On the finishing straight

A trip down to inspect progress , the painter was in (on a Saturday) and almost all the painting was done. Can`t believe how quick it`s all progressing. The internal doors are being painted before fitting, a good idea. They should be doing the external painting next week, this is only the timber infill above the garage and a small timber roof verge, also the outside doors.

Other things left to do include fitting the switches and sockets, shower screens, door handles, built in vacuum unit, splashback and all the finishing touches.


We have not gone with the builder for a lot of the extras (or necessities) as they can be a bit pricey. Got a quote for carpet last weekend which was reasonable, I had intended to lay some of it myself but as the quote was good they can do the lot. Carpet to all bedrooms, lounge, study, playroom and part of the family area.
The wet rooms are tiled as part of the house package. We will be using the latest style of vinyl planks in the kitchen and dining area, easy to cut and stick down. Another DIY job for me. Warmer underfoot than ceramic tiles and easy to clean in the kitchen area.
Other things we need to get done are the driveway, floor the porch and build a letterbox. We are looking at an exposed aggregate concrete driveway, a bit beyond my skills, but plenty of local concrete layers about.

I`ve been having a go at planning the garden layout, not that its very big...We need to be careful about which plants and trees we use as are still under water use restrictions, one downside of living in the driest continent on Earth.

There is now a large industry built up to cater for the dry garden with plants, materials and irrigation systems that work off your rainwater tank.

We expect the builder to be finished around the end of April so we could be moving in early May, watch this space....