... that the builders would still be going on Christmas eve! I thought I set my "in my head" deadline so far out even I couldn't be surprised at delays ... but I was wrong! It wont be finished for Christmas ... enough will be done that christmas lunch will go ahead ... but the tradies will be back next year!!
They will be working Christmas eve ... when all I want is a couple of days to clean up, recover and become human again.
Builder got his payment ... I was generous for Christmas even though there are bits missing from the agreed list to complete, some they will finish today.
Pretty scaring looking at the kitchen and thinking I've got to miraculously turn it into a beautiful space in the next 24 hours.
Showing posts with label building. Show all posts
Showing posts with label building. Show all posts
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Pretty shiney floor!
The floors are done ... they look truly amazing!
The shine!!!! In the sunlight they look a slightly different colour. The fumes are rather nasty at the moment ... but hopefully in another couple of days, with the windows all open, the air might be breatheable! I'm just so glad to be back in the house ... though I'm itching to start moving things in. I desperately need to tidy up my current living area ... and it would be so much easier if I could just MOVE things into their correct spots! eg. the telephone ... would be nice to plug it in at an actual phone point vs leaving it on my floor!!
Only one issue with my gorgeous floors .... after half an hour of the animals being allowed on it ...
I'll be investing in some new cleaning things! Nothing I had before will really help it. Anyway ... once the whole thing is covered in dirt, no one will notice a couple of footprints!!
The floor guy did spring some surprises on me though ... apparently NO furniture is supposed to go on it for a week (ummm ... the day before Christmas?!) and no floor rugs for 3 weeks (lucky he told me that, I would have instantly put something down to protect it!).
Yesterday I went up to a place that supplies cabinet bits ... I wanted to get the inserts for my kitchen drawers, but wanted to see them before ordering them (they are much cheaper through the internet, but I can't play with them beforehand). Nice guy who helped me out took me through some of the options ... and I bought the cutlery ones. I'll go back for more once I've got a bit better idea of how things work out (I was also missing one measurement which was a pain!).
Funnily enough the cabinet supplier's lovely catalogue had something the joiner had sworn was IMPOSSIBLE and didn't exist!!!! That stupid half bottle draw ... he said there were no other options, that "the cabinet was too big for the draw" ... I thought he was bullshitting - I knew the kitchen designer knew what she was doing, she wouldn't have designed a cabinet for something that didn't exist ... and as I looked through the catalogue ... there it was ... the EXACT thing that was supposed to have been put in - for the exactly right carcass size! I'll get the builder to hand the photocopied page over to the joiner :-) :-) ;-)
Curtains have arrived - I haven't unpacked them yet as I don't want them to get dirty.
Off to get light globes today so once the lights go in ... I can have lights.
Been having discussions between the builder, myself and the architect about $$$$$$$ ... builder of course wants to be paid before Christmas ... but he hasn't completed the stage. I'd already given him 1/5 of the payment but he's been hassling me for more. I was sticking on that there was no sign-off from the architect ... so the builder rang the architect and told him to come down and see that the work was done. When the architect got here ... he realised that the builder wasn't quite telling ALL the truth, that although the things left to go aren't big (lots of 10 minute jobs) there are LOTS of them to be done (a number of days work) and that it wasn't as done as the builder had told the architect. We've agreed for a bit more to be paid out, but the remaining amount will not be paid until a list of things has been completed:
- Kitchen bench
- Kitchen sink and taps
- Bathroom taps
- Bathroom vanity
- Toilet
- WC vanity
- Laundry cupboard completion
- Hotwater
- Eternal latches and locks (lock-up stage)
Which doesn't even include finishing the tiling, the painting, the rangehood, the skirting boards and so much more!!!! But at least those are the all important things! (I do have to say ... that finally the architect is being helpful vs causing more work ... maybe he did have his uses!!)
Annnndddd .... is today ... THE DAY!!! The most exciting day? The one I've really been hanging out for ... will it REALLY REALLY happen?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??! Off to talk to the builders to ask ... you'll have to wait to see!!
The shine!!!! In the sunlight they look a slightly different colour. The fumes are rather nasty at the moment ... but hopefully in another couple of days, with the windows all open, the air might be breatheable! I'm just so glad to be back in the house ... though I'm itching to start moving things in. I desperately need to tidy up my current living area ... and it would be so much easier if I could just MOVE things into their correct spots! eg. the telephone ... would be nice to plug it in at an actual phone point vs leaving it on my floor!!
Only one issue with my gorgeous floors .... after half an hour of the animals being allowed on it ...
I'll be investing in some new cleaning things! Nothing I had before will really help it. Anyway ... once the whole thing is covered in dirt, no one will notice a couple of footprints!!
The floor guy did spring some surprises on me though ... apparently NO furniture is supposed to go on it for a week (ummm ... the day before Christmas?!) and no floor rugs for 3 weeks (lucky he told me that, I would have instantly put something down to protect it!).
Yesterday I went up to a place that supplies cabinet bits ... I wanted to get the inserts for my kitchen drawers, but wanted to see them before ordering them (they are much cheaper through the internet, but I can't play with them beforehand). Nice guy who helped me out took me through some of the options ... and I bought the cutlery ones. I'll go back for more once I've got a bit better idea of how things work out (I was also missing one measurement which was a pain!).
Funnily enough the cabinet supplier's lovely catalogue had something the joiner had sworn was IMPOSSIBLE and didn't exist!!!! That stupid half bottle draw ... he said there were no other options, that "the cabinet was too big for the draw" ... I thought he was bullshitting - I knew the kitchen designer knew what she was doing, she wouldn't have designed a cabinet for something that didn't exist ... and as I looked through the catalogue ... there it was ... the EXACT thing that was supposed to have been put in - for the exactly right carcass size! I'll get the builder to hand the photocopied page over to the joiner :-) :-) ;-)
Curtains have arrived - I haven't unpacked them yet as I don't want them to get dirty.
Off to get light globes today so once the lights go in ... I can have lights.
Been having discussions between the builder, myself and the architect about $$$$$$$ ... builder of course wants to be paid before Christmas ... but he hasn't completed the stage. I'd already given him 1/5 of the payment but he's been hassling me for more. I was sticking on that there was no sign-off from the architect ... so the builder rang the architect and told him to come down and see that the work was done. When the architect got here ... he realised that the builder wasn't quite telling ALL the truth, that although the things left to go aren't big (lots of 10 minute jobs) there are LOTS of them to be done (a number of days work) and that it wasn't as done as the builder had told the architect. We've agreed for a bit more to be paid out, but the remaining amount will not be paid until a list of things has been completed:
- Kitchen bench
- Kitchen sink and taps
- Bathroom taps
- Bathroom vanity
- Toilet
- WC vanity
- Laundry cupboard completion
- Hotwater
- Eternal latches and locks (lock-up stage)
Which doesn't even include finishing the tiling, the painting, the rangehood, the skirting boards and so much more!!!! But at least those are the all important things! (I do have to say ... that finally the architect is being helpful vs causing more work ... maybe he did have his uses!!)
Annnndddd .... is today ... THE DAY!!! The most exciting day? The one I've really been hanging out for ... will it REALLY REALLY happen?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??! Off to talk to the builders to ask ... you'll have to wait to see!!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Duel at dawn – gentlemen pick your weapons
Not quite a dawn duel … and not many gentlemen around … but my weapon of choice was “the plans”, kitchen guy’s weapon was “defensive cocky attitude” … the plans won!
It was a pretty tense confrontation … the kitchen guy implying that if I wanted something built to plans then I needed to ensure that every single measurement was on the plan … which I called bullshit on … the plans were drawn to scale by a professional, the majority of the measurements were on the plans … and doing hideous things is not acceptable.
It has been agreed that the draw fronts will be replaced … that took quite a bit … but it is on the plans! The draw fills will be changed (he tried to convince me that it was standard to be given half a cupboard!), the glass in the overheads would be changed – had a great win on that one – I asked him to check his paper work, there it was in black and white, the glass was opaque not clear! The rangehood top will be fixed … though I decided that rather than rely upon them to get the correct corbel, I would order them myself. For a $20 item that makes an impact it was not worth the effort of trying to get them to do them … I’m sure I can work out how to paint them and stick them on if they arrive after the builders leave!
He did ask me who I thought would be paying for the changes …I nearly laughed … not me!!!
That was probably my worst nightmare for the whole renovation experience … having to stand up to someone who was trying to bully me into doing what they wanted … and making my lack of knowledge their excuse for doing a bad job. Thank goodness I’m obsessive about lists and paperwork, they just had no excuses with things in writing.
So far they’ve re-done the shelf – interestingly, they had asked the builder to create a template of the shelf bracket, builder draws up a pretty one the first go … but what the kitchen guys have put in is what is on the plan ;-) So they’ve wasted the builders time … and it would have been nice to have the pretty template one, but I’m still so much happier with what is on the plan vs the horrid shelf bracket they put in in the first place.
My side of the argument went something like "it is on the plans", "the plans show", "the plans are drawn to scale, those are the measurements", "on the spreadsheet you were given it says", "there it is on the plan", "there is the enlarged detail on the plan", "check the paper work I gave you, it is written there", "there is the written measurement", "as you can see here on the plan ..." :-) !!!!!
His side of the argument was a whole lot weaker and it just goes to show ... if it is in writing and on the plans ... they can come up with lots of excuses ... but it wont hold! Even though they'll make the changes ... the cupboards/draws will never have the profile exactly how I thought it would look like ... hard to describe but I asked for shaker profile, and the ones I've got are really sort of shallow, with rounded corners - not true shakerish ... but the difference is minor and I don't have anything in writing to define exactly how deep and right angled I wanted the corners (bugger).
At the end of the discussion I left the builder to talk more with the kitchen guy … and I could hear as I left “so why didn’t you build it like it is on the plans?” :-)
It was a pretty tense confrontation … the kitchen guy implying that if I wanted something built to plans then I needed to ensure that every single measurement was on the plan … which I called bullshit on … the plans were drawn to scale by a professional, the majority of the measurements were on the plans … and doing hideous things is not acceptable.
It has been agreed that the draw fronts will be replaced … that took quite a bit … but it is on the plans! The draw fills will be changed (he tried to convince me that it was standard to be given half a cupboard!), the glass in the overheads would be changed – had a great win on that one – I asked him to check his paper work, there it was in black and white, the glass was opaque not clear! The rangehood top will be fixed … though I decided that rather than rely upon them to get the correct corbel, I would order them myself. For a $20 item that makes an impact it was not worth the effort of trying to get them to do them … I’m sure I can work out how to paint them and stick them on if they arrive after the builders leave!
He did ask me who I thought would be paying for the changes …I nearly laughed … not me!!!
That was probably my worst nightmare for the whole renovation experience … having to stand up to someone who was trying to bully me into doing what they wanted … and making my lack of knowledge their excuse for doing a bad job. Thank goodness I’m obsessive about lists and paperwork, they just had no excuses with things in writing.
So far they’ve re-done the shelf – interestingly, they had asked the builder to create a template of the shelf bracket, builder draws up a pretty one the first go … but what the kitchen guys have put in is what is on the plan ;-) So they’ve wasted the builders time … and it would have been nice to have the pretty template one, but I’m still so much happier with what is on the plan vs the horrid shelf bracket they put in in the first place.
My side of the argument went something like "it is on the plans", "the plans show", "the plans are drawn to scale, those are the measurements", "on the spreadsheet you were given it says", "there it is on the plan", "there is the enlarged detail on the plan", "check the paper work I gave you, it is written there", "there is the written measurement", "as you can see here on the plan ..." :-) !!!!!
His side of the argument was a whole lot weaker and it just goes to show ... if it is in writing and on the plans ... they can come up with lots of excuses ... but it wont hold! Even though they'll make the changes ... the cupboards/draws will never have the profile exactly how I thought it would look like ... hard to describe but I asked for shaker profile, and the ones I've got are really sort of shallow, with rounded corners - not true shakerish ... but the difference is minor and I don't have anything in writing to define exactly how deep and right angled I wanted the corners (bugger).
At the end of the discussion I left the builder to talk more with the kitchen guy … and I could hear as I left “so why didn’t you build it like it is on the plans?” :-)
Thursday, December 3, 2009
The blank space is filled ... with mistakes!
I cried again today ... luckily not in front of the builders this time!!! Only my second set of big tears over this process I suppose it really has been too easy.
The kitchen arrived today ... I was desperate to see it going in but stayed out of the way. I was asked in for a question about the bench at one stage during the day, when I saw the most HIDDEOUS looking shelf on the wall. It looked awful ... I thought maybe it only had temporary brackets holding it up ... I couldn't put a measuring tape on it (as the builders were all around) so decided to wait until they were all gone and to go out with plans and tape (I hate to make a claim that something is wrong until I've quadruple checked plans and measurements).
The painter was around and asked me what I though of the kitchen ... I said I hadn't really seen it yet but I didn't like the shelf. He went and spoke to one of the builders (not the kitchen guys - they had already left) ... and a builder came to me ... I really didn't want to start making claims about it being wrong until I could check for myself ... but they said I had to quickly speak up so they could rip it off the wall before the glue dried!!!!
We pulled out the plans, the tape measure, the pretty picture from a magazine it was modelled on ... and it was ripped OFF the wall!!! I wasn't wrong ... the plans and the shelf brackets were very different to reality! Picture shows my attempt to put them side by side in an image shows the difference ... though the shelf that remains is the microwave shelf (which I thought might be larger than the other ones since it has a larger shelf to support).
Quick discussion with the builders (the senior one wasn't on site today) and we sketched up an alternative (a pretty bracket!) ... those lemon meringue tarts that I made for them yesterday, at the neighbours, must have helped ;-) ... they get chocolate marshmallows tomorrow. Where they ripped the shelf off the wall has damaged the plasterwork ... but it will be covered by the tiled splashback ... the microwave shelf can't be removed without major problems.
Below is the front on view of the microwave shelf ... it is kind of hard to tell in this photo ... but it is really LARGE ... imagine something wider than a standard fridge ... and takes up huge wall space ... the shelf over the bench was this size but even bigger ... ugh!!!
I thought we'd got through the kitchen hiccup ... I thought that'd be it ... I waited until all the trades were out before further investigation ... and what I found caused me to cry ... it wasn't just the shelves wrong ... there is SO MUCH else wrong!!! It seemed nearly everything I opened wasn't right. Below is the main bench (with damage to the wall).
I was wandering around trying to work out why it looked all wrong ... it just didn't give the feel of what I thought it was going to look like. I got out the pictures I'd cut out of magazines to try and identify what felt wrong ... and I finally worked it out ... I'd asked for a particular profile on the draws and cupboards ... what they had done was a sort of interpretation of this. I wanted boring plain even surrounds ... they seem to have improvised ... below is a picture showing the plan vs the reality. Plan has one distance around the molding (marked yellow) ... the reality is three different sizes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It just makes it look all weird ... and modern! Also ... although two plans slightly differ ... I was planning on putting the handles on the top section (not in the middle as on the plan shown to the left) ... which on the lower draws is only the size of the blue measurement ... not big enough for the handles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The tears were flowing ... and then I opened the draws ... oh my ... oh no ... what the?!?!?!?
The kitchen maker and I had discussed the draws/cupboards were supposed to be like inside ... the cupboard below was supposed to be for my baking trays:
Can't work out how I'm going to put baking trays in there ... if I take off the top basket (which is removeable) the bottom basket is not deep enough to stop them flipping out. I have a peverse desire to hand the kitchen guy a baking tray and say "here, you put it in".
The next draw didn't stop the tears ... this one is supposed to be for tea towels and bottles ....
ummmmm ... half a draw!??!?! what's the other side supposed to have in it? you can't reach into it!!! One narrow little shelf bit?!?!?!?!
Then I opened one of the main big draws ... to find the sides only go halfway up ... so you can't fill the draws!!!!!!!!!!!!! arrggghhh!! I think I'm in the kitchen where the Mad Hatter's tea party was prepared!!!
Then I noticed the rangehood is in the wrong place ... I know it is odd ... but I wanted the actual vent bits to be to one side ... because the oven only has burners on one side (the other side is just a warming plate) ... had discussed this with the kitchen guy ... he wrote it down ... and nope ... it didn't happen.
Another "hmm ... that doesn't look right" .... the mantle over the oven ... just looked too big ... sure enough ... I look at the plans which have 250mm .. and I put up the measuring tape 330mm . ... just a little bit out!!!!
I hadn't quite worked out why they had used such thick MDF in the pantry ... I SHOULD have spoken up about it ... because that horrible thick stuff is all through the kitchen ... the linen cupboard (photo further down below) has normal thickness shelves ... but the new cookbookshelf (is that a word?!) has the thick stuff too... I've never seen bookshelves with huge thick shelves ... they don't have to take that much weight!! Looks awful :-(
Below is the east side of the kitchen .. apart from thick shelves, weird molding on the draws ... it doesn't look too bad!!! Bench colour is OK ... don't know why the powerpoints are at that height (the other side of the kitchen has them lower) ... but I like the top cupboards .. oh BUGGER ... just realised ... the glass was supposed to be opaque!!!!!!!!!! arrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhh!!!! *sob* 
Ok ... enough whinging and wringing of hands ... I rang the senior builder, he'll be out tomorrow to discuss. The kitchen guy also called ... he'll be out tomorrow (and on the defensive ... he wasn't expecting my list of issues!) ... tomorrow wont be much fun ... but if the plans say something, then I'm sticking to them!!!
On to good things ... one draw I opened was GOOD ... the rubbish bins!!!! yup ... they're bigger than I expected (but the size I was hoping) ... they are fabulous! Lots of room for recycleables and rubbish!!
The first window seat is in ... in the dining room!! It looks a little low at the moment ... but it was put that way to account for the actual upholstery cushion going on top. Looks pretty!! There was nearly a hiccup over this one ... the builders had put in the skirting board without putting in the window seat. I mentioned it to one of the guys on site (to stop them doing the kitchen one and wasting their time) ... the senior builder approached me the next day saying he thought that the dining room would look better without the window seat ... ohhhh noooo you don't ... just because you made a boo-boo does not mean you get out of creating my window seat, not when I've spent $$$ on getting materials and upholstery done for it! Builder quickly saw it my way and this is today's result!
And I'd like to enter my linen closet in the "world's biggest linen closet" competition ... not sure you can get an idea of size from this photo (use the door as comparison) ... but it is HUUUUGGGGEEE!!! I can take all the stuff out of the spare room ... and it will fit in here!!!! (oh ... it will have doors too!)
Oh ... and for those who struggle to throw things out ... I'd watched an exchange between the builder and the painter ... they had some of the pretty cornice left over ... two big pieces ... the painter asked the builder if he wanted it brought in before the rain came, the builder said he didn't want it, the painter could take it if he wanted ... no the painter didn't want it either ... I looked at it ... and desperately wanted to keep it ... but what would I ever use cornice for?!?!? Well ... when they installed the rangehood today, they realised they just needed an extra piece of cornice ... pity it poured with rain the other day and it is ruined!!!!
The kitchen arrived today ... I was desperate to see it going in but stayed out of the way. I was asked in for a question about the bench at one stage during the day, when I saw the most HIDDEOUS looking shelf on the wall. It looked awful ... I thought maybe it only had temporary brackets holding it up ... I couldn't put a measuring tape on it (as the builders were all around) so decided to wait until they were all gone and to go out with plans and tape (I hate to make a claim that something is wrong until I've quadruple checked plans and measurements).
The painter was around and asked me what I though of the kitchen ... I said I hadn't really seen it yet but I didn't like the shelf. He went and spoke to one of the builders (not the kitchen guys - they had already left) ... and a builder came to me ... I really didn't want to start making claims about it being wrong until I could check for myself ... but they said I had to quickly speak up so they could rip it off the wall before the glue dried!!!!
We pulled out the plans, the tape measure, the pretty picture from a magazine it was modelled on ... and it was ripped OFF the wall!!! I wasn't wrong ... the plans and the shelf brackets were very different to reality! Picture shows my attempt to put them side by side in an image shows the difference ... though the shelf that remains is the microwave shelf (which I thought might be larger than the other ones since it has a larger shelf to support).Quick discussion with the builders (the senior one wasn't on site today) and we sketched up an alternative (a pretty bracket!) ... those lemon meringue tarts that I made for them yesterday, at the neighbours, must have helped ;-) ... they get chocolate marshmallows tomorrow. Where they ripped the shelf off the wall has damaged the plasterwork ... but it will be covered by the tiled splashback ... the microwave shelf can't be removed without major problems.
Below is the front on view of the microwave shelf ... it is kind of hard to tell in this photo ... but it is really LARGE ... imagine something wider than a standard fridge ... and takes up huge wall space ... the shelf over the bench was this size but even bigger ... ugh!!!
I thought we'd got through the kitchen hiccup ... I thought that'd be it ... I waited until all the trades were out before further investigation ... and what I found caused me to cry ... it wasn't just the shelves wrong ... there is SO MUCH else wrong!!! It seemed nearly everything I opened wasn't right. Below is the main bench (with damage to the wall).
I was wandering around trying to work out why it looked all wrong ... it just didn't give the feel of what I thought it was going to look like. I got out the pictures I'd cut out of magazines to try and identify what felt wrong ... and I finally worked it out ... I'd asked for a particular profile on the draws and cupboards ... what they had done was a sort of interpretation of this. I wanted boring plain even surrounds ... they seem to have improvised ... below is a picture showing the plan vs the reality. Plan has one distance around the molding (marked yellow) ... the reality is three different sizes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It just makes it look all weird ... and modern! Also ... although two plans slightly differ ... I was planning on putting the handles on the top section (not in the middle as on the plan shown to the left) ... which on the lower draws is only the size of the blue measurement ... not big enough for the handles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The tears were flowing ... and then I opened the draws ... oh my ... oh no ... what the?!?!?!?
The kitchen maker and I had discussed the draws/cupboards were supposed to be like inside ... the cupboard below was supposed to be for my baking trays:
Can't work out how I'm going to put baking trays in there ... if I take off the top basket (which is removeable) the bottom basket is not deep enough to stop them flipping out. I have a peverse desire to hand the kitchen guy a baking tray and say "here, you put it in".The next draw didn't stop the tears ... this one is supposed to be for tea towels and bottles ....
ummmmm ... half a draw!??!?! what's the other side supposed to have in it? you can't reach into it!!! One narrow little shelf bit?!?!?!?!Then I opened one of the main big draws ... to find the sides only go halfway up ... so you can't fill the draws!!!!!!!!!!!!! arrggghhh!! I think I'm in the kitchen where the Mad Hatter's tea party was prepared!!!
Then I noticed the rangehood is in the wrong place ... I know it is odd ... but I wanted the actual vent bits to be to one side ... because the oven only has burners on one side (the other side is just a warming plate) ... had discussed this with the kitchen guy ... he wrote it down ... and nope ... it didn't happen.
Another "hmm ... that doesn't look right" .... the mantle over the oven ... just looked too big ... sure enough ... I look at the plans which have 250mm .. and I put up the measuring tape 330mm . ... just a little bit out!!!!
I hadn't quite worked out why they had used such thick MDF in the pantry ... I SHOULD have spoken up about it ... because that horrible thick stuff is all through the kitchen ... the linen cupboard (photo further down below) has normal thickness shelves ... but the new cookbookshelf (is that a word?!) has the thick stuff too... I've never seen bookshelves with huge thick shelves ... they don't have to take that much weight!! Looks awful :-(
Below is the east side of the kitchen .. apart from thick shelves, weird molding on the draws ... it doesn't look too bad!!! Bench colour is OK ... don't know why the powerpoints are at that height (the other side of the kitchen has them lower) ... but I like the top cupboards .. oh BUGGER ... just realised ... the glass was supposed to be opaque!!!!!!!!!! arrrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhh!!!! *sob* 
Ok ... enough whinging and wringing of hands ... I rang the senior builder, he'll be out tomorrow to discuss. The kitchen guy also called ... he'll be out tomorrow (and on the defensive ... he wasn't expecting my list of issues!) ... tomorrow wont be much fun ... but if the plans say something, then I'm sticking to them!!!
On to good things ... one draw I opened was GOOD ... the rubbish bins!!!! yup ... they're bigger than I expected (but the size I was hoping) ... they are fabulous! Lots of room for recycleables and rubbish!!
The first window seat is in ... in the dining room!! It looks a little low at the moment ... but it was put that way to account for the actual upholstery cushion going on top. Looks pretty!! There was nearly a hiccup over this one ... the builders had put in the skirting board without putting in the window seat. I mentioned it to one of the guys on site (to stop them doing the kitchen one and wasting their time) ... the senior builder approached me the next day saying he thought that the dining room would look better without the window seat ... ohhhh noooo you don't ... just because you made a boo-boo does not mean you get out of creating my window seat, not when I've spent $$$ on getting materials and upholstery done for it! Builder quickly saw it my way and this is today's result!
And I'd like to enter my linen closet in the "world's biggest linen closet" competition ... not sure you can get an idea of size from this photo (use the door as comparison) ... but it is HUUUUGGGGEEE!!! I can take all the stuff out of the spare room ... and it will fit in here!!!! (oh ... it will have doors too!)
Oh ... and for those who struggle to throw things out ... I'd watched an exchange between the builder and the painter ... they had some of the pretty cornice left over ... two big pieces ... the painter asked the builder if he wanted it brought in before the rain came, the builder said he didn't want it, the painter could take it if he wanted ... no the painter didn't want it either ... I looked at it ... and desperately wanted to keep it ... but what would I ever use cornice for?!?!? Well ... when they installed the rangehood today, they realised they just needed an extra piece of cornice ... pity it poured with rain the other day and it is ruined!!!!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
ooooo ... I have a laundry ... and a store area ... and a pantry ... and ...
Very exciting homecoming today ... when I left this morning the joiners had arrived ... so I knew big things were happening today. Sure enough when I got home they were still working at 5pm and I now have a laundry, a pantry, a storage area ... oh ... and I also have all my exterior door handles in the WRONG place!!! argh!!!! When I'm home the builders never do anything evil ... as soon as I leave for the day it seems they start to think up evil things to do ... especially since I'd already discussed it with them ... they are NOT going to be happy when I tell them ALL the doors have to be re-done (I'm hoping this is actually possible!!)!!!
The pantry ... plans and results ... WOW WOW WOW!!!
My dream pantry ... I want to fill it all up right away! I don't think I've quite allowed enough room for all the appliances ... but I'll see how I go once I pack them in!
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.
.
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The laundry plans ... and the results ... I really like how this has come out ... can't wait to see it with the final doors on the washing machine area!
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.
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The laundry has a hallway storage cupboard ... here is my plan ... and the results!! Quite pleased with how it has come out ... only one thing I would change, which would to be to make the mail shelves shallower so you aren't tempted to hit your head!!! Also I didn't count in the effect of the kickboard ... so the boots wont be sitting on the ground (and the nice dark tile ... might have to put a layer of something at the base of the cupboard for muddy boots) ... now to work out the hooks to put in!
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Apparently my floors will be in by the end of the week ... the kitchen is arriving on Tuesday ... and I have to be out late next week for them to stain and polish the floors!! Not quite sure when the tiling is going in ... think we might have a bit of a hiccup with some of the tiling ... I handed the builder the tile for the kitchen and laundry today ... and his response was "I didn't know there was tiling in the kitchen" ... hmmmm!! Not sure about that one ... they are PC items anyway, so not included in his quote ... and of course there had to be something behind the oven as a splashback ... so not sure what he thought was going there.
The pantry ... plans and results ... WOW WOW WOW!!!
My dream pantry ... I want to fill it all up right away! I don't think I've quite allowed enough room for all the appliances ... but I'll see how I go once I pack them in!
.
.
.
.
The laundry plans ... and the results ... I really like how this has come out ... can't wait to see it with the final doors on the washing machine area!
.
.
.
The laundry has a hallway storage cupboard ... here is my plan ... and the results!! Quite pleased with how it has come out ... only one thing I would change, which would to be to make the mail shelves shallower so you aren't tempted to hit your head!!! Also I didn't count in the effect of the kickboard ... so the boots wont be sitting on the ground (and the nice dark tile ... might have to put a layer of something at the base of the cupboard for muddy boots) ... now to work out the hooks to put in!
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Apparently my floors will be in by the end of the week ... the kitchen is arriving on Tuesday ... and I have to be out late next week for them to stain and polish the floors!! Not quite sure when the tiling is going in ... think we might have a bit of a hiccup with some of the tiling ... I handed the builder the tile for the kitchen and laundry today ... and his response was "I didn't know there was tiling in the kitchen" ... hmmmm!! Not sure about that one ... they are PC items anyway, so not included in his quote ... and of course there had to be something behind the oven as a splashback ... so not sure what he thought was going there.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Slow going
Things are still very slow around here ... not many of the original crew working on site ... and days when no one turns up! The roof is at least on and apparently water tight - rain will tell!! Gutters are nearly done, some down pipes and I might start getting some water in my big tank. The plastering that was supposed to be done the other week ... hasn't happened.
The big thing this week was the arrival of the bay window roof bits ... I've been dying to see how they would turn out ... they look a bit smaller than I was expecting ... but they certainly do finish off the bay windows! Much prettier than other options I've seen.
Below is the corner of the french door to the kitchen ... the fun with the veranda has meant that the corner doesn't work properly ... it will be changed again from this ... hopefully I'll get a bit of architrave around the window - as it is going to look odd with the architrave being dark green.
Solar hot water system should be arriving tomorrow ... the joiner was supposed to come out last week and discuss the kitchen etc ... he still hasn't arrived. Christmas is looking more and more like a BBQ :-(
One post I missed doing last week was after talking to the interior designer ... we spent a couple of hours going through fabric choices ... a fairly difficult task, nothing seems quite right! I have decided on about 11 fabrics though!!!! Just got to hope they are all available now! I chose the colours for the curtains in the dining room, the dining room window seat ... and the kitchen window seat ... still to be confirmed are the kitchen curtains ... the colours just weren't quite right (it seems so simple ... just a shade of cream!).
After picking out all the fabrics (and not thinking too much about how much it cost) ... I thought I'd google the fabrics to put together a document of them all (and maybe share them here) ... didn't find many of the important ones so the others don't seem very relevant ... but whilst googling I found myself a bargain ... one of the fabrics which I need most of, I found on ebay ... the right amount of fabric ... and the cost for the entire amount was less than a 1/4 of what I was going to pay!!
I'm currently trolling ebay looking for the perfect kitchen table ... that'd be nice Christmas present to myself!
The big thing this week was the arrival of the bay window roof bits ... I've been dying to see how they would turn out ... they look a bit smaller than I was expecting ... but they certainly do finish off the bay windows! Much prettier than other options I've seen.
Below is the corner of the french door to the kitchen ... the fun with the veranda has meant that the corner doesn't work properly ... it will be changed again from this ... hopefully I'll get a bit of architrave around the window - as it is going to look odd with the architrave being dark green.
Solar hot water system should be arriving tomorrow ... the joiner was supposed to come out last week and discuss the kitchen etc ... he still hasn't arrived. Christmas is looking more and more like a BBQ :-(
One post I missed doing last week was after talking to the interior designer ... we spent a couple of hours going through fabric choices ... a fairly difficult task, nothing seems quite right! I have decided on about 11 fabrics though!!!! Just got to hope they are all available now! I chose the colours for the curtains in the dining room, the dining room window seat ... and the kitchen window seat ... still to be confirmed are the kitchen curtains ... the colours just weren't quite right (it seems so simple ... just a shade of cream!).
After picking out all the fabrics (and not thinking too much about how much it cost) ... I thought I'd google the fabrics to put together a document of them all (and maybe share them here) ... didn't find many of the important ones so the others don't seem very relevant ... but whilst googling I found myself a bargain ... one of the fabrics which I need most of, I found on ebay ... the right amount of fabric ... and the cost for the entire amount was less than a 1/4 of what I was going to pay!!
I'm currently trolling ebay looking for the perfect kitchen table ... that'd be nice Christmas present to myself!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
A new countdown date!
The builder has set a new completion date ... 7 December ... who else is putting money on the builder being at my place on Christmas eve?!? (and not for pre-Christmas drinks!).
The plaster who was supposed to come Monday, was put off until Wednesday - looking at the site this evening, I can't see that they'll be plastering tomorrow!! The roofer did work late on Monday, but not around today ... I got a couple of gutters up, but I can still see daylight through the roof!!! Surely the capping on the roof was more important than the gutters?! Can't work out how they are going to put up plaster whilst missing most of the windows and part of the roof.
Today there was no one on site! Very frustrating!
The plaster who was supposed to come Monday, was put off until Wednesday - looking at the site this evening, I can't see that they'll be plastering tomorrow!! The roofer did work late on Monday, but not around today ... I got a couple of gutters up, but I can still see daylight through the roof!!! Surely the capping on the roof was more important than the gutters?! Can't work out how they are going to put up plaster whilst missing most of the windows and part of the roof.
Today there was no one on site! Very frustrating!
Monday, October 12, 2009
My storybook cottage
It is just sooooo pretty!! My not-so-little-anymore storybook cottage.
Above is the west side of the house ... to the left is the bay window for the kitchen, the center is the main kitchen bench window, then to the right is the dining room bay window. I do love the white (undercoat) veranda posts/window frames ... but they'll all go dark green to match the original - I know the white looks prettier, but ... I know I'd never keep it clean!
Above shows the kitchen living room new french doors, the kitchen bay window, then the dining room french doors. The veranda to the left is not quite finished yet.
They have started installing the "back" door ... the main door that will be used. The plan was to replicate the front door, which - other than some minor changes - it looks like it will be beautiful. That is my ensuite sitting under the veranda, very pleased with how that fits in (though the little window is a pain to open!).
The kitchen has its plumbing rough-in and electricals ... the bench is going to be over 5 metres long ... certainly beats the tiny area I had before! I can't wait to see how that window looks once it goes in ... it is the only one that is quite different to the originals - much wider compared to the height.
This photo shows the bathroom window - the bath will sit just below this, the vanity to the left of it. I'm glad all these decisions are already done ... nothing really left to decide in here except the light!
All the rough in electrics have been done ... so there are wires going everywhere ... and I'm not even having any fancy systems! I would have loved to go for the home automation stuff ... but that cost just was a bit beyond the budget. Hopefully the technology will become cheaper and I can look into it in the future. This photo is of the small side of the kitchen (the sort of breakfast area).
The only slight worry at the moment ... no builders for two days ....
Above is the west side of the house ... to the left is the bay window for the kitchen, the center is the main kitchen bench window, then to the right is the dining room bay window. I do love the white (undercoat) veranda posts/window frames ... but they'll all go dark green to match the original - I know the white looks prettier, but ... I know I'd never keep it clean!
Above shows the kitchen living room new french doors, the kitchen bay window, then the dining room french doors. The veranda to the left is not quite finished yet.
They have started installing the "back" door ... the main door that will be used. The plan was to replicate the front door, which - other than some minor changes - it looks like it will be beautiful. That is my ensuite sitting under the veranda, very pleased with how that fits in (though the little window is a pain to open!).
The kitchen has its plumbing rough-in and electricals ... the bench is going to be over 5 metres long ... certainly beats the tiny area I had before! I can't wait to see how that window looks once it goes in ... it is the only one that is quite different to the originals - much wider compared to the height.
This photo shows the bathroom window - the bath will sit just below this, the vanity to the left of it. I'm glad all these decisions are already done ... nothing really left to decide in here except the light!
All the rough in electrics have been done ... so there are wires going everywhere ... and I'm not even having any fancy systems! I would have loved to go for the home automation stuff ... but that cost just was a bit beyond the budget. Hopefully the technology will become cheaper and I can look into it in the future. This photo is of the small side of the kitchen (the sort of breakfast area).The only slight worry at the moment ... no builders for two days ....
Monday, September 28, 2009
Lots of changes
I was being slack and didn't take photos of the prep of the front of the house, so you've missed a stage ... they've started painting!!! The new green looks very pretty on the one veranda post they've done so far, I'm really pleased at how the rafters under the veranda have come up (considering I don't like them and wish they weren't there!).
Looking at the corner of the house below ... on the left is the new paint, on the right is the old paint ... even in "real life" it is hard to pick the different colour (the new one is a shade or two lighter ... oh, and not covered in dust!).
They've got the french door frame in for the living room in ... which means I've lost another room!! But of course ... means the finish is a bit closer!
The bay window on the dining room is moving along ... the window frames are sitting in my garage, I can't wait to see them go in.
I also noticed that the tin for the roof over bathroom arrived today (it isn't corrugated like the rest of the roof ... architects!!) ... the roofer was supposed to come today, but bad weather once again put him off. Hopefully nice weather tomorrow will mean they can get the capping on (I'm in a bit of denial about how much water must have got in over the last couple of days ... most of it has the old stuff temporarily attached, but there are gaps).
Looking at the corner of the house below ... on the left is the new paint, on the right is the old paint ... even in "real life" it is hard to pick the different colour (the new one is a shade or two lighter ... oh, and not covered in dust!).
They've got the french door frame in for the living room in ... which means I've lost another room!! But of course ... means the finish is a bit closer!
The bay window on the dining room is moving along ... the window frames are sitting in my garage, I can't wait to see them go in.
I also noticed that the tin for the roof over bathroom arrived today (it isn't corrugated like the rest of the roof ... architects!!) ... the roofer was supposed to come today, but bad weather once again put him off. Hopefully nice weather tomorrow will mean they can get the capping on (I'm in a bit of denial about how much water must have got in over the last couple of days ... most of it has the old stuff temporarily attached, but there are gaps).
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Your first look at the full house
Whilst the weather was lovely they got quite a bit of the roof tin on ... and I finally got to see what the final look will be like. Gone is the little cottage side ... now it is a lovely big house!!
Below is the window that today made me cry in front of the builers (how very embarrassing!!) .... 
&^*(E#&(@! architect!!! His lovely design on paper ... doesn't actually work in reality. It was supposed to match the existing windows (below) ... the specifications say "match existing windows" - but even the dimensions given don't match the existing window! 
The red line shows the line of the veranda rafter ... the window was supposed to go up to where the open section is ... obviously ... not going to work. Soooooo frustrating!! If certain people had measured properly, if they had actually looked at the design, if they had actually thought!!!! I suppose I should have know - but I thought he knew what he was doing ... and that if I read something said "match" then it was going to ... match!! The pretty pictures (not sure they can be called plans) looked right.
The poor builder is fairly cross about it all (being nice of course!) ... other than 1 window, every single window in the specifications is wrong. He's been unable to order in the windows and the wall frames have had to have alterations.
We have the same rafter problem across the french doors going out from the kitchen and dining room - the builders had already agreed that the rafter will have to be cut so it doesn't block the door... there is no other alternative anyone can think up!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Friday afternoon - roof started
By the end of Friday we had part of the roof on ... it looks great!! There was a massive storm over the weekend, so I spent the time hiding inside waiting for the lovely new roof to fly off!! Lots of banging and crashing, but nothing seems to have flown.
Hopefully more will be done today ... they got Chocolate Praline Mousse Cake for morning tea (cake baked at my neighbours a little while ago and frozen) ... so plenty of sugar to keep them working!!
Friday, September 11, 2009
I don't have a girly tape measure!
One of the tanks is going behind the house, the builders had started to create the sand pad for the tank a couple of weeks ago. The tank was supposed to arrive about 3 weeks ago and I've commented a couple of times to the builder about whether the sand pad will be ready in time "sure, no problems".
The tank didn't actually get installed after all that ... the weather was dreadful again!! The tank people arrived and marked a circle ... that was way too close to the house for what I wanted. Builder promises me it wont end up there!
The sand pad looked too small ... I'd stepped it out, and whilst my legs aren't exactly metric ... I've got some idea of distances!! The pad needed to be 6.85m ... my steps made it seem less than 5m.
I approached the builder again last week, said that I was concerned the sand pad wouldn't be ready in time (we may not have got much notice for tank installation) ... once again "no problems, it's all sorted".
On Monday night I got the phone call ... the tank will be arriving in the morning. Went out with my measuring tape ... measured twice ... and sure enough ... 5m not 6.85m!! Ring the builder ... no he says, it is the right size, it is complete and ready. I was thinking I must be mad ... so back out I go with the tape measure, still is 5m to me!! I'm wondering at this stage if my tape measure is missing a bit ;-) !!! Maybe there is some odd way to measure the pad? Maybe I'm confused by diameter and another measurement ... I was never very good with square meters!!
Next morning ... the builders arrive and I stay inside until they've got working ... sure enough, when I go out ... there they are ... making the sand pad bigger!!! I DON'T have a girly tape measure!!!!!!!
The tank didn't actually get installed after all that ... the weather was dreadful again!! The tank people arrived and marked a circle ... that was way too close to the house for what I wanted. Builder promises me it wont end up there!
Lots of changes happening elsewhere ... the veranda for the old part of the house is nearly done. It is looking fantastic. Although over winter I've loved the extra light coming in through the windows, it is nice to feel a bit protected and not have rain/hail on the windows.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Down to one room
Yesterday the builders took out the window in "bedroom 3" ... my current living room, dining room, kitchen and pantry all-in-one ... of course it would "only take one day" ... but I was left with some rather large gaps in the walls. Since it got down to below freezing last night, not exactly a nice place to be!
So I'm now down to just having the master bedroom ... my toaster and I are coping just fine!!!
Bits of progress, but it is still really slow. They've put in the door frames for two of the french doors, I've received a quote for the flyscreens (only slightly scary - of course ... will put the door PC amount at least treble what the architect allowed), nearly finalised the bathroom order and I've picked the glass for the bathroom window (one sort looked prettier - if my visitors didn't mind being nearly completely visible to the outside world!).
Next coming decisions are the floorboards, some of the kitchen stuff and I'm sure there'll be some surprises in there!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Walls!!
The architect managed to come back in daylight ... and we went over the frame. I hope he knew what he was looking at, because I have noooo idea!! He seemed quite happy with everything. The builder was around so we went through a couple of issues I'd raised.
One issue I've been concerned about was the bay windows. I thought they were going to be sash windows but the builder pointed out that on the plan the markings indicate a casement window (I had no idea that is what those lines were). I'd sort of resigned myself that I must have not checked it over properly ... but I went back for one last look at the specs ... and on the window schedule it says "sash" ... so I wasn't wrong. The architect just made an error having sash on one document and casement on another.
After some discussions yesterday ... I'm getting my sash windows!! Yippeee!! I really didn't want fly screens inside the house ... and leaning against fly screens whilst sitting on the window seat wasn't something I thought would be nice. (oh ... and so much for the builder's comments that the windows were ordered and couldn't be changed ... he didn't even bring that up in front of the architect.
After more discussion we've also managed to reduce the amount of balkhead for the hallway section ... it is still going to look odd ... but the compromise should make it a tiny bit less obvious
By the end of the day we had the first lot of walls up ... the external weatherboards.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Trusses in one day
This morning I heard lots of big truck noises ... when I got outside the trusses had been delivered ... I went out for the day and returned to find that the trusses were nearly all up!!
The kitchen has shrunk again ... having a "roof" on it makes it seems smaller ... but the mudroom/laundry area seems taller!!
Monday, July 27, 2009
A slab, painting and still no phone!
The slab was poured on Friday ... standing on the outside of it, the house seems small ... once it was dry and I walked on it ... house seems large! HUGE in fact! Neighbours must think I'm mad as I "walk" through the house working out where things go.
My little cat had his first house explore ... he thinks it may be suitable for his requirements!
Ensuite - the painters were in on both Saturday and Sunday ... not quite sure if it has the final coat on yet, there was a bit of a mix up with paint colours (once again, lucky I was there) but all was sorted. I'm really really really hoping I'll be allowed to use the shower soon!
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