Picture update

Ok - here it is. I now have wireless and ADSL working in the new home along with some of the LexCom Home Network components (I'll update the LexCom blog soon).

This post is to share a few picture with you that we have been asked for. Since the last batch of photos we have finished the flooring (with the exception of the quads to cover the edges), had the sparky do some work inside the house, and move lots and lots of boxes.

The electrician we used is Dave Hulstone, and we highly recommend his work if you are in the Geelong area. Dave doesn't know how to do a second rate job, and his phone number will be added to the list of "People we like".

Looking from the family room towards the front door

Looking at the laundry door. This area was the most difficult in the whole place, as the cutting was very fiddly

This picture shows the tri-quad which had been painted and installed in the fridge space. The nail holes are yet to be filled.

Dave installed the stair lights for us, and they look great. I'll try and get a night picture soon.

Dave also installed the fan for us in the bedroom. Looks like a real home now!

The central heating and cooling is all working now. The guy from Executive Heating and Cooling arrived at 8:10am yesterday and had the job done by 9 (including coffee). Great service!

Today our driveway has been hacked by the bobcat, ready for the concrete. It's planned for the weekend. Concreters are really busy at the moment (especially with the rain we have had) so if you need one, plan well in advance - speaking from experience!

We are living with the sheets and redi-shades on the windows, and have obtained some quotes for blinds and curtains.

Floored and blinded.

Yesterday the last of the appliances was installed: The ducted vacuum. This was one of those items which wasn't on our list of "must haves" but was included with the house package, and deleting it would not have saved very much money.

Now that it's in, Bernadette is pretty impressed, and the outlet on the unit in the garage looks as though it will be perfect for cleaning the cars. During the build (just before plaster went on) we noticed that one of the control wires for the ducted vac had been cut. At the time we checked with the SS and got the go ahead to repair it ourselves - heat shrink and a soldering iron did the trick. The wires for the ducted vac are a low voltage pair of wires. The point to the story is, we are so glad we noticed it and repaired it - otherwise the plaster has to come off to find the fault!


Carpet: Carpet has also been laid (why do we say "laid" instead of "installed" or "fitted"?). Caramel Twist from Godfrey Hirst, supplied by Fowles. Carpet guys were done in a day and the result is sensational. Now, to get the rest of the flooring finished!

Photo doesn't show the colour properly - it's more of a brown (caramel) colour

Close up showing the pattern. Again, colour doesn't look right...

Laminate Flooring: We are using Armstrong Cherry Spice click lock flooring. 90 square metres of the stuff!

The following pictures show the progress in laying the laminate flooring. The underlay is foam with a plastic coating, and can be used on it's own, however we opted to put another layer of plastic down on the concrete first.

Family room.

Looking towards the front door.

Laying the laminate near the front door.
Mental note to self - hide the camera from the wife.

Laminate in the hall has been laid, but we have some black plastic down temporarily.

Looking towards the kitchen - complete with mess! The chairs in the background are all the furniture we have. Can't afford anything else after building this house!

Kitchen and dining area almost done! This is where the chairs were in the previous picture.

Looking towards the pantry.

Curtains and Blinds: We are in the process of getting quotes for blinds, and it will take a while to get them made and installed. Like most people, we will make do with some sheets, however another thing we were told about is the "Redi Shade" blind. These are designed to be temporary blinds which are stuck on, and you can cut to length.

They look really good! Sorry - can't remember the cost as we bought them a while ago.

The packaging - Redi Shade.

Fits any size window, as you can cut them.

Installed in the pantry window.

Installed in the family room (forgot to straighten the left one before taking the photo).

So close, but so far away!

Well, no handover on Friday (we never expected it anyway), however the past few days have seen a lot of activity around the place.

Plaster, paint, tiles and other things have all been worked on. The toilet has been removed, the Tri-lock installed and loads of other things.

Yesterday (Saturday) we picked up our timber laminate flooring from Fowles and took it to the house, as the painter was there and the place was open.

Broken tiles now replaced. Tiler had to bring some tiles over as the mongrel local kids had broken the ones I set aside

Left over roof tiles - now stored in the garage!

Tiler put the last (missing) tile into the bathroom. At the same time he also tiled the splashback in the pantry (picture coming next time)

Balcony has been sealed in preparation for tiles

Toilet and bin have gone

Gas meter now installed

Hand rail now installed - for the first time since painting...

... but the location of the light switch isn't ideal!

This cornice in bedroom 4 was replaced

Quad beading in place in the al fresco.
More painting needs doing here - or should we say, sanding back, then painting.

Drainage from retaining wall now tied into silt pit

Our flooring being delivered

All 47 boxes!

As the place was open for the past couple of days, we took the opportunity to terminate some wiring and put face plates in. More detail on this coming up on the LexCom Blog (see the link at right).

Floored

Floor the shed went in on Friday, and is curing nicely. We need to put some support across the back fence before the shed is erected. Probably a job for this weekend.

Shed slab

Laundry floor has been grouted

And the Power Room floor

Main bathroom - oops!

Ensuite shower showing feature

Cabinet should be lifted soon! Floor in and grouted.

Had a chat with the Site Supervisor onsite yesterday and worked through some of the issues. Nothing major, and should be sorted soon!

Carpet and Laminate

Not much in the way of photos today, as there's nothing much new to see.

Yesterday we visited Fowles to order our carpet and flooring. As mentioned in a previous post, we decided to go for Godfrey-Hirst Milano Caramel Kiss for the carpet, and Armstrong Armalock Cherry Spice laminate timber flooring.

We will install the laminate ourselves, and save a bundle. The only drama is one of timing - to get the best result, the laminate needs to go down before the carpet. Looks like some time off work to install the laminate once we get handover!

The following shots come from the Fowles brochure - so the images are not great. The Milano has a small pattern (a regular square of loop carpet). Caramel Kiss isn't shown below - it's a .. errr.. caramel colour.




One tip - at Fowles you can see a whole roll of the carpet, which actually looks lighter than the sample because of the size. Carpet looks a bit lighter when you install it. Paint looks a bit darker once applied. Check out the roll of carpet is you can!

A big hello to Darren and Kelly (hope I spelt your names correctly). We met Darren and Kelly at Fowles as they too were ordering their floor coverings. D&K have a terrific modified version of the Hamilton 34 which is almost due for handover, and could see that we were also building with PD.

Thanks for the tip guys, however it didn't work out for us - can't win 'em all! Hope to catch up with you both again.

Our CSC left a message telling us that painting is due to be completed by 23rd May.

In case you are interested, here's our current 24/7 status:



Have a good one!