Driveway cleaned!

It is looking great! The guy came out to do the high pressure cleaning this morning and washed away that horrid green cement topping. We were able to take a few progress photos as he went along and have been relieved to find a nice looking driveway underneath.

And of course the end result of the clean:

Tomorrow they will be out again to do the cutting, and then it's just the sealer on top and we have ourselves a finished driveway. There's not really much more to it and I believe it already looks like how the finished product is going to anyway so I'm very pleased with our colour choice. Next up, what on earth to do with the left over garden area?? Hmmmmm...

Driveway Poured

Well, it's the Monday off of the Anzac day weekend and sure enough, early this morning the crew were all here getting ready to pour the driveway.  I had to head off to work but have been eager to get home all day to see what it looks like:

 

What do you all think?  I love the colour... So pleased we went with that off green yucky disgusting look. Haha, only kidding.  The concrete hasn't set yet and they will be coming back to high pressure clean to expose the Aggregate. I'm really looking forward to seeing the finished design.  After that, I think we'll start looking at the front garden and landscaping.

Crossover and Prep Work

It's starting to take shape. I'm really pleased with the look of it.  The Crossover has been poured and the Prep Work has mostly been completed as of yesterday. The rest of the driveway will only be poured after the Anzac Weekend but at least it's a lot less muddier then it has been.  especially if it rains between now and then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was going to post the colour of the driveway now to show you all but thought I'd hold off and just show you the finished product.  Will post again once it's all poured.

Driveway Started

I've been getting quotes for a few things over the last few weeks.  We need Blinds for our house, a driveway installed and I want a cleaner to come in and do a professional clean (after moving all our junk in with the collection of a thousand years worth of dust).

I got my final quote for the driveway on Friday last week. It usually takes up to 6 weeks to get the driveway done but as ours was a fairly large job, and the quotes I received were all very similar, I told the concreter it came down to how soon they could do the prep work, as when it rains there is nothing but mud everywhere.

A few days later, they started the prep work! The pouring will be done after the Anzac weekend but at least from today onward we will have gravel to walk on rather then mud.

We are installing a second concrete crossover and then putting in a horseshoe driveway and extending part way up the side of the garage in Exposed Aggregate. They were here yesterday doing a heap of excavation and prepping the crossover.

And then they were back here early this morning to finalise the crossover for the counsel inspection today:

Thankfully all was passed by the inspector and they will be pouring the crossover this afternoon, and hopefully finalising the prep work for the rest of the driveway.  I'll be sure to take more photo's once the day is over.

Letter Box Installed.

One of the first things I wanted to do was install a letterbox.  After all it is nice to receive mail from time to time.

I wanted something a little bit fancy but not over the top.  There's not many places I know of that has a large selection of letter box's on offer. I mean, there probably is but I have no idea where.  I found a couple of online sites but the issue with them is that I couldn't physically see the letter box, which was something I wanted to do.

I wasn't really sure what I was going to choose but in the end when i spotted this one on one of my visits to a hardware store, I liked it so I went for it:

I liked the look of a glass Number from another Letter Box somewhere in the estate so when I spotted them, I thought I'd pick one up for ours too.

Thankfully it wasn't very hard to install either.  With a little help from the Father in-Law and some Quick Setting Concrete, we were able to get it installed in under an hour.

I think it turned out pretty good in the end.  I'm happy with it and so is the wife and that's all that matters really.  Next up is the Driveway and landscaping to perfect the front yard. With the amount it's going to cost, I don't think I'll be doing much else this year!

We are in!

I know I've been a bit slack lately and haven't updated the blog.  I've been too happy walking aimlessly around our new home! Yay!

So anyway, We officially got hand over on the 27th March!  Yep, a few weeks already. I almost forgot completely about the blog during this time but I'm back now and should continue with updates on our next steps as we move forward.

Handover went brilliantly. On the day, our Site Supervisor took us through and showed us how everything had been fixed up.  I was very happy with it all as they even fixed up other little issues I didn't notice in the first place.  That took about 2 hours before our SS presented us with our very own keys!!! It was also a nice surprise as he gave us our very first House warming Gift too!

Since then We've just been casually moving in.  Taking it easy as there is no rush.

Once we have moved most of our stuff in I'll take a few photo's.  The place is really empty at the moment as we sold most of our things. Will be buying new everything over time so it's gonna be bare like this for a while I think.

Quick update.

It seems so long since I've posted anything.  It hasn't really been that long but as per a previous comment, I thought I better provide an update.

We had our first inspection Friday last week. We went through the entire house room by room and pointed out any issues we spotted. Let me firstly say, there were no major issues anywhere in the house.  The overall quality was fantastic.

That being said, I think our house caught chicken pox by the time we had finished.  Our site supervisor had a roll of red dot stickers and stuck one, or two, or sometimes three on anything we pointed out.

The main things were scratches on a few walls or minor blotches in the paint. They also had to fill in the render where a small piece had chipped off - I think this was due to getting banged by a ladder. Like I said, nothing major. After that, they sent us the COO certificate and final invoice which we sent to the bank.

Now we are waiting for the bank to do their inspection and then hand us the bank check for our final inspection.  We figured we would be delayed mostly by the bank (Which is normal as they need to organise their inspection too) so we still are yet to find out when we can get the keys.  The good news is our Site Supervisor called today and let me know the inspector had contacted him and booked the inspection for tomorrow.  Once that is done, it's just a matter of days for the banks to Draw up the bank cheque and then the house is ours... Well the banks really until we pay out the loan.

In the meantime, I organised our NBN to be installed. They had sent me an SMS earlier in the week and organised the install of the equipment, which is also being installed tomorrow. That's one thing that I wont need to organise once we get our handover. It's all so close now.

Shelving and splash back

When I got to the house today the front door and Garage door were open so I was able to do a walk through. I was very pleased to see the shelving had all gone in and the splash back in the kitchen was up.

Pretty much all of the shelving/railing had been installed throughout the house. We also get our water tank put into place (not plumed in yet).

I was actually considering not going to the house this week at all but my schedule has me down that way every night so I think I may as well just call in to check on the progress. Not much to be done now at all but every little bit counts!

Bits and pieces.

There's only a small amount of things to be done now. The painters have been back doing touch ups and the Ensuite mirror was installed and the flooring should be compleated this week.

It was also nice to see the toilet gone from out the front. 

And the final piece of good news, we have booked our inspection for Friday this week. Can't wait to have our walk through with the house being finished (apart from the little things we want fixed up). I'm not sure if I'll be out to the house much this week. I am thinking to just wait until our inspection. 

Flooring almost there

The flooring crew were still working away when I got to the house today so I was able to sneak in and get a good look around. The flooring looks great. It really does make the house feel homely. Very happy with the quality of everything too.

(Family Room into Kitchen)

(Kitchen into Family Room)

(Kitchen)

(Craft Room - (Was Bedroom 2))

(Workshop Room - (Living Room))

(Ensuit Carpet to Tiles Join)

(Ensuit Shower)

The slab for the rain water tank was also poured. We will be getting a 5,000 liter tank which is plumbed to the toilets and connected for garden watering. 

We should be very close to our first inspection now. Our site supervisor mentioned he'll know more by Monday and should be able to book in the inspection date. Can hardly wait!

Electrics and roller door

It's getting to the point where once the floor is in, parts of the house would be completed. All the plugs, switches, lights and smoke detectors went in today.

We chose to go with the standard lights rather then down lights due to their cost as an upgrade. We will most likey have our own electrician some time in the near future do the main rooms, then installation to the rest of the house will have to be at a later date. 

It was also nice to see the roller door on. I think that pretty much completes what the front exterior if the house will be like... Minus that horrid outdoor loo that's still in the front. 

The flooring is supposed to start tomorrow if it is still on schedule. We've got floating floors through the front entrance, hallway, kitchen, dining and family room, and carpets throughout the rest. I'm a bit worried I'm not going to like to colour of the floor. I guess we'll soon find out. 

Plumbing

Most of the plumbing was done today. I couldn't get photos of the bathtub, shower screens and toilets but was able to make them out (albeit extremely blurry) by looking through the frosted bathroom windows. However, I was able to get some shots of the Tap fittings through the normal windows.

All our down pipes have also been installed. 

Our site supervisor also called to let us know the garage roller door will go in tomorrow as well as the electrics. Then followed by the flooring this week too. Going to be a busy week that's for sure. 

Bench Tops

Well this is a first. Two posts in one day. It has been an eventful day house wise with getting our hand over date, and more work done at the house. Unfortunately, the house was locked up so I couldn't get a good look at the benches but it was still great to see from the windows.

I am looking forward to seeing the floor go in as it will really change the feel of the place again. Plus it means we'd be just around the corner from moving in.

Upcoming Schedule

Our Site Supervisor called again today with an update on the progress, and to let us know the upcoming schedule over the next few weeks. No Photo's in this one, just an update.

I think some time this week the measurements for the Showers, Mirrors and glass Splash back should be done.  These will take about 2 weeks or so before they are installed. Towards the end of this week, the Electrician should finish all the points and lighting.  Early Next week the Plumber should be doing the fit out of the bathrooms and toilets.  After that, the Floating floors are booked in (Takes about 3 days to do), followed by the carpets.  I think some time between now and then the Caesar Stone Bench tops are to go in too.

And now the best for last!  After that, we have our first inspection. If all goes well (Which I'm sure it will), the Site Supervisor has said we will be leaning towards handover for.... wait for it.... the 20th March!!!

Yup you read correct. 20th of March!!! 3 Weeks.... Give or take based on how smoothly things go between now and then, and of course if nothing major is to be done from our inspection.

Oh my gosh. I'm still suffering from hot flushes after the chat with the Site Supervisor. We've got plenty of things we need to do between now and then so I think it's time to start packing! I'm swinging by the house again tonight but I don't know if anything will have been done so will only do another post if I notice anything.
 

Tiling completed

Awesome stuff going on today. When I got to the house the tiler was just packing up so I had the chance to pop inside.

(En-suite)

(En-suite Toilet)

(Bathroom)

(Laundry wall)

Also, I completely missed it but the wife spotted that the heating has been fully installed too!

We've upgraded the heater from the standard 3 star to a 5.8 star just to make sure we are just that little bit more cozy during winter, not to mention it's supposed to be much more energy efficient so should save money in the long run. 

I'm not sure what, if anything more is to be done this week. I'm guessing our site supervisor will call soon to update us and let us know the schedule. Can't wait for the kitchen benches to go in, the plumbing, bathroom and toilet fit-out, and all the electrics and light fittings. Don't quote me but after that, I think we go in for an inspection, then the flooring and kitchen appliances are installed and we move in!!! Can't be too long now.