Bricks are clean!

I drove past the house today and whilst there were no signs of the beginnings of a roof, there was a man there cleaning the bricks! They look fantastic, no pics as I didn't have an opportunity to stop but should get some pics in the coming days. Supposed to be great weather this week - probably just jinxed it again though! Come onnnnnn ROOF!

I jinxed it!

Poop! I jinxed myself! Going on about how blessed we have been with the weather, then the very next day it blows an absolute GALE for three days straight! The winds were ridiculous, and all I can do is laugh when I think of how good a run we've been having with the build, then AS SOON AS the roof is due to go on the gale force winds arrive and hang around like a bad smell for a good part of the week, because like I said before once the roof goes on the weather shouldn't really be a factor! Boy was it a factor this week, but I'm glad it's over. Nothing obviously got done this week, which by the time Wednesday came around I was resigned to that being the case. Strong winds due again for the weekend, but as long as they're gone by Monday I'm happy - really looking forward to a fresh week next week where hopefully we'll see the beginnings of a roof!

In other news, someone has hooked into some of our left over bricks! Not happy! We will get out there ASAP with a wheel barrow to move them, we really wanted to keep every single brick left over so we could make a letterbox among other things. We'll see what happens!

Bricking complete!

We received the official text on Friday that our bricks are now complete! Woohoo! It was pretty much exactly 2 weeks which is what I expected. I thought that bricking would feel like forever as that is what seems would take the longest but the 2 weeks really flew by. We have about 2.5 pallets of bricks left too which will definitely come in handy :)

I'm guessing guttering and fascias and possibly a roof this week (or at least the beginnings of a roof). We are supposed to be getting gale force winds tomorrow so don't like the chances of anyone getting up on that roof - I know I wouldn't! I didn't get out there today so I'm not sure if anything was started / done but I plan on making a trip out there tomorrow.

Vas spoke to our SS today about a few bits and pieces, one being that bloody dreaded pipe in Bedroom 2. Nothing has still been done about it, we still don't know if it was mistakenly put there or not, we have both asked our SS on several occasions to look at it but I think he keeps forgetting. Today when Vas asked again I think he realised he really needed to get onto it, however didn't seem at all worried. He said he would get the plumber to check it out. I do feel a little bad for him, considering this all happened when we were still allocated to the slab supervisor and he dismissed us when we asked him about it, saying that now that the slab is down he distances himself from the build. What a crock. It was a potential mistake that happened under his supervision so he should have made some effort to look into it. But that is just my opinion. Who knows, maybe it is meant to be there...

Anyway, enough about that! Brick pics below!

Bricking finished?

So I think our bricks might be finished! I drove past today and they were working on an area that still wasn't finished, but after my neighbour sent me some pics today it looks like they might be done! Will probably go check it out on the weekend. I don't wanna jinx it, but we have been extremely blessed with the weather during this build, and with the roof going on soon the weather really shouldn't be a factor anymore, so no more obsessive weather watching for me! The next week or so is supposed to be reasonably clear so hopefully it stays that way :) will post some pics on the weekend hopefully. We'll be out and about at the half yearly sales looking for a new fridge, TV and 2 x DVD players - hopefully we get a good deal.

On another note - GO THE BLUES!!! Vas and I are huge footy fans and we went to the State of Origin game last night. So stoked to get the win, was well worth the late night on a school night!

Bricks still going and more quotes received...

The brickies are still going great guns on the house, we dropped by on Saturday (very miserable weather) to check out the progress and got a few pics, but it started raining yet again so we had to run back to the car. They had done quite a bit around the back of the house and apparently they were there today (was a beauty of a day today). Should be a good week for them as it is supposed to be mostly fine weather for the rest of the week, fingers crossed it stays that way. Talking to our SS last week he did mention that they should be finished this week, but I will take that with a grain of salt. Though it is possible, but I won't get my hopes up - would be a bonus if they do finish up though!

Also received quotes for window dressings from Wynstan and Accent Blinds. Wynstan is a definite no, the price wasn't competitive at all and again the fact that it is only a 3 year warranty on the shutters as opposed to 20 years is a bit of a deal breaker for me also. Accent's quote was actually quite competitive and a bit cheaper than Warrigal, however I am waiting to see what the warranty is for the shutters from Accent. I have asked Warrigal if they could price match so I am just waiting to hear back about that. I also don't know too much about Accent's product so a bit more info would be great. Turns out Vas knows someone who works for Accent so we are seeing if he can slash the price even more.

We started looking at carpet on the weekend, was a bit of a pain as some places are only open until about lunch time so we missed a few but that is OK. We ended up going to Choices Flooring and South Coast Floor Coverings - both came back with very reasonable prices (cheaper than I thought actually!), there was only a $50 difference between the two quotes so shows a bit of consistency in the price of the product. I think we will go with Choices, really like the gentleman we spoke to in there and he was so helpful and really knew his products. South Coast Floor Coverings were great too but just got a better feel and experience at Choices. I don't think I can be bothered getting more quotes, so lazy of me I know! But getting 2 x prices so close together I am confident we are getting a good deal, and again it's about $1K cheaper than I had budgeted for, and it is beautiful soft carpet.

The whole time I was thinking we'd go a dark brown carpet, even before we signed on with MJH all that time ago, but after taking home some samples we are now leaning more toward a greyish charcoal colour, it looks quite sophisticated and neutral so I think we will go with that.

Some more brick pics below!

Quotes received, variations fixed and bricks continuing!

So I received quotes back from Warrigal Blinds and Suttle Shutters, nothing back from Wynstan yet (I decided to get a quote from them just for comparison sake) but they did say they will get one to me shortly.

Warrigal is definitely the front runner, the quote from them was around $3600 cheaper than Suttle Shutters! AND the quote from Warrigal also included a Clearshield security door for the front, Suttle Shutters mustn't do them as it wasn't included on the quote (didn't think they did). Maybe the polyresin shutters that Suttle do are a more superior product to the PVC shutters but $3600 isn't really worth it to me. I sent an enquiry through the Accent Blinds website but yet to hear back from them. I have a feeling Warrigal will be the most competitive though and I must say I am impressed with their service - when they said they would do something they did it and they are a local company too so would be nice to use them, I'll wait and see what Wynstan and Accent come back with, if they come back to me.

Oh and the $8 credit variation debacle got sorted, our CLO made a mistake so our variation for the extended tender period is about a $1680 credit, phew! So far we now have over $3K in credits that we will get back at the end of the build, the rock one should be around another $4K.

Yesterday was a crappy day weather wise so there were no brickies, but today my lovely neighbour texted to let me know they were working hard this morning which is great! I didn't head out there but I will tomorrow. Here are some pics we took on the weekend of the brick progress, can't wait to go there tomorrow and check it out!

Productive day today...

Vas and I had the day off today so we got productive and went to look at window dressings so we could get the ball rolling with quotes etc. We are planning on plantation shutters for the whole house except for the stacker doors where we are looking to get double roller blinds. We would also like a Crimsafe / Clearshield screen door for the front door.

Now this whole time I was thinking basswood shutters (except for wet areas of course) and really had my heart set on them but after all 3 places we went to strongly recommended PVC I think I have now been swayed.

First we went to Warrigal Blinds (a local Illawarra company) and I think we had the best experience here. I emailed the sales consultant a copy of the plans whilst we were in the shop, she printed it off and we told her what we wanted and where. She showed us the different shutters and roller blinds, explained the products in detail including any pros and cons and said she would put a quote together for us based on the window measurements in the plans, should have the quote sometime next week. The basswood shutters they sell only have a 3 year warranty whereas the PVC ones (called Fusion20) have a 20 year warranty, that alone really won me over.

Then we went to Wynstan, not really a good experience here. It took the lady at the desk a long time to even acknowledge us, then she asked if they can come and do a measure and quote, I said we aren't ready for all that yet and would just like a rough quote based on the house plans. She proceeded to rattle off the email address for me to send the plans to (hello, feel free to write it down for me or something). She didn't even tell me about the products available, I asked her if she would recommend basswood or PVC shutters and she said PVC. I then asked about warranty and both basswood and PVC only have a 3 year warranty. I may or may not still send through our plans for a quote just for comparison sake but I highly doubt we will go through Wynstan, aside from the warranty but the lack of service has turned me off.

We then went to Suttle Shutters near our current home who are a Luxaflex dealer, they only just opened last week. Nice lady but don't feel she was 100% confident as she was a little vague, sounds like her hubby is the one with the knowledge however he wasn't around. I showed her our house plans on the iPad, which I am sure the window measurements are stated on the plans (we are just figuring out how to read the measurements but think we know how to "decipher" them now). She wasn't convinced they were the full measurements so she told us to ask our builder for a proper "window schedule". I have emailed our CLO asking for this but I think how Vas and I have deciphered them might be right, I will send it off to her next week and explain it to her as I would still definitely like a quote from them. Instead of PVC shutters they use a product called polyresin. They also felt nice and sturdy so I would be interested in the cost. 20 year warranty for the polyresin and 3 years for basswood.

So I don't think we will be going for the basswood now!

Whilst we were out we also stopped in at Freedom Furniture (lately has been our second home) and put a deposit on our couch for the theatre room and also on a mirror for the entry hallway. We have pretty much almost finished our furniture shopping for the whole house! Everything we have bought has been on sale at Freedom, we haven't paid full price for anything :) here are pics of our purchases:

Mirrors for Entry Hallway

Console for Entry Hallway

Dining Chairs

Dining Table

Couch for Living Area (this pic does no justice)

TV Unit for Living Area

Couch for Theatre Room

TV Unit for Theatre Room

Chair for our Bedroom

We will be adding splashes of colour of course with cushions, throw rugs etc...but looking forward to seeing it all come together :) spare beds will also be purchased from IKEA plus some other bits and pieces from IKEA and that will be over the coming months. Also need to purchase another TV and a couple of DVD players and a new fridge. Also need a money tree...

We will be looking into carpet next weekend, looking forward to that one!

Didn't get to the block today and won't be able to tomorrow either as it is another busy day, we will hopefully get there on Sunday and I'm excited to see the progress of the bricks!

Ciao for now :)

Bricks have started!

Went for a drive past the block at lunch time today, hoping to at least see that the cement mixer etc had been delivered in preparation for brick laying to commence, and to my pleasant surprise the brickies were there laying bricks! Half the garage wall had been done by that time, I was stoked! The front yard looks like a shambles, there is even a box from what looks like a TV or computer monitor just chucked on the ground, but at the moment I guess it's not really my problem for me to worry about!

I also received the variation for the piering as we only came in at 19.1 lineal meters, so it was a credit! The only variation I have been happy to sign so far LOL. When I signed and sent it back I asked our CLO about the credit variation for the rock (as we should only need to be paying for the excavation. The disposing of it from site was not necessary so that should be a $4K credit right there) and also the credit variation for not using the full provisional allowance for the extended tender period (that should be around about a $2K credit as we were put on the construction list end of February and our tender expiry was end of April, so we were 2 months early). Our CLO said the rock credit will be sorted at the end of the build, not sure why but OK. She said she would look into the provisional allowance credit for the tender extension and come back to me as it should have been settled already back before construction started but must have been overlooked, no worries.

Heard back from her this arvo and got a credit...for...wait for it...$8. Yes, $8. WHAT THE??! I replied straight away saying that cannot be right and asked if I am missing something. At the end of February when they put us on the construction list she even said we would get about a $2K credit, they had everything they required when we were put on the construction list (otherwise they would not have put us on it!) so I am quite perplexed by this. I didn't get a response this arvo but I will wait and see what she says, I am hoping it was just a mistake on their part because I have been expecting that $2K credit the whole time, certainly not $8.

Also got an email from the aircon company MJH uses which was a nice surprise, just confirming the aircon system we have on order and a plan of where all the duct outlets will go, will double check everything over the weekend and if all is OK I will reply with the all good to go!

A lame pic of the bricks below, I was in the car and they were inside the house (they had set up a little tarp and all!) having lunch, there is 4 of them working so hopefully it will get done nice and quickly. I didn't want to get out to take the shot so a bit of car window reflection I'm sorry :) will get some better ones on the weekend when no one is there! Weather isn't supposed to be too crash hot over the coming days but hopefully not heavy enough to stop the brickies from working :)