Final Inspection

When we last left off, I mentioned that we were about to have the final building inspection. The good news is that we passed. So officially we are done!!

Since this news, we have really taken it easy and haven't done a thing on the house. Even went for a day trip with the kids on Saturday for the first time in ages. It has been so nice and we are feeling so relaxed.

We started to tidy up the garden on Sunday because the weather was amazing. I pruned all the roses and we cleared the front porch. I do need to get a new doormat now as the old one is filter with years of building dust in it.

Speaking of doormats.... I picked up this cutie today for inside the laundry door.

 

We still need to wait for the cabinetry (they are saying November now) but we are delaying the kitchen cabinets until we save up some money to replace all the doors at the same time.

Cheers,

Nat

 

Return of the kitchen benchtop

Hello, it is going to be another warm day today, albeit very windy. Good for washing the dust off the winter blankets.

So, last post I mentioned that we put the kitchen benchtop back on. Here she is:

You have no idea how brilliant it is to have work space again. That old door was just impossible to keep clean, let alone cut anything on.

When we redo the kitchen, this benchtop will be made smaller, because you can see that it is too long the get past on each side. So we will lose 2 stools but by that time we will have a dining table (hopefully).

The plan is still to get the final inspection done on Monday. I have chased up all the compliance certificates and they are ready to show.

It seems so long ago that we were chasing up the startup paperwork. So much better to be doing the final paperwork!!!!

Cheers,
Nat

Step and landing

Firstly... how beautiful was it in Melbourne yesterday; and again today. It really feels like Spring will be here soon.

We did a few things to the house on the weekend. One thing was that Dave built the landing and step for outside the laundry door.

Landing outside the laundry door

Painted the frame black to stop rot

Almost done. Just need to put on some plinths.

Luckily we had enough decking boards left over so this was a cheap addition.

This had to be done in order to pass the inspection. Speaking of inspection, I overheard David say that he hopes this can get done this week!! That would be the final inspection and our house is officially done in the eyes of the council. Cue flashback...

Where were we 3 years ago? Well we were up fed up with all the paperwork. We were about to hand in the papers to apply for the owner builder permit.

So happy we are not back at that stage, but also it was so exciting back then.

Cheers,
Nat

Floors finished!!! And dryer venting.

Holy moly!  It feels like a totally new house now.

Last week we moved out of our place for 3 nights whilst the floors got sanded and polished.

We stayed up the road in some cute cabins at a caravan park and I must say, I enjoyed it more than I should have. It felt like a mini holiday even though we were still going to work and school and were 5 mins away from our house.

Enjoying top bunk

School work in bed with Dad

Cabin with Kitchen

I now have a whole new appreciation for our house. It looks, and feels, so different. There is something about getting the floors done, be it timber, tile or carpet, that completely changes the feel of a space and instantly makes it feel complete.

The only gripe I have is that I asked him to put the darker filler in the nail holes. Even gave him the one that I used. But he used his lighter one and now I can see light spots on the floor, whereas the darker one was pretty much invisible. Still, from a distance they looks great. He did use the dark one in the hallway so that does look amazing! We used Bona Traffic HD in matt finish.

After sanding, before the finish

Finished product

Heidi admiring the new floor

After we moved back in, we did some work on the weekend. Dave finished the installation of the dryer so it now vents outside instead of fogging up the house.

Dryer up and vented

 You can see the plastic vent pipe going through the wall here:

Vented through the wall

 This is the vent on the outside. Still to paint the wood block though.

Dryer vent on the outside of the house.

So it is so wonderful to have a properly functioning laundry now. You have no idea! And also the fact that the clothes line is a few steps away out the door is amazing.

Dave also continued working on the deck by doing the plinth boards around the edges.

Dave cutting the boards

Plinth boards

 I have been getting my paint on lately. I painted the new cornice around the TV unit.

Undercoat

And I have also been prepping and painting the architraves and skirtings in the kitchen and laundry. It is looks so fresh and clean now.

Also on the weekend we went dishwasher shopping. I have been without one for about 3 months or so and gee I have missed it. We used to have an Electrolux Dishlex. It was never that great and the last few years has really been playing up. I did my research and people were all saying that the ones that washed well and were reliable were Bosch, Miele and Asko. We ended up with an Asko as it was a special for $300 off which brought it down the price of the Bosch I wanted. I have used it twice so far and am very impressed. Hoping it will last us 20 years.

Dave installed it and saved us $100.

Only other things happening at the moment are, the building of a step and landing outside the laundry door, and more painting inside.

Oh and I forgot one other thing that we did (with the help of a strong fit neighbour), we moved the stone benchtop back into the kitchen. So instead of having an old door as my work surface, I now have my wonderfully smooth bench back! LOVE!

Now we just need to save money and wait for the cabinetry.

Cheers,
Nat