Tuesday 31 July 2012

Islands & Splashbacks !

Our island benchtop went in yesterday and bathroom & kitchen splashbacks in today, though not grouted yet.  I'm absolutely in love with the look of it all.  Can't wait to see the electrical & plumbing fit off completed now, which are happening today and tomorrow.

Our supervisor expects the house to be finished by the end of the week, which is possible as we're only really waiting on the mirrors and shower screens after the plumber & electrician are finished.  Then next week will consist of cleaning, touch ups and adjustments and Coral's inspection, ready for PCI next Thursday, then handover the following Thursday.

It's all starting to feel very real now!





40mm 'Indian Jet Black' granite with waterfall edges.

One of uur big undermount sinks!


Southern Cross Ceramics - Groove 'Molten' glass splashback tile.






Main bathroom splashback & niche - Southern Cross Ceramics - Pencil Box 'Ash'

Powder room vanity.



Ensuite splashback & niche - Southern Cross Ceramics - Pencil Box 'Ash'

Friday 27 July 2012

Fit Off !

It's been all systems go at the house again this week.  The painter finished up yesterday and the chippies didn't waste any time getting in to fit off all of the door handles, towel rails, toilet roll holders and other bits and pieces.  I absolutely love our facade colours - I'm sure they're not everyones cup of tea as we have gone a little, alright, a lot, left of field, but that's the type of people we are - a little eccentric and unique!

Our kitchen & bathroom bench tops were scheduled to go in on Wednesday, however a stuff up on the stonemason's part meant it didn't all go to plan.  As you may remember, back at the end of June we made a visit to the stone supplier to pick 'our' slab of granite for 'our' kitchen bench tops.  About two weeks ago I received a call from the stone supplier asking me what we were doing with the stone as we'd put it on hold two weeks ago and that is their maximum hold time.  I told them I was under the impression that the stonemason would be in contact and as far as I was concerned, it didn't really involve me other than the fact it is my house!  They said fine, not to worry, we'll sort it out.  You can imagine my shock when I receive a call late Tuesday afternoon asking me again what are we doing with the granite we put on hold as it's sitting in their factory and they could be selling it etc etc.  I responded by saying 'my bench tops are going in tomorrow so it must be some sort of mix up.'  What a mix up it was - the stone suppliers had done their part and faxed over the paperwork showing that we had put two slabs on hold etc but when the stonemason received it they didn't have a job sheet for us yet.  So that fax got put aside, and to cut an already long story short, the bench tops were made out of a slab that we didn't pick.  I was pretty annoyed and frustrated on Tuesday afternoon, mainly because Andrew (husband) had picked the granite and I knew how much it meant to him to have a nice piece etc etc and with him being gone, I didn't want to stuff this one up!  The stonemason was very apologetic and offered to courier samples up to Andrew to make sure he was happy.  In the end, I arranged to meet the stonemason with the granite bench tops on site and make a decision there.  Queue next problem - when a tradesmen promises to be on site at 7am, never, ever believe them!  I stood around the house fluffing about making small talk with the painter until finally they turned up at 9.20am with no word of an apology or sorry for not letting you know.  Rather sarcastically, I did let them know I hadn't been waiting long and I didn't have a job to go at all etc etc.  Lucky for them, the granite that the bench top ended up getting made of was beautiful (perhaps even nicer than what we'd originally chosen but I didn't tell them that!) so I gave the go ahead.  You would think that's where the problems end right?  Wrong.  Then they see the undermount sinks sitting in the kitchen.  Oh, you've got undermount sinks?  Well we can't do them here we need to take it back to the factory to fit them, it's too much work to do on site.  So after promising to return on Friday (today) with the island bench top, including said undermount sinks, I raced over to the house in my lunch break to see the island bench top (finally!) in all it's glory.  Nothing.  Not one person on site!  I don't know what's happened, but I don't expect a call as the communication is just not there. 

So on Wednesday, I may not have got it all but I did get some lovely bathroom vanity bench tops and half of the kitchen bench top, and the basins were placed in the benchtops too.  Andrew insisted on round basins which I was a little worried about - I'm not sure why really, but I'm glad he insisted - they sit really nicely in the bench top and don't seem as bulky as the square ones, and it feels like we have a lot more spare bench space.

Other than that, not a lot to report.  We're currently waiting on the tiler to return to do the splashbacks in the bathrooms, kitchen & laundry, and the plumber & electrician to do their final fit off.  Then mirrors, shower screens and wardrobe doors are to be installed and we will be on our way to an almost complete house.

Painting finished - loving the contrast of the sunhood. 



The big front door & window complete with stain & door handle - love!



An awkward photo of the raked ceiling in the entry way.

Vanities with Ceasarstone 'Haze' benchtops & round semi-recessed basins.



Main bathroom.

Door handle & toilet roll holder - woohoo!


Lovely granite bench top - needs a good clean & polish.



Water tank.

Monday 23 July 2012

Paint, paint & more paint !

The painter has been on site for two and a half weeks now and he is about 75% done. We're waiting on one more wall coat and then the facade to be finished. He expects to be finished on Wednesday which is the same day the benchtops are being installed and fit off will start on Thursday! I forgot that we had changed our minds on the wall colour at the last minute (changed from White Duck quarter to half strength). I was worried it would be a little dark but it's perfect - the colour looks really great. We stayed with the same colour and strength for doors, skirting and architraves and I like the uniformity of it.

We (I) also got one side of our front block wall done on Saturday for our gas and electricity meter to sit in. A friend of ours is a block layer so my Dad and I helped him where we could - big job and I'm hurting today! Once the other side is done after handover and they get rendered and painted it should look really great.

In other news, we've also had word of our PCI and handover date! 9th of August will most likely be PCI and 16th of August is our scheduled handover date. I have a lot to get done and organised beforehand, and I'll also get to see my husband then too so hopefully the time flies by!

So a little over 3 weeks and counting - yippee!

Laundry linen & broom cupboard.

Laundry tub & washing machine, same set up on the opposite side for the dyer, minus the tub.



Looking from the back corner of the family room down to kitchen, dining room, entry and
media room behind the two translucent glass doors.

Looking in to the ensuite from our bedroom.

Our ensuite - tiles to be continued up to the ceiling height.
 
Kitchen - I'm not 100% on the bulkhead colour,
particularly above the overhead cupboards - any thoughts or suggestions?

This photo doesn't do the doors justice - they are so smooth & glossy in real life!

Our entry way - it's really hard to get a good photo that shows off how cool it is!



The block wall with gas & electricity meters.

P.S. For those of you in Brisbane, if you haven't had a chance to get out to see the new Rochedale Estates Display Village - hurry up and get there!  I've been twice now (there are 46 houses on display so it's a big day!) and I could keep going every day, there are just so many great ideas and beautiful things to look at - I flattened my iPhone battery from taking so many photos!

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Flying Solo !

This past week has seen a big shake up in our household.  My husband was offered a job in Emerald (north Queensland, 4 hours in-land from Mackay, we're in Brisbane) last Thursday, and on Saturday morning he was on a plane with his suitcase!  It is an opportunity he couldn't pass up, but I'm now left to get the house finished on my own!  The next few weeks are going to be painfully busy I'm sure, but I also know that at the end of the road we will have handover of our new home so I guess that's an okay deal! 

My husband will fly home after handover and once I've got the yard levelled, retaining walls done, turf laid and storage container unpacked into the garage.  Then we will be hard at it to get the fencing and internal flooring done - it's going to be a busy week but I think we can manage - luckily we've got a heap of friends and family around to help us out too.

Then I guess I'll be flying solo in terms of decorating and furniture buying - maybe this won't be so bad after all ! 

Luckily I will have our beautiful dog, Rufus, by my side to protect me in the night!




P.S.  The painter is due to finish in the next few days - keep your eyes peeled for an update!


Monday 9 July 2012

Bathroom Tiles !

Our bathrooms have now been tiled except for the splashbacks as we don't have any benchtops yet. I'm absolutely loving our tile selections now that they're all in place and grouted - I just wish they were clean!  We're currently storing 20+ boxes of the white wall tiles for floor to ceiling tiling in both bathrooms - we were planning on having the tiler lay everything at once but we have since decided to have it tiled after handover - I wish I could see it all done now though!  Our bathroom feature tiles look brown in the photos below but they are more grey / concrete / charcoal colours in the flesh.  The same tiles will be the splashbacks for the three vanities.

The painter started at the house on Thursday afternoon but nothing to show yet as he's just been doing some prep work and filling of nail holes etc.

Our sunhood also got installed above the garage and it makes a real difference to the finished look. It will be painted the same dark blue (Dulux "Ticking") as the weatherboards - I hope it breaks the look of the render up a little as it still has the baby blue tinge to it!


Ensuite shower & vanity.


Ensuite shower niche with our feature tiles.

Main bathroom niche.

Sunhood over the garage - to be painted the same colour as the dark blue weatherboards. 




 

Blog Template by YummyLolly.com - Header Frame by Pixels and Ice Cream
Sponsored by Free Web Space