Cederlicious

Well, just in time for christmas the roofers came back and installed to colourbond roof, phew, It was a great relief to have a lid on the room. And then it was time to line the ceiling, much lamenting ridiculous quotes, plastering, panelling mmm hard choices. The winner was rich cedar tongue and groove timber. But being such a bitch to install, I had to get technology on my side. Alas Mr Bosch came to the rescue with the brilliant professional cordless nail gun! Its a serious piece of kit and made a evil do-it-yourself job much easier. 9 x 12V lead lighting were installed along the way and points for solar and TV aerial pre-wired. In addition a stainless steel fan set off a fantastic , if not exotic space. Christmas day saw 15 of us munching down pork and other dead animals with the subtle aroma of ceder adding to the ambience.

Here is a snapshot of the process..

Roofalicious

Trusses are in, guttering, downpipes and Metal facia's installed on the outdoor room and roof goes on tomorrow! Mountings for ceiling fans, pre wiring for LED's and strip lighting plus solar power and in. Waiting for tomorrow's colour bond install.

Here's a pre-roof late night photoshoot

The Metricon Adventure: Hard Gardening

The Metricon Adventure: Hard Gardening: With spring threatening to arrive, it was time to get the side garden organised and also sort out the dreary path at the side of the house. ...

Hard Gardening

With spring threatening to arrive, it was time to get the side garden organised and also sort out the dreary path at the side of the house. Also the outdoor room needed some pre-work ready for the roofing truss's that will be installed shortly.

After a truckload of river pebbles and countless wheelbarrow loads up and down and down and up, it's done! and looks a treat. Roof will go on the outdoor room shortly and then its true alfresco time. Did a sweep around Metricon display homes last week for inspiration and I think we have Rocked The Kasbar with the end result, looks a treat and with some specimen plants and F.O. pots its going to be the place to be. Once the roofs on the outdoor room it's house warming time!

Side Garden Bliss

We put on our gardening gloves and went to work on the expansive mud patch at the side of the house, Manually levelled the junk filled surface as best we could and after some side paving was completed we went for tuscan pebbles to a depth of around 6 cm (3"). looks sensational and so its bye bye mud cakes.

Ad in and ons

Still progessing the landscaping at the front yard. It look great with the from gates and driveway gates and the new exposed aggregate drive and pathways and we choose red scoria to cover the garden beds and it looking like a professional job, its amazing how much rubbish is imbedded in the ground after the build, I have dug up so much crap, be it bit and pieces of the old house, whole bricks under the surface, Tiles, Gold nuggets that turned out to be a bottle top, broken glass, bits of wood and old dead roots. It takes like an hour to slowly dig a hole for a small ornamental grass, the hole for the palm took me and a pick like 3 hours and of course using a normal shovel is pretty much impossible.

We had saved / rescued a heap of old red brick pavers from the old house and I'm slowly doing an amateur pave job at the side of the house - anything beats muddy feet, so once it's done I need a new pair of shoes.



The inside finishing is taking place and we have bought / ordered a range of big format framed prints and they look a treat. here are some snaps, and there are more to come.

Open Sesame

Well the Weekends - fade to lost but the results are very satisfying, Bunings were the base for sourcing materials for the Fortress Gates and timber panels, paint and steel post hardware. Then came the Electric Gates supplied by APC in Morabbin. Its was a hard slog dyna-bolting steel to brick and concrete, metal to metal, drilling, bolting and hacksawing to steel plus wiring, trenching and control systems, but alas it was finally finished. A gate sort of puts the fort into fortress. Overall the front yard is really starting to shine.


now I really need to rest - until the next thing called the backyard!

Artification

Funny how the old art, which looked great in the "old" house now seem dated or doesnt suit the new home design. Big house means you need extra big prints - this a new acquisition for the entrance hall.



Now to hang it

Gated

Well long week end lost is upon us. Commenced the gate install and here are the initial pics. Used fortress gates and cut them to size and also 50 x 50 steel for end posts dyna-bolted to peers. Electrics gates / motor arms will be fitted once gates are in a painted.

Firm underfoot

Driveway finish is great, and the layout and drainage works a treat. Melbourne gave us a massive downpour last week and the drainage passed with flying colours

Driveway Bliss

After The big FO Brick Fence was completed it was then time to get the Driveway and pathways sorted.
Got a number of quotes and we decided to go for exposed aggregate. We choose a mix called Tambo, which looks great. In the lead up I collected around a tonne of Mud underneath all my shoes and increased my height be around 5 centimetres. every time I walked outside.

We decided to add some curved angles into both the driveway and pathways layout, that added a flowing / fluid effect that worked well in providing contract to the House which is straight lines everywhere. The guys took about 2-3 days to set out, pour and clean up. 7 days later they applied a sealer which takes the harshness out of the exposed aggregate. end result was brilliant.

Fenced In

Well its been a while since my last update been under the pump both at home and at work. Lots of things have happened over the last month.

- Upgraded lighting switches to clipsal Impress. Have a blue led that makes them easy to find in the dark and they look cool and high tech.
- Had two new Panasonic "Econavi" spit system installed downstairs and upstairs (ready for next summer)
- Purchased two new Bay Swiss Leather Republic Sofa's which look a treat - we now have 5 sofas !!!
- Dabbled into the art of feature wall painting in the master bedroom - looks a treat - pics soon
- Installed 2 curtains and a whopping 22 Lux timber venition blinds which look brilliant
- Moved stuff upstairs downstairs to the point of delirium.
- Connected 4 samsung video security camera's into a prewired security system.
- Installed 2 Samsung Ezon Digital Door Locks that allow keyless access via car or code, this allows us to leave the house commando (keyless)
- Had a brilliant new double brick fence built and rendered which looks brilliant. (snaps below) Our bricklayer Mr S was terrific, He took our design and made it a reality. A true professional and a work of art at a reasonable price. We shopped around and we got a great double brick construction, with the slimline 50 Mil exactly the same as the house facade itself and the same Dune render.


With all the things we have done it makes you feel tired just thinking about it.

The new fence is now complete - here are a few snaps pre completion.

1000 Jobs

The interesting thing about moving back in that what was supposed to be stressful of cource but once your in you can relax right - NO the work has just begun.

Telstra are woeful, no cable internet until June 8, two months after move in date - excuse is they're busy on other projects MASSIVE FAIL.
Fix up's on the house like some electrics have been arranged and competed by Metricon - pretty fuss free.
Still waiting on a panel on the garage door to be replaced (a tradesmen must have toe-barred the centre panel) Metricon are on the case.
Everything in the house works - just waiting for a big wet to make sure to closed plumbing system actually functions.

Fence got underway - but has taken ~ 3 weeks end to end, but results are worth it.