A very quick and belated update!

Sorry to anyone who has been waiting to see how things have been progressing since the last update - things have been so hectic organising all the post-Plantation items. I don't have any photos I can upload at the moment (as we don't yet have internet connected and I am typing this from my iPad!) but a brief update of what has been taking place (in no particular order...):

  #  Our flooring is all done - timber & carpets and looks awesome!!
  #  Dishwasher and Cooker installed in kitchen!
  #  The driveway has been laid and we can finally drive on it now!
  #  We had an excavator around last week to dig out the spot for our retaining wall at the back...and...
  #  The retaining wall has now been built (with some much needed assistance from my uncle-in-law and mother & father-in-law!!!)
  #  Karlee's uncle has also kindly built us a letterbox out the front!
  #  We have also moved in and are gradually unpacking and organising everything into all this space we suddenly have!
  #  Side gates have been ordered - pending delivery
  #  Security doors to Laundry, Theatre & rear of Garage have been ordered - pending delivery
  #  1st set of Panel Glide blinds installed - they look awesome!!
  #  Ongoing dealings with Plantation over some warranty issues and items outstanding from our handover checklist

Coming up:
  #  Finish backfilling retaining walls
  #  Turfing starts Tuesday - pending us completing the retaining walls tomorrow/Monday....
  #  Driveway being sealed on Monday

All that leaves us is putting up our timber blinds (when they arrive) and our remaining Panel glide blinds and putting some gravel down the side of our house.

In terms of Plantation After-Sales Service, it has been quite good. Both our Administrator and Site Supervisor have both been very proactive in getting things sorted as quickly as they possibly can for us - only a few things left outstanding now which should mostly be sorted by the end of next week!

I will update with some photos as soon as our internet is connected mid next week.

More flooring done & rangehood installed!

I was very happy to get a phone call yesterday from Harry, our flooring man, to let me know he was going to come and continue work at our place on Monday. After a solid 6 hours, we now have timber floors from the Entry through to the Living Area (excluding Kitchen). He is coming back tomorrow to finish the flooring and will then spend Wednesday finishing off the quadding around the skirts.

We also managed to install our rangehood today - which took much longer than anticipated as the installation measurements in the instruction manual were incorrect. But with some initial help from my Dad and some afternoon assistance from my father-in-law, the rangehood was conquered and it looks AMAZING!

I haven't managed to grout the Alfresco area as yet as the flooring man has been using it as his "prep" area - no hurry though - I will be endeavouring to finish next Sunday.

Tomorrow, the fun begins with the driveway being boxed up and poured and our TV Antenna is being installed.

The view from the Kitchen

Looking towards the front door

Hallway to Kids Retreat area

From the Front Door

Kitchen with the rangehood installed

We have keys!!!!!

After what has seemed like an eternity, we finally picked up our keys from Plantation on Thursday morning. The painter was on-site ready to make the final touch ups we identified, which disappointingly was ALOT!! However, I can't really blame Plantation too much given it was the Cleaners who were there that morning seemed to have made quite a mess of the skirtings and walls with their vacuum hoses.

Overall, the finish is great! There are still some "annoyances" however these have been duly noted on our Final Inspection Checklist (and maybe a follow up email or two to our Administrator to tack on a few more) and these will be rectified by Plantation over the course of the next 14 days.

The only "major" issues were:

• Ensuite shower screen still not installed - happening Tuesday 28/1
• Chip in kitchen cabinetry
• Exterior painting very ordinary (seems to have been done in a huge rush on the day before handover)

We also had OptiComm (the Fibre Internet company) come visit on Thursday afternoon to run the fibre in to the home from the pit in the footpath. However we were quickly advised that it could not be connected as Plantation had not run the conduit to their connection point. After talking to Luke, it was revealed that OptiComm actually buggered up the pit installation and didn't run the connection point in to our boundary, hence Plantation couldn't connect to it. OptiComm now have to come out and rectify the error before they can connect the fibre to the home - a process that may take up to 28 days! Looks like I will have to be patient for our super-fast internet!!

Getting straight in to the swing of things on Friday, Dad & I completed the tiling of our Alfresco area, which has come up a treat!! It just needs to be grouted and the TermiMesh cut down - which we will be doing on Monday.

Whilst in the middle of tiling on Friday, I received a call from our timber flooring installer to advise that his job for Friday and Saturday had been cancelled so was available to start on our place earlier than expected. He came around briefly Friday afternoon to check the levels of our slab and was back again today to do the floor preparation (grinding of high points; filling of low points). Much to our surprise, when we returned this afternoon he had already started putting down the timber flooring and has so far completed the Theatre & Living Room. IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! We couldn't be happier with how all our colours have come together given we selected all of them from 5cm x 5cm samples!!

The best news is that our flooring man also mentioned he may look to come back Monday "if the weather is bad" - further questioning revealed he owns a boat so if the weather is bad, he won't be able to go out on the water. Here's hoping the weather is truly miserable!! Nonetheless, we are at least a day ahead on the flooring given he had to do some preparations that weren't budgeted or allowed for.

Other tid-bits happening next week:

• Dad & I are installing our rangehood on Monday;
• Our driveway is booked in for Tuesday morning, and we will be able to walk on by Wednesday afternoon;
• Our TV Antenna installation is also booked in for Tuesday morning;
• Our carpets are confirmed for Thursday;
• Our gas-fitter & plumber is confirmed for Friday morning (gas cooker, dishwasher & BBQ)

And then the big day is Friday - when we start moving in to our home!!! By Saturday night, we will be going to bed in our very own "home sweet home" - CAN'T WAIT!!

A few photos below :)

Down the side of the Garage after the site clean up - much neater!

Pantry doors stained!!

Ensuite with mirror installed

Our front facade has been stained

So has our front door!

Alfresco area (before tiling)

Alfresco area (before tiling)

Alfresco area (before tiling)

Alfresco area (after tiling)

Alfresco area (after tiling)

Alfresco area (after tiling)

Timber flooring delivered

Living area with floors completed

Looking across the Dining Room - you can see they had to "fill" along the stacker doors

Our Theatre also has flooring!!

Another view of the Theatre (and our wheelie bins!)

HANDOVER DATE CONFIRMED!!!!!!

A very quick update to let everyone know that Plantation have confirmed our handover date for Thursday 23 January 2014 at 10am!!

We are now in a mad rush to get everything organised post-handover so that we can move in as quickly as possible, as we need to organise the installation of our timber floors, carpet and kitchen appliances as well as the laying of our driveway, the tiling of our alfresco area and the completion of our landscaping.

So far our flooring is booked for 28-30 Jan, the driveway 28-29 Jan and the kitchen appliances on 31 Jan - and provided everything goes as planned that week, we will be moving in on Saturday 1 February!!

From Plantation's side, there is not much left to do now:

• Exterior painting / staining
• Interior patch & paint
• Staining of pantry & front doors
• Ensuite mirror & shower screen
• Plumbing fit off in main bathroom & powder room
• Final house & site clean

Once we have had handover, I will post up some more photos :)

Back up and working in 2014

After what has seemed like an eternity, work has once again resumed at our house.

We have had a contractor working on our boundary retaining and fencing since Monday, which should be finished tomorrow. And this morning saw a little "hub" of activity from Plantation as our ceiling insulation was done and the fit off for our air conditioning nearly complete.

It is pleasing to see that Plantation have come back a couple of days early - hopefully this is the start of a final push to see us through to handover by 24 January.

A couple of photos below (even though I said no more until it was finished!).

Retaining & fencing down the right hand side of our house (looking from the street)

Fence posts in down the left hand side of our house (looking from the street)

Our ducted A/C unit!! Can't wait for air-con!!

Dodgy photo taken through window - our A/C ducts are in :)

A final look before Christmas Shutdown!

I met up with Luke, our Site Supervisor, on Thursday to have one final look through the house and to discuss some "defects" that I have identified over the last couple of weeks - all only minor and easily fixed :)

As luck would have it, there had been a flurry of activity on the morning before I met with Luke, resulting in our wardrobe shelving and doors, bathroom shower screen & mirror, powder room mirror and glass splash back in the kitchen being installed. Overall very happy with how it has all come together - who would've thought that wardrobe doors being installed would make a room look so much more complete too? :) I have put up some photos below.

Luke also gave me the "home stretch" run down for when they get back in the New Year -

Week 1 (week beginning 13 January)

• Roof insulation
• Exterior painting finished
• Staining of doors & cladding completed
• A/C fit off
• Final fit off (door handles, towel rails, toilet paper holders etc)
• Shower screen and mirror in Ensuite
• Vanities and tap ware in Bathroom & Powder Room
• Final electricals (outside lights & power points, power points to kitchen & laundry)
• First house clean

Week 2 (week beginning 20 January)

• Rectification of plastering defects
• Final paint
• Second house clean
• HANDOVER - FRIDAY 24 JANUARY 2014

As a final note on the feature tiles in the Ensuite, we are sticking with what has already been laid - the main reason for this is that Plantation threw back a signed document from us that stated "colour variations when selecting natural products". Although I still dispute that the colour variation experienced is outside "reasonable tolerance", disputing the tiles further would only delay our handover even more than it already has been.

Enjoy the final lot of photos below - next photos posted will be when we have had handover and our flooring and appliances are in :)

Laundry - with linen cupboard all done 

Guest (5th) bedroom with robe

4th bedroom - bedrooms 2, 3 & 4 have mirror doors

Mirror in the Powder Room

Shower screen in the main bathroom

Mirror in the main bathroom

Shelving in our (Karlee's) walk in wardrobe

Kitchen with the glass splash back in

Will all blend in once our pantry doors have been stained

Electrical and plumbing fit-off in progress

After only 2 days, our Electrical and Plumbing fit-off is almost complete. All of our light fittings (except the front pillars) have been installed and all of the plumbing is done (except for Bathroom & Powder Room vanity basins as they are still pending delivery). Still very pleased with our choices so far - it is finally starting to look like a home :)

Our gas hot water system has also been installed - just need to get the gas meter installed now and that side of things will be done too :) We have two wall controllers (to control the heat of the water coming in to the bathroom and kitchen) - not sure where we will put these yet though.

Our air conditioning fit off and exterior painting (with the exception of our front cladding) is also due to be completed this week, however we have a bit of rain forecast so that might get pushed back to early next week. Next week is also scheduled to see the installation of our shower screens, wardrobe doors and bathroom mirrors - though due to the tiling issues in the ensuite, that may also get pushed back until we are satisfied.

On the subject of ensuite tiles, I met with our Site Supervisor, Luke, his manager and a representative from Beaumont Tiles on Tuesday morning (timed it perfectly for when I dropped off our light fittings!). The Beaumont rep stated "the tile you have chosen is a natural product in which colour variations do occur" - in other words, Beaumont were not to blame. I spoke to Luke and his manager afterwards and they agreed that the colour variation compared to the sample they have at Cosham Studios is not acceptable and they were going to discuss further with Beaumont Tiles to "sort it out". Hopefully by the end of this week we will have a suitable resolution - though I am absolutely positive that the tiler hates me!

Latest photos are below - enjoy!

Our baths ready to be fitted

Close up of our "slimline" light switches

Front porch - with light

Living Area - with down lights

Dining & Kitchen - we love our pendant lights!!

Close up of our pendant lights

 

Theatre

 

Our undercount sink & kitchen mixer

Master bedroom - with ceiling fan (which all bedrooms have)

Ensuite - with down lights and exhaust fan

Ensuite - we love our "huge" rain shower heads and our basins :)

Ensuite bath

Down the hall way - smoke detectors installed

Toilet in the Powder Room

Bathroom

Bathroom

TV Area

Under-cabinet lights in the kitchen

Gas hot water system