Project Regent

Well today was an exciting day.  We received the call saying that handover has been booked in for Friday December 11.  This is right on (our) schedule, so in 11 days we’ll have the keys to our new home!

I spent a bit of time on the phone today booking in fences, blind and shutter installation and a cat door for Hamish.  We’ve also found a landscaper we like and we’re meeting him on the weekend to finalise the plans and book everything in.  Before we move in we’ll have the driveway and fences done.  We should also have a good start on the landscaping before Christmas.  Tomorrow I’ll be onto the water tank people to get that sorted.

Removalists were booked last week for the 19th.  Now we just have to tackle the packing here!!!

We’ve also got some photos we took the other day to put up so stay tuned for them!

Well with the house nearing completion (i.e. it appears most of it’s done - including carpets, electrical and plumbing) - just a few small bits to go. They are having their final inspection this coming week and we should be having ours shortly after that. Very exciting.

So anyway, in preparation for handover, we’re looking at landscaping. We have a decent fence quote, and now just some landscaping queries.

We’re looking at getting some lawn put down the side of the house, and then gravel down the other side and back. That’s the high level description. Then of course there’s the concrete for the water tank and driveway.

Driveway-wise, we went to look at the supplier’s examples and have found one we like - and on asking the guy in the office - it’s the cheapest of the selection too (and yes, this is purely coincidence). But we are looking at the exposed aggregate, and a lighter colour to offset against the dark garage door and light pillars. The one we like has a speckle of dark in it, but not as dark as some others which would make it look too gloomy.

We also looked at some mulch to at least get put down where we want the garden beds to be, with the land underneath prepared, so when the weather calms down in March/April, we can get planting - try not to kill them during the February heat that will no doubt come. So mulch-wise, there’s a nice dark brown mulch with enough life in it to provide good contrast with whatever we end up planting in it.

And finally, our gravel discussion turned into 7mm pebbles. They look clean and simple, and will be very Hamish-friendly - some of the other gravel would not be good for his paws. And, even better, again they’re the cheapest of the range. So hopefully the quote will come in with our budget in mind.

Anyway, here’s a look at the concrete, mulch and pebbles.

Exposed Aggregate #5

Hammermill Mulch

7mm River Pebbles

Now this is very exciting.

We had a meeting with our Site Supervisor this week and had a look at the progress during the week.

So progress first - we have taps, shower heads, toilets, and a bath in place. Sure, the plumbing is turned off from the outside, but at least the inside is starting to look very neat indeed.

Even though we have had a few things get done that were not supposed to, our Site Supervisor has been great, and is on the ball with things too - such as our monsoonal shower - it’s meant to hang 400mm from the ceiling, which, given we’re both over 6 foot, would be a smidge above our heads. So instead, our shower head hangs at 200mm from the ceiling - and with Mikey standing underneath it, it’s quite clear that this adjustment has been an incredibly smart move. So it’s the little things like this that make us once again aware that this house is being built for us.

Our Site Supervisor gave us a rundown of what is planned for this week. And, well, it includes carpentry, render, tiles (finalising), carpet, plumbing, electrical, benchtops and the preliminary clean. Holy crap. By Friday we’ll have a carpeted house. Not that we’re complaining - just after plodding along recently with the tiles at a steady pace, this week looks to be jam packed with work. This all leads up to the final Porter Davis inspection the week after, which means we can then book our final inspection and fingers crossed get a better indication of dates for when we’re going to be moving. It’s getting very close now, and very exciting! We should also be getting the mess around the site cleaned up outside - so of course, the “Before” picture is in this batch… let’s see what it’s like without all of the concrete and crap lying around.

Ensuite Shower - all tiled and fitted

Ensuite Vanity Tapware

Toilets in place

Main Bathroom Basin

Laundry Taps

Rear Tap

All neat

Fixed Architrave in Kitchen

Mess to be cleared

As of writing, our tiles are actually complete. But because I haven’t been able to post these images yet, you’ll have to wait to see the finished progress - that and there’s more to see than just tiles… ooh aah but wait for that one.

So on day 76 and 78 we caught the tilers on duty so were able to have a sticky beak around and see everything as work in progress. We’re really happy with how the tiles are looking, and are really glad that the brown tiles were replaced with grey tiles when our floor tiles got changed. So even though it was a little frustrating at the time to go through a colour scheme re-think, we both agree that it has worked out in our favour.

The finished product is so neutral and inoffensive, and can now be livened up with any colour we like - as opposed to finding a tone that goes with brown. So that’s all very exciting.

Our stone benchtops have also been measured, so we should be seeing those soon-ish too.

Red Tiles... in progress

Red is sooo in

Ensuite Shower

Vanity, Splashback and Basins

Complete (well almost)

Ensuite Floor

Measured - hoorah!

Main Bathroom Shower

Bath Cavity

Just a pity we don’t have the land to put it on yet (well, sorta)… it’s our land, but being fenced off as a building site would no doubt see lots of damage happen to our newest purchases - our letterbox and address plate.

So yesterday we had a special delivery from the Victorian distributor of Polytek and our Antigua letter box. And this thing is huge. But then, also thinking of it in front of a house, will make it appear smaller but at the moment stuck in our narrow hallway, it’s freakin’ huge!

The really odd part is how light it is - it’s a self install letterbox, and something that can easily be done (and carried) by a single person. So there’s a big metal pole that gets bolted on and stuck into some concrete in the ground, you level it out with a spirit level and then wait for it to dry and hurrah - you’re done.

So at least we have that purchase done. And why this letterbox? Well driving around the estates you see a lot of letterboxes - plain, stock-standard off-the-shelf letterboxes that, well, quite frankly, look rather crappy. Some are alright; some look OK; some look like they came from the $2 Shop. And given the style of our house, we thought this would be something unique and make it stand out a little bit - local distribution in Victoria has only started recently so there’s not too many around - don’t go stealing our idea now ; )

And to get stuck on the front (after we’ve figured out what colour(s) we’re painting the Antigua), we also had a special delivery of our address plate in, you guessed it, matching fire engine red. It’s shiny. It’s red. It’s very very cool. So when we have painted our letterbox, we can then go through the process of attaching our address to the front.

You can check out the range of Polytek letterboxes at their website, and also metal address plates from Sign Artist.

Antigua

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Putting it all together