Tag: Landscaping

Matty watering in the newly planted seedlings

Permission to occupy

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

This week has been exhausting, working 15 hours/day on average and even pulling our first midnighter on the build. Thankfully we did work tirelessly as the occupancy inspection got moved 48 hours earlier than expected! It was scheduled for Monday, 9th of October, but we got a call from the inspector this morning asking if he could come today, as he was in the area. He arrived 10 minutes later, did the inspection and….we PASSED!!!! Meaning that we can officially move in! Though we won’t as the house is not yet complete, mainly due to the floor tiles.

Before I go into the nitty-gritty of the build, Matty and I want to thank a few people who have helped us get this far. Their support, advice and expertise has meant that we now have our dream home. In somewhat of an order, here’s our gratitude list:

  • Family – Mama & Mal, Dad & Di (aka Mum), Ma & Baba for everything; we wouldn’t have been able to start, let alone get this far on the build without you
  • Workmates – the entire Balance Enviro and Webplace teams, thank you for being so understanding and supportive of us throughout the year of the build
  • Friends –  Joe, Obsie, Ron, Shorty, Ryan, Val, Alex, Charlotte, Chris, Sam, Luke Brain, Luke (aka Beefcake), Anirudh, Mimi, Cam, Ken, Benny Boy and Jayden. Thank you all for giving up your time and energy to help us along the way; your blood, sweat and tears are imprinted into the house
  • Contractors – Trav & Andy – the slab pour team, Jules the sparky, Dean the plumber, Mark & his sons for rendering, Rob and Bert the earthmovers, Michael the fireplace man, Alan Grimes, Ben the strawbale man, and last but not least, Brian Hodges – the strawbale consultant.

I am pretty sure I have missed some names, but if you have helped us directly or indirectly on the build, we thank you from the deepest crevices of our hearts!  Now onto the build progress.

Wet areas fit-out

The kitchen and bathroom were fit out once Dean (the plumber) did the final fix plumbing. We managed to move in the kitchen island bench, bathroom vanity and cast iron claw foot bathtub with the help of Dean. The shower, toilet, kitchen sink, dishwasher, cooking hobs are all installed and functioning! It means we can now cook, poop and bathe in the house :D :D

We first got to use the toilet on the Arien full moon (yesterday)…and no, it isn’t an immature milestone. It was a luxurious experience compared to using the outside dunny or the composting toilet in the shack for 16 months, we may start feeling like ‘civilised’ beings again.

Honourable mention goes to our dear friend and talented craftsman, Oliver MacLatchy (aka Obsie) from Wood Melbourne for his beautiful brass bathroom tap fittings, shower head and concrete vanity sink; his work is exquisite. Thank you for making our home just that little bit more fancy!

Kitchen fit out with hobs, rangehood, dishwasher all connected
Slate floor
Plumber connecting the gas pipe to the hobs
Woodworking bench turned into a vanity
Bath spout and taps with exposed copper pipes
Concrete vanity sink and brass spout
Concrete vanity sink with offset brass taps
Colour splash shower complete with shower and taps

Fireplace

The hearth around the fireplace was laid a few weeks ago, we used more ‘crazy paving tiles’ to sit in a semi-circle shape. It is yet to grouted, but we love how it blends with the wall behind it. Matty also finished setting up the flue and chimney, and we got to test the fireplace out last weekend, thankfully the smoke flowed upwards through the chimney and not around the house. MASSIVE SUCCESS!!!

Fireplace hearth
Fire!
Fireplace flue complete
Flue in mockup stage

Landscaping

Although not specifically required for the inspection, we decided to plant the mulch garden beds out with native shrubs and grasses. There were two reasons for doing this now than later:

  1. it’s the right time of the year to do it (spring has sprung)
  2. it looks nicer for the bank refinancing evaluation if the ‘construction-site look’ is minimised.

We planted 950 plants in one day with the help of mates Ryan, Alex and Jayden! Thanking these guys simply isn’t enough :) The swales are adorned with stones, and the greenery around them is so very pretty. The scent of flowers in the early evening reminds me of jasmine :) These plants require minimal watering as they are indigenous and were planted into mulch beds; we will install a proper water sprinkler system before summertime.

Swales and plants
Planting bee in action 1
Planting bee in action 2
Chimney, guttering and rainwater tank complete

What’s next?

Words cannot express what we feel right now, being allowed to live in the house is just surreal. Here’s something to bring us down to reality – the remaining list of tasks… we aren’t quite there yet, though ‘yet’ feels a lot closer than it ever has!

Before moving in After moving in
Tiling the kitchen and laundry splashback Painting the external fascia boards and eaves
Finishing tiling the main living area and bedrooms, including around the fish tank Varnishing and cleaning the window frames (exterior)
Grouting the crazy paving tiles and hearth Making the bookshelves
Making our bed frame Building the pergola
Finishing the cabinetry for the walk-in-robes in both bedrooms Completing the landscaping including fences and gates
Installing the roman blind that separates the laundry from the bathroom

 

Western view of the house

And so it continues… on another Spring Equinox

Posted on by oneflewovercooindasnest in The Nest

One year. One year since we started this journey, well the idea was conceived before then but practical work started exactly one year ago. Cooinda’s Nest was fertilised. Rightly so, the earth where the house would sit was dug up and the entire place smelt like cow poo. It was fertilised alright! :D :D

Fast forward one year, and we are on the brink of completion. The last few weeks have been filled with a variety of tasks; different elements are integrating and turning the building into a livable space.

Kitchen makeover

The second-hand kitchen we purchased a while back had an orange veneer on it, too reminiscent of the kitsch 70’s era. Naturally, Matty and I didn’t want to go for the ‘spray tan gone wrong’ look, nor did we want to be reminded of Oompa Loompas every time we laid eyes on the kitchen. So what to do?

We thought of applying another layer of veneer, though this would have been tricky. After much research and thought, we thought repainting it would fix it. Matty came across Alan Grimes, a specialist in unique timber finishes and stains, we heeded his advice and are so happy for it. Look at the pictures and see for yourself! A natural grey stain seems to have modernised it.

The rangehood was erected with the help of our dear friend Shorty. It reminds me of a top-hat, apparently floating mid-air. There is no flue connecting it to the ceiling as creating another gap in the roof and ceiling would have meant additional work. We opted for a recirculating rangehood that contains a charcoal filter as the alternative. The copper rangehood is second-hand too; we love its rustic look, and it complements other elements in the house. Kitchen and laundry tapware were plumbed in, and the electric oven was connected also.

Kitchen – before and after
Rangehood calculations
Benchtops varnished
Brass tapware

Landscaping

Matty spent 15 hours on a hired dingo after Rob (the Earthworks guy) did his magic. Holes have been dug for future fence posts and gates, as well as trenches for ag-pipes to be placed in. These ag-pipes will help direct water away from the house and into the numerous swales that have been dug up. The swales will also function as mini water features which will house native and indigenous plants to attract wildlife.  The following ingredients were thrown in the mix and have been used in a variety of ways:

  • oversized Lancefield rock
  • Bullalo river rock
  • oversized river pebbles
  • Donnybrook toppings

There are now paths leading from the carport area to the front and back doors of the house; the gate and fencing will be done later. These are not required for the Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) inspection, so we are in no hurry.

Déjà vu – earthworks again
Dingo took my baby
Swales
Lancefield rocks it
Wonky path to the back door, trench ready for ag-pipe

Shelving

Shelves around the house have been sanded, oiled or just screwed into place in the bedrooms, walk-in-robes (WIRs), kitchen and main living area. We’re starting to have some storage space.

Little shelving
Main bedroom WIR shelves

Tiling

Neither Matty nor I have done tiling before, and we didn’t want to make any mistakes with the wet areas. So we hired a local tiler, Laurie for 2 days to:

  1. give us some advice with non-wet areas so that Matty and I can complete them
  2. do the wet areas so that they are ready for the CofO inspection.

We’ve only just started, and think it will take about 2-3 weeks to finish the whole house. Only the bathroom floor has been tiled thus far.

Do not enter
Bathroom floor

In-ground fish tank

The glass for the fish tank was finally ready, so Matty picked it up last week and did the preliminary work of placing them into position, putting on a rubber seal and securing them with tile edges.

Fish-way channel glassed

Windows

Once the bane of my existence, the interior windows are now finally complete with oil (including the window sills). I hope I don’t have to do anything beyond look through them for the next several years.

COUNTDOWN Continues

Our desired date of moving in remains to be 2 Nov 2017; however we have booked in the CofO inspection for the 9th of Oct. Not every task needs to be completed for this, so here’s a breakdown of work to be completed before and after.

Before CofO inspection Before moving in After moving in
Tiling the kitchen and bathroom Tiling the main living area and bedrooms, including around the fish tank Painting the external fascia boards and eaves
Tiling the fireplace hearth Making our bed frame Varnishing and cleaning the window frames (exterior)
Electrical work for rangehood and aircon Finishing the cabinetry for the walk-in-robes in both bedrooms Making the bookshelves
Final fix plumbing  Grouting the crazy-paving wall tiles and hearth Building the pergola
Full kitchen fit-out with island bench and hobs Completing the landscaping including fences and gates
Full bathroom fit-out with toilet, vanity and bath
Completing the open fire chimney and flue
Finishing off guttering, grey water treatment system & rainwater tank setup

There’s a lot to be done within 2 weeks, but thankfully our energy and drive have skyrocketed; being so close to the finish line has its benefits ;)