House pics with the lodgers furniture

We have some lodgers in the house while we work on the outside, they have kindly allowed us to wander through. 

Upstairs billiard room, but no billiard table

My study with a bed 

Nicks room

Day 212 - House officially complete

The house is now complete, but we will not move in for a few more weeks while we work to stabilise the mud pit the house is built on.
Progress has started with the driveway and decking at the back of the garage, but we still need a few more retaining walls, decking out the back, some grass, landscaping, and plants.

Day 211 - decking around the side complete

And all locks now in place. Bank inspector has given it the nod, just need the utilities besides power connected and we are right to move in

Day 210 - Almost there

Front is looking good, last coat of paint on the inside seems to be progressing well and the decking at back of the Garage is nearly complete. Should all be good by EOD Thursday. 

Day 209 - stairs to Family room

Steps have now been stained with an excellent attempt to match the floor boards

Day 209 - EOD

Progress on driveway, aggregate to be exposed tomorrow I guess. 

Sideway behind garage starting to take shape with concrete laid, and decking posts in position. 

Care need to be taken with all paths laid next to the Hebel, as the hebel overhangs the slab, care needs to be taken that no concrete goes under the hebel, if it does then it is likely that at some point it will rip the hebel off the house due to the fact that the path is lighter than the house and will move more with the natural expansion and contraction of the underlying clay

Still chasing council to approve my fixing the crossover - that might be enough along with all the kitchen and laundry stuff for a while

Day 209 - Tidy up

Problem with split level is what to do with the split outside areas? Garage opens to .5 meter drop, as does the laundry. Choices are concrete or wood decking. We are going for wood, with wooden steps down to a concrete area for the boys basketball practice. 

Entry will be adorned with wooden decking

And we have put a gate up the other side to inhibit the dogs freedom of movement. 

Day 207 - last day before final walkthru

I have had a final inspection performed by NHI, as usual a very thorough job.  I will have a feel for the magnitude of the suggested changes when I catch up with the SS tomorrow morning, for what should be the final walkthru. 

IMHO the house is looking great, and I can't believe how this has been such a relatively stress free build that it has been.

 

 

Day 201 - Floors going in - just about complete

Bamboo floors looking good

Day 190 - Stairs to family room replaced

Original stairs were fine, but step depth looked small due to the step widths, so we agreed with CG to upgrade them. 

Original

New

Day 190 - Tiling complete

Day 179 - It is getting there

Power is on, water is running,  virtually all lights are installed, all plumbing features are in and working bath is in and the tiling is almost complete, just need to finish off the Balcony and few odd spots in the wet areas.

Time to think about the landscaping, there are a few challenges dealing with soil level, concrete and hebel.  A few more retaining walls will be required.

Day 169 - Tiling in progress and garage doors in place

Day 157 - Fixing completed

Painting should be finished on Monday, sparkies have dug holes in the plaster, made somewhat more difficult by the plasters it would seem

Day 150 - skirting boards in upstairs

Plaster false walls added under stairsand extra bulkheads above cabinets. 

Floors leveled and skirting installed. 

Latches being added to doors

And balcony ready for tiles

Day 146- Roof looking complete, stairs complete, balcony ready for tiles, as are the benches

Day 146 - Stairs in & Doors hung

Day 142 - Stairs started, fittings delivered

Day 142 - Plaster complete

I was going to give them a blast, but they did finish it in the end.

Day 135 - Plaster hung and in the process of being sealed

Our SS reports all items mentioned in the report have been rectified, and that the ones I thought hadn't been done, will be done - it was just a timing issue to do it at the right time. 

While this has all been happening we have had a little R&R in the Australian outback, with plenty of Roos and Emus to keep us all on our toes, and to take us away from the house while the plaster and rectifications were done.

Day 129 - Pre-Plaster Report received

Money well spent!
The report was emailed to me late last night, but I didn't see it until today.

CG were keen to see it so I sent them a copy once I had read it.

As others have sais, the NHI report is very clear, detailed and references the specific Australian Standard Building codes.

The inspector found quite a few shortcomings, many but not all, introduced since the last inspection.  Types of things found related largely to changes that plumbers and others had introduced that would have had long term impacts to the house, such as possibly creaking floors due to cut timber supports allowing too much movement between struts, lack of noggins in some of the woodwork, that would have resulted in difficulty getting the plaster up (and to have it stay without issue), and a number of technical matters.

Pretty impressive report, and CG naturally offered to jump right on it, rescheduled the work for next week, so as to address the raised issues.  CG have always told me that they value additional private inspections, they do multiple levels of inspection themselves, but they value "a fresh set of eyes", and seem to truly want to deliver a product of the highest order.  I really cant imagine there are too many builders where the site supervisor is allowed to just make this call, and action it.

I am blown away, of all the normal worries of a small family, I am delighted to report that the house build itself seems to be the least, which is not what I expected when I started this journey.