Back exterior

Since hand over so many weeds have grown in the backyard and when they are mowed they almost looked like grass, It was tempting to just keep it.

 

Friday 25th October 2013

 

The back yard was scraped, and extra dug out around the alfresco, ready for the deck.


Deck

We are building quite a large deck out the back, progress of the deck is here


Dead Side of House

Along the dead side of the house which wont be seen or used for anything we laid weed matting which we got from Bunnings

 

We then laid Scoria

 

 

 

 

Deck

 

DECK

 

We have decided to build a large deck out the back of our house. It will span over the alfresco area and approx. 1 metre past the side of the house, approx. 1 metre past the back of the house and along the back of the house to the end of the laundry door. We have decided to use Ecodeck boards for our decking. Although the initial cost of the boards is more expensive that treated pine or even merbu it requires a lot less maintenance over its life time which will be good.

 

Saturday 26th October 2013

 

Today we hired a post hole digger and dug holes for all the posts (I cant remember the correct name) for the deck, we then had to cement them into the ground, stupidly we didn't have a cement mixer and did it by hand, 46 X 20kg bags of cement! It was a huge day.

 

 

 

 

Saturday 2nd November 2013

 

Today a builder came out and help to start us off with the frame for the deck & to get it all level, the rest of the day was spent building the frame.

 

Sunday 3rd November 2013

 

We started decking today but had some other things on so we didn't get very far.

 



Monday 4th November 2013

 

 

Tuesday 5th November 2013

 

 

Kitchen Update

Kitchen

 

 

I love having an open plan living, dining & kitchen. It is so nice when you have people over you can be in the kitchen and still socialising at the same time, or when your favourite show is on and its dinner time or the dishes haven't been done, you can watch TV and do what you have to do at the same time.

I am happy with colour choices we have made, although I do think the cupboards are a little too creamy/yellowish for the bench time but its not too drastic. Upgrading the oven from a  600mm to a 900mm was defiantly worth it, it is so nice having so much more room in there.

When we did our colour selections we opted to remove the tap and go for a smaller more subtle one but they installed the wrong one during construction an we ummed & erred about saying something & making then change it but we decided in the end that we would leave it & I'm glad we did, I quit like it & it adds kind of a feature to the bench.

The major problem we have had in the kitchen it the over head cupboard above the fridge. In the picture you can see there is no overhead cupboard anymore. Unfortunately when we were purchasing our new fridge we stupidly measured when the floor boards were not yet laid and now that they are the fridge is ever so slightly too tall to fit in the gap so out came the cupboard. We have spoken to numerous kitchen cabinet makers including the company that Porter Davis use but unfortunately no one will touch the cupboard to cut it down due to the risk of splitting the laminate so our only option is to get a whole new one made, quoted at $450 which we will do eventually.

Future Plans

 

Besides getting the cupboard above the fridge fixed I would maybe like to get 3 over bench feature lights, maybe something light this.

 

 

 or

 

or something different.

 

 





3 Mont Inspection Repairs

Tuesday 22nd October was the day all the tradesmen were booked in to undertake the repair and fix the issues picked up in our 3 month inspection.

 

Tradies stated showing up for 8am onwards and all repairs were attended to, all except the ensuite shower. It was looked at by different people and it was established that the water leak is quite sever and has gone through to the timber frame but luckily not to the timber flooring which is in the study on the othersider of the wall.

 

We have another inspection (I'm not sure why we need another one, just to waste time probably) on the 12th November and they will then arrange to start work which will involve pulling out the shower, tiles, plaster and who knows what else and redoing the whole thing.

 

 In the mean time no showering in the ensuite shower!

3 Month Inspection

Its hard to believe we have already been in our house for 3 months (actually almost 4)

We had our 3 month inspection on Tuesday 17th September 2013 and the following issues were reported:

 

 
Master Ensuite

 

Calcium build up along ensuite shower wall to be removed and

rectified. Ensuite shower is also leaking to left hand side of plaster to

be tested with mc on site

 

 



Ensuite shower is leaking. Inspect with paddy the tiler and repair

damages to left hand side plaster of ensuite wall

 

 

Master Bedroom

 

Adjust master bedroom door. Latches catching on striker plate
















Entry, Front Hallway & Bedroom 3

Paint touch ups to left hand side of hallway as marked at PCI to be

completed. Touch ups missed and noted by supervisor

Paint touch ups required to the hallway 45 degree angle wall.

Paint touch ups as written on PCI missed by supervisor

 

Bedroom three paint touch us to be rectified to right hand wall. Left

over from construction  

 

Toilet

 

Plumbers to inspect wire sticking out to base of toilet and to silicone

around toilet base









 

 

Bathroom

Rusty water escaping through bathroom. Bath tub fitting is spraying

out rust water. Issue to be inspected and rectified
















 
Alfresco

Supervisor to paint alfresco concrete as discussed with client.

Supervisor to complete these works 















Exterior

Paint touch up to scratched downpipe at rear of garage






 



Study Update

Study

 

I am so glad we built in the study and are able to close it off instead of having it open as in the plans. I feel it gives the entry way a lot better shape and flow & most importantly you can hid the mess easily.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Future Plans

 

At the moment I am just using tables along the walls but I would eventually like to get a proper bench put in & some overhead cupboards. We have actually had some plans drawn up..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theatre Room Update

Theatre Room

 

I don't have much to do with this room, it is my Husbands "space"

 

 

Future Plans

 

I think my husband has his own plans with this room including a theatre suite, surround sound system, basketball memorabilia on the walls....I don't think I will have a lot of say in it.

Ensuite & WIR Update

Ensuite

 

I am happy with how every thing has come together in these rooms as well, I especially love the highlight window as it lets a lot of light in but is high above the mirror and although we have it obscure glass for extra piece of mind no one would see in anyway.

The only issue is the problem we are having with the leaking shower & grout. You can see in the pic what looks to be soap scum at the bottom of the shower (I can assure you it isn't) It is actually the grout that has ran or something and is cemented like that to the titles. The shower is also leaking out the end and has damaged the pain on the wall next to it. Our 3 month inspection has been booked in for next week so we will get these issues addressed then.

 

 

 

The only thing I would probably change about the ensuite is I would put the power points in the cupboards instead of above the bench.

 

Toilet

 

There's nothing much to really say about the toilet

 

Walk In Robe

 

I think every one would always like a bigger walk in robe but this one does do the job. When we decided to build the Drysdale 28 instead of the 30 one of the things we lost was the size of the robe as we only have room for hanging on one side. I have added some old draws on the other side for extra storage and although it is squishy up one end it is workable.

 

 

Future Plans

 

We don't really have any future plans with any of these rooms apart from the repairs to the shower & wall that Porter Davis will be responsible for and maybe one day down the track fitting out the WIR properly with shelves and draws

 



Master Bedroom Update

Master Bedroom

When our house was under construction the master bedroom looked like it was going to be squishy but it turns our we have heaps of Room.

 

 

 

 

I am so glad we put a door between the ensuite & bedroom as you would be able to see straight in from the road if we didn't. We also have double roller blinds on the window and the privacy one is great as it lets the light in but you cant see in the window from outside.

 

Future Plans

 

We (or at least I) have many decorating plans for our bedroom once funds permit. Here is an idea of what I would like to do



Entry Update

 

I was going to wait until everything was "finished" before I updated each room and added some completed pictures but it has occurred to me that it will probably never completely be "finished" as there will probably always be something more we want to do.

 

ENTRY

 

I love our entry, it is so wide & open and I love walking into our house.

 

 

 

 

The only thing I would probably change about the entry is I would put an extra power point on the wall you look at when you come in.

 

FUTURE PLANS

 

The entry is one area we don't have a lot of future plans for except to update the light fittings and get some of our extra carpet edged into a small mat for inside the front door.

Front Exterior

The front exterior is a work in progress, as with the rest of the house. I will try & keep updating as we go until it is complete.

 

Front at Handover

I am lucky that my Brother is a concreter & has helped us out so much with our crossover & driveway & has saved us a substantial amount of money.

  

Saturday 9th June 2013

 

The new crossover was poured

 

Monday 10th June 2013

The fences between the house and the side boundary fences were erected today with the help of some friends. We decided to go with "Gramline Coke' as the colour. This is Gramlines match to the colourbond colour monument. We choose this colour to match in with the roof tiles & the whirly bird. We decided to get a narrow gate of the garage side of the house & large double gate on the other side as there is quite some distance (approx. 6m) between the house & the side fence, that way if we ever need to get a trailer, car or caravan (im still dreaming) into the backyard we can with no hassle.

 

 

 

Saturday 22nd June 2013

 

The driveway was done today

 

 



 

Sunday 28th July 2013

 

Today we started putting in the timber for the garden beds

 

 

 

Saturday 24th August 2013

 

Finally we had a chance to go to the nursery today, we don't know the first thing about gardening or plants and were very fortunate to speak to a lady at the nursery who was very knowledgeable and helpful and was able to assist us with making some decisions. We wanted some plants that will basically take care of themselves, the two types we decided on are:

 

Green Rocket -  a beautiful dark green hedging plant with glossy, oval shaped leaves. The new growth is a lime green colour making a great contrast. Green Rocket’ loves full sun but will perform well in part shade. Likes well drained soil, is drought hardy, copes with frost and can live by the coast.

and
Aristea ecklonii  - an evergreen perennial with stiff, upright, grasslike leaves that grow 15-18 in (38.1-45.7 cm) tall in a tight clump. In spring or early summer, flowering stalks covered with dozens of small blue saucer shaped flowers stand above the leaves.
 

We are using the green rocket to frame each side of the window, brickwork & the fence with the Aristea Ecklonii in front in front and black bark

 

 

Sunday 8th September

 

Today we worked on the path & the left side of the driveway. We had decided to use the same plants as we had in front of the house in the left garden bed. So we did a row of Green Rocket in front of the fence and then a couple of Aristea Ecklonii to fill in the garden bed. This time we used 40mm Tuscan stones

 

 

For the centre Garden bed we have used the plant:

Blaze - this is a very tough plant with extreme heat tolerance. It has beautiful deep purple foliage throughout most of the year (depending on climate), turning green in summer, Deep purple berries appear in spring or summer. It grows to 45cm high x 40-50cm wide.  

We have also used "crazy pavers" which we found at Soil Worx in Hoppers Crossing and 40mm Tuscan Stones

 

 

 

 

 

Just the lawn to go now