Driveway Day 4

13/12014

Day 4 saw the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle laid. All that's left to do is some saw cuts tomorrow. Darren, the concreter is not happy with the top piece and will have the lot coated with sealer in a few weeks. If the cracks still show, he is going to rip that section out and re-do it at his expense. He is very particular with his work. Time will tell how it holds up.



Driveway Day 3

12/11/2014

Part 2 of the driveway was delivered today. We have a small problem with the top part poured yesterday showing some hairline cracks. Our concreter is not happy so part 2 pour was with a special concrete which has fibres in the cement. He said when it's sealed the cracks may disappear but if I'm not happy with it he will take it out and do that section again. I'm a bit disappointed but lets see what happens.



Driveway Day 2

11/11/2014

Day 2 of the driveway saw the top section concreted and forming up of the next section. It's looking good and the colour matches the roof.



Driveway. Yipee!

10/11/2014

Today is my darling wife's birthday and she received a bonus present. The concreter's arrived and started to form up the driveway. I have been waiting 9 weeks for this particular person as his work is excellent hence the wait time. The posi-track operator knew how to drive one of those things and his eye for levels was amazing. They plan to pour tomorrow and the colour we chose was Woodland which is very similar to Jasper, the colour of our roof.

Cutting the gutter was a challenge

A bit of a slope

Top section formwork

More formwork



Street Plaque

8/11/2014

Two weeks ago I was going through some paperwork and found the voucher for the plaque that MJH gave us. It arrived today and it looks great. 10 mins to drills some holes and get it level and it was done. Very happy.



Solar Panels Installed

16/10/2014

Our Solar panels were installed today. It's a 3 kw system with 12 panels through Energy Australia. The Technician told me when the sun is out, use your appliances as the Government rebate is virtually nothing. Our power usage so far is very little and I'm looking forward to a power bill for once.

 

The panels are quite large

Finished product

Boys Pictures then a Storm

13/10/2014

My wife had some pictures framed to hang in their bedrooms. Being a steel frame, it makes things a little harder to attach. After this was completed a quite spectacular storm roared through. Welcome to Summer.

Oliver's room

Isaac's room

Here comes the storm

Nature can be very spectacular



NBN Connected

3/10/2014

After a week's delay, the Telstra Tech came today and hooked up our NBN. I have a data cable running to the Study which is in the middle of the home. Wi-Fi is perfect in every room so no need to run any more data cables. Also because Telstra left me waiting I done a little smooth talking and managed to get $400 in credits. It pays to be polite on the phone.

 

Shutters & Blinds

30/09/2014

Finally after waiting 7 weeks, our shutters and blind were installed today. Now we have some privacy and will be moving in this weekend, a month after receiving the keys. Happy days.

Kids Room

Laundry

Main Bathroom







Crimsafe and Flyscreens

28/9/2014

Our Crimsafe doors and flyscreens went in today. A bit more security and we can open the windows & doors now without fly's and mozzies inviting themselves in.

Crimsafe on Laundry door

Crimsafe on sliding doors to Alfresco



Air Conditioning Installed

23/09/2014

Our A/C was installed today. It an Actron 17kw ESP Platinum Plus unit. It cost a bomb compared to what I could of had with MJH but this thing is the bees knees and cost bugger all to run.

A/C Tech's busy at it.

The base for the condenser unit.

Condenser unit installed.



Handover, We Have The Keys!

29/8/2014

And just like that we have the keys to our brand new home. I received a call from the Loans Manager late yesterday afternoon to say that the valuer was happy to release the final payment. I phoned the SS after I had the cheque in my hand to say we are ready for handover which caught him by surprise considering the valuer only came out yesterday. He said he had never seen a financial institution move so quick so it seems I've broken some sort of record. Anyway after the formalities which took over 1.5hrs, I handed over the cheque and received some nice shiny keys and a pack which included some bath towels which I'll talk about in a second, a soap dispenser and toilet brush.
 After the shock of standing in a brand new home I return back to my current home which is two minutes away and gathered some of the light fixtures that my wife had been collecting over the past few months. By that time she had showed up after returning from swimming lessons for our two boys with a bottle of bubbly. While I was installing globes, the boys were straight into the freestanding bath and that's where the towels came handy. I had to shoot off to Bunnings down the road for more globes and gather some takeaway returning to find my wife in the bath, full to the top. Now there was a lot of debate over if we could afford it with me being in the affirmative but in the end she agreed that it was worth it while sipping on her bubbly. Now the fun begins although we won't be moving in straight away as I want to have the driveway, A/C, Solar panels and an extra Lin door installed for the Home Theatre. Silly me forgot to have that included in the plans and I wasn't paying another 1K for the variation.



Our keys, gift pack and information documents.

Celebration time!

My boys enjoying their new bath.

Valuation Day

28/8/2014

The Bank's valuer came today and we are waiting for the final cheque which could happen tomorrow although I'm not happy with a few things which I have discussed with the SS. The cleaners done their final clean yesterday and I had a concreter give us a quote on the driveway with another coming tomorrow. Deposits were made on the Air Con and flyscreens/Crimsafe and will be installed late next week so things are ramping up. The retaining walls, drainage and landscaping are going to be costly but I will try and do as much of it myself to save a few $$$. Oh I nearly forgot, the fence has been removed but the ugly loo is still there.

Interim Certificate

22.8.2014

I received a list of 'things to do' before an interim certificate will be issued. The one that was of most concern was having steps leading to the front patio. The SS arranged to have some fill from the backyard moved around to the front to avoid installing steps. The only problem, it wasn't enough to satisfy Council. Two day's later the job was done properly which should be satisfactory for Council's needs. Backfill was also placed at the laundry entry and to the alfresco and rear of the third garage.



PCI

15/8/2014

I had PCI with the SS this morning which took 2.5 hours. Howard Ryan's son went through yesterday and had little green stickers here and there. So I was surprised when we found many other faults. I don't think I will use a service like that again and being a tradesperson, I had a good understanding of what to look for. Anyway it was piece of mind. There were a few items of concern, being the re-enforcement of the slab expose at various spots around the edge. To fix these properly they need to be treated before being enclosed with concrete. The other big concern was the Bamboo floor in the entry hallway. The installer has laid it to the fall of the slab and a marble and spirit level was used to prove my point. It now has to be lifted and levelled. Other minor things were painting touch-ups, mortar missing from bricks and low water pressure in both bathrooms. My SS is a top bloke and will have these issues rectified. He set a date for handover on Friday 29th which is in 2 weeks. So close now!

The bamboo flooring sloping from left to right needs to re-laid.

Re-enforcement exposed on the edge of the slab.

Missing Mortar

Carpet done.

12/8/2014

The carpet was laid today and I was lucky the carpet boys left a door open so I could have a peek but silly me forgot the camera. Now it's starting to look like a home. Pic's to come.

Bamboo Floor laid.

8/8/2014

The Bamboo floor was laid today and it looks good. The en-suite shower frame went in also today and I like it.

House Cleaned

4/8/2014

The cleaners were in early today taking them a good 6 hours to clean the house inside and out and it has made such a big difference. The A/C and Crimsafe men also quoted us on their products. The A/C will be an Actron ESP Platinum Ultima. The Bamboo flooring will be installed on Friday and the carpet Tuesday next week. I also need to arrange a quote to get the driveway done this week. Very busy times ahead. Some pics from today.

NBN ready to go.

WIR shelving

SMEG microwave.

Under mount sink with routed drainer on the left.

WIP shelving.

Main Bathroom.

Main Bathroom shower.

Looking towards the front door.

Kitchen

Lounge room. Eventually there will be a gas fire built in and TV above it.

Alfresco



Alfresco

Dining Room.

Computer Desk behind the Kitchen.

En-suite



En-suite shower.

Looking out from the Master Bedroom.

And Lake views although this will probably disappear when the home across the road is built.

Balinese Façade.  

Plenty of landscaping, fencing and retaining walls to do!