Driveway

Here are the pics of the driveway being laid:


It was kind of still dark when the boys from Mark Wood Paving Showed up!

The concrete truck from Cranbourne premix turned up at 7am..... yep still not much light!

Under the portico........ the concrete mix looks a lot like the stuff they use on roads at this stage except it looks as black as night.

The concrete came in 2 trucks...... the boys were a little worried as they had ordered one big truck but got 2 small ones. The problem with using 2 small trucks is if the second load of concrete comes a long time after the first lot, the first lot will set and if this happens would have to be ripped up and they would have to start all over again.... lucky Cranbourne premix is not that far away and the second load was there in about 40 minutes.

And here its is after the second truck The concrete is then smoothed all over to make sure the shape is uniform.

In fact, the guys were really fussy even though the top layer gets washed away. At this stage a retardant was sprayed on the concrete which prevents the top layer from setting.

Then a hose is used to wash the top layer away and "expose" the "aggregate".

With a little help from a broom.

All done...... in a little over 6 hours or so. Sorry not the best shot with the shadow. Anyway I am very happy with the colour of the mix.

The usual suspects! Joe (centre) and the guys from Mark Wood Paving have done a fantastic job and I highly recommend them for all you concreting needs. I will be getting Joe back to do our Alfresco/Courtyard and blindside of the house once I get some more dosh together!

Contact details for a great concreter:

MARK WOOD PAVING

JOE

0419332623

Well that all from me for now

Cheers

Cozmo

Post Handover Update

Oh the Joy of Settlement day!
Well it should have being all joy getting the keys to our new house but alas due to an administration error I got quite upset and muttered very bad words about PD under my breath (and a few out loud).


The problem:
Seems that they forgot about our Driveway & Fencing allowance. It was in the contract but they didn’t have a cheque for us. This was a bigger issue as I had my concreter booked in to lay the driveway the next day and was panicking about how I would pay him. Anyway it took them a full week to organise 2 managers to sign the cheque for us. I just feel they did not go out of their way at all to resolve this and that it was just a hassle for them.... really spoiled what was a wonderful building experience with PD overall. Lucky for me My concreter is a top notch bloke and completely understood the situation I was in and said "No worries, just pay me when the money come though". I will post about the driveway later once I upload the photos.


Anyway back to handover:
There was still a few issues outstanding from PCI that had not being fixed but our SS assured us they will all be done (and they now have) and also a new issue of the dishwasher that was installed had a huge dent in the front of it, this has also now being fixed by the good blokes at Blanco.


As handover was on a Thursday and we were not moving in 'till the Saturday I decided that I would sleep in the new house to guard our newly installed appliances (especially my oven... I love that oven). It was like staying in a ghost town.... so quite as there was NOONE else living in the street and probably only about 20 or so occupied houses in the entire Estate.




Move in day:
OMG what did I get myself into.... I completely underestimated the man power required. It was just my mate M and I........ anyway 3 truck loads and 11 hours later we were done, completely exhausted, in fact the next day I woke up and every muscle in my body was sore.... never never again! A big thanks to M for his help on the day... it was a huge effort (especially considering I’m a few years younger and struggled) Hats off to you my friend.

Other things done around the house after handover:

• Lots of Box's unpacked.... lots more to go!



• Driveway completed.



• Antenna installed in roof.



• Toilet roll holder/Towel rails installed.



• Pebble feature strip in showers sealed (May redo this with different product as it is not shinny).



• Letter box purchased and painted same colour as render (surf mist).



• Letter box was destroyed by the missus, reversing out of the driveway for the first time.



• Letter box moved to a safer location, patched up with bog a waiting sanding and repaint.



• Supports for an inbuilt desk installed and painted, awaiting laminated bench top to be made.

Things that still need to be done:

• Fencing

• Bobcat required to level/put crushed rock where we intend to concrete.



• Concreting for Alfresco/Court yard and blindside of house.



• Lots of gardening - that will never end.



• Blinds and curtains(Just redy shades ATM).



• Probably lots more involving more work than I want to think about right now.

Cheers for now

Cozmo