Bits and Pieces

We have a front door! Nice little finish to make it a home :) Love our extra wide timber door. It will be finished with a merbau stain which should complement the bricks nicely.

Water proofing of the wet areas was also finished last week. Cant wait till tiles go in!

And that all important under stair storage space now has a customised door. Our carpenter and site superviser's been great at accommodating to our late requests. Just trying to decide on the locking system at the moment. The carpenter suggested a clip in method so there's no lock visible from the outside but then its just closed and not locked. Given my 2yo loves exploring it may turn into a perfect hiding spot for her which is no good for mummy. So we've decided on a flat key lock to give us the option of locking if it proves too troublesome.

The other important thing that finished last week was the skirting and architraves. This completed, we are now ready for painting!! Woohoo, so excited for the finished look. It also means we can get measure and quote for curtain and blinds which I'm really keen to have before we move in. I've had a few quotes done 12 months ago and after a follow up, Complete Blinds Ringwood is still the most competitive. We're pretty happy with their service too so have put in a deposit.

Air conditioning was the other thing we've been sourcing quotes for. Cold Flow has given us the best price for a Breezair unit and stoked that they can install prior to completion. We probably could have waited another 6mths before warmer weather hits again but as it's a big installation job (scaffolding required), I rather it all done before we move in with the kids. Life is so much more complicated with kids! But yes, oh so joyful too hehe... can't forget that :)

So with 6 odd weeks to go before the expected completion date, there are still a 'lot' of bits and pieces to do and fix.

1/ The niche they forgot about - The plasterer got a bit excited and plastered over 1 of the 2 wall niches we paid for (yes we paid to have a hole in the wall! :) We told the SS and he said easily fixed. mmm... I guess he didn't say 'elegantly' fixed. It will be finished off with more finesse :)

2/ The other hole in the plaster - I was pretty shocked when I saw this. It's actually the pipes and stuff from the meter box which is supposed to be 'behind' the plaster. Somehow, they've miscalculated the position of the plaster and yes, the pipes jut into the room! Their first attempt to fix it was to hammer the pipes back but that obviously didn't work. The solution now is to put another piece of plaster board over the existing one. That sounded easy enough but as they've already done the cornices, these will have to be removed and redone also. All easy but a hassle and another item on the to-do (or re-do) list.

3/ The odd pipe front of house - It's called a separator apparently but I have no idea what it's for and why it's frankly, so ugly! It's the first thing you see when you approach the front door so no, we're not happy with it. Spoke to the SS and he said there should be another way to do it and will get onto the plumber. There has been a few more 'aesthetic' things we've complained about but so happy that the SS has been willing to rectify. Just a matter of time now I guess.

Anyway, so we're almost there. Cannot believe we bought this block Aug 09 and only started building in June last year. What a journey!