Plasterboarded

an up and down week.....

We made some selections for the tiling. Turns out some of the the accent tiles for the niches and splashbacks are a little on the pricey side, which we didn't really consider so we might need to re-think some of those. We also had chosen a rectified polished porcelain tile for the wet areas. We know these are very popular and look fantastic, but we have never been 100% about the slip factor ie they seem very slippery when wet. We think we will keep the tile we selected for the walls, but look for a different one for the floor, maybe with a matte finish.

Few issues with the insulation, making sure it's in all the places it should be and installed properly. Still had a few issues where a whole wall was sheeted over in the Media room that should have had insulation in it which didn't, so that plasterboard has to come off and redone. Moral of the story is that you really need an inspection when the builder says the insulation is finished and prior to plasterboard starting. While I had inspected, I had done it on my own and passed on the feedback which didn't get actioned. It may have been different if I had the builder with me. Still dont think it should be me picking this stuff up.

Builder has had a bit of scare with being fined for un-supervised site visits from owners, which has meant that he has had to re-iterate to me that he needs to be onsite for us to be here. We understand and respect his position, but then we also need to be practical and he needs to see the benefit of me picking up something which means he can correct on the spot, rather than having to pull of plaster board to fix as an example. It was a little tense for a day or so but we are all good now, Builder is very easy going and he makes himself available for us to go see the place whenever we want so its working out ok.

on that point, he txt me yesterday saying he was going over Sun afternoon to check how the place stood up to all the storms we have had the last 2 days.. Flew leaks off the alfresco which hasnt been waterproofed yet, but this will be done this week.

Plasterboard is all done and plastering, cornice still to come. We ended up going with Cairo three step cornice throughout. Rendering is starting this week also.

Now for a few pictures....

 Looking back to the kitchen. On the right you can see where we have had to build out for the air conditioning ducts. One of the issues with open plan upstairs and the ducts not considered in the design

Left to right,  Entrance to powder room, then study nook, then pantry

 Build out for air con ducts

Multi Purpose room

Stairwell

Main bathroom with shower niches

Laundry

Locked Up!

We are all locked up, and have been for a little over a week. We have a temporary front door on, but it's all locked up. We are really happy with the cladding. We used a combination of Kool Wall and Hardie's Linea FC board. The Kool Wall still needs to be rendered but once it has been and then both painted, it will look great.

We have run into a bit of a hiccup with the pool renovation, with the guy who had originally quoted very hard to get hold of and then once he updated his quote ( original one given in June) it came back 50% + more. Clearly he doesn't want to do the job and he cant be bothered to return my calls of emails which is rather disappointing.  So we are looking for a new pool builder if anyone has any recommendations please let us know.  And if anyone is looking at using a pool builder send us a message so we can steer you clear of the one we tried to use.

being locked up obviously the plumbing, electrical, data rough in is all. Air conditioning is in. Ducted vacuum internals went in yesterday. Plasterboard is starting tomorrow or monday

now for some pictures.

The blue dots are where the board had been screwed and fixed. The render will cover all this nicely and then gets painted.

 Before the Linea Board went on

 and with the Linea Board

 Carport all lined

We finally decided that we are going to extend the rear deck. We were going backwards and forwards with doing it or not as we though we could better spend the money elsewhere, but in the end we bit the bullet as we thought it was ultimately the best use of the area for us.

This is the rear deck that we are going to extend

 It will be extended into this space