Flooring complete, so the moving in begins!

It has been a very busy 'week and a bit' since I last updated the blog...I have just been too exhausted to even think about it!

So after getting the keys on the Thursday 10th, we had a family get together of pizza and Bolinger on the Friday night (with deck chairs on the concrete floors!).

We had every intention of sealing the garage floor over the weekend, but the weather decided to play havoc! It was incredibly windy, so what was soon swept up and out, ended back in the garage! We did, though, literally chisel off any odd bits of mortar, plaster and dirt from the garage floor, and made it look nice and smooth for the 'eventual' sealing.

Instead, we took down everyone of the hideous plastic china men's hats lamp shades the builder provided, and replaced most of the compact fluoros with 75 watt incandescents I've been stock piling for months! I spotted my Son wandering around the house with a china men's hat on his head! We also began to install the paper 'Redi Shades' on all the windows. Not the best for sun blockout, but instant privacy and only $7 each (for the small ones) at Bunnings!



So all was not lost over the first weekend! On Monday 14th Sept, I had organised a Telstra approved Contractor to dig the trench from the house to the street, and channel underground from the street to the nearest Telstra Pit. He arrived earlier than expected, had the job done in no time and left the nature stip of my neighbours looking as though absolutely nothing had taken place!





I made sure I took quite a few photos of the conduits' position and depth for future landscaping reference!

Since Monday ended up being such a lovely day with no wind, Hubby decided to leave early from work and put the first coat of sealer on the garage floor!



There were several options we were looking at, including Berger Jet Dry Paint and Dulux Garage Floor, but both applications required the floor of the garage to be acid etched first for the paint to 'take'. We decided to use 'Staseal Premium' from The Concreters' Warehouse' on recommendation from a friend. It required 2 coats, and the first having a solvent added into it so it would soak into the concrete. It was brushed on around the edges, and then 'broomed' on with a broom instead of a roller for the remainder of the floor.

Tuesday saw the beginnings of the floorboards go down, and I was very impressed with the results so far!



They are one strip engineered "Boral Silkwood in Spotted Gum". I have read several things about this type of flooring - both good and bad! We have gone with the 'Australiana' finish which is apparently more hard wearing than the 'natural' finish, so fingers crossed!





Tuesday late afternoon also saw the second coat of garage floor sealer go on:



It looks fabulous, and will be so much easier to sweep and also prevent the concrete dust being brought into the house. Well worth the effort! We just can't drive on it for about 5 days, especially with hot tyres as it can lift the paint.

On Wednesday, the floor boards were completed. They look fabulous, and really make the house look like a home! It took me ages to clean them, though, after all the foot traffic from the tradies!

Lovely variation in the wood:













Thursday morning the carpet installers arrived, and by the time they had finished for the day the whole of the upstairs was done.



The carpet is a woven 80% wool and 20% nylon from 'Brintons', called Bell Twist in the Mushroom colour. The installers commented that they guessed I wasn't planning on changing the carpet in a hurry! They have seen it layed for 45 years and still looking fabulous! They left rather a large mess with tufts of it everywhere, and it took me close to 3 hours vacuuming just the top storey! I had to empty the Dyson after every room as it was just absolutely FULL!

The finished installing the ground floor on the Friday, including the stairs, which they had a little trouble with as they were not quite built exactly as the display stairs I had photos of! It all worked out in the end, and no one will ever know there is a little gap in one part of a step where the stairs were slightly different to the display!



There is a small spot of glue or something similar right in the middle of the study floor, which I noticed as I finished vacuuming it. I did ring them, and am waiting for a call so they can organise a time to come and clean it off for me...or I won't be paying them! ;-)

Saturday we only had a couple of hours to move across a few boxes before we had 2 parties to go to. Sunday was fairly quiet as we assembled the 3 Expedit shelves and the 3 Ingolf bar chairs from Ikea! The Expedit shelves were an almost perfect fit across the wall in the kids TV area, I just need to get some more baskets, as they wouldn't have fitted in the car at the time!



The kids are really looking forward to eating their breakfast here in the mornings before school!



Today, being Monday 21st September, I am absolutely exhausted. It feels as though I haven't stopped for about 3 weeks, and it's only just the beginning. We hired a truck for 2 days (Husband on a weeks annual leave) and today we began to clear out all our furniture and boxes from the storage unit. The truck has been fabulous, and the kids loved riding on the hydraulic lift...which has been a Godsend!!



We took 2 trips to the storage unit, clearing out a third each time. I have an aching neck and back, and I'm just about to pop into bed....ready to do it all again tomorrow. Not sure when I'll get a chance to update the blog again this week. All depends on how much energy I have left!!