Week 30: periously close

Every day the basics get more finished and the finishing touches are installed. We are hours away from handover and the build team are working flat out to get us ready for handover and move in. It's hard to believe we've gone from dirt to the detailed furnishings. Now only the packing to worry about!

New home for shoes

Entertainment HQ (almost complete)

Electrician hard at work - there were plenty of others making it a real team effort.

Our pedestal and basin arrived in the nick of time

The tiling too!

And the barn is not far behind

Week 29: landscaping

It takes real vision to see through the piles of mud and imagine a garden. Given I am still failing on that front it's good to know that we have Jamie our landscape designer on hand to keep the vision alive. With at last some fine weather we've been able to get the man and digger back on site to move the top soil, create the base for the future lawn and sculpt the banks for future trees and planting.

All I can say is its amazing to see how big machinery can do such a fine job. Chris and Ben the ground works team have performed another fine job after they created our build platform in the first place!

Week 29: Barnbuilding

The weather has finally been kind to the build team from Versatile. They have managed to go from muddy footings to frame in 4 days and not wasting a moment. After initial post construction the cementing was done the same day so the build team could be back the next day to complete the skeleton of the barn. If you use your imagination you can see a shiny new red heritage barn - hopefully we'll see the real thing next week.

Week 29: kitchen gallery

After all the trials and tribulations of floods, dock strikes and Government incompetance, the kitchen has finally arrived.

The team from Kitchen Gallery pulled out all the stops over a holiday weekend to prepare for the final install. Not to mention being chased up from Christchurch by gale force winds and an interesting crossing over the Cook Straight. An effort which is certainly paid off.

Although there is still the granite worktop, taps, extractor unit and miscellaneous snagging to be done I'm delighted with my shaker style kitchen. It's exactly what I wanted.

Week 28: it's all happening

With a week to go it's a hive of activity on site. Painters, carpenters laying floors, joiners fitting kitchens, digger drivers landscaping and builders putting up the barn. It's exhausting watching everyone....it's all happening.

Week 28: painfully close

There has been a huge leap forward with the house in the last week - amazing how a touch of colour makes all the difference. We decided that we wouldn't go for the plain, neutral minimal look in the house we've got colour to brighten up the rooms. I know that this is extra work for the painters and requires constant checking that the right colour is in the right rooms but I think it will be worth the effort in the end.

The bathrooms are almost fitted and they look create. Just a last bit of tiling to tweak before the bath goes in. Also, we're waiting on the shippers in Auckland to give us a sink!

The team is going great guns to get the house ready in time. The kitchen should be on site this coming week and the barn construction started. Only a few working days left now - so no pressure Moss Bros.......!

It really isn't as bright as this picture would have you think - JT home office!

Colourful hallway

Light fitting in action!

The smallest room in the house!

Bath in waiting.

Shower fitted in guest bathroom

Sunny guest room

Sky blue inside and out!

Week 27: one more step forward

Painting continues to dominate the work in the house this week. The tiler and heating people seem to be doing their stuff too though.

Fireplace tiled

Guest bathroom

Heat Exchange thingie for heating/cooling system

Week 30: at last the end looks like a possibility

For all the frustrations of building a house, I think ours are small fry compared to some of the horror stories I've been hearing lately. House framing blown away in the wind, builder gone into receivership and build ground to a halt, windows too small and leaking...... the list could go on.

At week 30 it finally looks like the end is in sight. The drive has been cleaned up and our roundabout install in readiness for it's municipal planting. The painters have motored on - thanks Denver and his team, and the tiler has been hard at work.

With handover day planned for 1 November - the MB team are on the final push to completion. There's still loads to do but it looks and feels achievable now in a way that it might not previously have been.

Big week next week - electricians and plumbers back to start the final install. Also, hopefully the barn build will start too. I'm afraid the kitchen is delayed a bit but Paul is doing all he can to magic it to site as soon as he can. One of the risks of importing is that it can get snarled up in transit and as luck would not have it, we've been tangled up in strikes at Auckland port.

People ask if we're excited about the move. Not yet, but we will be when the removal van pulls in. Fingers crossed the drive doesn't get washed away in the rain which seems to be relentless in the at the moment.

Family room tiled

Family room being painted

Wardrobe in all it's glory - bit of a story to tell about this....!

Bathroom tiling

I know it doesn't look like a barn yet but it will!