Lights and Plaster

During the last couple of days the sparkies have been back to move some downlights, and the plasterer has been repairing the holes.

We are now waiting on the painter, roof tiler, interior tiler and some odds and ends to be sorted before we can do a handover. One of the problems we have is weather related - the tiler can't do the balcony tiles until this darn rain stops! No firm date for handover - but we are working towards Monday the 28th July.

Very happy with the location of the lights

The old and the new

Red spots are being addressed

The garage floor has had a touch up

A couple of people have asked why the lights had to be changed - when we planned our lights we gave some careful consideration to where we wanted the lights, especially over the kitchen work area. In practical terms, the lights could not be placed exactly where we had them on the plan, as the heating and cooling ducts were larger than shown on the plan - the sparkie had to make some changes, but we were not happy with the lighting of the bench.

Having said that, we are very happy with the new arrangement.

LexCom Home Network

A few people have asked us about the Home Network we are installing in the new house, so we thought it was about time we documented some of the material.

Given the amount of info, another web site (blog) has been created and you can find it at:

LexCom Home Network Blog

A step closer

Sparkies were on site today moving a couple of lights and (hopefully) fixing a power point. Plasterers are due to come back for some repairs tomorrow.

Balcony is ready to be tiled

Retaining wall posts

PCI - ed

Hi all! Well, we had our Practical Completion Inspection (PCI) last Friday (18th July).

We were there for about two hours and ended up with a three page list and many dots! For those of you who don't know, the PCI involves a walk through with the Site Supervisor to compile a definitive list of items which need attention, when are then signed off.

As you go through, paint items are identified with a dot (in our case red)

Red spot special!

Minor paint items were marked, and the major things to be done include: Some cornice to be replaced, a couple of downlights to be moved (and holes patched), sticking (stuck!) back door, various paint and fill items, some tiling to be completed, infills above windows and doors, roof tiles to be replaced, and various odd and ends.

The aim is have handover on the 25th, but depending on how long it takes to get the various trades on site handover may be the following week.


This is the first time we have had a chance to get up close and personal with the new heater in the family room. Part of the protective film has been peeled back in the shot below to show the polished stainless steel finish (although it looks black in the picture).

Looking forward to cranking this up on a cold day!

Haven't had a chance to update the blog since Friday as we have been hard at work putting a retaining wall in along one entire length of the block. Thanks heaps to Dad for coming down from up north and helping with the posts.

Holes marked for the posts

Bobcat hard at work with the borer. The handsome fellow in the picture is Dad!

At of writing (Sunday night) all the post are in. We will take more photos when we get a chance.

Render

So - you thought that you wouldn't see another entry from us until after our PCI (which is tomorrow)? Wrong! Went for a stroll to the house this morning as we knew the render guys were hard at it yesterday.

We were a bit surprised that the house was open (garage door could be lifted, and then the internal access door was unlocked), so took a few inside shots. Not much has changed, so there will be lots to talk about tomorrow with SS.

Render colour is "Maudsland" (because we know you will ask...)

The finish on the render looks fantastic. Bagged and painted would have been cheaper, but the extra cost for the render is worth it.

From the front door - down to the rumpus room

Close up of the heater in the Family Room

Laundry - previous shots have had the basin covered

Render from the balcony. Tiling needs to be completed on the balcony floor

Mirror has been installed in the ensuite

We now have fly screens

This shot shows the drain hole for the balcony. Andy and Simone have one on each side. These houses are all the same - but different!

Little bits

Disappointingly, not much has happened since the last blog entry, with the exception that the Painter was back, which allowed us entry into the house - the first time since the cleaner had been through.

I guess all things are relative, but we noticed that while the place was definitely much cleaner than before, there was still a lot of crud stuck to the floor in various places, and people have still been walking up and down the stairs with their workboots. We didn't get one of those "Don't come in with your grotty workboots" signs that M&M had after their clean.

Enough of that. Some photos.

Paperbark colour now above the garage door.

Clean upstairs games area

Cleaner stairs - but with boot prints

Close sesame!

We were bagged for apologising for having too many photos last time (yes, I read the comments on other peoples blogs - you know who you are ;-)), so here are a couple of more.

First pictures with the garage door down. Power was on, so we put the door down. Why not?

Outside shot (derr... really?)

From the inside - you can see the internal access door.

Painter is on site as we write this, so more pictures later (if we can get in before the painter leaves).

Wondered about the animated picture at the top of this page? We have a bigger version - currently the picture has 19 photos in it.

Here's the link (opens in a new window)