Garage door and mirrors.

I was in 2 minds about taking my camera yesterday, and wish I had! On my drive-by after school pick up the garage door had been installed and the 'installer' was testing it. Up...down...up...down...! His car was in the way, so it would have been difficult to get a decent photo anyway! Instead I messaged my Husband to call in and take some pics on his way home from work. They are with the mobile, so the quality isn't 100%.





We had a peek through the laundry window over the weekend to see the finished tiling. The wall tiles with the larger bathroom ones look great, and it now keeps it a consistent look throughout rather than using the tiny rectangle ones they wrongly delivered. They 'correct' tiles were not as large as the bathroom ones, but certainly not as small as the wrong ones. The photo through the window wasn't terribly great for seeing the finished wall tiles, so that will have to wait until tomorrow after we have been for our site meeting. The finished floor looks great, and we are happy with the colour of the grout. It was hard to remember it having had our colour appointment a year ago!



As well as a little more progress, there has been some casualties. A deceased possum now resides in the alfresco, but at least it's not IN the heating ducts or wall cavity. No idea why it ended up where it is, but one thing's for sure...I'm not touching it!!



The other casualty is in the rubbish cage. It's a broken mirror which, judging by the size of it, was one from our ensuite. It has been attached to the wall as you can see the circles of glue on the back, and no idea why it is in the cage now. It also looks as though it was broken as it was thrown into the cage (it's still in it's basic shape), so it may have been chipped in transit and not realised until after it was installed, or there could be a problem with the wall behind it. What ever the case may be, I'll try and find out tomorrow! Someone will have 7 years bad luck, unless glaziers are immune to it! ;-)



We have tomorrow, what we expect to be, our last official site meeting prior to our practical completion inspection before handover. There really isn't too much that needs bringing up, and it's more of a chance to have a good look around and photograph! Our main concern at the moment is the discrepancy between the two sides of the gables on the portico. The SS was away last week, and not sure if he has had a chance this week to have a look at it and identify where the problem lies. We think it might be with the framing and installation of the gutters/facsias, not the brickwork. In which case it should mean minimal disruption and a relatively easy fix (we hope). We will not accept it the way it is, particularly with the gap next to the eaves. It's possibly large enough for a rat to squeeze into. No thanks, not in my new house!

Stay tuned for lots of photos tomorrow! At least this time I won't have the carpet people measuring there to discuss things with too, so I can concentrate on the photos!! We still anticipate anywhere from 4 weeks to 8 weeks until handover, but we'll have a better idea tomorrow. Fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later.

I've been in, I've been in!!!

Yesterday, the phone messages were running hot between myself, my husband and the tiler! He couldn't get hold of us, and we couldn't get hold of him. I decided to go down to the house to try and catch him on site. There was someone who was grouting the ensuite upstairs. So, in and up I went!

As it turned out, the tiler was not there, but the 'grouterer' let me know there was a problem with the laundry tiles. He couldn't be sure but thought they may have delivered the wrong sized ones. As it turned out, they had, but thankfully the tiler had not installed them. Being in the house I had a chance to have a little look around and take some pics (with the tradies permission, of course!)

After my five minute walk around I then rang the tiler and left a message on his phone to say yes, they were the wrong ones! He then rang back and finally I was able to talk to him!! We decided that he would install the leftover bathroom wall tiles instead! Easy!

The Master bedroom niche:


The ensuite with the 'grouterer':


TV area. Notice the heating vent in the ceiling:


Minor bedroom with wardrobe fit out:


Toilet upstairs with nicely centered floor tiles:


Kids bathroom, not grouted at this stage:


Gorgeous stairs!




...and the wine cellar underneath:


Close up of Caesarstone bench (Ice Snow) in kitchen:


Kitchen pantry...4 times bigger than the old one:


The wrong laundry wall tiles (far too small):


The powder room:


Laundry floor still to be grouted:


Laundry cupboard. No extra cost for 1/3 broom, 2/3 shelves:


Garage door:


Study through to one of the black front doors:


It was quite surreal to walk through it again, as it's been almost 4 weeks since I've been in. It looks fabulous and fresh, and we are really happy with the way the colours work together. We wanted a streamlined neutral classic look, and that is what we have. Love the stairs, love the doors and love the white woodwork!

Can't wait to get in and decorate to my hearts content now!

The final fit off has begun.

Now that the internal painting has all been done, the other little fixtures can be attached! The downpipes were added on Thursday:









We had a good walk around the property on Sunday and I was able to take lots of pics through the dirty windows. Great to see the moat and lap pool now dissipating too!

Looking through the windows, the tradies have been busy! The alarm light and siren has been connected, along with the sensors inside:






The tiles have been delivered (and floor ones laid now...):



The heating and cooling vents have been installed (notice in the photo above the air intake grill and control panel towards the back left!):



And I finally got a glimpse of the Caesar Stone benches! They are Ice Snow, which is mostly white with a grey/taupe fleck through it:





We could have upgraded to have 40mm stone benches with a waterfall edge, but because our island bench is a right angle, I thought it may have looked funny, so we just went the standard 20mm stone top. It's also not as 'modern' which really isn't the whole feel of the house.

All the wardrobe and linen shelving has been installed, but we could only see the laundry and study really well, and the WIR upstairs if you looked closely! All the others are upstairs and not near windows! We umm'd and ahh'd about the study and study cupboard doors, and as you'll see, they open into one another. Our reasoning behind this was that the study cupboard will be shut 99% of the time, and so will the fixed study door that opens into the cupboard. We could have swung the cupboard door the other way, but it would mean walking 'around' the door to get to things while in the study. We'll just have to remember to put those little clear sticky dots on both doors where the handles will touch to avoid any chipping:



Looking through the windows, we noticed something in the fridge space that we have no idea what it is!! It's not the cold water point, as that is lower and on the left, and isn't the GPO for the fridge as the electrician hasn't been back for his fit off part (no other PP's anywhere!). If you have any ideas, I'd love to know!!



I studied the portico issue long and hard and took many photos of it, but I won't bore you all with them. There is definitely an issue somewhere and it may be the frame where the fascia and guttering is attached to it on the left side. Hopefully, it will be an easy fix and won't delay the proceedings too much.

I also noticed a few other things that will need attention when the SS gets back from his 1 weeks holiday. I found a small crack in the mortar join in one of the sills, and a small gap where it meets the window rubber strip. I'm not sure if it is an 'issue' but my guess is it will eventually let water in. I'll point it out to my SS and see what he says about it:




There are also a few gaps around the infill above the stacker door leading into the alfresco. This certainly won't let in water as it's under the roof line, but it looks messy and spiders would love it! The rubber seal on the stacker door is also sticking out and will need fixing:





I mentioned the scratches on my meter box to my SS a while ago, and he said it will probably be painted. The painter has finished and painted the powder room external vent, but not the meter box. I'll be requesting this again, as it is now rusty where it had chipped, and it has been affected by the acid wash from the brick cleaner:



My Husband called into the house on his way home from work, and met the tiler and saw the work he had done today. I have some pics from his mobile which I'll upload at a later stage. Lucky I didn't wait around all day for his phone call, as he had been given my Husband's number, not mine. When I finally got the call that he had rung and I should call him back, it was too late , and I would have had the kids with me. A missed opportunity to go through the house and take lots of new pics... :-(

Not Happy Jan...

Breaking News Flash: Many thanks to a lovely blog reader who emailed me and let me know the mystery 'thing' in the fridge space is the siren for the alarm! Note to self: "Don't be anywhere near the fridge when it goes off..."

Painting looks to be almost complete.

I had a good look around the house yesterday, through dirty windows and dodging the ever expanding moat, and the interior painting looks to be finished! The balusters have lost their newspaper protection and the plastic is gone from the kitchen cupboards.

On Monday when I drove past the house The painter was just finishing up painting the inside edges of the front doors black. When I drove past on Tuesday, I was absolutely horrified to see that they were matt, not lovely sparkly, shiny gloss. I was pretty mortified! I assumed it may have been undercoat (why on already primed doors...?), but decided to wait a few days to see what happened before I rang my CSA.



On my look around yesterday, the crisis had been somewhat averted, as there was a coat of gloss on them! They do look stripey, and I hope they do another coat of gloss, or I will be asking for one. They 'should' be a lot shinier than what they currently are...





The 'missing' linea bands down the bottom of the portico piers were installed yesterday too, so with any luck, that will mean the rest of the portico can be finished in the 'proper' render colour.

Nice water feature we have too!



The laundry door also looked matt from the photos the other day (I didn't take them), but has since had it's coat of gloss. Not too concerned if this only has one coat as it's not a major feature of the house...unlike the front doors ;-)



All internal doors (apart from the pantry doors) are 2 panel and painted white gloss. Here is the garage internal access door:



And a delivery of downpipes sitting in the garage ready to be installed:





The stairs all painted and the handrail stained and varnished, and the walls, ceiling and skirtings all done:







Kitchen done and looks as though the stone benches are in too...although they are protected! Pot drawers still to be replaced:



Family room with the curved wall, and the perfect spot for my vintage London bus destination blind (yet to be 'assembled'!)





Now that it is rendered and I've had a good look at it, I've picked up an issue with the portico where the corbelled brick course meets the eaves. Previously, it was unoticed as the corbelled brick course blended in to the rest of the bricks, but since it's rendered, one side is quite different to the other. The right side looks great:



...but on the left side, there is a gap where the eaves meets the bricks, and the corbelled brick course (now rendered) is slightly shorter than the other side. The photos are pretty self explanatory:



Unsure how they will fix this, but I'll be requesting they attempt to do something as it looks uneven now I've spotted it. I'm sure no one else would ever see it (a little like my odd brick issue), but being on the front facade it needs to be perfect. Am I asking too much again??

Not sure of the progress today as I didn't get a chance to drop in! I Will after the school drop off tomorrow morning and see if we have downpipes!! I certainly hope they are installed soon...the moat around the front, along with the lap pool and spa are growing!