Lock Up and More!!!

There has been heaps of action at the house since the long weekend. In just two days the tradies have done the following:

• Cleaned Bricks
• Installed most doors
  
• Installed Garage Door
  
• Put up most of the cornices
• Installed most of the skirting
  
• Waterproofing
  
• Termite protection
  

A few photos of the action below.

Close up of the garage door



Rear of the house with some termite protection



View of the kitchen area (pantry and fridge space) from the dining area



View down the hallway to the front door from leisure room



View of the walk in robe and ensuite entry from the corner of the Master Bedroom



Also spoke to the SS today. The kitchen was delivered today and should be installed tomorrow. I will then meet him and the tiler on site next week some time to confirm all the tiling details they have on file are correct.

New Home Theatre Equipment

Taking advantage of an Anzac Day Long Weekend sale, we continued on the shopping theme to purchase more items for the house. Once again the focus was on the home theatre. After doing some online research and in store demo's I have decided on the following set up for sound. Still shopping for TV's and am waiting to demo these new 3D TV's to see if they are any good, and more importantly if we can afford them!

Home Theatre Room:

Receiver - Marantz SR7002



Front Speakers - Mirage M3i



Centre Speaker - Polk Audio Csi A6



Rear Speakers - Polk Audio Rc 65i



Sub woofer - Velodyne CHT-Q10


Leisure Room

Receiver - Marantz SR3053



Speakers - Infinity TSS500


Mulitroom Audio

We also picked up some Sonos equipment. Ended up buying 2 ZP90's for the home theatre and leisure room. Also picked up an S5 as a floating unit (upstairs, alfresco etc). I didn't get the Sonos remote but instead will be buying an Ipod Touch and downloading the free Sonos App to use as the controller.

ZP90


S5


We paid a deposit and will be getting the gear delivered once the house is ready. Will pick up the S5 zone player next week though so I can have a bit of a play around.

No more climbing up ladder

We have stairs!!! As much as I like climbing up the ladder to go up to the first floor it was good to see the stairs were done on Friday. Also good to see the amount of storage space that is available underneath there. The variation to have the door to access this area was worth every cent (and perhaps more).

Looking down the stairs from above



Looking up the stairs from below.



Under stairs storage area



I also got a call from the SS on Friday. He said that he expects us to be at lock up on Tuesday. Which means we should have a garage door and entry doors once the tradies come back after the long weekend. The guys will then start the internal linings.

We are starting to get very excited about how close we are to completion. Hopefully we meet our target of handover by the end of June. With all this excitement the wife and I have started out shopping for furniture and other items for the house. During the week we put our deposit down on a recliner set for the home theatre room. It looks like the below except it will be in black.

Plaster done

Just a quick post this morning before heading out to work. The house progress was not as exciting this morning as it was on Wednesday. The plasterers have done their bit now and it is looking pretty good. A couple of pics to show the progress.

Kitchen area from the dining room



View of the leisure room from the kitchen



Looking out the door from the hallway

Lots of progress - Insulation, Gyprock & Cladding

I fought my way through the Sydney fog this morning to check out what has been done on the house for the last couple of days. I wasn't expecting much so I was greatly surprised and excited to see that the insulation and gyprock has been mostly done. The cladding has also been done, so the externals of the house are pretty much complete. With the externals complete and walls up, I have the greatest indication yet of the look and feel of the house once complete.

Tried my best with the photo's but given the lack of light they haven't turned out the best. You all should be able to see the progress though.

Front of the house looking almost complete



Front Left of the house with cladding completed



Foyer with niches and coffit ceiling



View of the kitchen pantry and fridge space from the alfresco area



Master Bedroom media alcove



Bathtub......insulation there too!!



Not 100% sure about what is coming up next but from looking at other blogs the next few things need to be completed and we will then be at lock up.

• Plastering & Cornices
  
• Clean bricks
• Stairs to first floor
• Garage door
• Entry and laundry door

Lower Eaves and some plumbing

After heading out and getting a hot dog waffle for lunch it was time to go to the house for the weekend check up. There has been some work done but not as much as anticipated. I think the SS got a bit ambitious with his time line for the week. The following though has been done since my Wednesday morning visit. The guys have completed the following:
- Lower eaves
- Partial site clean up
- Plumbing from the upstairs bathrooms complete

Well the plan for next week should hopefully:
- Cladding and eaves
- Clean bricks
- Insulation and Gyprock delivery and possibly installation

Today's photos below:

Front of house



Some of the plumbing from the first level



Some lower eaves around the side of the house



Lower eaves on the portico



Lower eaves in front of the garage

Electrical Rough in Complete & Scaffolding Down

Went out to the house this morning before work to see what has been done for the past couple of days. Given that daylight saving is over it's either an early morning visit or only being able to go over on the weekend.

As planned the electrical rough in has now been complete. The scaffolding has also come down. We are starting to get a good idea of what the outside of the house is going to look like once complete.

This morning's photos below.

Termination point for all the cables for the Starserve


Rear of the house with scaffolding down


Front of the house where cladding to to be completed this week


Front left of the house with scaffolding down


Front of the house with the scaffolding down


We are really looking forward to seeing the cladding completed and the bricks cleaned. Hopefully this is done by the end of the week as planned.

Meeting with SS

Went out to the site this morning to have a meeting with the SS and check over our electrical upgrades and some minor carpentry changes. We are having Starserve installed and needed to confirm with the sparkies the location of all the outlets. We are going to end up with:
- 8 TV points
- 13 Data points
- 2 Pay TV points
- 2 Phone points
I also got the SS to give me an update on what is coming up over the next couple of weeks. This is the plan:
Monday - Electrical rough in completed
Tuesday - Removal of scaffolding
Wednesday - Cladding and rest of the eaves
Thursday - Clean Bricks
Friday - Site clean up

Lower Roof Tiles Done

Went to the house this morning to see what has been happening during the week. Looks like the lower roof tiling is complete as well as the rear weatherboard cladding and some more eaves. I was hoping for a bit more progress but given the short week and rain on Tuesday some progress is better than no progress.

Front Elevation



Rear Elevation



I will also be going to meet the SS and electrician on Monday to go through our electrical upgrades. We are getting Starserve put in. This will allow us to distribute Foxtel and Satellite TV to every room. It will also mean that we can have a wired computer network.

Electrical Rough In and Air-Con Ducts

Went by the house today to see what has been done since our last visit. From the outside you can't see much but there has been a fair bit of action inside. The air con ducts have been put in and the electrical rough in has started as well. On the outside the lower guttering and fasica has also been completed.

View of the Dining Area with downlight wires and air con ducts


View from one of the bedrooms upstairs with all the air con ducting everywhere


Close up of the Air Con unit in the roof


Home Theatre Pre Wiring


Rear of the house with lower guttering completed


Front of house with lower gutter completed