Where the bloody hell are ya? ONE YEAR ON...

Yes peeps, we are still here!

Its has been 12 months since we moved in and it seems like so long ago that we were a midst the final tortuous stages of the build.

We have not yet signed off all of the issues from our 90 day service. We are still waiting on one thing...Anyone want to hazard a guess? Its the lowering of the dreaded gas meter, which has been a pain in our proverbial since about half way through the build itself (in excess of 18 months, I'd say). Ill post more about the 90 day service soon. There have also been a few things pop up in the past few weeks that also now need attention and fall within the warranty period.

The house is a work in progress... but from the moment we moved in, it has felt very much like we always have been here; like HOME!

Here are some of the latest pics of the front landscaping. There is still a fence and gate to come and something decorative on the front deck, and a nicer letterbox, but you get the drift.

Along each side of the driveway are Liriope Muscari with purple flowers.They are hardy little plants so ideal for the driveway.

A pretty row of Little Gem Magnolias, Gardenias, Azaleas and Christmas Bushes.

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Fences have all been painted in the Colorbond match colour "Monument" to match the gutters and pipes. The backyard has also been totally painted, what a massive undertaking that was!

A gorgeous Port Wine magnolia in the centre, surrounded by 4 Gardenia Augusta low growing bushes. Cant wait for the scent of the magnolia!

A big thanks to my Dad for he;ping me with plant selection and taking me to Plantmark Wholesale Nursery (twice) to get the plants on a commercial account he has there!!!!

Hopefully there will be more posts to come soon :)

Kirst xxx

90 day Service Inspection

It's come around very quickly but our 90 day service inspection has arrived.

So, we met with Paul from M re the items we had listed and supplied to the office previously - plus one or two more we omitted by mistake.

Not an exhaustive list at all, with plumbing being the main focus. The stormwater at the front of our house has been problematic from day one and again doesn't flow. From crushed pipes, inclining 'run off' pipes to 90 degree joins secured by silicone rather than an elbow joint, the plumbing has been below par. If we do get any real rain it will flood our garage. Ideally, a pit is installed in that area to assist with future access but it will be interesting to see how they fix it......

Paul arrived at 7am, as agreed. We went through each and every item. He was a supervisor previously but now focuses on the service side of things. I suspect he would have been a great supervisor. He was very interested in hearing about our overall build experience and also gave us a tip here and there re ongoing maintenance. Very knowledgable, informative and a pleasure to deal with.

We agreed on all the items, signed it off and it was all done in around an hour and a half (incl. chat time).

As soon as suppliers trades are back from the break he is keen to get things done asap. All we need now is for the trades to play their part.

Until next post, which will be soon we promise!

Cam

REVEAL : Concreting Part Two

Driveway all prepped and ready for pouring

Ready for concrete

Cam watching as they put the finishing touches before the trucks arrived.

The concreting begins

Starting the driveway part with the storm water grate covered up. The pace at which these guys work once the concrete arrived was amazing!

This was a big hit with our boys... the MIXER truck!

From the street

It was an early start (6:30am on Saturday morning). But Lachie was so keen to see it all he was 'supervising' in his pjs and dressing gown.

All poured, levelled and waiting to be exposed.

Before exposure.

As per the previous post, we thoroughly recommend Rory at "The Concrete Firm" www.theconcretefirm.com.au


Stay tuned for more photos with the final finished driveway, retaining walls and front facade reveal soon!

Kirst xx

REVEAL : Concreting - Part One

It has been a while since our concreting was finished and it is time for a grand reveal...of the pathways anyway.

About 6 months ago I posted a topic on the HomeOne forum looking for a concreter in Melbourne to do an exposed aggregate driveway and pathways for our new house.

I was contacted by Rory from the Concrete Firm

http://www.theconcretefirm.com.au/

Rory was a pleasure to work with. He was prompt with returning emails and phone calls and came out to give us a quote quickly. His quote was incredibly competitive but included higher strength steel reinforcement and better thickness of aggregate. He also uses Mentone Pre-mix who are the best in the business in terms of exposed aggregate colour selections.

When it came time to pour the paths and driveways, Rory and his team, Sylvain and Courtenay, worked tirelessly and with great attention to detail on getting the preparation right before the concrete was poured. They encountered problems along the way with drainage and plumbing done by the plumbers employed by Metricon but took it in their stride. Whilst at our home they were courteous and friendly with us and our children.

The result was fantastic! We absolutely love the driveway and paths that they did for us. They look sensational! 

We cannot recommend them highly enough. Please contact us if you require more information about The Concrete Firm. We would definitely use them again...

This is the path at the back of the house before it was exposed.

With so many 'workmen' around, there is always plenty for our boys to look at! Here Sylvaine was exposing the pathways.

What the back pathway looked like after exposure.

A closer look at our selection. Mentone PreMix "Montquartz" (I think that's what it was?)

Tomorrow... a look at our finished driveway : )