Handover Day!

It was handover today... bright and early at 7:30am

A quick and simple walk through to show us that all the errors/problems at PCI have been rectified.

We've made a note on a couple more things that were not 100% satisfied with.
Hopefully these will get fixed in the coming days or weeks.

-  The frames on the rear sliding doors are not joined properly.
-  Manhole in the garage needs relocating to laundry due to access restrictions to the rear of the house.
- Render colour is wrong...
(we changed this about 3 weeks ago with no hassle, but the original colour is what went up last week)

Here are a few happy snaps!!

 

 

Construction: PCI/Final Inspection

Yesterday was the first time in what feels like forever that Luke and I had been inside the house.

We were greeted on arrival by Michael (Henley handover inspector) and Carl (Our Darbecca Inspector)

It was pretty straight forward, we walked through every single room of the house with some blue tape and marked down every imperfection or issue that we had.

Some examples of the issues we picked up:

• Paint drip marks
• Small chips in the plaster/paint
• Corking around the mirrors missed in some sections
• Stain on timber window and doors marked and damaged. Due to closing before stain was completely dry. Etc.

Also we were quite surprised to see that the front render was still not completed. Even though Michael from Henley said this was quite common and they tend to leave it to the very last minute to prevent it from getting dirty.

We also realised that the wrong range hood had been installed about 3 weeks ago. I notified our construction administrator straight away. I was advised that this would be fixed and the correct range hood would be re-ordered. I was surprised to see that the wrong one was still there yesterday.

Even though there were quite a few cosmetic issues that need to be rectified it was such a great feeling seeing all our sections come together.

We’re really proud of what we’ve done and can’t wait to move in… fingers crossed in about 2-3 weeks.

Master bathroom vanity & large mirror

Master bathroom vanity & shower

Lounge/Dining looking into backyard

Garage

All left over materials stored in garage

Ensuite Shower

Ensuite vanity & mirror

Main Bathroom Shower

Main Bath & window

Master Bedroom Carpet

Master Bedroom & WIR

Landscaping Ideas

The building is coming to an end... Final Inspection is booked in for Thursday the 16th of February. I'm beyond excited!!

We're now thinking and sketching up some front yard landscape designs.

Luke and I have never done gardening ourselves but we're really keen to get started and do this next step together. Below are two designs that are our favourite so far. Any feedback or ideas are much appreciated!!

The one thing that Luke and I have decided is a must have, is the timber deck that extends past the porch/portico.

Were after an easy to maintain garden, plants that don't need constant watering or affection is ideal.
I love the idea of having a slightly raised garden bed, only about 30-40cm off the ground.

Some plants we need to research: Lomandra longfolia tanika, backyard bliss lilly pilly, agave attenuata, magnolia little gem or port wine, dianella little rev

Construction: Fixing

We’re back up and running after the month long Christmas and New Year break. 

The house currently has a security system set up at the front and rear of the property.

The minute you stand in front of the red pole, the siren goes off. (Very loudly)

It’s actually quite comforting knowing they have included that extra bit of security.

I was lucky enough to get access to the house and take some happy shots of the progress.

It looks like a lot has happened in a small amount of time. The following was completed in about a 2-3 week time period

• Ceiling fittings installed - heating and cooling vents
• Skirting, architraves and cornices installed
• All internal doors & handles installed
• Walls & ceilings painted
• Laminate and caesarstone benchtops installed
• Electrical installed throughout - Light switches, TV points, power points
• Basins/Sinks and tapware installed
• Garage roller door installed

Construction: Lock-up

Its nearing the final stages of lock-up.

This last week has been quite a productive week indeed. We've had all the plaster go up, cornices and cabinetry installed. The mirror backings are also in place, ready for the mirror installation.

All the internal doors and front entrance door have been delivered to site and will probably be installed in the next few days.

Our build was a reverse build, so our windows were only install at the 18th of November after the house was already wrapped. The bricks have only just been started on Monday the 21st of November. The below images were taken this morning on the 29th of November. As you can see they've already finished down one side of the house and starting to wrap around towards the rear and other side.

 

BEFORE - 26/11/16

AFTER - 29/11/16

 

Construction: Pre-Plaster

The roof tiles and waterproof wrapping of the entire house happened all within a week of the frame being completed. Its looking more an more like a house!!

So far everything has happened smoothly, no complaints from us. Were notified from either our SS (Site Supervisor) Michael or our Construction Administrator of upcoming events and when to book in Darbecca for  the independent site inspections.

I don't usually take a lot of photos from the front facade, this is because its the dumping yard at the moment for all sorts of materials and deliveries.

 

 

As you can see from the images below, the wires and pipes are being fitted within the walls.

The ducted heating and cooling is also being installed at this stage.

Note: On the electrical plan, the locations of the ducted heating outlets are marked as part of the electrical plan. However when I brought up to our pre-site administrator that their was no indication of where the ducted cooling outlets were located in each room, she insisted that location is decided on the day of installation.

Construction: Frame Stage

The frame began on Friday 28th of October and completed end of Monday 31st of October.
The roof trusses were delivered on site on that same Monday, but wasn't scheduled to be installed until Thursday 3rd of November. Just in time for our independent inspector to arrive on site on Friday 4th of November. (Details to follow)

Since the base has gone down, everything else has followed quit quickly.

Here are some happy shots of the progress so far...

3/11/16 Front Facade

3/11/16  Rear North-West Corner