It’s Been Awhile….

Hello everyone. Yes I know that it’s been awhile since the last post but I have been rather slack updating the blog and due to the shitty weather that we’ve been having I haven’t really had a chance to do much outside (well I think that is a good excuse anyway). We’ve actually done a fair bit between the rain etc and have nearly finished the paving only about 10sq metres to go which i should finish by next weekend as i have a couple of days off including the long weekend but if the weather is good I may end up fishing instead, we’ll see what happens. The rainwater tank is in and it is now full due to the huge amounts of rain we have had lately and as you can see in the pictures the yard was under water for a few weeks, at least I know where the drainage problems are now. We’ve been thinking of getting another tank and putting it alongside the other one as there is enough room for it. Retaining wall is finished and my calculations were spot on as we only have about 5 blocks left (lucky). Everything else is cruising along alright, house is good, still haven’t got our light fittings up and all the problems that we found have been fixed even though the paint work inside and out is dodgy but we will end up repainting ourselves at some stage with a colour that doesn’t show grubby children’s handprints etc. That’s it for now and I’ll try to update weekly.
Cheers….

Side Area

Look Tom's Working

Slightly Flooded

Backyard Flooded

Rainwater Tank

Retaining Wall

Paving

Paving Side Area

Paving - Nearly Finished

Sorry I Forgot….

The 2 oldies hard at work

I forgot to mention the two oldies that if it wasn’t for them we would never have finished the job!!!!!!!!!!

Paving The Driveway

Well we paved the driveway this weekend and at the moment I am very sore. My back aches, my legs hurt and I haven’t got any skin left on my fingers. Don’t know how everyone else is feeling but I think I’d rather stick to IT work as it’s not so hard on the body. Having the driveway paved changes the whole look of the house and once we level the front some more we will get stuck into the garden etc, even though we’re not entirely sure what we’re going to do yet.

Prepping the base

Leveling the base

Starting to lay pavers

The crew hard at work

Getting there

Front path

Finished product

We’re Back Online…

Well the last 3 weeks have been very interesting and not house wise either. Last week our dog fell ill with an unknown problem and after she had spent 4 or so days at the vet we decided, after a great deal of stress, that it would be better to put her down. The vet suggested we wait another day and we are lucky we did as the problem got diagnosed this morning. The vet operated and removed a toy mouse, which Gypsy obviously thought was a real one and decided to eat it causing it to get stuck in her digestive system. To top that off our computer decided that it was time to retire with the hard drive crashing and all the contents becoming corrupt. I got the comp working again tonight and am hoping that when I go into work tomorrow the program that has been running all day has recovered all our photos etc off our old hard drive. Just remember people back up all your important info, says the person who tells people for a living to backup everything on their comps yet doesn’t do so himself. Oh well to the house stuff. We’ve finished the retaining wall and it looks really good (sorry no pics). All that’s left to do now is one more retaining wall down the side and that is finished. Everything is ready for the driveway to be paved and that will be done on the June long weekend along with rest of the paths etc. Had to dig the driveway up to repair a broken storm water pipe that was originally broken by the Telstra bloke and he attempted to fix it with very poor results. I should of gotten them back to fix it but they would’ve taken weeks to get here so we done it ourselves which was lucky as we had 21mm of rain last night and it would of made the entire driveway a boggy mess. We had the septic looked at because it had a very bad odour and the plumber said that it would take at least 12 months before the smell would disappear…great. I backfilled around the septic as most of the soil had sunk and it seems to have cut down on most of the stink so we’ll see what happens.

I’ll post some more pics when they become available……

Another Post….at last

Well been a bit slack the last 2 weeks putting up posts but have been busy around the house. Got the verandah up the other weekend and started the retaining wall last weekend. Verandah went up rather easy and without (m)any stuffups. It’s bigger than what we imagined but it’s what we wanted and it’s going to be a great area to sit around and drink under on a hot summers day (or rainy winter one). Got a start on the rear retaining wall as we would like to have some lawn down before it gets to wet to keep the mud at bay. Will finish it this weekend and start preparing the area for lawn etc. Here’s some more pics of our progress…enjoy…

Verandah

Verandah

Verandah

Verandah

Verandah

Retaining Wall

Retaining Wall

Kell & Steve

Installing Verandah

Started the verandah on Sunday and managed to get the the fascia brackets and back channel installed. It doesn’t sound like much but we had to remove the eaves (instead of the roof) to attach the brackets to the roof trusses. Normally you would lift roof sheets to install them but after trying 2 sheets a decision was made to remove the eaves and do it from underneath. It was a lot easier and quicker and there was no damage done to the eaves so it worked out to be a really good idea. I’ll dig the holes for the posts during the week and get everything ready for next Saturday when we will finish it off, then I’m going fishing………..

The Landscaping Has Started

We started doing the landscaping on the Easter long weekend and we managed to get the shed up, do some paving and some of the retaining wall. It actually took a week to finish the shed because the company (who shall remain nameless) forgot to make the door and it didn’t get delivered until the following Friday. Last weekend we started the paving where the verandah is going to go and it was a little bit easier on the body as we were starting to get used to shovelling and moving sand, carrying bricks and laying them etc. We’ve still got quite abit of paving to go and I am hoping we will have it finished in about 3-4 weeks as we had the verandah delivered today and I will start putting it up as soon as I have finished the paving I have started. To those who helped out at Easter, thanks very much and you are quite welcome to come around at any time and help some more. Here’s some pics of the progress we have made. Enjoy…..

Back of house before paving

Back of house with path paved

Paving for shed floor

Paving and retaining wall

Finishing the shed

Levelling paving base

Laying pavers

Paving nearly finished

Latest Update…

It’s been 3 weeks since we got the keys and last Tuesday we finally finished at the old house. It was amazing how much stuff you can accumalate in 9 years and we dumped quite alot of stuff, in fact we spent 2 Sundays at the dump and became well known by the blokes there. We still have alot of stuff at the new house that will probably have to be dumped and after easter when I put the shed up we will go through it all and work out what we are going to keep and what goes. So next weekend (easter) I will be putting the shed up, paving the floor of the shed and doing some of the retaining wall. If I have enough time over the weekend I will try and get a start on the paving around the house and do the rear and side paths and maybe some of the front. The verandah is going to be delivered on the 12th of April so I’ll prepare that area and pave it once the verandah is installed. We’ve had our vertical blinds delivered last week and I have installed them and once I find the battery charger for the camera we will take some pics. Oh well, Happy Easter to those who read this and stay tuned for more…..

We’re In…

Well it’s been a week since we got the keys, so sorry there hasn’t been a post since the last one but you can blame Telstra for that. Thursday the 5th was key day and for the last week we have been in a daze as we have moved all our furniture and started cleaning our old house, even though we would rather just be setting up our new house. Everything has gone well, fencing/gates have been done, phone has been connected (internet took a week), tv antenna installed (thanks Dave), rubble has been spread for paving and we have been slowly moving the outdoors stuff from the old house. It’s a fantastic feeling actually being in our new home especially since we have been able to see it grow from a vacant block of land to what it is now. There are a few problems but we have 3 months to get them fixed but apart from that we are more then happy with the finished product and would highly recommend World Concept Homes for those that are wishing to build a new home. Now for the landscaping etc so stay tuned for updates.

Kell getting the keys

Our Home

All of us in our new home

Bathtime for Kell

We have keys….well nearly!!

Had our practical completion inspection on Thursday, went pretty well. Only a few minor things to touch up like paint splatters bit of plumbing work and the roller door issue which was fixed by the end of the day. Rang the bank and they said they could have the final payment cheque ready by Wednesday so it is all GO…
Talked to the supervisor again and we meet him Thursday morning at the house and get the keys. Now the fun begins!!

Flooring

Flooring - Kitchen

Carpet

We will post more pics next week when we are in and everything is cleaned up.