DIY (Do It Yourself) Gate: Using almunium frame from Bunnings, Bunglaow screen from OutDeco and Merbau posts and screenings.

Exposed Concrete Driveway: Finally we have completed the driveway. It looked very nice. Now no more walking on the muddy path to get into the house. We will be able to park cars inside the garage once it is totally set. Need to do sealing tomorrow on Sunday.

Front porch (we extended the existing porch by another 1.2 meters). The front porch is tiled. The exposed concrete is called Malibu mix (20 % blue stone and 80% pebbles) by ECONOMIX.

Porch and walking path with 3 steps to the nature strip.

Exposed concrete but not yet sealed

Three steps to the nature strip. We will plant plants on the right hand side of the steps and grass on the left hand side.

That little hole is for excess drain flow. 



Sprayed with concrete chemical all over to cure it.



Exposed concrete after being poured and worked on (not yet exposed with high pressure water).

This is after the exposed concrete has been washed with high pressure water jet to expose the pebbles.

Concreters at work. The work is done by Precision Concrete - both father and son, who are the owners, worked together to complete the job.

Path from the laundry. We decided to cover the whole area for cleanliness. The gate will sit where two stirrups are being placed slightly above the concrete.

Concrete being poured at the front of the house.

The concrete from the slide door at the back of the house is very useful for kids to play or to have BBQ. The size is 3.5 X 3 meters.

Front porch extension.

HANDOVER finally!!!

We are very glad that our SS confirmed that the handover will be on this Friday, 11 June 2013 at 0900hrs. Very excited!

It is raining on this day. We have planned to move on the same day as well. Hope the rain does not cause much havoc!!

Landscaping Ideas and Driveways: Working on ideas for Driveway and landscaping. Have gone through several pictures of the display houses, magazines, google search and also other metricon house blogs to find what we like and what suits to our driveway. Most importantly I have to accommodate the wish of my Home Minister. Have come to this idea and it looks not that bad.

Driveway plan - I made this from Paintbrush application as I dont have any software for landscaping. Well, it looks like I dont need the software!



Display House Carisle Homes



Display House Porter Davies



Display House Porter Davies



From Metricon Blog

(250 days): 26 days left to the end of the building contract. The contracted period to handover of the house is 276 days which finishes in end June 2013. M is going at a pace of an snail - taking three weeks to finish one item. From our last site inspection, the site supervisor said 3-4 weeks. Well that 4 weeks is finishing this Friday the 7th June, 2013 but still no where near to the handover. I am fed up with M. Last week I just said to the construction manager that you do not need to fix anything I will do it, just handover the house. But that too they can not do due to building code I think.

Few building faults our independent inspector picked up:-

1. Defective Flashing at the front of the portico: Water fall back towards the wall. Flasing is dinted and damaged and has excessive silicon.
2. Exposed yellow gas pipe from the wall.
3. Water pipe lying above the ground and not under.
5. Rusted rear door garage hinges and missing screws.
6. All door hinges pins sticking out.
7. Door handles smeared with paintings.
8. Excess door margins of the cupboard greater than 5 mm.
9. Defective paintings as marked.

These are over and above the six defects we identified. We are glad that we did use independent surveyor to check our house. Worth doing it.

Thats all I have to say .... Should I be happy with Metricon's services???? Leave it upon you.

224 days: Today we had a walkthrough of the house with site supervisor Darren. We picked up few things that needed replacement/repair: (1) replace damaged Garage access door (2) replace roof sheet that has dents on top of garage - probably tradies dropped things on it (3) replace water defected laminate floor on the family room (4) replace bottom panel of the garage door (5) repair right door rebate of the garage (6) repair dent on plaster board holder. Plus other paint works inside the house that need touch up. I must take my hat off for the quality inspector that picked up minor details for repair without whom we would not have seen those tiny defects. Found out that the inspector was from Metricon and still good job. Darren agrreed to rectify these things without us pushing for it and for that matter, he was really good to deal with. If they repair all we pointed out, I will be very pleased with Metricon. The only down side of it is that it will take ANOTHER 3-4 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also we are thinking how could water from mopping the floor damage the Laminate Flooring??? I just read that it is resistant to stains, moisture (yes, MOISTURE), scratches, indentation and cigrette burns!! and has 25 year structural domestic warranty. Anyway, we have to take this matter with Metricon. I dont want to see this happen again when we mop the floor with water or if water spills on the floor overnight. The actual brand is Eco-Tuf Laminate Flooring and we chose blackbutt color.

Day 214 (7 months): From the last post on Feb 10, the work has really really slowed down and there is no excitement except longing to see that Metricon would do the jobs quickly and finish. Its frustrating to see that the house is just standing there awaiting minor work here and there. The handover process is really slow and wanting. Anyway, in the last two-three weeks, the builder has done their own inspection by their contruction manager, who found lots of areas for minor repair and then as arranged for QA (quality assessment I think). I don't know the result of QA yet and I hope it went ok. Today the builder put the floorboards (black butt). In the mean time I have also put 1.9 meters fencing around the house. I am going to organize for exposed aggregrate and concrete around the house in 2-3 weeks' time. Both fencing and concreting are not included in the house price and I am paying from my own pocket. Here are the latest photos.

Fence at the front.



Fence.



We have a big space at the back. I have a nice plan as to what to do. With DIY poergola, decking and garden I hope it will look fantastic! God willing!



Floor board on the family/kitchen area.



Floor boards (Black butt).



Master bedroom.



Master bedroom ensuite.



Study corridor First Floor.



Study corner room for kids.

(Day 135 or 4 & half months): Here are some updated pictures as to what has been accomplished so far. The handover date is provisionally end March 2013/first week of April. Can't wait to move and leave this old place.

Carpeted on the entire Ist floor.



Ensuite with double basin, shower and seperate toilet on the corner.



Ensuite shower.



Kids shower, basin and bathtub.



Ensuite with double basins.



Cnetral heating return air vent.



Didi and bahini. Uma carrying our venetian blind. All blinds have been ordered. Some received and some to be delivered in end March/April.



Walk in robe in master bedroom.



Garage door with remote control (we get two remote; paid extra for it).

(Day 113): Metricon started working on kitchen benches, tiles and basin tables. House has been painted.

Island bench.



Island bench. Will have Caesarstone on top.



Laundry.



Wardrobe doors.



Kids bathroom.



Master bedroom.