Saturday Morning

 I dropped Kate off for her flute lesson this morning and with 30 minutes to fill before we got on with the rest of the day's chores, there was only the obvious to do. Go see the house!

And woohoo.. it was open because the electricians were in for their first day. And there was a whole troop of them.

The kids bathroom- with newly installed towel rail

I started up a conversation with the first one I found in the family room and more kept appearing.
It was a good thing I happened by, because he was unaware that a hole had already been cut in the side of the kitchen bench for a power point and they had been planning to cut another one in the front of it. I lifted the protective bubble wrap and showed him were the original one had already been cut by the cabinet makers.

I also talked to him about what light fittings I was bring on Wednesday. By now I was quite lost about what was included and what wasn't so I hadn't made any plans for the front porch. A few words with him, and I had added a trip to the store to buy a front light.

Originally there was to be a switch for the hot water so that I could have it set at shower temperature or washing up temperature. The switch was to go above the kitchen bench on the splashback. The nice young sparky asked me if it would be OK to instead put it at the top of the stairs. I actually think that is an even better place then bathing people do not need to come meddling in the kitchen while I am cooking.

I asked him if it would be possible to have the kitchen power points finished with the satin look covers - it is - and he is going to organise it for me :)

It was lovely wandering around the house bathed in the new light of the Wattyl Tibetan Snow. It looks white until you see it against actual white. Like the tiles in my bathroom. Then you can see the warmth in it.

My bathroom- now with towel rail, Tastic bathroom heater and as predicted, toilet roll holder!

The kitchen's ivory coloured cupboards have taken on a peculiar hue. More green than I would have thought. I suspect it will change again once the room has furniture and curtains. The large tiles look good and match perfectly, though no one n the world is going to look at them and see three weeks of worry.

The reflection of light on the gloss gives the doors a subtle contrast

The gloss paint on doors and architraves gives just enough difference. And the door handles I bought look very sexy. Go Ebay!


By the time I fetched Kate, did my missions, and returned with the front light, the fellows had packed up for the day and gone.

Kate and I rattled the garage door: Locked

Front door: also locked

Side door: drats

 This fully lit shot of the laundry a pretty good guide to the colours as they now are.

The rain from the last 24 hours has left the yard a bog so I wasn't interested enough to head around to the laundry door but Kate was intrepid. Next, I hear a gurgle of delight and Kate's face appears in the family room!

So we had a lovely wander and prattle. I have loved how Kate has shared this all with me. 

All the power points are done. The TV points, and data points. A flouro in the garage. A power point for the door lift in the garage. Lots of 2-way light switches which I had wondered about but wasn't going to ask for if it would mean more money.

The switch at the top of the stairs has *5* switches!

Gosh I am happy with how things are coming!

A House is Built

The title of this blog came from a book I read 3 decades ago.
'A House is Built' was written by Marjorie Barnard and Flora Eldershaw.They wrote the book together under the name of M Barnard Eldershaw to win The Bulletin's literary prize in 1928.
Flora Eldershaw went to Mt Erin in Wagga- the same school as I did a bundle of decades later.
Both women went on to live single lives which it seems they they used to promote and pursue their interests in literature. Barnard seems to have used 'love lost' as  force to write and I happened to read the book of short stories which she published after the end of her relationship with Frank Dalby Davison.
They lived the kind of single lives of passion for causes and art and worked for positive changes politcally.
I can admire that sort of person, but I don't know that is the kind of single person I want to be. But maybe I could be?

In Theory

In theory this is what the plan was:

• this week paint
• next week final fit out
• the week after cleanup
• and then walk through and sign over

So this week?
Well the house is now painted!
And the tiles were finished
And the door handles are on internally!
And the heater ducts are in!
And towel rails and hanging rails in the cupboards
And I am willing to bet toilet roll holders are in too!
ooooohhh it is getting so close!

Today I sent off 5 text messages to as many concreting business. So far two have replied. One said that he would be very happy to do the job. I like to hear that!
The two quotes so far have been a big saving on my original quote so i am really really pleased! Though they have just been rough quotes based on the area and without seeing it. No doubt there will be tinkering yet.
Still, it is a big relief after my rash jump into air con.

Hopeless

Ok- so taking a photo of light cream tiles through a very dirty window in the oncoming gloom of evening is completely hopeless.
So the photo I took will not be seen. Instead I will simply say that today those tiles have been installed as the kitchen splashback.
Was it worth all the trouble?
Not sure. The whole effect looks a lot more bland than I thought. I guess the best thing to do is wait until the floors are in and furniture and paintings and so on.
It's not bad bland, by the way. But looking through the window you won't think a genius put this kitchen colour scheme together.

The painter has put a second coat on things and done the outside downpipes. I noticed that one of the downpipes hasn't been installed yet, so I must remember to keep an eye on it. And as you can see, the pergola has been painted too. I am so glad there is a handrail. Now I can call the area a veranda!

The canaries will live on the veranda :)

I need to make a list of the things I still have to do- cement is on my mind right now but never seems to be in the business time of day!

By the way, when I went to the house today, I happened to wander down the road just in time to meet the other family that Solid Construction are building for. (I guess that a better sentence would be 'for whom Solid Constructions are building a house' but that sounds so stuffy) Well most of the family was in the car and I spoke to Dad! Sounds like they are moving in next week. Lucky things.

More paint and cooler prospects!

Last night... I bought... on line.... a spilt system airconditioner.
Major excitement.
I have booked Michael to install it on the 9th of December.
Exciting.
It will be my first airconditioned summer.

Front Door (I bet you could tell)

And when I went to the house there has been more painting done! the laundry door and the front door are now painted with their first coat to match the windows and the roller door and the inside walls are all Tibetan Snow.

Looking in!

Here's the thing. I am seeing things so regularly, and have a pretty good imagination of how things will look there isn't much of a sense of tadah!

For the record

The Snow looks just as I guessed. It looks quite white but the white tiles and the kitchen cupboards it looks more ivory.

We woke up on a rainy day

Today it was raining and Kate was sick. I got a message to work to tell the boss that I was going to be home with Kate as I needed to get her to the doctors.

We both ended up with appointments. Kate has an infection and needs to take antibiotics, and my BP is best it has been in 12 months. I am very pleased!

Then we headed to the discount pharmacy in Mitchel via Solid Construction's office to drop off my light fittings. I poked me head in the door and said to Cheryl that I really thought they didn't have room for them. She joined me in the light drizzle and looked at my boot full and agreed.

I asked her about the outdoor light fittings that Mark had recommended and she gave me an address in Mitchel. This happy coincidence meant once we had got Kate's medicine, we could drop in and buy spotlights for the clothes line and the pergola.

The clothes line is on a detector because it might deter a burglar who might audaciously think to come in the dark - and also because I often dash to rescue things from the line.

I did not want a motion detector on the veranda as I find it quite annoying how they will plunge you into darkness without warning if you happen to sit still. I know there is some switch sequence to stop it doing that but I can't be bothered!

I then took Kate home and while she set off to bed, I rang ACTEW and arranged to have the gas put on for the 18th of November.

And I have booked Erin and John into the orthodontist.

And I rang the Serafin Glass and found out that my tiles were ready.

I was already committed to collect Erin and John from school, so I made it a long sweeping circuit from Gungahlin to Queanbeyan to Fyshwick to Dickson and back to Gungahlin.

I have got a fresh set of linen for my bed and some groceries for dinner and all up it was a  very productive day for a sick day!

Painting on Monday

Today the girls and I leaped out of the car into a downpour and dashed inside.

Looking down the hall into the loo!

The radio was blaring and the painter still hard at work. It is amazing how much he had done in a day.

The eaves were painted.

Friday on left and Monday on right

The inside of the front door was painted.

The ceiling was painted

Kitchen with newly painted ceiling and cans of paint.

The manhole cover was painted too

Man hole cover

is this art?

He even had time for some artwork in the front hall!

The artwork was a bit of a mystery to me but was a little clearer when I looked longer at the manhole.
All the wall behind the manhole cover is spray painted. And there was a pumpy thing in the garage. Looking at the artwork some more I am wondering if some one's hose got away from them?

The cans of paint in the family room were revealing. In the past when I have built houses, I have selected paint,  given the card to the builder and then the painters have tinted whatever their choice of paint was to the nearest colour they could be bothered with. In Sunbury this was a contentious point as the colour was really almost nothing like what we had chosen. We didn't mind the colour though, and Danny Gavaghan was such a good builder we let it slide.

This time, when I gave him the Wattle Tibetan Snow details, I really expected some random off white colour. I was very pleasantly surprised to find genuine Wattyl Tibetan Snow cans stacked in the kitchen. That counts as a big tick for me!

This morning I dropped off the tiles at Serafin Glass to be cut. They couldn't do it then and there as the fellow had suggested on Friday. I wasn't outraged at all, it meant I could get back to work without hanging round. They will call when done. Hopefully tomorrow.

Meanwhile I am going to try and drop the light fittings off to Cheryl tomorrow. I still don't have spotlights for the pergola or clothes line areas.

And I chatted with Michael the aircon man. He says the Fujitsu option is a very good one but is troubled about which wall to put it on. He is going to quote a couple of suggestions. I have a feeling it is getting expensive already, just because of the complications- no negative feelings about Michael. :)

I do have negative feelings about my toes which have new blisters on them from new shoes!

And I will add that the rain that wanted to soak us on our way in vanished once we were inside :)

Tile cutting plans

Tomorrow morning I have to head out to Queanbeyan to try and get the tile problem finally sorted.
Here is the diagram I am going to give them to hopefully get the right dimensions...

A Sunday stroll...

There's the house! Just over Erin's head. We are nearly there.

It was so hot and beautifully sunny. The girls were getting tired.

The painter is there- on a Sunday

The neighbourhood is growing up

 Everyone was hot, dusty and thirsty

Kate with the golf ball I found

Looking up the road

Looking across the road

Trying to get Rusty to drink

Eventually he drinks out of Erin's hat!

Everyone in Kate's 'walk in robe'

One thing leads to another....

I woke up this morning and one of the first things I was thinking of was the canaries. Their cage needs cleaning and that means replacing the paper in the bottom
That means we will need to use the Chronicle that gets delivered to the house, free.
Well before I could use that, I needed to extract the adds for concretors from the classifieds. I need those names and numbers so that I can get some one to lay the base to the pergola.
While wading through the paper I saw an add for split air conditioners.

Interesting.

It had a list of prices for the various sizes. Well of course I don't know how big  so I have to become an instant expert. Three cheers for the Internet.
An hour later I know that once I know the square metres, I need to multiply that by 0.125 and that is how many kilowatts it needs to be.
So if I am to cool my lounge and family room, I need about 6.3Kw.

While Kate is at her flute lesson I dive into the shop running the special and find out more:
I am told that this sort of electric heating is more economical than my ducted gas will be. He also mentioned that my current electric slab heating is about 4 times more expensive. Ouch!

So I got thinking some more.

One of my concerns with the house is that there is no zoning. My bedroom is going to be way too hot if it is the same temperature as the lounge. So here is the solution! Set the gas central heating to take the chill off the house and use the electric heaters to make the living areas warm.

Plus there is the lovely idea of a cooler summer!

 So then what price?

Well I had the price from the place I visited which was fully installed. I then rang a retailer and asked about their prices and the cost of installation. I was given the name of some one who could install it.

I have rung him and he has been terribly helpful. He has given me a bit of a guide on which brands are to be trusted as well as some thoughts on size and installation location.

He has asked me to send him my plans and he will let me know how much installation will cost.

Then I was back on line looking at prices:

Best two options:

 1.
http://appliancecentral.com.au/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=94

That's a Fujitsu, 7 kw and $1599

2.
Harvey Norman have offered me a Panasonic, 5.8Kw for $1300 which is a very good price as well.

So I have the choice between two very good prices. One will be cheaper. The other will be more effective. Especially if we want to leave the doors open and entice icy tendrils to wander through the house!
Guess which way I am leaning?

With a little bit of Deck,....

With a little bit of deck

with a little bit of deck

with a little bit of deck she'll move right in!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Sj9o7DWJU

Hand railing

 

I am just a touch in love with my hand railing. Just to be saved from that worry. I really was doing my best to ignore something I didn't have a clue how to go about getting sorted. It is the sort of small job that it is almost impossible to get done in Canberra. In Canberra you need a big job or you will be flat out getting anyone to come and quote.

u-turn drain pipe

I think that this piece of plumbing is to stop the water backing up into the roof if the water tank fills. I think that is what it is?? Well I know that is what I think it, but I don't know if it is what I think it is.

And guess what else happened today? The fellow installed all the eves and some new finishing trims to door frames.

Eaves!

I called up Serafin Glass in Queanbeyan today and asked if it would be possible for them to give me a hand. Trying to measure a slippery shiny tile accurately with a pencil and a very bad tape measure has been giving me the willies.

The very lovely fellow at Serafin has said that if I give them the measurements, they will be able to do it for me. The suggestion is that if I go on Monday at 9am, they will see if they can do it then and there, otherwise I will return another day. It can't be any fairer than that.

The stain test was a success. After 24 hours of tomato sauce and soy sauce mixed with oil and curry powder and exposure to harsh domestic cleaning chemicals, it still looks perfect.

So with the tile issue nearly sorted and the hand rail sorted, I am heaving gusty sighs of relief!


Oh and I am calling the house Jane. Plain Jane on the outside but lovely when you know her!

Skip a day and it is Thursday!

I did visit the house yesterday. It had been cleaned up a bit inside. The larger mess removed and even some of the smaller rubbish. In fact, some one was inspired by the cleanup - the builder's bin even has an old mat in it?

I have been doing a fair bit of worrying to make up for a day of no blogging.

After my last blog, I had decided to put the contrast tiles into my kitchen. I rang the tiler and asked his opinion. He said don't do it. Somehow we got to talking about the stain resistance of porcelain tiles. You see, porcelain tiles are not glazed. And to get the shine, they are polished. Apparently that means it has micro abrasions and will allow stains to settle amongst the microness.

Now my tiles are 'nano' polished. So that is supposed to mean that the dirt has to be even more cunning to find a tiny place to stick. But I was rattled. What would be the point of having a stainable material as a splashback. I asked the tiler. He said he wouldn't have it on his kitchen floor.

So welcome home Worry!

I worried online until I found a forum talking about it. The story told is that cheap tiles have fat particles in the clay and expensive ones have tiny particles. Fat particles mean fat spaces for dirt to sit. My tiles were cheap so I was ready to guess I was in a bad place.

Then there was a lot of talk about the fussiness of the cleaning fluid you have to use.

Well I plan to keep this kitchen for a decade and more and fussiness isn't my style.

So began operation kitchen mess and cleanup.

We are in stage three now. We have cleaned it with vinegar, then poured oil and curry and soy and tomato sauce onto it. Let it sit while I watched some tv.
Then cleaned it with Nifty. Then I did it again. I am going to leave it until morning.

So far so good!
If it fails, then I go to Pete at Tileflair and buy some tiles like the ones in my bathroom. Actually right now that would be a million times easier.

Tortured Tile and the measurements I have to draw on it

Meanwhile back at the house!

Look!

Tadah! Here is my deck with a pergola!

I am very pleased to see the arrival of the pergola. Eventually it will have laserlight panels on top. Once I have it cemented. If they put the rooking on now, it will act as a kite and sail away!

And the other thing to note in this photo is the rail that Mark has added to the bottom to stop people falling off and also so the nice inspectors will pass the house for me. I have to say I will be eternally grateful to Mark for that. It had been worrying me. A lot. He just did it, no fanfare or fuss.And as you can see the worry part of this is becoming a feature so when Mark got rid of one of them I am particularly appreciative.

The pergola will be painted a charcoal colour to match the frames.

By the way the whole paint colour choice got derailed.

Think 'Tibetan Snow" for the interior and a front door to match window frames. Mark D (Not Mark P) has been my sounding board through all this and he has stuck to his opinion that a white painted house would be superior. After flirting with all manner of not quite whites, I have ended up with Tibeten Snow which is darn close to white :)

This is looking in at the family room. You can see the window at the top of the stairs and the one at the bottom. The next photo shows from inside the bottom window.

This is the view from the hall outside the laundry. 

Try to imagine the lower area filled with 

 pebbles, a Japanese maple and lush green oyster plants.

One sort of downpipe

And they have added downpipes. I told the guy it didn't take much to excite me- so it should come as no surprise to anyone that i took photos of downpipes. There are two sorts. Thick plastic ones and less voluminous metal ones. I am sure there is a good reason why. But I don't have to know to be happily taking photos of them!

PS I have seen the cut lengths of wood to finish the railing .. there is more to it than it currently appears

Tuesday?

What greeted me at 7:50am?

You know what? I am kinda tired of long wordy blogs. There is a long wordy story that goes with today's events but I can barely be bothered telling it. The blog though, is a replacement for my memory so I feel bound to leave a couple of hints to remind myself:

Worrying subjects-
Tiles
Deck

Lovely Laundry Lane

For my tank to sit on!

Satisfying Subjects:
Driveway
Foot path to clothes line
Finished plaster
Tiles in laundry
A retaining wall being built next door so I don't fall down into their yard, along with my house!

The neighbours are retaining!

No-can-go subjects:Hand held shower. Mum and dad gave me one over the weekend. Apparently it can't be installed because it is too late. I could have sworn that I had been told it was a matter of getting the taps to the plumber. If it was just for my sake I wouldn't care but I did want it usable for Michael if possible.

What a beautiful driveway!

 So what is the tile problem I hear you ask..NOT!
Here is the problem. What do you think?

What do you think?

Little by Little!

Well, little by little we are heading towards completion. I posted off $20K today as a part of the progress payment marking the completion of plastering.
I can only do it in small lumps as there is a limit on my daily transfer amount. I figure by the time I get the third payment across, the plasterer will have finished.

The lounge room plastering is done!

Today he got the first two rooms and hall finished with cornices.

And the main bedroom

And while he was working inside, some one got busy outside and built the fence. I wish they could build me a deck that fast!

I also finished deciding on my paints. I have chosen Dulux Handmade Linen (quarter strength) for the walls and frames. The frames to be done in a gloss. And white for the internal doors.

And look! Fence!

Dulux Purple Empire for the front door with the other outside painting being done in the gray colour that matches the window frames.
Cheryl from Solid has emailed me and asked if I don't want to change my mind and have the doors in the same colour as the walls. I am thinking no... but as i can't imagine having seen that effect before, i may have to go wandering the display houses to see what that would look like.

The first Visitors!

Mum and Dad came today to have a look at the house. I think they are favourably impressed with it so far.
It was lovely to show them through. As they are helping me with the purchase, it is very important to me that they are happy with it.
It was good time to have them come as there are things I would like to have them think over. Especially the garden. I need a bit of help thinking that one through. 

The kitchen-almost done now!

here is the kitchen as it appeared today. Almost done except for those tiles I have to have cut and the appliances I have stored. Mark P says he will install them once I am ready to move in as it is too common to have them stolen otherwise.

Mum pointed out that with this lovely long bench, there is room for 6 bar stools. I have been trying to budget for 4 and have put the purchase off over and over.
But just having her mention it had me googling...
I have found two very similar ones
http://alwaysdirect.com.au/deluxe-acrylic-bar-stools-x-2-black.html
It has 4 legs and potentially a bit more comfortable to sit on.
OR
http://www.mattblatt.com.au/ProductDetails.aspx?element=31&category=1&PKID=3706&ColourID=3
5 legs, clear seat and looks a tiny bit sturdier.
Affordable-ish

Anyway, back at the house we wandered out into the sunshine on a gloriously sunny day and the wind was howling. (My hair is full of grit now.) We wandered around talking about garden ideas, how to finish the veranda- the floor and a rail, whether water will pool below the veranda and other things. It was very nice to have a chance to talk to some grown ups about it. Normally it is just Kate and I.

After that we locked up the house and went to the Waterfront restaurant. It was totally deserted. Dad was quite convinced that to be open  at 12 on a Sunday and have no customers is a bad sign. Well I guess it might be too but the food was fine and the view over the lake was lovely.

After enjoying our lunch we returned home to have a coffee then I sent them off in opposite directions. Mum to Junee and Dad back to Narooma.
I wish I had thought to take their photos at the house. next time I see them will be moving in time!

Another Big Day

Fence Posts!

Here's today's surprise. Fence posts! When you do your fencing, you put in half the fence and the neighbours put in half. That means if your neighbours don't build for a while you can be stuck with a half fence for some time. A funny look and no good if you have a run-away dog.

Clothes Line

 Obviously the cement and hole specialist has been to visit the house as not only are the fence posts in, the clothes line frame has been cemented in too.
Do not ask me why the spare piece of roof truss is there and you will see a bit of wood on the ground to remind the cement guys to make the path longer.

Shelves in Walk In

 While I have been only able to peep through windows, the carpenter has put shelves into the cupboards. The walk in one gets a unit of them at one end and the bedrooms have just the upper shelf.

En-suite

 And the tiler seems to have finished all the tiles except the laundry and the kitchen splashbacks.

Kate in the kids' bathroom

 Tiles in the kids' bathroom are in too. In the store they looked more cream than they do here but I am very satisfied. I think maybe they were called ivory. I had forgotten what I had chosen to tell the truth. I thought there was texture in the colour. Now that I see them up, I remember this is what I decided on!

Kate in the Bathroom

 Kate and I looked at the paint colours I had chosen and I am more and more convinced that Handmade Linen is the one I will choose. It has the faintest green tinge which means it goes with both the whites and the creams I have chosen. I think.

The Laundry!

Look at that! The laundry is looking like a laundry! Beneath the overhead cupboards is a hanging rail so that I can hang clothes to dry in there rather than have to put everything through the dryer or have clothes ponies all through the house.

The laundry sink and my paint charts

Impossible to tell much but the cupboard doors are the same colour as the kitchen but the top is different. The handles are the same.
 

Almost a kitchen

 And here is the work in progress kitchen. Exciting! Exciting Exciting!

(See the waterfall bench?)