HOME

It is 9 weeks since Handover and Carlisle Homes have us booked for 3 month warranty inspection end of June.......where has the time gone and what have we been doing?

Moving is a huge job, no easier after 36 years of marriage and numerous homes; I still don't enjoy it. Culling and downsizing, will it fit/work, where does it go? aaarrrrggghhh!.......but I love the building process and opportunity to select materials and colours just the way (with a few compromises) we want.   Bar some hiccups at the end which Carlisle took care of, the build was smooth and fast; Carlisle are extremely organized and client focused. 

We love our new home; 'just the two of us' plus BonBon, who at times has exasperated me becoming a Canine Bobcat in the mud.  Aggregate driveway, paths and Alfresco were our priority followed by completion of fences - a wonderful feeling of ownership once boundaries are defined.  After months of building...... to close the door behind tradesmen and explore each room; watching the changing ambience from day to night, sun and shade is a joy.

Tiny things excite you.....wow the HWS/shower is fantastic! as are the kitchen appliances and ducted vacuum - why would anyone build without one (my son did and it drove me insane) to the aaarrrggghhh! the ducted heating won't come on, DOA and fixed within 24 hours phew! to the totally mind bending incompetence of Telstra to connect the phone and internet....I'm a happy lady back on cyberspace so all is forgiven.

Plantation shutters, blinds, venetians and dog door installed plus Theatre cabinet built and feature wall painted. Towel/wc rails, cupboard baskets, extra shelving and a myriad of minor 'hang this/install this' items with trips to Bunnings (why don't we have shares with them) are completed.  Minus the odd picture to hang, some lights to be installed and two more TV's to mount we are extremely comfortable inside. Garage is tidier but until landscaping is completed only one car is housed.

Our focus is now on the outside to turn our mud into an oasis of green...........

Welcome to Our Home.



Entry





Meals/Family




Thru to Theatre Room





Theatre Room





Masterbedroom



I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
We're up and running   back in the land of cyberspace........8 weeks of dealing with Telstra surpassed any frustration of building a house!!!! 

Looking forward to regularly catching up with everyone's Blogs.

FIXED LINE!!!!!!!

Following a tea/chat visit yesterday with fellow 'Avenuer' Janine; with no scheduled appointment a Telstra Technician arrived to connect fixed lines for all residents in our street.  Pity no-one was advised....lucky I was home.

It has taken 8 weeks for a 'missing part' in the exchange to be installed and we were connected in minutes.

Straight onto Bigpond who inform me internet should be up and running early next week - who am I to question why this can't be done at the same time? 
 One step closer to full earth communication. 

HELLO - ANYBODY....Telstra???!!!

It does appear 'Woman will walk on the Moon' before our house has earth communication!!

I have temporarily fallen off the face of 'blogland' thru the incompetence and appalling lack of customer service from our telecommunication giant 'Telstra'.

After numerous conversations with customer service, case managers, supervisors, complaint technicians (yes they have a title) etc etc.  FOUR confirmed, no show/cancelled, fixed line technicians 'window of time appointments',
I am required to not leave house for five hours as their time is clearly more important than mine; we still cannot get an answer as to when a fixed line will be installed.

To Telstra's credit we have been issued a wireless/modem interim phone complete with spaghetti junction of wires and antennas stuck to a window.  This was disconnected by our useless case manager last Wednesday with the impending fixed line connection; again cancelled due to a missing part in the exchange......8 weeks of the same problem!  Needleess to report my last communication with anyone from Telstra was a screaming and ranting exercise.

Hence, I have 'internet/blogland' withdrawal and with so much to do in our new home have struggled with time to connect at our son's home. When time permits I have enjoyed catching up with my fellow buildees blogs:

Sandrine and Craig - 'Congratulations on Handover', you too must be busy.
Shayne and Jason - pleased to read inspecton went well - M just finish it!
Tonia and Chris - tiling taking shape, not long now......as is Flipflop with Carlisle - both on home stretch.
Jay and Kylee - the biggest congratulations and best wishes - top marks for persistance and patience.
Janine and David - Tash and Tristan, building support buddies - wonder if you'll have communication before me?
Reinsey and Loz - excellent news about house sale, full concentration now on your beautiful Monaco......and start packing. I managed a walkthru before lockup, stunning.  We never received info re planning developments, a copy (sometime) please.  Safeway would be good - although a lovely complex I struggle with Coles!

Anyone I have missed or cares to read my posts, enjoy.

Safe, Happy and Stressfree builds to everyone.

MOVING DAY - MONDAY

Moving Day started bright and early due to John and Luke glued to the Masters Golf on TV.....they had their priorities whilst I ran around like a headless chook.

Truck pulled up at 8.00 a.m. FULL LOAD at 11.00 a.m. All going to clockwork until Truck had flat battery!!

'No problem, we'll just push it' said the two Indian Removalists......'not me, I don't push trucks' says John.
Removalists and Luke proceeded to push truck down the street, even a workman tried to jump start, all to no avail.  Visions of my furniture sitting on the street, being unloaded and loaded into another truck or towed to The Avenue had me in meltdown mode.

Two hours later after Mr. Marshal had fitted a new battery we we're on our way.

Arrived at the house and just started to unload when the rain came down.....fortunately, with no side fence  the truck was able to backup near the Alfresco and unload thru the Triple Stacker Doors.
MUD!!!!  to save our floors John and I lifted what we could before the Removalists donned thongs and completed the job.

All our work in the last ten days had paid off....with cupboards/robes full and furniture now in position, day one in our new home looked relatively comfortable.



The bag lady.....no I couldn't get up!

Garage is another story -  no time for truck to complete a second load.  Mostly garage stuff in boxes; our little green trailer will be up and down Thompsons Road yet again.

First night both sleeping in our new bed - priceless!  We love our Home.

HOME

How wonderful it is to walk into our home without a Site Supervisor or tradesmen rushing about, especially exciting not having to leave!



Day after Handover the remainder of appliances were installed - HWS, Stove and Dishwasher.  I inspected for damages as Carlisle allow 24 hours to report.  Straight into giving house a good clean...Carlisle left excellent but it is only a builders clean.  Scrubbed kitchen, laundry and bathrooms, removing grime, glue, grout residue etc.... phew!

Called SS as the garage door would not operate with remote controls - he promised to drop by.  In the meantime man arrived to fit-off ducted vacuum motor and was a gem fixing remote operation. It would appear when the garage door was returned following rectification brickwork it had not been re-programmed......instruction handbook was a War and Peace novel!

My first visitor - Reinsey with Mum and Nan in tow.  How nice to show my home, pity there was nothing to sit on and offer a cuppa....next time.

SS arrived - lucky remote was now working because he had no clue.  He looked far more relaxed than our last few weeks meetings! Reiterated how pleased we were with the house although disappointed with the render finish on the front pier - the pier light at night highlighted a very rough surface. Didn't expect to achieve much but half an hour later Renderer turned up and agreed he would return to re-coat and smooth pier - now that was a surprise!

Emptied boxes, tried out the ducted vacuum system and steam mopped the tiles whilst John scraped, etched and pressure washed garage floor in preparation for painting.

Fortunately we are able to do a slow move - just wish every bone in my body would stop aching!




Neighbours and fellow bloggers breezed thru. We had our first family dinner when number one son (Jarrad) and girlfriend (Erin) joined us for Takeaway on camp chairs - special....who wants to use that shiny new stove?  Number two son (Luke) will be home on the weekend to help move the garage contents - he's so looking forward to that one.  This is our first home without either of the boys 'stuff', now that is something to get excited about! Although with a guest bedroom and spare bedroom; a grandchild would be well accommodated - boys?

Removalists are booked for 11th April so we have time to paint the garage floor and seal the tile grout.  A few walls to feature paint - will concentrate on Theatre Room before built-in cabinet is delivered. Cupboards/Robes are full and this weekend the garage will be organized chaos; generally moved everything except large furniture.

Woodstyle Venetians installed in Bathrooms, Study, Bed 2 and 3; finalized colour for roller blinds in Family and Theatre Room.  Plantation Shutters (gorgeous) arrived earlier than expected along with Masterbedroom furniture which of course involves updating linen, quilt/pillows etc.....looking for bedside table lamps and a few accent cushions.

New refrigerator and tumble dryer plus plasma for Theatre Room; boys happy to inherit old models along with multitude of furniture and stuff we have culled.

Heating and Cooling commissioned today and BonBon's door to be installed Thursday; she is back and forth to Luke's house until driveway, paths and fences completed - somethings going on and she's not too sure about all those boxes!


John's masterpiece - too good to drive on!




Plantation Shutters in Masterbedroom





Appliances installed



HANDOVER - KEYS TO OUR SAVANNAH

Final Independent Inspection and Checklist Completion was at 3.00 p.m. together with our Site Supervisor and Carlisle Construction Manager.

'New Home Presentation' was excellent, painters in particular have done a fantastic job following rectification work.  Kevin from New Home Inspections was more than happy with the workmanship; adhering to Industry Standards and Tolerances.....as we were too.

A checklist tick of Kevin's Report and our PCI Sheet - noted some minor oversights and another brick clean in areas; we accepted a 'Letter of Undertaking' to be completed within 14 days.

'Thank You's and Congratulations', before we headed to Carlisle Homes Office for Final Payment and Handover.     



CLE met us - completed Handover paperwork and couldn't stop smiling as we drove to our 'new home'  mentally exhausted and elated clutching a folder containing Warranties, Certificates, 3 remote garage controls and a bundle of  keys. We reminisced - in under twelve months we have sold a home, purchased land, moved and built a new home; what a ride!

Appliances will be delivered tomorrow, heating/cooling commissioned Tuesday.
Now to move and make our house a home.

Thank You
Carlisle Homes, in particular our Site Supervisor 'G', Customer Liason Executive 'J' and Construction Manager 'S'. Even the last month due to rectification work and the slow, frustrating rescheduling of tradesmen they were at all times approachable and professional.  Carlisle constructed on time as per Contract our wonderful new home.
And
Kevin our Independent Inspector (New Home Inspections) for his expertise and advice during construction.



OUR SAVANNAH 
Photos have reproduced a little dark, the house is bright, light and sparkling new.



Double doors thru to Theatre Room 




Great triple stacker sliding door



Love my undermount sink



and Pearlescent Sheen on overhead doors




and sparkling Glass Splashback



to be completed with Stove and Dishwasher 



Very happy with Emperador feature tile in bathroom and ensuite



Masterbedroom - looking forward to Plantation Shutters

 

Ensuite