Getting There.......!!

Now that we are getting closer to the contractual end date of the build, the rate seems to have speeded up a bit. The front render and the door have been painted and we can really see what the house will look like when it's finished. (It was very hard to visualise what it would look like when we chose our colours for the house.... but we think the final product looks okay.)

The tilers have been in the house as well and have started the tiling but there is still about another half to do. The roof lining in the alfresco and porch have been painted. The glass splashback and sink in the kitchen have been installed too. Dave has noticed a few things he isn't happy with so we are going to have to snag them with our site manager to get them rectified and hopefully they won't take too long to fix.

We spent some time in the house about a week ago while we had a man around to measure for curtains and it really felt like home for the first time (even though it's still a building site).The children played out in the back garden with the bits of plasterboard and didn't want to leave when it was time to go. We're now busy getting quotes for fences and a concrete drive. However, we are really undecided about what to do for the driveway. Should we go for stencilling (which looks like fake paving but is quite convincing) or go for exposed stone which has a rough texture and is plain with various colours... answers all on a post card please....?

Undercoat complete

We went to see the house yesterday with our site manager and he seems to be saying that the house will be complete by February as things are going to plan. The kitchen cupboards have now been put in and the cupboards in the bathroom and ensuite as you can see above. We've gone back to the 70's/80's with a black kitchen.......as you can see. We've chosen grey for the cupboards in the bathroom and ensuite. Only problem that has come up so far was that there was a bee's nest in the alfresco so they had to get the pest controllers in. Let's hope they don't return as I'm not keen on that kind of "buzzing".

We're Plastered

Today is the 17th October and they have finished off the plastering in the house. They have also rendered the front balcony which will be painted later on.

Here is a picture of the family room.

....and a picture of the kitchen/meals area showing part of the stairs ready to be fitted.

......and a side picture of the house showing the balcony and the evaporative cooling.

Glad to be Clad

We didn't think anything was going to happen this week but at the last moment the cladding was put on and painted within two days. The house is really now starting to take shape and is weather proofed. This means that most of the work from now on will be on the inside. For those of you in any doubt that little white shed in the front of the house is a Portaloo not a Tardis as my sister suggested.

Here's the floorplan of our house - Double click to make larger

We've got a roof!!

Finally, we've got a roof on the house and a solar panel as well. We had a slight hitch because the builders had to take out all the windows upstairs because they were the wrong size so things have been going a little bit slower than anticipated. However, we should be having the upstairs cladding put on next week with any luck. Our builders asked us to get the house pre-wired for telephones but they didn't give us a lot of notice and it took some time to get the quotes for it but fortunately this is now complete. This means we can have the plastering done when they're ready to do it.

All in all it's just another brick in the wall

Well, wonders will never cease..... this week the brick layers began laying bricks on the 4th August. The weather has been kind to us which has meant that they've got to the top windows at the front. We are pleased with the colour of bricks we have chosen and hope it will look even better when it's all put together (well we hope it will...).

Here is another shot.. of my behind (which some would say is a great improvement... for those of you who've seen it). As you can see the brick piers on the alfresco are half up.