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!