Ageing prematurely after sanding the master bedroom for three hours. Photo / Ben Crawford
Ageing prematurely after sanding the master bedroom for three hours. Photo / Ben Crawford
The Block NZ 2012 winner Ben Crawford and his fiancé Kylie are building their dream home. Share their proud moments and pitfalls here every week.
The countdown is well and truly on now until we move in. Only a few weeks are left and, although the house is coming along beautifully, there seems an awful lot left to do. The good thing is, most of the major construction work has been done, and it's nowa case of ticking smaller projects off a dauntingly long to-do list.
Our builders at Haven Renovations have been in overdrive. Kylie and I dropped by during the week and seven men were swarming all over the site, working feverishly to get the living pod clad in cedar. It was awesome to see the entire building finally dressed in its number ones and we were especially excited to see the vertical cladding running up our tall entry foyer, providing a striking contrast to the horizontal boards we've used on the rest of the house.
As that was happening, the Terracon team were on top of the living pod, applying the Nuraply 3PM triple layer membrane system to the roof. It was a sight to behold watching them torch on the bitumen membrane with what is essentially a flamethrower. It's a mightily efficient process and by the end of the week, the roof was finished and perfectly watertight.
Inside the bedroom pod, we've been painting with great gusto. I've been painting the rooms and Kylie has been in charge of doorframes, skirting boards and cleaning up paint that has seeped under, around or through the tape and on to the joinery. I've probably been overly meticulous, but I want to make the finish as perfect as I can. Our plasterer left his sanding gear for me to use and said it would take him no longer than 45 minutes to sand each room. I spent more than three hours sanding our master bedroom, getting every tiny scratch out. I was covered from head to toe in dust and when Kylie arrived, she wondered who the elderly looking stranger was working in our house.
Kylie checking out our nearly finished kitchen in the DL Cabinetmaking factory. Photo / Ben Crawford
We've made great progress though, finishing the bathroom, en suite and three bedrooms. We're super stoked with our paint choices - the finish we're getting from the Dulux products is brilliant and the colours are perfect. Little Manly Half is such a warm white and it has made each room extremely homely and inviting. In both spare bedrooms we've painted a feature wall in a greeny-grey colour called Sugarloaf Island Half. It looks awesome and perfectly complements the lush tree ferns outside. A massive thanks to Fiona our Dulux colour consultant for recommending this great colour.
Garrick, our head builder, has been working some long days to push things through and knock off some of our more aesthetic requests. This week he finished the full-height timber wall in our master bedroom, providing the piece de resistance to one of my favourite spaces.
Paul cutting the cedar cladding. Photo / Ben Crawford
I could only marvel at his workmanship as he paid such fine attention to the tiniest of details. The end result is beautiful with striking negative detailing between each of the American oak boards and fully integrated floating shelves for either side of the bed.
Our week ended on another high as we ventured out to DL Cabinetmaking in Auckland's East Tamaki to view our almost-finished kitchen.
Dean Lucas and his team are also making our wardrobes, laundry cabinetry, bathroom vanities and other custom furniture which, as it turns out, is quite a lot of stuff because our order filled the factory floor.
The Haven Renovation boys in action cladding the living pod. Photo / Ben Crawford
It was exciting to see everything made and laid out like it will be in our house. Dean and his guys have done a fantastic job - the quality of their work is second to none and we couldn't be happier.
It was also a reassuring exercise to test everything before confirming the final details, such as handles, sink sizes and timber stains.
So we're getting there, but it's tight. Just as well Anzac weekend is a long one - we'll be painting and landscaping.
