Week 18...

The builders are back to finish off the eves, boards etc. And there's no messing about; 3 of them hard at work in the rain on a Sunday.
The cabinet maker has been to measure the kitchen, pantry, laundry and bathrooms to make sure his measurements are exactly right.
And the external doors have gone on so we are finally at 'LOCK UP'!

I can't wait for the renders and painters to do their thing now.

Render will be Dulux Silkwort :

 and the boards will be Surfmist to match the fascia:

  

I finally ordered the pendant lights from Schots:

and all the door and drawer hardware for the kitchen, pantry, bathrooms and laundry:

Next step is plaster and render so by next week it sound be looking even more like a house.

Week 17...

It's been a full on week this week. Multiple tradies on site each day, some days up to nearly 20!!! Not that I am complaining in the slightest. The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. Brick layers, plumbers, electricians, builders etc. Not to mention all the deliveries, plaster arrived and so did the insulation, another load of sand and cement for the brickies, more electrical and plumbing supplies and the list goes on.

'Day 1 of bricks'

A big day for deliveries too - cement, plaster and insulation.

As they say "many hands makes light work", especially when it comes to brick laying it appears.

'Day 2 of bricks'

By 'Day 4 of bricks' they were pretty much done. *The unfinished section at the front is going to be boards.  

Finally I got my husband to agree on some tiles for the kitchen splashback on our trip up the coast. They are a little bigger than the ones that I had originally picked so this eases his fierce hatred of 'sh***y little tiles that look like they're from a bad 80's pub room'.

Marble tiles for the kitchen splashback to be laid in a herringbone pattern form Beaumont Tiles

 

The inside starting to take shape with the insulation going in (and sound proofing insulation for the pool room).

'Day 5 of bricks' was the last day. All finished including the wall in the outdoor area to protect us from the sou-westerly winds that come down the gully.

120 days into our build and lock-up is just around the corner. Just waiting on the boards on the front of the house, the front door and the 2nd stacker door to be installed and we will have reached the milestone.

Next week will bring the measure up for the cabinetry, the rest of the insulation and hopefully the plaster :)  

Weeks 15 & 16...

Its full steam ahead now and we've finally got to a point where rain is not nearly as much of an issue as previously. It can rain all day long and stuff still happens :)

Today we have a plumber, an electrician and his dodgy apprentice (my husband), the glaziers and two builders all on site together. Yesterday we had a visit from the project manager to make sure everything was on track and to get us to make some concrete decisions regarding cabinetry, flooring etc.

Tradies everywhere!

We have now also ordered all the plumbing fittings and my job today is to order the pendant lights and cabinetry hardware. Its been an expensive few days but it feels so good to be ordering what feels like the icing on the cake.

Our kitchen sink mixer from Astra Walker

Basin mixers from Bunnings

From the outside its hard to see all the progress but I assure you its been all happening on the inside.

The plumber and electrician have nearly finished their rough ins so there are wires and pipes everywhere. The bath is in and the bulk heads for the cabinetry have been started. Today the blue board is going up on the front of the carport and porch ready to be rendered later. The glazier is putting in our custom made 4-panel multi-direction-opening stacker door just in time for the brickies to start tomorrow. Roofing guard rails should also come down today which will make it look a bit nicer. The electrician is running the TV, Foxtel and DVD wires through the wall cavities so we can mount flat screens on the walls in the pool room, lounge and master without seeing the ugly cords. All the little things that will make the finished product seamless. 

Another trip out of town for us next week to order our freestanding oven, range hood and fridge. Once again an expensive excursion but oh so worth it to be able to pick exactly what we want.

The nursery planning/purchasing is coming along too as well as the baby to go in it.

Halfway cooked - 20 week scan

I finally found a nursing chair (although this picture makes it look a lot more fawn and cream in real life it is more grey) for the babies room while we were out of town for the scan. So now I just have to find an ottoman to go with it.

Easton Wing Chair from Pacific Furniture & Bedding

The choices are endless but I'm thinking something along these lines.

Or maybe I could make my own...

Week 14...

It's been a big week.

The house has been wrapped...

and topped with a roof.

We also received the cabinetry renderings.

I am so in love!


Along with it being a big week on the actual building front it was also a huge week for decisions. We did a trip down to Bairnsdale and had meetings with the flooring people, builders and cabinet makers. We walked into the flooring place at 8:50am to decide on floorboards, carpets and tiles, then went to the builders followed by the cabinet makers who we left at 6:00pm (we did manage a 40 minute break for lunch somewhere in there too).

We have now finally decided on a few things tho.

KITCHEN:

Carrara Marble for the kitchen benchtops.

Kitchen door and drawer hardware from Schots Home Emporium

The whole stones benchtop thing has been a real learning experience for all involved. It has worked out that, mainly because of slab size (when buying stone for benchtops you have to buy it per slab as apposed to by the meter to fit to your bench sizes) the natural marble (bigger slabs) that we originally wanted is actually going to be cheaper. Finally something went our way. This has also meant that there will be enough stone after the kitchen is done to do the vanity top in the main bathroom aswell. Another win for us.

PANTRY:

In the pantry we are going for a diamond gloss benchtop in White Valencia

With a white subway tile splashback

I like the contrast of the white tiles with the dark grout

As there are no windows into the pantry (the only natural light will come from a solar tube) we are using a lot of white to keep it nice and bright.

ENSUITE BATHROOM:

For the vanity top in here (because it is bigger than the main bathroom, therefore too big to use up the marble off cut) we are going to use a diamond gloss benchtop with the new square edging.

and something along these lines for the tiles

Next week we are off to the plumbing store to choose our tapware, shower roses, vanities etc
Bring on another big week of decisions.