Hand over and the keys to our new Douglas 10M

Friday 28 November 2014

I met our Site Supervisor at 9:00 a.m. yesterday (Thursday 27 November) for the final inspection and to be given the keys to our new Douglas 10M.  Pete was unable to attend due to work commitments in Dubbo (about 370 km away in country New South Wales).

The SMEG kitchen appliances, our Dux Sunpro Hot Water Tank, the Crimsafe sliding screen doors (for the Laundry and the Alfesco Cabana area) and the window fly screens will be installed after we notify McDonald Jones Homes about the date when we intend to occupy the new home.

The damaged panels in the B&D Remote Control Garage Door were replaced on Thursday afternoon, 27 November.

I've started to hang the temporary pleated paper window blinds on some of the main windows in the Open Plan Living Area and in Bedroom 3.  Considering our Plantation Shutters are now due to be installed sooner than we had anticipated, I won't bother hanging the rest of the temporary blinds on all the other windows.

Our internal Plantation Shutters are now due to be installed on Saturday 6 December 2014 (just in time for Christmas).

Our concreter has notified us that there will be a delay of a few days now before he can commence laying our new concrete driveway.  He was due to start on next Monday 1 December 2014.  However, due to intermittent rain this week, he is currently delayed with a job that he's already working on elsewhere.

We'll keep this Blog running until all the concreting and landscaping work etc. have been completed.

We commenced this project back in May 2013 and it seems to have taken such a long time to get to this final finishing point.  All the waiting has been so worthwhile.  Pete and I would sincerely like to thank all the people at McDonald Jones Homes who, from day one, have done a sterling job with helping us build such a lovely home to live in.  Our contacts at McDonald Jones Homes were always available and contactable when we needed to get in touch with them.  Every person at McDonald Jones Homes that we dealt with, including their contract workers, were very professional, courteous, safety-conscious, friendly and polite.  We found them all to be honest and excellent workers with great integrity.  They're passionate about their work and they're willing to accommodate any reasonable requests.  We cannot thank them enough.  They've delivered a beautiful new home for us and our 2 [ageing] pet Staffies, Buddy and Taz, to live in.  We'd particularly and sincerely like to thank all the following people at McDonald Jones Homes who have helped us enormously (but for privacy and confidentiality reasons I won't disclose all identifying surnames).

Firstly, we would really like to say a special big "thank you" to Max Borthwick who was our initial contact at McDonald Jones Homes.  His honesty, professionalism, friendly attitude and his helpful nature convinced us that we were making the right decision and validated our reasons to build with McDonald Jones Homes.  After the House Plans were drawn-up Max told us, "this is going to be lovely new home."  He was so right.  Thank you, Max.

Our sincere, appreciative, big thanks also to:

• Jenni;
• Melissa;
• Erin;
• Larissa;
• Alyssa;
• Ben; and
• of course our Site Supervisor, Wayne, who made things happen.  He was fantastic to deal with right throughout construction.  We're very appreciative mate, thank you.

Here's some photos that I took on Thursday night 27 November 2014.

(Click on photos to view enlarged images)

 The keys to our lovely new McDonald Jones Home

Views from near the front entry area 

Before

Above and below - view from near the front entry area taken in June and August 2014 (refer earlier posts)

Above and below - view from near the same front entry area taken in October and November 2014 (refer earlier posts) 

Now

 

Above - view from near the same front entry area taken on Thursday night, 27 November 2014

Above - reverse view taken from inside the Master Suite Bedroom Suite looking back towards the front entry area taken on Thursday night, 27 November 2014.

Love, love, love, love, love the Walnut-coloured Gerflor.

Love, love, love, love, love the Godfrey Hirst Eco+ Sunrise ('Pebblestone' coloured carpet) and the rubber 11mm (100kg/m3) carpet underlay that's been laid in the Master Suite Bedroom, Walk In Robes, and in Bedroom 2 (at the front of the house).  It's super soft and wonderful underfoot to walk on.

  Separate Toilet/WC

Ceramic Solna Latte floor and wall tiles have been laid in the separate Toilet/WC.  Refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications.

At our request, McDonald Jones Homes modified the floor plan and installed a wall-mounted Caroma Liano Hand Wash Basin with Mili Edge flickmixer tapware, a wall-mounted glass shelf and wall-mounted towel ring.

Main Bathroom

 

Shower recess (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

Newbury Island 1700mm Bathtub and Solna Latte ceramic floor and wall tiles (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

Newbury Island 1700mm Bathtub.

 Internal entry stairs and landing area from the rear of the garage

 It will be our responsibility to stain and finish-off the work on those stairs.

Home Theatre Room

Views from the main hallway showing the Home Theatre Room (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

The photo above was taken from the kitchen bench and shows the view to the Home Theatre Room and the Open Plan area opposite the kitchen (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

 Open Plan Dining, Family/Lounge Room and Gourmet Kitchen Areas.

 

The photo above also shows the Computer/Study Desk Area as appears in the Douglas 10M floor plan

These are those temporary, pleated paper, window blinds with draw strings that I referred to in my earlier post.  I'm very impressed and satisfied with them.  They're excellent quality for an inexpensive and temporary, window covering whilst we await the installation of our Plantation Shutters, and it saves having to hang-up bedsheets on the windows.  Refer to my earlier post for the full descriptions, specifications and details about where you can purchase these temporary blinds online for prompt delivery).
 

Our Gourmet Kitchen

Love, love, love our Burgundy/Maroon-coloured Resene Jumpstart Starphire Glass Splashback (refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications).

Our SMEG Stainless Steel 900mm Gas Cooktop, Ducted Rangehood, Underbench Electric Oven, Microwave Oven and Dishwasher will not be installed until we are ready to occupy the new home.  Refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications.
 

Kitchen cabinetry

The colours don't seem right in some of these photos.  The lighting and camera's flash affect the true colouring of the wall paint and the 2-pak Polyurethane Classic 2mm 'Pumice Gloss' colours on the soft-closing cupboards and drawers.

Refer to earlier posts for full descriptions and specifications.   

A bank of soft-closing pot draws appears in the photo above (for storing large pots and saucepans etc.).

 

Views in and from the Master Suite Bedroom (at the rear of the house)

View into the Master Suite's Ensuite Bathroom

 Shower recess in the Master Suite's Ensuite Bathroom. 

Refer to earlier posts for full descriptions, specifications and more photos.   

Above: Godfrey Hirst ECO+ Sunrise ('Pebblestone' coloured) Carpet leading from the Ensuite Bathroom, to the dual Walk In Robes on either side, and into the Master Suite Bedroom.

Left to right in the above photo:

Double-glazed sliding glass doors onto the Alfresco Cabana, Open Plan Family/Lounge Room Area, one of the two Walk In Robes, and the Ensuite Bathroom and wall-to-wall shower recess at the far right.

 Floor Pan for the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade

Overall Dimensions for the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade

Dimensions quoted in metres (m).

Home width:	8.45m
Home length:	21.21m
Width of block of land:	12m
Depth of block of land:	49.5m
Size of block of land in square metres:	594m²
Internal Ceiling Height (raised to):	2.70m
Height of doors (raised to):	2.34m

Room Dimensions

Open-plan Family & Dining rooms:	4.4m x 6.6m
Master Suite:	4.1m x 3.6m
Bedroom 2:	2.9m x 2.9m
Bedroom 3:	2.9m x 2.9m
Home Theatre room:	4.1m x 3.5m
Single Car Garage:	3.0m x 5.5m
Alfresco Cabana:	3.0m x 3.9m

 

Patron Saint of the New Home - St. Francis of Assisi

Pete and I have a fondness for St. Francis of Assisi, for the simplicity of his spirituality and philosophy and his love and respect of nature, the ecology and the environment.  This is just one of a number of statues of St. Francis that seem to have found a home with us over the years.

Pete and I have elected St. Francis to be the Patron Saint of our new home and he has taken-up residence before we move in, in a hope that he'll help to protect the new home for us.