Big Kitchen + Delonghi = a woman's DREAM!!!

Big Kitchen + Delonghi = a woman's DREAM!!!

Things have slowed down with the house since I last posted on my blog. There was a delay with the kitchen supplier, but finally they have come to the party and have installed the kitchen, pantry, laundry ensuite and bathroom cabinets... This is very, very exciting....

Firstly though, all the plaster work, skirtings and architraves have been completed - see photos below. We selected Classic Colonial and I must say I am very happy with the choice and love that Greybox's standard range includes the higher skirting.

All the downlight, powerpoint and light switch holes have also been cut out.

Painting is still under-way. All the doors have been completed and hung and the walls at the moment only have one coat of paint with 2 still to be applied.
Check out the photo below of how they paint of the doors together. They join them at the top with little latches, place wooden peg things underneath and off they go..

The verandah has been started, however some &%$# really liked our timber decking and thought they would help themselves to it. Apparently ours wasn't the only one they liked. The boys in blue are now involved so hopefully their little fingers will be cut off soon!

The only thing I am not happy with, is the verandah cuts across one of the mouldings around our bedroom window due to it having to run off.. doesn't look the best, but once the roof is on, hopefully it won't be that noticeable - see below...

Kitchen - below is a full view of our kitchen, you can also see in the pantry door that the cabinetry has also been installed.

I must say I am not 100% sure I am happy with the colour, but hopefully once the floorboards are laid, the GLACIER caesarstone bench top (see below) and the mocca glass splash back tiles are installed it will all come together!

GLACIER - caesarstone bench top - 20mmit looks more cream on this picture, but it's actually more of a white with a speck..

Below is a photo showing where the fridge, stove and range hood will go...

View of the sink, dishwasher & window wall...

My huge island bench - From left, top draw is the cutlery draw and the rest are all meant to be pot draws!! Currently in discussions with Greybox to have these fixed as they all look like cutlery draws to me. I was so excited and couldn't wait to open the other draws to see how much I could store. However.......... all of the draws are the same depth and width as the cutlery draw!!!!
WHAT THE??? Text our site supervisor so hopefully this is rectified ASAP!!

Pantry - these are my built in cabinets for my pantry. There are two shelves to be installed about the cabinets and four shelves to go around the rest of the wall to the left.
To the right of the draws is where our deep freezer will reside..

Laundry - lovvvvvvve my big laundry.
I extended the bench so I can either place our washing baskets or put our dryer under it - still to be decided! In the middle of the room you will see a pipe. We added that as Dame likes to flood houses.. lol - only an extra $400 to install!!!!!!!!

Ensuite Vanity - really happy with the vanity's... again, not so sure about the colours. Hopefully it will all come together. One thing is that the architraves had to be removed as the vanity almost goes right to each window, so now they will cut them around to shape to fit around the vanity.. hope it looks o.k!!

Girl's Bathroom Vanity - they are both very excited to get their own sinks and cupboards, but are already arguing about who gets the extra draw... WHAT THE!!
They are only 6 & 3... lucky we put in 2 sinks, a bigger shower, power points on either side of of the vanity and their own walk in robs... plus made their bedrooms the same size, millimetre perfect!!!

Not only did I discover all the cabinetry had been installed, but on this wonderful day my DELONGHI, yes don't be jealous now, but my DELONGHI appliances also arrived from Sydney... HUGE thanks to Matty and my big brother - I greatly appreciate it.. Xx

See below for photos..

Beveridge Fridge - for our Alfresco - to be built in.. hehe... cold drinks while having a spa and watching golf... gotta love that!!

My beautiful new oven... soooooooo excited. I actually ordered a different one but my brothers friend upgraded it for me.. This one is 109 litres, has nine oven functions, a rotisserie and closed door grilling, blue LED display, durastone plus enamel (which apparently is easier to clean), removable slide out telescopic shelves, reversible catalytic liners and a gas cooktop with five burners including triple wok burner, fish burner and simmer burner... I AM IN HEAVEN!!!!! Have really missed not having my own Kitchen...

Stainless Steal Splash Back.. I think the picture says it all... hehe... but I do love the handle to put my utensils on!

My beautiful looking dishwasher.. better wash as good as it looks.. haha.. :-P
Any one who knows me well, knows I despise dishes...

Last, but not least... my range hood.. decided not to order the glass one as it's just more cleaning... plus I like this classic look...

So there you go... WOW, what a long blog this is.. oops... sorry, but I am getting excited now. Our site supervisor still hasn't and won't give us a hand over date... I was told after the kitchen was installed the tiler would be able to start what he has to do..

I can almost see the finish line now... fingers crossed it is smooth sailing from here on..
Can't see why the 1st July isn't still achievable... 8 weeks and counting..
I hope you all had a fantastic Easter break with your loved ones and I am looking forward to Mother's Day now... I have put my order in for a 'Snuggle Chair' at Plush.. It's a big round reading/relaxing chair for my new study...

Until my next blog... take care.. Xx

P.S Just to add to this glorious day, I got to meet one of our future neighbours who I have been chatting to via email and blogs.. Thanks Megan for welcoming me into your home today. Wish I could have stayed longer, but really looking forward to being neighbours very, very soon.. :-)

Oh Mr Hart - What a Mess!!!

Painting, Plastering & Promises!!!


As the title states - it has been just over a week since my last post and there has been a lot happening!

Firstly, the external colours have all started to fit together and take shape with the linea boards being painted Shale Grey.. I was so excited to finally see this colour on a larger scale, as prior to finally settling on it back in May last year, I had lost about a weeks sleep tossing colours around in my head, driving around Stage 1 & 2 of Eynesbury, changing my mind every 10 minutes or so as hubby wasn't much help saying, "you choose, I am colour blind anyway!!"..

They look a little darker in the overcast photo above, but as you can see in the photo below they lighten up once the sun hits or reflects onto them... love the girls showing you.. haha

Promises were delivered from our site supervisor Paul, with my beautiful 5 panel timber bi-fold door being installed between the dinning room and alfresco - see below.

More promises were delivered with the support under the bathtub being rectified to Australian standards.. looks odd to me that you just chuck some brinks and mortar under it (see photo below) and that's Australian standards, but hey I am no expert!!

The plaster was also delivered and installed to all internal walls within a week!! This really impressed me as I thought it would take so much longer to do.. hope we don't see any cracks in the near future though!!

I did speak to the guy installing it and he advised that they use paper tape, applied 3 coats to the joins etc and that we should have no problem. My concern is new houses and being able to see the joins in the plaster, especially on the roof.. he advised this won't be the case due to the 3 coats they apply and other company's only applying 2 and not using paper tape... hmmmmm.... I am still a sceptic - time will tell I guess, but it does look good - take a look below!!

Above: Photo after delivery

Below - girls in back hallway - with niche & downlight showing in distance as a feature to each end of the hallway.

Below: looking from entry hallway into the Kitchen, Dinning and Lounge Room. Hopefully the painters will be in next week to do the internal painting!

Photo below: Looking from the garage - entertaining side of house onto the golf course.. Don't you just love my huge kitchen window? Not that I will be standing at it.. haha

The only hiccup we had this week was again with Greybox administration!! GRRRRRRRR... back in May last year I requested that the mouldings around the windows be painted the same colour as the windows - Colourbond Pearl White (this was put into our specifications).

One night we went up there and he was there still painting. I noticed the mouldings had been painted Shale Grey - the same colour as the linea board. I asked if he knew that the mouldings were meant to be Pearl White - the same as the windows and he said he hadn't been advised and would speak to our site supervisor the next day!

Paul called us and said he had no record of this on the current specifications or working drawings. I had a quick look at our specifications and he was right - it wasn't on there!! WHAT THE?? I advised Paul that I had had several conversations with Greybox administration about this and spoke to another person from the company who advised that it is probably stated in the developer approval documentation. He also remembered that I requested this way back when, as we were one of the first clients to request this, and now a lot of new clients want this look also - so they painted them.

However, now the colours don't match... yes that's right... the Colourbond Pearl White windows don't match the Colourbond Pearl White paint on the mouldings around the windows!! Go figure... I am soooooo annoyed!! I am wondering whether it is because it was painted Shale Grey first and then painted Pearl White??

I don't know - I just want it fixed and to match exactly with the windows, posts and trims!!

I finally found an email back in May 2010 with old specifications attached stating that I requested the mouldings to be painted white to match off with the windows. How it is stated on an old specification and removed and not transferred to updated specifications again blows my mind - hopefully (fingers and toes crossed) this is rectified asap due to another one of Greybox's administration errors.. Seriously, if it wasn't for the quality of the final product and that we could custom build our home, we would have pulled out of our contract a long time ago due to poor administration, constant errors and headaches they have caused...

Overall, I am really happy with the progress, the look and quality and am still secretly hoping we can start to move in from 1st July 2011 - come on Paul.. I am counting on you... hehehehe :-)

Looking for an Independent Broker - look no further!!

I forgot to mention on my last post about how thankful we are for having such a wonderful independent finance company -
Finance Path - 1300 780 440.

And for the record - NO, I am not getting paid to say or write any of this..

I just like giving recognition to a company who has outstanding customer service! We seriously would not be in the position we are today if it wasn't for them.

To Mark, Chris, Dennis, Melinda and Melissa - thank you for making us feel comfortable, answering our never ending questions, deciphering all the financial jargon, showing us the process step by step, following our application through from start to finish (we didn't have to enter or even speak to the bank ourselves) and keeping us informed at every stage of the process.

We feel like we can call on you guys at any time to seek advice with any question or concern. As you can see from our blog we are almost at lock-up stage and we still continue to receive their support through phone calls and emails.

Seriously, if you are thinking about applying for your own home loan or any other financial advice, we highly recommend the team at Finance Path. We have greatly appreciated the time, effort and support that they have given us in making one of the most important decisions of our financial future!

Me :-)

Still Almost At Lock Up!!!

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock..

Time is just flying by! I can't believe we are almost at the end of March already (and it's less than 3 weeks to school holidays.. yippee). I am secretly hoping the house is completed and we can move in on 1st July as this is when Term 2 holidays start and it would be perfect timing... but then again it is winter and hopefully it won't me raining.. grrrrr.. one can only hope.. :-) The linea board is pretty much completed on the whole house. I must say I am not 100% happy with the workmanship on some of the joins under the windows, so I will be taking this up with our site supervisor this week. Looking forward to seeing it painted in the colourbond shale grey colour we selected with the window trims in pearl white. The Bi-fold doors are going to be replaced, Greybox blamed the window company for it, which was interesting as one would have thought someone in their office would have had to place the order - go figure! They took the aluminium bi-fold out last week and our wooden one was meant to arrive yesterday, but apparently will be arriving Thursday and installed on Friday now.. can't wait to see it in. Kitchen window hasn't been replaced yet, but will be soon due to a scratch. Our site supervisor was not happy with the quality of the seals on it. It was nice for once not to have to mention or bring something that was not up to scratch to their attention.

A family in the next street are building a very similar house to us, but their Alfresco and Verandah area was poured with concrete with their slab and ours is to be constructed on stumps! Weird, as I can't work out why two houses (which are so much alike) would be built using two different footings! They installed some sound proofing (Earthwool Wall Batts - which is a cost-effective thermal and acoustical barrier for energy - efficient construction) on to the cinema room, part of the lounge, between one of the bedroom and the bathroom and between the master and the ensuite - fingers crossed it blocks out lots of noise.. hehe. Hey dad, with the energy saving from the insulation, this will balance the cost of all the extra power points.. hehe - love you.. xx

Our site supervisor also called us last week when they were installing our air conditioning and heating units. He wasn't happy as in the working drawings it stated the vent was to be placed in the back hallway roof. He said the unit will not work efficiently if it goes there and that it should be installed low in a wall. So we decided to use half of my broom cupboard in the laundry to place the unit. I would rather the unit work properly and lose a little space, so we are glad he called in regards to this instead of just installing as per the working drawings.

Love this photo... her first bath in her new bathroom.. hehe

We had another inspection last week by New Home Inspections. Rob has been fantastic and we believe this has been the best money we have spent.. especially for our peace of mind to know our house is being constructed as per Australian standards. This is our second inspection, the first being at slab stage. We were annoyed to find out that issues in our first inspection had not been completed as we were advised they had!!! Due to this, we requested a hold on the plaster until we were satisfied they had all been rectified. As you can imagine this is frustrating, but our site supervisor seems to be on top of it and getting them plus the 7 additional ones from the frame inspection completed. He is confident that they will be able to start plastering on Thursday or Friday. Wow - I think I have covered most things.. until next time.. Me.. :-)

Almost at Lock-up!

Almost at Lock-up!!

Hi All - sorry but work and family have been keeping me very, very busy. Lot's has been happening with the house and we can hardly keep up with it ourselves. In a matter of 2 weeks.. * Windows went in * Gutters and fascia went up * Roof went on * Wrapping went up * Wooden borders went up around the windows * Lina boards went on this week * My beautiful huge kitchen window went in * All electrical work completed, and * The bi-fold 5 panel door went in which gives us access from the dining room to the alfresco HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Greybox's administration again out did themselves by ordering and installing a white aluminium bi-fold door - which should have been TIMBER.. they even stated that there was no variation for this change so the doors would remain! ummm.. EXCUSE ME!! We soon sent through an email stating the door will be removed and replaced with a TIMBER one as per the: 1. Specifications 2. Working Drawings, and 3. Quote We have yet to receive a response, but I can't see how they can not change it when it is stated in black and white. I also couldn't understand why our Linea boards where going up when they are the wrong colour!! We queried this today and were told that they were to be painted the correct colour.. hmmmm.. can anyone tell me why I had to choose a colourbond colour for the boards when they are are going to now be painted?? Why couldn't I just choose any colour, for example from the Dulux or Bristol range?? Anyway, we are really happy with the progress - haven't asked when it will be finished as we don't want to be disappointed, but fingers crossed it will continue to go along at a steady pace so we can organise a big house warming - with lot's and lot's of beverages.. hehe Have uploaded some photos below also.. until my next post.. ME :-)

Mia being cheeky as ever!

The view from our backyard... Above: Kitchen, Dinning and Living RoomThe WRONG bi-folds.. but I love the look.. if only they were in TIMBER!!! PATIENCE.. hehe