Cornices!

Roof now complete.

Garage and Alfresco roof completed today.

A word about windows ...

In the interests of keeping our future energy bills down, we chose double glazed, Low E, argon-filled windows where possible. It is a significant part of the overall cost of the house but something that we hope will be worth it in the long term.

Our windows were installed by Stegbar a while ago and only because the stickers are still on have we noticed that some windows have the LowE side on the inside of the house (with the toughened glass on the outside) while other windows have the reverse situation. The person at Stegbar couldn't recall what the correct configuration was but he did agree that they all should be the same. There are a few more windows to install so Stegbar will be back on site at some stage to resolve this.

Scaffolding down ... but render issues.

Those who have read our earlier posts will know all the fuss around our scaffolding and the powerlines, so when the scaffolding came down today it marked the end of a difficult phase.

The house looks great (well we think so) but if you look at the rear side view you can see that the render and down pipes are a different shade. They are both "Paperbark" but the colour of the downpipes is closer to what we were expecting. For whatever reason, "paperbark" is darker on the render. In full sunlight, the difference is minor but when it's overcast, it is very obvious. We even prefer the colour of the un-painted render over the painted one but, as is the recurring theme in this blog, it's not important in the big scheme of things. Maybe it will be less obvious to us once the garden is established.

Plasterboard up!

So excited we got a look indoors today. The plasterboards are in and although they make the rooms look smaller (-that illusion goes when the paint is on, right?), it just feels like we're in the home stretch now. 

Other things noted - the ducted vacuuming points are in (- a shame because we didn't get a say in where they were placed), the cornices have been delivered, shower recesses and  laundry chute are in!

Part of our open-plan living-dining-kitchen area. Note the fireplace drawn in.

Position of our future stairs.

Shower recess.

The laundry chute - opening above and view down!

Subtle changes

Surprised to find that the plasterers have started their work today. Can't wait until we get a look inside.

On the outside, the final render colour (paperbark) is on and the down pipes (also in paperbark) have been installed. 

So this is lock-up

The bill has been sent so we must be at lockup. Due to the scaffolding issue, there are a few missing windows and the alfresco and garage are still without a roof, but we don't mind - as long as the bank agrees.

The scaffolding is due to come down in a few weeks ( another big effort involving turning off the power lines) so we have been trying to organise our TV antenna and solar electrical panels while access to the roof is still relatively easy. 

Internal plastering is scheduled to start next week. Very exciting.

Electrical work progressing

Steady stream of tradies working on the house this past week although little has changed in the external appearance.

We've had 2 on-site meetings with the electrician this week and one thing that you have to credit Comdain for is that they have excellent tradies. Consistent with our experience with the other tradies so far, not only was the electrician nice to deal with but he had looked carefully at our plans and made some very reasonable suggestions. He could have easily just interpreted the plans his way and not asked us about heights for certain power points, whether we wanted garden lights or whether we wanted the light switch to the walk-in-wardrobe inside or outside the door. With so many things to worry about, we really appreciate all those extra sets of eyes checking the detail.