Lock Up + Photos!

Has it really been over a month since my last post?! 

It feels like things are happening so quickly at the moment, but at the same time I feel I have nothing to write about.

Earlier this month we met with our Site Supervisor.Top bloke, gives me faith in the building company after many months of back and forth with admin, contracts and sales. The admin side of the build is frustrating, but I think it has made us appreciate the building side even more. Anyway, our meeting with our SS. If you are building in our suburb you have a good chance of getting him and if your build is anything like ours and our tradies, you will enjoy yourself! We met with him just before the gyprock was to go on. Only exchanged a few emails prior and couldn't really get a feel for what he was like so we didn't know what to expect at the meeting. We spoke for about an hour, and went through each room of the house. He addressed our concerns and was very patient and informative. He took the time to go over the details. We did not once feel rushed and left the meeting very happy and satisfied.

We have been to the site often. We have had a walk through. We've spoken to a lot of tradies and they have all been great personalities and from my uneducated eye, they seem to have done a very good job to date. We only picked up on a few errors but all minor.

We currently are at lock up. Front door went on yesterday. Bricks have been cleaned and I could not be happier with the colours we have chosen.  Interesting to see how the colours appear in the different light.

Brick: Mocha

Roof: Colorbond monument

Gutter: Colorbond monument

Fascia and window: surfmist (garage door the same)

I recently commented on how frustrating Eden Brae had been at times. I suppose this is partly due to all the other delays on site, not their fault, which have you wanting to start your build 'yesterday' basically. But at the same time now that we are in construction, every time you see the house, there is something new to get excited about. It's Christmas Day for adults.

This week we are being waterproofed in the wet areas, skirting and gyprock has been completed, and on Wednesday the kitchen and vanities should be installed. Our next door neighbours have got their pegs! I have been waiting for them to start for a couple of reasons. They are closed in by all three neighbours...site access might be tricky, and I am keen to get a fence up for the dogs ;) But best to wait a little while to give tradies space and minimise the chances of them or us damaging the fence in our enthusiasm to get the house and landscaping complete haha...that's the last thing we want when we're all poor from furnishing houses and purchasing dozens of plants!! (And yes, we bought more plants on the weekend :) )

Bricks!

We've been looking into landscaping a little more lately. Who has everyone been using? We went up the road to Waratah Landscape Supplies, who are merging with Shepherds (from Camden Valley Way near Prestons). The guy there was really helpful and gave us a bunch of prices and advice on what is good for what we need to do. I suppose that's his job, but if you're in the area I'd recommend checking them out. Free delivery to Oran Park. They've just opened up in the area a week ago so there's not a lot there, but what is there is quite good. If you've got any recommendations, leave me a comment or give me a yell on the forum =)

We are at a loss for what to do in the backyard as our 8 month old puppy is currently going through a very destructive phase. We have nothing planned for the yard yet aside from the two trees Oran Park require us to plant for the 5K rebate. If they don't get past Marley I might have to encourage her to get a job to earn us the $5,000.00. I know what I want in the backyard...but will she let us put it there!?

In awesome news, we seem to have gotten approval to bump our side fence forward a couple of metres. We were concerned about having the bulk of our living area windows facing the street and hoped we could get at least 2 of the 3 into the backyard. Even better - more space for the dogs now! More grass to rip up.

In other news, we have bricks! We've just started our sixth week since the site was scraped. The house has gone up so quickly. For those interested:

Bricks: Mocha
Roof and Gutter: Monument
Eaves, Cladding and Fascia: Surfmist
Driveway: Charcoal paver

Site Progress - In Pictures

When we bought the land - September 2nd, 2012. Not a thing in the background!

August 4 2013. Monster house going up in the background. So grateful there are a few blocks between us. Hopefully nobody else between us will build something like this.

August 8. SITE SCRAPED!!!

August 13 - Shade cloth delivered.

August 16. Piers and formwork done.

August 18 - Portaloo delivered, pipes in.

August 18

August 19, 2013. Eden Brae don't like to litter, so they tie rubbish around trees ;)

August 19 - Waffle pods in!

August 19 - view from front.

21 August, 2013 - We have a slab!!

Items to purchae, post-handover

One thing we didn't consider in any great detail, were all the things we will need to buy once we've moved in!! I've had to prioritise them so we keep some money in our account for the important things like bills...and foxtel :) I thought it could be helpful to anyone reading, to compare to what you've already listed once you move in.

These are our top priorities

• Blinds (At least need to purchase the blinds/shutters for the bedroom, bathrooms and living areas). We're looking at either blindsonline or iseekblinds
• Numbers to put on the house/letterbox - thank you ebay for the low prices and 1sttimebuilding2012 for giving us the idea!
• Letterbox (to be bricked and rendered, like others in our estate)
• Fence - seems like our new neighbours have contacts in a fencing company. I like them already!
• Concrete down eastern side of house
• Deadlocks
• Downlight cables (got the downlights already. Thank you mum for the Bunnings vouchers!
• Dog Kennel

 

Our medium priorities:

• Soil (any suggestions on suppliers?)
• Turf and mulch
• Blinds for remainder of the house
• Pavers (?) for edging in front garden
• Irrigation fittings and tubes
• External lights, spotlights and downlights for eaves
• Fridge (We are using a 500(ish)L one at present. We bought one last week as our last one was freezing everything. We hoped we could get our big one but didn't know that if you have a fridge connected to the plumbing...you need to connect it to the plumbing. We don't have that option where we are staying at the moment)
• Lounge - we have our eye on an ikea lounge
• Wallpaper for entry foyer

Lowest/'eventually' priorities:

• Pet Mesh - We have ordered fly screens from Eden Brae, but we have a 7 month old puppy who terrorises our 9 yr old (dog) and wreaks havoc on the screen doors we have here. Luckily these have the tough pet mesh and security screen so she can't do anything to them. I anticipate our fly screen doors at the new house will be destroyed in a matter of weeks.
• Gas heater
• Water Feature for front garden - something to go under our side piers below the wardrobe window.
• Outdoor Setting
• Shed - cheap sheds here: http://www.fairdinkumsheds.com.au
• Lawn Mower
• Whipper Snipper replacement
• Washing Machine replacement

Items already purchased

• Fridge - Good Guys Campbelltown should be renamed The GREAT Guys. This store has the best customer service I have experienced at any good guys. Great variety and very knowledgable staff.
• Vacuum (Mothers Day Sale!! Yeah!)
• Dishwasher
• Stove
• Microwave
• Fan
• Lights, lampshades, pendants
• Clothesline
• Beds for the dogs
• Kennards Storage fees
• Plants, pots, soil
• Furniture
• Homewares
• Sound systems
• Hose systems

Formwork, Piering and Pipes (oh my!)

This week has seen more progress than the past 11 months =)

We dropped by the block a couple of times after work this week. By Thursday we saw the first photo:

Formwork in, piering done, portaloo present and shade cloth set up at the back to catch any sediments that want to make their way onto J&M's block behind us. This was great because I could finally get  an idea of how our house sits on the block and how much (how little) backyard we have to play with. There's really not much at all  but we will make do! Unless any of our neighbours is happy to leave their land vacant? ;) The location of the piering also gave an indication of where the walls are going. On another note, have a look at the direction our street lamp is facing. How does that even happen!

Today:

Pipes are in! Reo to the left, waffle pods to the right covering up most of W&J's block.

Oh yeah. We practically have a house! ;)

Oran Park notes:
Seems Stage 2C is not registering til the end of September if they are lucky. D'oh! I hear it's to do with water issues. 

Art and Craft markets on at Oran Park on Sunday. We'll be going down for a look.