COUNTDOWN TO MOVING IN....

In 1 week and 1 day we officially move in and I really can't wait!!

As I write our kitchen is being fitted (and it looks really good, even if I say so myself!!) We have opted for a modern hi-gloss kitchen from the siematic SL range (this basically means it got no handles!) It's finished in Vanilla cream and Latte with a zodiac worksurface. The centre piece is a fab island unit which has the hob and steamer set into it. What I like most though are the colour changing lights set behind the frosted glass doors...there are the best! Even the tap (which has not arrived yet) changes colour!!

The woodburning stove arrived last week. It's from Huf, although officially it comes from Holland. I really like the stainless finish....it complements the bolts on the house very well. One thing that suprised me though was the size of it. It's huge....as in taller than me!!! I don't think I'll be going cold!

Our landscapers are also doing a great job....the site has now all been levelled and is ready for turfing. We are having a granite patio laid to the rear, this will match the pathway around the house. The carport has all been blockpaved and shortly the driveway will be finished. Fingers crossed it will be all done for moving day!!

IT'S ALL OURS!!....THE GOLD KEY WORKS!!

Last Wednesday the house legally and officially became ours! In the space of the 2 days the Germans fully installed the bathrooms and fittings, hung all the internal doors and put all the skirting on. Little snagging jobs were done (mainly decor touch up) and the house was cleaned from top to bottom! It looks amazing!

The night before handover we sneaked in (This was at 9pm, the germans were just leaving) and made a snagging list (don't forget if it was a typical UK builder you would need to do this!). We arrived early for handover with list in hand (we not awkard but these houses are expensive and it must be right). But guess what, well you've probably guessed...all the jobs were done. They had also snagged it and put it all right. All I could find was some tiny nail marks in the skirting and as expected straightaway they fixed those too! So it was on to the official handover!

Frank (he's the main plumbing and heating man) walked us around the house explaining all the heating controls, how the boiler works and demonstating useful things on operating the showers and baths. Then it was on to Rudiker who went through the finer matters including keys, working of blinds and how to look after the house! We were presented with a DIY touch up box and Huf tool set! The front door was unwrapped and the lock changed from the builders lock to ours and then was it time....

THE GOLDEN KEY WORKS!!

18 months ago (when we paid our first deposit for the house) we were presented with a golden key in velvet jewellery box. For the past week I have been wearing this key around my neck (quite sad I know but I was excited) awiting to see if it would really open the lock that had been allocated to me all that time ago. And as expected it worked!!! The golden key opened the door!! Now, after only 3 months, the house is all ours.......

IT'S ALL OURS!!!!!

Now it's countdown time to moving but first the kitchen, fireplace and bed deck need to be installed. I'll be back soon with next updates!!!

THE DRIVEWAY!!

We're now waiting for the final Huf team to arrive. However whilst we await our English teams are busy at work connecting our drains and the landscapers are busy putting in the driveway!

Again what a transformation (and it's still not finished!!) Since the house arrived we have been a pristine building site on the inside but like all uk building sites we have been pretty much a bomb site outside (and I don't do mud and mess!!!) Now we have a vast diffence!

Andrew and his driveway team have been busy all week. First they had to level out the area and then out of granite sets they created the curves of the drive and created zones where the turf will lay. Crusher stone has been laid and compacted and next week the first layer of tarmac will go down!

Inside the carport we have chosen to have grey granite sets and we will also have a granite pathway with white cobbles around the perimeter of the house. These will be laid early next week! I also plan to put the white cobbles in the chain circles. It's going to look superb!

So as I've said before next week is going to be a rather hetic one! However I really can't wait!!

The Carpets are down....5 days until handover!!

Now I'm really buzzing....the house is beginning to look huge (and I thought it looked big before!!) The carpets are all down, all the tilings is finished and the solid wooden floor is complete! If you didn't already realise I really love my house!!! Or should that be "haus"!!!

The carpet man arrived from Germany on Monday evening (these Huf people do everything). Is first words were Hello...where are the carpets???? Oops!! These super efficeient Germans had made a mistake!! They had forgot to the deliver carpets!! So we had a carpet fitter on a 3 day schedule with no carpet to fit!! Luckily the wooden floor were sat here waiting and he could get cracked on with that!! Anyway after a few frantic calls (from the carpet fitter) the carpets were driven over from Germany and Mr Carpet man could get back on schedule!

What amazed me though was 1...he finished on time (he did say though that time is money!!)...2....the long hours he worked (until it went dark, we past at 9pm and he was still there) and 3....that he did it all on his own!! The huf way of carpeting is also quite different to the uk way. All the carpets and the wooden floors are glued to the floor. This is so there is absolutely no movement with furniture. As the carpets are getting laid, a rather heavy metal roller is rolled over to ensure perfect smoothiness and no air bubbles! Very nifty indeed!!

So now all the carpets are down! Mr Carpet Man ( I don't know is name) has gone back to Germany and now we await the final team who will put the skirtings on and do all the finishing of jobs! Our kitchen arrives Wednesday afternoon so once the house has been officially handed over to us, they can start fiiting that. Thanks to the guys at siematic, the kitchen is arriving earlier than the informed delivery date so hopefully we will be moving in ahead of schedule!! Happy days for me!!!

WE ARE TILED!!

Once again apologies for being behind on my posting! The internet access where I am tempoarily living is a nightmare!

Anyway...the lastest update is.....we'll get our keys next week!! I am so exited (but aren't I always!!)

The house is now fully decorated and also tiled! The decorators only took 2 weeks to do the full house including plastering! They have a rather strange system where the plaster and paint all comes as one product which they literally paint on! Only the germans!! Only Huf!!!

So now the black is really black and the white is really white, it looks so crisp. The cutting in is perfect but they did mask everything! Preparation is always the key! The decorators then left us and a few days later 2 tilers from Boden Art (part of Huf) arrived. Again they took great attention to detail. They pegged the flooring out with sting lines, laid all the tiles out in place and made sure that any cutting needed was symetrical! Then all the tiles were properly put back in place! How perfect!

Our bathrooms are also tiled and the baths already in place (they are tiled in...see picture) I almost cried (happy cry) when I saw the master bathroom. My bath is huge. I love it...when it's finished it will have pillows at both ends....I see myself spending alot of time in it!!!

So today is Monday and come Wednesday 25th June we will get the house officially handed over to us. This week is going to be a very busy week for us. We have a full german team on site include electricians, joiners and plumbers. The bathrooms will be finished, the carpets gets laid and the wood burner installed. Externally the driveway team should also start today and also Briscows (the original groundwork team) are back on site to connect the drains! What are a hetic week it will be!!!

The Decorators are here...(and quite a bit more....)

Yeah!!!...We are back on schedule! Our decorators have arrived and over the course of the next 3 weeks they will re-paint every little bit of the house...fill in screw holes and skim the ceilings!

They arrived last week (Thursday) and have already finished the exterior! But again they are Germans so what do you expect!! I have to say it's looking fab. The black wood as a wonderful sheen to it. Like the rest of the time they taken great attention to detail. Everything is fully masked (they even have a strange dispenser for this!). When we called down last night they were working on the inside....one german decorator was walking around using the ladders as stilts! He did make me chuckle!

I also met the curtain lady yesterday. Any huf owner will tell you that curtains are a nighmare in these houses with the triangular shaped windows. I think we are opting panel blinds using a local supplier from our home town ( Lancaster ). I'll let you know how that works out!

We also met up with the driveway people. I really want the landscaping at the front of the house sorting before we move in. We've opted for a tarmac driveway that sweeps around and leads into the carport. Our plan is to have a lot of greenery and mature planting to the front with the entrance being flanked by lavender beds and a polished granite walkway. Fingers crossed it all comes together!

Anyway next job today is to meet up with Rudiker (site supervisor). I'll let you know in my next post how we get on!!

I'M BACK TO MY BLOGGING!!

First of all apologies to anyone who was wondering when my next post was coming! In the past 3 weeks we've moved house, been on holiday and had problems with United Utilities! I'd also lost my access to the internet but now I'm back on line and back blogging!

So where is the house upto??

Well not a great deal has changed since my last post. Huf came and put the floor screed down (this is basically a thick concrete layer that goes over the under floor heating) and then good old United Utilities let us down and held the whole job up! So for anyone having any house built take heed.....United Utilities are a nightmare...they have more departments than a department store and more in boxes then half the uk put together! When we FINALLY got our water connected they failed to turn us on! Did you know you also have to ask the question....please will you turn my water on! How ridiculous!!

Anyway....we now have water connected and because our neighbour has kindly let us use his electricity (United Utilities delay again) we have a working boiler so our floor can now begin to dry out throughly! Once we are dry the decorators can arrive and then we'll be back on track!

The last (and funy thing) to mention is the german boiler man! Once we had the water connected and on he drove over from Germany to switch us on. And guess what??? He forget our key! It's refreshing to know that the Germans are human after all........