We've made a list & checked it thrice.  Thankfully it's only a one page list that is now almost half complete.  This list you ask ??? is everything we can think of that needs to be done to get an Occupancy Permit for the house.  Yes, there's the odd task that's gonna take some hard yakka (we're trying to put those ones off til later) and some that are out of our hands, but we're slowly working through it.

Most light fittings are installed.
K1's butterflys go nice with
her Cork flooring

Tasks completed are:

Slab for the Hot Water Services

(plural) has been laid





The delicate procedure of fitting

the kitchen extractor to the

strawbale wall

... now which color splashback ???



So much angst over the front door...
but it's now stained and
the varnishing is nearly finished





Trenching & pipework to
the Poo Pipe (Worm Farm)



Feeding the worms manually
until the wastewater system
is commissioned





K2's Blue Room



"Soldiers" - inspection points

along the pipework



AC's Penthouse is lookin' good.
All the cabinetry is finished

 





This pic reminds me of the Colorbond ad on TV, except in this case you can't actually see the roof.  When I look up, I see the walls I built and rendered, which I later physically climbed to the very top of the scary-high scaffold to paint the eaves, and I even cleaned those damn windows.  What a beautiful sight!

Thanks to AC for playing Photographer during my convalescence.

For those who have nothing better to do...

Yes... we're constantly working on the house and sometimes overworked and overtired by our everyday lives to update the blog, so here's the latest news.

MOTH has been methodically filling the gaps around the window sills and making the wall joins nice and even, particularly where plaster meets a strawbale wall.  Some of the internal strawbale walls that we're keeping in their natural state have also had their two coats of Earth Binder.  This is an acrylic based non-toxic sealer used to dust-seal and strengthen, without changing the surface appearance and vapour permeability.  My experience with the supplier, Tech-Dry deserves 5 stars and I cannot recommend them more highly. 

Just for those interested, Tech-Dry have another product called Earth Shield for external use which is a combined water repellent and surface binder.  Both these products, once applied, will not affect surface breathability.  Nama & Fuzzy will be applying this to a section of their outside wall next to where the hot tub will sit.

The painting Queens have also finished the master bedroom and it looks much sunnier now with light colour on the walls. 

 

Meanwhile, AC has been helping Fuzzy dig and fill trenches to hold the water pipes and electrical cables... very physically demanding work involving shovels and spades!

Fuzzy has also been occupied building his "cave" (as K2 has named it).  I was very impressed by the water filtration system he has created, giving us options to use tank or mains water, both of which are filtered prior to entering the house.  Nice work Fuzzy!

More achievements to celebrate!  Fuzzy put the last of the architraving on today... yay... which LOTH then had the thrill of bogging up... woo hoo

 

Skip #1 was taken away yesterday… finally and after much angst, and just in the nick of time for #2 to arrive (from a much more reputable company I might add) and fill itself... while the resident reclycling unit watched on in awe!  Only joshing… Rick happened to be on site with his excavator and filled it in a squillionth of the time it took UK and squash down the contents to fit more in.  Bonus!

Meanwhile, Nama was busy in the kitchen making lunches for all who turned up to labor (as she does every weekend)... yum... and UK exercised his muscles while hand digging the last of the trench work.

 

We're getting closer to the end folks!

Rick hits rock...

Geez we really love having the locals around... our latest helper is Rick and his awesome excavator who rolled up today.  Primarily his purpose was to dig trenches so that we can get power and water to the house and beyond, but he's also cleaned up a little, shoved the odd tree trunk to the side and made some tidy tracks for us to move around the property a little easier.  Furthermore, we've finally given some thought to the driveway on one side of the garage and planned retaining walls, so quite a bit of dirt got moved around today.  All went swimmingly until Rick stumbled across a massive rock... 

 

On the good news front, the downstairs ballustrade was fitted yesterday and now the house looks complete from this angle (if you don't look to close that is).

Bit of an issue the otherside tho...

Still enjoying the warm weather!

Fuzzy & MOTH have finished the last of the window sills and I had the pleasure of watching the handiwork in action.

 

To break up the monotony of bogging and sanding, today I set to staining the hardwood stair treads that will replace the treads in the kitchen/meals area.  MOTH had earlier built a custom stand for the treads to sit on during the staining & varnishing process.  noice!

General Cleanup...

Let's start with a big thank you to UK for donating his time last weekend to load up the 6m skip... that finally arrived... via Mont Albert. (donk)

Just a shame that we can't recommend the company that delivered the skip!  Despite our request for another skip this weekend and umpteen follow up phone calls, as I type, they still haven't picked up the full one from last weekend!  (nuf said)

Well done to Nama and UK!

We're Floored...

I'll let the pics speak for themselves, but have to say... I LOVE THE BAMBOO FLOORING!!!