Note that I say addressed, and not fixed. Things being what they are, the builder is entitled to argue that some things don’t need to be fixed. Apparently the best thing for it is just to note every single tiny little thing that could possibly considered wrong with the place at the pre-settlement inspection, because they you will at least get most of the big issues fixed. Having said that, I’m fairly confident that there weren’t any really big issues that wouldn’t be fixed by an extra lick of paint around the place or a clean. Work was already being done to address these things when we measured the place for curtains on 8 October.
Speaking of curtains, we got two quotes in the end and they were interestingly divergent. We have a total of six windows in the place, for which both places quoted us for tracks and the same fabric. We had originally intended to have them quote for exactly the same installations, but one of the companies provided us with more options that will help us save space and make the curtains look better. Their representative was also 100 per cent nicer, had better taste, and was a much better sales man. So much so, that despite the quote being more expensive, and for more fancy things, we’re going to go with them.
This is the fabric that we went with in the end. This picture doesn't really do the colours justice, and the bits that look like light grey are actually silver. Following a trend established early in our housing adventures, it’s going to take a little longer to get hold of than some of the other options – about an extra two or three weeks on what a more standard option might take. Fortunately, it’s a lot cheaper than some other the other options that we had looked at.
The three aspects that really made our choice more expensive was the type of curtain rail, the way the curtains are pleated and additional privacy screens on the three bedroom windows. The privacy screens are actually pretty cool – basically you can see out of them, but people can’t see in. We found them to be a pretty attractive option, given the proximity of our bedroom windows to the edge of the property. In addition, Canberra’s weird property rules mean that you can’t put a decent fence on the part of the property that fronts onto a road. This means until the hedge grows up, our bedrooms are a bit exposed. The screens sit inside the window on a roller blind, beneath the curtains.
The end cost is going to be about $1.2k a window, which burns a bit, but they’re going to look great. I guess some of the burn is reduced by the perceived added value to the house (or at least, that’s what I tell myself).
We’ve also been going through the confusing, annoying, and occasionally erroneous pile of paperwork that goes along with the finances. We’ve got unconditional approval, and it’s all in train. I’m not going to say any more on it, because it’s already eaten up too much of my time and willpower. Suffice to say that it’s not pleasant to commit to such large amounts to debt.
The final 14 day settlement period should be starting any day now – we’ve actually been waiting for the last week or so to hear that it has started, so hopefully we won’t be waiting too much longer. As I keep telling those around me, we kind of have an asymptotic (this is not quite the right concept, but mathematics was never my forte) situation about moving into the house – we get closer and closer to moving in, but we never actually get there.
We’ve also been turning our mind to the garden. We really want to get a deck in there, and we were thinking about trying to get it done before Christmas – but given that’s only two months away, I can’t see it happening. We’ll know more once we start getting quotes.
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