I've got a handover date!

Apparently we will be in the house before or on the 18th of July! There's been a lot of activity on our site over the last week since I had a whinge to management. Not only are the eaves complete but the rough in is complete and yesterday the walls started to go up. The end feels near people! This morning the tradies are on site working hard to get the gyprock finished by today. Whoop. I've been told that the doors will be delivered this week and will possibly even be installed this week meaning the house will be at lock up stage and we will no longer be able to break and enter. Sad.

We have a walkthrough scheduled in for this week and I already know that there are several things I want to change. I say "I" because I don't think Aaron cares too much about colours. We had our consultation 2 years ago now (bless him he sat there like a stunned mullet whilst I chose colours and fixtures and he just nodded in agreement to my choices) and what I had in mind back then is not what I have in mind now, so I'm going to talk to my SS about changing the a few things. The first being the colour of the walls (because I do not remember choosing cream) yuk- so not me. I swear I chose a grey to go with the rest of the house but alas....cream. We're also going to have a chat about the possibility of getting some power points added to eliminate a million power boards, because 2 years ago there were no thoughts of lamps and appliances and iPod docks and all that jazz. Lastly we're also hoping to have down lights added. Our SS is going to hate us. 

A house with no roof....no more!

After almost 7 weeks of turmoil, unanswered phone calls, harassing emails and numerous complaints I finally got a roof on Thursday. Ohh yeah.

I must say my experience building with Trevelle so far has been touch and go. Would I build with them again? The jury is still out. I'll wait and see what the final product looks like.

I am hoping that this week the rough in and eaves are done so my building inspection can be completed. If I dare to be so ambitious hopefully the gyprocking will be completed this week too. A girl can dream can't she.......

Here are some pics of the roof as well the colour I have chosen for my front door and the two front piers.

Bricks and Pieces

This post is pretty self explanatory- the bricks are complete. Hopefully the roof goes on this week. 

Watch this space. 

                                     

Rebel with a cause

So I'm just going to say it. I broke the rules. Please don't judge me. I'm not a bad neighbour. I swear.

What did I do? Well I'll tell you. I snuck through the fence at my building site and walked through my house.......twice. 

Do I regret it? Ask me again if I get caught. 

Any who whilst I'm still out of trouble, I have to admit it was frikken awesome walking through all the parts of the house and coming to the realization that it's all mine (and ING's- but let's not talk about  that).

Seeing all the frames up has definitely made it feel real to me and I've fallen in love with my home. Just quietly I may have shed a tear or two or ten or just plain old had a meltdown but whatever it's not important. In my mind I already have the rooms furnished and the pantry stocked. 

So where to from here? Well the windows go in on Monday and the bricks start going up Tuesday. Shouldn't be too long until the gyprock goes up and then I'll be breaking the rules daily.......

Front of the house 

At the front entrance looking down the hallway

Standing in the kitchen looking into the lounge/dining 

Standing in the lounge room looking partly into the kitchen and down the hallway. The frame in the middle is the walk in pantry.

Final floor plans

So here it is- the floor plan of my humble little dwelling that I'll be moving into hopefully in the next 5 months max! 

I had a call from my site supervisor half an hour ago saying the bricks I wanted no longer exist. I'm going to Austral on my lunch break to pick out some new ones. No biggy. I'm sure I'll find some that I like. In the meantime here's my floor plans.

Framed!

I drove around the corner today expecting to see that my frames had been delivered in a nice pile on my block ready for the carpenter to start putting them up tomorrow. What I found was even better!

It's not often in the building game you get nice suprises especially ones which leave you ahead of schedule but today when I drove around that corner not only had my frames been delivered but they were at least 70% complete. By the looks of it all that needs to be done is the the garage, the front door and the roof which I'm thinking will be complete by the end of the week should the weather take pity on me.

I spoke with my site supervisor yesterday and the bricks have been ordered to arrive on site on Wednesday with the Bricklayer scheduled to start work on Thursday. It's crazy to think that within the next fortnight I might have a framed, bricked, roofed house....pinch me I must be framing. I mean dreaming. Damn auto correct 😳

My frames....

And on a completely unrelated note- me and my puppy. Just because he's so cute ❤️

My Saturday Miracle

24/01/15

Holy Moses I now believe in miracles. And I got mine today. The sky finally decided to stop raining long enough for me to acquire a slab. 

The boys were hard at work for most of the day (except at around 11.30am when I drove past and a few of the workers were bludging...must have been on their designated morning tea break)

Luckily for them they got the job done so I won't begrudge them. Quite frankly I wouldn't have cared if they took 20 breaks as long as my slab was poured and left in pristine condition which it was I must say.

The next stage of the building game will be the erection of my frames (lol erection.....so immature). They'll be delivered on Wednesday and hopefully I'll have a standing house within a fortnight. 

Naturally I witnessed my slab about half an hour ago and the novelty of it has worn off and I want my frames. 

#getbacktoworkboys #theresframestobeerected #hahaerected

Colours

So it looks like I won't get a slab poured before Christmas. Oh well. Such is life. The peering has been done though and the site is ready for a slab. I'm first job off the rank in 2015 so can't complain too much. Got my external colours back last week. I reckon it looks pretty good and all the colours go well together. Nice and beachy looking. 

Today I went shopping at Oz design for a dining table. I ended up putting one on layby. I have to say I'm pretty happy with my choices so far! 

Merry Christmas everyone.

My site all excavated.

External colours for the house.

Dining table.

And so it begins!

Today marks the beginning of the excavation of my block! The beginning of the whole building process, the beginning of one of my biggest achievements yet, the beginning of my future and the beginning of a new chapter. I can't remember a time I've felt as happy or as proud as I did today when I stepped out on my block and marvelled at what I've been able to achieve on my own. I honestly cannot wait to see my house start to come together piece by piece, brick by brick and tile by tile. All the drama, hold ups and upsets already feel like a distant memory and I know it's all going to be worth it in the end!

Did someone say excavation?

Yes they damn well did!!

That's right people. My block has been pegged and prepped ready for earth works to begin as early as next Friday! I have to say I'm happier than a pig in mud, than a fat kid with chocolate cake, than a dog with a bone and so on and so forth. 

If all goes to plan and cyclone Tracey doesn't decide to unleash on little ole Brooks Reach (not impossible with my track record of luck when it comes to building) then I should have a slab of concrete by Xmas. My frames won't be delivered until mid Jan but no harm no foul- a slab by Christmas will do me just fine! 

Merry Christmas to me. 

Slab before Xmas?

11/11/14

After weeks and weeks of backwards and forwards between myself and the builders I have finally signed the new tender and my plans were lodged to CDC yesterday.
Phew. What an ordeal. (Wipes brow line).
What a process. Would I ever build a house again? Hell no.

The timeframe is estimated to be approximately 10 working days and should definitely be back before the end of November according to the builders. I have my excavator booked in to start digging in early December. My peg out has been ordered to be done as soon as the plans come back from CDC and the builders are aiming to have my slab poured before Christmas. Then it'll be all hands on deck as of next year and with any luck I'll be in my new house by mid next year.

Looking forward to at least having a slab poured so I can suss out the space I will have left over in the back yard and start making some plans for where I want bits and pieces to go.

Very fascinating for you all I'm sure.

Anyhow thats the latest- not the greatest but better than nothing I suppose!
Hopefully I will be back with some pics before Santa comes to town!

Off to the piggy bank to get more cash!

Friday 12/09/14 equalled doom day. 

I'm often left wondering why people can't just get it right from the start? 

I think it's because they're often doing important jobs on Mondays or Fridays. On Mondays people are clearly devestated that their weekend is over and they have a whole week at work before the next one comes around so they obviously aren't doing their best work.

On Fridays people are waiting impatiently for 5pm to roll around so they can clock off and head to the pub for a few sneaky drinks.

Anyway I'm convinced the developer did my contours on either a Monday or a Friday because their mind cleary wasn't on the job. That's evident now seen as though doom day Friday saw me get stung with another $21,000 to make the house split level because the initial contours given to the builder were wrong.

Yeah good on ya.

Apparently I am now going to have a garage that is sunken into the ground with 4 steps going up into the house. More concrete, more digging, more raising of ceilings, more labour so more money. $13,500 of it unfortunately.

The rest of the sting comes from the removal of the dirt. Apparently I'm going to have an excess of 200 tonnes and to get rid of it I'm looking down the barrel of a $7500 gun. How pleasant for me.

I am feverishly hoping this is the last of the cash gouge and when the builder starts digging they don't hit a big pile of rock that will cost me another few thousands that frankly I don't want to give away to rock. Fingers and toes are crossed to the point blood flow is restricted. Hope for me guys!

To pitch or not to pitch? That is the question.

Pitch!! 

Today I made an expensive upgrade to the house. I decided the pitch the ceiling in the living/dining/kitchen area.

Why may you ask? Well the answer is simple. Because I've always wanted a pitched ceiling. I just forgot to ask about it way back when the original plans were being drawn. Luckily the final plans have not been drafted and sent to council yet so I was able to get a variation done and my new home will now have a pitched ceiling which is pretty exciting!

Being a small home I am hoping it'll make it appear as though it is bigger without  actually having to add more space. I am also hoping it'll make the house feel lighter and airyier overall. I am not sure if the beams will be exposed or covered up as yet. I guess those finer details will be worked out but in the meantime here's a pretty picture of a living space with a pitched ceiling!

Settle down, its only settlement.....

Yesterday my solicitor called me to say settlement had been booked in for 2.30pm today. I can't say that It really hit me until 3.30pm today, when she called me again to say it was all finished and I was now the proud owner of 32 Bunya Street Horsley. Can't say I am a huge fan of the street name. Makes me think of bunyip or bunion.
I actually googled "what does bunya mean?" more out of boredom than curiosity. Anyway apparently it has several meanings but I went with the first one that came up which stated the following-
"A tall coniferous Australia tree of the monkey puzzle family that bears large cones containing edible seeds"
Well there you have it. What's that? You were just dying to know that useless bit of information? You're welcome.

Anyway as I was saying, I am now the owner of land. Yup, me, land- who'd have thunk it.
I have to admit I almost died when I logged into my ING online account this afternoon at 3.33pm to see a 6 figure debt hit me in the face just a tad over an hour after settlement. Apparently the bank does NOT fool around no sir-ey.

I would love to say it was one of the happiest moments of my life but if I am being at all honest it was probably one of the scariest of my life to date.
Instead of thinking "Oh yeah, bring this bitch on" I was left thinking "Holy crap, what the heck have I done!!!??"
I am almost certain I went through the 5 stages of grief in a 10 minute window.
First there was denial- "Surely not, this can't be happening, I must be dreaming".
Followed by anger- "You're an idiot, you're not ready for this! Fool!
I moved quickly on to the bargaining stage shortly after- "Hmmm well if it doesn't work out I can always sell it....yes, sell, maybe I should just sell"
Then the depression hit- "Ohhhh noooo!! Now I can't just quit my job and become a bum if for some reason I just don't want to work anymore" The sadness surrounding this reality was too overbearing but luckily for me Acceptance chimed in and lastly I thought to myself- "Meh, what's done is done and whatever will be will be".

Que Sera Sera

Today will go down in history!

07/08/2014! As the day the land was FINALLY registered.

I cannot even begin to put into words how excited/shit scared I am.
Just to get to this point has taken well over a year!! Shit!

Its just hit me that I am going to have a mortgage within 2 weeks. No more expensive dinners. Oh well. It's going to be worth it to have my own humble little abode to come home to every night and to relax in every weekend. Todays marks the start of a new chapter, a new journey. Like WOWZA!

Am I dreaming?

I would just like to acknowledge that the building process makes me feel semi Bi-polar. One minute I am sad (because of all the hold ups) and the next minute I am as happy as can be (because things start to move forward).
Anyway today I can report that I am.........
A HAPPY CAMPER! Oh yes oh yes I am!  It really did feel as though "that" email from Stocklands would never come- but low and behold it finally did! 

Tuesday 08/07/14 marks the day my land was finally lodged to the LPI for registration. 

To say I am over the moon is an understatement and I honestly have to keep pinching myself just to make sure I am not dreaming! 

The good news is the more I pinch myself the realer it all starts to feel and I am happy to say with confidence that I am one step closing to having a home to call my own!! 

Today I contacted my solicitor to request my DP number so I can track the progress of the registration. I also put my signed building contract in the mail and transferred the remainder of the 5% deposit to Trevelle! Wham bam thank you mam and just like that I am locked in to bricks and mortar for the next 30 years at least.

Bring it on I say!!?? (I'd be lying if I said there wasn't some fear there ;p)

Talk about.....

Pissed!!!

Coz thats what I am! I received another update yesterday from dear old Stocklands. They said there will be another 2 week delay in the lodgement of the land to the LPI. I thought it was all on track and ready to go but no....another delay came up preventing it from being sent on its merry way.

To say I am frustrated is an understatement. I am trying to stay positive that it will be lodged before the two week timeframe but so far my experiences with them leave me believing that its likely to be longer than 2 weeks not less. Shit.....

I was hoping to get good news on Monday for my birthday but now- instead of saying Happy Birthday to me and meaning it I am saying "Happy Thursday" to me and being completely sarcastic when I say it....

Just one more week?

Its the end of the weekend and I have never been more excited to bid it farewell.
Reason being- Tomorrow I am expecting a call from the Development Manager of Stocklands with a further update.

I received an email from Stocklands on Friday saying they still felt confident that they would be able to lodge the land to the LPI by the end of the week. I am hoping my phone call tomorrow from the DM will further confirm this!

I am trying not to get my hopes up too much but with my birthday looming ever closer I must admit that I have never wanted anything more for my birthday than my land being sent off on its merry way to registration. If its the only gift I get then it will still be the best birthday present ever!

Anyway whilst I wait ever so patiently for my land to register all I can do is continue my shopping expeditions, and I must say- I have done just that valiantly.

Last weekend I started to consider the bedroom. I weighed up whether I wanted to get a whole new bed with a bed frame or whether I would just get a bed head. I decided I would go with a bed head and had an idea of what I had in mind....now I just had to find it.

Lucky for me fate smiled upon me when I went back to the store I had purchased my coffee table from to pay some more off the lay-by. As I was getting ready to leave I noticed a bed head which was nice but not what I wanted. I made a casual comment to the store owner along the lines of "thats a really nice bed head, I am looking for a bed head, but something a little different to this- do you get many in here?"
She replied "I usually always have one or two different styles in the store at any one time- I have just ordered a new one off piece and am waiting for it arrive, would you like to see a picture of it?"
Naturally I replied "Sure".
I mean why not?
Lucky for me I did because when the owner showed me the picture of the bed head it was EXACTLY what I was looking for AND she had ordered it in a queen which was precisely the size I needed!! I took it as a sign that I was meant to have it and asked her if she could put it aside for me when it came in as I would like to purchase it. I was so happy that I didn't need to go looking for it- its like it found me! Wahoo!

Anyway- here it is!

Isn't it awesome! I am in love! Can't wait to get it...... I just have no idea where it will go (whilst I wait for the house to be built)

Stuff to fill my home!

After watching copious amounts of House Rules I must admit the thing I am most excited about when it comes to building my house is the thought of finally being able to decorate it! Lets face it- who doesn't love a good deco here and there.

Admittedly one of my favourite past times is looking at furniture so I have been spending many a weekend trolling the furniture strips at Warrawong as well as visiting smaller boutique shops in an effort to purchase some one off pieces that I think will go well in the house! 

I have a vision in my head of what it will all look like- so hopefully it actually comes together the way I am envisaging! 

Just in case any of you are interested- here are some of the things that have caught my eye so far and are currently spilling out into my mother's second lounge room (Sorry mum- love ya)

I love all things horses....so naturally I purchased a horse canvas. No idea where it will be going as yet but I am sure when it does find a home in my home it'll look great.

 I purchased this light but in white wash...because I love all things white wash. I am hoping it goes with my white wash floors!

These are the white wash floors I have chosen to go through the house. They will be everywhere but the bedrooms. I kinda wish I got floorboards in the bedrooms too, to be honest....Oh well. Maybe later when I'm more cashed up.....in 20-30 years.....

The bar stools I have purchased for the breakfast bar! (Also currently in the Mums lounge room)

So far I have been going for cool colours. Greys, blues and whites. Trying to get that breezy relaxed beachy feeling through the main areas of the house- as I said before if I cannot live on the beach I'll just have to bring the beach to me!

Thats all for now! I'll post more pics of my collections as I collect them!

Self control......

Is something I do not have in an abundance!! I am impulsive and make spur of the moment decisions without thinking about the consequences!

This morning I had an impulsive moment. I bought a coffee table for my un-built house. Couldn't help myself. As soon as I saw it I fell in love with it and had had had to have it. I can safely say I am not regretting this impulsive decision because this one off piece will go perfectly in the house. 

See for yourself!

ooooo la la :)