Modern Canister Set

Love this trendy canister set - it’s very red!

Next Stage?

We have heard around the traps that the next stage for Torville Heights Estate may be starting in December 2010 (sub diving etc).

This is our guess as to where it might be!

STOP PRESS :: Kitchen is Installed!

Brett happened to bump into our SS today onsite and had a look around and the kitchen has been installed.

Looks fab except for 2 things:

1) The kitchen cupboards over the fridge are meant to be in burnished wood not white. So we are working that out with our fab Admin Person from Plantation.

2) We added an internal door between the hallway and the kitchen to isolate the aircon, however, until I have now seen in 3D I realise I don’t want the door opening onto the kitchen!!!!

So been speaking with Admin Staff and SS to see if we can perhaps change the door to hang on the other side of the door frame and open out to a void area or get a sliding door.

Still waiting for white stone bench tops, red glass splash back and stainless steel products so can’t wait to see what it’s all going to look like!

Nearmap

We have been using http://www.nearmap.com/ to monitor the ariel progress of our sites transformation.

Nearmap seems to be updated more frequently than other web based map sites.

This map was updated on 20 July 2010 – and the roof is half on!

Tiles + Kitchen + Bathrooms + Laundry + 2000 Hits

TILES

Met our Tiler “AD” onsite today – he wanted to show me the shower tiles set out at 45 degree – which apparently is better for water run off etc.

He has also started the some of the tiling in the bathrooms.

I do really love the colour of the tiles!!!!

SURPRISE KITCHEN, BATHROOM AND LAUNDRY

I was very surprised to see the kitchen and laundry cabinets delivered (wasn’t expecting them until Friday).

Can’t wait to see the stone bench tops for the kitchen and bathrooms!

2000+ HITS

Thanks to everyone that is reading the blog we have now passed 2000 hits!

Drop us a line and say hello – don’t be shy!


It would appear that skirting boards, architraves and cornices are complete! All the doors have been hung expect for the garage door which goes in towards the end.

Nice Water Feature

We have a nice water feature in our backyard not!

Brett will be putting in extra drainage so we don’t end up with a pool every time it rains!

Naked Front Door

Our Corinthian Front Door has been installed – it does look a bit naked at the moment.

Can’t wait to see what it looks like in high gloss black!

Totally Rendered!

We checked out the house over the weekend and the rendering is completed.

From what we can see inside the cornices, architraves and skirting have started.

Milestones

Very happy with the progress to date!

Planning Stage

26-Feb-10: Exchange contract for the land

17-Mar-10: Paid initial deposit to Plantation

31-Mar-10: Brett's Birthday!

12-Apr-10: Sold Current Property

18-Apr-10: Land Settled

19-Apr-10: Paid second deposit to Plantation

23-Apr-10: Paid final deposit to Plantation

23-Apr-10: Colour Selections and Final Plans

5-May-10: Final Plans - Lighting

25-May-10: Submitted Applications to Council

18-Jun-10: Council Plumbing Plan Approved

23-Jun-10: Final Council Plans Approved

On-Site

2-Jul-10: Block Cut and Filled

7-Jul-10: Site Set Out

9-Jul-10: Drainage Installed

14-Jul-10: Slab Poured

16-Jul-10: Frame

19-Jul-10: Roof Truss

21-Jul-10: Gutter and Fascia

23-Jul-10: Meeting SS Onsite

23-Jul-10: Roof Starts

24-Jul-10: Met new neighbours onsite

28-Jul-10: Wiring Starts

30-Jul-10: Rough Ins Completed

4-Aug-10: Plasterer Starts

6-Aug-10: Bricklayer Starts

13-Aug-10: Meeting with SS Onsite

13-Aug-10: Bricks Finished

16-Aug-10: Render Starts

16-Aug-10: Carpenter Starts

16-Aug-10: Tiles Ordered

19-Aug-10: Locked Out!

25-Aug-10: Eves & Internal Fix Out to be finished

30-Aug-10: Tiler to Start

That Sweet Render + Plaster

Brett went out to have a look at the house yesterday and we have an almost completely rendered house! Whoo hoo

Not sure on the grey cement colour look LOL - It will be painted in a few weeks!

The house is also now at lock up stage which sucks in a way because of the “goop” that is on the windows (to protect them) it actually means we can’t even see into the house to a “look see”!

The inside of the house has been totally plastered with cornices and skirting to come.

A carpenter has been onsite this week and all kitchen and bathroom measurements have been done for stone bench tops, glass splash back, mirrors, cabinets etc….

Thanks to everyone that is keeping up-to-date with our blog we have hit 1831 hits today!

Building Bin Rudeness!

When Brett and I visited the house recently we found a MASSIVE TV box (which was stuffed of other rubbish and crap) dumped into our building bin.

People are just so rude – have they not heard of going to the DUMP if you can’t fit it in your own bin – or how about they hire their own skip bin!

I marched up to the bin in the hopes that there might have been a delivery sticker on the box so I could find out their address and deliver their crap back to them….. but alas there wasn’t one!



As I know my direct and NICE neighbours read my posts - rest assured we WILL NOT be dumping our rubbish in your bin while you are building or any other time!

- End of Rant -

Please Help with my Market Research for Tafe

Some of you probably already know from reading my previous blog posts that I am a glutton for punishment and while building a house I am also studying (Accelerated Diploma of Marketing).

It would be greatly appreciated if you could complete the following short survey on Party Drugs (even if you have never tried them).

This is an anonymous survey for the purpose of collecting market research for a Tafe assignment.

This survey should take no longer than 5 to 10 minutes of your time.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dE5uTjQyVGhtUGU3MXQzSWRyQzE5a0E6MQ&theme=0AX42CRMsmRFbUy1jYWRiNmViNy04YmVjLTQwNWEtOWNmMi1iN2IyMmU5NjI3OGQ&ifq

Thanks in Advance :: Jazz

NYC Cushions

Picked up these fab cushions for the lounge room.

Love the city skyline which fits in with our house theme.

Modern Mozzie Repellent Diffuser

I am sure everyone has seen the Green Mozzie Coils that you light so the mozzies stay away?

Well we found these great modern looking diffusers at Bunnings the Mozzie sticks that you light and put inside them are made out of Sandal Wood and smell pretty good!

Because you light the stick and put it inside the diffuser it does look better but also is safer.

Patient Protector Gargoyle

I am sure by now you have figured out that Brett and I well…. aren’t the cookie cutter norm!

As we are going to be having a rather large front garden we have decided to that some sort of feature was needed.

Both Brett and I love gargoyles mainly the cute/nice or funny looking ones – I even have a mini gargoyle statue on my desk at work!

We also like to put our own mark on things – so instead of buying normal plinth to but the gargoyle on we found this great square bird bath which we will paint black to match the house and will prop our gargoyle up in.

Once the gargoyle is in there we will place plants around it to add in some green!

So far we have found this cute Patient Protector Gargoyle – we is very cute!

Waiting patiently but undeterred this cute gargoyle sculpture is made from designer resin and finished with a weathered greystone finish. 25cm W x 25cm D x 27 cm H.

Hopefully we don't freak out the neighbours!

"Gargoyle", the dictionary definition: a spout usually in the form of a grotesquely carved face or figure, projecting from a roof gutter. From the Old French "gargouille" and the Late Latin "gurgulio", both meaning throat. (from Chambers Concise dictionary)

"Gargoyles (in the strict sense) are carvings on the outside of buildings designed to direct water from the roof away from the base of the walls... ...Some gargoyles are undecorated but many are zoomorphic or anthropomorphic - often very imaginative and/or grotesque. This has led to the term 'gargoyle' being applied more widely to any grotesque carving in medieval buildings." (from Bob Trubshaw, posting in BritArch archives, 23Feb1999)

Architectural History

Gargoyles in the strict plumbing sense of the word have been around since the time of the Ancient Greeks or before. They became very popular on architecture in Medieval times, with a resurgence in the Victorian era, and to some extent more recently. Other periods have none or few carved ones. Saxon churches (a little before Medieval times) that I've seen usually have troughs but whether these are original or later additions is hard to say. Large buildings of the Elizabethan period (a little after Medieval times) did use channels or troughs but I've never seen or heard of carved ones.

Their first usage in the last thousand years or more seems to have been in the early 1200's as channels or tubes to shed rainwater from buildings, to keep the rainwater off the buildings themselves and away from the foundations. Strong evidence for this purely plumbing interpretation is that initially most were made of wood, some made of the more expensive stone, and were generally undecorated.

As time progressed, more stone ones appeared as did lining some with lead and decoration in the form of carvings of people or animals or grotesque representations of these (grotesque in the sense of being extravagantly formed, bizarre, ludicrous, absurd, fantastic and also in the sense of being ugly and frightening). Often these carvings are so imaginative as to bear little or no resemblance to any conventional creature and are the products of fertile imaginations and skilled hands.

They are common on the more expensive buildings from medieval times, particularly cathedrals and churches, and particularly France, and particularly the Gothic style. A few plain ones survive on non-religious buildings like the odd castle but rarely compared with religious buildings. Presumably, as today, the average wage did not run as far as paying for ornate stone guttering for your own humble dwelling.

It seems that this increasingly ornate carving extended to non-functional architectural features resembling them, so that "gargoyles" appear on the sides of towers and walls, and to stretch the term even further, inside the buildings (though these are more correctly called "grotesques" and "chimeras", of which gargoyles are only one kind).

http://www.stratis.demon.co.uk/gargoyles/gg-ety-hist-myth.htm

Mirror Mirror

We have selected a few mirrors for the house.

Dining Room

Master Bedroom

Bedroom 3

Entry Way

IKEA PS Cabinet

We have decided on this funky TV Cabinet from Ikea for the TV Area.

We love the “school locker” look – which is going to go well “pop-art” pictures and bold design elements we are using in this area of the house!

Key features:
Lockable doors for safe-keeping of things that you are extra careful of.Cord outlet underneath; keeps all cords in one place.Tall legs make cleaning easy.

Designer: Nicholai Wiig Hansen

Assembled size:
Width: 119 cmDepth: 40 cmHeight: 63 cmMax. load: 60 kg

Care instructions:
Wipe clean with a cloth dampened in a mild cleaner.

Wipe dry with a clean cloth.

RRP $199.00

Stormy Weather

Well I know I shouldn’t be complaining as some of our HomeOne mates have had heaps of delays with their place down south due to the rain..... but check this out!

Its been bucketing down since yesterday!

This weather should be clearing in the early afternoon!

We are heading out to the block today and I will be able to wear my new hot pink and black gum boots yeeeeha!

The Rain in Brizbain!

Well it had to happen sometime during our build – the dreaded rain has come to town right when we are at the bricking stage.

Spoke to SS today and the bricks should be finished this week (fingers crossed).

Render to start early to mid next week – that will be exciting!

Brett and I are meeting with the SS on Friday which will be good.

Precis: Showers increasing to rain

City: Max 21

Wednesday Rain clearing in the afternoon.

Thursday Fine, windy.

Friday Fine.

Saturday Fine.

Sunday Fine.

Let’s Fence

We are just wanting to go for a standard timber double paling fence for our backyard.

Something like these:





We will be talking to our neighbours to get their input and suggestions!

Keep you posted!

Termimesh Installed

Our Termimesh has been installed!


Termimesh is a unique physical termite barrier using a simple concept of woven stainless mesh to stop termites entering homes through concealed entry points.

The Termimesh Termite Control Barrier is considered by many to be the most effective of all termite barriers for new homes and has been a trusted name in the construction industry for over 17 years.

Brick by Brick by Brick

Went to check the house our over the weekend and the bricks have started to go up!

Most of the front and right had side is 90% done and the back and the left hand side will hopefully be done this week.

I couldn’t get any pics of the inside of the house as the plasterers were there – working on a Saturday!

87 days to go!

Fit for a King

One of the purchases that was a bit of splurge for us is a king size bed.

With Lulu and Poppy loving to snuggle up in our bed the queen size just wasn’t cutting it.

We needed a king size bed that had had space underneath it as Poppy loves to hide under the bed.

What we like about this bed is that it is distressed wood!

These Boots were Made for Walking

I am prepared for every situation at the construction site even if it rains (touch wood it doesn’t)!

Check out my hot pink and black gumboots!

Sneaky Brick Sighting!

Dropped by the block tonight as I was on that side of town.

Big piles of bricks everywhere and also plaster sheeting!

Sorry the pics are dark – using the iPhone!

Simple Dinner Set

We have been on a mission to get an 8 setting dinner set in PLAIN White (not cream or ivory). Round in shape with no pattern or texture.

It turned out to be harder than expected to track something like that down for an everyday dinner setting.

We ending up find a great setting at Target and what was great about it was that you can get the set without the cups (we have a million cups that we never use) so 8 less of them worked for me!

WIR Mirror

I have found this STAVE mirror from Ikea (RRP $89.95) for my walk in wardrobe.

Black & White Pics

In the dining room we are going to have some black and white pictures of New York.

We will also have a hot pink feature wall in this room, along with black Paris chandelier, bevelled mirror.

Our dining room table is square with hot pink suede covered dining room chairs.

Pipes and Wires

The pipes and wiring has been done.

I have taken pics of every switch, wire and pipe – will be cross referencing the master plan to make sure everything is in place!


So far so good!