PCI - done!

                                    

It was a very exciting day when we got to do our PCI - I can finally picture us living in this big beautiful house and I cannot wait! 

The PCI took us about 2 and 1/2 hours which was good.... didn't feel at all rushed and our site supervisor was great. I went through every room with my plans and checked  off  every light, power point and detail of each room. I made sure they were where they were meant to be and also that they were working and made a list. After we had checked everything we then went through the house with the site supervisor room to room and he marked each wall with tape if there were any paint chips, poor paintwork, unfinished window areas, dents etc. We also marked the chipped floor tiles that will be replaced. It was a tedious process but essential in making sure our home is just as we want it when we move in.
Our site supervisor Chris pointed out lots of little things that I wouldn't have even noticed so that too was very helpful. A number of complete walls will be repainted and there is lots and lots of touch up work to do in other places. 
There were only a few other things that need to be changed / replaced.

1. incorrect power/ USB points - for some reason they had put a power point USB in the laundry that was meant to be a double power point. In the rumpus room they also put an incorrect power point/USB
2. above our kitchen island there are three down lights and they have put two in that are warm white and one in that is cool white. We of course want them all the same and in cool white. 
3. There is no toilet roll holder in the ensuite 

Aside from the paintwork and cleaning (which there is lots of) there should not be too much work for them to do.

We are so thrilled with how it is all coming together. My son was in charge of photography so the pics are not that detailed.

 

 

My son and I were thrilled with the size of the bath in our bathroom. I can see much relaxing to be done in here after the move and there is a perfect ledge for my wine glass!

 

The main bathroom isn't enormous but it has enough space. The feature tiles will run along the front of the bath when they are installed after handover.

The ensuite on the other hand is enormous ... this photo only shows half of it - behind the door is a bath the same as in the main bathroom. Mum and Dad will have plenty of space

This is the main toilet. It's a small room but thankfully comes with a built in exhaust as it has no window. 

The linen closet below is fitted out with wire racking...... it's pretty ordinary and I am not sure how much weight the shelves will hold but we decided to go with it and then change it later if need be. 

I didn't however even want to contemplate the wire racking for the pantry and changed the shelves to melamine. I dearly would have loved the thick shelves that they have in the display home but the cost meant a compromise so melamine it is. I am pretty happy with how they have turned out and I think they will work much better in our pantry. I am so happy with the size of it.

 This is my new utensils drawer...... beside the oven so I have everything I need at hands reach without having to sit them in a container on the bench. My Dad is impressed he will know where everything belongs

The carpet looks ok. I am glad we paid for the more expensive underlay. It feels quite nice underfoot and I think given that it is only in a few rooms, that it will be serviceable.

 Laundry

The floor tiles are freezing cold and I am very glad I have some slippers for when we move in. After spending two hours with just socks on my feet  when we did the walk through, my feet were numb! The tiling looks great and I think it ties in nicely with the wall colour.

Dining room - Mum and I just love the big fixed windows

 You can see in the picture below the little pieces of masking tape stuck all over the place for touching up or changes.

 The kitchen is by far my favourite room in the house. I just love it and it has turned out exactly as I want it to,

It's getting real now. I have booked our opticom connection appointment, internet is organised, removalists, fridge and furniture delivery, friends to help out and I have found out the best place to order pizza from so that the night of the moving we can thank our friends with a pizza party in the new home.

Our landscapers are due to start the Monday after we move in so lets hope Sydney gets rid of her crappy weather this weekend. Move in date booked 24th July 2015! Eden Brae said a 26 week build and this will be 23.5 weeks so we are thrilled!

Counting down .... so much happening and PCI and handover dates are booked!

 So much has happened at the house in the last couple of weeks and I love it!

The kitchen has had the splash back put in and the rangehood went in a few days later. I love love love the splash back.... it is exactly what I wanted and worth every cent. I'm still disappointed I didn't get the thicker stone bench top but I can't change it now and hope that in time it doesn't even cross my mind.

 

Main Flooring - Our tiles in the bulk of the house have been completed and I am really happy with how they have turned out. I wanted a really neutral colour pattern throughout the house because over time I know we will get new furniture and I just wanted to be sure it would be effected by the house colours. Our tiles were from the standard selection.

 

 Exterior - The driveway has been formed up ready for laying. The downpipes have been painted and the moroka finish at the front has been done. Our moroka is surfmist to match our windows, garage door and front door

Screens -The supascreens have been installed on the two sets of alfresco doors, the standard screen to the laundry, fly screens to all the windows and  the supascreen to our front door. I am so glad I paid the extra $4000 for supascreen in the public areas. My mum and I argued over this because she didn't think it mattered but imagine if the beautiful alfresco stacker doors looked like the laundry door!!!!

We are in a BAL 19 rating area so not having a screen door on the front was not an option. I am glad I went with the standard option for the front wooden door as you really cannot see it now behind the screen. Flyscreens to all windows and doors is compulsory to meet our rating and I am glad it is not a cost we have to add on later.

 Alfresco

 laundry

 flyscreens

 main entry

Its looking very close to completion now. The cleaners have been in and cleaned the house. Carpet , garage door and driveway should be completed this week.

PCI- We have booked in for our PCI on July 10th and our handover date of July 24th. We are very excited and cannot believe it is finally going to be time to move in.
On the PCI daye we do a full inspection with our site supervisor and check any little bits and pieces that need to be fixed or altered prior to handover. I will be taking my plans with me that day and will make sure I have all the power points, down lights, additions or extras we asked for checked off my list. I'm sure my site supervisor will think I am a bit pedantic but I don't want to be chasing things up if it can be avoided.

Handover Day- we will have our handover on July 24th and on this day we have to do a site inspection and then head over to Eden Brae head office for final payment and to collect our keys. We are hoping to also have our appliances, water heater and air conditioning done that day also as we don't want to wait until the Monday. I have arranged to have my brother stay for the day at the house after the site inspection so that this can happen. It is not uncommon in new houses for these items to be stolen the night prior to handover so Eden Brae don't install them until the house is in our safe ownership.

Moving - there is so much to organise with the move. We live in an opticom estate so we have to get opticom to connect us to the fibre  ($300) which will give us free to air television and then we have to contact an internet providor to link us to the fibre network for internet and phones. We are quite limited in our network choices which is a shame. I have arranged for this to happen as soon as possible after handover because having a teenager in the house who has no internet would be pure torture for us all.

Colour Selection Day 2 - Kitchen Culture and DiLorenzo Tiles

I had been waiting or this day and with Mum in hospital I had to make the decisions alone. I knew I wanted to make changes and upgrades and I knew it was going to be an expensive day!
Thankfully we had chosen the bulk of the colours before she needed to go in for surgery. I decided to ask for all the possible options I might want and work backwards if the budget didn't allow.


Kitchen Culture


This gave me the opportunity to discuss what I wanted in my new kitchen as well as take on board suggestions from the experts. Again, not many suggestions although they have an entire showroom of options. I was given the quote on the spot and I was pleased overall with how the appointment ran.


I chose to add

•  pot draws x 3 to the bench either side of my oven                                                  $1386
•  overhead cupboards on either side of range hood.                                                   $1724.8
• bank of 4 drawers in island bench where they had allowed for microwave             $340
• lift up cupboard above fridge space                                                                           $530
• extend the width of my island bench 30cm to give me a breakfast bar size bench    $871.20
• add a two door cupboard on hallway side of island                                                    $585.20
• soft close runners to drawers                                                                                       $340.00
• soft close buffers to doors                                                                                            $200
• bulkhead above cupboards                                                                                           $646.80
• upgrade stone bench colour to Torrone                                                                        $261.80
• Gloss Formica upgrade o cupboards                                                                            $1232
• organisational tray to cutlery drawer                                                                         $73.92           
• upgraded laminate in both bathrooms                                                                          $880
• garbage bin under sink                                                                                                 $255
• glass splashback in lieu of tiles                                                                                    $2818

A grand total of $11 864 and I will have my kitchen exactly as I want it

Di Lorenzo Tiles

This appointment ran well and thankfully I was dealing with a person whom I ha asked questions of several times in my research visits. This was a huge help as she knew what I wanted. The only frustrating part of this appointment is that the quote didn't arrive for maybe 10 days.


I decided to go with included tiles for floor, bathroom/ laundry  walls and floor and only upgrade the feature tiles. We wanted plain white tiles so it seemed silly to pay when the basic option worked.
There was a reasonable choice of floor tiles and I loved the large square tiles on offer. I had swatches of my chosen paint colour as well so I could match and compare.


Our choices

 the feature tile for the ensuite with the vanity and benchtop

The feature tile for the main bathroom with the vanity and benchtop


We also decided to add tiling in lieu of carpet to the rumpus, Rear hall and children's retreat as well as having the porch and alfresco tiled.

Total additional tiling $6269


Carpet was also chosen at this appointment and we went with a standard carpet and an upgraded underlay at $8 sqm