This Blog is Not Finished!!!

I'm here and alive and well! So is the house!! We moved in, then we moved out again while the floor was being sanded and polished and we moved back in again this week!! This is a very short update of the things that have been happening so far. Over the weekend, I plan to go crazy with the camera and update properly with photos and more information. THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO WHEN YOU GET THE KEYS!!!! We have barely been able to draw breath let alone sit down and type a post!!

Exciting things that have happened since we got the keys!

• Our amazing Queensland Spotted Gum hardwood floors were laid (they remained unsanded/polished for 2 weeks to adjust to humidity levels etc.)
• Floors were sanded and polished!!!!
• We built all our retaining walls (this had to be done before our boundary fences could be put up) and when I say we built, I actually mean my husband and his band of 'brothers'!!
• Boundary fences are finished (just finished yesterday)
• I've sealed the grout on the porcelain tiles (has an impressive 15 year protection from stains etc). I wouldn't actually call this exciting more painful!!
• We painted all our ground floor skirting boards (whilst we were camping.....) and these have all now been put on. They were left off due to flooring being done post-handover
• Half of the double roller blinds have been installed (upstairs) - we had to wait till the floor was finished for downstairs, these are being done today - including our black fabric pelmets
• Victory came yesterday and installed sheer curtains to master and study and plantation shutters to both bathrooms and theatre. These are absolutely stunning! LOVE, love, love them!
• NBN is connected
• Half of our scratched doors and frames have been replaced - yes half, see below......
• Appliances were installed (eeek see below) 
• We had the Theatre painted - Dulux Raku, feature wall in bedroom - Dulux Stepney and the fire hob and bulkhead - Dulux Raku
• Drive way and other areas in the backyard were excavated yesterday ready for concrete! Good bye muddy mess! When I left today they were not there so not sure when it is being poured. The weather has not been very kind again
• Our side wing fence is up - looks great and after spending over a month at friends, our beautiful dog can finally come home (finished yesterday)
• Holes have been dug ready for the decking to begin in the backyard - sometime this century!
• Our reverse-cycle air conditioners were installed - post-handover (not through Carlisle Homes)
• It's been all about deliveries, deliveries, deliveries and workman everywhere!! Glad the blinds are on now!!
• Front door tinting is happening in the coming days (light tint from Tint Master) 

Frustrations and ongoing dilemmas!

• Telephone is not working - going round in circles with Telstra, NBN and Argus Technologies - should get a better answer by the end of today... Should....
• Half of our windows and doors were replaced. Absolute incompetence by our SS. This has been a big issue through the build and it somewhat escalated last week when A & L showed up with half of the works - they were completely unaware of the other half - even though it was on our completion of works list to be done post-handover our SS only fulfilled some of it. A lot of angry calls were made as well as emails, discussions with managers of all.. It will all be done and has been ordered but now our floors are done we are not happy with it!! Lots more detail to come about this.....
• Of the 6 appliances we had installed (fire place, ovens x2, cooktop, range, hot water service) only 2 were correct, not damaged, not defective..... The ovens were perfect. More to come on this - most of this has been rectified but still some issues!
• 2 areas of the kitchen vinyl wrap was damaged by the installers of the range and the window people post-handover - this is going to be fixed
• Still waiting for our one and only timber infill to be painted the correct colour. It was painted white, instead of Woodland Grey as it should have been. Such a minor thing in the scheme of things now but frustrating all the same
• When we collected our keys our SS put wrong door handles in two rooms (doors and WIR) - still waiting for this to be done

Looking forward to doing some major updating of things in detail in the coming days. First to come has to be the floors - stay tuned!

Carpet Work Begins - Takarra Ridge Wool Blend

No idea what has happened to the renderers. The weather forecast was for potential rain, so we should be happy that they haven't been yet. The rest of the week isn't looking flash either so it might be a while till we see the finished product! However, the carpet layers were there all day today so work inside moves forward. Underlay for upstairs was laid and the carpet has been rolled out and cut in most rooms. All rooms upstairs are carpeted (except bathroom and powder room!). Downstairs, the underlay is also down and the carpet has been rolled out - is some parts to flatten and decrease (master bedroom, study and theatre). In our previous home we had a light colour wool carpet and we were really happy with how it stood up in wear and tear and in durability. In 11 years it was only just starting to look like it needed replacing and it had been there for a few years prior to that. We chose a wool blend for this home in the hope that it would also be easy to clean (especially having kids) and have found that lighter carpets are actually easier to keep clean than darker too! It's not a plush carpet but it does have a soft feel and it hopefully ties in with our coastal location. 

Underlay - Super Premium Foam (Cat 3)
Carpet - Takarra Ridge - Wool Blend Loop 520 (Cat 3)

Underlay

Underlay in Master Bedroom

Upstairs Bedroom

Rolled Out Upstairs

Rolled out Carpet Ready to go

Theatre Room

Carpet Close Up

Upstairs (few dirty boot footprints - eek!)

 

Takarra Ridge - Wool Blend 520 (Cat 3) - Colour Selection

Lights, Camera, Action - Electrical Light Up!!

Photo overload today!! Yesterday when we went past we were lucky enough to get inside as one of the doors had been left unlocked. We made the most of the opportunity! As well as taking lots of photos and having the freedom to have a careful look around, the main reason I wanted to get inside this week was to give the floors a good clean. The carpet will be close to going down and the floors are sooooooo dusty and dirty. You would assume that the floors would be vacuumed cleaned beforehand but I honestly don't trust they would be. The painters had swept the dirt away from the bottom of the staircase but it all sat 30cm away and would surely end up all through the house again. I actually took our old vacuum and started upstairs. It was quite a scene. Within 3 minutes of vacuuming the dust was pouring out the end of the vacuum and the room was thick of dust - I opened every window in a mad panic as it looked like smoke and the last thing I needed was the fire brigade turning up to a dust storm!! So instead, I attacked it all with a broom, brush and shovel. It was much cleaner (took a lot longer) and I opened the back and front doors which limited any dust. It's spotless now! By the time I finished sweeping, darkness had crept in. So I tested out all the lights! It was definitely a goose-bump moment!! It looks like a real house, like a house you would really live in!!! We were really surprised with the brightness of the downlights too. We had excepted that we may need to change most of the globes over to brighter ones once we moved in but they are great!! The photos don't really show the true effect of them - in real life is even better!  

Looking Through the Front Doors

Down the Hall (forgot to turn the bulkhead lights on)

(Dust Free Floors!!)

Stair Lights (with hall lights on)

Stair Lights Only - LOVE THESE!

Study - this room is super bright

Theatre Room

Downstairs Powder Room

Ensuite

Looking the Other Way Down the Hall

Kitchen - only had these ones on for a split second as even the dangling ones were working!

Clean Floors!!

Lounge Room

Laundry

Upstairs Activity Room

Upstairs Bathroom 

Upstairs Powder Room

Balcony Tiles, Deluxe Staircase Staining and More Jobs Off the List!

It was great to get into the house yesterday and see that not only was the balcony tiled, but it had also been grouted! 

Tile - Lifestyle Charcoal Textured 400 x 400 (standard)

Grout - Charred Ash (should be darker looking than it appears but it hasn't been cleaned yet)

Paining works continued yesterday (and again today). The painters were adding silicone along the weatherboards and doing some other exterior paint touch ups. The front doors had their second coat of stain and we are so excited to know that the stain on the stairs has started!!!!!

Front Doors - Cabots Rich Walnut

Stairs Cleaned and Ready For Staining Today

Staining Began on the Staircase Handrail Yesterday

More Tiling Works

Now that the spa bath has been installed, the tiles on the wall (back left) and the front (centre) tile have been completed - they haven't been grouted yet 

With the window in the shower finally in, the tiles were able to be finished 

An extra row of tiles has also been added to the bathroom shower - we think this is due to the height of the showerhead

Theatre Room Reveals Replaced

One was replaced last week and the remaining ones have since been done - yay!

The ensuite bath tap has the incorrect tap so when we go in yesterday and went upstairs it was interesting to see that the bath tap is different, but also wrong!!

Incorrect Tap!

The painters have been using one of the back taps and it is now constantly dripping - note to self! 

Need to check the height of our timber flooring as this part of the wall looks like it might need fixing as it will still be exposed

Portable Scaffold Delivery

We assume this is in readiness for rendering the facade and the tiles 

Facade Tiles

Eco Alabaster Grigio Lappato  

Inside Progress

During the last week or so, there has seemed to be minimal progress. There have been different vehicles there all week this week so we knew things were happening, but we weren't sure to what extent. We had been counting down to Wednesday (yesterday) when my husband was meeting with our SS, to get a tour and an all important update. 

Upstairs Bathroom Shower Screen Installed

We wondered why they left the tile off the side of the bath hob - it obviously has something to do with the installation of the bath. Our SS explained to my husband that they cut a whole in the plaster to access the drain and connect it all. Hadn't thought how they would do that! Doesn't it just go in!!

Bathroom Tastic (heater and light)

Upstairs Bathroom Mirror.

I'll get a better photo next time. We extended the mirror so it covered the entire wall (not just the width off the vanity). You can never have enough mirror with girls......!!

Upstairs Powder Room

Mirror in, grouting done, waterproofing done, massive hole in the wall - done, extremely dusty - done!!

The Downstairs Powder is the Same - minus the hole in the wall!!

Theatre Wires Capped Off (is that an offical term - capped off. I may have just made that up... 

Happy they have pulled out the bottom left, right and centre speaker wires. Hopefully my husband doesn't have to punch 100 holes in the walls to find the rest. The term 'Like a needle in a hay stack,' comes to mind.....

Lounge windows look marginally cleaner - might have been the rain as they haven't been cleaned yet.

Plastering should happen next week - they were due last week. 

Then the glass splashback can go in (Butlers).

Plastering to be done here too (Kitchen).

Pretty excited about the pantry shelves!

Upstairs Activity Room - Niche on left for bookshelf and on right for desk/work-space for girls

Ensuite Mirror in! 

Surprised at the height of it - happy surprised! We raised the roof height to 2740mm so we didn't know if the mirror would also be higher. It is always the width of the vanity, but height wasn't something we had thought of. 

Still waiting on the correct size window with hardwood reveals in the shower. A & L, have made error after error with it. Right size, wrong reveals, then wrong size, right reveals, then wrong size and wrong reveals! Unbelievable! It will be here soon though...

Our Walk In Robe! 

So excited to have this space. Don't get me wrong, we had an amazing home previous to building this house. Full of love and character; but for 11 years my wardrobe (not walk in), had doors that you had to lift off the hinges to shut and I kept my underwear basically in a Tupperware container in a cavity space that you smashed your head on every second day. We can do a happy dance in this wardrobe!

The Girls Wardrobe - 

Going to add an extra rail in here (lower) and round the corner so they can use it independently before they turn 16! I can also use their clothes as 'time out' up high - if ever required!!!

Same in the Other Room

We chose not to put the drawer combinations in the further two bedrooms. One will be used for a guest room and the guests can deal with the rails! The two spare rooms actually have the larger WIR but the rooms the girls chose are definitely in the better position for light, heat and position. And their WIR's are not exactly shabby in size either. 

Outside tiles delivered and ready to go 

Eco Alabster Grigio Porcelain 300 x 600 

Can't believe I left this photo till last. Maybe because of my husbands poor photography skills in the photo (I'm bound for backlash after that!). The bricks above the upstairs door have been done!!!! Hooray!!!!

Let the rendering and tiling begin! 

The site has also been scraped and cleared! I'll get better photos of this tomorrow. The end is near...ish!!