Clean start

Well the house was cleaned today in preparation for us moving in. A few boxes have already made it there, so it begins.

Initial plans

We met with the architect this afternoon and he showed us an initial floorplan...
Which we loved! I am very excited, and Craig is well pleased as well (after voicing to me the prospect of maybe we won't like what he had come up with, yesterday). So we are happy clients, with a few tweaks here and there. Not bad for a first go at it. He sketched out some initial ideas about roof structure, but he will keep working on it; first get the floor plan right.
Apparently our neighbour that shares the wall boundary, was not very co-operative with the surveyors who wanted to measure up that side of the property. I don't think he wants to relinquish any land that he is not entitled to, but has claimed since. We will see if contesting it is worthwhile, just for the principle. But of course there is a cost involved with this. We will think about it...

Organising

We've been busy trying to get ready for the big move in September (looks like earlier in the month than later). We have organised cleaners, utilities (inc cable tv and broadband) and a post office box too (as we'll be moving again once renovations begin), thrown out and given away some things. The doggy door has been bought and will be installed on the weekend.
Tomorrow we're meeting up with the architect at 4pm to see what he has come up with thus far. We're looking forward to seeing his vision.

Looks like we'll be moving

Checked the heat and cooking situation at the house, and all seems to be in working order. So we'll probably move in late September. Joy. Time to throw some things out and downsize. I dislike moving...

Soil report

Elwood was a swamp! - just like Bayswater was.
The soil report came back as 'poor'. I feel like my child came home with a bad report card! It just means they'll need to dig deeper foundations basically. There are all these recommendations with codes that I have no clue what they mean, except that they'll need to do more than the standard for footings and foundations. Which probably equates to more expense. Great.
Oh the power is finally on. So we'll go down to the house and make sure everything's working: oven, dishwasher, heaters etc.
But I think we'll move in. How bad could it be?

Neighbours

We haven't had neighbours in a very long time. We have never had to worry about neighbours. Now we have to. We've met the ones on the left side, and they seem nice enough. They're always there though. And he has 8 kids that come and go. The other day I could hear AC/DC playing from one of the bedrooms; which doesn't worry me at all - hope they won't mind my choice in music!
But we won't have complete privacy like we kind of do at our current rented place. So that's something we'll have to get used to. No more naturalist tendencies allowed! Hehe.

To move or not to move...

The utilities have been organised; power will be activated on Monday (something to do with a fuse).
So now we have to decide if and when we move in. We want to make sure there is adequate heating, that the stove works, what condition the dishwasher is, yes - our fridge will fit in the gap, how good is the shower. Once we establish those things, and that they are in good working order, and we can live comfortably, then we'll move in late September.
We will decide next week.

Land survey

Well they arrived and luckily I'm not required to be there, so I left them to it. They'll be there for a few hours. I'm sure they'll have fun with trying to survey the east side of the house that is a shared boundary with next door.

8am: soil survey

Met the soil guys at the house this morning (yawn) and they dug a couple of holes. Apparently Elwood was established on a swampy bed (not unlike Bayswater) so hence the soil analysis. But it's looking good on our patch of swamp! In fact no swamp at all for quite a depth; nice amount of topsoil (about 700mm), then some orange clay stuff, then it gets slightly sandy in the clay. All in all, a great result.
I'd climb back into bed but next up is the land surveyor...

Architect's view

Its quite interesting when someone else looks at the house with their knowledge base. He asid he thought that it was originally a weatherboard, and they added the bricks and the 60's style tiled wall detail. He also found there was a discrepency in ceiling heights, leading him to believe that the lounge has a lower false ceiling. He also discovered that there is no roof insulation at all. No wonder the previous owners said that it was cold in the house! And now we know why there are so many heaters in almost every room. Well the main thing is that the roof is in good condition. Not the same can be said about the floor. When we had a little carpet picnic in the "dining" room, Marlee's weight (all 5.8kgs of her) would make the floor bounce as she ran around. So looks like there may have to be subfloor replacement.
Tomorrow the soil surveyor and the land surveyor are coming to do their thing, 8am and 9am respectively. Be alright if we were living there, but looks like I'll be getting up very early to be there to meet them. *sigh*

Architect's first look

We met our architect at the house today for his first look through. I think I heard him say that it was "more of a knock down job than he thought" - yikes! But as the day progressed, he felt his creative juices starting to flow. We may look to keep half the boundary walls leaving an L shape, with the shared wall remaining to avoid any contentious issues with the neighbour who has claimed 1 foot of our property (been like that for over 40 years!).
But today was just a measure up of the house and property, as well as the neighbours' window positions so as to consider them when designing our renovation. Its going to be major, no doubt about it, just hope its going to be affordable!!

Bummer

We've just got the keys to our house. We haven't even started to pay our mortgage, and now interest rates are going up 0.25%.
Just what we need...

Settlement Day!

We have the keys to our house, now the fun begins with the architect!