Day 223 - The Importance of Shopping Around

Last week I blogged about our splashback dilemma.  I am still none the wiser and have not made a decision.  

I have had two companies out to measure up for a glass splashback. My main concern was the gap between the window and the bottom of the upper cupboards.

This is where I get to the importance of shopping around. 

Splashback is roughly 850mm long x 600mm high  x two lengths.  There is also a section that is 3m long and about 50mm wide.   I want the splashback to go into the return of the window so you do not see the frame, so that includes a few more bits of glass.

One glass company came back at  $935.00 and this is in starfire glass (more expensive so it does not get a green tinge) and the other glass company $1,133.00 for normal glass and $1,397.00 for starfire. Ouch that is a nearly a 50% difference in the price for supplying the same thing. 

The company that was the higher amount, we went to them first as they did the splashback in our last house. I didn't even realise the second company did glass splashbacks, but I happened to see a quote come across my desk last week for a glass splashback for one of my works job. Thank goodness I called them to quote as well. 

Tomorrow I have the Caesarstone people to come out and measure up for what it will cost to have a Caesarstone splashback. I wonder how much that will be. 

Day 223 - Stuck in the Mud.

I have one word about DIY earthworks. Probably a good idea to stay away from it and get in the professionals.  Rather than start at the doom and gloom part, lets start from the beginning.

We have been thinking for awhile that we need to get a bobcat and excavator onto the block so that we can level out the ground around the house so we can lay turf before we move in.   It all sounded so easy.  I work for a builder, they have a bobcat and an excavator and my brother can drive them. How hard can it be? How long can it take????

As my boss was using his excavator, we hired one.  It was $350.00 for the weekend and being a long weekend, we could get an extra days use for free - bargain.  So I went down on Friday afternoon and picked it up.

First thing, I am in my mid 30's, but look a lot younger than that. So when I went to pick up the excavator the owner got very nervous.  I don't think it helped that the office lady said that I would be driving it, and even though I had no experience, I was keen to have a çrack at it.   I spent a long time with the guy going over how to use it and giving plenty of details that seriously went in one ear and out the other - I was only a by-stander.  One thing that did stick in my mind was - it is clean - it needs to come back clean. "

Getting home was fun... NOT.  Maybe I should have taken that as a sign of the weekend. Mat had gone to work, so it was me and the kids towing the excavator back.  Have a look at the poor car.

We have a Nissan Xtrail. It probably weighs 1.5t.  This excavator was 1.7t, but with all the buckets and with the trailer, we were knocking on 2t. The car may be rated to tow 2t but it could barely move.

When we pulled out of the road where the hire place was, me trying not to burn out the clutch, I drove past one set of highway patrol. I knew there was a random breath test up the road and this was where the Police sat just incase people tried to skip the breath test. One funny look, but thankfully I was not pulled over. I pulled out onto the highway.  80km/hr was the speed limit - my max speed was 40km/hr and we went past the second breath test - another funny look, but they let me pass.    I went down the road and turned into a street so I could do a u-turn to get back on the highway so I could go home.  I go past my third set of police, and you guessed it another funny look, but thankfully I was not pulled in.   We limped home, with me jumping at every bump.  I express my apologies to all the people that were trying to go on holidays on Friday afternoon that got stuck behind me.

Saturday morning it was RAINING.  Not what we wanted, but hey it was only a sprinkle, how bad could it be.

My brother Mike, he was on his way up to our place, my parents were also coming up to see the action. Mat didnt want to wait and thought he would  take the excavator off the trailer.  Slowly things started to come back of what the guy at the hire place said - it is very easy to roll - so be careful when you take it off the trailer.

Thankfully he had a brain wave and got the excavator off the trailer by reversing the trailer up to the mound, so the tracks were horizontal. Thankfully he didnt roll it, or require a new pair of shorts.

When my brother showed up they started to dig more dirt out of the side so we could widen the driveway enough to part the caravan down the side of the house. 

The problem with our block its clay.  We knew the clay was bad, but we were not prepared for how bad it was. Once the surface water started mixing with the clay and the excavator went on it and started churning it up, it got sloppy, really sloppy.

Sunday morning my boss dropped off his bobcat.  I think we must have had it all of 20 mins and we realised how bad the clay and mud actually was - when my brother driving the bobcat went around the back of the house to start moving the soil that they had pulled out from the side and he got bogged!

Now this was panic stations.  How the hell do you get a bobcat bogged??? How the hell do you get a bogged bobcat out????? How the hell was I going to tell my boss?????

Firstly they tried to pull it out with the excavator. That was a complete was of time as the bobcat is heavier than the excavator.  I rung the person who cut the block in the first place, but his machine was a 20T excavator and was being repaired.  Who else do you get on a Sunday of a long weekend.

Thankfully - Craig the excavator man came to our rescue.  I rung him in a distressed voice and he got in his car and brought his excavator straight over to see if he could pull us out.  He took one look and realised there was no chance, but said his boss down the road had a JCB and that would pull us out

He was right - we  were out in two minutes flat and he reassured us "dont worry, everyone has done it"

How much do you think this man is yellow shining armour charged us for his Sunday efforts.  $50.00!!! I nearly died. I am going to find out his address and drop in a case of beer. 

Sunday afternoon was pretty uneventful after that. I think everyone was scared of bogging the bobcat again. I think if you call out him once, it is beginners error. I think if you do it twice, you look like a twat and I don't think he would charge only $50.00

Rather than going anywhere near the backyard they concentrated on the driveway. Mike on the bobcat and Mat on the excavator. 

So now, for three days of hard work, we now have more mud than we ever thought possible. 

The driveway looks pretty good now - forgot to take a picture of that yesterday afternoon. Now we need to get someone in to make sure it is all level and then lay some roadbase so you can get into the driveway.

What did the boys get for their three days of work???? About 5 hours of using a petrol gurney to clean off the machines - guess what that means??? More mud!!!

So my word of warning. Take clay seriously. It is evil stuff when it is wet.  Basically it is like trying to polish a turd - there is never really a positive outcome (even if you do roll it in glitter)  Get in the professionals. I think what we did in 3 days someone could have done in a couple of hours. It would have saved a lot of time and effort - plus I would have not lost a few years off my life while trying to work out how to get a bobcat out of a hole!!!

Day 219 - Its Black. Its White

The painters have been been busy painting this week. We have two coats on the walls and woodwork.  We still have one coat to go.

My biggest concern was the feature wall colour.  After the outside feature board was painted and it was a little darker than I expected, I was worried that the feature wall would be too dark as well.  The problem with the feature wall - its the biggest wall in the house, and it is two storeys high, so if we got it wrong, it would not be that easy for us to paint it another colour.

Mat told me to not worry about it and go with what I had chosen. I am so glad that I did, as I am in love.

Against the very white white of the stairs and the other walls, I think it is stunning!!!  I can't wait to see the stairs when they are finished being painted as the handrail and the posts will be the same colour as the feature wall.

Day 218 - Site Fence Be Gone

The site fence was removed yesterday as promised. 

It makes me smile.

Day 217 - Scaffold Down

The scaffolding has finally been removed!!!!   We have had scaffolding on the front of the house since the end of January, so it is great to able to see what the house actually looks like

I am loving it, and those columns at the front look bigger than they have before. 

Site fence is being removed today. Another step closer to handover. 

Painting continues this week. We were told yesterday that the painters wont finish this week. Unfortunately the painters are on holidays for the next two weeks and wont be back until the 24th June.  It will be a couple of hectic days before handover while they finish off. 

Day 215 - Splashback

In our last house we had a glass splashback.  With this house, I had my heart set on a 4.75m window that ran the whole length of the kitchen, but as that was going to cost nearly $5,000 we settled on the 3m window, so it leaves 850mm on either side, plus a tiny slither below the upper cupboards.

I thought choosing kitchen colours was hard. I thought choosing bathroom tiles was hard. They are nothing compared to choosing a splashback.

We weren't going to go for tiles but then I saw tiles that I fell in love with at our tile appointment, and then Phil and Amity used them on The Block for their splashback. They are just perfection.

The best idea that The Block has come up with is the suppliers list - very helpful and sometimes very depressing when you find out the cost of the things that they use.

I have found the tiles are Cubic White and they come in a Spanish made tile at 330 x 600 for $120.00/m2 and a Chinese made tile for $79.00/m2 at 300 x 600mm

Our splashback is 850mm on either side, so we would need only 8 or so tiles - so it could be a cheap splashback even with paying someone to lay them.

Another thought is a glass splashback.  We had one in our last house, it was great and easy to keep clean.
My problem here is the colour.   Remember the colour of our kitchen.

I am stumped as to what colour to choose.  People have suggested red, but that wont really go with our colour scheme.  Another thought was grey - but what grey - plus then it stands out and I want the feature to be the window.

I had a brainwave last week and thought maybe we could continue the caesarstone in the same colour as the bench.  Surely with it being the same colour, it would nearly vanish and you would not notice it.  

The problem we have here is the price - how much would it be?????

We have someone coming out on Wednesday to give us a quote for the Caesarstone, someone coming out on Thursday to give us a quote for the glass.  

Who ever thought the splashback would be the hardest part.

Day 213 - Tiles

The tiles on the house are nearly finished. I thought that they would be finished on Friday, but the tilers have had a lot of trouble with the feature tiles and the store did not supply enough. So they will be finished tomorrow apart from a few missing tiles in the powder room.

So far they have been tiling for 10 days, only having a break on Friday.

Main bedroom ensuite bath

Feature tile to be grouted

Close up of the feature tile in the shower niche

The feature tile cost $1,400.00, but I am loving the look of it, especially when it has been grouted. 

The laundry tub has also been installed.  We are planning to add in a caesarstone benchtop and cupboards later on, but it will do for the meantime. 

This is a slimline cabinet, so we will have enough room to put the washer and dryer side by side and not have to have it hanging on the wall. 

Site fence comes down this week. Painting should be finished this week and then we are on the home stretch - fit off!!!!!