HOME AT LAST IN THE SHIRE WITH EDEN BRAE

2011-12-24T19:42:00.001-08:00

You've gotta love the rain

2011-11-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

As much as it can be a nuisance, the last few days' rain has been a god-send! The plants are loving it & so are we.

Take a look at how the shrubs have taken off; & it also helps that a certain person now has a new toy - an electric hedger. Woo hoo..... the hedges have never looked better!

We have kept the front garden as simple and as LOW in height as possible, in order to keep our neighbours on-side. When we moved in they asked us not to plant anything that would obstruct their tiny waterviews. This hasn't left us with many planting options. But is seems to be working better than we'd hoped anyway.

The alternantheras are the purple plants. They looked horrid when first planted and I had my doubts about how they would do. But they've just burst with lush growth. Right now, they are not at full height. Another couple of months ..... they will look even better.

.......and we've finally planted this sorry fenceline.............let's see what happens.........

A few Glaucas, Coprosmas, Hebe Sunset Boulevards, Cupheas, Pimeleas, nandinas & dwarf kangaroo paws. Quite a variety of plants. We wanted something totally different in that bed as a contrast to the rest of the block, which is ordered & minimalistic. By the end of this coming wet summer, we will decide if the 'look' has worked.

Update on Backyard Plants

2011-09-11T14:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a lonnnnng time between posts. The only evident changes have been in the growth of the plants. Atleast I haven't killed them!

I am ecstatic that my hellebores have flourished on our south wall. Those that had been planted on the west side were too exposed to the heat, so I added them to the southern plot.

A reminder - 1 year ago :

Today :

My main concern is that they are lacking shade. Hellebores grow in forests beneath dappled shade. As you can see, there is no shade. The overhead eaves won't provide the protection needed from our summer sun. I have planted a murraya in the bottom corner (out of pic shot) to provide some protection from the sun's early morning rays. It will be quite a while before it grows out enough to do the job, so I might put up some shade cloth in the interim.

The camellia Happy Holidays which is in the same plot, doesn't seem to like the position.

It hasn't grown much in a year. It is constantly affected by mites & something else that is eating the leaves. The mites I can control with a regular spray of water, but the little hungry critter that seems to be invisible........I WILL get him!

The potted yukkas (?) have thrived! I am a little surprised but definitely relieved. The only worry is that they will outgrow the pots! LOL.

A year ago :

Today - not bad :

Lastly, I am having serious trouble as to what to do with our gardenbed on our side fence.
We have been here 2 years now and I can't get my head around what to plant here.

I have 2 gorgeous frangipanis which came from 1 original tree on the block and I have recently added a Gordonia (fried egg plant) which WILL look like this :

Flower :

So I HAVE started planting but as to what else to plant to fill in the huge gaps, well.....................

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to throw them my way !

Camellia Hedge Update

2011-04-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

Another update would be timely.

My gorgeous camellias.......... what can I say, but that I adore them! Just hope they fill out a bit.

August 2010 :

April 2011, 8 months later :

The rain/showers have been constant & as a result, the plants are thriving. That includes the weeds........so excuse the little blighters you can see against the low wall. I WILL get to them! There's no escape for them.

Latest on Murrayas

2011-03-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry to those who are following our blog! But as the inside of the house is done, there isn't anything new to post.

Any further updates will be on the garden. And to further disappoint you , as we are doing this ourselves, the progress will be painfully slow. The plantings will be pretty much - 'see how they go'.

The Shire area is quite different to where we lived originally - the inner west. Some of the plants I used in my garden up there and which I have also planted here, seem to be struggling.

I guess if I were using natives, I wouldn't have so many problems........but in all honesty, I'm NOT a fan of natives. I'll persist though, for a couple more years. After that time, if my plantings don't 'take'............then I'll resort to natives.

I am extremely happy with our murrayas. Thank goodness they're flourishing - tough buggers. Based on this summer's growth, they might just get to 1/2 way up the fence by this time next year ! Blissful privacy is not far off !

Murrayas in January this year :

Murrayas today :

Frangipani 6 months on

2011-02-23T22:41:00.001-08:00

I hoped against hope that it would survive, particularly when a branch started to rot & fell off!

My prayers have been answered.
This is the tree 6 months ago :

This is the tree today :

A shame my hellebores aren't doing so well. Let's see how they do this winter........if not, out they come!
Oh! and can you see how the murrayas up the side of the house have shot up, also ?! Woo hoo!

Murraya update

2011-01-13T15:29:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the poor timing of this post considering the human tragedies happening right now in our north.
Down here in Sydney the rains are 'heaven' sent for our gardens - as I write this I am thinking of a friend who is struggling with her build across the river & probably rolling her eyes at my comments - sorry B .

Our murraya hedge has finally taken off !! Might be a few years yet before we get the privacy we long for but atleast it's happening - patience is the key.

A year ago :

Today :

2010-11-29T00:11:00.000-08:00

Just an update on the Frangipani we moved a couple of months ago. Knowing that they are an extremely tough breed didn't make us any more confident that it would survive.
But the good news is that it's doing quite well, apart from 1 branch that has died off.

This is it, in its original position in our backyard :

In its new position under our front balcony :

Today :

We are extremely happy with its progress ! We are so looking forward to having it as lush as in the first pic.

No-Man's-Land

2010-11-06T20:59:00.001-07:00

This area could not be turned into a garden. To do that we would have had to dig up quite a bit of builder's rubbish, clay or whatever is underneath and I was just not prepared to do anymore digging! So rather than create a gardenbed, we decided to throw down pebbles instead.

The additional problem was then to find colourful pots which didn't cost a bomb. Five months later, I had to forego the colourful pots I wanted because they were just too expensive. The compromise was cheap pots in a bland colour. What a disappointment that was. I had visions of olive green pots but could not find them anywhere.

So here they are. They're not too bad, I guess. Atleast that spot is done. Now if I could just get S to get rid of those bricks & finish off that end of the bed.*rolls eyes*

The before shot :

The after shot :

Oh and the reason the yuccas are growing at an angle is that I forgot to keep turning them while they were sitting on my alfresco waiting for their pots. Hence, they grew at an angle. Silly me!

Camellias #2

2010-10-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

So I know it's just the garden..........but I'm really excited to see the sasanquas bursting with life ! Just pretend you don't see the weeds. There's masses of them - haven't gotten around to spraying them with ROUNDUP, since the rain has been coming & going !

So some before & after (2 1/2 mths after) shots.

Before (early august):

After (late October) :

Before (early august):
After (late October) :

Before (early august):

After (late October) :

Before (early august):

After (late October) :

2010-09-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

I've just gone for a stroll around my garden and am excited to see that the camellias are throwing new leaves!!!!! I knew they would but you know how it is........living in a new area & wondering what will work & what won't........So here they are - especially for you L :

Happy Holidays (south wall) after only a month !
Jennifer Susans (west wall). All of them down this side of the house are throwing this number of leaves !!!!!

What a relief !!! yay !!!

2010-09-29T21:36:00.000-07:00

An interesting perspective of our place on Nearmap :

I knew our block was long & narrow but this clearly confirms it !

Hellebore Progress

2010-09-19T17:55:00.001-07:00

My gorgeous hellebores are doing better than I had expected! Such a shame I have to wait until next winter to see them flower........nevertheless, here they are..........flourishing!!!

2 weeks ago :

Today :
There's nothing like them for winter colour!! Apart from camellias, of course.

Yesterday, I planted dwarf lomandras around the perimeter of the front frangipani gardenbed. But ran out ! Don't ask me how N & I miscounted the quantity required - oh brother! Short by 10!!!! Go figure.........
Fernview Nurseries are willing to ship them out today, though their minimum order is 20. Thank you Fernview!!

This is the bed now - unfinished :

As you can see there is a serious number of lomandras missing * rolls eyes*.

This is what they will look like when fully grown - a superb shape :

I will see how they look fully grown, before I decide to add another row of plants between them & the frangipani. Another row might be too much.

Since I'm an amateur gardener, my philosophy is 'easy does it'. So our landscaping will be slow & gradual........planting by trial and error - the painfully slow method! Well it is said......"patience is a virtue". By the time this is completed, I"ll have spades of it ! lol

Family Room

2010-09-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

Our dilemma - not being able to find a wool rug at a reasonable price, has been resolved.............thank you ebay!

Yes, it's neutral - boring, I hear you moan - but when all is said and done.........it will outlast anything that is 'now'.
I would have loved a 'now' rug (green) but I know I would quickly get sick of it and in all honesty, who has the funds to run out & buy something new whenever one gets sick of 'nows'??

It's rectangular. This shape ensures that it's long enough to provide a warm pad for littlies' bottoms who love to sit up close to their game console. Oh! and we can actually see some of it, as most of it is under our huge table.

On to the next project..................

Frangipani

2010-09-05T22:48:00.001-07:00

No day off for S on Father's Day . There was work to be done! This is the result.....

The Frangipani which was in our backyard was finally moved!
We needed a feature to draw the eye away from the balcony which was just too imposing & to 'anchor' the house.

Next I'm thinking of planting a border of Dwarf Lomandra...the domed grassy plant at the front of this pic :

At the generous suggestion of L, it was a toss up between either the Lomandras, or
Pittosporum 'golf ball' :
or
Pittosporaceae Cream de Mint :

I love the limey colour of the lomandra & want a border that will let the frangipani shine and not compete with it.
I will think about it a little longer but am really leaning toward the lomandras.

Lounge and Dining Curtains

2010-09-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

Our lounge/dining curtains are finally done. Had a hiccup with one which had to be returned & re-done but all are now complete and fully installed as of midday today .....

For those who were querying........I chose double pinch pleats (see pic) rather than triple, as I didn't want formality - just enough fullness to add interest to the rooms.

I am extremely happy with the look and of course we now have added privacy from prying eyes.

Next project.........re-upholstering my 2nd hand dining chairs,
which will also involve the tedious process of sanding the chair legs!Aaarrgghh !!
I thought I'd left sanding behind in Homebush. *rolls eyes*.

After much 'mulling', I have decided on olive macrosuede :
.......though I am still in love with eggplant!!!

But olive will outlast the change in fashion trends - I hope!

Now to just find the enthusiasm.....................

More gardening

2010-08-29T02:40:00.000-07:00

This weekend was busy with preparing garden beds & planting! The preparation is the hardest, bringing in good quality soil, turning it over & over & over - aaarrgghhh!!!
Back-breaking work.......I get great satisfaction with the end result, but I am sooo over the aches & pains.

The back wall of our family room which faces south - a Happy Holidays Camellia & a variety of hellebores.

Happy Holidays - I would have preferred a vibrant pink but the nursery advised that this variety flowers for 6 months, so I sacrified colour for flowering period.

Looking west - hopefully the camellia will eventually hide the hideous watertank
For those who are interested, hellebores are native to Croatia ie alpine, grassy areas probably around Plitvice - this I found out by accident. So for obvious reasons (to some of my followers) I had to have them.

These are the varieties I've planted :
Dark Pink
Double Red

White Spotted

Double Picotee
I risked planting these hellebores - Double Rose Pink
outside our dining room which faces east.

They will get summer sun in the morning but hopefully not enough to stress them.

Lastly....... the patch where we couldn't have a garden.........

2 months ago, I was promised 3 ceramic urns by a pot supplier in Heathcote at a discounted price - yippee - it was a great price !! So I waited & waited & waited & drove back to him 4 times & was promised phone calls...............nudda! Absolutely NO customer service from this guy.
I popped in on Friday for the last time, wandered around for 5 minutes looking at his new stock, hoping my urns were there - mind you I was the only person there - and I was again ignored!! Nobody came to see if I needed assistance.
That was the last straw. He won't be seeing me again.

So, it means that this wall with the pebbles will remain unfinished, until I can find 3 green 1metre high ceramic pots at a reasonable price! How likely is that ?

All in all, a very productive weekend!!!

Molasses

2010-08-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday was perfect weather for getting out the seasol, powerfeed and the dreaded molasses. I wondered whether I might be feeding a tad early, afterall it's not spring yet, but my murrayas & hebes are throwing new foliage so I thought a kick-along would help!

.........and to get D away from the dreaded 'screen' ( PS2, DS, computer, TV any or ALL) I coerced him into helping me. Oh the moans & groans !!!! I insisited - he didn't have a choice!

Actually, once I explained the logistics D & I got into a really good rhythm. This is how we did it.

D's part :
Hot water from the laundry
Mix in molasses & dissolve; add cold water
Add seasol & powerfeed

My part :
I poured the mixture into the watering can & watered all the plants.
While I was doing this, D did it all again including running to get the hot water (he made a race out of this process) to see if he could have it all ready for me to fill the watering can.

It's wonderful how kids can make something out of nothing, even if they need to be 'pushed' at first. D actually admitted to me that he had fun racing the clock. He also suggested using 2 buckets next time to speed up the process - NEXT TIME???!!! Wonders never cease. lol

Here's D after he 'accidentally' fell into the bucket of molasses ! Accidentally......yeah right!

Camellias

2010-08-01T22:02:00.000-07:00

They're in !!! All 20 of the Jennifer Susans. So excited to see them in the ground.

I had a simply wonderful time today. My 'fairy gardenmother' (L) came to my rescue & planted all 20 of them, with Nikki's help, of course. I did the fertilising & watering but the 2 girls did the digging & planting. What a great team effort.

After the 'garden party' we had a lovely lunch with a glorious sticky date pudding for dessert as a finale. What a bonus of a day!!

Great fun outside! A great result! Great company! Great food!

What more could I ask? Thank you L for a lovely day !!! ...............and as promised........pics of today's result. I adore them.

......and these 2 lonely ones which will hopefully survive, to hide the ugly HWS & AC unit that can be seen from my lounge room.

Just a reminder as to what we'll be seeing from our lounge & kitchen windows...........a wall of these !!!!!!!!!!!!

Outdoor Tiling

2010-07-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Just adding a few updated pics of our outdoor tiling. As you can see, landscaping still has a way to go.......but we'll get there.

2010-07-15T03:30:00.000-07:00

I've finally settled on the curtains for our downstairs living areas. They'll hopefully be up in about a month. So no more curious walkers looking into the house from the street. For a while there, we did get used to living in a 'goldfish bowl' but it's now become quite annoying.

The shrubs will take a loooong time to fulfill their role as a privacy screen, so curtains it is.
The bonus of having curtains is that they will add a bit of character to the rooms. At the moment, the rooms are rather bland.

This is the sheer -Nettex Malabar in Almond. It has 2 fine stripes - taupe & beige. The fabric is almost like an organza. Very pretty with a shimmer.

And these are the rods.

Next, we will be ordering the 20 S. Camellias - Jennifer Susan. Hoping to get them in the ground in the next 2 weeks. Have had an offer from a friend with 'green fingers' to help plant them - woo hoo !!! Thank you L. x

Would have preferred Betty Ridley because of its perfect form but the nursery was out of stock. Left it too late!

Kitchen Pendants

2010-07-10T03:45:00.001-07:00

One year & 5 days after having moved in, our last lights have been installed!!!! FINALLY!!!
We love the look of them, but now the lighting is much lower & not from the battens in the bulkhead, so it will take some getting used to.

Our Lights

2010-07-07T02:20:00.000-07:00

Our lights are finally up, except for the kitchen pendants - still waiting on the warm white globes . We've tried to keep the fittings as simple as possible, to keep in theme with the house and to offer the least amount of housework (that's the real reason) . Can you tell I'm truly over high maintenance homes? That's the legacy our Edwardian left me.

My FAVOURITE - adore this one . So happy we went with a statement light over our dining table :

Family Room, Kitchen & Study:

All upstairs rooms :

Garage. These throw a great amount of light onto the driveway, rather than the up/down fittings we almost bought, which don't do much at all :

We're hoping the kitchen pendants will look good when they go up. Our bulkhead over the island bench will dictate how long the rods will be. I must admit I am a little concerned as to how they will look, with most of the rods cut off.

Family Room

2010-05-28T22:01:00.000-07:00

Popped into a $2 shop - love the bargains you can pick up - occasionally!!! So found these - vase & bowl. Just love the vibrant green which goes just fabulously with the dark timber.

I'll throw around a splash of yellow here-and-there as well, to tie in with my feature plate that sits on our large coffee table (courtesy of ebay!!!!)

Very Early Birthday Present to MOI !!

2010-05-27T02:44:00.000-07:00

A very special person who shall remain unnamed ( thank you unowho for my unowot), helped me obtain this amazing shadowbox wall decor!!! I have been chasing these down around Sydney for a few weeks now, trying to get one at a more reasonable price. SUCCESS!

Here it is, in all it's blurred 900 x 900 glory. It'll remain boxed up until my birthday in July, when I'll have to convince S to hang it up over our striped sofa.

Lighting- Mark 2

2010-05-22T02:25:00.001-07:00

It took 2 hours in the showroom today plus 1 & 1/2 hours at home but we've settled on our lights. The consultant, Lyn, was fantastic !!! The place is called Lighting Affairs at Sutherland if anyone is interested in getting top class service...... and she even allowed us to take some fittings home to try them out.

We've made quite a few changes. Here you go !
Lounge room - - the 4 d/lights in the square setting :

Island bench pendants:

Facade, either side of garage door :

Dining - my favourite :

UPSTAIRS - bedrooms, upstair hall, toilet, WIR :

DOWNSTAIRS - study, family & kitchen :

Outdoor Tiling

2010-05-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't resist, though it's not quite finished & cleaned up, but YAY!!!!! our tiling is almost complete !!!! The rain couldn't have come at a worse time ( yes I know we need it ) but it could have waited 2 more days for the grout to dry. Hoping the weather holds tomorrow so that the entry can be finished, plus our under stairt storage area.

The mosaics are a slight disappointment because they are now no longer off-white but slightly pink. Another 'Oh well' moment.

The tilers have done a great job on the entry, particularly as we have a silly side 'step' if you can call it that, which is about 1 cm above the driveway level.

Front landing :

Our entry comprises 2 levels, of which the lower one had to be screeded. This is what we're hoping to have finished tomorrow, weather permitting.

Alfresco :

Murrayas

2010-05-14T23:40:00.000-07:00

3 months later our murrayas are growing - ever so slowly! We have been using seasol & powerfeed regularly & only started with molasses a week ago. We were expecting more growth. A bit disappointing to say the least.

early Feb 2010:
early March 2010 :

middle May 2010; check out the closest shrub - victim of basketball attack :

2010-05-14T00:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the long periods between posts, but at this stage, developments are very slow.

Nothing much going on around the house at the moment! Dithering about what to do with a couple of garden beds at the side of the house. This is one of them :

Need to order soil to build them up & might just plant a row of C. sasanquas. I like this one, Jennifer-Susan :

Have been adivsed by a fellow H1er (thankyou TheMax) that I will need to test the soil's ph levels before planting. Bunnings is selling a ph kit for $16 though I think we have litmus paper packed somewhere .

Also planning to move a large frangipani from the rear of the yard to under our front balcony.
I will enlarge the existing garden bed currently under our balcony & bring it out toward the middle of our front yard. Can't plant it out too far from the balcony as our neighbour asked us not to block their waterviews !!!! What could I say to that ? I had originally planned to have a feature garden located where our side & front boundaries meet, but that was going to be right in their line of vision to the river !

Unfortunately, the transplant will need to wait until the end of August. So patience is a must here.
This is the tree :

& it will be going here :

Around the perimeter of the newly formed gardenbed, I would love to plant something similar to these :

It would be great to be able to create an effect somewhat like this - still thinking about it :

Got this armchair with matching footstool on ebay today. What a steal! Buying on ebay can be risky but the chair is very comfortable & the colours go beautifully with our decor.

We're finally moving closer to finalising our light fittings. Would you believe, after 9 months here, we still have globes sticking out of our ceilings. It's funny what you don't notice if it's above your head. LOL.
I've organised to have the local light store come out & make some suggestions. We did have some styles picked out a year ago but since then we've changed our minds.

As so0n as we've picked the lights, I will be posting them here.

Murraya Hedge

2010-04-01T00:37:00.000-07:00

Our murrayas are doing well after being trimmed to encourage bushiness.
Here they are 2 months ago after being snipped :

.....and here they are today, 2 months later. I think they would have done better if they'd been mulched, which didn't go down until 2 weeks ago.

I've yet to add molasses, which is supposed to give them quite a kick! Will pick that up from Erskineville in a couple of weeks.

2010-03-01T19:59:00.001-08:00

Just a quick update.
We've finally installed our pier caps. The fencing is DONE !!!!!!

I spent a couple of hours sealing them, which was sooo easy. They'll hopefully stay clean for some time to come, as I gave them 2 coats of AQUAMIX something-or-other . Would you believe I've forgotten the name . We're very happy with the final result.

Yesterday I ordered our Hebe Wiri Clouds for our front garden. These will be planted around the perimeter & will hopefully provide a gorgeous hedge. Just adore the colour :

I've yet to finalise the feature garden in the middle of our front yard. I've got to measure it out, etc......That's the next step.

I did say this was a quick visit.

FENCE - DONE!

2009-12-19T18:27:00.000-08:00

We've finally finished the fence! Though we've still got to source sandstone pier cappings, but that's not a major issue.
No more dog escapes, no more open invitations to would-be burglars, no more unwanted dogs, etc....

We're very happy with it. We wanted to maintain the 'open' feel to the block. As the side boundary is sooo long, we didn't want to install a massive ugly wall.

Next step is to organise the plants. We will be planting murrayas along the perimeter of the block - reliable, fragrant, drought tolerant. Murrayas tick all the boxes. That's the 1st plant decision made.
The choice of front yard plantings is also almost finalised with the help of a wonderfully generous H1 member. With the massive choices out there, I have changed my mind a zillion times. Her advice has been invaluable & it has stopped me from going totally crazy.

Aluminium Fencing Starts

2009-12-14T19:54:00.001-08:00

We've finally started the final leg on our "fencing" journey. I think the designing, quoting & building of this fence has been almost more painstaking than building the house! ::hyst::

Last weekend DH attempted to install the aluminium panels. We thought we could get atleast half of the 8 panels done. Boy, were we wrong!! :roll: Of course, never having done this before, it didn't go as smoothly as we had planned.
Firstly, we were given screws for timber !! The company knew we were drilling into brick!! :roll:
Then DH cracked a brick using a drill bit that was too big. OMG ::hyst:: Out came the heavy duty drill, cold chisel & hammer. 2 hours later the cracked brick had been removed & replaced with a new one
DH then discovered that the drill bits were getting blunt verrrrry quickly. He was going through 1 for each hole - 8 holes for each panel. Needless to say, DH was getting extremely frustrated ( that's putting it mildly :lol: )

By the end of the weekend DH had worked out the issues & had installed 2 panels. YAY!!! 2 down & 6 to go, plus gates. Piece of cake :wink: :lol:

Can you see the replaced brick? DH did a good job, poor dear :lol:

2009-11-21T12:56:00.001-08:00

Yippee.....we're getting our Final Occupancy Certificate!!!!!!!
The private certifier gave our place the "all-clear", even without the turf & gardens done. That's a relief. We were a little concerned because the tree we had to replace (due to the driveway) was supposed to be planted on our block - NO WAY !! So instead, we planted a bottle brush on our nature strip :

Now we can go ahead & install our AC the way we want it !!!

2009-11-19T18:39:00.001-08:00

It's a searing 39 degrees today & will be hotter over the weekend. That has definitely canned any plan we had for this weekend to bring in soil, in preparation for turf laying next weekend.

So the soil & turf will go in next weekend - the whole job done in 2 DAYS - where the temps are forecasted to be in the low to mid 20s. What a relief that will be. But 2 days to do it all???

The aluminium infill panels for our side fence have finally been ordered !!! What a marathon that was, to decide on the style, supplier, etc..... However, they won't be ready for 4 weeks so we've had to put up barricades around the house to protect our newest addition, Mojo :

2009-11-06T18:36:00.001-08:00

Not much to add at this point. A couple of pics of paving.

Have only recently returned from a 4 week holiday & S is madly trying to catch up with work at work! Hence, very little time to work on the paving on the weekends - hard at it on the laptop.

Ho hum, this will just have to be a long drawn out affair, along with the fencing!

The utility side of the house :

The street-side of the house, looking toward the front of the block :

Looking back the other way to the back of the house :

Looking from the front entry acros the front wall of the house :

Have run out of pavers & retaining wall blocks. Won't be able to complete the paths for another 2 weeks!

Also waiting for the rain to clear up, to be able to once again 'ROUND UP' the grass & weeds. Hopefully, this weekend. Then the soil & turf can be laid! No more dirt in the house - can't wait!

2009-09-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

Not much to say. Just new pics of the latest additions to the house. A very slow process but getting there !

2009-09-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

Monday is going to be a BUSY day - the installation of some major stuff!! Can't wait!!
The lap'n'cap side fence - privacy at last!
The rest of our flyscreens - several had to be re-made due to wrong sizes
A few adjustments to our roller blinds
AND the fit out of our 4 wardrobes !!

As I was silly enough to forget to delete the shelf & rail in all our robes, I now have to rip them out!! Unfortunately, the wall is being ripped off in the process, since the installers used silicone? to glue the support rails to the walls! !@#$%^^
Pics of the damage & this is on EVERY wall :

S is sooo happy with me over this affair - not! He didn't want to spend the money to fit out the robes in the 1st place, let alone make good the walls before the installation. Regardless of what he thinks, it's happening on Monday - can't wait.
We really need to have those spaces utilised efficiently, as we have little storage in the house apart from them.
The massive 5 metre built-in storage unit in our family room won't be happening. The quote was way, way over budget- $6,000 !! Opted for a large pantry cupboard instead, as a minimum, which is an absolute must in our small kitchen. So getting the robes fitted out properly was imperative.

Will have pics of the finished fence & robes after the weekend!

2009-09-07T03:04:00.000-07:00

I wish I could add some new pics, but we are still waiting for our lap'n'cap fence. Hopefully, it will be installed next week.
We're also waiting for our flyscreens. Hopefully, next week also. The supplier of these was recommended by danma, a Homeone Forum member. Yay danma! The roller blind supplier was also her recommendation.

In two weeks our wardrobes & WIR will be fitted out. The only difficulty will be removing the shelves & hanging rails which I should have had deleted from our build! * rolls eyes*. I just didn't think of them at all.

Have realised, that the wrong ducted vacuum motor has been installed. The only way I know this is that our contract stated that the motor would have an outlet on it for vacuuming our cars. Well this motor certainly has no outlet. Will have to get on to EB to either swap them or give us some kind of refund.

Another issue was that our front balcony did not get the stainless steel rails, as the brickie went up too high. This was pointed out to us & we agreed not to have them. However, we forgot to record this & consequently S only rememberd 2 weeks ago. To EB's credit, they instantly organised a refund of $2,500!!!! Now that's a lot of money to forget!!!

Will post some pics when the fence finally goes up. Yay, privacy at last.

Fence - Part 1

2009-08-28T18:04:00.000-07:00

As promised, a couple of outside pics.

This side fence has been more trouble than the entire house put together. Finally, the bricking is complete. We will shortly be ordering rod top aluminium infill panels for between the brick piers.
Also, we have finally found a fencer to install the lap'n'cap fence & double gates joining the brick fence & completing the side wall. That should be going in, in about 2 weeks.
It's just so annoying to have every process take weeks & weeks. Just getting a tradie to turn up is a frustrating feat. Some don't even bother to ring to say they're not coming.

S & his father have painstakingly built a retaining wall around the bakc of the house. It is starting to look tidier. At this very moment, both are cleaning up the rear yard of bricks, concrete, rubbish. So next is to tidy up, level off & bring in the good dirt in preparation for turfing. Yippee!!!!!! Can't wait !!!

2009-08-25T03:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry but nothing really new to add except that our retaining wall is almost done & our brick fence is now complete. The hard part is finding timber fence tradesmen who actually turn up to quote, when they say they will. Grrrrr!
Apart from that, our blinds FINALLY go in on Thursday. A seriously looong wait after the fiasco of the discontinued chosen fabric. Now that was a major disappointment.

Our US trip is getting closer. Have booked all accommodation (Disneyland, NY, San Francisco) & now organising a side trip to Toronto to see relos. A lot still to finalise in addition to the house 'stuff'.

We still haven't gotten around to buying our light fittings. No where to store them while we do all the other things.

Will post some boring outside pics this weekend of the fence & retaining wall & maybe of our blinds.

2009-08-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

Did I mention how much we love living down here??
It's taken us years to get this location. The market is soooo difficult to get into down here. It's so tight that in the last 6 months, I'd say only about a dozen properties - if that - have been listed. Thank goodness this one came up when it did. Both S & I are sure we were destined to have this place.

The sounds of the birds are great, particularly the kookaburras. Reminds me of the bush, not that that enthralls me, but it's a wonderful feeling to be in the city of Sydney & yet feel as though you're not. We have all the facilities of a major city but it feels as though we're in a country town.

Did I mention how much we love living down here?? Ooop I did, didn't I? The best decision we have ever made. Such a shame we couldn't buy into the area 27 years ago when we first looked. Back then, it was even harder to get in.

The quiet is amazing - no sirens, no traffic. And the people in the neighbourhood are just so warm & friendly. Everyone says hello as they walk past. And there's a lot who walk past. Quite a few have even welcomed us to the area.

Did I mention how much we love living down here??

2009-08-02T14:19:00.001-07:00

The quotes are rolling in & as expected they are obscene!!!
3 built-in robes & WIR - $4,700 & $3,700!!! I'd hate to see the cost of added doors!! Yet to see the 3rd quote.
Flyscreens for the entire house, not including the french doors - $ 1,500 & $3,000!! How on earth can you compare those 2 when one is double the other?? Will try 2 more recommended by a couple of Homeone members.

I'm sure these companies see a new house & decide ' let's see how much we can gouge out of the suckers '! Grrrrrr.

The 2 upstairs bathrooms & toilet have finally be tiled. Poor S! He hasn't a moment of peace, what with his job and the tiling. His take on it, is that he's putting his stamp on the place - a kind of bonding - oh brother ! I'm sure I could find a less painful way of bonding. Hahaha.

Yippee, the brick fence goes up this week. Should be finished Friday. I also need to get on to a couple of fencers to quote on the lap'n'cap fencing. It'll be great to have privacy. Once the fence is done, we can clear out the mess on the alfrecso and place our outdoor furniture there. That means the garage gets somewhat freed up & we might even get a car in there.

Our concretor/landscaper has been AWOL for 2 weeks. Pretty frustrating, as he was supposed to level our yard with his bobcat & build our retaining wall. Finally heard from him yesterday after I text messaged him to say that we had bought retaining wall blocks & that we were going to start without him. Apparently, he's taken on so much work, he hasn't had time to come back. Tradies !!!!
Anyhow, hoping he'll be back next week. No point this week as S is in NZ.

That's it for now. Veeeeery slow progress but atleast things are moving, albeit slowly.

2009-07-24T02:00:00.001-07:00

Not much has happened since the driveway went in.

We have almost finished the tiling of the 3 bathrooms. Poor S comes home worn out from work only to start the tiling almost immediately.
I have been sealing the ground floor grout in the living areas. Almost done! Doing it an hour at a time, is physically manageable. The poor knees are bearing up well.

Have been back at work for 2 weeks now. Unfortunately, that leaves me only 1 weekday where I am able to slot in on-site quotes for blinds, wardrobes, flyscreens.

The blinds have been decided on & ordered. Got on to a great little business in Revesby run by Glen, which was recommended by a fellow Homeone Forum member. The service I got was exceptional & Glen is lovely to deal with. The internet can certainly be a wonderful thing. I got 2 other quotes from companies down here in the Shire & they were ridiculously expensive !! Also, the 3rd company which was recommended by EB & which was a front-runner, never got back to me. They obviously didn't want my business, so I went elsewhere.

The roller blinds should be fitted in 3 weeks. That will be a relief as the paper Redishades are becoming less manageable the more they are used.
This is the translulcent fabric for the ground floor. This allows light in during the day but privacy at night. I just adore this pattern. Our decor is simple & I feel the design will add a bit of interest. Hopefully it won't be too much interest.

I've had 1 measure-up for the fit-out of the wardrobes. Have yet to see the quote. As our wardrobes & WIR are huge, I can see that I will probably fall off my chair when I get it.
Need to get out to the showrooms to check out the competition but until the soccer season is over, that's unlikely. They don't trade on Sundays - what an absolute PAIN!

Flyscreens are booked in for next week - so many bugs getting in. A bit of a worry with summer not too far away.

The main living area around the kitchen is a bit of a bomb site, still. Boxes & boxes. It will be weeks before my wall unit is built & installed to take the contents of those boxes. Until then, the bomb site will remain.

Have been on the lookout for 2 side tables to take my gorgeous lamps in the lounge room. At the moment they're still on the floor. Might take me a while to get them off the floor.

We will shortly have our Interim Occupancy Certificate. Spoke to the certifier & it's all organised. That was a huuge relief, as we'd moved in without it & I was expecting some kind of fine.
Hoping to get the side fence started within a couple of weeks. It will be lovely to feel secure. At the moment our entire block is open to anyone who wants to enter it - not a pleasant feeling.

Also, going to Amber Tiles Sunday to select some kitchen tiles, alfresco & entry tiles & stepping stones while their sale is on! Got to save some money somewhere.

That's it for now...........

2009-07-16T00:24:00.000-07:00

About time!!! Our driveway & front landing are DONE!! We can now get into the house without bringing in the dirt & sand. What a relief.
This is the driveway without sawcuts - nice & clean. You should see it now - both it & the garage door are covered with concrete dust........now for a small downpour.........

and this is the view from our front yard :

2009-07-11T14:46:00.001-07:00

1 week in & the miriad of boxes, big & small, has almost disappeared. Have started arranging & re-arranging our limited furniture to see what fits where. Now realise that there isn't enough furniture to fill the place. We need a sofabed & TV stand for the upstairs room, a couple of armchairs & a side table for the front room & a couple of side tables for our lounge room.

Got one of the 2 final blind company contenders to do an onsite measure & quote. What a shock when I saw his price. Now, I did expect that it would be about $1,500 more than the initial quote, but $4,500 MORE???!!!! It went from $6,200 to $10,800. What a joke! Back to the drawing board......now need to ring around again. Bugger, this is all so time-consuming.
Our Redi-shades are a godsend. Looks like they'll be up for a couple of months, I'd say.

We are still waiting for the driveway to be poured. There have been a couple of hold-ups, due to council, rain, etc.....but we've been promised this Monday. Desperate for it to go in, so that we don't keep traipsing dirt into the house.
Really hoping that the colour is OK. It's one thing choosing from a brochure, but you can have a totally different outcome when it's poured.

The most exciting thing I'm looking forward to is having a custombuilt wall unit made up for our family room. It will handle ALL of our storage : extra pantry, drawers for stationery, suspension files, cutlery, DVDs, serving dishes, boardgames, etc......You name it & it will be in there. The unit will be huge - about 5 metres long.

Steve is tiling our bathrooms. He's tiling all the way up to the cornices. So far it's looking pretty good. Unfortunately, I don't think we saved any money doing it ourselves. The tiler quoted $1000 to finish it off for us. OUCH! But we should have run with that as we figure the tile glue alone is costing us $70o! Lesson learned but too late.
Tomorrow I'm bringing home the 3 bathroom wallvanity units. Once Steve installs them, we can load them up with the still boxed bathroom stuff.

Hoping the concretor will get to the scraping of our block soon, so that we can start laying turf & garden beds. Oh did I mention that apart from laying driveways, he also does retaining walls & does demolition work ?? Multi-talented guy!

I'll try to post some pics after the bathrooms are done. Hopefully, that won't be too long.

2009-07-01T02:51:00.000-07:00

Our carpets are in !!!!!! We are so happy with the installation. Particularly with the staircase. Thankyou Cronulla Carpets subbies - great job!

Also, no damage to speak of to our walls & joinery. Woo hoo!!!

Close-up of charcoal & offwhite :

Upstairs hall :

Lounge :

Tricky staircase :

2009-06-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

Quite a few things will be happening this week before we move in on Saturday.

On Friday, Eden Brae will :
* have the painters out to complete the final touch-ups.
* fit the hot water system
* change the garage/hall door lock
* install our undercupboard kitchen lights
* install the remaining appliances

We are organising :
* the concretor to start on Wednesday
* the carpet installation also on Wednesday

Busy, busy, busy....................in the meantime, packing, packing,packing.........

2009-06-28T02:44:00.000-07:00

I had this brilliant idea of sealing the grout lines on our ground floor. Our off-white grout would stay off-white. WHOAAA!!!! What was I thinking ???
I managed to do only 3/4 of our family room and then gave up because I couldn't kneel any longer. It took me almost 3 hours & not even 1 room finished !!!
I stood up veeerrrry slowly, unkinking my joints, looked down the long hall at all of the tiles still to do & decided THAT'S IT, I'M DONE!!
At the moment, I feel like I've been run over. Absolutely EVERYTHING aches!! and I haven't even started packing for the move on Saturday.
The decision has been made : I'll be sealing the grout lines in the shower recesses only. THAT, I can manage.

The priority right now is to PACK! 6 more sleeps !

Have been trying to get in touch with the concretor to sort out the driveway colour. Still not sure about going with plain concrete, even though that was the decision.
He is AWOL!! Not answering our phone calls & not responding to our messages. Looks like tomorrow's driveway is OFF.

2009-06-27T01:34:00.001-07:00

These are our light fittings. Not going to dilly-dally over them. The 1st ones I like are the only ones going in to the house. Through this building process, I've learnt to not over-think my decisions, but to go with my instincts. So here they are :

Dining & Front rooms, 3-arm :

Lounge, 5-arm in the silver finish :

Island bench :

Kitchen & Family rooms :

Bedrooms & upstairs hall :

Vanities :

WIR & laundry :

Garage :

Exterior :

2009-06-26T00:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it's done - we have our keys !!!!!!!!
Now the hard work starts in preparation for the move. Cleaning, cleaning & cleaning the rental.........not to mention packing AGAIN, sealing all the tiles, sealing the shower screens, laying the driveway, carpet installation , LPG connection, phone connection..........and it just goes on.
Appliances don't get installed until next Friday, if our SS can get the suppliers organised. Don't know what went wrong here, but that was the agreement a week ago. If we can atleast get the plumber out to install the HWS, that would make life easier. Bugger the cooktop & oven......takeaway for me anyday (no cooking).

2009-06-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

After having asked the question on the Homeone forum, we've taken on board the idea to removing the 2 existing off-centre downlights & moving them to 1 bulkhead, adding another 2 to the other bulkhead on the other side. VOILA ! Love it ! Now hoping that there are no timbers, etc... in the bulkheads !!!!

2009-06-10T00:13:00.001-07:00

Our PCI went well this morning.

All the items listed in Tyrrell's report were discussed. In addition to a couple of things we picked up. Nothing major to be concerned about.

The only downside was that the downlights in the entry (see pic 1) can't be moved due to a beam running right through the hallway. This was our fault as we reduced the width of the house. The only 2 options are to either add 2 more lights in line with the existing 2 on the other side OR remove them altogether & replace them with a fancy pendant. I like the idea of a fancy pendant but because we have d/lights running down the hallway to the kitchen (see pic 2), we should probably install d/lights in the entry. Either way, this will be done after settlement at our cost.

Actually, what do my followers think ? Take a look at both pics. You can see the d/lights continuing down the hall. These are the ONLY d/lights in the house.
Should I keep the d/lights in the entry & add 2 more, to make 4 in the coffered ceiling
OR
Can I get away with a pendant instead of the d/lights, making the 3 d/lights in the hallway the only ones in the house? I think it might look silly.
What do you think?

2 weeks until handover won't be happening. Our new SS will try to get all 6 trades back this week & next week. Next Friday he will contact us to advise handover date. But he seemed to think end of June is more than likely. FINGERS CROSSED !!!

2009-06-09T02:44:00.001-07:00

Woo hoo !!!! Our PCI is on for tomorrow morning. Just praying that our SS tells us......."2 weeks 'til settlement".

2009-06-05T03:22:00.000-07:00

I just knew we wouldn't get in this month . Tyrrell's report was pretty extensive. I really don't see how they can do the rectifications, 2nd inspection & our PCI as well, then handover in the next 3 weeks.
So after our SS saw the report, he still couldn't give us a time frame for handover. We have to talk again on Wednesday. Maybe then, he can give us an idea.
It's sooooo disappointing........sooo, sooo close.......yet soooo far.

2009-06-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

No inspection Monday. Extremely disappointed about this. Moving it to Thursday means this process has now been dragged out for another week !!!

I will be seriously surprised if we move in before the end of June. SS promised (months ago) that he'd get us in by mid May. Had serious doubts about his claim. On the other hand I predicted that it wouldn't happen until early July - in time for my 50th !!! Looks like I was right.
What a way to celebrate - moving & cleaning - ugh! Will be too buggered to celebrate or even care for that matter.

2009-05-29T01:56:00.000-07:00

Independent inspection scheduled for Monday - bring it oooooon! No idea when we're having our PCI.

2009-05-28T02:29:00.000-07:00

The portaloo went last week, the padlocks are off the safety fencing which should be going tomorrow, the cleaners have been in..........it's all happening.......and any joe blow can get into our house because Eden Brae hasn't repaired the kitchen stacker doors !!!

Welcome to our house - come and take a free tour and while you're at it, take what you want !!! NOT HAPPY JAN ( read EDEN BRAE) !!!!!!!

2009-05-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

Cleaning is happening as we speak !!! Our PCI hopefully will be locked in Friday for hopefully early next week along with Tyrrells'. Had hoped T's would have been done this week as advised by the SS.
He will be telling us Friday roughly when settlement will be happening - fingers crossed.

2009-05-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

Popped around to the house this arvo & lo & behold........we have a garage door. I just love JASPER!! Unfortunately, the weather was seriously overcast & the door looked quite dark. Will definitely need a light coloured driveway to brighten the facade......the million dollar question - what colour ??!!

Checked the door for security & found that ALL the doors were UNLOCKED and the lounge room window wide open !!!!!!! I was furious at the blatant disregard for someone else's property.

So I took a snoop through. Well why not? EB can't really expect me to NOT walk through if the place is unlocked.

Generally, it looks great. We have been very lucky that on our house, we have had some good tradesmen & some fantastic tradesmen. Other EB builds have not been so lucky.

Now let's bring on the Tyrrell's inspection & OUR inspection.

2009-05-23T03:44:00.000-07:00

Went to the house this morning to meet up with the concretor to discuss our driveway & what did we find, but our tilers finishing up our floors??!! This should mean that Tyrrell's will be well & truly doing the inspection middle of next week.
Would have loved to have a peek inside, but didn't want to get in the tiler's way. We are so pleased with his work - meticulous.
All that we could see through the windows is that the wires have been pulled through the gyprock. So, the sparkies will need to be back on Monday to install lights, p/points, etc...
I would love to know if the plumber has been to install our taps & toots.

The timing couldn't be more perfect as our lease ends in a couple of weeks.

Oh and the quote we got for the driveway made our day. As the concretor has his own concretor, he will also clean up & contour our backyard, side & front areas - a BONUS!!!

2009-05-22T01:24:00.001-07:00

I stuffed up !!!

I was told today that our bathroom wall lights won't be happening !!!!!!!!! Apparently, the electrical drawing shows the lights as CEILING lights. Well I checked it & it's true

I know for a fact that I asked for vanity wall lights at my electrical appointment. But the consultant used the wrong symbols when recording this request. As these symbols are similar to wall lights, I missed it when checking the plans before sign-off.

Totally my fault. Back to the drawing board for lights now.

2009-05-21T02:46:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we had issue with the fact that our bathroom & toilet cornices had not been packed out, as per variation.
To EB's credit it was quickly fixed. However, we didn't notice until weeks later that the toilet was forgotten. Forgotten - how? Who knows! But the good news is, that it's been done!

Congrats to our SS who had it sorted & who seems to be flying through all the other things which n eed finalising.

Our benchtop arrived yesterday along with our kitchen tap - looks !@#$%^ gorgeous! Fantastic ! and our tiler started tiling our floors today.

Oh & we noticed on the weekend that EB have painted the lintels above our windows. That's impressive !
On the other hand our front & rear taps look tacky because they protrude from the walls with chunky mortar holding them in place. I don't get this. If Eden Brae can pay attention to detailing the windows, why can't they do the taps also by attaching a ring covering the mortar ?????? This is what we have - just hideous by Eden Brae's standards :

This is what I expected to see (courtesy of a Homeone Forum member ).
What a difference :

Latest pics :

2009-05-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Well the latest is that our SS is trying to get everything done over the next few days, ready for Tyrrrell's inspection next week !!!!
At that stage, he will have a better idea as to when handover will be happening. Maybe if all goes well, we might have hand over before the middle of next month. Woo Hoo !!!

Also the council approved our side brick plans entirely. They were causing a fuss with our double gates at the rear of the property & wanted us to step them in, by a whopping 1.5 metres, in addition to splaying them. You've got to be kidding !!!!!!!!!!!
Well, they gave up that idea totally after checking the site & discovering that the splayed entrance would be impossible due to 2 telegraph poles being in the way. Yay !
So WE WIN and get the fence we originally designed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things are looking great today.

2009-05-17T03:40:00.000-07:00

We are well & truly locked out ! No matter, as all painting has been done - as far as we can tell, looking through dirty windows. The balcony posts are DONE ! Finally the exterior looks almost complete.

Our staircase balustrade has been stained. Was so looking forward to this, as I wanted the same effect as in the Georges Fair display. Am pretty disappointed with the colour. When I specified jarrah, I was expecting a very dark stain. In reality, it's a maple colour - looks pretty ordinary. No way is it going to match either the tiles or the carpet we've chosen.

Our kitchen bench is yet to be changed. Hope this doesn't prevent the tiler from starting the downstairs floor areas.

The portaloo is gone. Never been happier to see it gone. That must mean we're on the home stretch.

Some pics :

The worrisome JASPER front door :

The so-called JARRAH stained balustrade :

2009-05-11T14:03:00.000-07:00

EB have more or less kept up the activity on the house, though it could be faster. Of course, the miriad of completed little details are hard to spot but we can see that things are being done, even if rather slowly.
The waiting is painful. We can see that if all the trades were available, we could definitely be in by the end of the month!!!
The colder temperatures have now made the completion more urgent. Our fibro rental is excruciatingly coooooold. We dread bringing out the heaters, as we don't want to face another horrendously expensive power bill. Last year was bad enough.

Apparently, the safety fencing is coming down by the end of the week. Now that should be interesting - a proper view of the house.

Our SS advised that he is hoping to get Tyrrell's out for the final inspection at the end of the month. He is also trying to get the tiler out to start on the downstairs floors.
What's left to do?

sealing of nail holes on internal joinery
completion of internal painting
door handles
kitchen appliances
repairs to scratched & dented sliding door tracks
repair to rusty garage door frame
installation of taps, toilets,etc
shower screens, towel rails
installation of p/points, light switches, lighting, etc
floortiles
balustrade staining
painting of balcony posts & various misc external details
touch-ups to moroka

In the meantime, we have started on the side fence. We have dug the trench for the brick portion, the reo is in & the concrete will be poured on the weekend.
We are still waiting on Council to approve the double gates at the rear. But this won't prevent us from completing what we can. Will need to research materials which will need to be temporaily attached to the fence, to provide privacy while our shrubs grow to a reasonable height.

2009-04-28T02:36:00.000-07:00

Our SS is targetting to get us in by end of May ! That would be just wonderful ! Fingers, toes & anything else possible, seriously crossed !!!

Have got to say that we are extremely happy with the pace at the moment. Of course, it will never be fast enough but realistically, Eden Brae have been working at a steady pace for several weeks now with plenty to show for it.
Lots & lots of little details yet to be completed, that don't make a huge difference to the appearance of the house but are very, very time consuming.

Have had a hiccup with the kitchen island benchtop. This is what was installed :

This is what should have been installed - note the waterfall edge :

Happy to say that our CSR, Sally, is right on it. In less than 24 hours, she advised that a Variation would be raised to rectify the mistake made by the kitchen company. Yay for Sally. She is surely an asset to Eden Brae. I hope they realise it !

2009-04-25T22:33:00.001-07:00

Forgot to upload further pics taken last week :

Ensuite

Main Bathroom

Laundry

Looking down toward our 'multi' from upstairs

'Multi' (useless ) room

You can tell that I'm unimpressed with the multi room. A room you just can't do anything with because you can't close it off. But hubbies' favourite room.

2009-04-23T02:30:00.001-07:00

OMG. I have 2 quotes to fit out the place with roller blinds !! I knew this was going to be an expensive exercise but this is ridiculous - $10,000 & $12,000 !!!!!

I think I had better get some quotes from suppliers not based here in the south. Maybe the quotes will be more competitive if they're supplied by companies based in the west ???

2009-04-23T01:26:00.000-07:00

Our SS has given us the go-ahead to allow the carpet company on site to do a final measure-up. Thank goodness, that means the carpet can go in AS SOON AS we get the keys.
So we can move in within a couple of days of getting handover !!
So grateful to our SS.

2009-04-21T01:42:00.001-07:00

I met our tiler today. He was waiting for us to deliver the bathroom feature tiles. He has done a great job for someone so young. Atleast I think he has. Will have to wait for DH to check out the tiling at some point in the near future. He has an eye for detail, where I tend to miss things.

Updated pics of the interior I could scrounge, while on site meeting with the tiler :
Laundry

Kitchen

Staircase waiting for balustrades

2009-04-17T04:12:00.000-07:00

YAY !! Got a phone call this arvo from the tiler. He is hoping to collect the tiles tomorrow from DL & wants to meet with us onsite. Now, to just be able to get the soccer match out of the way before he rings.

He's done the wet area floors !!! He'll be doing the walls Monday - woo hoo !!

Have not heard anything from our SS in 2 weeks. Tuesday before Easter, we sent him an email asking him to check that our variations had been followed up & installed. In particular :

packing out of cornices for wall tiles
extra noggins where our towel rails will go
positioning of concrete pad for LPG bottle
p/point to m/wave unit
vacpan installation
authorisation to allow carpet & blind companies onsite to measure up

It would be good to hear from him, so that he can allay our fears that these things have been forgotten.

2009-04-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

So, we've settled on the wet area tiles. Though not entirely happy with the substitute wall tile sent to us by DL, it will do, just to get things moving again :

2009-04-09T17:14:00.001-07:00

Woo hoo......DL have sent samples out by courier. Now that's service !!

Tiles - AGAIN !!!

2009-04-07T03:06:00.000-07:00

Have just been advised by DiLornezo that our wet area tiles have been discontinued !!! I am furious !!
What a lot of time-wasting going to & fro. Not to mention fuel cost !!

Now I have to return to their showroom in Castle Hill & try to find tiles from a pathetically small builder's range. Well, that will be unlikely.....since it was so difficult the 1st time !!

This is EB's fault. They make the customer choose tiles months & months before they're needed. So naturally, with tiles going in & out of fashion, they get deleted regularly.

Again.......SERIOUSLY POOR customer service. This scenario is most definitely not in the customer's interest. There needs to be a company policy change here - one of many.

2009-04-02T00:03:00.001-07:00

We have lock-up !!!! OMG, what a loooooong haul from November 12, when the frame was started !!!! 3 1/2 months (excl 4 weeks over xmas) to get to this point !

Eden Brae have made up for the huge lag between frame start & lockup. For almost 3 solid weeks they have been hard at it - electricals, insulation, AC ducting, gyprocking, staircase, skirting boards,architraves, doors hung, bricks cleaned, external detailing, etc....

Very happy with Eden Brae at the moment and particularly with our SS.

2009-03-26T02:15:00.001-07:00

For those who just can't wait, particularly fellow Homeone Forum members - outside shots only ! We just love our colours.......better than we anticipated !!!!!!

2009-03-25T02:03:00.001-07:00

This week EB have been hard at work completing the plastering ! These particular tradies have been hard at it even when I've driven past at 4.30, on my way home from work ! Now that's unusual, as their predecessors were usually gone by 4.

Our bricks have finally been cleaned. Now that was a lonnnng wait and well worth it, too. Our house looks better & better. I must say it looks better than EB's display home at Ropes Crossing, which 1st inspired us.

We have gone through a few frustrating moments over the last couple of months. Far too many delays, in our opinion. However, the pace last week & this week has much improved.

This is the standard we expected of Eden Brae from Day 1.

2009-03-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

We had an independant inspection done this week.
A few minor details which we expected BUT no major issues were found. Peace of mind was worth the expense. A testament to Eden Brae's tradesmen on our site.

Thankyou Eden Brae.

2009-03-20T01:59:00.000-07:00

This week has been an extremely successful one. The activity we witnessed this week, is what we expected from Eden Brae when we signed up.

Of course, no one can expect this level of activity to be sustained throughout a build, with a volume builder. But we did expect far, far more, than what we had seen over the last couple of months !
The project management of this build has been seriously disjointed. Days & days with no activity. Just as when the slab & frame went up prior to Xmas, so now this flurry of activity. Spits & spurts !! No flow.
Whether EB's site supervisors are stretched to their limits, whether the resources are not forthcoming - no answers on that front, but needless to say it is an unsatisfactory way to operate. Possibly the company needs a culture change.

It will be interesting to see, whether after this week's flurry of activity, we will again have weeks & weeks of work at a snail's pace.

But, at this stage we are so desperate to have this finished, we are grateful for anything.

Many, many thanks to our ever-patient Site Supervisor 'AR'.

2009-03-18T00:22:00.001-07:00

Oh my goodness !!!! Eden Brae have all pistons firing this week !!
We are in total shock !!

Moroka application to balconies - DONE !
All electricals - DONE !
Most of the insulation - DONE !
Family roof - DONE !
AC ducting - DONE !
Gyprock going in tomorrow/Friday !

WOO HOO !!!!! I could just kiss my SS.

2009-03-14T02:38:00.001-07:00

Yes, that's right.....after having been told that the roof would be finished this morning by the CM no less - it didn't happen ! We're not surprised really - just sorely disappointed & frustrated.

What does it take to get a small roof on ? What does it take to get some follow-through when a promise is made ?

And the saga continues............

2009-03-13T01:57:00.000-07:00

4 months after frame start we FINALLY have a roof on the family room !!!!

4 MONTHS !!!

Mind you, it's not even finished !! What is with these tradies ??

I spoke to a neighbour this arvo who lives 2 doors down & he asked whether we were ever going to move in. I was polite & laughed with him but I was secretly seething. This is the same comment we get from others in the street.

We can tell that people are quite unimpressed with Eden Brae. So are we!

2009-03-11T01:59:00.000-07:00

Update :

1.The moroka guys did turn up today, as they said they would. But they had to give up when the rain started. Atleast, they were able to prime the balcony supports.
Their work is so top rate, that I'd rather they come back & finish it properly. I just love their work.

2. We've been told that the eaves & gutters to the family room have been installed. Could only see the safety balustrades attached to the gutters. It follows then that the roofing should finally go up this week. So we've been told.

No idea when brickcleaning will happen. Sorry to those waiting for the pics.

I know we've said this over & over, but it's an excrutiatingly drawn out process. It is so frustrating to see the site without activity, day after day. Our journey to Como, has taken years...........family will attest to this. So we just want this build to be OVER !!

2009-03-09T14:03:00.000-07:00

Friday 20th was 2 & 1/2 weeks ago. That is when we had that discussion with the CM.
This Friday will make it 3 weeks !!

Still NO lock-up ! Still NO roof on the family room! Still NO bricks cleaned!

Seems that our cynicism was well-founded! The meeting was purely a public relations exercise. What we find insulting is that Eden Brae thinks we're so gullible as to believe the hyped-up spiel !
Eden Brae along with the rest of this industry is seriously out of touch with the consumer.

Sad to say, but this recession is needed. The dead wood needs to be cleaned out.
Customer service needs to be the priority, once again.

2009-03-09T13:02:00.001-07:00

Lots of rain last night & the early hours of today. OK.........so we understood that the possibility of work on site today would be low. However, that might not necessarily mean that the rain would continue throughout the day.
As it happened - not one drop of rain fell on Como today - NOT ONE !! What is the matter with tradespeople ??? Have the last 10 years been so financially fruitful for them, that they now use the slightest reason to NOT work ???? Unbelievable.
Are they not capable of using the internet ? Do they not read the long term forecasts that say that rain is likely over the next few weeks? Would you not think that they would grab every dry day available & get as much done, as possible???

This has been the most frustrating experience we have EVER encountered. Lazy building practices, inefficient building practices, wasteful building practices...........we could go on & on, but we will see if anyone actually turns up on site tomorrow.
Anything is possible in this game !

2009-03-06T12:52:00.000-08:00

So the balconies weren't finished today as hoped for. In fact, we don't think anything was done on site today - another day lost !
We just want this process OVER so we can move on with our lives. Our family who will be reading our blog, understand clearly why we feel this way.

But the scaffolding did come down yesterday & what a difference to the house !

We are very happy with our colour selections. They have turned out better than we had expected. The only concern remaining now, is the look of the 'Jasper' garage door against the 'Manhattan' moroka colour. However, that concern won't be laid to rest until the end, as the door doesn't get installed until then.

2009-03-04T12:14:00.001-08:00

Eden Brae has done a satisfying amount of work this week.

* The balconies & timber trim work have been sealed & waterproofed.
* Moroka finish has been applied to the top 1/2 of the balconies & the wall above the garage.
* The cladding was FINALLY painted today.

All in all - a very productive 3 days. Hats off to our SS.

We believe the scaffolding will be coming down tomorrow & hopefully the balconies will be finished on Friday.

Thank you Eden Brae. This has gone part of the way, to us having our faith restored in your processes. There is still a long way to go yet.

Progress

2009-02-28T00:41:00.000-08:00

To Eden Brae's credit, there has been activity on 4 out of 5 days this week. The carpenter has been here each day (except Friday) finishing the cladding & the detailed trim work around openings, etc... Yes, it's painfully slow but atleast something is happening.
The brick cleaner was on site this morning - we think - cleaning the top storey bricks. Makes a big difference to the appearance of the house !

Not everything was completed this week, as was supposed to - the scaffolding is still up, the brick cleaning is yet to be completed, the painting of the cladding not yet done.

However, we are hoping that by Friday next week, those tasks will have been finished !
Afterall, that would then be pretty close to 4 MONTHS since the frame was started & that is a ridiculously looooong time !

2009-02-21T02:23:00.001-08:00

This past week a few small things happened afterall - we owe Eden Brae this much acknowledgement.

Their carpenter has been slowly replacing/repairing frame timbers which have bowed, twisted and warped due to long exposure to the elements. For that we are relieved.

Our 2 solar panels have now been installed on our west-facing roof, as our north-facing roof is too small to accomodate them, BUT the installer mounted them flush with the roof WITHOUT installing the accompanying frame, which would have angled the panels correctly to the north- instead the panels are facing WSW ie about 100 degrees west of true north. Hellooo, how could he get this so WRONG !!! He is supposed to be a professional installer !!!! A pocket compass would have told him that it ain't going to get any sun in its current position.

EDIT : We have since been advised that we will have only 80% solar efficiency without the frame. Apparently, this is an acceptable percentage. So the installation of the frame is not a necessity.
The installer was correct & we are reasonably satisfied.

The west & south brick walls of the house have been cleaned, along with the upper walls of the 2 balconies. This alone has made a difference to the look of the building. We are impatient to see the rest of the bricks in their true state.

Finally, the carpenter installed a few metres of cladding - YAY !! See below.

Unfortunately, yesterday was a no work day for the carpenter, as his apprentice was unavailable (TAFE ??). Another day lost !

Finally, our concern with the cupping of the flooring has somewhat abated, though not entirely - the emphasis is 'somewhat'. After having done a bit of technical research, spoken to friends who have built & spoken to the SS, we are satisfied that the flooring is passable. At the moment, we have no bounce or squeaks due to the use of glue and the floor being screwed rather then nailed (which is a plus for EB). Whether in future years problems develop as a result of the long exposure, is just conjecture at this point.

Meeting With Construction Manager

2009-02-20T19:18:00.000-08:00

This on-site meeting was called by the Construction Manager. He was concerned that as customers, we had lost confidence in Eden Brae. Atleast we are agreed on this. We are so underwhelmed & disappointed with this build that we just want to get it over with as soon as possible.

Today's meeting with the CM was not initiated to resolve specific issues, but was more to put our general concerns to rest. We will give them the benefit next week and see if what they say will be done - if not, then they can expect further contact from us. Our concern is that it's all just a sales pitch - filled with the right words, but not being delivered upon - so this coming week is a test to see if they do understand customer service.

CM advised that by the end of next week, weather permitting, the following would be achieved :

cladding installed & painted
brickwork cleaned

We would be ecstatic if this were next week's outcome. One hurdle jumped atleast.
However, what we fear the most is that Eden Brae will need to be pushed at EVERY stage.
It seems they are unable to keep the momentum going.
It seems also that their system is unable to flag problems when they occur.

As mentioned by us elsewhere, talk is cheap. Continued action is what we want to see.

............and waiting

2009-02-18T02:36:00.001-08:00

Another day gone down the tubes - no work !

OK so it was raining this morning - but it was all done by mid morning ! No reason why something couldn't have been done after that.

Clarendon were again working away around the corner, on the upper storey. Our build started 2 weeks before theirs & now they have passed us.

EDIT : To be fair to EB, a carpenter was there AGAIN today. But still no cladding. Why not ??

............and waiting

2009-02-17T01:08:00.001-08:00

Eden Brae have no excuse for lack of site work today.
A friend confirmed that not one drop of rain fell today in Como. Actually, it's only just started & the time is now 4.45pm.

They could have started the cladding today, so that the family room could be roofed !

NOT GOOD ENOUGH EDEN BRAE !

EDIT : To be fair to EB, a carpenter was there today, bracing some timbers I think. But still no cladding.

2009-02-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since the last post, so I'll try to explain why. We have had issue with Eden Brae, regarding the amount of time our frame has been exposed to the elements.
Apparently, when our first site supervisor (SS) handed over to his replacement prior to Christmas, someone forgot to order tigertails from Energy Australia. Now these are absolutely necessary for OH&S reasons before workers are permitted to work on the upper storey. Makes perfect sense to us. The power cables in the side street are quite close to our house.

The problem arose however, when the lack of tigertails meant that neither the roof nor the upper storey cladding could be installed. This then meant that the frame & more importantly the upstairs flooring, were exposed to the elements for another month. What upset us was that once Eden Brae realised their error, not one thing was done to correct it or at the very least to lessen the consequences. The flooring manufacturer's installation instructions, clearly state that if exposure is unavoidable, then all care must be taken to either :

sweep excess water from the flooring, or
drill holes in the flooring to drain the water, or
cover the flooring, or
cover the roof.

NOT ONE of these precautions were undertaken.

The downstairs frame was started on the 10 November. The upstairs flooring & frame started 2 days later.
So, in essence the house frame & flooring have been exposed for 11 long weeks. In that time we have had excessively hot days with rain. Now you can imagine the consequences of that - twisted timbers & cupping of floorboards. We have been promised that anything that doesn't meet standards will be replaced through the normal building process - it will be interesting to see if this happens - we have taken pictures of the more obvious defects that will need to be correceted before plaster stage.
We are committing to a lot of trust in the current SS, senior carpenter, EB Inspection services and the appointed certifiers. Lets see who pays attention.

The house looks decidedly 2nd hand ! The timbers have bleached & though this is purely an aesthetic thing, it adds to the neglected appearance of the site.
Neighbours have queried the state of the build, wondering what has gone wrong. It has been interesting now, to hear the negative observations & comments of passers-by. Initially, all who watched the speedy build prior to Christmas ( & there were a lot) , were amazed with the speed of Eden Brae & very complimentary - great PR for EB. We were excited & the speed of the build initially confirmed in our minds, that we had chosen the right builder. Now, we are no longer excited & no longer sure that Eden Brae are the right builder for us !

We have yet to see whether Eden Brae's quality processes actually work.

We will be looking at bringing in an independant inspector just before plastering, probably Howard K Ryan. We have learned of his expertise through Homeone Forum - an invaluable forum where a lot of information, both positive & negative, is freely traded. And a forum where a lot can be gleaned of builders' both good & bad practices.

Let's see how this unfolds.

Days 12, 13 & 14 - Brickwork

2009-01-07T01:03:00.000-08:00

The brickies returned Monday 5th!! Didn't expect to see anyone back until later in the month. The job looks to be complete.
Very impressed with EB's speed !!!
Fingers, toes & absolutely everything else for this speed to be maintained.
Great brickwork - the guys did a quality job !

2008-12-20T18:48:00.000-08:00

The end of the brickwork is in sight !!
Though it can't go any further until the scaffolding is up & that hasn't been completed yet.

Brickwork complete on west wall over lounge & bathroom, with the garage & wall above, yet to go :

Brickwork finished on east wall over alfresco, with the remainder of the east wall to go :

Scaffolding

2008-12-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

No bricklaying Friday due to the scaffolding being set up. Seems the roofers & cladders are due mid January, so the site will be ready & waiting for them. In the meantime, the brickies are working today ( Saturday-Day 7 ) , we guess to be finished by Christmas.

We're thoroughly impressed with Eden Brae's build tempo & quality, so far. No hiccups and the bricklaying is pretty good.

Days 5 & 6 - Brickwork

2008-12-15T22:35:00.001-08:00

Day 4 - Brickwork

2008-12-13T01:11:00.000-08:00

Ground Floor complete on eastern side. The bricking on this side needs to go up further, almost to the 1st floor window sills. Western wall & front not yet started.

Days 2 & 3 - Brickwork

2008-12-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Further bricking. With wet weather forecast for the rest of the week, today's effort has been pretty good.