Week 15 - PCI, and final inspection by the bank

Things are still moving along great at the moment. The QA with the manager went with out a hitch. Our PCI on tuesday went very well, with no major issues, and we didnt find much that the SS didnt already have on his own to do list!

The bank did their final inspection today, I havn't heard how that went, but i assume there were no issues! The only thing preventing us from submittng the claim for our final payment now is getting a physical copy of the 'certificate of occupancy'. Although this was approved, the council wont hand it over to the builder until the gas line had gone in. There was apparently some delay here due to the skip being positioned where they wanted to dig the trench. The gas line however went in this morning so fingers crossed we will have that certificate very soon.

No pictures today, but i'm hoping to be doing another update very soon! Were all starting to get very excited about getting our keys soon! (Not so excited about packing up and cleaning the current rental house, but we'll get there, lol)

Week 14, Certificate of Occupancy Granted

 

 

Exciting Times.

We had our first weeting with our SS on Thursday, which went really well, it was so exciting to see everything all finished! Then today (Friday) the manager was out to do his insepection AND the council came out to do their checks. We got our Certificate of Occupancy, so everything is moving along perfectly so far, with our PCI booked for Tuesday! I cant believe we could be getting our keys in  a couple of weeks! Every spare moment I have is now taken up, with packing up the rental house, planning the move, or thinking about how to decorate the new house!

 

I am however, a litte confused as to what carpet they have given us, its definately not what i chose last week, but i think it might be our original selection, which we were told was out of stock.

Week 13

 

 

In a few days the house will be complete. Its so exciting to think we could be moving in, in just a few weeks (so long as the inspections, repairs, and paperwork all go smoothly!)

 

This week the sockets all went in, the lighting, and the plumbing. Even the sink taps were installed, which is suprising as the basins are still the wrong way around!?!? 

 

 

The wooden flooring also went in, this photo was unfortunately taken through a closed window but it did look great. Carpets are due to be laid tomorrow, and i believe that will make the house complete (except for appliances). I got a message on Thursday to let me know that the carpet we had selected wasnt available, I was dissapointed, but I headed down to 'Carpet Call' to see their recommended alternative. Once I got there I realised that i was actually quite glad that we'd had to reselect, as in natural daylight (the UE office didnt have much natural light) the carpet that we had chosen didn't look so great! The sales guy was very helpful though, and we found a much nicer alternative, in the same price range. I cant wait to see it down in a few days (Its the bottom on in the picture)

 

Week 12

 

Week 12, has been exciting week, we have a garage door (although its not really obvious in this picture). We have heating installed and air conditioning (i doubt anyone needs to see pictures of ceiling vents, but they are all there)

 

 

Tiling in the bathrooms is all pretty much done, mirrors are in sinks are in,although hey have got the bathroom and ensuite sinks mixed up (but hopefully thats easy enought to fix!?!?) We love the tiled base to the shower, its so much better than a tray. Toilets should go in next week!

 

Laundry all set, once the plumbing goes in (hopefully tomorrow), pretty standard, but it is just a laundry, lol!

 

Kitchens really starting to come together now, the splashback tiles look gorgeous (they were an upgrade) although i think i will definately need to get some grout sealer on the them to make sure they stay looking that way!

 

Next week should be very exciting. I am meeting up with the SS on monday morning, and he anticipates EVERYTHING being complete by the end of the week (except for cleaning, inspections, and error checking, etc). I cant wait!!! Fingers crossed we'll have our keys in a couple of weeks!!!!

Week 11



Another busy week on site, the painting is now finished, the work surfaces are in, the laundry cupboard and sink are in, the kitchen sink is in, window sills are finished, downpipes are  fitted, and the tiling was set to be finished by the end of the weekend!

I had an email letting me know that they anticipate having the 'fit offs' complete within 2-3 weeks (mainly electrical and plumbing), then its just the carpet and timber flooring (and a few smaller tasks). We are loving seeing all the progress being made every week now. Fingers crossed it wont be too long now, until we can move our little family in.



Week 10

Wow, they have been busy this week, we had our first layer of paint throughout the house, with the rest set to be completed in the next few days. The white kitchen is starting to look very smart against the white walls (well we think so)

 

 

Also i can see they have been preparing to install the electriacal sockets. I didnt know they were doing this this week so that was a lovely surprise, as was the apparent plumbing prearations that had begun. The bathrooms had obviously been prepared for the tiling to commence very soon (yay). Below is the laundry room with the plumbing also very much started.

 

 

I was also VERY pleasantly surprised to see they had cleared the site of all the rubbish and building materials which had accumilated AND they'd levelled off the soil/mud so we could see the actual garden space. It had been hard to visualise it as a garden up until today!

 

I cant wait to see whay they will achieve this week, I know I have said this before, but this week its really starting to feel like a home now, I cant wait to move in!

 

Week 9

Well, bricking was complete on monday of week 10 (except window sills, as apparently they are done later) UE have been trying to invoice me for this since week 8 (this is the one criticism  have of their organisation so far - the invoices keep coming out before they have completed each stage - fustrating, but not serious. They tend to admit their mistake, and rectify it without too much bother, so I cant criticise them too much :-)  ) They have also ordered a new overhead cupboard for our kitchen, as apparently the one above the fridge was STOLEN after it was installed.

 

This week we got invoiced for both the 'lock up' and 'fixing' stages, so it really is a house now (not a home quite yet though). Depressingly or impressively, depending on how you look at it, I noticed the house behind us, which was started the same week as ours is now completely finished, and when I say completely finished, i mean even the landscaping has been done. It just shows how quickly it can be done! WOW

Back to our house, the top picture is and our alfresco coming together. I was up there on a cold and windy day and it was so sheltered there I was actually quite warm. I was also  pleasantly suprised by how much light the kitchen gets from the alfresco window (as the alfresco is quite deep i wasnt sure how much light we would get in from there.)

 

 

Above is the picture of the 'Theatre room' as you see  it from the main living area, it should be quite a nice bright room. Below is the main bathroom, still quite a way to go there, but we are very hapy so far.

 

Here is the rear elevation, not very exciting, but it is nearly finished now, which is great!

And lastly the windows are all finished internally and ready for the painter to get started in week 10. I cant wait to see it all painted!

 

So next weekend we should see the painting started, scheduled to be finished in week 11.

Then its just     Work surfaces,

                         Tiling,

                         Painting,

                         Carpets, 

                         Electrical sockets going in,  and

                         Bathroom fit out.

 

I think thats all! Only one more major invoice left now!

Week 8

Well, we have one wall of bricks, which looks great, we are really happy with how all our colour choices are coming together. There is not as much done as i was hoping for, but at least its started. I had a good chat with the SS yesterday. He explained the reason the bricks have been delayed, and was very informative with regards to whats happening now and in the near future.

 

Although there are not as many bricks done as i was hoping for, the guys were at least hard at work when I visited the site this morning, so lets hope we see some real progress this week.

 

The interior seems to be coming on well though. we now have coving, skirting, and door frames! which all look great! (below is a picture of my daughters new wardrobe coming together!)

 
It would appear the bathroom cabinets have been delivered ready for installation, they look lovely just lying on the floor, so im sure they will look great once they are fixed in place :-)

Although I had been told the kitchen was meant to be started 2 days ago, it was nice to see that going in to place. I believe this should only take a couple of days to complete, so i cant wait to see the finished result next week!

Fingers crossed this week we will see the 'lock up' and 'Fixing' stages complete!

Week 8 Tuesday

Quick update, we have had some more gorgeous weather so far this week. i went up to the house to finally see the bricks in place. Although the bricks had moved in to various new piles aroung the house. There are still no bricks in place, arghh, im getting impatient now. i really want to see how the bricks are going to look! Fingers crossed for more good weather, or i am going to get really fustrated at urbanedge for wasting the last week and a half of sunny weather!

End of week 7

 

So, hopefully, we are over a third of our way through the build, and internally its looking great. unfortunatly despite being told the bricklayer was on site all week, and some gorgeous weather the bricks still have not moved. To make it worse, other houses on the street that started after ours are now almost fully bricked. Still i have been assured everything will get going in week 8 (i assume we will not be getting the invoice for 'lock up stage' in the post in week 8 as predicted.)

 

 

On a more positve note, as i mentioned the interior is coming on really well, its great to see all the plaster board up. its definately feeling like a real house now. The picture above shows what will be the kitchen, the pipes in the floor indicate where the sink will eventually be. The picture below is the windows in the master bedroom.

 

 

And finally for today, the laundry room.

 

End of week 6.

Well, in just 2 days the house is looking quite different, it has been wrapped for bricking! I didnt go to the site today, but my husband went down with his dad. I was quite jealous as they actually got to see it 'encased' (even if it wasnt bricked).

Below is the view looking through the open plan living area to the front door.

The next picture is looking the oppsite direction (towarss the bathroom). Also, note the bath has been installed. It does seem odd to install the bath at such an early stage, and without the rest of the bathroom fittings - but I am sure they have their reasons!

Looking forward to next week, the forecast looks pretty dry, so hopefully we will see some real progress with the bricks, and maybe even some more internal developments. At this rate we may be at lock up stage in the not to distant future, fingers crossed! (although I dont want to tempt fate)

Week 6 - Thursday

I went up to the house and Thursday and was very pleased to see the smart new roof tiles in place.

I was also able to see the men installing our aircon and heating within the ceiling area. i guess its much easier and nicer for them to do that BEFORE the attic gets enclosed! althought hey did say they wont be delivering the actual heating and cooling units until right before handover as they dont want them being stolen!

And although i didnt notice it initially, the pipes were all installed. The bath had also been delivered, presumably its going to get installed pretty soon. I believe its not uncommon for things like that to go missing before the house gets to lock up stage! It would seem anything as at risk of being stolen until the house is at lock up I have even heard of  whole windows being stolen!!!

End of Week 5

Well, its the end of week 5, we were hoping to find the roof all finished but due to the weather all we have is some guttering and scaffolding. Still at least they are ready to go, in week 6. I hadn't thought the weather had been that bad, admittedly wednesday would have been a write off, but Thrusday and Friday, were ok apart from the odd shower. I guess they have to be quite careful when they are working on the roofing though!

Also the bricks were delivered. They are exactly as we hoped. I am so glad we didn't upgrade our brick selection. I think these are pretty smart for a category 1 brick.

We had a good change to see the windows in place, and check out the colour. Although i am sure they will look very different once they have the rest of the house to frame them, we were very happy with the colour. they should look smart from the outside, but also tone in well with our decor from the inside.

I'm writting this on the Tuesday of week 6, and i am very glad to say there has been no rain so far this week. hopefully this is allowing them to steam ahead with both our brickwork and our roof tiles! Needless to say, we are lookin forward to seeing the house at the end of this week! Fingers crossed, for a proper house (externally) by Saturday!!!

Week 5 - Wednesday

Well, we got the ammended frame invoice yesterday, so i went down to checkhow things were going. As you can see, this time it was complete! We have a 'skeleton house'. It was very exciting to be able to 'walk through' our future home. as Urbanedge do not have the 'Jell' on display anywhere, walking through it today, was literally like bringing, what had been lines on a page, to life. Was it how i expected? Yes, i think so, although, it actually felt slightly larger than i had expected - i hope i am still saying that once the plasterboard goes up.

I think today was the first time that the children truly believed we were actually building a house (and not just taking them up to see a patch of dirt on a weekly basis, lol) i think it was also actually the first time i truly got the feeling that we were actually building our own home - its so exciting

The large pile of tiles out the front suggests that we should have a proper roof very soon. i hope that todays heavy rain clears away soon so that they can work on it. I really dont want any more days wasted because of rain! I will be keeping my fingers firmly crossed that we will see some roof tiles in place when we next visit this weekend!

Week 5 - Tuesday

Well, nothing to report on the house building front so far. However, on a slightly related topic. I signed up with the productreview.com.au website the other week, to review Urbanedge Homes, mainly because i was suprised how many negative reviews had been left, when i have had such a good experience. Anyway, whilst I was doing my review i entered their competion to win a new Sauber vacuum (courtesy of 'Godfreys'), and I just got the notification that i actually won - what a perfect housewarming present!

Week 4

Well, we went up midweek expecting to find the frame started, it wasn't, but is was at least exciting to see the slab complete. Turns out, that whilst I had been at home thinking how lucky we had been with the weather, the builders had decided it was too wet to work - how disappointing. There was however a pile of timber for the frame, a pile of roof trusses, and a pile of windows, which looked promising.

I'd had an email from the builder on Tuesday, requesting the 'base' payment, and i had been told that by the end of the week the frame would be complete. I recieved the invoice for the frame on Friday, and was told that by Saturday it would be complete - fantastic news.

We eagerly trekked up to the site late afternoon and found a little bit of framing, but it was nowhere near finished (and the weather was stunning!)

We all walked around and worked out what everything was going to be, and sussed out the garden. I was impressed with the builders on the neighboring site who stayed working away until 4pm. I loved seeing how the house was going to work, although i was very disappointing at the lack of framing. I have checked next weeks forecast and it looks like the first half of the week is going to be mainly dry, so hopefully we will have the frame up by Tuesday. So i know where i will be on Tuesday afternoon........

So in conclusion we seem to have fallen a few days behind schedule this week, fingers crossed we can make it up next week!

End of Week 3

Well, at the end of the 3rd week, and we have half our slab down. so now we can really get idea for how it sits on the block. looking at this photo it looks like the house completely fills the block, but there is actually a good 6.5 meters of garden to the rear and 2.5 meters to the right hand side of the house. Although it was extremely muddy, we enjoyed this visit, as its the first time we have seen any actual 'building'. The only real surprise so far is how hight the house seems to be sitting at the rear of the block (we are going to have a good view into the row of gardens behind us.....we may have to think about some creative planting.) its really quite hard to visualise the finished effect from the builders site drawings. On the plus side, its not our garden thats too over-looked!

As i am writing this a few days late, i can confirm that the slab was completed on Monday, and i believe they are still aiming to have the frame completed by next weekend. Its amazing how quickly they can get the frames up. So fingers crossed by our next visit we should have a 'skeleton house'. it will be good to walk through and show the kids where everything is going to be.