Queensland Spotted Gum Hardwood Floor, Poly Gloss Finsih

I wish I was writing this post under different circumstances. We must have done something to insult the universe because we are being seriously punished at the moment. I will write a longer post next regarding this but it is with utter dismay and with the heaviest of hearts that I say that our stunning Spotted Gum flooring has been destroyed. It has all happened in the last 2 days and we are still in the process of going through it all but a brand new, yet defective dishwasher has slowly leaked water under our flooring for the past 2 weeks (unbeknownst to us). It has completely destroyed the floor, which will all need to be ripped up. It flooded through 2 rooms into the study and saturated the carpet there. Fischer and Paykel had their head guy come out and they found a broken pipe inside. We are completely devastated and its going to be a long journey to get back to where we are now. Our painter just finished filling and painting the skirting boards last week and we were finally ready to set all our furniture out. Instead we will soon need to begin packing again. 

Here is the flooring prior to this week (we only had 1 week of them). It turned out better than we had imagined and we could not have been happier with the final result. It was stunning.

Harwood timber flooring - QLD Spotted Gum 80 x 14mm select/standard mix
We deleted flooring in our Carlisle contract (to entry, hall, meals, kitchen and lounge) and then had our own company install the floors.

Flooring Timeline

• 31st October - Handover - got keys
• 3rd November - Flooring laid - took 1 week to lay
• We moved into the house (partly) on 7th November - floors were not sanded or polished
• Flooring then sat to allow them to acclimatise to the temperature and ensure minimal movement (as they came from Queensland) - nearly 2 weeks
• 19th November - we moved out and floors were sanded and polished. After polishing we couldn't move back for an extra 3 days to allow time for it to dry and set (also highly toxic)
• We moved back into the house on the 24th November
• (See now why I haven't had many posts!!!)
• We have been in the house just over 2 weeks....

Flooring Process

• Concrete scraped and cleaned
• Protective plastic laid
• 12mm layer of ply - screwed to the slab (what appeared to be 1000 screws!)
• QLD Spotted Gum timber glued and secret nailed
• Sanded and polished with 3 coats of solvent poly gloss finish

Protective Plastic Goes Down

 

Ply is Laid

 

 

 

Timber Gets Delivered!! It was soooo exciting seeing the timber. It gave us a good idea of the colour and what the end result would look like (this photo is in the garage under fluorescent lights).We were so excited by the colour variation and the feature to the timber. Timber really is an absolutely beautiful product.

 

More Natural Light

 

Here we Go!!! Goose bumps when we saw the first parts down!

 

The Next Night

So much completed in a day! These photos are under light at night time

 

While the floorers laid the floors during the night. I went back to the house at night and painted all the skirting boards! Enamel paint fumes in a garage send you a little crazy after a while!!

*Because our flooring was laid after hand-over and did not want quad on the floor under any circumstances, we had Carlisle leave the skirting boards off to all of the ground floor. They left us all the skirting boards in the packets and the paint to paint them. It was a bit painful at the time to try and get them done but the end result was worth it all. To avoid quad around the kitchen the floorer used caulking. Its a timber matched silicone that fills in the small gap needed to allow for movement.

 

Finished laying in the kitchen and lounge

*This is not yet sanded or polished

 

Close Up

It has those beautiful browns, reds, and ash colours

 

More Photos - not yet sanded or polished

 

Variation of Colour is Amazing!!

 

 

 

HERE IT IS - QLD SPOTTED GUM WITH POLY GLOSS: FINISHED!!!

Looking down the hall

 

So happy with the colour match of the timber staircase; Walnut

 

 

Entry to Study and Theatre carpets - Cat3 Takarra Ridge

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jestmaster SL550TRSI Gas Fireplace

We weren't sure if the fireplace was counted as an appliance but our SS recently informed us that the fireplace was going in soon (so it obviously isn't). In our previous home, we had a Coonara wood fireplace and it was amazing. It basically burned every night throughout winter and was the only source of heating we ever needed. When it came to choosing the heating for this home we debated for a while whether to do a wood fire or gas. In the end a gas log fire won! Although it won't have exactly the same ambiance (it does a good look alike though!!) or have that ability to burn throughout the night it's going to be great to flick it on in seconds, without filling the house with smoke and the crazy amounts of dust a wood fire accumulates. We have opted for an outdoor fire pit to get out fix of freshly burning wood!!

The First Glimpse that Something had Been Done!

The External Vent/Flue

Jetmaster Fireplace in the Lounge

Not sure if this is the best place for the paperwork!!

When we received the paperwork for our 'New Home Inspection,' it informed us that once we have settled and have the keys that we need to contact both companies that installed the fireplace and the central heating to they can run us through the systems (assuming this is the paperwork for this).

Unfortunately we made an error with the location of our powerpoints etc in the lounge next to the fireplace - on the electrical plan we didn't visualise the fireplace being there. They clearly need to be moved to the left and we will have to do this post handover. We are also going to paint the wall around the fire - the middle section - still deciding on a colour! Dulux Stepney is winning at the moment!

  

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

Deluxe Staircase Stained Walnut

Our staircase has had it's staining done!! They are not yet finished. The risers still need further coats of white paint (Dulux Lexicon Quarter) - stairs are stained in 'Cabot's Walnut Stain'(We're not sure if the staining/lacquer is finished yet). There are parts that still need a tidy up. They look really different! I was kind of used to the way they looked in their raw state! It's great to see the colour and with the doors in the same stain, they are tying in really nicely. We had a look at a photo of our flooring that will go down after handover (QLD Spotted Gum) and we think the colours in the timber will match well. Just hoping that they both do each other justice in their own right! 

Stained in Walnut - and lovely and dusty...

Not the worlds best photography - only had my phone

Halfway - Looking Down

Stainless Steel Balusters with Double Handrail

Matching Front Doors - Stained in Rich Walnut

Similar Colour of Flooring (hopefully) - QLD Spotted Gum

Ticking off the List

It was really kind of the workers to leave the windows and doors open last night....... One positive was that we got to see what had been happening over the past few days! Unfortunately I only had my phone on me which is clearly in desperate need of an update due to the poor photo quality! 

My Legs Feel Feeble Looking at this Bad Boy!

It's a GREAT standard feature of Carlisle (Affinity) Homes

Glass of Wine, Trashy Magazine and a Spa - what more could a woman want!! 

Plastering Around the Window Fixed (from when the window was dropped)

More Electrical Work Finished

Double fluorescence to garage and more lights completed (still more to be done)

Door Handles On - Internal Doors = Elena Lever (Cat 1) - Bright Chrome

Elena Lever with Privacy Adaptor (upgrade)

Angular Trilock - Bright Chrome (upgrade)

Water Proofing Around Basins and Bottom Ledge of Tiles (still more to go - some tiles to still grout)

Some Down-Pipes Added 

(not connected to drainage and facade not done due to rendering)