Digging x3, drainage and flooding

Through out the build, the narrow side yard of the house (right hand side of the block when looking at the front of the house) has been soaking wet and muddy. Every time it rained, the whole area would be a muddy river.
So two weekends ago my husband and dad decided they'd better put in some drainage so that we could then start doing other work in the yard.

They thought it wouldn't take too long, just to dig down the side of the house, across the back and then put in a stormwater pipe and join it the the stormwater drain.

Of course, every time we say something won't take too long, you know it always ends up being a drama of some sort and doesn't go to plan...

Diggin' #1. The dirt was ridiculously hard! I'm talking rock and clay. It ended up taking a whole day just to dig it up, even with my parents and us out there on the shovels and using the kanga (which was fun actually!)
Plus it was the only boiling hot weekend we've had in the whole of Spring!

the kids helping dig across the backyard

side yard looking towards the street



side yard looking towards the backyard

It took hours to get the slope right so that water would flow from the front right side of the house to the back left corner. Anyway the next day they put in the pipes and began covering the top with dirt but didn't get it finished.

That Monday night was when the huge storms hit and we received heaps of heavy rain. Well what happened? Because of sooo much rain and not enough heavy dirt being put back on top of the pipes, they rose to the top of the mud! They were floating on top of the muddy river we had!!

Diggin' #2. So the next weekend on Saturday they had to dig it all about again and this time put bricks and rocks on the pipes temporarily to keep them down in case of rain.
They also discovered that earlier in the year when we'd paid a landscaper to build our retaining wall before the house started, he had done a dodgy job with the drainage. I'd asked that he put in an ag pipe behind the wall, to drain away the water that runs down from next door, but we now know that he put in the tiniest (read:cheapest) pipe as possible and no black plastic behind the wall. So in essence, the pipe is useless and all the water seeps through the blocks of the wall. And that is why, we've figured out, the side yard has been so wet all this time.

Grrr! So frustrating considering that retaining wall cost us and arm and a leg! You'd think a 'professional' could be trusted to do the job properly. :(

So my dad realised that he'd have to run an ag pipe in the ground as well as the stormwater pipe  to drain away the water that seeps through the wall (hope you are all still following me! lol).

Diggin' #3. The next day, Sunday, my husband and dad were back doing what they needed to do again...diggin out the side yard again! If it hadn't been such hard work for them (mum and I had quit long ago by this stage and had resorted to decorating the house and doing odd jobs, lol) it could've almost been funny,... almost!

Anyway, so now the quick job that was meant to take a few hours will continue this weekend (yep, the 3rd weekend!) when they get some sand and gravel delivered.

I think I need some gumboots!

Me having a go digging with the kanga- lots of fun but hard work!

Driveway

After weeks of trying to get driveway quotes and only ending up with a few, we went with one that was a little expensive but seemed to be good quality and workmanship (hopefully) and knew what he was talking about.

As our street is a dead end, there is not much parking so we decided to go for as large as possible so that two cars can fit next to each other and two behind.

 

the driveway area during the build

 formwork

 

 

the kids are so happy they can walk on the driveway now

 

The day the concrete was poured, a huge storm hit the area that night. There was thunder and heavy rain and wind but luckily the concrete seemed fine. We did however, end up with a large muddy swimming pool next to the driveway, just in front of the patio.

 

A week after it was poured, the concretor took the formwork away and we could drive on it- yay!!

 

 

Then in a month or so it will be sprayed a charcoal colour. Looking forward to seeing it finished!

 



We've moved in!

After about a week of doing the floors my parents and I were completely exhausted! Our knees were all sore and our muscles aching! There was dirt and dust everywhere and so many off cuts of flooring, boxes and tools. It felt like a construction site not a home yet.
Gradually, the floor was completed with just a few edges to finish off as well as inside the kids robes. It looks gorgeous, really love the colour and can't wait to see all of the furniture and accessories in the house.
My husband only took a couple of days off work to move everything so he hasn't been at the house much.

So last weekend we finished moving everything to the garage (it's chockers). Because the floor was still being done we only put the essentials inside to start with (it was like camping...I really hate camping lol). Throughout the week I set the girls rooms up with their new bedding and accessories and put some furniture together.

There was also a steady stream of tradies coming and going- we got a different bath spout, stacker doors were serviced to open smoothly, got a tv aeriel, and finally our kitchen end panel and overhead doors arrived (with no scratches this time). :)

 Scratched end panel removed

 Flooring cut to allow for new end panel

New end panel installed

This week I've bought a new coffee table and side table for the family room, got our new dining table and chairs and picked up our youngest daughter's new bed, mattress and bedside table. It's been exciting to unpack bits n pieces I've bought throughout the year, some things I forgot I'd even bought lol! It's been so so much fun choosing furniture and decor for the house, but hey, who doesn't love spending money haha. I've spent the last couple of months looking for the perfect outdoor dining set and outdoor lounge and I think I've found the one (just gotta convince hubby).

We gave away our old lounge and sold our old dining table and chairs which did us well but were looking a bit dated. I also cleaned the old house where we were renting which was a huge effort with two bored kids driving me insane!

So tired, dreaming of the day everything is done so I can just relax with a cocktail...

More pics to come soon :)

The Easiest Floor Ever!

In my mind, we would whip the flooring down in record time and then we would be able to move in straight away. After all, the box says it's the easiest floor ever and that anyone can do it!

Haha haha haha haha! Don't mind my delusional crazy laugh because geez, was I wrong! Now, I'm not a 'handy' person at all and probably never will be (and either is my husband) but my dad's a builder and has laid timber floor, laminate, stick on vinyl planks and tiles heaps of times. We were told this click together, locking floor would be the easiest of all. The you tube video shows people just sliding and clicking the planks together easily.

From the start it wouldn't click together and every plank needed to be hammered in. It was taking hours just to do the front entry area :(

After 4 and a half days we had finished about half the house and were exhausted!! Maybe it was acclimatising to the house or maybe we were just getting better at doing it but it was a litle easier as we went. When we got to the kitchen we had to stop because we still hadn't had the end panel of the island bench replaced.

I eventually heard from the kitchen maker and apparently the end panel will be delivered on Thursday. I told him that it was holding us up and he said it may come a day earlier but it's unlikely. Grr, if only it had been ordered after PCI like it was supposed to and it would have been all done by now!

We had the garage door people come out to fix the tension of the door as it was not closing smoothly and the scratched oven handle was replaced. I've also organised a different bath spout to be installed as it is round as opposed to the square look of everything else in the bathroom.

Anyway, the floor looks great but is a pain to lay and we will need to move in and then finish it at a later time unfortunately.

Post handover work

In the days after handover we decided we would spend a few days laying the flooring before moving in. We also needed to make temporary steps and MJH needed to move some of the fill away from the side fence in order to obtain the occupation certificate.

The bobcat had been arranged to come out and dig some of the fill away from the fence so while he was there we asked him to push some dirt outside the patio, alfresco and back door to satisfy the inspector for the occupation certificate.  During the morning he accidentally broke two pipes leading to the storm water. Luckily my dad was there and had spare pipes at home and quickly made the necessary repairs.

We also needed to make a temporary step from bricks outside the laundry door. The right hand side of the yard had a deep muddy puddle the length of the house, so it was a very messy job!

My husband and dad went to Harvey Norman to pick up the 85 boxes of flooring and we unloaded it all into the garage. Each box weighs 20kg so it proved to be a great workout! I have been dying to see the floor down. I love the colour and it will be nice not to have the worry of cleaning carpet.

So we got to work scraping lumps of paint and plaster off the floor and vacuuming the flooring, oh probably about 30 times, lol! It was cute to see the kids trying to help clean up too.

Handover... and a roller coaster of emotions

After a two week wait after PCI, handover day finally rolled around on the 18th of September. I couldn't wait! My husband was at work so he missed out on being there. .

I was given lots of keys, went through some paperwork and checked what had been done on the list of things I'd identified at PCI to repair or complete.

I was extremely annoyed and disappointed to see that there were still about a dozen scratches on the overhead cupboard doors and the end panel of island bench had been touched up with paint. However, it was patchy, uneven and not glossy like the rest of the panel. I commented to the SS that for a $5000 upgrade to polyurethane I would not be accepting any scratches. He agreed that it wasn't adequate and said they'd replace the cupboard doors and end panel. If only they'd done that before handover like they were supposed to,  instead of a poor quality quick-fix! So I'd waited a fortnight for something that never got done properly anyway. The other thing that was really upsetting was that we were going to be held up laying our floor now. The floor boards all interlock and click together so need to start at one end of the house and continue to the other end.

On a positive note, there weren't too many other things to be completed or repaired:2 glass stackers had been replaced due to scratches, the painters had fixed up the walls and skirting, bricks had been cleaned and 2 scratched kitchen handles replaced.

We were given a bathroom gift box of towels and accessories. In the afternoon, the kids and I sat in the alfresco and ate chocolate dipped strawberries to celebrate our new home.

Yes, it felt amazing having the keys to our new house, but the damaged kitchen definitely soured it for me and the fact that it could have and should have been replaced before handover (and wasn't) was disappointing.

PCI

Yesterday was PCI. We spent about 2.5 hours going through the house, checking doors, drawers, paintwork, etc.
There were a few hundred paint touch-ups identified, just about the entire house needs to be repainted, lol! There are coloured pieces of tape just about everywhere showing where it needs to be repainted. We also found quite a few scratches on the poly urethane kitchen cupboards, a chip on one end of the island benchtop as well as a scratched glass stacker door, 2 scratched kitchen handles and a few minor things to be fixed. The site will also need to be cleaned up again due to the poor job first time round. There is still lots of rubbish (drinks and food wrappers) and broken bricks etc around the yard.
Overall, I am extremely happy with the quality of the house and the professionalism of McDonald Jones. The whole build has gone smoothly and to plan.

Unfortunately, we are still trying to figure out the very complicated requirements of building a retaining wall parallel to the water easement down the side of our block. After months of research, we are still unsure of what is allowed by council and how to construct it so we don't waste too much land (our side yard).
We are still chasing up concretors for driveway quotes. Feeling so frustrated that most don't bother to return my calls!

Handover will be in two weeks, to allow time for the painters to come back and for the kitchen to be fixed up. Hopefully two weeks will fly by quickly--we are all very excited and looking forward to moving in!

 ensuite

 shelf at end of front entry hall

home theatre

 stacker doors to alfresco

main bathroom

 main bathroom

 kitchen

kitchen

No more fence

I just happened to go past the house today to see our security fence was down and the site was being cleaned up. The rubbish has been taken away but the dirt is still really uneven.  Not looking forward to all the landscaping that will need to be done :(  I have lots of great ideas but not so much money, haha!

I snapped a couple of quick pics of the front from the car:

House has been cleaned!

On Monday our house was cleaned. The plastic was taken off the stacker doors and benchtops and the windows were given a good clean too. Everything looks so much better cleaned!  I'm loving our splashback and the colours altogether. I've also been busy buying a few accessories (lamps, cushions, and other bits and pieces). We also purchased a new bed for daughter 2 and a lounge for the family room. Can't wait to see the house furnished and decorated.

These aren't the best quality photos, it looked alot better in real life.

 alfresco

 looking through to kitchen from back of garden room

 pantry and fridge space

 island bench, pendant lights, oven, splashback

Next up, will be a site clean up I think (once this rain stops and the mud dries up a bit) and flyscreens.

Still trying to get driveway quotes and retaining wall figured out.

 up-down lights

planning on adding Merbau timber above the brick feature

Nearly finished! !

It feels so surreal to say this...but our house is nearly finished!  This week it's been raining alot but I made a few quick visits after work to peek through the windows. I will try to upload pics tomorrow.

Our splash back is in and looks great.
The rangehood and freestanding oven are installed (can't wait to cook in that baby!) The downlights are finished and the up-down lights on the facade are done. I think they are up too high and would have looked better a bit lower, but maybe I will get used to them.

Our blinds were ordered on Monday. We chose mostly roller blinds with a few shutters and venetians. We're busy trying to get some quotes for driveways.  It's frustrating because out of the 15 or so we've contacted, only a couple have responded.

I'm starting to get really excited now that it is all feeling real.

Painting complete, our benchtop returns, door handles and showerscreens

A lot of little things have happened this week:
hot water system, showerscreens, ensuite mirror (main bathroom mirror not in), toilets, towel rails, benchtop has returned and installed, door handles, door stops, doors hung

A few times this week we've been up to the house to check on progress through the windows, and we've been surprised to find the back door unlocked. That means lots of walk thoughs to see the progress and lots of photo opportunities! Yay!

 bathroom towel rail

 bathroom

 bathroom

 bathroom doorstop

 younger daughter's room

 sink- (the colour is wrong in this photo)

 dining

 home theatre door stop

 ensuite

 ensuite

 facade (the top part has been painted)

 front door has been stained

island benchtop in

 laundry handles on

 master bedroom- Lin 1 door and robe door handle

spare room cupboard handles on