flooring. The bank want an invoice from the carpet people and the carpet people say that the banks usually are happy with a quote. UGH! So Mark is going back and forth between the two and hopefully we can pay the deposit soon.

We are getting our flooring done through Choices, one of the local carpet businesses. The quote they gave was less than the quote we got from Western Distributors (which we were quite surprised at!) with the same vinyl and same quality carpet and underlay, so we figured we'd go with the locals. Unfortunately they can't get the vinyl in till the end of March so we'll be vinyl-less till then. At least we will have the carpet done before we move in, the living areas won't have much that we'll need to move out to put the vinyl down.

Better and Better

Things keep getting better and better! I went past the house this morning to kill time while the buyers of our current home and the agent came through to do some measuring up. The render has been painted, fly screens have been installed, shower screens are in, heating duct has finally been put in in the laundry (and the ensuite and bathroom too I assume - since the house is all locked up I can't see into those rooms). The replacement spa had been sitting in the study last time we went past, (they had ordered the wrong one) but it wasn't there today, and it wasn't installed so I wonder what happened to it this time...

In love with our kitchen!

Shower screen is now installed

Other bits and pieces that we had made note of and mentioned to our new site supervisor have been fixed. Just waiting on the glass splashback to be installed then its finished - apart from the touch ups that need to be done to plaster and paint.

Rubbish cage and porta loo are now gone. Hope our builder's don't eat any of these gummy bears... (I haven't laughed as much as I did when reading those reviews of the 5lbs of gummy bears - read it if you need a laugh! OH MY!)


All the other tradesmen working in our house have taken great care with their work, but I can't quite say the same for the electricians. They haven't seemed to have taken too much pride in their work or taken care when installing the downlights and switches. There are several holes around switches and lights that the plasterers and painters will need to return to fix up the electricians shoddy job. If these electricians had come in to an existing house to put in downlights or switches, you certainly wouldn't recommend them to your friends when you'd have to call in plasterers to fix things up!

All in all, we've had a fabulous build thanks to a very talented and diligent site supervisor. Can't wait for PCI next week and hopefully moving in the following week! So excited!

Garage door

It's looking almost finished! Site clean was done today. Bath and taps were put in. Fly screens delivered. PCI has now been brought forward to the 4th which suits us much better.

Light at the end of the tunnel

We have a Practical Completion Inspection (PCI) date! Wahoo!!!!

(source)

Unfortunately there was a bit of a hold up with the shower screens so they won't be installed until the 28th of Feb. So the following Friday (the 7th of March) is our PCI and handover should be the following Friday (the 14th of March). We were hoping that it could have all been one week earlier so we could move in over the long weekend, but it's not to be. Never mind, we always find that when the timing is out of our hands things always end up better off anyway.

So we'll get the floors done during the following week, along with the driveway and hopefully the shed and then we can move in properly!

(source)

Garaged

Our garage door has been installed. Can't wait to see what it looks like when it's down.

Garage door opener! This is one of the best bits of our new house ;-)

Grouting is done. 

We went to Western Distributors today to choose our carpet and vinyl. We've chosen Gerflor's Primetex in Cajou Grey for the vinyl.  The carpet is a nice thick twist pile by Redbook - Matilda Bay in Pepperwood. We can't wait to see it in our house.

Under Contract

Our heads are spinning!


Our house went on the market yesterday. A couple looked through our home this morning, by lunch time we had accepted their offer and by tea time the documents were signed and a 10% deposit paid. No conditions and flexible settlement dates.

Our agent was blown away, these people had been looking for the right house for about a year. They certainly knew it was the one when they saw it!

It is a beautiful house, and the gardens are just lovely. We will miss this home.

Tiles, Lights, Switches and Bench Tops

We met with our site supervisor yesterday morning. The tiler wanted to meet with us too. He wanted to check that the tiles were correct and double check the way we wanted the tiles to be placed.  He was only a young guy with a thick accent (eastern European) and we were really impressed, we could tell he takes great pride in his work.  Really happy with how the build is progressing.

The house was a hive of activity, there were a couple of electricians, wardrobe fitters, tilers and our site supervisor and a second site supervisor who will be taking over and seeing out our build.

Feature tiles for ensuite and bathroom

Squeeee! It's gonna look soooo good!

Bathroom

Our Caesar Stone bench has been installed. It's beautiful.

So close!

The fires came within 500m of our new home! So close.  So thankful to the CFA and the awesome work they did in our area. So many homes were spared thanks to them. Fires came within 2km of our school. The smoke will be with us for a few days.  The landscape is so black.

Looking North towards our home

Looking South towards the fire area

V-line train going along the Bendigo line. The fire jumped the train line. This is how close it was to our new home!
The timber in the foreground is our boundary fence and the black next to the tree is stones.

Riddell Road

Clean up begins on some properties on Riddell Road

Riddell Road

Riddell Road

Riddell Road

In other news, our current home is on the market now so we are living in a state of heightened tidiness! Hope and pray it sells quick. Got our first potential buyers coming through in the morning. Open house this Saturday too.

Oh no. More sirens going off - these fire bugs have to be caught!!!! :-(

Fires

The latest spate of fires have come terribly close to our new home. Looking at this map I'd say they were less than 1km from our house.

Our current home goes on the market sometime in the next 24 hours. The agent came around this morning with a photographer to take pics. So now we are living in a heightened state of tidiness.  I really hope and pray it sells quick!

Tomorrow we will meet our site supervisor and the tiler at the house to confirm that the tiles that have been delivered are the ones we ordered. It will be sobering to see how close the fire actually did get to our new home. We've already seen photos on the internet of Riddell Road and the area, but it will be a shock to see it for ourselves. We are so glad that our friends and the school community have not lost their homes.

Small Changes

The painters have been very busy this week. They still have a bit more to do though... We're really happy with the colours we chose for the walls, doors and trim.

Loving the colour of our front door
(Woodland Grey - matches the roof).
It's going to look great after the second coat!

Bath and spa delivered

In one of the kitchen cupboards.
Seems like someone has been having some drinks while on the job!

Gorgeous doors to our bedroom

So in love with our kitchen! They've plastered the bulkhead now.

Not sure what the developers are doing with the back part of the fence.

Downpipes have been installed

We will meet with the site supervisor Monday week to check the tiles before the tiler starts. The tiler doesn't want to start until we confirm that what is delivered is correct - good idea - guessing he's had problems before and would rather do the job once, than twice!  

During the next week the painting will be finished and the electrical points, switches and fittings will be installed. Our site supervisor says we could be in by the end of Feb. Wahoo!

Once we have the date, we'll be able to organise the floors. Better start working out what we're going to do about window coverings too.

Mark is drooling over sheds so we need to get cracking on getting some quotes as the shed needs to go in pretty quick.  

First thing on our list will be to dog proof the fence and put in a side fence. 

Second on the list is the shed. Concreting for the driveway will prob be done at the same time as the concrete for the shed.