Anyone got some boxes??

We are gonna need to start packing soon.!! These guys don't muck about!!

Downpipes (still need to be painted 'paperbark')

External window ledges

Entry still needs bricking up, piers at the front not completed, and gable inserts to go in yet.

-Sha

no more plasterboarding today... but...

We did get more bricking... 'M' told us the brickies should be finished by the end of this week.. Looks like he will be right!. We received notification in the mail today that we have a new supervisor 'B", (which we already knew).. He is going to go to site tomorrow to see what can be done with the problems we have pointed out.. As time is going on, we arent too worried about the smaller issues, as we know how much work would be involved in fixing them, and really its just cosmetic, and we would like to be in the house sometime this year!! The sarking on the other hand is a major issue, that we will demand gets fixed. We arent sure how they can fix it now that the roof and plasterboard are on, and you arent even be able to see the issue until we get the manhole cut in, but I am sure something will be worked out.. Now.. onto some pics..

The bricks are all the way up now in the verandah area (second pic).. we will have blueboard above the windows, painted to match colorbond 'Paperbark'. We thought about bricking above them, but in the end decided it wasnt worth the added expense.

Energex has been today to hook up the electricity from the street to the pole that we supplied on our block. They had to install a pole of their own on the nature strip. Tomorrow, my BIL will hook up from our pole to the house, and then it will be the builders sparkie hooking up the house... Here is a pic looking from the pole on our block, to the pole on the nature strip, to the one thats up the road abit then across to the other side of the road.. 'phew'.

here is the 'bigger picture'.. A shot taken almost from the front boundary. The house looks really bare sitting in the middle of the paddock...Nothing a few thousand trees, bushes, plants wont fix! The green water tank will eventually be behind the shed that Tim plans on putting up, so it will hardly ever be seen.

Oh! and for those wondering (Hi Tarin! ;).. we arent having ducting aircon.. We figure we are moving to the country on 10 acres! Why would we be wanting to sit inside?? For the really hot days, we are having a split system air con.. (one is supplied in the package from the builder, and we will probably add one or maybe two more later on).. and for the really cold days/nights, we are going to install a wood heater. We will have batts installed shortly in the ceiling for insulation, and are putting ceiling fans throughout the house.
-Sha

More Bricking and Plasterboard going up..

Plasterboards have been installed to the ceiling.. maybe the walls will be started tomorrow :)

Our brick piers are almost done.. Two out of the three of the piers in the alfresco had to be pulled down and redone, as they were twisted, but they are all straight now :) Notice the plaster board in the ceilings in the verandah and alfresco.. There is still a lot of mess to clean up and I cant wait until its done..Today I found some 'girlie' magazines in the middle of our front yard.. I am glad I spotted them before the kids did!!

First pic is the front verandah, second pic is the alfresco.

Back of the house so far.....

-Sha

more updates...

More bricks going up...

Our plasterboard and cornice arrived, ready to be installed next week.

Our plumbing is all approved..

Tomorrow, we are going up to the block to finish getting the trench dug, ready for our electrician (BIL) to install the power from our power pole to the meter box.

-Sha

The tradies have been inside, outside, and all the way around..

More pics of the bricks.. we were told today that there are 3 guys working on the bricks.

The plumber has been busy and has got all of the plumbing done, inside and out, in one day.

We were told today that 'M' is leaving Newstart Homes and we will have a new supervisor 'B', as of Monday.. We never got to meet 'M' in person , so hopefully we will get to meet 'B'.

-Sha

moving right along..

Our roof is now complete... though we have an issue with the sarking not being installed correctly in one part. It laps the wrong way and will allow moisture to seep into our ceiling if not fixed properly. We have told "M" about this on 2 occasions now, and he agrees and says it needs to be fixed.. and yet still they keep moving right along with the roof and not fixing it.. We wont be paying for the next stage until its fixed properly, and if that means pulling off part of the roof, then so be it.. I certainly dont want a mouldy ceiling!!
On a happy note.. the gables look absolutely amazing!! They have turned out so much better than I had pictured, and they arent even competely finished yet.. lol . (I thought it would just be tin rolled over the top, not actual gable roll)..
The brickies have now completed the first two rows around the house, and the "Kordon" guys have come back and installed the termite protection on the bricks.. The colour of the bricks is really nice and is going to look great with the other colours.. *big grin*


We are a bit dissapointed with a few things, and we will chat to "M" about them to see what can be done. One thing, is the piers are twisted. Can you see in the pics below? They dont line up.


Tim is also pretty disappointed with the roofers as the screws are not in a straight line, when they screwed down the roof. We know there isnt much can be done (unless they need to pull the roof off to fix the sarking), but its a shame that some people cant take a bit more care with their work, and use a string line!
-Sha

All we need is a Big Bow!

Tim and I on our new front step

Our house is all wrapped up like a present tonight. The gables have been started and the electrical wires are in place. We have a few problems that we need to speak to 'M' about. We arent sure if they are 'real' problems yet, so until we know more, I wont elaborate here.. One small problem is we have placed our power and aerial points for the tv's in the wrong place (we thought they looked good on the plan lol).. so we are going to ask if we can run some cables now, so we can easily add more once we have handover.

Sorry for the pics.. again it was getting dark before I could get off work.. It is about 40 minute drive out to our new home from my work, (and where we live now), so we will have to start cutting back going out every day. We figure they will lock us out soon, so in the mean time, we are trying to get as many pics and updates as we can :)

-Sha

Next comes.... Bricks!!

Yesterday, most of the roofing was complete. There is still the alfresco to finish off and all the the cappings ( ? not sure of tech terms lol). They have left a strip down the middle at the front. Probably so they can hook up the solar panels and piping for the hot water.

Here is pic of the back... and then the front (sorry this is so dark, I was too busy looking around and forgot to take the front pic until it was almost dark).

The bricks also arrived. There is a lot of broken ones, and some that are brown, instead of red.. but I am sure they will pick through them. They are not exactly as we chose, because these ones seem to have a variation in them, like someone took a bleach rag and wiped it down each row of bricks... but we think it will look good :) The first picture seems to show the true colour of the bricks, (well on my monitor anyway lol) ..

-Sha

roof started, windows in.. baths arrived!?

We got to see our roof colour today.. we hadnt seen it at all, except on a tiny sample.. and we love it! It looks grey, with a tinge of green.. Sometimes very light like silver, other times darker.. We need to ask "M" about the wrapping they are putting under the colorbond. We are meant to be getting R2.5 insulation batts to the ceiling, so we think this is the sarking.. Some of it is being lapped the wrong way, and there are large holes in it, so any condensation will go straight onto our ceiling.. It might be alright, we just aren't sure.
Here is the garage, and the next pic is the left hand side -our bedroom and ensuite, the family room and the alfresco out the back

Our windows and sliding doors are all in. They are Paperbark colour but at the moment the black tape is still covering them for protection.

They need to swap these two windows over, so they both open from the corner out.. We specifically asked for them to be put in that way, so we can capture more of the view of the mountains from our ensuite.

Yesterday, we noticed our baths had already arrived- a bit early maybe? lol Here is Katelyn, checking them out :) We were worried the main bath would be too small, but it seems to be big enough, atleast for kids, and they are the only ones going to use it.. lol

Can you believe its only been 3 weeks since they started the slab!!

We had a call today from the office to check everything was going fine, and we were happy campers. :) I told her we were thrilled, and loving every minute of it. She will pass the comments onto "M" , who we are still yet to meet.. actually we haven't met any of the workers at all yet. It's like little fairies go onto our block and do a bit more every day... and judging from the cans, casks (yes! a cask of wine) and even a large rum bottle! , they are drunken little fairies! lol

Oh! we have some doors delivered to site, that we can't work out where they go... We had a closer look, and they have a different builder's name and suburb on them.. soooooo if you are building in Carole Park and are missing some doors.. I know where you can find them! *grin*

-Sha

It's sooooo exciting to see little bits and pieces turning up!!

....except our frame invoice, which we received today :( but it does mean that we are moving along, and at a very fast pace I might add!! :)

Our windows and glass doors arrived today and I am happy that we have little lines on the doors that are meant to make you realise the door is closed.. (I was dreading getting the 'olympic' circles that I see some people are getting) - I know.. small things.. small minds lol

On the construction side of things.... they started to build our gables.. there are 2 of these on the front of the house..

The back of the house looking great, with our beautiful big alfresco..

-Sha

No updates on the house tonight.. but...

Check out the bargain we picked up today at Freedom Furniture..

It was marked down 25% off.. then another 50% off that price!

It will look perfect in our entrance area.

-Sha