Bathrooms tiled

The house is really starting to take shape now.  This week has since the bathroom tiles completed and kitchen benchtops installed. 

 

 

 

Exciting time but also one of frustration. We are so close to the end but nothing is getting finished -every thing is 90% there and I don't really understand the theory behind it all.

 

 

For example: the gyprock is still not complete to the stairs but house has been given its first coat of paint? See below they put the bottom panel on so they could install the skirting board but left the top one off???

 

 

Another thing is the house if filthy but the painters just painted around the dirt.  This is a photo of the niche in the stairs. They just left all the builders dirt and painted around it???

 

 

 

Today we noticed all the electrical has been fitted out and looks great however as you can see from the photo the bricks in this section still have not been cleaned as yet - I'm no builder but I can't see anyway they won't get damaged by the cleaning (or the rendering that still has to happen overhead)

 

Its very frustrating but we are just hoping it all turns out fine in the end - and that is all that matters.

Kitchen and bathroom cabinets installed and tiling started

Big....BIG week on our build. So much has happened it is making my head spin.

 

Monday the kitchen and bathroom cabinets were installed. I wasn't expecting it until Tuesday so it was a huge surprise and it looks amazing.  And it is HUGE!  One of the things we wanted in the new house was a big kitchen with lots of storage and bench space. Seems we may have gone a little overboard but I LOVE it!  I can't wait to see it all painted with the beautiful bench tops

 

On Monday we also had a meeting onsite with Wisdom Landscapes to talk about the driveway. He was very nice but I have to admit I was only half listening - my new kitchen had all my attention.

 

Tuesday the bathrooms, laundry and patio were all screeded? Not sure if that's the word but sand/cement stuff that goes under the tiles was done (lol) along with all the skirting boards throughout the house.

 

Wednesday the tiling started with the Patio and laundry floor tiles laid.  We are locked out now which is a bit bitter sweet- great that its all safe and secure but so frustrating that we can't go in when we like.  

 

We did manage to get in on Friday afternoon to take a few photos and the tiling looks great.  We went with the standard Wisdom range of tiles in the bathrooms (as we had gone over board on every other upgrade) but I think it will look ok when finished.  Dark grey colour on the floor and large white tiles on the walls with mosaic's in the niche's.

 

Here are the latest pics....

 

    Half the kitchen...too big to fit in 1 photo lol

    The other half

    Ensuite cabinet

   

    Front entry

 

    Bathroom tiles

 

Looking forward to next week already - apparently we will have the tiling in the wet areas complete, render to be finished on the balcony and first coat of paint. It's all happening!!!

Lock Up....well almost

Well it has been 2 weeks since my last post and what an eventful 2 weeks it has been. I can't believe how much work has happened on the house....and how different it looks now.

In 2 weeks we have seen the gyprock and cornice complete, the eaves to the Alfresco and garage complete, Staircase installed, waterproofing to wet areas, doors installed complete with architraves and finally the balcony has been constructed.

SS called on Friday to say we were at Lock Up but there is no garage door as yet and the internal door from the garage to the house doesn't have a lock so I'm not sure how this is Lock Up but we are close anyway (and we can still get in to have a snoop).

Only a couple of issues we have noticed so far.  They have placed a power point in the shower in the ensuite (not the safest place to have it lol) and despite being told a few weeks ago before the gyprock went on it has now be cut out in the shower and the waterproofer has waterproofed around it??? Very strange but I'm assured that it will be fixed.  There is also some broken tiles making a hole in the roof above the garage but again I'm assured they will be fixed and are nothing to worry about.

Next week....wait for it...the kitchen is being installed. I'm just a little excited!!!  We also have a meeting onsite with Wisdom Landscapes to talk about the driveway. It's powering along now.

Here are the latest pics...

    Gyprock complete in entryway

 

   

    Lounge room through to kitchen  

    Games/theatre room

    Love the eaves in the Alfresco Area. Makes it look like a proper room

    My new stairs - I am in love with them and they change the

    whole house now that they are in.  The bottom 3 steps will

    be stained with the remainder carpet.

 

   

    The front door

 

    One of my favourite photos - the new entryway

It's getting so close now...

Plastered!!!!

It was a rainy week this week so we were not expecting much action but the house was insulated early in the week and, when the sun came out on Thursday, so did the Gyprockers.   The whole house had the rough Gyprock completed in 1 day - we finally have walls and it looks AMAZING and huge! and the surprise is that it is quite cool as well.  Very happy :)

 

Here are a few photos although I will have to take some more - every time I go to have a look I get so distracted that I forget to take the damn photos

 

    Fridge space in the kitchen

 

    Media alcove in the boys games room/home theatre

 

   The Dining area from the kitchen into the games room

 

    The biggest laundry in history...

 

I also have a great chat with our SS on Friday and apparently its all systems go now. Next week the Gyprockers will be completing all week (all the detail work and cornices etc) along with the carpenter coming back to complete the lower roof Eves, cladding to 2nd storey and balcony.

 

After that he has booked the stairs to be installed on Tuesday week (10/2) then it will carpenter back to complete up to lock up, waterproofer in, cabinets installed, tiler, painter, fit off, tiler and then painter again (yes I was taking shorthand when he was speaking).  He said we are on track to have PCI by the end of March and.....the big news....when I said we had to be out of our existing house by April 20 he said 'Oh you will be in your house by then'.  What a weight off my shoulders - I can actually enjoy the building process again rather than stressing that I will be homeless in April (we have no Plan B)

 

Oh man Wisdom Homes if the house continues to look as amazing as it does and we are in by April 20 all will be forgiven and I will be shouting your praise to everyone I meet.

Yay the builders are back!!!!

Finally the builders are back on site.  The 3 weeks felt like an eternity but we made it through and are now looking forward to seeing some progress again.

 

The first week back saw the tiles on the roof of the garage and alfresco area being completed and the electrical/Air Con rough in. We were also supposed to have the eaves on the lower storey completed and balcony completed but that did not happen.  Here is a few photos -

 

 The lounge area where the new TV will be place...



    The new Air Con system is huge

 

       Looks a bit like a space suit

 

The 2nd week back we were again told that the lower storey eaves would be completed along with the balcony but it did not happen again.  We did have a carpenter on site 'fixing' the frame and the whole place has been given a much needed clean (the site still looks like a tip but at least the house is looking a bit better), so that is something.  

 

SS has advised the Gyprockers will be on site on Wednesday to start the walls which is very exciting but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

On other news we sold our existing house prior to Christmas which settled this week.  We are now renting it back from the new owners until 20 April so the new house needs to be finished by then.  We were originally told end of March, and planned to be in by Easter (April 3), which would leave us plenty of time but the way progress is going I'm not so sure - I can see a few stressful weeks ahead.

Jinx

It is all coming together nicely....haha famous last words.

 

I can't believe it has been almost been 2 months since my last post - and what a frustrating 2 months it has been.  I really did think all the communication problems and delays were over now we were in the building phase but I was wrong. Frustrating is not quite the word for it.

 

I have begun to think that building companies have their own special take on communication.  In my line of work if we make a commitment that something is going to happen on a specific date and things change we communicate the change, in order to minimise the customers disappointment.  In the building game you call the customer on Friday and let them know what you think might happen over the next week (you don't use the words 'think' or 'might' mind you - you say it will happen). The next Friday give them another call, if what you say would happen last week didn't happen, that's ok promise it again for the next week and blame 1 of the trades that left you down. Now the following Friday make sure you call the customer again (because that is the most important thing) and if what you promised the previous 2 weeks still hasn't happened, that's ok promise if for the next week....and so on and so on.

 

This happened to us with the bricks for the top storey.  We were promised 2 weeks in a row that they would start on following Monday which didn't happen. On the 3rd Friday our SS said he actually wished I hadn't picked up and the call had gone to messagebank as he hates to deliver bad news but the brickies definitely would be on site on Monday.  Well they didn't turn up and I left it until Tuesday afternoon to call him and he informed me, after we spoke on Friday, he called the bricklayer who said he wouldn't be able to get to our job until Thursday/Friday the following week.  He was very surprised when I said I would have thought he would call me back on Friday if the weekly update was found to be incorrect an hour later.  He also said he was hurt because he prides himself on his communication WTF??? 

 

At this stage I think we have to agree to disagree on what good communication is and keep going... and despite all the delays we are still moving forward albeit slowly. The good thing to come out of all miscommunication is we did receive confirmation from Wisdom that we are still on track to complete by the end of March. That is good news!!

 

We are now in the Christmas shutdown period however here are a few photos of where we are up to...

 

  

 

 

 

   2nd storey roof tiles complete (love them!!!)

 

 

  

 

Render to front complete although the painters started to paint the 2nd storey the wrong colour (Grrrr!). It is supposed to be a light colour but was painted a dark grey

 

 

This is the Alfresco area with bricks cleaned - they look amazing however there is a few spots where the bricks are chipped and the base colour is coming through - this is on the list of things to discuss with the SS in January

 

 

This the front entry. The render is beautiful - a lovely job. It is not painted yet (top storey painted the wrong colour)

 

 

Lots of action on our street as well over the last month.  Our 2 direct neighbours and 1 across the street managed to be finished and moved in by Christmas. We are very jealous although I don't envy them in a few weeks being woken early every day by noisy tradies starting their day.

 

Here's to exciting (and less frustrating!!) times in 2015...

Bricks, bricks and more bricks.....

Lots more progress this week...

Monday the plumber came in and installed the water and gas pipes to the whole house. We couldn't believe it was all done in 1 day. 

Tuesday the brickes (a team of them!) arrived bright and early and it looks like they didn't stop all week. It was very exciting every day to go and see what progress that had made. Here is the progress from 4 days...

    Front facade taking shape 

   The entry way

We are loving our brick (PGH Vino) - or at least we will when it is all cleaned up - it is a painted brick so we were worried about chipping and the base colour coming through but at this stage it looks like it will be great

SS called (cannot believe he actually calls every week - where was all this communication during admin?) and the brickies will finish on site on Monday to make way for the scaffolding on tues/wed. Gutters are scheduled for Thur/Fri, roof tiles will start next week and then the brickies will come back and finish the second storey. Apparently they laid 5500 bricks this week with a further 4000 to go!

It is all coming together nicely:)