Why oh why did I jinx myself with my last construction update when I said I finally believed I’m ‘so close’ to moving in?!
It’s been a fortnight of disasters and you guessed it, I still haven’t moved in and won’t be for at least a couple of weeks!
What could possibly go wrong you may wonder? A LOT!
Related article: Construction update 18: A race to the finish!
Related article: Construction Update 19: My birthday wish came true and a surprise…
Flooding
Grrrrr I’m beginning to regret my choice of in-wall toilet systems! We’ve had three flooding situations in the past fortnight — in our upstairs ensuite, our laundry and the laundry in the little house.
To repair the leak in our upstairs ensuite we had to pull off some of the wall tiles but managed to contain it before there was too much damage. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the leak in the small laundry which was only discovered once there was a 6mm deep pool of water in the house! And best of all, it happened the day our new carpets went in so we had to pull up the carpet in one of the bedrooms which has been drying out with a blower for the past week.
So yeah, it’s been a fortnight of one step forwards, two steps backwards and this is only the first of our construction issues!
Holes in walls
My beautiful newly painted walls aren’t looking that beautiful at the moment 🙁
Just as we were putting the ‘finishing touch’ of our handrails on… we couldn’t find the plywood backing behind the plaster to secure the handrail. Turns out some of the battens were secured too low so we had to cut into the wall to put new battens in. It’s a fairly easy fix — our plaster will come back to patch the wall and then the painters will touch it up — but it just feels like another case of going backwards with the build.
And the bath that just isn’t meant to be
You have no idea the bath drama that’s been going on for months.
The one thing I was sure of when I started planning my ensuite months ago was that I wanted the Clearwater bath in my ensuite (preferably with a glass panel ceiling but that idea got thrown out long ago). As the build went on it became clear it was going to be a verrrrryyyyy tight squeeze and ringing in my ears was Neale Whitaker’s voice ‘Luxury shouldn’t be cramped’.
When it became clear the bath wasn’t going to fit in our ensuite, I looked at where else upstairs we could put it — in our bedroom by the window or in our walk through wardrobe? Unfortunately both those options got ruled out because there wasn’t enough space in the floor to create the fall we needed.
So just when I settled with one Clearwater bath in our main bathroom it turned out the plumbing had been put in the wrong spot and unless we jacked up the floor (after the tiling had been finished!) I had to pick a different bath.
After all that effort, I said good bye to my beautiful Clearwater bath and had to go with this one instead. It’s still a stone/resin composite and a similar shape but an annoying error that didn’t have to be (and for the same price I’d rather get the bath I want!) #bathrage #firstworldproblems
I’m sure there are loads of other construction issues that I just don’t even register any more and then of course there’s the issue of our totally blown budget, ha ha, so for now I’m letting go of any ideas of move in dates and just riding this phase of the build out. Wish me luck to move in by my birthday in a month!
Oh no! Sorry to hear about the flooding and delays. I really hope that you’ll be in soon. The timber stairs are looking gorgeous, as I can image the rest of the house will be. I’m sure you’ll be enjoying your new home soon, celebrating and laughing at all the bumps you’ve overcome. Looking forward to more progress pics and the final reveal.
Thanks Julia! I’m keeping all my fingers crossed we can move in soon because I’m slowly losing my sanity, ha ha! Some rooms look finished now so hopefully it won’t be too much longer 🙂
You make us smile! GOOD LUCK! YOU GOT THIS! <3
Thanks lovelies!! From 1 August to 1 September to now 1 October but more likely 1 November, it seems this move is never going to happen bahaha. At least it’s teaching me to let go a little and just roll with it 😉
Sorry to hear about your setbacks, Gina, how frustrating! I agree with Anthea though, it looking amazing from the snippets I’ve seen 🙂
I am having bath drama myself. I found this one https://www.formebathroomcollection.com.au/ which I really love but it’s only 1630 long and the room is 2100 (to accommodate an 1800 long bath) so I’m worried the gaps at either end will be too big and I might have bath regret when my legs are all crunched up. Of course there are plenty of similar looking baths in a longer length but they’re not *quite* as nice as that one! Did you worry about length at all?
He he, bath rage, bath regret, I love all these terms that come up when building! It sounds like the new bath you picked would work well because it’s really only 17cm less than what your designer has allowed which is around 8cm either side? You might like to put the dimensions of your bathroom and the bath into Reece’s 3D bathroom planner here: http://www.reece.com.au/bathrooms/3d-bathroom-planner It’s a free and really handy way to see how the space works. I used it when planning my ensuite (http://stylecurator.com.au/need-decide-ensuite-design-finishes/) and it helped me visualise the space and whether I could fit a double basin etc. In the end, the bath didn’t fit so we now have a longer vanity with double basin.
I had the opposite problem to you where I had to find a bath that would fit in the space allowed. Our architect is all about compact design so there is not a square cm wasted in our house. The bath got delivered yesterday and it actually looks better than I thought, phew!
Good tip. I did up a layout for the powder room on the Reece bathroom planner that I think is as good as I can get it while still fitting in the vanity I have in mind. A bit stuck on the main bathroom though. I think sometimes regular shaped rooms are harder to design because they can so easily look like you’ve just randomly plonked something on every wall. I remember your ensuite was an unusual shape… clever. Is it just me of should Reece team up with Beaumont to increase their tile range on the bathroom planner? I need more choices! :b
Ha ha, yeah, I found the tile selection pretty limited too and just opted for plain white and grey to get a sense of the space.
Room layouts can be tricky and I found it helpful to show my designs to several people (including everyone on the blog!) to get their input. It helps to pick up potential issues or see new opportunities so that would be my tip 🙂
Oh Gina. Arghh, the ups and downs of building!! I’m so sorry things haven’t been going to plan but it will be all worthwhile once you move in. I bet you will look back and have a bit of a laugh.
I can see sneak peaks of lots of gorgeousness in your pics 🙂 I feel like you are teasing us! Can’t wait for the full reveal. Your ensuite tiles look beautiful, and do I see peaks of black tapware!? That staircase is gorgeous! And I have no doubt that the new bath you have picked will be just stunning.
But I’m totally hearing you about your frustrations! Ours certainly hasn’t been without hiccups and dramas also. I’m currently waiting on our bathroom vanity to be replaced. We’ve been waiting for a couple of weeks and it’s having a roll-on effect of holding everything else up. So, I’m feeling a bit dubious about an October move-in now.
What is the door that I can see beside the staircase? Is it opaque glass with a timber frame? It looks lovely.
My very best wishes for moving forward and to moving in by your birthday!!
Thanks for your supportive comment Anthea, it’s so lovely of you!
I’m hoping I will be able to look back on all these headaches and laugh… at the moment when I laugh about it, it seems more like a delirious, I’m loosing my mind kind of laugh, ha ha.
He he, you’ve got a keen eye. Yes, I’ve opted for black tapware throughout our house except for the kitchen where I’ve got the copper tap (it got put in last week and looks sooo pretty!). Has your copper tap arrived?
The wall tiles in our ensuite and downstairs bathroom are these large, hand made subway tiles in a matte finish. Not sure if I told you but we had issues getting the marble tiles we wanted and in the end, it seemed like it was all going to be a bit too busy so I ditched the feature marble walls in our ensuite and bathroom and opted for the patterned floor tiles instead and those geometric marble tiles in our powder room. I’m really happy with how the tiling turned out, even if the tiler ended up hating me!
Our front door is the same black aluminium frame as our windows with a opaque glass panel. We wanted something that would let the light in and not look out of place with the style of the home so most timber doors wouldn’t work 🙂
I know what you mean about hold ups, we’ve had so many delays – I was originally hoping to move in on 1 August!! Lol. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you to move in next month!