Base Stage Complete

We finally go to second base!

Naturally the bill comes in the SECOND the stage is finished! Hopefully this means things will begin to speed up ever so slightly. With tomorrow being the first day of winter (thanks for pointing that out Master 10!) we are... now how does the song go... 'Wishing and hoping and praying' that the holds out until we get through the next stage.

                                           Base Stage complete: the Yellow tongue and beams
                                           have arrived.


Wood has arrived for the floors and we are hoping to have that complete by the end of next week!

More pictures to come after we have visited on the weekend! Current pictures courtesy of my sister-in-law who lives around the corner!

Base Station

We ended up choosing a whole new brick from another manufacturer, Boral came to the rescue and provided bricks within 3 days of ordering!  But WHY OH WHY is it RAINING SO MUCH?!?!??!? The quagmire that was our block leaves anyone who walks on it an inch taller with red mud stuck to their shoes.  Will be investing in gumboots for the kids in the next few weeks!

                                                   Our new brick choice: Kurrajong, from the
                                                   Horizon Riverside Range.

 We are extremely happy with the alternative choices we were offered from the builder!

The height is far higher than we had first expected, we are ecstatic at the height we will have under the house, it is a full size ceiling meaning we can utilise the space under the house as both a rumpus and storage!!

                                            There is a full height door to the under house space!

Our view is going to be fantastic, we will be able to not only watch the sunsets every night, but see the glow of Melbourne in the distance and watch all the crazy storms roll over the hills and even a peek around the corner to the Baw Baw ranges.

To top it all off, I will be able to see my sister's house from my kitchen window! Talk about handy :)

We are equally pleased to discover the garage is not going to be as far down the hill as we had first expected due to the build up, the driveway costs have just reduced considerably from our first estimations.

                                           The Garage

We are expecting to have stumps in by the end of next week and I am hoping the garage slab too!

Once the stumps are in, the floor will go on and then the builder will be asking us for money! BLAH, but then there will be frame and roof and at least then the weather will not matter quite so much!

We are getting excited about the prospect of finally moving into our own home. We moved in with my inlaws 16 months ago and truly I have forgotten what is like to have my own place.

I will keep you posted!

Brick Delays

Everything was looking like smooth sailing... until the bricks didn't arrive... then they didn't arrive a week later... or a week later or 2 weeks after that...

Bricks were due to arrive February 21st and now, April 24th, we are hoping the NEW BRICKS we have chosen from Boral are due any day now!  Turns out Austral had kiln issues and the wait on the bricks of our choice is indefinite.

We have now chosen Boral bricks - Kurrajong.  We are extremely happy with this choice!

It's all a go!

Well here we are February 2012, what a road it has been to get here!

After weeks of chasing quotes on driveways, fences, landscaping, stat. decs etc, our home loan application has finally been APPROVED!

Now it is all happening! Permits are being applied for, levies are being paid and money is flying out in all directions (mostly to the builder gladly!)

We were very unhappy to find out the builder expected us to cover the bond on the asset protection while they were building (a council footpath insurance) - but I am extremely happy to say the builder has agreed to put up the bond while I only pay the actual permit (no-refundable) charge.  Another potential stress avoided! Imagine trying to recover costs if they do damage to council property!

I will get pictures up as soon as we break soil...although with the house 1.25 hours away it may not be as regularly as I would like :)

Hanging out for the start date!

The Rough Draft

Ok, i have finally recovered from the final tender meeting... I may never build on a slope again... then again i may love living on my hill so much i may never move again!  Only time will tell :)

Here are the rough drawings, including the split.  There is a considerable amount of footing at the rear of the house, we are really hoping the council give us the go-ahead... or i think i will just cry :'(

The Front of the House - of course the picture is crooked, not the house ;)

We have Stairs :o

Should be plenty of backyard :)

Check out the Height, at least the views will be great!

The kitchen, we are putting open glass shelves above the sink area rather than closing it in with more cupboards, very excited!!

Final Choices

Well here it is from head to toe...

EXTERNAL

OLD BRICK

• Roof:      Colorbond -   Evening Haze 
• Gutters:  Colorbond -   Evening Haze
• Facia:     Colorbond -   Woodland Grey
• Bricks:   Austral Bricks - Homestead Blackwood  actually looks browner in real life.... very orange/red here.
• Render:  Tabumans -    Smokehaze
• Windows: A&LWindows - White Birch
• Garage Door: Madison Panel Lift - Woodland Grey

NEW BRICK

This size door did not
 fit in our house, plain doors
only now.

INTERNAL

• Walls:  Taubmans - Breaker Beige
• Doors: Taubmans Gloss - Milk Cloud
• Ceiling: Taubmans - Milk Cloud
• WIN5G with clear glazing to Front Door
• Corinthian Rockport 5 Panel doors to Main living doors.

Due to the East side of the house being higher than the fence as we head down the block we have to have special glass in these windows - i like it and i will call it the 'bobbly glass' with clear awnings at the top of the windows.

Bathroom and Ensuite only now!

Kitchen

Kitchen wall tile

• Kitchen Bench: Quantum Quartz - Polar
• Kitchen Cabinets: Polytec - Melamine Porcelain Sheen
• The Window doubling as a splash back is totally WIN!
• Wall Tiles: Beaumont Tiles - Sequenza Almond Gloss Foliage 300x400 (a white tile with light brown leaf pattern - this is going to be a great feature and most likely absolutely hideous to clean >.<)

Laundry - will match the kitchen as it will be visible from the kitchen.

• Laundry Cabinets: Polytec - Melamine Porcelain Sheen
• Laundry Bench: Polytec - Laminate Pearl Fabrini Matt
• Stainless steel trough! (what a winner)
• Wall Tiles: Beaumont Tiles - Sequenza Almond Gloss Foliage 300x400

Ensuite

• Ensuite Cabinets: Polytec - Melamine Gesso Lini Sheen
• Ensuite Bench: Polytec - Laminate Alabaster Matt
• We will be putting in our own stone (marble) basins after  -  a little nervous about this, but it is going to look awesome!!

• Wall tiles: Beaumont Tiles - Gloss Stone 200x300 - basic beige gloss tile.
• Shower feature strip - Beaumont Tiles - Listello Mondo Lamina Cement 50x200
• Floor Tiles: Beaumont Tiles - Lifestyle Almond 400x400.

Floor tile for wet areas

Bathroom

• Bathroom Cabinets: Polytec - Melamine Gesso Lini Sheen
• Bathroom Bench: Polytec - Laminate Pumice Micro Matt
• Wall tiles: Beaumont Tiles - Gloss Stone 200x300 - basic beige gloss tile.
• Shower feature strip - Beaumont Tiles - Listello Mondo Lamina Cement 50x200



Bathroom/Ensuite Wall tile

• Floor Tiles: Beaumont Tiles - Lifestyle Almond 400x400.

The rest of the house are standard inclusions.

Still to choose:

• Carpet
• Hard Floors
• Dishwasher.

Tender

I swear i just aged another year in about 1 minute today!

Ah heck, we have more slope than we had anticipated, 3 metres over the house.  But they have made a really good go of the layout of the house and we really like what they have done. 4 steps in the middle and enough room underneath to put 2 more rooms down the road; a games room and shed for now and probably a bedroom later on if needed ;)

Of course with all those extra bricks comes the extra price... not exactly what we had bargained on, but we really like the end product and we are willing to put those luxuries on hold like landscaping for a little while!  (we are just going to have to simplify :)

We are happy with the prices of the extra power points and light points! And they have been willing to let us finish the ensuite ourselves with our lovely stone basins!!

We are looking at finishing around May 2012... 10 months from walking through the door.  Not what we had planned, but what can we do right?  Asking around most builders guarantee around 9-10 months as a large builder from first meeting to handover so considering our start we are not doing too badly!