Doors, doorframes and down pipes

Today we had an official walk-through with our builder before signing off on the fourth progress claim for the internal linings. The garage isn't installed yet, but with the installation of the other external doors, the house is now officially at lock-up stage.

 

  

All of the downpipes, external taps and the water metre have also appeared.

  

Inside the house, the woodwork around the doorways is in...

 

... the majority of the internal doors and wardrobes have been installed (or at least put in place)...

  

 

 

...the alfresco stacker doors are in...
 

 ...and the waterproofing has begun in the bathroom and ensuite.

  
 

Here's some shots of the entrance/hallway, showing the 1200mm wide display niche inside the front door.

 

 

On Monday the kitchen and bathroom/ensuite vanities (minus the ceasar stone bench tops) will be installed and the garage door is being measured up. On Tuesday the tilers begin and by the end of the week the painting should have started. We've been given an updated estimate of four to five weeks before handover, so should be in by early August. Probably should start packing up our current place I suppose!

Internal linings complete

The internal lining was completed this week with the remainder of the plasterboard as well as the cornice being installed. The doors aren't in yet, but it actually looks like a real house now... empty, bur real!

 

On Saturday afternoon we visited the house with Ben's mate, Dave, who is helping us with our landscaping. He roughed out an idea of a clean and simple design that we're happy with but won't cost a fortune!

 

 

 

 

Insulation and plasterboard

The internal fitout began this week with the majority of the insulation and the gyprock (walling) being installed. This segregated the rooms properly giving us a better idea of their size. It's not completed yet, with some areas on the ceiling still open to the frame, but should be complete by the end of this week. Here's a few shots of the progress so far.

 

Our bedroom and one of the 'kids rooms':

 

 

 

Ensuite, walk-in wardrobe and hallway:

  

 

Main bathroom:

 

 

 

Living areas and garage:

 

 

 

 

A minor hiccup

I received a call the other day from our tiling supplier - our external floor tile, that was supposed to be used for the al-fresco and porch, has been discontinued and we needed to come in and reselect a new one. I had a feeling this might happen since we chose them in May last year, over a year ago now! Just lucky it wasn't the kitchen splash back feature tile that I built my whole colour scheme around! 

And so, Ben and I had an appointment this morning for the reselection. The original internal and external floor tiles were the 'Torino coffee', basically the same tile but the external had a rough surface for grip. I wasn't sure whether to try and find a tile for the outside that went with the original internal tile but was different enough you could tell it was a different tile, or choose a new matching set for both. It was funny when we were choosing, I made a beeline for the sample of the 'Torino coffee' again without even seeing the name on it! 

In the end, I chose a completely new set. (The lady at the tile place had held off on ordering the internal as well since this is quite common.) All the external ones I liked were too close to the 'Torino coffee' that it looked like I'd tried, unsuccessfully, to match it. 

The new one is called 'City Latte'. It's slightly smaller, a 400mm x 400mm tile, and doesn't have the 'dirty' look to it as the 'Torino coffee' but is basically the same colour. The lady pointed out that it's actually the same colour as the tile we chose for the bathroom/en suite and laundry, only bigger, so will actually flow really nicely! I'm still slightly disappointed we had to change it, but happy enough with the new one. 

'City latte' 400mm x 400mm, external tile:
(slightly dirty display tile)

'City latte' 400mm x 400mm, internal tile:

  

The full colour scheme with the feature mosaic tile, kitchen counter top/cupboard samples and paint colours:

 

Internal fit out begins

The progress has slowed remarkably this week with the only new developments being:

- the delivery of the bath on Wednesday, deposited rather unceremoniously into the middle of the rumpus room before later, sometime between then and Saturday arvo, being installed in its rightful place;

 

 

 

- the delivery of the plasterboarding for the walls;

- the delivery of the architraves; and

- the transformation of our backyard into one giant mud pie!