8 weeks down......8 to go.....and LOCKED OUT!!!

We are now technically at the "half-way mark" of our house being built. And it has coincided in reaching the dreaded, but inevitable stage called.......LOCK UP!!!

Wednesday afternoon, Karlee and I went out for a routine visit (after the trades had all gone home) not realising it would be our last walk though our house until practical completion (notwithstanding an unlocked window or door of course!). We are assuming it has to do with items that are being delivered and locked up inside our house because on Thursday (when I realised we were locked out), there were internal doors, a front door, kitchen sink and bathroom basins as well as all our skirting and architraves spread throughout our kitchen and dining room. At least they are safe & sound I guess!

Anyhow, the next week should be full of activity given what is now inside our home, ready to be installed as well as the external eaves and cedar cladding, which has also been delivered into our Garage.

I am also meeting a couple of landscapers on-site this week - the first one tomorrow afternoon and the second one on Wednesday morning. Hopefully one of these two will provide me with decent service and prices after the debacle that was our previous landscaper........if you need a landscaper, DO NOT USE "TUFF YARDS"!!!!! They very unresponsive after the initial quote and deposit was received to the point that I was calling them 4-5 times per week, leaving messages, sending emails and no-one would get back to me. Luckily I persisted long and hard enough to receive our deposit back and now we have the joy of trying to find another landscaper. Fingers crossed!

All the required items to finish our eaves!

Our Cedar timber for the front facade

Waterproofing has begun in our ensuite

Skirting, architraves, front door (with pantry doors behind it) and internal doors all delivered!

Close up of our front door - it will be stained in a "Rich Chocolate" colour :)

Waterproofing well underway in the main bathroom

Basins for the main bathroom and powder room

Kitchen sink

Bricks & plastering complete!

After yet another busy week at "The Palace", the brick work was finally completed on Tuesday (after a week's delay) and all the plasterboard has been fixed, stopped and sanded with the cornice fixed today!

Karlee & I are both over the moon with how the bricks look, especially against the darker coloured roof tiles and gutters and very happy that we went with the off-white mortar, rather than the standard "natural" (darker coloured) mortar. It will help to complement our garage door very nicely :) Externally there is not a whole heap left to do:

• Fixing of eaves
• External timber cedar cladding to front porch facade
• Downpipes installed
• In-fill above windows completed

Inside is coming together quite quickly as well with the next steps being:

• Doors, architraves, skirting and cupboards
• Waterproofing to wet areas (bathroom, powder room, ensuite and laundry)
• Wall tiles to bathroom, powder room, ensuite & laundry

Once all the above internal & external items are completed, we will be on to our last stage. Whilst it does all seem to be coming together in a relatively timely manner, I did receive a text message from our Site Supervisor earlier this week regarding "very rough" estimated completion/handover date - and it's not before Christmas :(

Also, reality is starting to set in that lock-up is not far away and access will soon be quite limited. As someone that has enjoyed wandering in and out whenever I feel like it, it is going to be a hard reality to face when I'm left peering through windows to get a glimpse of any progress.

Latest photos are below.

Close up of bricks

Alfresco area

Garage

Theatre

Looking back towards front door

Kitchen / Dining

Kitchen

Dining & Living

Master bedroom

Kids TV Area

Plasterboard.....done! Bricks......waiting impatiently!!

After what would appear to be a solid couple of days of work, we now have plasterboard on all ceilings and walls.......no more walking "through"walls. It really helps to start defining spaces and gauging the true size of each room for the first time.

Unfortunately the bricks are another issue altogether. No work has been done since the first row was laid last Friday. So I sent our Site Supervisor a text message this afternoon and he has assured me that the brickie will be on site tomorrow - not sure how much 1 brickie can achieve in 1 day but by tomorrow afternoon, I guess we will have some idea :)

The Garage - not much plasterboard left now!!

The view from the front door

Theatre

Looking back at the Kitchen from the Dining area

Through to the Living Area from the Kitchen

And back towards the Kitchen & Dining from the Living Area

Kitchen & Pantry

Down the hall towards the Kids TV Area

Master bedroom

Ensuite shower with recess in wall

Ensuite bath

Main bathroom

Main bathroom

Bedroom 2

Kids TV Area

Bedroom 4

Bedroom 3

Looking back up the hall towards the Main Bedroom

The plasterboard has begun....

The brickies may be slacking off (as evidenced by the severe lack of brickwork completed today - ie. NONE) but things are continuing to move along, with around 80% of our ceiling gyprock installed today. Given the speed with which they have moved today, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the gyprock was completed by the end of the week. However I am starting to learn that building sites are very unpredictable with timeframes so I'm not going to hold my breath.

I also received verbal confirmation that we are to receive a $2,500 credit back for our "incorrectly estimated" earthworks - definitely the win of the day!

Master bedroom

Looking in to our Ensuite

Down the hall towards the Kids TV Area

Dining & Living areas

Kitchen

Kids TV Area

The view from the front door

Kitchen & Dining

Metal battens used in the front porch - also used in our living areas that have "square-set" cornice work

The "mountain" of gyprock has diminished quite substantially