Gas Log fireplace.

We had PD build a projection for a future fireplace.

After initially looking last year and only seeing one fireplace we liked, we decided to wait until this year and look again.

We have been to every home show and fireplace retail store we could find and decided on the original fireplace we liked last year.

We had a platform build to hold the heater and we had it installed a couple days ago.

Cutout for heater with plaster cut so we could minimise the re-plastering work.

The heater installers could not get the heater in place with the plaster cut so accurate, they needed to cut the extra plaster away to install the unit.

Here is the heater on, it heats the rooms beautifully, no need to use the central heating given we live in a couple of the rooms.

In the last photo you will see the power cord hanging out of the projection, the power inside the projection was not connected by the electricians before handover because they were not able to test the connection (hidden in the wall).  

The electricians came out on the day and fixed the issue, but I think it would of been informative for PD to let us now that any prewiring we had done would not be completed if they were not able to test the connection before handover.  

PD was really good about getting the electrician to contact us about this. I am not sure what would of happened if we have not done the heater for a couple of years and then found the problem, most likely we would have had to pay for an electrician to come and fix the problem.

All we need to do now is get it plastered and painted.

I think it looks great and it really sets the ambience in the room. 

Completed flooring and garden

We used black butt for our solid timber flooring.  The thing I really like about our floor is there is no quad around the walls.  It was a very long process getting the flooring done, but well worth it.  We were without flooring for about 4 months after moving in (we didn't get the builder to do the flooring, they don't do solid timber only floating floors).  We needed to have the skirting fitted and then both the skirting and walls painted/touched up.

The lawn was laid in April last year and I think it look great.

A couple days of rain and its so green, the only regret is not installing sprinklers before laying the grass.  Kikuyu Kenda Turf is a great lawn, we were told by the supplier that once it gets established it has low water requirements, but over summer we noticed that sections of the lawn dying. Installing the sprinkles would of made the maintenance easier. Over Summer it needed to be mowed every week, it is a very quick growing grass.

Twelve Month Inspection - and beyond

Sorry it been awhile since I updated the blog.

Lots of things are still happening, lots to do and then there is work.  The one thing that causes everything else to wait.

I will post so photo's of the finished floors, the lawn (Kenda Kikuku Turf) and other things we have been doing.

This post is able the twelve month inspection.

We had the same inspector from PW come and check the house, but PW would only book the inspection after we listed things that needed maintenance. Ok, not a problem until they then ask you to provide the exact location of each item and some instances they wanted photos. The inspector then checks the whole house anyway.  It just seems that PW is try to make it hard to get things done.

We still have outstanding items from handover that have not been completed.  I was required to provide photo's of these items again and was then told the inspector would review them when he visits.

We have had maintenance people there working on some of the items since the inspection and we are generally happy what has been done.

We have one window that does not open or close squarely, its quite obvious that its not square but the maintenance person was told (I believe) that if its closing without a problem then leave it.

We even have one double glazed door that has marking inside the double glazing and neither PW or the glazier will do anything about it. The funny thing is that to be considered a problem you need to be able to see the marks from (i think) 1.5 metres.  Thats not really a problem given you can see then from over 2 metres away.

Don't rely on the build to check the windows, I would suggest cleaning them yourself before handover and gets things fixed before final payment, thats the only way the build will listen!

We have some cracking in the mortar which runs through two bricks, will they replace the bricks? don't know, the inspector said he would speak to his supervisor.  Still have not heard back and its been almost a month.  Time to start ringing PW again.

Its been an interesting experience building our home, I would certainly would not take handover until all outstanding items were completed if I were to build again. 

We love our house, but dealing with the build has been slow and difficult at time.  I have no doubt that I was been a pain to them during this process, but given the money you spend on building, I don't believe you should close your eyes at the start of building and open them again when you are given the keys.

Three month inspection

We have just had our three month inspection.

I must say that is was a very pleasant experience, I thought we would be arguing about all the items we wanted addressed. The maintenance inspector from PD can in, looked at our list, looked though the house, identified a couple other items and added those to the report.

Now we wait for a maintenance crew to get allocated and all the items hopefully will be fixed on the same day.

Driveway Completed

We have finally had the driveway done.  We chose 'Balcombe' aggregate concrete from Mentone Pre Mix.

We have half of blinds installed, we decided not to get the ground floor blinds installed until the timber floors have been sanded and polished.

The shed should be delivered this coming week and I will put it up over Easter, we are also going to paint the fence, mostly likely we will go with charcoal in colour.

Start working on the gardens.

This is going to be a busy long weekend.

Timber Floors

The timber floors are currently getting installed, we went with Black Butt.

Here are a couple photos of the floor, I think it looks great.

Passage way

Close up of the floor.

Lighting and flooring

We have been busy in the house lately, we changed the lights in the kitchen and family rooms, added ceiling fans to the kitchen, family, alfresco, games and master bedroom. The ceiling fans have made a difference to the temp up stairs.

We put in LED downlights in the family room and passage. Replacing of the halogen globes with LEDs, the six globe light in the kitchen hanging over the island bench currently uses 300 watts, this will become about 36 watts or less depending how good the LEDs are.

The flooring has been started down stairs, the ply is currently getting laid, hopefully the floor boards are laid later this week.

After the floors are done, the blinds will be installed, they have being held until the flooring is finished.

We have starting planning the driveway, going aggregate (not sure what type). We are waiting for the concreter to get back to us with a couple reference sites so we can see the the different aggregates.

We have a garden design, it all starts with the driveway.