Hickinbotham Torquay Mod - Rear Verandah done

can't wait to see your floor pics. hope the time goes quickly for living in your garage

its not too bad. just a bit to close to the neighboring build - had a door loose last night that banged all night - asked a trade on site this morning to fix it so it doesnt bang

havent got my blinds up yet - finding it awkward to do on my own and havent got the measurements precise. but i will hopefully get them all up by tomorrow - that afternoon sun pumps a lot of heat through my rear doors. but at least there is plenty of light in their as well - even in the morning

was at shops on sunday and picked out first new picture for my front living area or hallway - have some others in mind but so far this is only one i have seen in a store - since i have a deep blue couch it might even work in my rear living area









also looking for some nice ocean panorama pictures

got my new fridge ordered today as well to pick up as soon as flooring is done

Good luck! We have just got the laundry/stydy/bed3/bed4 to go delayed a but dud to having to cut them... less than 150cmfrom plans but rest was perfect sizes

Just did inside cleaning today for delivery if new furniture tomorrow before container comes thursday will do rest blinds and unpack pantry boxes tomorrow:)

well another busy day - feel sorry for any neighbors who had washing out on their line

Stormwater done and area for paving where pergola will be has been scrapped and dug out - and did that make a lot of dust
they worked from nearly sunup to sundown except for lunch

They did Stormwater interesting way - front garage downpipe is looped back to sleeve and water then flows from the rear of the sleeve to back of house and down the opposite side - apparently its a lot better for the driveway as no stormwater pipes under it to cause problems if soil moves as trenches will not be compacted like the surrounding soil. Also had trouble locating the sleeve under the pavement - seems it slopes downward from street to my block quick email to developer to confirm its details and all sorted

But stormwater has been designed to easily connect my pergola downpipe to when its built and also to add in a small rainwater tank if i want to down the track

Tomorrow will be busy and interesting day. they will be outside digging holes for fenceposts and removing the remaining excess soil and starting getting it ready for paving
I have flooring people arriving at 8.30am to start installation
I also have my appliances scheduled to be installed tomorrow at some time
busy busy
but at least with the rear paving done my landscaping down teh track will be easy

But I did decide not to worry about outside clothes line till neighboring houses at least are finished
realise now by doing my paving/driveway/Stowmwater and flooring after H/O they really do get away with a light builders clean

rear yard before the excavated for paving



Front and rear sleeve





Left side of house


saw these in bunnings
like the look of the first one but very tempted to use the 2nd one in my 2 living areas/ dining and kitchen as its LED globes and can be strung as a pendant later if required.
both hallway lights will use smart globes so maybe the 1st option for them

so my paving costs are likely to overrun as coudlnt get it all done in a single day so extra days machine hire of $450 plus possibly some extra dirt disposal. but i am glad i did it this way as there is no way i could have excavated the amount of dirt needed to pave the back area after fencing went up - not easily anyway.

they are trying to knock of flooring in a single day which would be nice.
by bedroom furniture is all packed on a trailer and ready to come up - hoping i can get it brought in today so i can stop sleeping on a mattress in floor of garage

managed to mount my front bedroom roller blind inside window frame but front living and BR2 &3 will be mounted outside the frame. i cant be bothered cutting them down

have been staining the bit of timber to go on floor adjacent to my joinery today and its easy but fidley work trying to get an even color the entire length of the timber.

aircon electrician just came round to check on things - apparently aircon is booked in for tomorrow installation.
no confirmation re other appliances though but no point in gas appliances till meter installed i think




same floor showing the stained timber pieces in comparison to the floor
really comes up light in this photo though but above picture is the actual colour






excavated back yard

lots going on today - hope they can get the flooring down today and you can sleep in a bed tonight

they have finished the main bedroom for me and the other 2 will be done as well at least.
the skirtings werent to bad and took me almost no time to putty up the nail holes.
just got to sand it back and apply touch up paint. probably will forget to sand and paint the bits behind the bedroom furniture until i go to replace it in a few years.
edited

Master BR pic

Looks good

well only 8.30 and already have my appliances being installed and my aircon was dropped of before 7am
No gas meter yet
and i just wish the aircon installers will get here before lunchtime

have found the rear living /dining/kitchen part of my house almost unbearable lately. the timber flooring heats up so its like walking on hot cement. hoping this afternoon i can get the rear blinds installed once my new fridge arrives.

I have a feeling i will have to find the money to do my pergola before next summer
once thats been installed the rear area will be nice even in summer regardless

fx for aircon today.
Our block (and the alfresco) faces west - so we know that will be a big issue for us. So instead of curtains to the sliding doors, we got quoted for outdoor blinds for the alfresco. Crtain guy said it was cheaper to get curtains, but having the outside blinds we hope to have shade for both outdoors and indoors so have more usable space

I have gas appliances but no gas connection till tuesday am. nbn here in same window so i will be home. guess that means more cold showers.

on the plus side I have aircon and its good

i also went with 100mm plinths under the fence but they had none in stock so got 200mm plinths for the same price. I'm sure neighbors will be happy with that

Luck the weather is warm not sure what gas meter people are doing! They are so behind dont see the pount of booking them in advance with the lead time they require and them committing too it just not to show up! Been a few complaints against them!

noticed this afternoon while talking with pacer that the aircon had been run on the outside of the wall due to the mess they made in the wall space when the cables and pipes where pulled and cut.

another brick hole for them to remediate

havent heard from builder since email on wednesday acknowledging my inspection report and they will review it

hoping by monday ill have enough things sorted etc that i can send some photos etc with my query for update


and looks like my new fridge was a very tight fit but it fits just

urgh also have same thing fir aircon not happy and filled our hole with bloidy silicon
Will demand on 3 month report to have it fixed(bricked up) and the pipe painted same colour as our down pipes

Ss did say thatthere is pull wites they can pull it through so my guess is just lazy and nothing to do with damages? Will ask him bout it this week...

Cant wait till my fences go up this week
got woken up at 6.30am this mornign by someone banging on my rear window. I saw their silhouette move to the side as i turned my light on and stuck my head out the door then a car driving away about a minute later.


Also realising this week just how much work i saved them by doing my flooring after handover and also skirtings tacked on
would have saved their carpenter a bit of time and also the cleaner - my builders clean had it easy
since i had concrete floors they didnt have to clean them

spot the difference. at least with this heat the floor is dry within 20 seconds
I have a couple of sections of flooring like this that are now covered with furniture so will have to move it at some point to clean the floor - have brought floor protectors to put under everything to make it easier.




hopefully by tuesday ill have some nice paver photos

Stormwater, Paving and fencing completed
they did it a little different than i expected but must say im impressed with the work they did and will be getting same guys back when i do my pergola or any landscaping needs.
so 90% of my rear landscaping is now done

Going to borrow a wheelbarrow and move some of my excess soil that has ended up in my front yard and at front of neighbors site into my backyard to fill up the space between pavers and fence plinth to a suitable level then do either my white river pebbles or artifical grass and I am thinking the pebbles will be better to contrast with the pavers.
I have kept all the offcut pavers as going to use them as a base as well under my pot plants that will go along the fenceline

not yet sure how i will tackle the plant thats bent over



was

Looks good

and my last big bit of work aside from my driveway is now booked in for installtion. my rollershutter and security doors go in next friday
I have also spoken to the builder for the site next door and they have passed on a message to the site supervisor to get in touch with me regarding seeing if they can put up temporary fencing along the side of my property before they actually commence siteworks - its a metricon build and they use fencing - hoping they can do something for me otherwise ill just get some mesh and a post from a local salvage yard and rig something up myself across just the opening into my back yard - though probably wont be digging into this soil easily

only one piece of furniture left to get - a tv cabinet. worse is had one that would have been perfect 2 years ago and gave it away

had someone come out and measure up my driveway last week and quoted for 51m2 concrete for $5200
quotes i had done last year based on siteplan said front area about 34m2
just had another guy here and quoted $3400 for 34m2
of course they supply the sealer and then i apply it myself
yet last weeks quote was from someone who was recommended to me by someone i know