Curtains Installed

On Saturday the Roman Blinds were installed in the Lounge.  This completes the job, other than a roller blind for the rear door, which has taken months longer than it should have.

The inside of the house is now looking good.   We are still waiting to have the sliding door latches replaced and a lock set fitted to the security room. 

Attention will now be on the outside and when the garden shed is ready the garage can be organised.

Moved in

We traveled from Wellington to Havelock North on 23 May, with motorcycle on trailer.   At 4pm we meet Scott, Dan and Josh at the house for the formal handover of keys and a celebratory drink.

The next day (Friday) New Zealand Movers arrived with our house load of stuff in a container.   The unload was completed early afternoon and then we started to unload.

We are very pleased with the design and quality of the house.   Design builders have done a great job.  There are a few little things still to do;  letter box, sun sail, change of a couple of door latches.   Chris from Chubb was onsite Friday to implement the security system, however there is a technical problem that means the security will not be completed until Monday.

A few boxes to unpack

Unpacked and recovered dining chairs arrived today

Garage with shelving up

Not yet finished

We made a round trip to Havelock North today to check if the house was ready for us to take possession of and move into Friday next week.  There is still a bit of work required, however the power, gas and water are connected so we can live in it.   With another 3 days of work the house should be ready for us.

A  few new photos:

Pad is for clothes line, boxing for a fence and gate

Lights look good - unit by door is call camera.  Front door missing handle

Splash back fitted and power on range hood

Fridge Freezer in and going

We spent 2 hours at the house and in Havelock North, then headed back to Wellington.

Close to completion

This was to be the week the house would be finished.   There is still a lot to be finished and it is the hardening time for the garage floor paint that defines when we can take possession and move in.

This weekend we did a walk around the house with Scott - the builder.   There are a few doors that need to be repainted and a lot of other little things to do.  The electrical is not finished off and security looks about 70% complete.  The gas will not be connected until Tuesday.

Fences are 80% complete and the patio and driveway is laid.

Cat door fitted, Aircon in

Outdoor lights fitted

Wing with  outdoor lights - patio laid

Powder Room

 

Spa Bath completed

Drive laid, Garage and Front Doors in.

Fence

Kitchen Top installed

A lot has been done since our last visit and we were lucky to be on site the day the kitchen granite top was installed.

On this day (26 April 2013) Jono started boxing up the patio while a bobcat was scraping where the drive is to be laid. Early next week the patio will be poured and later in the week the driveway.  

The electrical is 40% complete with most of the fittings installed.   The central wiring is yet to be started.   By the end of the week we expect most of the wiring will be finished.   Chubb have started the fitout of the alarm system, work on the CCTV has not started and a decision is to be made on the products to instal. 

Later in the day the floors were swept in readiness for carpet.  Carpet will also be installed during the week.  The garage door is also

Outstanding  is:  gas line and meter,  power and telecom cables connected.  Until these are completed the driveway and some concrete cannot be laid.

It is heavy - a 6 man lift

An anxious time was drilling the holes for tap and air switch - now done and looking good

Nice bench

Denise on inspection duties

2 Weeks of little progress

After 2 weeks on the job not much seems to have been done.  The door frames and architraves have what seems to be a top coat but not the final coat.  Upstairs and in the bathrooms the walls and ceiling have had what may be a top coat.  It is hard to tell at this stage.  The colour is definitely a blue - possibly more blue than we thought.

Next weekend we visit again and hope to see some real progress.

We counted the number of dents in the roofs.  There are 7, all caused by the scaffolding removers.   An email has gone to Dan although he is aware of the dents and we assume fixing them is in the plan.

The main reason for visiting the site was to review the plan for concrete paving.    This was done and a plan sent to Dan for costing.

3 of 7 dents

Plan for concrete

Testing the colour on walls to the charts

Sliding doors in place and with correct routing for latches.  Garage and Stairwell.

Interior painting started

The painters have been on site this week.  Downstairs the gib and door frames have been sealed.  Upstairs has an undercoat.  The doors have the final colour.  However as there are some blemishes on a few doors there must be another coat required.

The garage has not been started.  It has a lot of building material in there and our appliances are onsite. 

The paint colour scheme is taped to a window and it lists poly for the garage walls.  This is out of date as we are to paint the garage.  An email has been sent to Design Builders advising them of what looks like a pending mistake.

Doors painted

Google Maps

I found the Google map of the area has been updated and shows the house with the scaffolding up.

Google Map

Painter at work

This visit was to design the wardrobe shelving and rails, finalise the design of the kitchen and decide how the bath is to be placed.  There is a problem with the  supplier of the bench top and the top will be made in Palmerston North.

The wardrobe design was easy, as was the positioning of the bath.   The kitchen layout was by the use of full sized templates laid on the floor.   The only change was the location of the basin. 

The Stria board was being painted while we were there and there is a day or two of work to finish that colour.   The interior walls have been plastered and sanded and most of the door frames and architraves are installed.  Still to do are the skirting boards and scotia in the garage.  Some doors are hanging and the stairwell door has  been installed with a cut out for the wrong latch.

Stairs

Bed1 view - builders arrived to start a build

Our view

Wall Linings up, Scaffolding down.

We visited the house on Saturday and Sunday.  On Sunday we meet Heather Thorley at the house to finalise the material for windows and blinds and to select material for the dining chairs and casual tub chairs. 

The stairs have not been installed and only some of the upper floor Stria board is painted.  The Gib board stopping and plastering is only partially done.  We had expected more.

Timeline 24 Feb 2013

View from upper living

Window and furniture selection

Spa Bath  has arrived

Insulation installed

We visited the house on Friday (8/02/13) to inspect the house before the linings were fitted.  The fibre glass batts were all installed.  There are sound proof batts around the bathrooms and between the bedrooms and wing lounge.  All external walls, ceilings, sub floor and wall between garage and house have batts.  The house is very well insulated.

We checked the wiring, power, lights, data and coax, security, - all appears to be in place.

The final coat of STO colour was being applied to the plaster finish.  Some of the Stria board on the top level had been applied.  The colours are looking good.

More than half of the linings to the upstairs had been fitted.   Mark, the carpenter, thinks he will have the linings finished by the end of the next week.  There could be a delay as the heat pump cassette has not arrived and must be fitted before the ceiling lining.

The shower units were on site and the upstairs unit has some damage.

Wing Lounge Bathroom wall

View of Kitchen thru Gallery wall

Bedroom 3

Pre-Wire Completed

We visited on Saturday (2Feb) and noticed that most of the wiring was in place and the plaster was complete with top colour coats.

On Monday morning we visited the house again and discussed the final positioning of the lights over the kitchen bench.  All is looking good and by the end of today the pre-wire will be complete.  A false wall is to be fitted inside the security room to hide the waste water pipe and provide a duct for the cables into the room.

This week the insulation will be installed (starting today?) and the colour on the Stria board may be on.  Once the painting is finished the gutters can be installed and the scaffolding removed.

Telecommunications cabinet - with TV Coax cables

Security Room with data (left) and security (right) cables.

Bathroom switches and heater (top)

Power board - located in store room.

View from across the Karamu Stream

Pre wire and plaster

We visited the house on Friday 25 January and walked through with the electrician Merv.    The flush boxes are all in place and some of the cable to the hotpoints had been pulled in.   The electrical pre-wire will be completed by Wednesday.

The plastering base coats have been applied - there are a few rough spots and some cracking.  Hopefully all that will be fixed and the top coats of plaster will be perfect.

Our next visit is this coming weekend.

Electrician is ready to start

We visited HN on 19th January and had an onsite discussion with Merv (electrician). Merv had placed a few flush boxes and the discussion was worthwhile as otherwise some would have been put in the wrong place. Overall though the electrical planning is coming along well.

 Merv will start work this coming week and we shall return next Friday to review what has been done.

The insulation is likely to be installed the following week, followed by wall linings. On site are packs of STO material for the plaster system; the windows have been covered in plastic and the plastering may also start next week. The window surrounds have the STO net material fixed.

Most of the plumbing has been installed. The gas pipe for the hob is in the wrong place and the gas line for the garage has not been installed. Builder advised. All good.

The concrete has to be cut to feed the power and telecom cables to the other side.