Day 6: Driveway Concrete .. in the MIX

29.07.09 - The driveway has started to come to shape and color ... Emperor Grove is the Exposed Aggregate which we've selected ... Light Colored to complement the Dark Brown color of the house.

The Concrete was laid yesterday and washed today. Weather permitting, the Concrete will be diamond cut tomorrow

The Timber flooring for the remaining part of the house has also been completed. The Hallway to the Door and the Activity Room ...

A sneak peak of the Family Room with the 3 Seater sofa ...

Next stop is the Fencing and Security Doors ...

Day 4: Timbers on the floor ...

27.07.09 - As another the day dawns for the Chocolate House, indeed it has been another busy day. Flooring and Lighting was the order of the day.



The Timber Flooring was beginning to be installed (Due to the Timber Layer's schedule he needed to do a 2nd trip). The Single Blackbutt Strip looks nice and complemented the Hog Bristle Wall well.




Most of the Elecrical issues were resolved today. The Smart Wiring was commissioned so was the House Alarm, Cooling and Heating. We were able to engage the electricians to install the Fan Light for us.



The Facade Portico Lighting and Balcony lighting have been installed as well



In the next few days, the Driveway will be done. Preparations have started today and finger's crossed everthing will be fine and Mother Nature permits that no showers till at least Sunday ...

Day 2: The Rumpus Furniture is colour Blue ...

25.07.09 - As we continue to slowly move-in the new house, our 2nd day marked the deliveries of a couple of furniture. Come inside our Chocolate House ...

The Rumpus 3 piece


The Master's Bed



The Little Girl's Queen Size Bed?



We are expecting the timber flooring to be started on Monday, together with the completion of pending electrical issues; the cooling and heating on the house will also be commissioned ... another busy day in the chocolate house.

Day 1: Carpet Done

23.07.09 - As we begin setlling-in the house, the 1st order of the day is to put the Flooring and Floor Covering's in ... We have the Carpet installed today.


The 2nd Order was to start covering the house ... I took time off to "try and install" the curtains, (cost cutting ... can't afford the made to order ones) look at the end product and not the workmanship ;-)


The Phone and Cable TV was installed today ... woohoo ...


The Kitchen appliances - Rangehood and Oven were delivered yesterday pending for the rangehood flue to be fitted once the electrician arrives. There's a bit of a problem as we've realized - my dear wife couldn't reached the canopy controls :P... We haven't really thought about it in the first place. Luckily the kids can come to her rescue :) .


The 5000 litre Water Tank was also installed yesterday ...

After the horror stories we've read in the Internet regarding Floor covering, the laying of the carpet was in principle okay ... Though keeping my fingers crosed on Monday when the Floating Timber begins to be laid ...

That "Settles" it ....

22.07.09 - After 6 months, the journey has now come to a close in building the Chocolate House. Today, we have gone through the Final Inspection with our Site Supervisor after which we have settled and received the KEYS to the Chocolate house.

Aside from receiving the keys today, we've also been presented with a gift from our Builder - A toaster and kettle. not sure what this signifies though it the tradition of house settlement.


Our blog does not necessarily end here ... and we would like to invite you to continue reading/ commenting as we furnish and decorate the Chocolate House on the Rise.

For Occupancy?

16.07.09 - We've just received word that the Occupancy Permit has been issued. An Independent (?) Building Consultant has conducted their inspection and has duly certified that the Chocolate house can now be occupied ...

Settlement Date is scheduled next week, hopefully all issues on the Initial Inspection and McDonald's report are resolved ... All systems are at a GO ... Here's hoping and Praying ...

The McDonald Report ... not Ronald :-)

13.07.09 - As we've asked for a 2nd opinion on how our builder fared on the construction of the Chocolate house our Independent Inspector provided an 8th page report on how it perceived the constuction went and we ask you to decide for yourself ...

This has been provided to our Builder and they committed to fixing it within 2 weeks ... We reckon it's more cosmetic issues ... though hopefully our Builder would be able to deliver :-(

Bedroom: Updated

12.07.09 - As we wait for the issues on the house to be fixed, we had a couple of issues as well deciding on which bed furniture to have :-( Look at this and perhaps you could recommend?

Masters: Chocolate vs Orlando










Bedroom 1: Chocolate vs ...











Bedroom 2: Chocolate vs Tokyo










Ini Mini Mayni Mo ... Take your pick :-)

Seven - Seven (Updated ...)

07.07.09 - An Auspicious Day (7th Day of the 7th Month?) for the Chocolate House on the Rise. We had our Initial Inspection with our Site Supervisor, (with his Supervisor) and gave us a run-around (?) the house ... We have our Backup to counter/independently Check the work done by our Builder as well, Inspector Mills ... este Inspector Kev

We started with the Outside where they demonstrated the do's and don'ts (From the Electrical Boxes, Garage Door Controls, etc etc)

We found that the external Garage Door Knob was incorrect (hmmmn we really need security doors) ... and noticed that the Exhaust for the Gas Range are not yet installed?

The Garage has some leaking issues, though currently being fixed as of press time :-)

And then we went inside ... It's our first time inside the house again and a bit excited(?).


The Rumpus ...


The Games Room :-)


We were taking down notes on the issues we find and our independent inspector was taking doing his own as well. Cabinet Doors, Taps, Windows were all Opened ...




This the first time we will see the toilets and bathrooms with the Vanity Mirrors. The Powder to Shower Room (Vanity and Shower)



The Master's Ensuite ...


Vanity (with Heating Lamps shown)



The Master's Shower (fit for 2 ... and if you look closely ... it is ;-p )


The Toilet with a View :-)


The Spa ... which has leaking issues :-(


The Kids Bathroom (Vanity with Mirror -> Mirror mirror on the wall ...)


Bath and shower ...



The Kid's Rooms with Sliding Mirror for the Cabinets (Mirrors again?)


We found some issues on the faceplate of the switches and a missing CAT 5 Cable on the Master's Bedroom



The Vent issues on the Family room are also yet to be resolved .. the solution being recommended is to have one big vent instead of 2 ...

Some cosmetic issues on one of the common toilet cabinet ... (wrong installation? :-( )


Some interesting pics .... the Storage Room connecting to the bottom of the stairs giving more storage space ...


The Laundry Room... (Noticed there are no Hot/Water Pipes beside the Cabinets? It's under the cupboards!)



The Table Top with Wine Rack as if we were wine drinkers and as if we have wine ;-p


The Coloured Monitor Displaying outside the house ... taken from the 2nd Floor

The Cooling, Heating and Zoning Controls ...


The Blue Light/Motion Sensors ... at Night ...


The 2 Bottom Threads of the Stairs has now been painted


And the touch-up on the Alfresco beams have been completed


A view of the backyard ... which would need a lot of work! Next project I suppose? :-(

There were a lot of house terminologies I learned today ... than in my entire life :-) The problem is remembering all of these :-( Offhand, most of the issues found today are not show stoppers (hopefully) and more of cosmetic in nature, hopefully the inspection report is not that bad as well, perhaps truly a Blessed day ... Thank God!