Building with Eden Brae Homes

Anniversary

2010-07-10T16:15:00.004+10:00

Hard to imagine a year has gone by since we had the final walk through. Almost a year since we moved in. There's still so much work to do with the house, we still don't have window coverings!!!!

I think everything has been completed now, we had the painter a couple of weeks ago and that was the final thing that had to be done. The bathroom door & basin were replaced before that.

We've been putting some effort into fixing the garden, we planted some camellias in the back corner and some gardenias in the front as well as some lemon, lime & blood orange trees on the eastern side of the block. There's still heaps to do, not sure when we'll ever finish landscaping.

I found this great nursery in dural which specialised in camellia's called Camelia Grove Nursery. It was very hard to choose which camellia to go for as they all looked beautiful, in the end I decided on the Sasanqua variety as they were going to be planted in northern end, at the back of the house. The sasanqua is suppose to be the most versatile of all camellias and are exceptionally sun hardy, it's suppose to be more upright too so can be used as a hedge. I went for the Early Pearly as I love white and also Lucinda which is is a soft pink.

Not sure why I bothered getting a landscaping plan as I'm not really sticking to it.

2010-05-07T21:22:00.001+10:00

one door delivered this week, it's only taken six weeks? who needs a bathroom door that closes anyway???

On-going maintenance or lack of it

2010-03-22T10:51:00.003+11:00

I really didn't want to vent anymore but seriously...it's been 5 months since we had the maintenance inspection done and we still have outstanding items.
Ok, so we've been living with the defects and things were coming along sloooooowly BUT
I just called Eden Brae today and apparently all our items had been DONE according to their books????

I think EB need to rethink their procedures.....

No-one has come out to check that everything has been completed.

We've not signed anything to say things were done so how do they check????

Do they just wait for people to call up and say hey this hasn't been fixed????

We sent an email three weeks ago to say hey what are you doing. No response.

This is no longer acceptable. They just seem to wait and wait until people have no patience left.

No idea?? or don't care????

Playroom

2010-01-29T21:58:00.008+11:00

Last weekend we went on our annual trip to ikea, it's such a traumatic experience going there; you feel trapped yet you feel compelled to look through everything and waste at least 3 hrs of your life going through so much stuff. Even with a list I managed to buy stuff which I'd not intended to, always happens when I go to ikea....anyway we bought this bookcase the expedit, this great rug - should have bought two, lots of storage containers & these lovely rattan chairs for kids and voila the playroom is done. The bookcase can really store heaps of stuff, it's really made the room look very organised and de cluttered? is that a word?

This took all of Australia Day to sort this out and put the bookcase together, I think this was time well spent sorting this room out. I'm very happy with the result.

Next project.

2010-01-29T21:15:00.002+11:00

I've found my dining table...love it.

http://www.contentsid.com/DiningTables.aspx?modelno=5360

but with which chairs? I think I'd like it with more modern chairs and in white maybe? leather?

still undecided about this? I love this furniture store.

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T23:05:00.003+11:00

I'm so glad that 2009 is over!!! Happy New Year!!!!

The highs for 2009 would have to be moving into our new house, it didn't seem to be at the time due to all hassles towards the end of the build but in time we were happy to not have to move again and be able to settle down in our new house. We were able to enjoy the house once we had the landscaping sorted and the fence was done - definite high moving into a new house. Another high for 2009 was having the time off work to spend more time with friends and family. Spending Christmas and New Year in the new house was another highlight for 2009 so I hope this will be a great start for 2010.

The lows of 2009 would have to have been the building process itself, it was definitely not smooth sailing for us. Would not recommend on doing this again. Even going through my treatment had some low points, but I found the building process excruciatingly painful. So glad that that year is over! maybe that's why it was so good to celebrate the New Year....

I don't have any New Years resolution but I do have plans for 2010 with regards to the house.

First I want to get the planting sorted pronto, we're getting loads of weeds in the garden beds so this needs to get sorted at least get the top soil done and maybe we can just put mulch down until we get the plantings done....but this is priority one.

Another must do would be get my window coverings sorted, obviously this has been delayed due to financial constraints but I'm hoping to sort this out earlier rather than later this year...I've also decided on what I'd like done - finally. so here goes, drum roll please....I'd like to get shutters for the front of the house and wooden venetian blinds to the rest of the house. I'm still undecided on the back of the house and what I'd like here....so almost there.

So hopefully we'll hear from someone from EB sometime soon as nothing has been fixed since we had our 13 week inspection in Nov last year, so here's hoping the maintenance people are better than the construction people....actually they did fix something last year - we had a gas leak which I think was sorted out???? we also had our front door locks fixed. We don't have too long a list of defects to be fixed, mostly painting which we knew wasn't the best to begin with.

Aerial View

2009-12-12T20:36:00.001+11:00

How great is this! an aerial view of our block taken on the 20th of Oct!!! Our place looks very symmetrical.

2009-11-15T17:42:00.002+11:00

Not much to update. I had the 'Girls night in' a couple of weeks ago which went well it was a small gathering of four girls. It was more an afternoon thing so we were able to sit outside in the alfresco area and enjoy the outdoors, sipping apple martinis and eating yummy cheese. We gathered around the kitchen which made me realise I really need those bar stools soon. It was very low key event, I made Karen Martini's Syrian Chicken and Osso Bucco with cous cous; we also had Coconut panna cotta for dessert. I'm really happy with my kitchen, I thought it might have been too small but I think it's the perfect size. It has loads of bench space which I love and I love my stove & oven - love love love it.

I have a huge to do list and an even bigger wish list of things I'd like for the house...

Landscaping Front & Side Area

2009-10-05T20:54:00.003+11:00

I think overall the landscaping went well; I think it looks great. There were issues with timing but I found Gary & Paul to be very professional and knew what they were doing. We just have the gates to finish, I'm hoping weather permitting this will get done this week. My poor dog has been staying with grandma all this time as we still don't have gates. We have been watering the grass with the rain water tank which I'm glad is full again after this wkend and DH has been out in the rain putting some fertiliser stuff (as per our landscapers instructions) on the grass - apparently this is the best time to put the fertiliser in???
front LHS, in time hoping to have garden on this side and more grass!
this is the low front fence, I think it looks awesome. Made a slight boo boo with not getting a front opening letterbox, it was a bit difficult to brick the side. It looks a bit incomplete due to this but you can't see from the front.
this the front fence going around the front corner to the side fence
these are the front stepping stones, we went with Aspenstone Vanilla with Rumba Pavescape border
these are the stepping stones around the RHS

Landscaping back area

2009-10-05T20:47:00.006+11:00

stepping stones meeting with the alfresco pavers
so happy with these pavers - Travertine pavers in Chalk - they match the bricks so well
alfresco area, this is my favourite spot. The guys did an awesome job with the paving.
side - laundry area with same pavers as the driveway - Pavescape in Birch. Love Gary's work, he even did some plumbing when there was a burst water pipe. Glad someone was around when this happened. I think EB's plumber came around after the event to check that all was ok??? still not sure what happened???

and this is the back corner. Lots of planting to be done here!!! The retaining walls were done with treated timber. We had to cut costs here as we had to do the whole back are and sides, I think they look fine. Gary did a great job with these.

2009-08-29T19:39:00.005+10:00

Work has kept me so busy I've neglected my blog; We've finally unpacked most of our stuff and have been able to get the car in the garage. The landscaping started three weeks ago and we're hoping it'll be completed next week so we can have a house warming party. Were only getting the bare minimum done with the landscaping - the front fence, retaining walls around the back, paving the alfresco & laundry / garage area and putting in turf. No plants. This will just have to be a WIP.

We haven't had too many issues with the house, just the front door lock breaking and the pump in the water tank stuffing up - this is still an issue, hoping someone will fix it next week. Had not noticed but this had been turned off the whole time and when we turned it on it was stuffed.

We still have no blinds, have not organised anything yet I'm still undecided as to what to have. I think this will have to wait post xmas as funds have depleted somewhat due to the landscaping and bits and pieces we've bought for the house.

I'll post some pics next week of the landscaping, cannot wait to be able to open the bifold doors and sit outside and soak up the sun.

2009-08-10T21:48:00.017+10:00

Finally here are some pics of our house...we have had such a busy last couple of weeks moving, cleaning, packing & unpacking and to top it of I got a new job last week!!! so life's been very busy.

Entrance & stairs - I think getting EB to redo the stairs has paid off, very happy with this result.

As mentioned in my previous postings I was very happy with the carpet colour, matched the tiling perfectly.
French doors to the study downstairs
front room - still not sure what type of window coverings to have here??? should I get shutters? or curtains?
back area with bi-fold doors to alfresco area - cannot wait to get this outside sorted out
this is now the rumpus room - full of play stuff - I think this is the best room in the house in terms of the light & getting the morning sun
my kitchen - very happy now that almost everything is unpacked
love the mosaic tiles in the kitchen - not sure if I should put a glass over the top...

this is the end result of the double tiling, could not wait another month or two to sort this out so we are just living with it, the independent inspector we had thought it was acceptable.
my new white lounges in the front room, now with lovely cushions; would love to get some built-in bookcase in this room and some tables would be good too.
these are the new taps we replaced as the other ones were hard to get your hands underneath to wash your hands - thanks EB....EB did pay for half these taps but when the plumbers installed these taps when we moved in they also took the old ones. Let me say that again EB installed taps which were not usable we paid for 6 new taps (almost one thousand dollars )and EB paid half. The new taps which we paid for were installed and the plumbers took the original ones....So now these taps are installed, the tiling needs to be redone as there are large holes - I'm not really sure how this has happened as the whole point to getting these taps were that they were the same shape. They use the same back....so who knows if these will ever get fixed now??? I told my SS straight away but I think he is now MIA
my kitchen at night - with the rangehood & oven installed. I had drama after drama with these appliances, I had to get Smeg out as one of the cooktop didn't work, one of the oven buttons was faulty and whoever installed my rangehood forgot to take this flap out so it was very noisy. All is fine now. Gabrielle kitchen came out to sort some stuff out and I'm hoping they are coming out again, they kindly installed my trim kit for the microwave which looks great. Have ordered some stuff for the drawers. Since the rangehood was just installed - the cornice has to be fixed. Again I told my SS this in the first week we moved and have not heard from him...hhmmm
loving my kitchen
daughters room with new bed & quilt
our bed with new curtains, have ordered bed side lamps but has taken forever to get...another drama.

2009-07-30T14:41:00.002+10:00

Managed to get computer access this afternoon but no time for blogging....will be out of action till Wed when hopefully will get internet access - can't wait to post some pics then.

WE HAVE KEYS

2009-07-22T22:24:00.002+10:00

Hooray!!!! We finally have our house, it was very exciting driving my car up the driveway for the first time and opening the garage door. Finally being able to get in my house.

I didn't get a chance to take photos this afternoon but will definitely take photos before we start the move this wkend. I will be doing lots of cleaning first, cleaning and more cleaning. Then we'll be packing, packing and more packing.

We moved out of our flat in 2006 so I'm looking forward to unpacking stuff we put in storage since that time. We bought the block in Dec 07 so it has taken us one and half years to get to this point. 4mths stuffing around not knowing what to do who to go with, then signed up with EB it took 5mths from tender to contract stage and 10mths construction stage.

Thank God that's over - EB must have been celebrating this afternoon just like we were tonight.

2009-07-19T22:29:00.004+10:00

There was one main rectification last week and that was to redo the flashing in the front, which was rectified earlier in the week...so we were hoping to settle last week but there was a stuff up with the bank.

The bank valuer stuffed us around, we had lodged weeks ago to get the final valuation done so we can get the final settlement cheque - their excuse was that we or the builder hadn't returned their calls. Well it's hard to return a phone call when you didn't get it in the first place.

Then there was more drama to be had when the valuer eventually came to see the house but my SS was running late and the valuer couldn't wait for him; so he left and he didn't see the house. So then we had to speak again to the bank to organise the valuer again....nothing has been smooth sailing for us with this build so should have expected something to go wrong with this also.

The valuer came on friday so maybe Tues or Wed we can bloody settle this whole thing.... I can't imagine anything else could go wrong from here?? surely???

To do list:
packing again, lots of packing
on settlement - EB will change the locks, install appliances, taps & mirrors, fix some electrical stuff
work out window coverings
lots of cleaning & sealing of grout
more packing
hopefully get the place leveled so we can put a fence up on the corner side

Pre-settlement Inspection

2009-07-12T23:01:00.004+10:00

The painters finally came on Wed and Tyrrell's also. Our independent inspector came on Friday to check the issues which were found in the PCI and unfortunately he didn't think the rectification for the flashing was satisfactory so we are hoping EB will get this fixed early this week.

Not sure if this is going to happen now as Tyrrell's signed-off on it already....I told my SS that I wasn't comfortable in signing the PCI when this was still an issue so hoping he does the right thing and get it fixed.

There were other things outstanding from the PCI which didn't get rectified, the striker plate on the doors - so the doors don't close properly in the wc & spare bedroom; the pantry door painting didn't get fixed up; we still have the curved t-bar in the garage; no cover for the manhole; my laundry security door still not changed (EB installed the wrong colour) and there are things which apparently will happen at settlement such as the locks changed, the hot water system installed, mirrors installed - my SS is worried that this will get stolen if we get this done before settlement - but my aircon is in - I hope no-one steals this...

We also found out last week that we don't have gas mains on our street, we only found out last week!!! this is like we'll put taps in but won't check if you have water mains...not sure if we were meant to check this???? but surely if they are providing us with the gas hot water they would check first if this was ok???? I was surprised that our street didn't have gas so now we have to get bottles put on the corner side of our house - which won't look to flash.

I called Gabrielle kitchen last week to see if they can fix some of the scratches I found when we did our PCI, my SS kept saying that the cleaners will clean it but I could tell it wasn't dirty the paint was scratched and also they drilled holes in the back of the cupboard under the sink and to cover it they just put a laminate sticker over the top so I wanted them to put a false back to cover this....hoping they can come next week. I also want to ask them about my cutlery tray as I think someone swapped mine for their old ones...why should I get skanky old ones...

2009-07-07T17:42:00.006+10:00

No painters today.

I just can't believe the CM was so concerned about us doing the practical completion inspection and getting it done straight away so that we can get a list together of all the defects yet now the practical inspection has been done - things are not getting fixed.

Me things he was rushing to get the practical completion done so that they minimize the liquidated damages that's in the contract

So now we are still no where in site of moving in and our defects period is ticking away - how is this possible??? unbelievable...this just does not seem right.

2009-07-07T10:22:00.010+10:00

Tyrrells reinspection booked for tomorrow so lots of jobs today, EB have had two weeks but apparently everything on the Tyrrells report is getting done today...hhmmmm...still no one on-site so will only be half a day really.

To do this afternoon:
roof - bedding of ridge capping & flashing to complete, cleaning the gutter
painting - lots of touch ups & repainting the stairs
tilers to do lots of sealing & will be cleaning the drains - I thought the plumbers did this????
the doors don't close properly so not sure who's doing this????
the bifold doors are rusted apparently the cleaners clean this so not sure this is happening....
windows scratched still to be replaced

If they can do this in one day why didn't they do it two weeks ago????

The one thing that got done was the mosaic tiles - very surprised to see this done and also very surprised how they rectified the issue...The problem was that the tiling was not straight and protruding out plus the tilers couldn't get behind the vanity basin so the tiles were falling off.

EB's solution & Di Lorenzo - this was coming from the General Manager of Di Lorenzo - they tiled over the existing tiles. So you can imagine how thick this is looking...this was an issue in May so they have had at least one month to sort this out and this is how they fixed it.

Di Lorenzo are saying that the tiling should have been done first before the basin went in and that the basin has not been placed correctly it's too far away from the wall. They tiled over the tiles as this is the best option without moving anything....

EB just want the easy fix obviously so have decided to do this without asking us if we agree with it. We did not consent to tiling over tiles we wanted it done properly so if it meant moving the basin then this is what EB should do not this half arsed job....why do we have to constantly fight to get something done properly???? Has anyone heard of doing this to a NEW house - tiling over tiles????

Here are the tiles below which needed to be rectified...so they tiled over this....

Why did I bother paying so much money for these *%$#@ing expensive tiles when this is how they are tiling it????

I feel like we have been taken for a very expensive ride long enough and I just want it to end

2009-07-01T20:54:00.001+10:00

No activity at the house today. We went to the Boral factory outlet today and saved some pennies buying seconds for our pavers; They had a great selection of pavers at very good prices so very pleased about that. We selected the Aspenstone in Vanilla for the side stepping stones, Travertine in Chalk for the alfresco area and Pavesacape in Birch & Rumba for the laundry area.

2009-06-30T16:18:00.002+10:00

3mths today since we reached lock up stage....and we're still waiting. No activity at the house today, just really sad to see the empty house. This is such torture.

2009-06-29T22:23:00.002+10:00

There's been no activity at the house since our inspection except for the water tank being replaced; so settlement this week is looking rather bleak....it's just frustrating to see the house everyday and nothing is getting done. One weeks rent that could be going towards the landscaping or window coverings or furniture funds...

2009-06-27T09:01:00.004+10:00

We got our interim occupation certificate yesterday afternoon so hopefully things will be straightforward with the bank side of things....would love to settle next week, how amazing would that be....not sure when the next Tyrrells inspection will be hopefully early in the week; not much activity has happened post the inspection just the water tank was removed last Thurs...I do hope the painters come this weekend...apparently the GM of DL is looking at my mosaic tiles also.

Independent Inspections

2009-06-24T08:37:00.004+10:00

We received the Tyrrell's Inspection yesterday and my SS even went through the list. How about that for service. My CSR said that this wasn't the norm but I think EB should actually do this as part of their standard process...makes sense it's already part of their quality assurance program so why not involve the client to provide them with assurance that even though the build may have its defects that EB is looking into it and hopefully rectify the issues.

I have my fingers, toes and everything else crossed that this won't turn out like the last inspection and that EB will address issues coming from these reports. So far so good.

The only major thing coming out of the report was with the roofing it needs to be finished off (ridge capping loose & flashing needs to be rectified) apart from that minor things which still needs to be addressed such as painting issues, gutters needs to be cleaned, sealing in the bathrooms, drains cleaned - nothing that can't be fixed.

A big thing which for me has to get done - the bloody mosaic tiles, I wish I never got these now seems like a PITA to do. The powder room still to be redone.

So hopefully all small issues will get resolved, my SS is hoping to get all the stuff done by Friday!!! so will wait and see, I wonder if Tyrrells come back for another inspection???

Anyway very pleased with yesterdays outcome, I feel a bit relieved that our inspector was very very thorough and was generally ok with the standard of build. I wished we got Ben for the pre-plaster inspection...Ben had done a couple of inspections for us, we were looking at buying a property before we decided on building, we just missed out at auction at a property in Ryde but I remembered his report was so thorough. I actually never met him until yesterday. I recommend Inspect It for your next property inspection.

New carpet

2009-06-18T16:39:00.007+10:00

For a brief moment I was excited to see my new carpet (the colour is perfect) until I saw that the bed side switches had not been moved; which means the electrician will be going up and down the stairs with his muddy boots on my NEW carpet. Then the plasterer then the painter then it won't be looking so new anymore. I specifically asked that this be done first before the carpet was put in.

I spoke to the CM because he said to call him for any issues and the response I got was 'what do you want me to do Hermyleen rip up the carpet?' This was the response I got. This seems to be typical of his responses now - ok we'll rip up the tiles/wall and move the taps up. I would like to go to his house and trample all over his carpet with my muddy shoes and see how he feels about that. That's what I'd like to happen.

Care factor here is nil obviously.

I'm upset about this because I would like my new carpet to stay new - I paid a lot of money for this upgrade close to $6k just for this carpet. If I was living in this house already (just hypothetically) I wouldn't let dirty muddy boots anywhere near my new carpet.

So Tyrell's inspection is booked in for tomorrow and our own independent inspection in for Tuesday so maybe we'll do our PCI then. I guess it depends on when we get the Tyrell's report as we'd like to see this first.

I just don't understand why Tyrrell's are coming tomorrow when the tilers were suppose to come back and fix the tiling; plumbing not done in the kitchen - NO PLUMBING for the kitchen sink; the windows still missing stormmoulds; missing door fittings in the bedroom and laundry; fascia not fixed; brick piers need repainting; broken windows; house not cleaned....

I remember the CM telling us that EB were changing their procedures and that the inspection by Tyrrells will be done once the house is complete and up to 'display home' standard. This is not the case at all.

This experience seems more painful that my cancer seriously, just excruciating. I just want this to be over.

2009-06-13T17:20:00.004+10:00

Not much news to post quite depressing really. EB were moving the taps and so we were waiting all week for the estimator to calculate the cost even though it was a no cost building variation. This week EB changed their mind and have decided to compensate us and pay 50% of the spout we were looking to install to fix this issue. We initially asked for EB to compensate us for the taps so we were quite surprised when EB volunteered to move the taps up instead anyhoo that was one week wasted.

So this last week the flyscreens were installed last Tues. Not that eventful really.

A rep from DL came to inspect the tiling on Wed as the mosaic tiles in the kitchen and powder room needs to be redone, they've agreed so this was suppose to get done last week also, didn't happen so hopefully this will get done next week.

Apparently the bricks are getting cleaned on Mon, I was told that this was happening last week so will wait and see. The same goes for the electrician who are coming next week to move the bed side switches.

There's just lots of little things outstanding and it seems like nothing is happening....

Fencing

2009-06-06T19:12:00.004+10:00

I went for a walk today and found this fence. This is exactly the fence I want and this is the same as our bricks too only in Chatswood instead of Balmoral, love the sandstock capping.

Movin on up

2009-06-02T17:50:00.005+10:00

OMG EB are moving the taps!!!! This is such a huge job and being so close to finishing the house - I never imagined EB would do this. Gotta be happy with that.

Now those tradies better not chip my caesarstone, the last plasterer was a bit careless.

So a slight setback with timing due to the taps but I'm prepared to wait for this to get fixed up.

Last Sunday and today the painters were back finishing the outside and doing touch ups inside. I've been waiting for a nice day to take a photo of the outside as the balcony posts are done and so is the pergola. I think they even painted the lintels will check out the house tomorrow.

Taps Solution

2009-05-30T17:15:00.015+10:00

Like I said before the picture above which is displayed in the Home Option Gallery was what we thought we'd be getting but instead our taps were installed too low. I don't think they should display this photo in the Home Option if the end product does not look like this. Not happy about this at all as we had to buy new spouts so that we can use the basins. We opted for the Fluid Plus bath spout as these were shorter and went up slightly and they matched the existing taps. Hope this works. We didn't really need more unbudgetted expenditure.

At no time during the build were we asked to specify how high we wanted the taps. I thought I would have sounded too pedantic if I specified the height of the taps when we were choosing all our fixtures but in hindsight I guess this would not have resulted in what we have now. I did inquire about this at the start of the build when the plumbing went in and was told by my SS not to worry as they knew what they were doing, it will all be sorted out...gullible me believed him. I should have put this in writing then....

I should have gone with a mixer which was my first option but instead I went with the 'standard' taps. My bad, I should have gone with my instinct. I think the taps were the only thing I didn't change. lol.

Speaking of the Home Option Gallery - they have a frameless shower screen there too and there's no hob to be seen in site - my SS should visit this Gallery so he can see what a 'frameless' screen looks like.

How do I get over this? I'm just totally gutted about these mistakes. I guess I had high expectations and EB just hasn't delivered.

Cleaners

2009-05-28T16:57:00.004+10:00

My house is looking very shiny from the outside, the cleaners did an amazing job with the windows. I should have asked them how they cleaned it. What a transformation. So tomorrow the painters are coming back to do the touch ups, and paint the outside - the pergola, cladding, downpipes (I hope).

I've decided to get curtains for the sliding door in the main bedroom, I thought it would be better insulation than the roller blinds I had planned plus I really love sheer curtains; so I can have a block out and sheer also. Now what colour??? I'll be meeting the curtain people on site tomorrow whilst the painters are there.

2009-05-26T21:22:00.012+10:00

There's no end to what people will pinch, I thought the plumbers were done and dusted but what do I find today when I looked at the kitchen sink - two black holes...I think someone has taken this - the dual multi-link space saver waste fitting in satin finish. We ordered a riva double undermount sink. I saw the plumber fitting this. The taps are in lets just hope no one turns them on.

I wasn't going to say anything about this but this must be the same person that has taken the dish drainer that goes with this sink. We got the box but just not the drainer....this happened ages ago when the benchtop came. I know that this drainer was ordered because the person from HOGallery told us so....and I saw it myself with my own eyes - anyway no problem I didn't want to cause a fuss about a dish drainer and I just ordered one from Cooks plumbing - but someone taking the waste fitting - I just bloody hope EB replace it with the same one.

I couldn't see any plumbing for the dishwasher also - will talk to my SS tomorrow. They've got the box for the dishwasher but no holes to put the plumbing or the plug to go through as these are under the sink. Not really happy with the state of the kitchen either - the doors don't close properly in the sink after the detergent caddy has been fitted in and there are a LOT of scratches and bumps already - does not look like a new kitchen.

The painters must have a day job and just come around to our place after hours - someone came late yesterday afternoon - 5ish so not really the best time to paint - not much light and not really the best drying time possible. Today they came a little bit earlier 4ish and apparently coming back tomorrow to finish. I hate this piecemeal work because that's what the end result looks like piecemeal.

To top it off I think whoever has done the replastering has chipped the caesarstone in the bathroom - not happy Jan not sure how they fix this...they probably have to replace the whole thing??

I think the tiler will have to come back also as I noticed the mosaic tiles were coming off in the powder room - not sure what happened to the tiler here as I thought they'd done a good job in the bathrooms and ground floor despite all the tile sagas we've had; have not fully checked the tiling at all.

We seem so close to the end but there are still so much stuff outstanding.

2009-05-23T19:18:00.002+10:00

Did a bit retail therapy on Friday and went to Signature Prints, I was surprised to see that they had cushions, prints on canvas and pendant lights all on SALE so I bought these cushions to go with the chocolate lounge. They look pretty funky, I've not worked out exactly what look I'm trying to go for but I thought these looked cheerful and fun.

2009-05-21T08:01:00.009+10:00

Tuesday the temporary fence went down to my surprise, I was just told last Friday that this wasn't happening for another 2-3 weeks. No worries, I'm hoping EB would let us get started on our fencing, especially now we don't have one.

Lots of activity at the house yesterday the door fittings and bathroom accessories were installed, it was good I saw them before they put in the bathroom accessories so I was able to tell them where I wanted everything placed.

I would have preferred the door fittings go on last, after the paintings done. The touch ups will be getting done next week after the floors get sanded and the house gets cleaned. The painting looks very sloppy and have told EB that we weren't happy with it, so will wait and see what EB will do on this front.

The painters better cover up the floor tiles and benchtops before they start painting - will not be happy if they mess this up.

The bricks were also fixed on Wed finally; this was the first time I've seen a brick layer work in the rain.

No activity at the house on Thurs & Fri.

2009-05-18T22:42:00.002+10:00

So exhausted from the weekend, we did the Relay for Life and raised almost $4k - I think this was a fantastic result considering we only had 4 weeks to raise money. I will be better organised next year.

The plumbers were in today installing the taps, toilets and bathtub.

Pendant Lighting

2009-05-14T21:45:00.012+10:00

There's nothing like a bit of retail therapy to cheer you up, so I thought I'd start looking into getting some pendant lights; I need two - one for the study and another for the dining room.
I also love the chandelier look but I don't think my small house is grand enough for it, even with the upgrade in ceilings I don't think it's high enough also. So I'm leaning towards these pendant lights.

This is from Satelight Designs - I went to this restaurant Etch in Sydney and fell in love with these pendant lights, my eyes just kept getting drawn to these lights. I also loved there wallpaper.

This is from Satelight designs too - I love this print. Natuzzi have these same materials too.
This is from Signature Prints - Japanese Floral
Again from Signature Prints - Peacock Feathers
This is Maurice Kain - Allurim in Platinum

What's Left to do?

2009-05-13T16:19:00.007+10:00

No activity at the house again...things have certainly slowed down you would think that the house was finished but there are still heaps of outstanding items. This afternoon I received the final invoice to be paid at settlement....we don't even know when we are having our practical completion inspection, we haven't been given any idea of when things will be finished, we have asked repeatedly about the outstanding items on our previous inspection report and when those will be addressed - still no concrete answer just that they will be addressed prior to completion...we are having a meeting with our SS on friday, this is just a general walk through and to go through these outstanding issues again - we already had this conversation with the CM

Here is a list of our outstanding items from previous inspection report:

Front top level window sill needs to be replaced as it has been poorly laid - nothing has been done about this
Rear right side brick window sill is broken and needs repairs - or this
Weep holes need cleaning out in areas - the last cleaning of bricks were poorly done, still an issue
Brickwork needs acid washing in areas - in the alfresco area there is discolouration as it was washed straight after it was laid
Lower level roof lead flashings need dressing down correctly - front and back of house - still to be addressed
Some of the windows will need aluminium angles to cover the cavity gapping now visible. - I think most of this has been addressed
Right side small fascia return is not level. To be replaced as per its intended operation - still not fixed
Site needs appropriate surface inlet drainage points to be completed off correctly in areas - not sure if anything is happening with this
Some Aluminium windows and sliding/Bi-fold doors tested “inadequate” (cannot even close the back window) - not sure if this has been fixed but the windows have not been cleaned also
Floor sheeting joints will need to be sanded smooth, prior to completion and some of the loose floor sheets must be screwed to prevent future movement after carpets or agreed floor coverings have been fitted. - as far as I'm aware still to be done
The front concrete kerb is damaged as shown and will need repairs. The cause of kerb damage is to be confirmed as to who did this damage. This occurred when the bricks were delivered. - still to be rectified
Rear steel door jamb needs to be sealed as there is rusting visible in areas - apparently this got fixed when the painting was done - still to check

There were 17 items on this list and 12 are still to be rectified and we are suppose to be doing the practical completion inspection...

Other outstanding items:

sanding of floor before carpet laid
bathroom fittings and accessories
bathtub & toilets installed
drains to be cleared, the tilers poured crap down the drain
painting - internal - the woodwork looks unfinished, baulstrade not finished also
painting - external - the cladding, lower eaves & portico, touch ups to moroko,
carpet
ac - apparently this doesn't get done till after settlement
rangehood - same as above
door handles
not sure if the electricals were done based on the amendements or plan - still to check
driveway
windows cleaned - will also need to check the bifold doors - these looked scratched also
hot water service

The one thing I've not done is check the measurements of the house or check whether the floor is level as I thought the inspector checked this....would I need to check each room? or does the builder provide a survey certificate that the height of the house and so forth has been checked???

Batch Variation

2009-05-12T20:58:00.007+10:00

I have very little enthusiasm left for this house and it's dissipating very quickly, especially with my latest findings... I won't go into the whole saga of how I discovered it BUT I must say this has been the most disappointing thing that has happened to date. My favourite thing I picked for the house were the semi-polished porcelain tiles for the whole house. The one thing which I based the rest of the house on - this one tile. I picked the colour of the bifold doors, the house paint, the benchtops and the carpet.

So I find out that the tiles which have been laid in my house, bear only a slight resemblance to the sample tile which I had and the sample tile which they have displayed in the showroom. Apparently the tile in the showroom is from a 2005 batch and it seems like the only thing in common between these two tiles is the name -Rex concreate in Mud. I understand that there will be variations between each batch but there are huge differences. I wanted a semi-polished look and what I got is a very highly polished look so much so that light reflects from it. I didn't want the tile to be slippery but being so polished it doesn't have the same feel. What I also liked about this tile were the flecks of grey in the tile but sadly the tiles I have do not have this variegation. This was the whole point of getting this type of tile - to get this variegation, it adds depth to the tile.

What's really annoying is that the tiles in the powder room and laundry are not from the same batch as the rest of the house. They are supposed to be the same tiles only different sizes. The tiles in the powder room and laundry are closer to the sample tiles, so maybe they had leftovers from this 2005 batch??? who knows???

But when you have paid good money for these tiles - there are certain expectations which you expect to be met....these tiles were not cheap and we sacrified having our bathrooms tiled to the ceiling to get these tiles...so I'm just over it really.

There is no point asking DL to rip out the tiles and get a new batch closer to the sample tiles as they have no control over what they get...maybe because this is a project home it's been done a bit differently but you would expect DL to check if the batch of tiles are remotely similar to the sample tile as this is what you would be expecting them to look like and if they are very different then speak to the client; instead of hiding behind the excuse of batch variation....

We have voiced our disappointment with DL and are waiting on their reply.

What next?

PS. No activity at the house today

All hands on deck

2009-05-11T09:52:00.003+10:00

Last week seemed very quiet compared to today, the electrician and tilers are back today finishing of the splashback in the bathrooms and replacing the downlights with brushed aluminium instead of white.

I think the driveway is getting finished this week also...the concrete was poured last Thursday so it's ready for the pavers to go on.

I'm hoping to see the house this week and see the tiles finished, would also like to be there after they sand the floors and before they lay the carpet so we can check for squeaky floor boards.

Driveway

2009-05-06T13:38:00.007+10:00

I thought I'd go for a walk this morning and check out my new neighbourhood. I thought these trees looked spectcular, just love deciduous trees.

2009-05-05T14:59:00.004+10:00

Last week I saw the downlights getting done - not sure if they've completed all the electricals. The colour of the downlights put in were incorrect but I knew this was going to be a problem as they didn't change the colour on the plan but just added this to the front of the schedule as a changed item; I guess the electrician didn't get this front copy??? I did ask about this at the time I got the plan amended. I think there is some issue between the home option gallery - head office - and construction in terms of co-ordinating information. I've found this a problem through out the whole process. They need to fine tune this process some more.

The tilers must have finished the ground floor on Wed, I don't think they've done the splashback as I saw Casa Marble at the site today, so they must have been adjusting the benchtops - maybe the tiles didn't fit behind the basin??? no idea what's happening these days - just a flurry of activities.

The termite barrier was installed yesterday - not sure if this is completed but apparently the driveway was suppose to get started today, maybe tomorrow???

2009-04-28T22:44:00.003+10:00

According to my fellow blogger 'The Southies" they are hoping to finish by the end of May, so using that deduction we should be in the house in two weeks!!!! Will have to keep guessing as my SS won't give me a timeframe. He did say 'a couple of weeks' today...

Slight hiccup today, the mirrors were installed before the splashback and were placed well below were the tiles were going - so the tiler would have had to cut the tiles around the mirror - would not have been a pretty site; plus we're paying extra for the tiles to be 1.2m - did not really want this cut around...did not make sense anyhooo this is getting sorted thanks to the CM who was very accommodating to sorting this out; The mirrors will need to be moved up above the tiling.

The bed light switches have been sorted too, measured them today as we had no idea where they were being placed - all is ok, not exactly the right spots but at least the switches won't be behind the bed.

There was also a slight hiccup regarding the painting of the woodwork last week, as we wanted the woodwork around the windows a different colour to the internal wall which we specified in our final variation as Crisp White, but for some reason my SS didn't have this variation in his system. I'm very happy that my CSR sorted this out straight away and rectified the issue.

The internal painting still to be completed, the gloss have not been applied; would probably need touch ups also after the powerpoints and switches have been put in.

The tilers were in Mon and should finish tomorrow, can't wait to see my floor tiles and splashback.

EDIT: I thought the electricals had to be done first as they've marked on the floor where things were?? now they're getting covered up because of the tiling? how does that work? I noticed too that the aircon vents have been installed.

Moving

2009-04-26T18:30:00.005+10:00

I'm so tired today, huge weekend moving boxes but this is only the preliminary move with the removalist coming next Sat to move the big items. So more packing this week. Our new rental is sooo close to the new house, it had our names written all over it. The New House site has the 'old house' still on it. Our new house is further to the front and side boundaries so we have more backyard and the new house has a smaller foot print.

The fittings are getting done this week as well as the electricals;

I'm hoping we are not going to have another drama regarding some bed side light switches, lets see how EB deals with this as we have voiced our concern to the CM regarding this matter.

Garage Doors In!!!

2009-04-23T10:57:00.014+10:00

Garage door tick.

OMG I can't believe I can be so excited about a garage door - very happy with the colour choice in Dune with Ranch design; I think it blends well with the bricks and complements the brick piers in Greenstead

House painted tick, have not been inside to see - here is my front door

Combo of colours - Woodland Grey, Dune, Greenstead, Pearl White & Crisp White

Side Pergola tick - this was erected yesterday
Sky Light tick - this was done on Monday - not sure about my roof tiles if you take a closer look, will definitely need to ask my SS about this

Our house so far, seems like we are very close to the finish line. Must go and keep packing now.
No activity at the house today.

The Move

2009-04-21T20:47:00.004+10:00

Today was a good day, it's good to know there are still kind people out there.

We have been looking for sometime now for a rental property as I mentioned before our rental property sold and in this tough rental market it has been very tough indeed competing with people who are putting in 12mth leases on their application to our 3-6mth application no matter how great our references maybe.

Today we have been accepted - HOORAY and to top it off we are very close to our new house we do not need a removalist when we make the next move totally unbelievable (there is a god). The house is sooo close I could put a web cam on my blog of the site, should I? or shouldn't I?...just kidding EB. lol.

Just a great relief today...I just want to sign that lease now, it's too good to be true. So signing tomorrow I hope.

If there is one thing that I'm positive will happen once we sign the new lease EB will give us a date for a walk through, it's bound to happen right?? Whatever, I just need to get through one day at a time.

I think the painters are still working on the house...the wall colour doesn't seem to be what I thought it would be from the sample pot I got??? I'm hoping that what I saw on the garage wall was only undercoat, it looked very gray for Pearl White...

Just read Sharnel's blog " My Life - My Loves"

I love this quote:

"Your toddler will do what they need to do, and not necessarily what you say. If you're patient, then they will be patient. If you speak gently, then they will be gentle. Whatever you want them to be, you have to start becoming."

Found via Stephmodo. Quote by Helen Hunt.

2009-04-20T14:36:00.005+10:00

Went by the house this morning, and there's lots of cuttings happening in the garage must be for the sky light in the bathroom.The painters are there too.

2009-04-19T21:24:00.007+10:00

I thought I'd change the colour of my blog to reflect the current state of the house at the moment it's looking - WHITE. WHITE. WHITE.

The painters were hard at work on Sat and the Solar panels were also moved on Sat. They had to change the position of the solar panel as it blocked the space for the sky light in the bathroom. Not sure if the new position helps actually...will see.

Went to Flower Power today, love that place just getting ideas on what to plant and more importantly how much, the landscaping will definitely be something we'll complete next year as much as I'd love to get this done straight away. I think it's something I'll research some more - which means I need more home magazines to look at...all for research I say.

I hope this rain stops this week, there's painting to be done. The lower eaves and cladding have to be painted as well as the internals.

Relay for Life

2009-04-17T18:03:00.006+10:00

Now for something unrelated I'm participating in 'The Relay for Life" so if anyone is reading this and feeling generous please donate to the link below

http://www.relay.cancercouncil.com.au/?2009/hills_2009/kool_&_the_gang/

2009-04-16T21:20:00.000+10:00

The painters are in. The painters are in. Hooray.

Fowler Seido Inset Basin

2009-04-15T00:00:00.006+10:00

In reference to my previous entry below - I was going for this look, check out the height between the taps/spout and basin

our bathroom so far - not quite the same, amazing what a few inches can do...

Lots of painting happening this week and next week too I guess.

Caesarstone benchtops are in

2009-04-14T22:45:00.014+10:00

This is the flush mount cooktop, I was so excited to see this I forgot to check the joins in the benhtop D'oh!

The waterfall edge - there was a huge sign on the bench that if you take this cover of Casa Marble will not take responsibility for any damage - seems fair. According to my SS the painter will put drop sheets on these babies anyway.

pencil edge in bathrooms - love the basins but a tad disappointed with where the taps/spout are going to be; I would have preferred them to be a bit higher, it doesn't leave much room between the spout and basin; this wasn't specified anywhere in the plan...must be a standard height??? hope this turns out ok. if anything there would be less splashing??

I just had this image in my head of what I thought they will look like have added in next post but I think they still look fine. I'm still happy with them, they look awesome with the caesarstone benchtop.

Not sure about those tiles on the side though, just noticed them now.

this is the main bathroom
powder room - can't wait to see this with the mosaic tiles

this is the wc, I prefer the gap here between the taps and basin, just noticed that the tiles will be below the taps if that's the line where the tiles will be, this seems a bit strange?? I just noticed this now, not sure why this is a different height. I did notice today that this cabinet is so low that my daughter can reach the sink, I don't think this is a bad idea.

Back to the hob saga, I forgot to mention last week that when I spoke to the CM he did say that if we wanted to take the hob out, they would do so; I just thought if we were going for the frameless shower, we need this done properly and have the floor a bit lower in the shower area and the tiler told me that it was already a bit higher in the shower end so the best that can be done would be to level it. So the lesson hear for anyone still going through the selection process and have decided on a fully frameless shower - you need to specify to your builder exactly what you want to happen to the floors; I guess EB probably don't have this request that much otherwise they would have asked me or spoken to me about this when deciding on the shower screens, maybe??

Landscape Plan

2009-04-09T21:52:00.004+10:00

Initial sketch of the landscape plan and fence; Eco Design have provided me with loads of plants to choose from which they thought was suitable based on the criteria I provided them. I wanted an easy to maintain garden that's safe for kids and pets with an Asian/Japanese influence.

Apart from Tues not much activity at the house this week, the rest of the rubbish was cleaned today.

2009-04-07T18:11:00.003+10:00

Went to the house today to meet with the CM, I won't go into the discussion but here's hoping we have no more issues to discuss or for me to blog about. I would just prefer to post photos up and get positive comments on how great everything looks, that's really what I would like to happen.

I have had enough dramas in my life, I've taken time off work so I won't be stressed and I just want to focus on getting my health back. I just want to finish my treatment and move into my new house.

Yesterday I was working on my landscaping plan just going through what trees to plant and finding ones suitable for us. Will post the plan tomorrow.

Lots of activity at the house today the benchtops were getting installed along with the basins, sink and cooktop. The balcony rails were also getting done and the scaffolding to go - hooray. I think the sanding is getting done tomorrow. Just realised I covered my kitchen last week but with the benchtop going in they took them all out so will need to put them back on...

2009-04-04T16:54:00.003+11:00

Thurs was a busy day, L the carpenter put the side lights in the front and the french doors to the library. Casa Marble did a check measure of the benchtops and the bricks were cleaned in the afternoon. The linings were also done, so no more holes in the ceiling and everything was patched up. I bubble wrapped the kitchen and bathroom cupboards as per the advice I was kindly given by one of the anonymous blog readers.

With regards to the hob saga, we've decided to not bother asking EB to get rid of it. I'm not sure it's worth the battle this time, I just want this over.

We've asked EB if they can provide us with a timeframe of when this will be all wrapped up just so we can work out a plan with regards to our current rental but EB cannot give us a time...it's just very frustrating as our current rental has sold and we're not sure if we can just extend this lease for a month or two or will need to move out and rent elsewhere.

Apart from Thurs no other activity at the house.

2009-03-31T17:21:00.003+11:00

Just went by the house (after taking my cooktop to the stone mason) to check the windows were closed since it's been raining quite heavily the last two days and found no one on site, apparently should be some activity with sanding the place before the painter starts plus doing the gyprock on the ones they had cut a hole through; there's been no work the last two days at the house....

Bathroom Tiles

2009-03-31T17:20:00.015+11:00

Di Lorenzo Tiles have done a really great job on the tiling but I've not fully checked (and I'm no expert) so will wait until it's all done and cleaned.

Stegbar went to the house on Mon to measure the screens and shelves to which my SS invited me to. Stegbar did tell me that you can have a 'frameless' shower screen to which the doors will be hinged to the glass panel, which is what I've ordered He also said that as we are having a dual shower there will be a lot of water so a hob may be a good idea...funny that's not what they have on there web site...it seems a bit weird that they are now getting Stegbar involved and not when I was making the variation.

I think the tiles would have looked stunning if I only went to the ceiling, oh well will have to wait now until we move in. It just looks a bit unfinished but will wait and see once it's painted.

I did want to get this sorted out now but apparently if I get the tiler in now to tile to the top the cornices will have to be taken out as it will hit the cornices and will stick out. I didn't think it would be a big deal the tilers are coming back anyway, it's just the cornices and gyprock will have to be redone. The carpenter is coming on Thurs, he could take the cornices out then? So what's the big deal??

main bathroom: "the hobless one", check out the floor below

looks a bit ugly with the tiles cut but that's the standard height...I think it was more work cutting the tiles than just going to the ceiling. It seems a bit inflexible this whole thing.

Here is the ensuite bathroom: 'with hob' doesn't have the same clean lines as the one above, the shower screen will sit on the top in the inside of this, which will make it more noticeable.
EB have not apologized about this mistake or acknowledged the fact that they made a mistake.

dual shower in the ensuite; notice the side of the shower - will definitely tile this higher at least to the shower height, looks a bit weird how it drops down....guess had not fully visualised this oopssy

I looked at this photo again below of the bathroom in the entertainer 37 and the tiles weren't done to the ceiling, so mine may look ok once painted, I hope.

Counting down to Walk Through

2009-03-29T21:19:00.006+11:00

I've been following my fellow blogger Graham building with Wisdom Homes it has taken WH's 6 weeks from lock up stage to a walk through next friday - 6 weeks....so how long will it take EB?

Graham's build has taken 4mths to our 6mths and still to complete. Graham started later than us by 2/3 weeks.

I noticed this afternoon when I went past the house that the balcony tiles had been done, this must have been done on Friday, it matched the colour of the moroka finish quite well so pleased with that. Hopefully the balcony railing will come this week, I just want that scaffolding down.

The house is looking quite messy, there's heaps of crap out the front.It seems like EB only clean up the site when a CM sees the site or when there is an inspection. Where's that OH&S guy from EB when you need him??? There's stuff there that's not even from my house???

Hob It

2009-03-26T17:50:00.007+11:00

Went to the house yesterday to look at my beautiful tiles to find this thing sticking out of the floor, my initial thought was WTF is that???? I asked my SS what's that black thing sticking out of the bathroom floor, his reply it's a hob. A what???

We've asked for a fully frameless shower screen in the ensuite and a fully frameless panel for the other bathroom.

I guess when I asked for this variation I assumed that when you ask for a 'FULLY FRAMELESS' shower screen you don't need a hob, what the &%^^%*k do you need a hob for???? I assumed the hob is there for when you want a frame to put it on.

So now we have one bathroom without a hob for the frameless panel and we have another bathroom with a hob for the frameless screen with a pivot door.
So how can you get one right and one wrong?????

Not sure if EB has noticed this but I'm having the same tiles for both bathrooms, I'm having the same benchtop and the same colours and the same basin at least this is what I've ordered (lets hope this is what they've ordered too)....so can you understand my dilemma I'm all for consistency and symmetry.

It's only a hob but I think they are hard to clean, scum builds up around it, the grouting looks crap after a while. If the tiles don't get done properly they look ugly.

Hence my variation for a fully frameless shower screen.

Now I have no idea WTF I'm getting. I don't think this should be allowed. I'm not allowed to make changes as they charge me an arm and a leg to do so yet they seem to be able to change what the *&^&*k they like????? Not happy Jan

My SS told me that it would be better to have a hob as he has one in his house and that water will run everywhere with a frameless shower screen; he can have that opinion but it's not for him to decide what I have and don't have in my house that is for me to decide...and I really don't like these changes that I've not signed for.

First the horrible stickers on the glazing of the bifold doors - apparently this is required by law, ok will have to live with that; they should say that when you get the upgrade hey by the way they've got these ugly stickers on them do you still want to spend $3k on that???

Edit: They also had the electrical box on garage side on the plan but actually installed it on the other side. So not as per the plan...

Now the hob, what next.

Another thing I'm not happy about, we've asked for the tiles to be 1.2m silly me assumed that if you asked for this that the waterproofing would be done at this level too, apparently not they still do the standard. I thought the whole point of going high was to make sure you reduce the incidence of water damage. I guess it wouldn't matter how high they go if they stuff up the floor and don't do this properly - how come no-one checks this???? to make sure this was done properly???

Kitchen In

2009-03-24T21:30:00.004+11:00

As mentioned in my last post, went on site today and saw the tiles and I also checked out my kitchen, the kitchen is in baby woohooo; looking good and the soft close drawers are a winner.

I was comparing 'my new kitchen' to my previous kitchen renovation which was awesome and I went 'all out' on that one;blum fittings, german made drawers, built-in dishwasher, oliveri sink..the list goes on it was done through Domayne...so this kitchen can't really compete with that but I'm sure I will grow to love it...

I did take pics of the kitchen but may hold off on publishing them at least until the benchtop is done.

Ready Set Tiling

2009-03-24T20:45:00.009+11:00

The tilers started this morning and they will be working all week to do the bathroom, ensuite, wc's, laundry and powder room downstairs plus the splashback for the kitchen. I was very excited to see the tiles today...they look hot hot hot can't wait to see them laid. I think this is the most exciting part of the build, seeing it all come together. I really really wanted the tiles laid to the ceiling but it was just over our budget since we already upgraded on the tiles used; could this be something we could do after?? or would it look disjointed?? maybe just to the shower area?? anyway cannot wait to see them.

When we were choosing our tiles I'd thought about doing the tiles after the build as we found this great/ amazing Japanese tiler which did out bathroom renovation in Bondi. He was such a perfectionists, I couldn't fault one tile laid it was just perfect; so the pressure is on as I want the tiles and kitchen perfect - I may even get Takami to check them.

Stairs Completed

2009-03-20T21:34:00.007+11:00

The stairs were completed last week, just didn't get a chance to see them; they look great I wish I'd had them stained now, instead of putting carpet. Only the bottom two steps will be stained.

Hume Doors

2009-03-20T21:33:00.001+11:00

Our front doors in..yay...hip hip hooray...these are Hume Illusion Doors with Africana Slumped glass, they'll be painted white; not sure what happened to the side lights (should be getting them next week), will have the same glass as the doors. I'll take a pic from the outside tomorrow. I think they've turned out well; again maybe these should have been stained also...plus all our doors are in upstairs, just forgot to take pics...the bifold doors were also completed the glass went in yesterday - not too happy with seeing some stickers on them, the stickers are sandwiched in between the two glass...must have them apparently by law...some safety shit...they kind of look ugly.

Update on Progress Inspection

2009-03-20T14:55:00.008+11:00

The carpenter was busy again this week fixing up the issues we had from the progress inspection which weren't rectified before the linings went in; so we did end up cutting holes through the walls to fix the issues but they are fixed - thank you EBH for making good on these matters.

Both the main truss girders were bolted (plus others which weren't specified by the property inspector), manhole will be relocated (the carpenter was going to do this today) and the cables were pinned to the side away from the metal brace.

4 down 17 to go...of the outstanding issues - at least we're getting somewhere

Hive of activity at the house this week with the waterproofing done on Wed as well as the carpenter busy with the skirtings and window sills. Glazing done on Thurs as well as the carpenter putting the front doors in and fixing stuff. Today the kitchen was getting installed, we saw the plumbers come early this morning also, so it's been a very productive week indeed and it's looking more and more like a house.

Carpenter Busy

2009-03-14T15:06:00.007+11:00

The carpenter was busy last Wed & Thurs I went by the house before my evening class and he was still there I've not been inside so not sure exactly what's been completed but from the looks of things the stairs & doors are done so are the cornices & architraves (this is from my SS as I called him last week to ask what's been happening), hoping to see the house next week; so I guess it has reached lock up stage....but the bi fold doors still have no glass so the house is not fully 'lockable' with the kitchen cupboards coming next week I'm a bit concerned. I'm really not comfortable with the idea that the house is not fully locked up when the fixtures and fittings are going in.

Hopefully the balcony railings will come soon so the balcony can get done and the scaffolding to go.

Taste of Sydney

2009-03-12T10:31:00.003+11:00

Not really house related but looking forward to attending Taste of Sydney tomorrow.

http://www.tastefestivals.com.au/

More on Progress Inspection

2009-03-10T16:46:00.001+11:00

Last friday we wrote a formal letter of complaint regarding last weeks debacle to the Construction Manager (CM). In our letter we also voiced our concern regarding the 'independent' inspection done by Tyrrells as we have not seen this report to date and according to my SS will not see until the end of the build. Not sure if I agree with this procedure...

Our CSR suggested we have a meeting with our CM, we were concerned with EB's procedure and the amount of outstanding issues from the progress report. The CM did not waste any time and conducted the meeting this morning on site. I think Howard has helped us on this score.

From our meeting this morning our CM told us that EB will be changing their procedure on how the progress inspection will be done. The SS will have a checklist to go through in terms of what needs to be completed before they have a progress inspection done by anyone (Tyrrells, council or client). I guess by doing this it will eliminate having such a long list of issues at the end of the build; Hopefully will see some outcomes/actions from this meeting this week.

The meeting was positive and empathetic to our concerns so hopefully will not have a repeat performance of last week.

Gyprock & Plastering

2009-03-10T16:40:00.004+11:00

Gyprocking commenced last Thursday (day of hell) most of the gyprocking was completed. Continued late Friday afternoon with plastering over the joins of the gyprock and finished by the wkend. It took 5 men over 3 days to complete this.

photos from today:
http://picasaweb.google.com.au/hermyleenb/Gyprock?feat=directlink

We went on site today with the CM and was relieved to see that the opened windows over the wkend did not result in any damage of the linings, no signs of warping. It was raining quite hard on Sun and as much as I wanted to go on site and close the windows, I refrained as per our contract...

Outstanding Items from Progress Inspection

2009-03-06T05:42:00.000+11:00

Lets hope EB handle this better than yesterday, we have again requested we reinspect the property once the outstanding items have been rectified and provide a completion date on the outstanding items.

I'm totally stressed by this whole process which does not help my current state of health as I'm also 'battling' cancer and undergoing treatment whilst all this is happening. We felt like we had no choice but proceed with the building process when I was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer late last year in Sep/Oct the same time construction started. The turn of events with EB have been totally unexpected.

I can't imagine things getting worse than yesterday, lets hope they improve...

Following items outstanding:

Front top level window sill needs to be replaced as it has been poorly laid.
Rear right side brick window sill is broken and needs repairs.
Weep holes need cleaning out in areas.
Brickwork needs acid washing in areas
Lower level roof lead flashings need dressing down correctly - front and back of house
Some of the windows will need aluminium angles to cover the cavity gapping now visible.
Right side small fascia return is not level. To be replaced as per its intended operation
An Engineer to certify the engaged piers in the garage as they should be 350mm x 230 not 230mm x 230mm. The garage external brick wall also needs ventilation to be fitted.
Site needs appropriate surface inlet drainage points to be completed off correctly in areas, subject to Builders contract Specifications. check out the photo of the flooding below.
Some Aluminium windows and sliding/Bi-fold doors tested “inadequate” (cannot even close the back window)
Downpipes to be installed
Rear alfresco area window lowlight has a loose rubber seal - not sure if this was actioned prior to linings
Floor sheeting joints will need to be sanded smooth, prior to completion and some of the loose floor sheets must be screwed to prevent future movement after carpets or agreed floor coverings have been fitted.
Inspector recommend blocks be fitted to wall to accommodate a future wall mounted dryer
The front concrete kerb is damaged as shown and will need repairs. The cause of kerb damage is to be confirmed as to who did this damage. This occurred when the bricks were delivered.
Rear steel door jamb needs to be sealed as there is rusting visible in areas
Balcony area still not complete

This was taken when we had heavy rain last month

Progress Inspection

2009-03-05T17:49:00.001+11:00

This is the wall which was not lined and was not rectified correctly - cables were not behind the metal brace
unable to now verify as wall was lined already - but cable was not behind metal brace

cable in front of noggin - could not verify
According to the property inspector this ground floor truss girder bracket needed bolting to prevent ceiling damage in the future - EBH did not action as they followed the frame manufacturers specifications - never mind our safety
This is the top floor truss grinder as above EBH did not action as they followed the frame manufacturers specifications - never mind our safety. Apparently the council had signed off on this also, but we're not privvy to this report until handover????

Manhole area inadequate entry - EBH did not think this was an issue and couldn't move it anywhere else
Bird nesting?? in the kitchen area around the ground floor steel beam, which the property inspector suggested this should be cleaned out to prevent the spreading of and lice or other diseases and inspected by a Pest Control professional; apparently this was cleaned out by the carpenter but who's to know- we didn't see it get done? I won't be expect a pest control report either.

As you can see there weren't many issues here which needed rectifying and which could have been sorted out prior to the linings going in, it's just the way it was handled (badly) We have just lost trust in EBH...just very poor form

Re-inspection

2009-03-05T17:49:00.000+11:00

I'm very very disappointed with the way things were handled today. I'm just totally shocked by what went down today.

We had our progress inspection or independent inspection done on Tues; there were several issues coming out of the inspection which we wanted rectified prior to the insulation and linings going in. The problem was that the insulation was booked for the next day and the linings to happen today or fri.

We wanted the property inspector to re-inspect the rectification prior to the linings going in but when I went by the house they had already started the linings therefore we couldn't see if things got fixed.

My SS did show me one part of the wall were the gyprocking hadn't been done were the electrical cables had to be fixed - of course this wasn't done properly so who knows if the other stuff got fixed. No-one has obviously checked them.

Just very disappointed that we weren't given the opportunity to check that things from the inspection report were actually actioned; Not sure why this was handled this way??? so what can we do now? ask EBH to cut holes in the walls so we can check? obviously not...

Progress Inspection

2009-03-04T12:29:00.000+11:00

We had the progress inspection done yesterday and we had a few issues which needs to be addressed prior to the linings scheduled for Friday.

So the report was sent out by the building inspector late last night 10pm.
Issues found from the inspection:
1. top level window sill needs to be redone - not straight
2. some windows require aluminum angles due to cavity b/w bricks
3. fascia near kitchen not at right angles to redo incorrectly installed
4. garage piers and ventilation
5. cables to go behind the metal brace and away from it
6. bird nesting???
7. truss grinder bracket needs bolting
8. manhole too small
9. some windows not closing properly
10. weep holes not cleaned - bricks have not been cleaned for that matter
11. roof lead flashing still incomplete
12. roof tiles incomplete due to scaffolding
13. downpipes incomplete
14. alfresco window loose rubber seal
15. lots of noggins incomplete
16. blocks to be fitted in laundry - recommendation
17. Floor sheeting joints will need to be sanded smooth and some of the loose floor sheets
must be screwed to prevent future movement after carpets fitted
18. Loose ceiling trimmer to be nailed off.
19. slab floor needs cleaning

So the next step is to get these issues resolved prior to the linings going in on Friday. Obviously not everything will get done by Friday but there are too many issues which needs to be fixed first before moving on.

What I don't understand happening is that the insulation went in today prior to these things being fixed or checked.

The electrician went in today to fix some of the issues but these have not been checked to make sure they are ok prior to the insulation going in....

Why put the insulation in when there are so many outstanding items??? NOT HAPPY JAN

Another issue I came across - the electrical box was on the wrong side of the electrical plan
Now obviously when they did the electrical plan no one has bothered to go on site to check where the overhead power line is otherwise they would know not to put it on the other side...so can they just make changes to the plan???? without an amendment schedule??? how do I know if Integral Energy is ok with this and if council is ok with this since this is a corner block we weren't meant to have any utility installation on this facade....

Another issue I picked up and this is tiny, the microwave powerpoint was not included in the electrical plan as this was done before the kitchen selection process. The variation list was updated but not the plan. The electricians apparently have a copy of the final kitchen plan so I'm hoping they pick it up from there.

There's also one thing I was concerned about the electrical plan was the two light switches in the main bedroom - should be one on either side of the bed - so I was wanting to check this to see to make sure they would be positioned were we could reach them....if you are paying almost $10k for your electrical upgrade you want them to be right...also how do they fit the electricals for the stairs when the stairs are not there????

I called my SS this morning to see if he has received the report, he said he is unable to check till this afternoon, you would think he'd want to see this straight away to fix any issues before the linings get put in....we are having another inspection done on Thursday to check what issues have been resolved prior to the linings going in. Again this doesn't leave much time - actually none at all if issues have not been resolved??????

Now I'm on a roll, the bricks were meant to be cleaned yesterday, I really wanted them cleaned prior to the inspection so they can be rectified before we move on to the linings again....

There are too many unfinished jobs -

scaffolding not down
bricks not cleaned
balcony to finished
downpipes incomplete
floors too dirty
and all of the issues found from the progress inspection

Counting down to lock up stage

2009-02-26T14:40:00.000+11:00

The house is really coming along now, it's looking great I'm looking forward to doing the progress inspection on Tues. In the last 2 weeks the following things have been completed:

1. The scaffolding down
2. The rest of the roof on
3. The rest of the eaves done
4. Electrical and air con ducting commences
5. Undercoating on the brick piers

I wasn't expecting this much to be accomplished with the way the weathers been lately but rain has abated and my site supervisor (SS) has been very busy indeed.

So we're counting down to lock up stage, still outstanding:

5. The rest of the eaves
4. The rest of the scaffolding to go
3. Not sure if the balcony has been completed??
2. The rest of the bricks still to be cleaned
1. The cladding at the back

The T-Bar has arrived - Brickworks Done

2009-02-13T15:25:00.000+11:00

The curved T-Bar for the portico finally arrived this week, about #^%$#$^ time it only took them 2 months to get it (not sure who is at fault here the makers of the t-bar or EB); they started doing the bricks in Dec. They finished the brickworks this week HOORAY!!! so now we can move on and get the bricks cleaned, take the scaffolding down and hurry up and get the rest of the roof/cladding on so we can lock it 'up' Eddy. I'm now stressing about the frames in this weather and being out in the element for this length of time (approx 4mths) and the floors flooded....surely if the frames are treated they should be ok???? Lock up stage was planned for Jan so lets hope they make up for lost time this month.

When I spoke to the bricklayers they told me that they're moving on from EBH as they're just not co-ordinated enough. EB seem to underestimate the number of mortar/supplies required and they have to keep calling them to sort it out. With our job they could have finished 3 weeks ago but since they had to wait for the t-bar have been delayed in finishing the job. He seems like a good operator and have not found any issues with his work but will wait and see from the expert. Will get Howard Ryan to check to make sure all is ok.

Last month I ordered our kitchen appliances and was a bit excited about getting them when they arrived I can't wait to use them now...I also bought a microwave oven to match - can't wait.

This week I met up with trimlite to get a fencing quote - doesn't sound too promising as we have a corner block - he thinks it will be very expensive approx $30k or more...what the !!!! so not sure what to do on this front.

Roof (Day Two)

2009-01-30T22:08:00.000+11:00

I checked the house today as we received an invoice for the completed brickwork; There's been no action since the 21st Jan - the bricks were almost complete with the exception of the pillars (still waiting for the curved t-bar for the portico). As you can see from the pics the pillars are still incomplete but to my surprise I found the ROOF ON...hooray some action finally...I guess this is not the best time to start building????just too hot or it's raining is there such a thing as too cold???This took all of two days??? I can see that there are tiles missing on the very top - not sure how this gets checked properly. I'm very happy with the bricks (I think I've said that already) but every time I look at them I'm just so pleased; I guess it does pay to pick the ones you want as you'll be looking at them everyday. Imagine what they'll look like once they get cleaned. It's been a slow start to the year but I hope things will keep moving quickly from here on in as our rental place has just been put on the market...arrgghhh - let's hope it doesn't sell till March, with the 6week settlement hopefully this will bring it to May when we're hoping we can move into our new house.

Will go around the block tomorrow to do a thorough check of the frames and floors - see if there's any damage from the elements (just read homeone forum and saw the Southies thread with their building progress - not good). Plus will need to mow the council patch as it looks like crap plus the builders just keep dumping rubbish outside on the ground....arrgghhh

Wish List

2009-01-14T20:20:00.000+11:00

I rang our site supervisor last week and he was still on holidays, I was told that things will start moving this week...now mid-week and still no sign of bricklayers starting...it was a very hot day today??? maybe they'll be some action tomorrow....

Did a bit of window shopping today for furniture at Bella Vista. Feel free to send me comments on where to go furniture shopping in Sydney; would like to take my time on choosing the right pieces for the house (never mind that we don't really have funds to buy everything at once). I'd like to extend this process anyway as I think it's fun to do...

Here are some pieces which I think will look great in the house:

I'd like this chair in the main bedroom

comfy lounge for the TV room

in the main lounge area - would like these shelves (maybe) in white so it looks a bit more modern....

Industry Shutdown

2009-01-03T11:37:00.000+11:00

EB will be claiming a 5 week extension to our contract, so there's no work happening until the 22nd Jan 09.

I'll be looking at the landscaping and fences during this period; Spent the xmas break with family & friends in Nelson Bay & Newcastle and spent a lot of time swimming - would dearly love to add a pool. May have to include this in the landscape plan but will install later, could be a five year plan...

Nothing much happened in Dec, the bricks were half done & the scaffolding erected.

View from upstairs

2009-01-03T11:18:00.001+11:00

main bedroom
bedroom 3 - corner side
ensuite
main bathroom

Bricks on the way

2008-12-07T10:08:00.001+11:00

Very excited to see the bricks half done on Thursday night, had a better look this weekend. I think they look great, happy with the brick selection (PGH Sandstock Blamoral). Hoping the mortar will change colour once its fully dry, would prefer a whiter look (Mortar - raked off-white).

No missing bricks so far...that's a good sign...

This took one day to do, I think there were only three guys...how quick is that.

Can't wait to see the house Monday with the scaffolding set-up.

close-up of corner side
corner side of the house
garage side
back of house

nothing to report

2008-11-29T16:26:00.000+11:00

A tad disappointed when I went to the block this morning, nothings been done. The off-white mortar/cement were delivered and that was it. Hoping the weather will improve over the weekend, surely they'll start the bricks next week...

no news

2008-11-28T21:08:00.000+11:00

I haven't seen the block all week the car was getting fixed...the anticipation is killing me. I can't wait to see if they've started on the bricks...we had great weather all week except today. DH received a call today from our new CSR, just to touch base and see if everything is ok; this is a first for us and we were pleasantly suprised by the call. Things have vastly improved in this department.

WIndow Frames Done

2008-11-22T19:59:00.000+11:00

The window frames must have been done on Thursday or early Friday as it was the only time it didn't rain all week; I went past there this afternoon and they were in. We chose Pearl White for all the windows and sliding door and Woodland Grey for the bi fold doors to the alfresco area.

I'm hoping the woodland grey will look better ones everything is done....I wonder when the glass is put in for the bi fold doors??? The Africana Slumped glass will be put in the front sidelights & doors...not sure if this is a good look either???

Bricks have arrived

2008-11-15T13:59:00.000+11:00

No news this week, the bricks arrived last week but no progress on the house and the weather was fine all week (so EB can't use that excuse). I think the palette of bricks we received looks good so far, I was worried we would get a dark palette but they look great. The bricks are PGH Sandstock and the colour is Balmoral. The mortar will be raked and off-white in colour; can't wait to see how this looks - gorgeous I hope.

Choosing the bricks was soooo hard, numerous weekends were spent looking at houses to see what the bricks looked like. It was hard to visualise what it would look like just by looking at a wall of bricks, I needed to see a whole house.

Not sure why the window frames are taking so long....we had such a great start with the slab & the frame. The gas has been installed and the plumbing is almost complete.

Started looking at fences this weekend, I think we'll opt for an aluminum slat fence with bricks or concrete piers - all pending on cost of course. Below is photo of the type we'd like - it's open but private at the same time???if that makes sense.

Frames done in 3 days

2008-11-03T21:10:00.000+11:00

Came to check the block today to see if the frames had come and to our suprise the frames were up and almost complete. The ground floor was done in day one, second floor completed in day two and this is day three....unbelieveable...at this rate we'll be moving in by Easter??? can't wait to see the bricks now; so I guess the window frames and roof will be next. I asked how come it was so quick and apparently there are six men working on site...the house looks quite big now with the frames up.

front - garage on right

back - rumpus side

side - garage side

back - facing alfresco area

Stage 1: Slab Foundation

2008-10-25T14:33:00.000+11:00

We went to see the block this morning after going to the Best Breast Breakfast Benefit and found this!!!! We thought that it we would see some piers, pipes but not the foundations ALL DONE how quick is that. This is a great start, let's hope it stays on this course. This is looking at the block with the garage on the right and water tank.

This is a view from the back with the Alfresco cut out in the middle. The drainage for the outside taps still to be done.

No More Changes.

2008-09-23T16:30:00.000+10:00

The final plans have been done with all the changes incorporated ie new kitchen, electrical etc. We signed two / three weeks ago now we wait for the bank, this should get finalised this week and off we go. Another milestone, another journey. Not sure when the start date is, I think we missed the last one. Hoping we start construction early Oct.

Bathroom Selection

2008-08-16T19:07:00.000+10:00

Almost everything is finalised now just waiting on the electrical, I thought I'd post our bathroom selection so bored of waiting to finalise all the PVC's...

We've chosen the Fowler Seido inset basins with 20mm CaesarStone vanity bench tops in 'Ice Snow' and the vanity cupboards in Laminex 'White' with flint finish...thought about doing a dark colour like above but since we weren't upgrading to poly I didn't think it would look as great.

Have upgraded the shower screens to frameless ones
Have upgraded the tiles to 1.2m height to all bathrooms
Also picked large tiles for the bathroom 600*300 so these are getting laid vertically

Have not upgraded the taps & shower heads...will change these later

The powder room will have different tiles to the rest of the bathrooms as it's downstairs and the floor tiles are the same throughout the whole ground floor including the powder room...so the floor tiles will be 'Rex Concreate' in Mud, the wall tiles will just be plain white tiles and the splashback will be the same as the kitchen splashback 'Casa Mood Neutra Silver Lux' hopefully this will work out...my inspiration for the white tiles in the powder room (below)...

House no more

2008-08-10T18:08:00.000+10:00

Demolition finished on Friday, the block looks so much bigger now without the house. Looking forward to start the building process.

Still waiting on "estimating"

2008-08-07T22:17:00.000+10:00

Boy am I sick of hearing that!!!! we signed the contract almost 4 months ago and we are still no closer to getting things finalised. I am so tired of EB's poor excuse that they are waiting on 'estimating' to provide them with the answers...if they're not giving you an answer then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT... Why do we have to get pissed off before they do anything?? What the hell do the customer service people do???

The last changes we asked for was to get the bottom two stairs painted how can that take 5 weeks to get a quote????

I've had enough and we haven't started building yet...

Paint Selections

2008-06-29T20:37:00.001+10:00

I've resolved my colour problems. It seems like the whole house is going to be white...The windows will be pearl white, the external & internal doors will be crisp white & the whole house will be pearl white....the eaves are frosted ice & the bi-fold doors are woodland grey. I've also changed the garage doors to dune instead of paperbark. I'm much happier with these colours than the original beige I chose earlier; and I'm much happier I did it myself.

The vanities will be caesarstone ice snow with white cupboards. The kitchen will also have caesarstone ice snow with crisp white cupboards.

I loved Taubmans new 'White on White' brochure. The Bristol guys at Bella Vista were a great help.

Looking forward to add some colour to the house once I've seen the house & get some furniture...I think it would be better to work out what colours to add once I can see how much light the house gets.

Here is a link which helped me in choosing which 'white' to choose

http://www.smh.com.au/news/house--home/all-the-white-moves/2006/10/17/1160850935910.html

Kitchen Layout Done

2008-06-29T20:18:00.000+10:00

Here is the finalised kitchen:

We're putting in our own appliances - All Smeg appliances: the cooktop is designed to be completely flush with the benchline (love it), 90cm underbench oven & rangehood.

upgraded to 40mm caesarstone 'Ice Snow' benchtops with matching servery top & waterfall edge
upgraded to polyurethane doors in Crisp White
upgraded to aluminum kickboards
included soft close drawers & doors
upgraded to double undermount sink

added a microwave tower
added a lazy suzan
added a garbage unit/cupboard
added drawers instead of cupboards
extended the breakfast bar

the floors will 'Rex Concreate' in Mud
the splashback will be 'Casa Mood Mosaico Neutra Silver Lux' with white grouting

It's going to be a white white white kitchen...below is the kitchen display for a Madisson

Interior Decorator

2008-06-16T19:12:00.000+10:00

I sought advise from an interior decorator thinking she will solve all my colour problems but sad to say it didn't really work out for me. I showed her all the colours I'd picked so far such as the floor tiles, the caesarstone bench top, the splashback and I wanted a colour for the kitchen and all I got was 'white' which *#$%^#@ white...and this person was also recommended to me.

It's such a waste of time, take it from me you don't need an interior decorator. I came up with white also but which one??? I'm still no closer to deciding and the same goes for the external & doors, architraves, eaves, garage doors, windows and most importantly the house colour. That was one thing she provided a house colour it's a shame it was the same colour as my floor tiles...she thought my floor tiles were white??? I'm very disappointed indeed, with her fee I could have gotten something else for the house.

She did sway me into considering having pearl 'white' windows instead of the birch white. The birch white seems more cream than white; but still not sure it will go with the bricks we've chosen. I'll be deciding this by the end of the week, let's hope it all works out.

DA Approval

2008-06-16T18:23:00.000+10:00

Our DA has been approved, it was quicker to approve getting a double storey house built than it was for the kitchen guys to send us a quote (we finally received it on Friday, it only took 7 weeks). It took less than 5 weeks for council to approve our plans how efficient is that!!! We sent the application for demolition last Tuesday and we received that today too!! Can't complain about that, now to get the tree removal application going...will most likely need a landscape plan to show that we'll replant after the house has been built.

Here's a photo of the house & block. Very excited now, can't wait to get started now to sort out the kitchen quote so we can finalise the contract.

Kitchen Quote

2008-06-11T22:34:00.000+10:00

It's been six weeks since our initial kitchen appointment and we're still waiting to get the quote....there's only so much following up you can do to move it along; if you went to any other kitchen company I'm sure this wouldn't happen. It's really just unacceptable now. I don't think it would change if I called Eden Brae to let them know this is what's happening...not sure when all of this needs to get wrapped up...We've been provided with absolutely NO direction in terms of what and when things need to happen.

Tile Selection_Di Lorenzo Tiles

2008-05-18T14:41:00.000+10:00

Hannah from Di Lorenzo was our consultant, she was so patient with me and gave great advise. I fell in love with the concrete look for the living area floors, so we're getting a quote for the semi-polished porcelain tiles 'Rex Concreate' in Mud, love it. I thought we should keep the same tiles all the same on the ground floor, so the laundry and powder room will have the same tiles but smaller size. It's great they've got these in mosaic as well so for the splashback in the powder room & laundry I can continue the same look.

For the bathroom we've decided on polished porcelain tiles for the walls (300x600) with matt porcelain tiles on the floor. I'm still undecided about the vanity colour and basin. It doesn't match the other tiles but the bathrooms will be upstairs.

The carpet is a dark grey which gives a lovely contrast to the floor tiles, this carpet is 100% synthetic...it won't bring up fluff (like wool) and is more stain resistant than wool.

This photo doesn't do it justice, I love these mosaic tiles for the kitchen splashback; it's 'Casa Mood mosaico Neutra Silver Lux'...looks great with white grout.

I think I need to re look at my colour selections now that I've picked my floor tiles...

waiting on costing...

2008-05-11T19:59:00.000+10:00

It's been three weeks since our colour selection appointment and we are still waiting on the costing...not sure how this can take so long;

we had our kitchen selection appointment last week and had no idea how much we had raked up in upgrades from the last appointment. The consultant for the kitchen selection had warned me it will take at least 2 weeks before we hear from him as Eden Brae was behind (from system issue they had??? ).

Now we have our tile selection coming up next week and again its hard to decide if we want to upgrade anything since we don't know how much anything we decided costs...very frustrating deciding on anything as they're unable to tell you how much????not sure this is the best process.

Colour Selection & Electrical appointment

2008-04-28T09:48:00.000+10:00

We had our colour selection appointment last week, so I was diligently preparing for this appointment. I needed to decide what fixtures I wanted in the bathroom (taps, basins, bath, colours for the cabinets) and also the kitchen (tap, sink, bench top, finish on cabinets & handles) as well as deciding on the internal & external colours.

We had already decided on the bricks so it was just a matter of deciding on the colours of the garage, moroka finish, guttering, windows & doors. I wish there was a way we could look at the facade and put the colours in to see the end result...you would think with photoshop and similar applications this would be easy to set up.

The picture above is the facade we've decided on with a few changes - instead of a gable to the front balcony it will be a hipped roof and we've added eaves to the house. As much as we wanted to have it rendered we thought we'd upgrade on the bricks instead so we're having Balmoral sandstock bricks, Greenstead moroka finish to the front balcony, Barramundi (charcoal) roof, anodic off white for the windows & paperbark for the garage. Hope it all works.

The other changes are yet to be finalised, we're still waiting on the costing.

We also had our electrical appointment, I think that went really well. We went back to the display home this wkend and looked at our electrical plans to see if we needed to add anymore lights or power points - very small changes. I feel a lot better about the extra money we're spending on electrical. I think it's a bit misleading for the display home to have upgraded the lighting in the house and not disclose how much this costs...we had no idea it would be so expensive - they should at least specify that each down light will cost $100 a pop...(there were over 70/80 down lights in the display home).

First timers building our 'dream' home

2008-04-27T23:49:00.000+10:00

We haven't even started building yet and our 'dream' home is already compromised...little did we know that when we walked into that display home what we would be walking into was not the house we thought we could afford but the house we would like to have if we had an extra $100k for upgrades.

It took us a year of looking in Sydney to decide that we were better off buying a block of land and building a house we liked, to buying an existing home which needed to be renovated at some stage when it was affordable to do so. It also took us a long time to finally give up the idea that we could buy a half decent house and also live close to the city. After coming to this realisation it didn't take us long to find a block of land in the Hills district; in hindsight we should have moved out of the eastern suburbs a long time ago.

So we've signed up with Eden Brae and are in the midst of selecting everything for the house which for me has been a fun experience so far.