The joys of moving in - Part I

We had our site meeting with the SS at 7:30am. Paul has been amazing. If any of you are in our area and you manage to get him, you will be in good hands. We went through everything and the only issues were a downpipe and electrical. We were done in about 45 minutes and most of that was hanging around waiting for the electricians to arrive. Then we drove to Norwest to meet our CSA. I do not envy the job they have to do...being the point of contact between a whiny client and estimators/the other consultants. Katherine was lovely. We took about half an hour to go through everything, get our keys etc and get out of there. We went via the in-laws to collect our shutters.

The first thing we did was put up our shutters. Fairly straightforward, just measure twice (cut once)before you order. I Seek Blinds was the company we used and we could not be happier. I will post photos in the next blog.

At the time of writing this, we have been in the house for one week. At first I thought the house was doomed. Our appliances all needed tweaking.

The air conditioning didn't work on the day we moved in. That day it was 41 degrees. 41 DEGREES. We worked from 12-4pm in the stinking hot heat. Called the CSA and got her answering machine. Called the SS and got his. Called the air con mob and got the machine "We won't re-open until the 13th" or something to that effect. So Stephen kept calling and I think he got through to our CSA who said she would sort it out. At 4pm we had a visit from the air con maintenance guy! The installer had put in the wiring backwards. You would think that either they would know where to put each wire OR they would test it out to ensure it is working. We had a play around with it on our final inspection day, and it worked fine for the first minute or so, so we switched it off. It wasn't until we needed it that we realised it wasn't happening.

The washing machine drainage hose didn't fit properly, so we flooded the laundry a few times.

The clock on our oven was knocked back (we bought this, so not EBH's problem), into the oven cavity. To work the oven or stove at all, you need to set the clock. We couldn't do that, and we couldn't get a gasfitter to come out to set up our gas connection until yesterday.  I lived on cereal, 2 minute noodles and leftovers until last night.

The fridge. Our hose connection wasn't the right size. Went to Bunning's to get a connection to reduce the size but even that wasn't right. A couple of trips to Bunning's and the fridge is connected and working like a dream. Having an ice machine and cool water from the fridge is still a novelty. Good thing Bunning's is just around the corner. Everyone must know Stephen's face by now.

Electrical. Was. A. Nightmare. Ok maybe a slight exaggeration but we had issues from the start. Emailed SS about them, fwded to electrical people, most weren't resolved. Points were missed. Extra holes unnecessarily punched into the walls. One of our switches still doesn't work. Switches placed willy nilly in some areas, very close to robes, not anywhere near evenly spaced in the room. If you want that, specify it in your contract because they will just put it to the closest stud. Fair enough, but it isn't always practical. We had different tv points which have since been rectified.  A bar panel was busted from a screw. They are all minor things but some of them just seemed so silly that you'd think no professional would make such a mistake.

We have television sets, but no television. We called opticomm who pencilled us in for January 6, but said they could do it on Dec 20 if we had someone home. 2-3 days after the initial call (when we have arranged to have someone house sit for the opticomm guy) they said they wouldn't be in the area and as it was 2 hours from their location, it wouldn't be worthwhile.

Stephen has been working his butt off with the joinery in this house. He has fitted out our pantry, linen cupboard and my wardrobe. They all look sensational. Next on his agenda is fitting out his own wardrobe and  storage/cabinets in the bathrooms. Eventually he will renovate the kitchen, and fit out the study, laundry, BBQ, Home Theatre and other wardrobes as well. It looks amazing. He is a very talented guy!

We have had a lot of help with this move. A friend of Stephens is an electrician and was able to install our down lights and pendants. He did a sensational job. One of my friends played removalist recently and we brought a LOT of our belongings over to the new house and we are very grateful to both. We have also had people visit us unexpectedly. Sometimes you just need people to stay away for a while so you can get stuck into doing what you need to do. This might sound rude or ungrateful but if people are coming over and wanting a coffee and a chat, you can't really give them the time they deserve if you have as much to get through as we do. We're only off work a little while so we don't have a lot of time. If people can wait to have their stickybeak until after you are mostly set up then that is ideal. Either that, OR have a HEAP of tasks you need people to do, ready to go so that when they ask you "What can I do?" you don't think "Just p!ss off and let me do it", but rather have a plan ready to go and they can help and be out of your hair for a while. We had 9 people in this house at one point, and it was only the second day. We had planned for a maximum of 4 people. Not to sound ungrateful haha...  Moving is stressful, so if you can make it as stress free as possible I recommend it!