Finally moved in

Well didn't the last bit drag, it took weeks and weeks from the first walk through until the final one, that triple slider door that was not level had to have bricks removed and jacked up at either end before it finally sat level when open and closed. We go the keys finally on the 19th September and the yard was well an truly complete.
Just found out our SS was "let go" this week, shame...I really liked him, he was great at ignoring all the access to the house and yard we had, I am unhappy with the final finish, some of the brick work ie chipped bricks used under windows, and sloppy paint work spoil...but it's cosmetic. The house is cool and very comfortable to live in. There are a few things I'd do differently, like really pay attention to where the light switches are, for a right handed person to have them on the left feels weird, the gas bayonet in the alfresco is useless, too close to the house and don't want to get my roof smokey, internal gas point should of been on an external wall because I'd of liked a flued gas heater, and TV/antenna points were too low for wall mounted TV's...and finally my cutlery draw is too far away and should of been closer to the oven. All minor though, and just really grateful nothing really major occurred.
 Since we moved in the pump on the water tank ceased to work, well no one told us if the tank got too empty it would stop working. The microwave oven broke and is getting fixed tomorrow. We wanted to add extra solar panels and found out we had to go through the original company, which turned out to not be a problem, installed within two weeks and upgraded the inverta as well. I still have no idea who is allocated to us for the 13 week maintenance, only some peeling paintwork to be addressed, rest has been attended straight away : )

Waiting Waiting

It's now been a month since our walk through and they are still fixing the stuff on the list, last week was very slow, they replaced the scratched glass in the sliding door that still does not slide correctly! Now apparently they have to remove the brickwork under it as it is not level (this is going to hold us up for who knows how long) The painter came to fix up the mess of the previous painters touch ups but did not paint the garage floor , so it still needs doing....arrgghhh! then it's the electricians, appliances and cleaners. Surely how long can this take???? I expected to be living in the house 2 weeks ago!
If I didn't like my SS I would be complaining to Management, this is truly the most frustrating part.
So this week Dan'sMan Shed was finally put up but parts were missing so no roller door yet.
I ordered my shutters about 6 weeks ago, they are supposed to arrive early to mid sept, I wonder if they arrive before we move in? The Screen door guy is getting cranky because I ordered the screen doors but now they can't be installed until the builder changes the locks at handover...
Monday is completion day for us, The turf is being laid weather permitting and that is the yard complete Woo Hoo.

Oh yes and one minor detail the house we are renting is sold, pest and building reports were done this week (don't get me started on how dodgy those guys were)so we really need our house soon!

Lots of action, just not by the builders

Well we are ready to move in except the shed guy who was supposed to put the shed up on the 19th of July is still stalling, so until it's up we can't do anything else. Waiting still on the Builder to finish off the list so we can do final walk through, this part is absolutely painful, where as other builders hand over keys and promise to do all the little things afterwards, ours is doing them first....so we wait.

OMG the painter stuffed up!

I got to see in the house yesterday, still a big list of things that need attending to before we can move in, worst thing is the painter who came to do the touch ups not only cleaned his roller on my brickwork and stained the bricks with a white wash stain, he used a fluffier roller or something and rolled many of the walls in the house, now it's uneven and blotchy and looks terrible, when we were happy with the initial job it is heart breaking. Dan says the only way to fix it is to sand it off, can't see that happening! I was SSSOOOO upset. Thankfully it is only paint but amazing how one bad job just kills the joy when it was going so smoothly.He also did an awful job painting around the rangehood flew and got paint on the stainless steel, can't imagine that will clean off nicely either.
So race is on, I told the SS I would have the yard finished and fences up before he has finished, he reckons not. All we need to do is put the shed up, and install raintank and plumbing, get electricity conduit dug in the ground for the shed, level the yard, fences and screen doors arrive in the next two weeks and turf is booked for 20th August....

still waiting

Still waiting on all the little things to be fixed and tidied up...Still gardening....

1st walk through attended

last Friday we did the first walk through, I found a couple of extra things to add. Should take approx a week than another walk through then it's the wait for admin again to get final paper work ready and for us to pay up, I hope this is faster than previously.
Sat the painters turned up to fix all the cosmetic stuff and I was horrified to see them cleaning their rollers on the brick work of the house, I thought surely they must know what they are doing and will clean up properly but NO! now I have a white wash of paint stains on my dark red/brown bricks. When I told Dan he said when he was a painter it was an absolute NO NO.....Not happy, funny how one idiot can let down an entire team!
And Dan fixed his retaining wall while I planted a tiny hedge : )

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We have started landscaping

The fencing came down and there is no stopping us, shed arrives later this week, Tyrells report today...Looks like Keys in about 3 weeks!

99.9% complete

Today my lovely Site Supervisor Paul met me at the house so the Shutter Man could come and measure up. Only 8 weeks til they arrive and don't ring him before because there is no fast boat from China...fair enough, got them from Terrace Blinds and the price was very reasonable.

All that needs doing now is wardrobe and pantry shelving and the reports and tidy up, this is the slow painful part looking at a completed house and wanting to move in. Oh and all the appliances come right before handover.

july 3

This week the carpet will be completed (5 day delay as they measured it incorrectly) and the safety fencing will disappear, then it's reports and tidy up.

almost there...

drainage and first clean

This week Dan was able to pay the plumber to put in extra drainage, he didn't have enough box drains with him but he explained to Dan how to install them. Now we have an abundance of drainage. The yard and house are having a clean up today and apparently the brickwork near the front door isn't good enough so it's going to be redone. Approx 4 weeks til handover. The shower screens/cupboard shelving is supposed to arrive Monday, as is the driveway. And I am almost finished culling junk so I don't have too much to pack and unpack. 8 bags of clothes and toys went to St Vinnies this week.

June 17 tiling complete

Tiler will finish by tomorrow! amazing

plumbing and electrical all in 1 day

Some kind tradie left the door unlocked so we could see the massive effort that went in to our house today,  lights / bathroom heat-light-fans / power points, rangehood / alarm system...bath and taps, door knobs...amazing, to think I moved into my first home at this point. A massive pallet of floor tiles sit in the garage ready for laying.

june 5 painting complete

sunday 3rd June

To my surprise the painters turn up at 8am on a Sunday, we are around looking at the enormous pool of water that has accumulated overnight, up over the first brick,but only slightly into the alfresco eeekkk! off to buy a shovel and dig more for it to flow away. They show me they have the right colour hooorah! and at 5pm this afternoon they are still there, I can see the walls of the garage are painted but it's rained so no external painting. Not sure when they will return.It's now too dark to peak in and see anything. We met out neighbour from accross the road in the Masterton Home, he still works in Sydney and will commute til he finds a job, his familyWife with a 9yr old boy and 6 yr old girl will move up once the floors are done. We met the lady from the Coral home up the street who just moved in and she told us her builder smashed down part of a wall because it was crooked, but from what we can see it looks far worse now and the mortar doesn't match! And the two McDj families moved in this week too. Must be our turn soon....

tiling

tiling complete early this week and today the painters turn up, luckily I was at the house because the earth moving guy was there to start Dan's shed, I checked the paint, and had confirmed the colour change with EB last week, but still the wrong colour arrives. 4 painters working so fast, he asked me to speak with his boss and I explained the colour was incorrect so they didn't do the walls, but ceilings and door frames/window frames etc looking good, they were planning on working all weekend but now they will have to come back next week. Tiling looks good, range hood and laundry basin sitting in garage.