The Brown's have MOVED to the Country ;-)

Fences, Side Gate and Side Panel + Yard Pics

2010-03-23T14:12:00.005+11:00

Here are some updated photos:

BELOW: Wags the dog, being spoilt inside:

BELOW: The Pool area, and the new under construction retaining wall in the foreground:

BELOW: The view over the side fence:

BELOW: The upper level of the back yard (from east side):

BELOW: The upper level of the back yard (from west side):

BELOW: The retaining wall (under construction):

BELOW: The side panel (west side):

BELOW: Side gate integrated into panel (east side):

That's it for now...

John

Boundary Fence, Retaining Wall and Garden...

2010-02-08T10:51:00.008+11:00

Hi Everyone,

Below are some updated photos as to what has been happening at the Brown Residence.

BELOW: The new boundary fence:

BELOW: The retaining wall. This is the finished height (need caps now):

BELOW: More of the Retaining Wall (need to get into those stairs):

BELOW: New garden with NZ Flax and Cowra Pebbles:

That's it for now...
John & Tarin

The great wall of yass!

2010-01-19T21:34:00.006+11:00

It has been a busy few days working on the retaining wall.

Here are some progress pics:

BELOW: The start of the staircase:

BELOW: More of the staircase...

BELOW: And another...

BELOW: The corner returning to the side of the house:

BELOW: The area outside the kitchen:

That's it for now...

John & Tarin

The Rear Retaining Wall Starts...

2010-01-15T17:19:00.008+11:00

Finally, I am on leave from work and I can make some progress on the rear retaining wall. Here are some progress pics:

BELOW: The 550 blocks, ALL to be carried down the site...

BELOW: The staircase corner stones...

BELOW: Along the back area, will end up at 5 courses high...

BELOW: Another progress pic...

BELOW: Up to 3 courses here...

BELOW: Where the staircase will be located...

BELOW: Along the back of the pool area...

More pics will be posted as progress is made.

John & Tarin.

Well the new year has arrived.

2010-01-13T13:22:00.003+11:00

And its a busy one all ready.

The kids are off till the end of the month and with the heat we have had the pool has been getting a great work out. its been wonderful. The kids have slept till 8 or 9 most mornings.

Well as we approach the school year kalinda will begin high. she is really looking forward to it. Kev will be in year 5 and the twin in year 3.

Kevan will start 4 day of training for gym come next week. The coach is really pleased with him and kevan is really enjoying it too.

As for the house we have received the blocks for the back retaining wall almost 5 grands worth. John and i will start them this coming friday. i cant wait till all this is done so i can start to get some plants and all in there.

Any ways we will have more pics and stuff by the end of the week.

hope you all had a merry christmas and 2010 is good to you all

Hugs

Taz, John and the Kids

Kalinda's School Formal...

2009-12-10T20:23:00.003+11:00

Hi Everyone,

Kalinda had her school formal tonight. She will leave Year 6 this year and head off to high school next year...

BELOW: Kalinda dressed up...

BELOW: Kalinda in her formal dress...

BELOW: Jenaya (left) and Kalinda:

BELOW: From Left: Kalinda, Kevan, Josh & Tommy.

BIG Awards at the Gymnastics Competition

2009-11-29T18:57:00.004+11:00

Hi Everyone,

This afternoon, Kalinda and Kevan went to their Gymnastics Competition.

Kalinda received a Participation Medallion:

AND Kevan got:
- Team Trophy for Third Place Overall, and
- The Team's Most Improved Gymnast

Well done, kids!!!

2009-11-27T07:29:00.003+11:00

Well the concreting is now finally finished its looking great and all it needs now is a clean, sealer and the wall and then the decorating can start :)

Here is some eye candy for you all

The concreting work continues...

2009-11-24T19:23:00.003+11:00

The concretors are now working their way across the back of the house and pool. Probably be done by the end of the week (hopefully).
Here are some progress photos:

The concreted areas after cleaning...

2009-11-21T13:43:00.005+11:00

Today I pressure-cleaned the pool area to get rid of the excess ochre and concrete chunks. The colour is a bit patchy but this goes away when it get sealed, which will probably be within the next 2 weeks.

More Stencil Concreting Photos - Good Progress...

2009-11-20T18:40:00.003+11:00

The backyard stencilling is about 70% complete. They just need to do across the back of the house and the pool (about 30 x 2 metres).

BELOW: The latest slab (darker one):

BELOW: Most of the pool surround now concreted:

BELOW: The fresh slab the other side of the pool:

BELOW: Looking back towards the house:

BELOW: The Pool & Al Fresco area:

The Backyard Concreting Continues...

2009-11-19T19:00:00.004+11:00

The stencil concreting continued today, the weather has been good to us thus progress is great.

Here are some progress photos:

Day one of concreting out back :)

2009-11-17T15:18:00.011+11:00

Hi all,

Well day one of the laying of the first block of concrete went really well. I can's believe it makes such a difference already :).

Here are some pics.

and below will be the next couple of days work.

this is how far it will come up to the sliding doors to the alfresco triple slider.

Here our plan is to have New zealnd flax in a bed of white pebbles here:

this is what they look like :)

We cant wait to have a place to sit and enjoy while the kids are in the pool :)

More pics tomorrow

Hugs
Taz and John

Retaining Wall Progress and Pool Concrete Preparation...

2009-11-16T19:42:00.005+11:00

Hi everyone,
Here are some updated photos of hardscaping progress.

An updated pic of the front facade (taken at an angle so I could fit it in):

BELOW: The Al Fresco area (ready for concrete):

BELOW: Concrete preparations for the outdoor kitchen:

BELOW: Concrete prep around pool (note reinforcement bars in side of pool):

BELOW: More concrete preparation:

BELOW: Updated retaining wall pic with caps now on wall:

BELOW: Retaining wall alongside the driveway:

BELOW: Retaining wall behind garages:

BELOW: Retaining wall at front of house:

Retaining Walls, Pool Coping & Fence, Side Fence...ACTION ! !

2009-11-05T20:34:00.006+11:00

Hi Everyone,

Sorry we haven't updated for a while. Thanks for all the emails asking how we are all going here in the new house. We are all going really well. Hope everyone out there is well.

Here are some pics of the latest work...

BELOW: Boundary colorbond fence:

BELOW: Pool and the new pool fencing:

BELOW: The pool coping pavers:

BELOW: The first of the sandstone block retaining walls:

BELOW: Retaining wall from the driveway level:

BELOW: The wall at the side of the garage:

BELOW: Side of driveway (awaiting the caps):

Bye for now...
John, Tarin & the kids.

Whos up for a pool party :)

2009-10-11T08:19:00.018+11:00

We have our beautiful pool in now (well sort of) Monday we are waiting for Narellan to come and finish off to balance and clean the pool.

here are some pictures :)

Levelling of the land

The laying of the pool pattern

Then the hole was dug

and the pool shell was delivered

And placed where it will spend the rest of its poolie life :-)

and then the water truck came and brought the water .

And the pool was filled

and whilst this was happening,
Waggs the site supervisor was watching on :)

So we have been and ordered the coping for around the pool it will be a greyish/purple colour and then we are stencil creteing the rest of the area around the pool with a a sand stone colour :)
We are looking forward to it being finished and having a BBQ and a swim :)

Retaining Wall #1 and Spoilt Brat Kids Get 2 x TVs...

2009-10-04T08:49:00.006+11:00

Hi Everyone,
Below are some latest pics of what's been happening at the Brown Mansion.

BELOW: 2 x new Panasonic TVs - one for xbox and one for Wii.

BELOW: Tom & Kevan hard at play.

BELOW: The new retaining wall.

BELOW: The corner brickwork - so neat!

BELOW: The new wall from the front.

That's it for now. The pool is expected to start this coming Wednesday, so keep an eye out for more action pics.

See ya...
The Browns.

We will be keeping cool in the pool this summer

2009-09-27T07:16:00.003+10:00

Our beautiful Narellan pool will be starting to get installed on the 6th of october. Smack bang through the school holidays. The Kids are super excited.

It is called the Madeira and the colour we are using is Bermuda blue. Just like the one here in this picture.

We will have pics as soon as we get our reg net access back. as our 13 yo got a new i pod and used our monthly allowance in under 3 days. Oh the fun of having teenagers LOL

Oh and our wall man is here too doing the retaining walls for the front gardens :). I cant wait i have decided i would love to have a cherry blossom a few smelly roses and a hedge of lavender for the top garden. and for the bottom garden i will prob do a bed of natives :) and bush rock.

any ways more in a few days
Hugs
Taz and John

Driveway Completion (now we can drive on it too)

2009-09-21T08:51:00.002+10:00

Hi Everyone,

Below are the latest driveway pics. We are now able to have our caravan close by.

The concrete is done! We have a drive way

2009-09-17T19:35:00.006+10:00

Hi all
The concrete was finished today, and it looks fabulous. Of course I didn't get pics of the stencil off. The boys came back and removed the stencil in the arvo and covered it with plastic.

Hugs
Taz and John

Almost done.

2009-09-16T15:41:00.004+10:00

One more peice of concrete to go and our drivway will be finished. Yippeee

Its looking Beautiful. and it will look even better once it dries and the top coat goes on

The council come the other day to tell us that the pool has to go in to neighbour consultation :( so that is another 21 day wait.

oh and here is a pic of my decorating :D

Hugs
Taz and John

Driveway - More Photos of the Progress...

2009-09-14T15:29:00.009+10:00

Firstly, it was a fabulous day. Here is a picture of today from our balcony:

BELOW: Today's slab with the border detail:

BELOW: The corner of today's slab:

BELOW: Today's slab is the parking bays (right):

More Driveway Photos - Looking Good...

2009-09-11T16:27:00.005+10:00

Driveway work continued today. Good weather allowed the team to complete a large slab and a smaller area behind the garages.

BELOW: Today's work is the darker part:

BELOW: The parking bays to the right (to be done soon):

BELOW: The entry consists of 2 colours:

BELOW: Showing the start of the 'border paver':

BELOW: Could the A380 park here?:

BELOW: Today's work, stencil removed 1 hour ago:

BELOW: Today's slab in the foreground:

BELOW: Path at the side of the garages:

BELOW: Today's work is the dark bit (stencil still in):

That's it for now...

John & Tarin.

Driveway Progress Pics

2009-09-05T14:37:00.004+10:00

Updated house front photo (with balustrades):

BELOW: The 'Bushrock' pattern:

BELOW: Colour is 'Gunmetal':

Driveway is underway.

2009-09-04T08:06:00.007+10:00

Today our drive way is getting the first of many squares that is getting laid. The concrete guys reckon if we get nice weather they should have it done in a week. John almost choked when the guy told him the size of the area we are getting concreted... LOL its the size of our very first house hehehe

here are some pics

We cant wait till its done. We are soooooo sick of mud now being trampled in to the house.

more pics later on this arvo

Taz and John

In Awe of our beautiful blinds...

2009-09-03T19:25:00.024+10:00

Tonight the inside of our house became finished.

We had the rest of our panel glides installed and I have to say they look Beautiful. Yes Yes the eye candy follows :-D

The meals

The dining room

The family room

The hallway

And the front door

The kids games room

The formal lounge (quite empty at the moment)

A close up of our blinds

The Study

And of cause i got one shelf for my prize possessions :P See!

the stairwell

Top of stairs

The main Bedroom (Lights out)

Lights on :)

Miss Kalindas Bed

So it's all exciting. Tomorrow our first part of our driveway will be laid as long as there is no rain (finger crossed). Oh and the pool has gone to council. We should hear something in about 3 weeks :-)

Hugs
Taz and John

Finally we have some eye candy for you all...

2009-08-27T22:12:00.006+10:00

The meals / conservatory
(we had the rest of our blinds installed to day so i will get up to date pics tomorrow when i have cleaned up)

Da Kitchen

The rumpus

The Dining

John and Kevs Obsession Model planes
( their light up glass cupboard for their planes )

The Study

We will have more pictures now our blinds are in tomorrow.

Hugs
John and Tarin

Keys WE HAVE THE KEYS :)

2009-08-11T20:15:00.002+10:00

We met up with Mr L today and he bought our keys and our pack of goodies. And then we off... Moving stuff up to the garage.

It is CHOCKERS with boxes and stuff. We will have a few late night building our funky stuff from Ikea D

Of cause we cant move in at the moment due to the fact that we are waiting on the railings for the front of the house we are still unsure of when this is going happen.

We are in heaven right now :D. We are just itching to get in there and start to live our life normally. Two years we have been uprooted.

I plan on cleaning the place tomorrow and then i plan on taking a HEAP of pics :D

Hugs
Taz and John

Our toys have arrived and Handover today! Hopefully :)

2009-08-11T06:22:00.003+10:00

Today hopefully is the day we have been waiting for for sooooooooo long. The bank paid the final payment yesterday. So unofficially the house is ours. We should see Mr L today whom should bring our keys and gear for the house. (fingers crossed)

The council came last Friday and told us that we were not to move in until the front entry stairs have a hand railing. So John has been on the phone to Mr L regarding this and hopefully it will be done by the end of the week.

There are still a few final things for Masterton to fix up and then we should be good to go.

Our electrical goodies were installed yesterday as well. unfortunately, I had to work but John had the time of his life playing with the ducted Vac, the Music Hub and alarm.

I will take a HEAP of pics today its so nice now that its had teh builders clean :)

Hugs
Taz and John

The waiting is KILLING us

2009-08-09T08:08:00.003+10:00

Well the bank came on Thursday and gave us the ok for the loan to go through. So now we are just waiting for the money to be paid :) its so exciting. Masterton still have a bit to do. The council guy came on Friday and wouldn't issue a interim cert... This is because of those 7 steps at the front we knew that that was going to let us down! so John has got on to Mr L about this situation. I mean really its not our fault that the land was cut like that which caused the 7 steps. So its up to Masterton to deal with it... and before Friday.

Monday- We have Sentinal alarms coming to install all the electrical goodies such as the vac, our music hub, alarm, ect, Tiler, and Painter.

Tuesday- The brickies back to brick up the steps out the laundry door. Hopefully the bank has paid Masterton

Wednesday- Sparkies for the fans, HOPEFULLY starting to move some stuff in :)

Thursday - Concrete (for pad and stairs ) for laundry, Austar being installed

Friday - Carpet

Weekend- spend our first night in the house YIPPPPEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Any way more as it pops up on the agenda its just all the fiddlie bits that need to be finished we were at the peek and now comming down the mountian.

Later gator
Taz and John

Banks been

2009-08-06T21:24:00.002+10:00

Yep the bank has been for the final inspection. I am stuffed tonight its been one hell of a HUGE day. We received our Oven, dishwasher, range hood and cook top.a

Our water tanks came and were installed but we had to turn the water off because we have a leak in the laundry out of our washing machine tap Grrr. We were quite excited to have flushing loos even if it was for a few hours :)

Another busy day planned for tomorrow. The cleaner will be in to start cleaning, the sparkies are coming back to put our fans in, scaffolding will come down, Site clean, and a few other things.

We are overwhelmed that the place has come from walls to being ready.

we are all most at the end of the road. If all goes well we should have our keys by Wednesday

We will have pics tomrrow if our net connection will allow it :)

Good night :D

Taz & John

Site Works, Sewer and Water Supply ACTION...

2009-08-03T20:03:00.006+10:00

Will be be in by next weekend?

2009-08-02T11:52:00.004+10:00

That is the question... I doubt it very much there are still so many unfinished jobs around the house. For example we still have gyprock that needs to be sanded and repaired, the front stairs need the railing, gas,electricity, water needs to be connected, the slab for out side the laundry needs to be formed and laid, Site works need to be done, Sentel alarms need to come in and they have a couple of days worth of work to install the duct vac, alarm, speakers through out house,

The thing is we have given our landlord notice and he has been very kind to allow us to extend the time we have over stayed. But this Friday the 7th is the last chance as he has people waiting to move in and im sure they are getting very peed off at us swapping and changing our dates. We are hoping that things move pretty quickley this week

We are all just ITCHING now to get into our own home. We have been on this journey for 2 years and am pretty sick of living in a 2 beddie house with ikea boxes around us. We are just so over the whole situation now.

We have to say that we are pretty impressed at the way Mr L has been conducting every thing and if we didn't have the rain the last week we would have probably been almost done.

Of cause once Mr L allows us to have the house we now have to wait for the idiot bank cause they want up to 5 working days to inspect it. Pretty stupid cause the most we are borrowing is less than what the land value is LOL.

So the race is on. John was told by the tradies that they have been told that the place need to be finished by Friday but there is still so much more to go.

Hugs
Taz and John

Electrical (almost done), Wet Area Tiling...

2009-08-01T08:57:00.004+10:00

Yesterday, the tiler returned to complete the grouting and finish the tiling in the ensuite (around the hob, see below). Also, the sparkies came to get the box ready for Country Energy to come and install the meter then connect to the mains (at the street).

BELOW: Main Toilet:

BELOW: Main Bathroom (grouting complete):

BELOW: Ensuite (with hob complete):

BELOW: Electricity Box:

BELOW: Electricity Box (awaiting meter):

Sparkies, Chippies,and a lot more!

2009-07-29T18:47:00.023+10:00

Today there was more action at the house. The chippies, Sparkies, roller door people, the fit off guy for the shelves in the cupboards. and the bob cat guys all came to visit it was so nice to have this action. this is what we expected months ago.

Our finished garage

A air con vent

Towel rack

Hand towel

The throne

our beautiful handles

the walk in ( unfinished)

The laundry cupboards

The smart robe

Site works

And... Site works

Our air con compressor

Our finished conservatory

the clothes line in the garage.

Things are finally happening its so exciting. If all goes well we should be in for my birthday :D that's the weekend of the 8th and 9th :-D

Well we will have more pics tomorrow
Hugs
Taz & John

Pictures.. Pictures and More pictures

2009-07-26T08:03:00.011+10:00

The entry and staircase

The Outside

The Kitchen

This is the wall my beautiful picture is going

This one right here.

The powder room

The main bathroom

The main toilet

The En suite

The rumpus

Laundry

Hope you all enjoy the eye candy :)
Taz and John

Finally, applied finish is being 'applied'...

2009-07-25T10:00:00.003+10:00

My house is going to be full of colour today, the painters are up there applying the applied finish to the rest of the house. Finally, the front of the house will be almost complete :-D We were expecting no action today but John went up to the house and found the painters there. Mr L was up there as well, we have to say we are quite impressed and are very happy that he is spending so much time and effort on our house - we have never seen so much action.

Photos will be taken and uploaded later today...

John & Taz.

PCI still not clear yet...

2009-07-24T08:56:00.003+10:00

This morning we heard from Mr L. This is the schedule for the coming week:

Today, 24th - The plumber will be in to do his fit off (he never completes his work, let's see if he does today),
Monday, 27th - Excavator to arrive - to remove the excess spoil from the front and rear yards and to cut the rear area behind the garage.
Tuesday, 28th - Fitoff carpenter to arrive and complete his work (door handles, fix some architraves) and hopefully the air con contractor will arrive to install the air con unit.
Wed & Thu - not sure yet
Friday, 31st - Installation of panelift doors and roller door.

That's it for now...

John & Tarin

2009-07-23T17:39:00.003+10:00

Well we met with our new site supervisor today. He seemed genuinely concerned regarding the build which was nice. He went through our list that we had sent him by email, and we chatted about things that was bothering him as well. We talked about the time line and due our rental position we have to be out on Wednesday the 29th so we have asked that he get the garage safe and secure so that when Wednesday comes we could move all the stuff in there and go and stay at the motor in. This is due to the last SS promising that it was all going to be done by last Friday. Mr L commented that he was sorry that we had been put through such a ordeal... Really we don't feel like that at all. Mark was a great guy but saying that may be working as a site supervisor just wasn't his forte. and we wish him all the best.

Mr L had asked us if we could do one thing for him. And that was if we could go in and sweep out the house. and tidy the place up. So we spent most of this afternoon sweeping and breathing in dust :D. But that didn't bother us as it gave us some time to spend some time in our beautiful house.

I am sure that what need to be done will be done and Mr L will do the best he can. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel even if it is just a pin head. I look forward to the first night we can shut the front door and call the place home.

We have a meeting with our new SS today.

2009-07-23T08:36:00.003+10:00

Due to what happened on Friday (our SS's departure from the company), we are going up to meet our new SS today at the house. Mark had done an awesome job with our house and we think that it's beautiful. However, our new SS has a different view on the situation. We have all agreed that the amount of half completed jobs were beyond a joke. But was that the fault of the trades or the SS? ...guess we will just have to wait and see...

Taz and John

We are home from Ikea!

2009-07-22T20:41:00.016+10:00

We spent another day shopping till we dropped. A total of $4,000 on our beautiful furniture and Ikea goodies. Its a good thing Ikea is so far away, other wise i would probably be working sleeping and eating Ikea. LOL

We bought for the study, we bought a Billy bookcase in Brown Black combo with 2 of these glass doors

and this ladder;

And this desk;

and a black leather office chair which i cant find a pic of :(

for the dining room we got

This dining table

We also bought a canvas picture it is 200cm x 140 cm;

and this for our conservatory table;

And this light to shed some light on the situation LOL;

This is for our 13 yo daughters bed :D

and this light for her. she loves green :)

and for the boys we bought them one of these lights each

Joshy has the yellow, Kev has the blue and Tommy has taken the green.

for our bedroom conservatory we bought;

For me to spend quiet reading times.

and a bit of mood lighting

There is LOTS AND LOTS more but as you could imagine I am stuffed and we are going hit the sack. We have a meeting with our new site manager tomorrow will let you know how we go.

Nighty Night
T and J

Hi Ho Hi Ho its off to IKEA we go!

2009-07-21T08:33:00.003+10:00

I know, I know, we haven't provided an update for a few days. I thought we had better update you all on what has been happening.

Last Friday we found out that our SS had left Masterton. This has left us in a very tight position with under a week to go until handover. John has spoken to another person at Masterton regarding the position we are in and he has asked us to give him a little more time. He said that he needs to get things in order again. Therefore we are probably looking at another couple of weeks or so until hand over.

We are very disappointed that our SS has gone and we hope that he stays in touch with us. Saying that, we have to say that we really didn't see how we were going to be in the house by this weekend anyway. There is still so much to do from fixing the render and rendering the stairs, complete the tiling, plumbing, the fit off for all the extra electricals including speakers, duct vac, air con etc. There is just so much more to do...

Today we are off to Sydney for a trip to IKEA. We have our list, a tape mesure, our plan and John has the credit cards (I know 'case I checked :-P .

Anyhow must go...
John's tappin' his foot as we speak to get going hehehe

Hugs
T and J

The sparkies and our shower screens have arrived.

2009-07-17T17:59:00.019+10:00

Today the Sparkies arrived to put in our VERY sexy stainless steal power points and light switches. its these finishing touches that make the WOW factor.

Here are some pictures.

And our shower screens have arrived too

The main bathroom:

The ensuite:

A few bits and bob Pictures

Every little bit that is now done to the house gets the excited juices flowing. i <3 MY HOUSE!

No trades today, :(

2009-07-16T18:00:00.007+10:00

I did happen to get a few pics thorough.

The painters were the yesterday afternoon and they painted the conservatory and down pipes
and the concreter were there some time to day to take down the form work from the stairs

We are still waiting on the hurricane of tradies to come and make a whirlwind in the house LOL.
I did notice that some one had been in the house and put the vanity from the powder room where it belongs.

Hopefully we will see the plumbers and sparkies tomorrow.

The Concrete Steps Are Done (now drying)...

2009-07-14T18:32:00.003+10:00

BELOW: Porch and Stairs from the Front Door:

BELOW: Porch from the Front Door:

BELOW: Porch and Stairs from the Front Door:

BELOW: Stairs from the front.

Oh yeah, the toilet pans, cisterns and HWS arrived today:

The Concrete Crew Has Arrived...

2009-07-11T08:42:00.002+10:00

FINALLY, the concrete crew has arrived!

Today they will form up the front porch slab and the external staircase. They said they will make the pour on Tuesday.

The painters also arrived this morning (early at 7.20am) to finish off their work.

Will get some photos later today.

John & Tarin

More Painting Photos...(while the paint is still wet...)

2009-07-10T17:52:00.003+10:00

More Painting Photos...

2009-07-08T19:08:00.005+10:00

The painters continued today...they will be there 'til probably Sunday.

Tomorrow the concretors are due, they will extend the air con slab and form-up the front external staircase.

Internal Painting Photos...

2009-07-07T19:04:00.004+10:00

Hi Everyone,
The painters continued today and are whizzing through the work! Here are some photos...they will be here all week.

BELOW: The kitchen area.

BELOW: Meals and Rumpus thru to Laundry.

BELOW: From stairwell area to the Conservatory.

BELOW: The Grand Staircase.

BELOW: Foyer Feature Panel and Studio.

BELOW: Rumpus area.

BELOW: Boxed Ceilings in Formal Dining.

BELOW: Boxed Ceilings in Formal Dining.

BELOW: Boxed Ceilings in Formal Lounge.

BELOW: Studio (note the wall colour Ocean Pebble).

Painters Have Arrived...

2009-07-06T20:13:00.003+10:00

Hi everyone,

The painters arrived today and have already applied undercoat to all walls. Tomorrow they will start the ceilings. They said they will be at our house for the week and should have it all completed by Friday afternoon (let's hope so).

Also, the cornice guys finished-up this evening which means all cornice work is now complete.

Mark (our SS) is still looking at Friday, 17th July as the handover day - that is only 11 days away! I really cannot see how this can be achieved - there is so much work still to be done.

We will post some photos tomorrow, light wasn't good after work today so didn't take pics (sorry, we know how much you like our photos ;-)

John & Tarin.

Upstairs Cornice Work Starts...

2009-07-05T16:54:00.006+10:00

Below are some photos of the upstairs cornice work, the guys worked from 11.30am to 5.00pm today (Sunday).

They said they need to come back in the morning for around 4 hours to finish off their work.

BELOW: Internal photo of the staircase.

BELOW: Kitchen bulkhead and cornice.

BELOW: Master Suite.

BELOW: Master Suite Conservatory.

BELOW: Kalinda's bedroom.

BELOW: Josh's bedroom.

BELOW: Level 1 Toilet.

BELOW: Level 1 Main Bathroom.

BELOW: Level 1 Bathroom Shower.

BELOW: Tom's bedroom.

Kitchen Bulkhead and Cornice...

2009-07-04T17:33:00.004+10:00

Below are some photos of the new kitchen bulkheads (made from MDF) and the 'Sydney Cove' deocrative cornice.

There is a section above the fridge section that needs to be completed when the patching dries.

We think it looks pretty grouse! :-)

Cornice Work Commences...

2009-07-04T17:19:00.003+10:00

External Iron Work and Railing...

2009-07-01T18:42:00.002+10:00

A post about nothing really!

2009-07-01T07:39:00.005+10:00

Well nothing really happened at the house yesterday. The sparkie has been back and we have swiss cheese, the guy has gone around and nearly every area where there is to be a switch or power point and punched 2 holes through the gyprock, one of them has a marking around it saying 'patch'. How hard is it really???? It isn't like we changed the height or where the points are meant to be or anything.

We have also now got more scaffolding up because today we are getting the iron work put in, well half of it anyway. This is because the concreter hasn't been back to to the entry way stairs and the ground floor balcony yet. Yet another job half done :-(

Oh yeah, if any one sees our cornice installers could you PLEASE send them our way? They were meant to be here 3 weeks ago, and the painting can't start 'til the cornices are up. Also, our SS said that we were looking at 2 weeks for painting...

Then the people we are looking at going through for the blinds called me yesterday to inform me that we can't use the stripe blockout fabric :-( Grrrr I really liked that material...

Oh well that's the life of home builders :-( I don't see us being in, in three weeks unless some sort of miracle happens, where is my fairy god mother when I need her?

Huggles
Taz and John

Lights, blinds and knick knacks

2009-06-29T20:26:00.004+10:00

Well seeing we have around 3 - 5 weeks left we have started to look at all the "extra" stuff we need like light fittings, pictures and other bits that we want to decorate the house with. We have found choosing the window coverings the hardest. In my 3 houses that we have lived in i have all ways known what we wanted.

We have come to the conclusion that we would like to have either Romans or Holland blinds with the sun shades under or on their own.

so saying this here are some of the colours we have chose so far. we haven't made a decision on colour yet.

so here are some of the colours we have chose. feel free to tell us how you feel :)

Hugs
Tarin and John

Below is our favourite combo

Feel free to let us know what you think.Any help would be greatly appreciated
Hugs
John and Tarin

The Schedule for the Next Week...

2009-06-29T18:04:00.003+10:00

Hi All,

Here is the schedule for the next week:

Tuesday - Scaffolding goes up to enable access for the aluminium feature panels and balcony railing to be installed.

Wednesday - Installation of the aluminium feature panels and balcony railing.

Friday - Scaffolding comes down.

Sat & Sun - nuffin planned.

Monday - Concretor arrives to form up and pour front steps and Ground Floor balcony and the back steps (near laundry).

Also, we have been expecting the Cornice installers for the past 4 weeks but they haven't shown up and we don't know when they will arrive. As soon as they are done then the painters can come in.

Bye for now...
John & Tarin

Some General Photos Around The House...

2009-06-26T19:41:00.007+10:00

The first 3 photos are of the front porch prior to the porch slab being poured. The first photo shows the newly created access hole for the underneath area of the porch - will be a great wine cellar :-)
Further down there is a couple of photos of our cheeky kids, from Left: Tommy, Josh, Kevan and Kalinda (you wouldn't think Tommy & Josh were the twins, would you?).

Upstairs Wet Area Progress Photos...

2009-06-26T19:27:00.004+10:00

Here are some cool pics of the ensuite corner bath hob under construction, plus some other photos:

Gyprock Sanding Done Today...

2009-06-26T19:13:00.005+10:00

The Gyprock sanding was done today, here are some photos...

Tiling Continues (and even more grouted)...

2009-06-25T16:36:00.004+10:00

The tilers continue to do a great job. All of the downstairs floor tiling is now grouted. The upstairs bathrooms have been partly finished and the ensuite hob (around the corner bath) has been built and will be ready for tiling tomorrow (can't wait to see it).
Thankyou to the the tilers for letting us take photos...

Tiling Continues (and some grouted)...

2009-06-24T17:17:00.004+10:00

The tiling continued today, and they are doing a great job. I got these photos after work today and was surprised at the amount of work they got done. They have done some work upstairs too in the ensuite with the hebel block and the tiling.

Floor Tiling is underway...

2009-06-23T17:43:00.002+10:00

Here are our tiles - we love 'em - what do you guys think?

Some more eye candy :)

2009-06-20T11:24:00.021+10:00

Here are a few more pictures of my beautiful house. The way I feel about this house I have NEVER felt before towards building a new house. I am so in love with it its comming a very close second to holding my babies for the first time.

My Beautiful kitchen they have carbord on the stone bench top with a sign NOT TO BE USED AS A WORK BENCH :)

Lots and Lots of cupboards was on my wish list

My bench quart stone in Ice

My Laundry tub :)

The powder room

This is the vanity top for the powder room

The main bathroom

The vanity in the main bathroom

The Vanity in the ensuite

the soap holder

Da sexy tiles in ensuite

And last but not least the doors of the smart robe

Well there you go its all coming together now our SS said that hpefully the paint will be started by the end of next week and then its just all the fit offs and we are done we might be in in 4 weeks like our SS said :)

Hugs
Taz

Home is where the Kitchen is :)

2009-06-18T16:38:00.023+10:00

I don't know how much bigger my dam heart can get. I'm in love...No No I am so much more than in love with my house.

So you wanna see some pics huh???

Howz about my laundry No dirty clothes in here yet

Da powder room

The Ensuite ( where i will be having long baths)

and here is the bath i will be doing that in :P

The tops of the vanatieys for the bathroom and ensuite

The Main Bathroom

The bath for main bathroom

The white tiles for the walls in all wet areas except the kitchen

Our feature tile in main and en suite bathrooms

Basins for all bathrooms

The out side tiles

and now on to the part every one has been waiting for ....THE KITCHEN well sort of :D

The kick board... which i thought was silver (wipes her forehead :))

I could just go on and on and on...
I cant wait to unlock the front door and know that this is where i come at the end of the day and just chill

Hopefully i will have a finished kitchen for you to have a look at
Hugs
Tarin

Kitchen, Architraves and tiles

2009-06-17T19:45:00.009+10:00

Today our Beautiful kitchen was brought to our house. I LOVE, LOVE ,LOVE it. I was able to get a few pics but tomorrow hopefully i will get the full POW of it. :).

and just to add to the excitement our tiles were delivered and the tilers have started but i was unable to get pics of the tiles that have been laied :(. but i did get a picture of just the box of tiles :)

And last but not least the Blocks to go around the baths :)

Today it hit that we will have our beautiful, Majestic house. I cant believe that within 5 weeks we will be moving in and we will have a place we can call our own. all the colours that we have spent hours over are all comming togeather to make it one

Hugs
T and J

Internal Fitout Photos...

2009-06-15T18:24:00.006+10:00

The internal fitout is forging ahead...the architrave installation has commenced and will continue for the next couple of days.

Next Action: Kitchen is due to arrive tomorrow and be installed on Thursday YAY!!

We have been Locked Out!

2009-06-15T12:56:00.005+10:00

Today the chippies have been up there at our beautiful house working hard since around 8am putting doors on. All I can do is stand and look at my front door Now it is really looking like a home. You should see all my other doors I'M SO EXCITED. I was also told that the kitchen is due to arrive tomorrow OME my tummy is like a net full of Butterflies - I can't believe it. I will have photos later on this arvo :-P

Waterproofing Photos

2009-06-14T09:28:00.002+10:00

Finally the waterproofing has been done, and it looks like a pretty good job too.

They have done:

Ground Floor Powder Room
Ground Floor Laundry
Level 1 Balcony
Level 1 Main Bathroom
Level 1 Toilet
Level 1 Ensuite

And it is all in a pretty blue colour too...

Stairs (now completed), Waterproofing (started today)...

2009-06-13T10:49:00.004+10:00

Hi Everyone,
Thanks to all that have commented on the staircase (and how great it looks, we agree).

Today the Waterproofing started - hope stuff keeps happening at this rate, we may actually be in by the end of July as promised.

Steps part 2

2009-06-12T16:25:00.007+10:00

Went to the block at 2 and this is what I found.

Our beautiful stairs and balustrade.. Oh My i see the light at the end of the tunnel

Stairs Stairs Stairs

2009-06-12T10:11:00.007+10:00

Look the first car in our garage LOL

Least we know that cars.. even trucks do fit in our garages hehehe

I will have more later on when I sneak up there :P

Hugs
Taz and John

Stair way to heaven :P

2009-06-12T06:46:00.007+10:00

Today we are hoping to see our beautiful stair case go in.
This is exactly what it should look like.

With 6 people living in this house 4 with grubby hands we decided to paint the whole balustrade rather than having it timber so it will be painted in Ocean pebble.

And in other exciting news
Our Boy Kevan has been asked to represent our gymnastics team on the 21st as a level 4 gymnast. We are so proud of him :) He takes after his mummy :P.

Planned Activities for the Next Week...

2009-06-11T20:50:00.002+10:00

THIS WEEK:
Tomorrow the internal staircase will be installed.
Saturday the waterproofing will happen in the wet areas.

NEXT WEEK:
Monday - Fitout Carpenter will commence work on the internals (architraves, door frames, doors, etc).
Thursday - Kitchen gets installed - YAY!

Also, our SS told me tonight that Head Office have told him our house needs to be completed and handed over by 30Jul09 - that only 6-7 weeks away!! We'll see...I bet it doesn't happen.

I am sure more will happen, I can't remember it all!

JB & Taz

Gyprocking Complete - GREAT JOB TOO !!

2009-06-08T16:45:00.006+10:00

Day 3 of Gyprocking...

2009-06-08T12:50:00.002+10:00

Yep it's the Queens Birthday but that doesn't mean a thing to the 6 gyprockers that are rocking their way through our beautiful house. It's unbelievable, the plasterers are there today, it's Monday! and its a Holiday! :-). We checked out a couple of houses that we are almost up to and saw they have had their kitchens in and figure that it won't be long 'til our kitchen will be in...Yippppeeeee. It's all very exciting. Anyhow, gotta go we will have more pictures later on :-)

Huggles
The Browns

some more pictures of the plastering

2009-06-06T18:26:00.004+10:00

A few more pictures of the plastering :)

upstairs looking at Josh room far right and Kalindas room left.

The Main Loo

Linen cupboard with main bedroom (far door)

The conservatory in the main bedroom.

Part of cornice Sydney cove

View of the formal lounge

This is our Bermuda triangle (scratches head)

Another view of the family room

and another one :)

The plasterers will be be back on Monday to finish the job.
Have a wonderful long weekend
The Browns

Day 2 of being plastered

2009-06-05T19:32:00.011+10:00

Today was a very productive day, the plasterer's got all the walls and ceiling's done and got about 40% of the taping done. We are very impressed at their work and whenever we go in we are in aww by the way they work.

here are some pictures of today's progress.

This is taken from formal lounge in to stair well and picture window

Same area looking in to the study (front door to the right)

My Kitchen

The conservatory down stairs (kitchen to the left)

The rumpus looking in to stair well and laundry

Taken from the conservatory looking to the front door rumpus on the
left and kitchen on the right

The Laundry

Unfortunately we ran out of light so i didn't get a heap more pics. But as John was leaving the guy who will be doing the cornice came and told John that he would be back Thursday next week to put it all on :). it wont be long till we will prob be locked out :(

finally we are moving forward its wonderful

We have walls

2009-06-04T20:16:00.021+10:00

John and I are over the moon. Its finally happening :).

Today was the 1st day of walls going up in our beautiful house :). its today is the day we have waited for for soooooo long. I had a bit of a cry as i felt a weight was lifted as we are moving forward not staying where we have been for almost 2 weeks :-D

here are some pictures for the piggy's out there .

Screw...i mean Nail any one :P ( wonder if they will use all of these on our house)

The Cornice (sydney cove for bottom floor and Scotia cove for 2nd level)

The view from the rumpus :)

The view from ground floor to the up stairs sitting area

Rumpus looking in to laundry

This is from ground floor looking up to the main love shack and linen cupboard, Kevs room, main bathroom and loo.

The Main bedroom looking out to the foyer of the top of the stairs.

The study ( where john will have to work to pay the place off LOL)

Standing in the rumus looking towards the powder room and formal dining.

The beautiful roof (box sections)

I have sooooo many other pictures i will have more tomrrow. TGIF hey :)

Oh before i go i just wanted to say HOW PROUD John and I are of Tommy (twin 2) he took his scout vowels on Wednesday night :).

Well its all happening now we have 10 weeks to go wonder if we will be in in 10 weeks?

Hopefully we will see a bit of action.

2009-06-02T18:51:00.007+10:00

Well today the brick cleaner was at the house for brick clean #2.

Its looking fabulous. I hope that things keep moving as we have 10 weeks left of contract left. Tomorrow we are going to have the insulation installed LOOK we have bats no not real ones

And then on Thursday we have been told we should have walls. Its going to make the place look so different.

So fingers crossed that all this happens.
so more updates
tomorrow

Huggles
Tarin and John

What happened over the weekend???

2009-06-01T07:31:00.004+10:00

Over the weekend the roof safety rails were removed and the Level 1 Floors were sanded level.

Today (Monday) the insulation is booked to be installed and the Gyprocking is scheduled to happen tomorrow.

The Concrete company should be back too to do the stairs.

Monday's Update...ACTION, ACTION, ACTION

2009-05-25T20:02:00.010+10:00

There was a fair amount of action at the house today. The roof tilers returned and the chippies turned up and to start work on the Conservatory.

Tomorrow, the brickies will arrive (we hope) to start the front staircase and fix some brickwork. The concretors are scheduled to arrive on Thu/Fri to form-up and pour the Ground Floor balcony slab and the outside staircase. The Insulation company is booked in for Friday and the Gyprocking should happen from Monday.

Photo 1: Fibrous Cement (FC) sheeting added over the top of the flashing. This FC sheeting will be painted the same colour as the rendering (this is above the Portico).
Photo 2: FC sheeting on the garage.
Photo 3: The ceilings of the Ground Floor and the Level 1 balconies have been completed.
Photo 4: The work on the Conservatory has commenced.

Eye Candy :-)

2009-05-22T12:33:00.013+10:00

Taking this picture made my heart proud.

The pipe for the Vacpan

The wiring for the intercom

A few things have happened the last 24 hours

2009-05-22T11:21:00.003+10:00

Yep it sure is good. The guttering and fascia guys have been back and now it is all complete yipeeee. When I drove by this morning the roof guys were back to continue with the roof tiling.

Hugs
Tarin

Bits that is going on around the Brown mansion

2009-05-21T11:14:00.003+10:00

Today I had a chat to mark. This is the plan for the next week,

This week:

Roof tilers back to finish the tiles
Gutter and fascia guys back (end of this week early next week )
Mark is picking up new window for lounge room

Next week:

Brickies are back hopefully to finish
Window will go in
chippies to do conservatry
front porch, stairs and concrete slab for air con
end of week possibly insulation and dry wall.

We are getting there slowly
Huggles
Tarin and John

Now we have been wired for sound. :)

2009-05-19T10:02:00.009+10:00

Yesterday Sentinel alarms came and wired us for sound, Vision and Vac it looks like a maze of wires throughout the place now. Also Harvey Norman was there too putting in our heating and cooling. they still haven't finished and they will be back on Wednesday.

Here are some pictures

We will update more pics this afternoon.

Ciao for now
Taz and John

The Plan for this week (I hope so, anyway)...

2009-05-17T18:58:00.011+10:00

Hi everyone,
The plan for this week is:
Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday:

Sentinal Alarms to arrive and install security system, intercom system, home music distribution system, surround sound wiring, and ducted vacuum pipework.
Sparkie to return and finish Level 1 electrical and external light points.
Harvey Norman Air Conditioning - install the ActronAir ductwork and the condensing unit.
Deliver bricks required for the external staircase (7 stairs).
Deliver roof tiles to complete the tiling (and re-lay the area that was laid poorly).
Install Wall & Ceiling Insulation.
Deliver the Gyprock and get ready to sheet the joint the following week (hopefully).

That's it for now, hope all goes according to plan - fingers crossed PLEASE ;-)

BELOW: ...here is an interesting BEFORE and AFTER (work in progress):

We have been wired (but not for sound - yet)

2009-05-15T20:55:00.002+10:00

The Sparkies were hanging out at the Brown Mansion today. They have done an awesome job but unfortunately as there are so many lights and wiring needed that they ran out of time and/or wire as there are a few things missing that they need to complete. They are scheduled to return on Monday. Monday we are also expecting the other workers to arrive, one from Sentinal Alarms who will install the alarm system, closed circuit surveillance systesm, ducted vacuuming, home music hub, intercom, speakers, TV points, internet cabling and phone points, and second, Harvey Norman Air Con to come in and install the air conditioning system.
We know our SS is trying to do everything possible to keep the progress of the house at a steady pace.

C ya...