Well we're finally settling in, and things are starting to get finished. We've just hosted our first Christmas, only days after having the patio concreted. The pool has been started, but isn't going to be done till January some time. We're still working hard to get the property tamed, and we have a lot of mulch to put down to help retard the weed regrowth. But apart from a few odds'n'ends, we're just enjoying being in our own space finally.
Settling in
The Perfect Storm
We had a massive storm on the weekend. It ripped through here Sunday evening, leaving us without power or cellular service - consequently we had no phone, and also no water since we couldn't run the pump. The winds were blowing everything sideways, and there is quite a bit of damage to the trees. A few of the larger ones were snapped right off, while others are permanently bent over in the direction the wind was blowing. One of the patio fans was flung up, and took a few gouges out of the patio ceiling, before having it's blades bent and twisted. It's likely it will need replacing. There's quite a lot of water sitting around outside, and the ground is so wet it's struggling to contain it. We had a couple of small slips, one down by the water tanks, leaving a sizeable hole in the battering. Some of Rob's vegie garden has hail damage, and some plants have their tops snapped off. Some of the planting and mulching in the gully is just gone - either washed away or buried under mud. It's a bit disappointing, but given the severity of the storm we could have been a lot worse. There's plenty of people with their roof torn off their house.
Moving In
Finally the house is ready and we're moving in this weekend. There's still a couple of things to do, but they're only little things. The floor tilers are working frantically to hopefully be finished today. It's looking great, and they've done a really good job. The garage door finally turned up yesterday, and to their credit, it went in really fast. Just a shame it took so long to get to it. Anyway, Metricon's done a lovely job, we got all the bits'n'pieces yesterday and a nice set of towels.
Nearly there
We're approaching final handover now. We've just had an inspection, and they're going through fixing up various issues in the paint-work. There's still a few odds'n'ends to be finished. Mysteriously the garage door still hasn't appeared?! At least the tanks are in their correct site, and are connected up with the septic, pumps and doodahs. We've had a few storms over the last few days, and hopefully they'll fill up the tanks. Everything is pretty wet at the moment, which gives us some good indicators of where we'll need to put in extra drainage.
Fittings
Fittings are going in now. Most of the bathroom fit outs are done, toilets, basins, shower bits'n'pieces, bath tubs. Door handles are going on, light switches, power sockets are in. The security system is in. The kitchen appliances have arrived, but the stove is majorly damaged. Looks like someone dropped it or dropped something heavy on it, judging by the ripped metal plates down the back of it, and the severely bent top. Hopefully it won't take them too long to replace it. The light fittings are all in and working, although we've got a bayonet fitting in each room at the moment until we get an electrician into install fans in their place. Rob's also finding out if it's going to be possible to get the air conditioners installed now rather than waiting until handover.
Interior work
The exterior bricking hasn't been finished yet because apparently they ran out of bricks, but they've got a couple more pallets in now, so hopefully it will be done soon. But what's been done so far looks fabulous, and we're very happy with the color scheme we picked out. The interior is progressing quickly though. Door frames, window frames, sills, and skirting boards are being installed now. It's in a semi-locked up state now. The kitchen is being installed, and we're very excited with the licorice color we've picked. The shelving in the butlers pantry is in, although they made a mistake and installed the shelving on one side that we'd asked not to be there. The bathroom cabinets and basins are in. I'm surprised the tiling hasn't been started yet since the waterproofing was done last week, but i see some of the metal edging for the tiling is down, so maybe that will be happening this week.
Interior progress
While the brickwork still isn't progressing the interior has been moving in leaps and bounds. The waterproofing is going in the wet areas, and the tiles have been delivered, and are ready for installation in the bathrooms and laundry area. The ceiling scotia has been completed throughout the house. No sign of the skirting boards yet, but I'm not sure if they're waiting for the floor tiles to go in before doing that? Rob was saying she'd seen the kitchen fitout being delivered the other day, so that could well be in soon too. The brickwork should be resuming soon, since the Termimesh looks like it's finally been installed, and glass pieces have been poured into the footing spaces around the pad and behind the base layer of bricks.
Interior wall lining
Despite all the rain and disruption at the moment, the builder's have been making fantastic progress on the interior, and we're finally starting to get a feel for what we have wrought. We're very sure now it's not too small! The interior lining is in, with the gib-stopping done, but no skirting yet. The bricklayers were setting up on Sunday, but the weather isn't forecast to be great, so we're not sure how much progress they're going to be able to make on the exterior.
Moving ahead with lining
We had some wet weather again earlier in the week, but it's finally cleared up and things are moving again. The paper lining has gone up on the exterior. The interior wall lining has started to appear. Luckily we've managed to get the plumber to come back and put in the water line for the fridge, and the cable guy has run the HDMI for the media room. Unfortunately, they couldn't run the cable the length we were wanting, and they weren't prepared to put in a signal booster, so we've had to remove the fan from the media room, and go back to a ceiling-mounted arrangement for the projector. We're getting excited as things are taking shape, and I can't wait to see the brickwork start to go in.
Joinery installed
The windows and sliding doors have been installed. The electrical wiring is in, and we were out there today trying to figure out what extra cabling we need to put in for the theatre system. It's starting to get a feel about it now as bits and pieces are completed, and we're getting more excited about it.
The roofs on
Finally the roofs on. The builders have made good progress, and I was impressed to see them out working on it today (Saturday). I'm pretty sure they don't do that in NZ. This week the electrician is coming through, and possibly the air conditioning person. Paper lining should be starting to go up in preparation for the bricklayers starting July 1. Can't wait, because once the thing is enclosed we won't have to worry about wet weather slowing things down any more, and we really need somewhere to live as soon as possible.
More Roofing
More roofing structure has been going up. The actual sheeting should be going up tomorrow. The guttering is on and some of the fascia is starting to go up. Rob's also had an excavator in to cut the section back further on the end of the house, and relocate the dirt to the front of the house, extending the flat space in front of the entrance. The air-conditioner installer came through for a look on Sunday, and he provided some good advice, so hopefully that will be done properly.
Framing Erected
The framing's starting to go up now. Unfortunately after a couple of days we had a massive week-long rain, so everything's ground to a halt and pretty damned wet. Figure's it's been dry for months, the second the framing goes up the heavens open! Hopefully its not going to set us back to far, since we're going to be needing somewhere to live pretty soon since the relatives are moving over from New Zealand on the 7th of June.
Pouring the Slab
There's been a stream of concrete trucks heading to and from our land today as they pour the concrete pad. The water tanks also arrived at lunchtime, and we were there to supervise and help unload the massive tanks. We also had some water tanked in today, and replaced some of our neighbour's water that the subcontractors had helped themselves too.
Boxing time
The boxing for the concrete is starting to go up now. They're really working hard, and we've been impressed that they've been out working on the weekends too. Hopefully everything is going to go quickly and smoothly. Rob's taking a few days off so she can get the water tanks sorted out. Hopefully she'll be able to whip them into shape.
Prepping for pad
Ground tidy up is under way now all the plumbing piping and electrical cable has been laid. Foam block and steel mesh has arrived for the pad and will start going down soon in preparation for the pad. The timetable on the water tanks has hopefully moved up slightly and we should have tanks soon. We're currently trying to source some water, but we can't get it supplied from within the water restricted zone, so we have to get it trucked in from some far off location.
Pipes and Cables
The plumbing pipes and electrical cable is being put in today in preparation for the pad going down on the 14th. Looks like they've made quite a bit of progress already, with cable already run up to the front of the road, digging and trenches going on all the way up to the top of the hill, and plumbing pipes visible sticking up out of the ground on the summit where the pad will be going.
Prep Finished
The land preparation has been finished now. Next we'll be waiting for the plumber to come in and do his stuff. The water tanks should be due to arrive on the 14th, but as usual we're not sure about that. Hopefully the tank guy will lift his game. The pad should also be started on the 14th.
We've got some more spraying to do this weekend. In the areas where there isn't any mulch down yet, we're getting regrowth quite quickly. Hopefully we'll be able to afford some more mulch soon to cover the bare areas before they get out of hand again.
Finally it begins
We met with the Construction Manager this morning, and it seems like we're all in agreement on what we want and expect to happen. This afternoon the digger is on-site moving the soil around and shaping the site. They should be there till tomorrow finishing it. We may have to get them to cut us a pad for the water tanks to fit on too, since we're not sure what's happening with those now, and our tank supplier has decided to go overseas for three weeks. So far the tanks and water treatment system have been the only thorn in the process. Hopefully someone will be able to sort those out today, because they'll need to be on the site for when the concrete pad goes down.
Signs of things to come
Finally, some action. The sign has gone up. No more looking a paint swatches, or picking out tile samples. No more trying to decide on plans. It's finally starting. Come Monday, the diggers will be in and the land will be prepped. The construction manager is on the case, and Rob will be on his. Here's hoping it goes up quickly, and goes up well.
Gully Cleared
The gully has finally been cleared. We ended up getting a forest mulcher and digger in to shift all the lantana, long grass, and detritus out of the way. We definitely should have done this in the beginning. The machines made short work of the job, and the results are fantastic. It's shaping up to be a nice space down there now, and should be even better once the mulch is down, and Rob gets into re-planting it all out with native trees and plants. Hopefully we'll be able to lure the animals back.
In the beginning
Here's the gully as we've started working on it. It's full of lantana, thick long grass, logs, probably snakes (we've found some shed skin), and assorted other nasties. There's certainly a lot of lizards (not that they're very dangerous). It's a hellish job trying to clear it out. The heat is unbearable, and then come the flies. Swarms of black hairy bastards like miniature helicopters buzzing and landing all over your face, in your ears. It's great when you make some progress, but as fast as we clear it, it's growing up behind us again. So your constantly having to poison everything. There's got to be an easier way.
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