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!!!!

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!







.



.







.




.


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!

.



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 door between two worlds opens

I've been living a bit of an illusion ... it has been as though the renovation is a house on its own ... not really connected to the part I'm living in. Two very different worlds ... but today, for the first time, the door between the worlds was opened ... we have connection!!

The door was quickly closed again to keep out the heat :-) ... but gone is my illusion of a separate existance ... and hopefully soon there will be even less of a difference between the two - they are talking about putting the floorboards in!!!


Today I came home to find many of the cornices installed ... below is the laundry hallway (with manhole or womanhole!).
The bathroom is looking closer ... the hold up on the bath is the tap company sending the wrong tap thingie (they don't seem to appreciate my re-naming of tap parts?!?!). Hopefully tomorrow they will live up to their promises and actually turn up with the right bit ... can't see why they couldn't have posted it two weeks ago ... the whole "customer care" thing seems rather silly if the care takes a whole lot longer and distrupts building!!

The last of the windows are in ... the kitchen sink window and the bay windows ... oh ... and A door. Note: only one door ... we seem to have a case of the disappearing doors. One day the french doors are there, the next they are gone ... I look in the morning and watch them install them ... then they are gone by the afternoon ... so far I think they've gone in 3 times ... and still no doors (not sure I really want to ask!!).


One of my very exciting pickups this week (it is like Christmas with all the boxes arriving!) ... were the fabrics for the window seats. First up is the dining room ... the gold stripe is Warwick Port Norris Gold for the main window seat upholstery then cushions in: the creamy one that is above the blue is a gorgeous soft fabric (Warwick ), the houndtooth one is Warwick Grove Beach ... and there is one more cushion to go - a bright gold one.


The kitchen window seat fabrics ... missing the main upholstery fabric which is a light blue ticking stripe on white, and one of the cushion colours is missing (because I haven't picked it yet ... going to be a solid bright red) .... the other cushions are: Hoad Torquay Claret (the apple green motif one), Warwick Toulouse Cherrywood (the red pattern) and Warwick Provence Marina (the blue toile). I LOVE these colours!!! So exciting to see them together ... can't wait to see them on an actual window seat!!

It only took two days ... WALLS!!

A big load of plasterboard arrived on Friday ... then Saturday, when I was only expecting one builder (who was picking something up and leaving) I got a whole lot ... and the plasterers! In just two day's they've nearly completed the walls. There are a couple of sections missing (I think they ran out) ... but otherwise it is done!

The kitchen:


The bathroom:

The dining room (which now feels bigger):

The laundry:
I can't wait to see what happens next!

Busy bee ... quick decisions!

Last week talking to the builder I asked if there were any decisions coming up that he needed me to make (I was thinking it was a bit quiet) ... no ... plenty of time yet until the next lot of stuff he assured me, really it would be weeks away ... of course ... a couple of days later I get "I need to know exactly where to put your plumbing ... tomorrow"!

So off plumbing shopping I've gone. Lots of decisions ... that got quite tricky because I don't want mixer taps everywhere ... the world is completely orientated to mixer taps ... I highly recommend developing a liking for them if you want to renovate because it would be so much easier if I could!!

I've had to give in for one tap - which will be a twinner tap ... so still two levers for hot and cold, but only one spout section thingie (just showing off my expertise in tricky building technical terms!). After going around the shops and despairing at the differences between the budget (thank you Mr Architect) and the reality of the prices ... I decided that I would just seeeeee how much it would be for my dream taps (the ones I'd agonised over for the ensuite because they went over budget) ... just one little quote so I could squash the dream ... and ... YAY!!! They've come down in price (clever me not ordering all the taps earlier!) and now are the equivalent of the others I was looking at (still a bit over budget)!!!

I think I could invent a new reality TV show for Mr Architect ... it goes something like this .... you've been given a budget of $500 for items that usually cost $1000 ... you must find something that fits the style of the house, that doesn't look ugly, that works, comes in on budget, is deliverable to woop woop, fits into a space designed by someone who didn't think ... oh ... and you've got to find it within the next hour!

I think that would be quite entertaining for me ... would be quite fun to watch someone else scramble (especially if he was the silly one who put the silly budget together in the first place!). I'm thinking of donating my rangehood problem to him ... still no luck solving it!

Other wins were the window in the bathroom ... OK so I accused Mr Architect of stuffing that one up ... but it wasn't him :-) ... the builders had changed the window, but not centred it on the wall (had nicely centered it on an oustide wall that wont be relevant once the weatherboards are up!!). So ... they should be moving it!

Today's urgent decisions were the tiles for the laundry etc ... luckily I have a wonderful friend who doesn't mind me copying her fantastic ideas ... so I'd already thought about using her tiles ... and since I had to tell them immediately what I was going to use .... I rang up to confirm they are still available ... and could hand over the tile we'll be using within the timeframe.

Next urgent decision ... hot water systems ... to gas boost or not to gas boost ... that is the question!! Definitely going solar ... but which sort?! Off to research a bit more!

Oh ... and the builders got a lurvely box of chocolates from my chocolate dipping class ... empty box got returned with a note of thanks saying they were "swell" ... must be the irish coming out!!

More frames up

The first internal doorway was up on Friday ... not sure why that seems significant, but it does! It is the doorway from the mudroom area to the kitchen.

The windowseat areas in the dining and living area look great ... can't wait to see them filled with cushions and sunshine. The perfect reading place!

The back of the house will soon have another tank put in.

Obviously we're going to go overtime ... which will be interesting to see how that is worked out. I'm not surprised or worried ... living here isn't too bad at the moment. The split system for the master bedroom went in on Friday, but isn't powered up yet ... I'll be very thrilled when I get proper heating!!

The biggest angst this week is the mistake the architect has made working out the roof line. I wish it was possible to go back and design that part again, but it looks like I'm just going to have a part of the house I really dislike.

Wish they'd left the keys for the tractor

Yesterday they finished removing the laundry
and have installed the pipe for the septic


but I wished they'd left the keys for the nice big tractor! I could have done some arena grading in the evening ;-) :-) !!!


Last night was probably the most uncomfortable for me so far ... the builders had disconnected most of the electrics in the house, so I was down to three power points and lots of extension leads. No power at all in the bathroom ... other than the lead coming in ... so I had a shower at night by lamp light - with the blow heater going. I had issues with trying to keep the heaters going and not short out the powerboards! Trying to run the necessities (fridge, heater and TV) was a bit of fun but I worked it out. Had to freeze whilst I plugged in the toaster!! Luckily - the most important things - hot water, electric blanket and fridge worked!

Apparently the ensuite should be complete mid-next week ... the tiler is the slowest part.

Tomorrow is a meeting of the architect, builder and I - lots of things on the agenda.

Just one more day would have been nice

A bit of a theme in my life at the moment ... just one more day would have been nice, just notice that that was the day would have helped ... but ... so much for my post of yesterday ... LOTS happening on site yesterday.

This is what I arrived home to find (in the dark of course)

before ->

No more kitchen

before->

No more laundry

before ->

The reason I was getting a bit frantic about getting this renovation done, even through winter (because really, renovating really isn't something I wanted to do, especially in the freezing cold) ... but I've had the feeling that one day, very soon, I was going to suddenly find myself standing on the ground as the floor collapsed underneath me ..........

looks like I was right! That's the floor where the kitchen walkway was ...oops! Completely rotted underneath, and goes straight to the ground.

One little stressed cat though ... poor boy. He loses his best friend and half his house in under a week ... at least I can understand and rationalise both.