The light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer (Day 243)

 Well it's been over a month since our last post.
So I will go back to the week ending 6th April.

Week ending 6/04/12

• the insulation put into the roof 
• Electricians dug the power over from the power pole over to the house
• floor tiling started
• shower screens in downstairs and kids bathrooms installed.

Kids bathroom

Kids bath and shower.

Ensuite shower

Week ending 13/4/12

• Floor tiling finished inside the house.
• Outside tiling on the balcony, alfresco and front porch started.
• inside of cupboards installed and most of the door handles put in.
• Bathroom fittings (taps, towel rails and shower heads).
• Timber top put onto the nib wall at the top of the stairs.
• Tiling completed in all bathrooms.
• Man hole put in.
• Front pivot door installed ( but it is still wrong,  they have sent a door that pivots the wrong way and all of the light switches and power for the door strike are on the other side).

Balcony tiling

Week ending 20/04/12

• Drive way dug out.
• holes fixed in the floor.
• Air conditioner ducts installed
• Electricians installed lights and power points.

We had and inspection with our site supervisor on Saturday the 21/04/12.  Picked up a lot of problems with the paint and a list of other things I have mentioned in previous post.

My light "Chloe" that hangs above the stairs

Looking at the front door from the upstairs family room.

Week ending 27/04/2012

• Driveway was poured on Saturday 21/04/2012.
• Mirrors installed in the bathrooms
• Monday - Wednesday painter was back to fix the problems we found.
• Power to the house turned on.

Front lights at light.

Kitchen pendant lights.

Driveway done.

Week ending 04/05/2012

• Fly screens and screen doors installed.
• Drive way sealed.
• Fence and portaloo taken away.
• Kitchen company came to put on the missing handles, but they were the wrong ones
• On Thursday Derrick and his brother Kurt started the back fence.
• Derrick, myself and the kids finished the fence over the weekend.

The frame is up

The kids helping

All done

Week ending 11/05/2012

• Glass in bedroom replaced, had a chip in the window.
• Sink in the scullery installed
• bricklayers back to fix render on side of the garage,  they have to fit some brickwork, but there are no bricks to use on site.  So the brickies have to come back again once we have bricks.

So May has been very slow not much done and a lot left to finish.

On Thursday we had our PCI (Practical Completion Inspection).  One of the owners of Kurmond come out for this inspection.  The painting that was supposed to be fixed has not all been done.  The doors and window frames are supposed to be gloss and they somewhere between matt and semi gloss.  We are getting a new water tank to fit under the window, a new front door has been ordered and the stair post will be replaced.  Lots of other bits and pieces need to be completed or fixed, but we have been given a hand over date of the 25th May.  So thats two weeks to get a lot done.  Let's see how we go!

Beck.

Getting there slowly (Day 203)

Well the painters have finished, but will need to come back.  Some areas are pretty bad, bits missed and in the study you can see the cutting in along the ceiling.

Outside painted.
Handrail also went in, this is not what is in the plans.

Painting done and floors sanded.

Kitchen and bathroom bench tops are in, as are the sinks, just waiting on the scullery sink to go in.  Had to pick a different style as the one we picked is not available.

Quantum Quartz bench tops in
(Lunar White)

Electricians started at the end of last week putting in the light fittings and will hopefully be back this week to finish off.

Smoke alarms and down lights

Electrician's started

Tilers have not been back to finish off the bathrooms.  They had to stop, because they were waiting on the bench tops to go in.

Plumbers have installed the toilets and water tank.  Had a problem with one of the toilets (see photo).

Water tank in.  This was supposed to fit under the window,  it sits above it and the
slab is not the right size for the tank.

Most of the tiling done and toilets in.

Went to have a look at the house while Brad was at footy training
Luckily the house was unlocked, this is the damage after the plumbers
had left an hour before.  There was a leak in the tap, imagine if this had been left all night.

Last week we had a meeting with one of the owners of Kurmond Homes, to go over a few concerns we had with the house, mainly the sliding doors not installed correctly, mould on the ceiling in the study, and some of the brick work, and the damaged post at the bottom of the stairs. He assures us that it will all be fixed before handover.

Buckle in the sliding door

Sliding doors - not sitting properly, all three sliding doors are like this

Mould on the ceiling in the study.  Nothing above it but our bedroom
so need to find out why it's wet and mouldy

This is the post that needs to be replaced.
They tried to fix it but as you can see this is not good enough
on a brand new house.

Our 32 weeks is up on the 26th April, but they can add up to 5 weeks for Christmas and we also have 6 rain days.  If they take the full amount that takes us to the beginning of June, lets hope we are well and truly in before that.

Beck

Kitchen, painting and tiles (Day 179)

It's been a while since our last post.  We are both a little over the whole house thing,  it has been our lives for the last year and we can't wait for it to be all done.

The Kitchen went in last week, but like everything else it didn't all go to plan .The lights above the kitchen bench are in the centre of the room, but the island has been installed off centre.  So the lights don't line up.  They have said they can move it over 100mm.  The cupboards above the cook top should have six doors, but they have put in two in the middle, two on the other side and three on the other AND the draws on either side of the oven are not the same size.

Island bench 

The 3 doors on the left will be
replaced with two, same as the other side

Scullery cupboards

The draws should have been 1197mm & 1192mm this was not an issue as it was only 5mm different.
Now they are 1240mm & 1145mm that is now 950mm.

They are going to take the thee doors off and put on two doors and we will see if you won't be able to notice the 950mm in the two sides.

The vanities and the scullery all went in and they all look great,  the pantry shelves went but they sit over the top of a power point and the light switch,  that will have to be moved and the plaster patched up.

Kids vanity

Ensuite vanity

Downstairs bathroom vanity

Pantry shelves, power point and light switch covered by the shelves.

Last week we all so found out we got the wrong front door.  We have in our tender a 1200mm Pivot door and they have ordered a 1200mm door on hinges.  This means a new door and door frame have to be ordered.

The tilers started levelling the bathroom floors and the painters started under-coating last week.

First coat of paint

First coat of paint in the study.

This week the painters and the tilers have been working.  The first coat of colour is on all of the walls and the floor tiles are down in the upstairs bathrooms and toilet.  I must say the tilers have done a great job.

Kids bathroom

Our bathroom
Our bathroom tiles are very dark grey

Wall tiles started.

Things seem to be moving along at a steady pace, we just need a few less mistakes.

Beck

Locked up (Day 166)

This week we had the plastering mostly finished, just a few little things to be finished off.  The finishing carpenter was working all this week, he is a one man show so that is taking a lot longer then we thought.

Plaster on under the stairs

Most of the skirting boards and the doors are on.

Family Room Plastering done

Doors and wardrobe doors on

Doors to main bedroom

Water proofing was done early in the week in all of the bathrooms.

Waterproofing 

All of the outside plumbing was connected, but the Mastic sealant was not put in the articulation joints behind the downpipes on one side of the house, so that will all have to be taken back down and sealed.

We had the laundry sink and one bath delivered, don't know what happened to the other bath, I am sure it will turn up eventually.

On Friday we had the garage doors installed.  I think they look great.

Back of the Garage

Front garage doors

Lets see what the next week has in store for us.

Beck

We have a front door (Day159)

front of the house

Well the house has had someone working every day this last week including Saturday.  The plasterers are getting through slowly, they didn't work Friday but did work Saturday.  All that needs to be done now is the cornice's downstairs.

Looking down the hall from the family room

The Carpenter that is doing the door frames and skirting boards started on Friday and will be finishing off this week.  He has put in the front door as well as the laundry door.

Front door

Downstairs Bathroom door

The doors on one of the downstairs linen cupboards.

This coming week we should have the waterproofing done, the kitchen delivered, the air conditioning in upstairs and the garage doors in.  It should be all systems go this week.

Look what I got for Valentines Day (Day 154)

Who needs flowers and chocolates when you can have stairs!  Our staircase went in today, no more climbing up ladders.

Under the stairs storage.  We have the door into the garage
so we think this will be a good spot for the push bikes.

Stairs, bottom step is Maple and the rest will be carpeted

 N29 Posts with PT29 Tops

View from the landing at the top of the stairs

Well the house has been a hive of activity over the last few days.  The plastering is pretty much all done upstairs and they will be back tomorrow to finish off down stairs.

All the plastering completed in the garage

After all of this rain is seems we have a sink hole in the backyard, lets hope its just the soil settling after the demolition and that we don't have any more surprises under the ground.

Sink Hole

Beck