1st march

Nothing happened yesterday except the windows were delivered, I figured there wasn't enough work to do until they arrived but thankfully they are back today and the rain has held off...won't be long and the next bill will arrive, then it's roofing and bricks! yay...

inspected the frame

Very impressed, frame sits nicely along slab edge, plumbing appears to be in correct positions, changes to original plans adhered too...

28th Feb FRAME

Tuesday Feb 28 the frame is going up, this is at 2 pm. Lets hope the rain holds off a little longer as it's expected to rain the rest of the week. Can't wait to sneak around later and check if the slab edge and frame matches and if the toilet is in the correct position. Last time I built a home back in 1997(Huxley Homes) they got my toilet out and it was too close to the wall, they had to did up the slab, not to mention all the other bits of slab that were incorrect and had to be cut up or chiselled away...
I don't want to jinx things but so far Eden Brae have been excellent and more than fair, the initial admin process is tiresome and lengthy but everything documented to the tee, communication from site supervisor has been good, except they only talk to Dan...Boo but really can only sing their praises. Lets hope it continues this way.

24th Feb The Frames arrive

Today the Frame arrived, my guess is all ready to go up Monday, please stay away rain!
Payed the first big progress payment yikes....Hello mortgage...

re selected carpet AGAIN

After deciding I just wasn't happy I went back today with every intention of spending more and getting exactly what I want...and still I couldn't find one that matched my bathroom tile perfectly, anyway I chose a very dark brown because in the light it looked best although it is so difficult in that showroom. I also upgraded the underlay after stepping on it all and didn't end up spending a cent extra on the actual carpet, why bother when I didn't love any of them....I also changed the paint colour inside the house to get away from the yellow in Ringdove to Martini...a bit blah but figure better to go lighter than darker.

lets compare

Carpet discontinued

 Yesterday Delorenzo rang to say my carpet is no longer available and I need to re-select! sadly the range did not have anything new added to make up for this and it was slim pickings.(unless of course I wanted to pay extra) I wanted a standard twist pile initially but even when I first selected the dark brown colour was no longer in the range, so it was a choice from 3 def types of loop, most of the colours were light, so I am not sure if this is going to look good or not because in some light it looks very grey and others a greyish brown. I guess in any case given it is cheap and nasty I won't have to worry about the kids wrecking it.
The tile on the bottom is from the front door to the main kitchen living area, the tiny tile is the kitchen splasback, it has a shimmer to it that does not show up here. The bathrooms are the smaller brown tile that has a spash of grey to it, the kitchen and bathroom cupboards are licorice linea that is brown with a darker line through it, so I went with the greyish brown carpet rather than the chocolate colour above as it was just too brown. I just hope it doesn't look too grey as it looked different depending on the lighting. Oh well it's only cheap and nasty. The price was $35m and they are ordering 106m for our house to to 4 bedrooms/study and home theatre.
I really think the wall colour is going to look completely wrong but it is just pain and that is the easiest thing to change later (Lucky Dan was once a painter) I would like to do it now but it's too late apparently...

22nd Feb

Today the plumbers are digging in the pipes, while yesterday the electrician pulled up and connected wires for power and phone to the slab. Still waiting for Eden Brae to contact us to pay the instalment for the slab, have phoned and emailed asking as I was told that other Builders (McDJ) have charged people interest for not paying on time. Not sure if Eden Brae would!

No that is not us behind the fence...

Watering the slab so it drys slowly= less cracking apparently...

                               Feb17           A SLAB

Feb 16

Looks all ready for slab to be poured tomorrow. I wonder when  they are going to contact us and ask for a progress payment?

Feb 15

Gosh when things finally start....THEY START!
plumbing in and ready for the slab.

Feb 14

Piers and a fence today

Thur 9th Feb...Land cleared!

Land finally cleared, front tap installed and rocks tipped on driveway area! Finally progress. The guy cut out more than expected, considering it was only a 10cm fall from front to back of block but at least he got rid of all the soggy mulch that had been spread everywhere as fill. So a few small retaining walls we didn't anticipate but nothing major. Just so glad it's finally officially started.

Bank commencement letter...

After finding out we actually needed this before the builder can start, it was a mad rush to scan and email documents to the Bank, even though we had provided the contract when we applied for the loan they had no record of it or the receipts of what we had paid so far...
I also didn't know they needed the comply and development cert, final plans, and list of any variations. Last time I built a home this was all attended by the builder. So a morning later we have the letter and Eden Brae says our file has gone off to "estimating" I think this is where they order the stuff and they say it should start next week. With all this rain though I will be surprised.
The last time I built I signed in November, it started in March after a month of rain and I moved in on the 23rd of August. This house is double the size and comes with driveway, carpet and tiles...I am hoping for October as we both have a month off then to get the shed, move and yard organised.
Dan say's..."he still can't see it!"