AC and Electrical Done

Good news, the Alfresco roof is on and all the AC and electrical is completed. Sentinel Alarm's have also come through the place and put in all the data points and home theater wiring so happy days ahead. I plan to do a quick blank wall walk through early next week with Ben and then they'll start the gyp-rock. He's told me in about 2 weeks we should be at lockup stage so everything is on track. Here's some photo's I took late yesterday with my phone.

I had to meet both the AC guys and electricians out on site to make some minor changes. One thing you learn quickly is that beams have a mind of their own and end up in the way. So expect to move ducts and power outlets as well as down lights if a beam is in the way. It was all pretty straight forward, we came up with some good results and the guys will give their advise in what works best.

This is the wrong way, but the tubing is to run power etc to the TV hung on the wall.

Frame Inspection Tomorrow + Renting the old place

So before any gyprock can go on the frames need to be inspected to ensure everything is safe and sound. Tomorrow the frame inspectors are coming out to inspect so the internal works can get underway. Very happy.

Ben called on Friday and the plan for this week is to get the frame inspection done, finish the eave carpentry and alfresco roof. The archway roof was started today so that's a good sign too. Then hopefully by the end of the week the electrician and gyprockers come in, possibly the week after seeing it's a short week.

On another note we've also completed all the works on our old house and it's on the market to rent. It's taken about 7 Saturdays to complete and a long weekend. Hard work but the house looks a million dollars. It's amazing what we do for others too. We went and installed air conditioning and we never even had this ourselves. Oh well it will be worth it in the long run.

Here's a link to the advert and some pictures. Please pass onto anyone who might be interested, the house is a fantastic home. We had about 5 families through it today and there's another open house tomorrow and possibly Saturday (The tip would be to go to tomorrows just in case)

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-cambridge+gardens-407909437

Scaffolding Gone, Cladding Up

So the guys at Kurmond Homes seem to work rain, hail or shine once a roof is on. I got this photo yesterday from Ben my building supervisor and yesterday wasn't exactly a fantastic day in any books. It was windy, cold and wet. While we did have some dry parts of the day it was cold and wet for most of it so wasn't expecting another update so soon. I defiantly wasn't expecting to see all the scaffold removed.

The top half of the house has been done and the gutter pipes are now on, the scaffolding has all been removed and now the cladding on the front of the house is even on. It's not painted yet but it's good to see up. The shadow in the photo makes it look like it's flat and painted but it's the light in the picture.

The house is starting to take some shape and it's nice to see it without the scaffold. Obviously it will only look better as the little finishes are added.

For anyone wondering about changes after you start, I took a look at my electrical plan yesterday and noticed now that my house is starting to take shape I may look at the positioning of my front lights for example. Ben said just let him and know and I can talk to the electrician when he's on site or other tradies if minor changes are needed. I can work out with them how to sort it out. Obviously major change need to go through the office. But it's handy to know that tiny problems can be resolved pretty easily.

Time to Dig the good Camera out.......External Paint

Seeing we moved everything was packed up. But seriously the phone isn't doing the house justice so this weekend I'll be taking the SLR over to the house to take a couple of shots. Good thing is Ben from Kurmond Homes is still sending me happy snaps (They make me happy) each week and his camera is a lot better then mine. But still going to get some really good shots this weekend if possible.

Here's the photo he sent me.

On Saturday we went out to the house and I was gob smacked by the progress. Not only were the eaves painted but the top floor of the front of the house has also been painted. We went with a Maroka finish just because we know later we can always look at rendering if we're not 100% happy with the result, that and we thought not to render as it may have added some extra cost that we knew we could look at doing later and there were other things to consider. So far Peta loves the colours so very happy at the moment. The only problem is the camera does it no justice. Saying that the lighter of the colours doesn't look exactly as I remembered but Peta really likes it so will probably leave it. When the wife is happy, you just leave it at that, heck the colour probably looks a bit better then I remember it so why not.

One thing I can recommend is defiantly consider painting your eaves another colour other then white. Coloured eaves are so warm and when the various lights hit the eaves it can make the house look magic. It's amazing what a difference coloured paint can make to eaves. We went with the ringtail possum for the eaves and I love it. I can imagine the downlights hitting the eaves and wall and really looking ace at night.

So I got a big surprise and I'm now not sure what to expect this week. The last update last week I got was saying that this stuff would take the next 2 weeks or so, and Kurmond homes have managed to get it done in a less then a week while maintaining the quality. Obviously still plenty to go but it's coming along great. I think the paint was the first coat too so some minor patchiness probably needs a second coat to finalise.

Here's a few pics I took, the bricks look awesome, but sadly the camera on the phone wasn't great so excuse the colours and quality.

Roofy and Acid

No it's not drugs, but it makes me feel good none the less. Yes the roof on the main part of the house is now on and today I got an email from Ben saying the brick cleaners are on site cleaning the top story. Great progress this week.

I think they do the top first and complete the lower level later once everything is done to ensure they keep everything clean. Having moved over to South Penrith I haven't had the chance to get over every day but I look forward to seeing the house on Saturday or tomorrow afternoon.

Again can't fault Kurmond homes, Ben my supervisor has been popping me photo's each week with pictures of update. He sent this one today, you can see the top is all cleaned. It looks like my eaves might be done too but I was thinking they were doing that next week, I'll take a look tomorrow and see. The house is looking great to me and moving in can't come soon enough.

Here's the photo Ben sent me.

Roof Tiling to Start this Week - Bricks done

Good news, my roof tiles are expected to go on this week and the brick laying is all done. Ben gave me a ring on Friday and said roof tiles should go on this week. He also mentioned the bricks should also be cleaned this week.

After that the eaves will go on and then be painted which I'm looking forward to. We painted our eaves a colour rather then white as we had seen a few houses with coloured eaves which looked magic. Keen to see if it looks good or not.

A few new pics from out the front that Ben sent over, roof tiles out the front. Ebony colour.

Opticomm Fibre to Home Update - Jordan Springs

Received this Opticomm update today, basically if your house is being built you should be contacting these guys now to arrange connection. Happy days.

$330 is a good price and I for one can't wait to be using it. See below for the update.

We have reached an exciting stage in the delivery of telephone, internet and television services for residents of Jordan Springs. The optic fibre cable has been reticulated through Water Gum Village and you will see that the Communications Hub is being installed and fitted out on the site of the future Northern Road Oval.

The network will be ready for resident connections by the end of the month. In the meantime, it is important to ensure that you’ve registered with Opticomm and logged a request to have an Optical Network Termination unit (ONT) installed at your home. The Optical Network Termination (ONT) will be installed by representatives of O’Donnell Griffin (ODG) on behalf of Opticomm.

Your next steps are:

1. Phone the OptiComm Customer Connection Information Desk (CCID) to arrange ONT installation and Free to Air TV connection on 1300 137 800 (or Email ccid@opticomm.net.au)

2. The OptiComm CCID will:

1. Invoice you for the connection fee of $330 (GST inclusive)

1. Arrange the time/date for installation of ONTcabinet and the power supply

1. Give you the option of paying for the connection when you ring or when the network goes live

The connection fee of $330 (including GST) is to cover:

• Supply and installation of the fibre lead-in cable from the street to your house.

• Installation and commissioning of the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) including power supply unit and housing cabinet

• Provision of free to air television service

• Providing the capability to connect to internet, telephone and PayTV through service providers of your choice from the range identified on the OptiComm website. The network has also been designed to deliver future IPTV services when they become available.

Prior to the change in the Telecommunications Act, you would have paid Telstra $299 for the new phone line connection and then paid for an antenna installation fee in the vicinity of $500 (or more depending on signal availability). The Fibre to the Home solution at Jordan Springs is an Open Access Network and this provides you with a choice of Retail Service Providers (RSP) for your telephone, internet and pay TV. There are some very competitive prices being offered by the RSP’s, available to view on the OptiComm website.

3.Visit the OptiComm website at http://www.opticomm.net.au to select your preferred RSP. The list on the next page shows the RSP’s that operate in NSW.

Please note:
The modem and VoIP telephone service supplied by Nortec IT and funded by Lend Lease will be discontinued by 30 June 2012. The TV Antennas supplied by Mr Media and Blue Mountains Antennas will also be removed by 30 June.

Bricks 95% done, gutters delivered.

Hi everyone, just another quick update. Bricks are all but done now. On Saturday the last bits of sand and a few more stacks or bricks were delivered to finish of the small parts that are left. On top of that the gutters have arrived so things are really starting to move now. I've pretty much caught up to the other Kurmond homes around me almost so it looks like a few of us will be moving in all at the same time. The weather has been fantastic to so work is being done everyday on our house and couldn't be more happier.

I'm guessing by the end of the week all the bricks should be done (including our front porch) and some of the roofing will start to happen possibly. In the mean time I've been spending my Saturdays and some Sunday's at the old house and I'm about one weekend away from renting that out if I can get all the painting done next weekend. I have the father in law coming over to give me a hand.

I've taken some more pictures, some didn't turn out that good thanks to the crappy camera on the phone but you can get a feel for how it's looking.

Kitchen window.

Front is Coming Along

Just a small update, the house is taking some shape this week and the bricks are half way done now. Thought I'd celebrate with a photo update. The side is done also half way up, so making great progress this week.

Gotta say the bricklaying quality is fantastic, AAA+ for their work. The red brick at the front is that colour as they use these to render/maroka. It will be a few shades of brown when it's all done. Still hoping it turns out as good as we imagine. Always worrying about the colours etc.

Bricks are getting Laid

Have to admit, it's taken some time to get started but after a quick inspection today I have to admit the quality is very good. Bricks are being laid and we're pretty stoked. And this week they have gotten stuck into it so I'm pretty happy. Communication has been good still, so no real drama's to report on. Again Kurmond have still been pretty good with me, and Ben my building supervisor is doing a good job to keep me updated with what's going on. He even sent me a bunch of pictures yesterday while he was on site.

As for us we're now at my mum's house living with her and 3 other people, a house of 7 with a pregnant Peta isn't the funnest thing in the world but we're all getting along so it's not to bad, we need to get out before baby is born though. This weekend I plan to go back to the old house to fix the pool up and hopefully do some more paint preperation, hoping to rent out our old house in a week or two.

Here's a picture of mum's garage. We can just get the lawn mower past.

Peta is very happy with the colour we've chosen and we especially love the black windows with the choccolatto bricks.

Photo Taken on Monday

Part of the front porch.

Side of the garage.