Plantation shutters finally installed

After 9 weeks of wait, the plantation shutters got installed today by 1800-blinds.

The guys did a good job installing them. It took them most of the day (9:30am till 4:30pm). Well we did have 14 windows and 2 sliding doors to cover.

The bi-fold shutter doors.

The only minor comment I made to the installers that, the bi-fold doors did not come with small handles or recessed handles to open and close them. At the moment, one has to slide their fingers within the shutters to disengage and open them.

Another point was that, the bi-fold joints did not come with bolt-down small hinges, so one can lock them in place, so they do not wobble and stay firm in place.

The above would not have cost any more than $10 in parts and 30 minutes or less to install.

They are the finishing touches after all.

I guess I may have to do a trip to the hardware shop and purchase few and do it myself.

But overall, we are happy with them. Time will tell...

Finally some rain!

We finally had some rain.
How can you have winter with no rain? It has been dry for quite some time.
Looks like the roof leak is now fixed and no water was leaking from the top roof or under the portico.

We also had the Masterton electrician come in last week to re-locate a power point that was misplaced and not as per plan. We have a power point next to TV outlet panel. I just have to patch the cut and paint.

He was kind enough to leave the old one in, so now that can be used for gas heater unit, if we ever get one.

We are slowly but surely settled in now. 70% of the boxes done.

A quick view of my office and Home Recording Studio

Roof Leak Fix

During the last rain we had, I noticed a leak from the gutters from the top roof, over the portico, as well as leak under the portico.

I sent an email to our SS last Sunday night, and yesterday I had the roof installer come in and fix the leaks. We will find out if it is fixed in the next rain period.

This was surprisingly fast repair turn around, as I was expecting it to be fixed at 90 day warranty.

We are still unpacking boxes and settling in.

We now know the cooktop works (yummy stir-fry), the oven works (delicious lasagne) and the dishwasher cleaned the dishes.

Air-con is keeping us comfortable.

We already used up all of the water in the rainwater tank watering the lawn. lol!

Final OC received

Last week we paid for our final inspection and received out full and final OC (Occupational Certificate).

It's good to know that we have now finished construction and can move on with our new life, in our new home.

We still need to get shutters, and light fittings, but they can wait.

Busy life

I have been very busy with work and had not had much time to update the blog.

I will have some photos soon and where things are at and some minor issues for our 90 day warranty period.

We are now getting some quotes for plantation shutters and blinds for the windows.

We had our first quote for plantation shutters all around, including sliding doors, ~$9,000 installed for 16 windows and 2 sliding doors, or ~$8,000 with 3 bedrooms having Roman Blinds.

Bit above our budget for now. I have 2 more quotes booked in next week, then we compare.

Settling in

We are slowly settling in, unpacking boxes, buying more staff to replace the ones we are giving to charity (not sure how that works!).

The kids have their bedroom all set up. They do complain a bit about slow wi-fi internet. Maybe I should have put CAT6 in the bedrooms too. Oh well, I did run out of budget, as each extra point was around $180.

We are in the process of getting quotes for blinds. We are trending towards plantation shutters for all downstairs windows, and roll-down blinds for bedrooms upstairs. We'll see what they recommend.

Still to choose light fittings for formal area and bedrooms. Toilets and hallways will be LED downlights. Office and rumpus room will get rail lights.

I finally have an office. Slowly setting up my desk and music gear. Acoustic panels will be in soon too. Just got them off eBay for great price.

Slow after sales service

The after sales service of Masterton is really very slow. It has taken weeks to get the rangehood cover finally done. The garage wall patch is still waiting for painters to come in and paint. Not heard from them when this will happen and no email response.

I have not received any response for my shower door problem, though I emailed the SS several times.

Here can be seen a photo of the Display Home ensuite shower door having a rubber seal at the bottom, as well as no gaps on the sides.

Our home completed (well, almost).

Next is to organise our window covers, most likely plantation shutters and couple of vertical blinds.