Living the dream...2012 it's going to be a good year.

Well its been several weeks now, Christmas and New year were good in the new home. Still getting used to the layout and how the house feels. The builder STILL have a few outstanding things to complete and it's almost the 3 month Inspection !!

 The oven install after we moved in. F&P Pyrolytic..

All the action now in the partly setup Theatre room, sounding good.

 Dining room table all set for Christmas dinner. Just the cosy 8 of us for the first time in the home.

In and loving it....still lots to do.

Day 265 - Moving in slowly - more post build installations happening.
Since getting the keys over 1 week ago, we have had our carpet laid, Evap cooling installed along with the Solectair - Solar heating unit.

The phone is now connected , just waiting for iiNET to do their thing with the ADSL connection.

The still to do list is quite large, never seems enough time on the weekends.

Keys secured...packing the first load. In we go.

Day 246....After a nervous morning, the bank came through with the final payment cheque, the keys obtained from the builder.  Now for the big move, we have the luxury of moving slowly - I'm glad.
More photo's soon.....

Occupancy Certificate...almost in now.

BREAKING NEWS -  The occupancy certificate is now issued, just need the bank to make the final payment and we can move in. Phew...it will be so good after the past 36 weeks.

Handover looming - can it all be ready.

Day 236 of  240.

With Handover in sight now, only a few items to complete from the PCI and the last week. From outside all item,s appear to have been fixed.  The retaining wall almost finished. The building inspector wanted a few extra expansion joints in the brickwork - these are almost complete and soon to be re inspected.

If  a builder tells you they can build a house in 20 weeks - don't believe them.  Double it and then take away a few weeks and you will be surprised.

 Some temporary steps ( to gain occupancy ) outside the East side Doors. Decking will go here in the near future from the leftover funds - ha ha..



Friday is a Big day - I'm expecting them to give us the Occupancy certificate by then, it's up to the bank to make the final payment and that's it - we will be finished. !!
All that left is to move in and enjoy !!
More soon >

PCI done & dusted

Day 229, With the contract date looming ( Day 240 ) Ashford Homes have used every inch of their time allocated.  PCI went smoothly, only 2 pages of items to correct & touch up. There is two major items, the Laundry bench top which had several marks on it which were not able to be removed. The other one being the the windows on the West side of the house, which the retaining wall guy damaged when he cut down the metal posts with his angle grinder, spraying the windows with hot metal fragments. All are to be replaced..costly for him.

 With the retaining wall now finished, the occupancy certificate can be issued, the remaining 5m along the rear of the block finally done - only 4 months late.

The remaining house is looking good, Shower screens & mirrors installed in the bathrooms.

 We have a GAS meter !  

We should have the occupancy certificate by the end of this week, organise the final Bank cheque.

Have to get busy now,  Concrete , Carpet , Evap Air conditioning  to organise, Oh, our appliances to fit - Matt to do these.

And then the furniture, many delivery trucks to program.....too may thing to think about..

More later :-))))

PCI in sight...almost there we hope.

Day 221 - With PCI booked for this Wednesday, the end is finally close....we hope !...With a further flurry of activity this past 2 weeks, we age getting close to a handover..if the retaining wall can get sorted.  Dean was found under a rock somewhere...but can he get up to speed and finish the retaining wall... Can he if fact build it correctly....Hmmm not so far. Still many issues to resolve.

 After some last minute changes  and lack of F7 TP rails, we accepted Red gum  for the rails - Now this needs to be sorted - B grade sleepers will not be accepted, several of the existing wall sleepers are sub standard with large sections not the full thickness.

  

New posts added - different heights ? Not sure why !!

 The plumbing is now mostly sorted, Tapware and basins now full installed.

 Kitchen Under bench Sink looking good.

Another milestone, is the tiles are now finished - the last lot of Kitchen tiles now completed after the bench tops were installed.

As I mentioned earlier, PCI is booked for Wednesday this week. A milestone for Ashford homes and the end is getting closer.  The big list is being prepared for the PCI meeting...is our SS preparing the house for a handover in the next 10 day's  ???  HE better be.

More another day >>>>>>

Benchtop's In

Day 205 - After the drama's of the past few weeks with the stone people, the Bench tops are finally installed - they " look fantastic " as Sandy shouted yesterday when she saw them for the first time.

The Ducted Heating now installed fully from what we can see, the flue for it can be seen on the rooftop.

Still missing in action is dean the retaining wall guy - once again he has not started the rebuild of the western side retaining wall - waiting for timber still so we are told...time is running out !!

Still to do :-

* Plumber final fit off of the water items.

* Touch up of the painted surface.

* Tiles & Mirror's above the new bench tops.

* Ducted Vac system 

The finish line is finally in sight - bring on the PCI  - Let's get it finished.

Power to the people......PV's installed

Day 200 - Week 32 - Our PV Panels and Inverter are now fully install and signed off just in time for the Vic Government PFit deadline of 30/9  It's up to SP Ausnet now to get the meter programmed for the feed in recording.

Growatt  3kW Inverter  combined with 16 x 190W MonoCrystalline PV Panels.  Facing 12deg East of north.....best day so far is 22kWhours.


The Shower screens are now installed, all the cupboard & WIR shelving fit out is now completed.

The painter has been back doing some trim up painting, the front door now with it's first coat of the final colour - Black.

The garage door now operational.

Good news on the Stone bench tops, they found another supplier and they have been made, fitting is due by this Friday 7th October.

Still no Dean the retaining wall guy - this weeks excuse  - the F7 rated timber had to be re sealed at the manufacturer's 'cause it did not come out right the first time....Hmmmm.... Yeah right.  He is running out of time - he could be organising the yet unfitted posts to be installed while he is waiting.

The ducted heating is booked for next week, so I'm told. See if this comes true.

Most items now ticked off the list - PCI  here we come, 2 weeks time  ?  See how they go.

More another Day :->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Small steps again towards handover.

Day 197 - With only a few more weeks to go towards some sort of handover, there has been a few small steps toward this milestone. Still no word on the bench tops, only that they have been talking to a few suppliers.
Roof space insulation was fully completed after a few complaints about the gaps identified at the last inspection.
The garage doors now installed, looking much better with some doors in place.

Still no retaining wall started yet - the engineers report is in, sketches for Dean to get started - but No Dean to be found.

More on the weekend, Pic's of our new 3kW PV Panels and Inverter, just too wet to get some proper pics.

All signed off and submitted just before the Sept 30th Vic Government deadline for the PFIT rate of 60c/kWh.

Keep you posted :->>>>>>

Oh No !! Disastrous news on the Benchtop's

Day 189 -  Not good, we had our regular site meeting this morning - SS told us that the company doing our stone bench tops has gone into liquidation - with just weeks to go - not what we wanted to hear !!

Ashford homes now need to recover and find another supplier and quickly...

Just a short one today. :->>>>>>>>

Insulate me from the hot outside...keep me warm and cosy in Winter

Day 185 - The new floor tiles (white) with silver grey grout looks great. All the floor area now completed. Our bathroom Black tiles in the showers is a fantastic contrast to the white.

 We are told the stone bench tops are to be installed this week...cannot wait.!!

The house insulation has been mostly installed, only a few patches to complete now, this should keep us cosy inside during the colder months and summer heat.

The list of items to complete is getting smaller as we approach the handover point. I am still amused that the retaining wall guy is still not there to complete the wall down the west side of the property. Time is running out.

More another day :->>