What a busy day. Started my day off with an early meeting with our SS at the house. Went through the list we made on PCI day of what needed to be finished. Nearly everything was done, except for the internal clean. The cleaner was sick and our SS promised he would be at the house at 7 am tomorrow morning to clean. SS was not happy to present a partly cleaned house.
Finished our inspection by 10.15 am and rushed off to Norwest to meet with our CSR for an 11 am appointment for handover. Sara was very thorough in explaining all our warranties, certificates and then presenting us with the keys. She was keen to hear of how we rated the build process with Eden Brae. Since we had hardly any problems we only had good feedback to give her. Felt good to walk out of EB's head office with a large folder of information, two bottles of wine nicely presented in a leather case and our keys of course.
CSR, Sara and I at handover
Rushed off to pick up my mother- in- law so she could do the traditional blessing of the house. It was late afternoon before we started moving things into our new home. My son will be staying there tonight to watch over things until all the furniture is moved in. It's now 11.20 pm and I am totally wiped out. So goodnight all.
I have been humming this song all day. Handover is scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday 17/08/11. That's exactly 21 weeks since Eden Brae started and 5 weeks ahead of schedule. We will be starting the floors on Thursday. My mother in law is booked in as well to do the traditional blessing of the our new home. The big move will follow thereafter.
Once the floors are finished, the installation of the wardrobes are due. Really need this to be done so that we can pack all our clothes and neaten the bedrooms. Ordered the blinds and shutters from Jay at Bosetti Blinds but they won't be ready for a few weeks so we'll be using our own makeshift window coverings for a while.
While we were preparing for handover, we met with a few landscape gardeners. This whole exercise proved to be very interesting and we learnt heaps. These guys had some great ideas and this helped us to finalise exactly what look we wanted for our garden and alfresco area. I always knew that I wanted a formal garden and felt that it would best suit the style of our house . So I am sticking to what I want with a lot of hedges and geometric shapes. Adding a rose garden as well as I love the standard roses. Ben's only stipulation is that our garden must be low maintenance. I totally agree as the whole reason for the downsize from the large two storey house was to make our lives simpler. Met a great guy, Mark from Beach Designs and he is preparing a quote for us to do our decking in the back garden. We saw Mark's workmanship and he did a fantastic job on that deck. He gave us some great design ideas as well.
Tomorrow is going to be a busy day so wish me luck.
What a busy day today. The flooring guy called to ask if he could do his final check measure. Called our SS who kindly met us at the house to give us access. Waited nearly two hours for the floor guy to arrive as he sent me a text to advise that he was running late. Our patient SS was kind enough to wait with us and in that time he noticed a few things on the list that still needed to be done. Shelving to the pantry and drainage pipes not capped off. So he was on his phone to get that done urgently. Our hot water system has been installed and the appliances will be installed when the flooring is finished.
Packing up the house we are now in, is well on it's way.
Three sleeps to handover. Spent our morning at Bunnings buying a few things we need for when we move in. Haven't been there for ages and I was surprised at how much they stock.
Spent the rest of our day packing boxes for our big move. Fitted in a few visits from friends and families along the way.
Had a busy Saturday today. Woke early and went with Ben to pick up our TV antenna that he ordered last week. Also bought our clotheslines which we will most definitely need once we move in. Debated on what would best suit our backyard and finally decided on the Hills Duo fold down lines. Gives us 23m of hanging space. We bought two of them as we have enough space on our back wall to fit them.
Back at the house, the bricks have been cleaned again and the portaloo has been taken away. Met another new neighbour Matt, who is owner building. Excavation on his block was completed on Thursday and the slab starts on Monday. Also met our neighbour J who is still deciding on what he's going to build on his block.
Starting packing and cleaning up the house that we're in at the moment. The removalist is booked in for the end of the week. Still so much to do though.
Through the week we've noticed that the final items are being completed in preparation for handover. The laundry door has finally been painted woodland grey. The missing down pipe has been installed and painted. Today someone has been busy doing all the paint touch ups.
On Saturday the driveway was re sealed and the boundary fences removed. Still have the portaloo but that should go this week and the house, inside and out will be cleaned again.
The SS called today and confirmed handover for Wednesday 17/08. Booked in an appointment with him for 9.30 am and then an appointment with our CSR, Sara at Eden Brae's head office for 11 am. After that, the house is all ours finally!
We had our PCI inspection yesterday at 9 am and we were finished within 2 hours. All went well and we didn't find any major issues with the property. I think we ended up with a list of about 8 things that needed to be done prior to handover. The bricks are going to be cleaned again and the roof tiles checked. The other issues are fairly minor and include painting touch ups and installing a missing antenna point. Our SS advised that he would call us when those items were finished.
At this stage we are looking at handover around the 15th August. The floor installation is already booked in for that week as well. Telstra is booked in for the 19th August. Fingers crossed for a smooth run until then.
