Some New Pictures......FINALLY!!!!

WE'RE IN!!!!

Actually, we have been for a little more than 2 weeks, so first let me apologize to all our Blog followers for not keeping you updated on the exciting news! We moved in on Saturday the 29th of March, but were only re-connected to the Net just last night! Just prior to moving in we had some fun and interesting times which are continuing to some degree, but let's give you the background story first.

Two days prior to the move (Thursday, March 27th), we had the installation of the carpeting and all of our appliances (Hot water system, oven/stove and the dishwasher). We LOVE the carpeting and the guys did a great job getting it completed by Friday morning. The oven/stove, hot water system and dishwasher are all terrific as well, however upon installation on Thursday the 'crew' noticed that there was a gas leak coming from one of the lines and this sent things into a bit of chaos. The guys were all over the place, on the phone and up and down between our walk-in robe and the room directly below it, trying to ascertain exactly where this 'leak' was coming from. They returned on Friday with a 5 meter long replacement pipe and promptly cut 3 one foot rectangles in the wall in our walk-in robe and two large squares in the wall on the room below in preparation of removing the pipe and to ensure that the 'leak' they were hearing was coming from the right area. After much discussion and analyzing it was determined that the 5 meter pipe they were going to replace and originally thought the leak was coming from, was not the source of the problem but was actually a pipe that connected to this pipe. The pipe was not 'leaking' per Se, but had excessive noise due to the fact that at the connection point, the pipe had not been properly 'crimped' during original installation. Therefore, probably only on square needed to be cut into the wall, rather than 5 in two different locations, but at least the problem was sorted out allowing us heating, cooling, hot water, gas and, most importantly, the ability to move in! We then had the installation of the ducted vacuum system, as well as the commissioning of the heating and cooling systems and the Alarm. We also had the wiring guys in to finish off their work. Sadly there have been a number of issues with getting this work not only completed, but complete properly (some things are their fault and some are not) however the worst of it seems over and we are soon to have the Speaker configuration, TVs, Theater Rooms, Door monitor systems, etc.

Currently, we have moved all the goodies into the house have a very exciting and functional Theater Room (photo's to come soon) and have various items strewn about that require some organization. This will occur rapidly over the next couple of weeks as the 'Mystery Baby' is due to be 'extracted' two weeks from THIS FRIDAY!!! AAAAAGGGHHHHH! Can't wait, but on the other hand...yes I can! This past weekend we purchased a Tall Boy, bedside table and bed and bed frame for Mr. C-Monster and T the T will inherit his old stuff. The baby will take over T the T's crib and accessories and we are all set in the furniture department. We have selected but still need to purchase a desk for the office as well as a storage unit from Ikea for the Playroom/Guest Room. We went to Bunnings last night and picked up some rack shelving which I will assemble tonight and put into the garage to store the mess that has accumulated there from moving! FUN!

Next Steps: Organize garage, schedule the cabinet guy to fit a final cabinet over the fridge space and the plasterers to fix all the squares and rectangles cut out of our wall. Both of those items look to be done early next week! Finish fielding quotes for our driveway, select one and get the darn thing installed. Purchase and deliver the new desk and storage shelving for the playroom/guest room and we'll be ready for the baby! Still a lot to do, but I'm determined to do it, so watch this space!

Pictures of it all very, VERY SOON! PROMISE!

CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE! (Nearly)

I say 'nearly' because technically the construction phase is complete with only a few minor touch ups left to occur, but it should only take a day or two to finish those up before the 'Handover Group' takes over! This past week saw the construction group conduct final inspections and do some of the final fit-offs. There are only a couple of paint and plaster touch ups, soil around the house and installation of the heating thermostat left to do. The Handover Group is due to come in this week and conduct their own inspection and then contact us for our 'New Home Presentation!' At this time, we will go through the house with a fine tooth comb wit the Handover Group and if there are any things that we see need to be fixed, they will then fix them before handing over the keys. Depending on what we see/find this normally takes another week or two. So, depending on when we get the call from the Handover Group (hopefully by the middle of this week) and when they decide to schedule our New Home Presentation (hopefully sometime the following week), we could have the keys anywhere from 2 - 4 weeks! We're guessing about 2.5 to 3.0 weeks away, which is very, very exciting. Stay tuned! Pictures to show how close we are now, below!


Front of the house, essentially complete! The render color change around the front door and upstairs window was finished on Saturday!


Back of the house completed!


Back & side shot of the house!


Side of the house and back of the Garage completed!


Other side of the house, nearly complete. They will need to bring in more dirt to cover the termite protection (pink pipe along the ground)!


Entry way nearly complete! Just a couple of touch ups and a clean up and she's ready to go!


Looking in from the Alfresco!


View from the dining area toward the living area!


View of the kitchen and dining areas with our new glass Splashback added!


View of the kitchen, dining and Alfresco sliding doors!

Fencing Removed, Tiles Downstairs Begin...

Well, we must be getting pretty close to having construction completed as Henley have removed the temporary fencing at the front, done another site clean and have brought in some more dirt in an attempt to level the areas surrounding the house. The tiler has been back to complete the tiling with the downstairs entry, kitchen, dining and family areas to be tiled. Once they are in its a then on to the 'fit off stage' with fit offs being completed along with a lot of painting corrections etc. Tiler should be done by the end of the week at the very latest and I can't imagine the touch ups and other stuff taking more than two weeks. Hopefully less than a month and we'll be getting our shiny new keys!!!! Progress below as usual...


Fence and Port-O-Potty gone and site cleaned. Nearly ready except for a few finishing touches yet to come.


Tiles in the entry & kitchen area have begun to be put down. Me in my baseball gear in the reflection...nice.


Tiles down in the dining and family area. Shouldn't be too long before that is complete!