Thanks very much.

Yes it was very easy, the builders sent out a letter advising us to get insurance as their insurance stops as soon as the last payment is recieved. We just phoned our current insurance company, gave them our new home details and they did the rest.

Finally! We went up to Perth and picked up our keys yesterday. They presented us with a nice hamper with embroidered towels, chocolates, glasses and a bottle of champagne. Unfortunately the day was spoiled a little bit because we had a major plumbing/toilet problem which was not very nice as we have a house full of tradies. In Vogue were very apologetic and they got someone out there straight away.

Since my last post we now have a lovely stamped concrete driveway, Tiled entrance, flooring in the games and gym and our painter is busy preparing the walls as I type. We have put the carpets off for now as they need to use the driveway which is still out of bounds and the timber guys will be starting tomorrow.

Congratulations Ace

Any pics???

It sounds lovely! All the best with moving in before Christmas.

How did I not see this?

Fantastic news!

Any final pictures, maybe

Hi Guys,
Thank you so much for your kind wishes and all your support along the way.

I have a few working pics and I will continue to post as the project progresses.

We decided to have a bit of fun with the games room and gym flooring (pics 4 and 5). We went for a floor covering that can best be described as a warehouse crate design. We weren't sure about it and went back to the flooring store several times before we finally decided to go for it. We took a risk and we love it. It is a bit different, not to everyones taste but it works really well in what is essentially the kids' entertaining area.

How unusual. Very nice though.

Congrats, it all looks superb. Merry Christmas in your new home.

Lookin' good Ace

Thanks guys.

Some more pics for your viewing pleasure. These ones are of the driveway (it is covered in tradies footprints so doesn't look the best) and the main living area. We have decided to have a border of tiles layed across the front of the living area while the rest of the upper floor and stairs will be finished in NSW Blackbutt timber. The reason for the tiles is that in the winter the balcony doors and front windows are absolutely hammered by the wind and rain and we had a bit of a problem with water ingress during construction. Although In Vogue are going to install storm covers along the windows and doors we will more than likely still get some water coming in so the tiles are really there to protect the timber.

Bad news on the plumbing front, all the toilets have been taped off with a sign saying "Do not use broken stack' This is very worrying as we have a house full of tradies with no sanitary facilities. I have written to In Vogue and asked them to provide a portable loo. I will keep you posted.

Re the plumbing: We have been told that it will be fixed first thing on Monday morning.

Pics of understair cupboard (I know a picture of a cupboard floor is not particularly exiting but our tiler did such a beautiful job I thought I would share), kitchen tiling and timber floors. When the timber arrived on site we were amazed by how much there was. The delivery guy was not impressed as it had to go upstairs. Even with Mr ACE helping half of it was still downstairs when I went to the house last night.

Second pile of wood

Great thread! Your new house looks fantastic, and you've done well to get an elevated position with a good view.

Thanks Vash,
It has been an incredible experience and although it has not been all good I would build again in a heartbeat.

We were very lucky with the block, it is opposite public open space so the ocean view can't be built out and at the moment we also have an estuary view but we will eventually loose some of that. It was a friend of ours who is an estate agent that put us on to it. We had been looking in that area for a while and had had a couple of offers knocked back. She told us that the owners wanted to sell before the block was listed so as soon as it officially went on the market we offered the asking price and got it. I think we probably paid a bit too much for it but we loved it and wanted to make sure that we got it.