Monday, April 18, 2011

Lock Up

We are now at lock up .....Yahooooooooo!!!!! Garage doors are on!!!!. And the water proofer has  been.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

More than a bath....

So much progress and some regress over the last few weeks.
The bath is in upstairs. Built in by Dave the tiler with hebel brick ready for tiling in a few weeks. It may not look much but to us the installation of the bath means that it is getting close! In preparation the tiles have been ordered through Jacoba Tiles at East Maitland. All the PC items were delivered by Reece Kotara via Reece Newcastle - they have been fantastic all the way

The bath installation also followed a hectic few weeks. The tradesman, with only occasional help from the apprentice, had worked his butt off over the last few weeks finishing the wiring. Two weeks ago, much to our horror, we arrived on Saturday morning to find someone(s) had come in over night and cut the wires! Why!! Well that still remains a mystery. Amazing that some people can sink so low!! But with a lot of hard work the tradesman and the apprentice, and an extra apprentice on Saturday finished the (re) wiring last weekend. We were on a deadline to be ready for the gyprockers who were due to start this week. On Sunday night we were so exhausted we could hardly speak. But it was done!!

Doors and doors

Langfords have fixed the problem with glass part of the back doors and now they are in. We love them and so glad we chose black ....after advice. Both closed ......and open. Now we wait for the screens.

We now also have a front door and a laundry door. On Friday Travis gave me the keys to the doors. That was really exciting!! He had put the handles on so they could be locked. Pity the tradesman forgot about this on Saturday and went down to do a few things only to phone because he was "locked out - no keys"!While it is not quite at lock-up yet, these two doors make things a bit more secure, helped by the board Travis and Jesse nailed over the door from the garage into the house. Now if Saddingtons can remedy the problem with the garage doors order, and quickly, we will be at lock up.

The handles for all the doors were bought from AJ Edden. Andrew from Eddens has been very patient with the selection process over the last 12 months.

Insulation and Gyprock
The insulation has been put in...all but finished. This has meant the gyprocking has started. Two truck loads were delivered last Tuesday and on Thursday the gyprocking started. I met Troy from Ace Interiors on site on Thursday to sort out the question of cornice - the original choice just did not seem to suit the house. So Troy put a few "test" pieces up a so we could make a selection over the weekend. And we have decided to go with the one that is close to square set with decisions supported by Michael and Lynda.

The gyprocking make such a difference with rooms looking bigger in some instances. The office is the most complete and looks great. The louvre windows allow a great breeze and allow a really beautiful light. 

It now seems very close and while we are trying not to get too excited (no pressure Brent) we can't help it. I have even seen the kitchen, or at least the cupbaord frames minus the "pretty stuff" (Zol/'s description) when out at Cutting Edge the other day with Judy

Sorted out all the appliances recently with Mel from Winnings who has been great through all the process of decision making. Have had the range hood delivered to Zol and will probably need to take other appliances there soon.

This week we have to sort out the lights, quotes for shower screen and splash back, and water tank. Grace from Eurolight Kotara has been fantastic in guiding and providing multiple quotes. We are now ready to go with all the lights.  The water tank is now sorted. A chance drive-by at the weekend saw Hunter Irrigation at Raymond Terrace - they had not come up in my google search to date. Rang the Maitland store and Steve was most helpful of all contacts made for water tanks. And...he rang back when he said he would. If only other companies would realise that this counts for so much in making decisions about quotes!!!
Over the next few weeks we expect the gyprocking, the waterproofing and the architraves et al will be finished. Then the stairs. flooring, painting and kitchen......(again no pressure Brent just trying to think about the next steps) and then the tradesman and apprentice will need to finish the electrics and lighting. Some time in this the driveway and front fence will be done!!