Who could believe at the start ....

... 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.

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!!!!

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!

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!

First wall frame goes up

I got to see the first wall frame going up ... and the sudden realisation of how tall it is going to be! The old section that was demolished had much lower ceilings. Though we've hit another architect problem - due to one of the roof lines (the one I have hated all along and wish wasn't there) there is going to have to be a lower internal hallway section (and therefore a bulkhead where I don't want one to be), and it isn't going to have the neat outside lines I wanted - where it wasn't possible to see the join between the old and new section. Nothing I can do about it.

Ensuite shower was SUPPOSED to be working last night ... but no hot water!! eeekk!!! They've promised me today!

That's my heated towel rail (which is working) to the left ... it is going to be a bit squishier than I wanted getting in and out of the shower, but I couldn't see the point of having the towel rail on the other side of the bathroom! Oh - and the electricians thought I might have overkilled the heater in the bathroom - nooooooo way :-) Not at this time of year!

I'm fuming - WRONG septic installed

Got home on Wednesday and looked out in the dark by torchlight ... hoping they'd have installed the septic during the day ... they had ... just the WRONG ONE!!!!

I'd done quite a bit of research when decided on the water treatment system I wanted, I'd asked around ... and made sure it was in the contract documents.

But ... not much help when they've dug a massive hole in the ground and installed it. Calling in the lawyers is not exactly going to help.

So who's fault is it?! well ... a little bit of a couple of people ... the builder for sending details on the wrong system (whilst all the while telling me "yes the xxx guy has been and checked it over, it isn't a problem to have the xxx system") and the architect for sending off the permit for the wrong system.

They're of course now selling me on the benefits of the other system ... but I'm just fuming at being presented with something that I've had no choice in and that they've done this behind my back ... and not the "accidental" we forgot to check the specs they're pretending.

Good things about being on site yesterday - tiler was there and we discussed the direction of the tiles (I'll get what I want) and he's going to do up a tile with some different grout colours so I can choose the one I like.

Had a meeting with builder and architect and, apart from my fuming, quite a few things were sorted - my worry with the windows not looking right seems to not be an issue and the builder is on it. There is a slight issue with the way the windows are hung - as I want them to be either opened at the top OR the bottom - not counterlevered by each other.

They poured some more concrete - just a small section of front veranda ... and some was left over so they've done a mini path for my dog enclosure ... I waited until it was nearly set and let the dogs run on it - cute little footie prints!! Not quite so cute: little puppy must have run across the front veranda when I wasn't looking - oops!!

Architect finally came up with the electrical plans ... which are all wrong!! Electrician is going to meet up with me next week and go through them all. Hopefully we'll be able to get them finalised quickly ... though I'm having a hard time looking through lighting websites - too many choices!!!

Ensuite is coming along nicely - they are saying possibly mid-next week for it to be complete.

Then they will smash the remaining part of the house down ... not that there is too much left to go, they've cleared out the inside. It is quite amusing, standing in the shower and, other than I've only got a lamp for light, it could be just like the house was before ... then I step out the door to chaos!

Very little happening!

The weather has been awful and things have basically stopped on site ... but today the weather might be a tiny bit nicer and the builders might be around. Last week the plumber did the rough-in for the ensuite and the builders dug another small section for where the concrete is to go ... but have put off installation of the split system until the concrete is actually laid (as that is where the outside bit will go).

Outside bathroom - in winter?! no way!

I had a feeeeeliingg that the builder was working up to this, I just had that niggling suspicion from the way I've seen things being done outside ... and yup ... today I got the phone call ... would I mind if they did it ALL at once vs the stages (as set out in the contract)?!!

The ensuite was to be completed first, then the rest of the back (with existing bathroom etc) taken off. Meaning I could live in the house with no major problems (can cope without a kitchen but not a bathroom), cats could have their outside enclosure for THEIR toilet access. All happy and nice-ish for me!

It was all discussed early on - all OKed ... I knew it was harder for them to do it that way ... but everyone in the planning stage was all happy about it. "No problems" ... and if the builder was Australian I'm sure there would have been a "she'll be right love"!!

He's going to come and discuss it again over the weekend ... but I can't see that a weekend with thunderstorms forecast, is going to help me change my mind. He's trying to sell me on one of those all in one portable ensuites - in the garage ... but I am NOT going to walk 20m to the toilet, in the dark, rain and mud, dodging building and holes - when it is 5 degC or less outside! Fair enough if it wasn't discussed before, fair enough if it wasn't specifically stated in the contract ... I'm being as flexible as I can about everything else ... but I'm not flexing on this!

As for progress on site: came home last night to discover the lawn ripped up ... which I've been expecting and don't really care about. The drive way is all mud too! They had the excavator in to clear the site - would love to know what this actually looks like, but I couldn't see anything in the dark in the morning or night. They also covered up the exposed wall from the day before with plastic (phew - was a bit worried about the wood getting wet).

Hopefully on the weekend I should be able to get some new photos ... and I'll be able to walk out the area of where it is all going. I still haven't quite got in my head how far out it is extending.

Garage concrete is done

Came home to find the veranda completely off and the garage concrete done. Luckily dried enough that little doggies playing on it didn't really make marks!

Still remaining is power and water - the power might be the last to go in, which is a bit of a pain as it means no remote doors, no lights and no easy place for my washing machine.

Builder and I are both trying to chase the ensuite layout from the architect so he can finalise window etc ... that window is just going to have to be boarded up - apparently all the rest are ordered, except this one which is needed first!!

I've been given the push on making ensuite fitting decisions - the builder needs some measurements on the toilet that will go in the ensuite - now to decide on THAT toilet (I really don't want to make that decision!).

We're going to start getting in kitchen quotes - so I'll just await that heart attack ... I mean, if I know a scary scary price is coming, maybe I can work out a way to lessen the blow? eg. "well, at least it is under $50K" !!!!!

Another potential hiccup ... apparently SOMEONE forgot to put in the specs that the floor for the kitchen is going to be floorboards ... not quite sure what impact this is going to have ... but it is going to have some impact. Builder had been working on it being concrete (?!) ... and I might not know much about building, but I've got an idea that there might be a titchy price difference between concrete and floorboards!!! :-)

The little shed didn't make it - RIP Shed!

If only I was getting home in daylight it would be so much fun to explore what has been done during the day.


Yesterday they took down my little shed. They had hoped to be able to move it, but I wasn't surprised to find it in pieces.



Here is the before ...

The little shed was pretty old, I assume an old meat shed or dairy? There was a strange concrete block in the middle of it ... can't quite work out what it it was used for.


They've also started looking at what lies behind the south wall - which is to have the external weatherboards replaced and fixing of whatever else has rotted (and ensuite is going here). The house basically just sits on the ground, propped up on some bricks! No stumps or anything! From my brief look at it, I'm actually surprised not to see more rotted wood. Looks like I'll be moving out of my bedroom this week - only floorboards and thin carpet between me and the outside world ... and it is sooo cold outside! Getting down to 2 degC overnight now.



The builder rang last night about yesterday's hiccup ... and the plan is to move the garage about 500mm ... and they'll work out a way of ensuring I can get from the car to the house and not get wet once it is all up. He'd told me last week that the garage wont be going up for 5 days once it is delivered ... but apparently that plan has changed ... they are doing the footings today, garage might even be up by tomorrow!!!

Now I've got to organise to get the furniture in the house moved to the garage once the concrete is set.

Uh oh - first hiccup!

So it was a good plan ... a nice easy sensible plan ... erect garage, then move all the stuff into that, then knock down the old part of the house ... simple, right?! Except ... the builder has just rung ... and where the garage is to go on the plans, is actually where the current part of the house IS ... which means ... that TOTALLY changes the plan! My garage will be delayed, they might be taking down the laundry wall. Oops!

I had not prepared to lose the back of the house immediately! I could move the garage - which would mean it wasn't sitting right where I wanted when the build is finished ... but 1 metre of walking in the rain forever, could mean a whole lot less hassle now?

They are going to re-measure.