Entertainment area and Alfresco area still to be tiled
Propose garden bed along the fence and house with grass in the middle
This area is always wet and muddy so we are just going to
concrete this whole side.
November 15, 2010
Backyard Pic
Entertainment area and Alfresco area still to be tiled
Propose garden bed along the fence and house with grass in the middle
This area is always wet and muddy so we are just going to
concrete this whole side.
Internal Pics
Feature wall in the master bedroom. Paint colour 'Colorbond Ironstone'.
WIR
Feature wall in the family room, entertainment area. Paint colour 'Laminex Fossil'.
This feature wall is the same colour as the kitchen cupboards.
Laundry Cupboard
55th Week More Progress
What a big diffrence Render makes to a house, love the new look!!!
Milan Black Tiles 600 x 600
October 19, 2010
51st Week Getting There!!!
It’s been awhile since my last post, but there has been a fair bit of progress, it’s coming along nicely, the only annoying thing is when tradies chip or scratch something and don’t have the decency to tell you.
We’ve managed to concrete the alfresco area and add on outside entertainment area.
Laundry cupboard installed and the plumbing and tile splash back finally completed.
WIR installed and all holes and plaster damaged fixed, just need to do some sanding and a nice fresh coat of paint and then it’s all complete.
The front facade is now all rendered and what a big difference render makes, the house looks amazing and a different house all together.
Our electrician finally came over on the weekend and installed all extra power points and all the internal lighting and flood lights.
Portico is all tiled, which means we can make a start on the driveway, as the tiles will sit flush with the concrete. We’re off today to have a look at what colour and style of exposed aggregate we want for a driveway. We also have to change the design of the driveway as I noticed yesterday when I parked in the proposed driveway it wasn’t wide enough for two cars to park.
Still waiting for the Bonaire add-on inverter Air Con to be released onto the market so it can be installed. I was told is was going to be released at the start of October, so I rang the supplier last week and they don't even know when it will be released, Not Happy. Tiles should of arrived this week, but there was a 2 week shipping delay, so fingers crossed by the end of the month, once I get the confirmation that they have arrived we’ll book in our tiler. Driveway, Front garden, Back yard, Carpet, Curtains, Feature walls and anything else that has skipped my mind, still to be done.
Will post pictures soon I promise!
We’ve managed to concrete the alfresco area and add on outside entertainment area.
Laundry cupboard installed and the plumbing and tile splash back finally completed.
WIR installed and all holes and plaster damaged fixed, just need to do some sanding and a nice fresh coat of paint and then it’s all complete.
The front facade is now all rendered and what a big difference render makes, the house looks amazing and a different house all together.
Our electrician finally came over on the weekend and installed all extra power points and all the internal lighting and flood lights.
Portico is all tiled, which means we can make a start on the driveway, as the tiles will sit flush with the concrete. We’re off today to have a look at what colour and style of exposed aggregate we want for a driveway. We also have to change the design of the driveway as I noticed yesterday when I parked in the proposed driveway it wasn’t wide enough for two cars to park.
Still waiting for the Bonaire add-on inverter Air Con to be released onto the market so it can be installed. I was told is was going to be released at the start of October, so I rang the supplier last week and they don't even know when it will be released, Not Happy. Tiles should of arrived this week, but there was a 2 week shipping delay, so fingers crossed by the end of the month, once I get the confirmation that they have arrived we’ll book in our tiler. Driveway, Front garden, Back yard, Carpet, Curtains, Feature walls and anything else that has skipped my mind, still to be done.
Will post pictures soon I promise!
August 31, 2010
44th Week We've found the right Tile
After months of searching drive all over Melbourne and trying to find a tile which wouldn't blowout our budget, we finally found the tile we both liked and most of all suited the house and colour scheme we are going for. It should look good once it's laid.
This tile will we laid in the, Entry, Lounge, Kitchen, Dinning, Family and Hall way.
Milan Black 600mm x 600mm
This tile will we laid in the, Entry, Lounge, Kitchen, Dinning, Family and Hall way.
Milan Black 600mm x 600mm
August 30, 2010
44th Week Progressing Well
Tiles ordered, 6-8 week waiting period, early November.
Laundry Cupboard & WIR booked in for early September.
Ducted Heating installed, add-on ducted cooling early October (waiting for new Bonaire model to be released).
Lighting ordered, 2 week waiting period, installation mid September, including the rest of the electrical works.
Fence built along two boundaries last week, just waiting for our neighbour to our left give the go ahead to build the fence.
Hopefully the weather starts to improve and stops raining so we can make a starting on the front garden and back yard.
Laundry Cupboard & WIR booked in for early September.
Ducted Heating installed, add-on ducted cooling early October (waiting for new Bonaire model to be released).
Lighting ordered, 2 week waiting period, installation mid September, including the rest of the electrical works.
Fence built along two boundaries last week, just waiting for our neighbour to our left give the go ahead to build the fence.
Hopefully the weather starts to improve and stops raining so we can make a starting on the front garden and back yard.
August 11, 2010
41st Week Post-Handover
Since handover, we have been driving around Melbourne looking for tiles. I can’t believe how hard it is to choose tiles. We are looking for a 600 x 600 semi-polished Charcoal/Dark Grey porcelain tile. At the moment the house has all these samples of different colour tiles scattered around the house and we are constantly moving tiles around to see what they look like in different rooms and shades.
We also have done some back breaking work with trying to level the ground outside (human bobcat). The two sides of the house are done just the back and front left to do. Having wet rainy weather doesn’t help as it makes it twice as hard.
We also had a few quotes to fence off our block and we’ve had quotes ranging from $64m to $47m. It feels logical to go for the cheapest but I want a good fence that will last, so in the coming days I’ll be driving around the suburbs of Melbourne checking out the completed jobs of the fence companies before we choose. Hopefully within the coming weeks we can fence off our block.
We also have done some back breaking work with trying to level the ground outside (human bobcat). The two sides of the house are done just the back and front left to do. Having wet rainy weather doesn’t help as it makes it twice as hard.
We also had a few quotes to fence off our block and we’ve had quotes ranging from $64m to $47m. It feels logical to go for the cheapest but I want a good fence that will last, so in the coming days I’ll be driving around the suburbs of Melbourne checking out the completed jobs of the fence companies before we choose. Hopefully within the coming weeks we can fence off our block.
August 2, 2010
Day 278 Handover
We finally have the keys to our brand new house.
Wow what a roller coaster of a ride building a new house, after 278 days from site start we have handover and the keys to our brand new house.
Reality still hasn’t sunken in yet as our build dragged on for 9mths and just exhausted the both of us.
Now the fun begins in chasing all the jobs that need to be done, as we now have the keys.
Wow what a roller coaster of a ride building a new house, after 278 days from site start we have handover and the keys to our brand new house.
Reality still hasn’t sunken in yet as our build dragged on for 9mths and just exhausted the both of us.
Now the fun begins in chasing all the jobs that need to be done, as we now have the keys.
July 28, 2010
38th Week Handover Next Week
It has finally come, Handover 2/8/10, we are finally getting the keys to our new home, 9mths in the making.
Both parties have come up with a mutual agreement on all issues regarding our build.
My partner and I are both very excited and we have both gone into over drive mode in chasing up all works which are going to be done after handover.
Both parties have come up with a mutual agreement on all issues regarding our build.
My partner and I are both very excited and we have both gone into over drive mode in chasing up all works which are going to be done after handover.
July 14, 2010
37th Week Progress
After our first inspection we gave a copy of the report to the builder so he could fix all the defects found.
We had our second inspection last Wednesday and without surprise, there were still outstanding defects still needing to be fixed from our inspector’s first inspection report.
This is what really upset my partner and me; it took nearly a month after the first PCI to hear back from the builder to say that all defects on the report are now fixed. Does he think we are stupid, we could clearly tell that nothing was done on the outside of the house and he insisted that everything possible was done and it was time to do handover. This was the reason why we had to get our inspector in to do a follow-up inspection.
After our second PCI, we gave another copy of the report to our SS and this time a copy to his manager and our CSO, so they can see where we are coming from and the reason why we are not settling.
I went passed the house yesterday and saw progress, the patches of mortar which stood out from the road, had been blended in and not as noticeable.
The bricks at the front of the house still have water stains on them and they need to be fixed before handover. If they are not I will only do handover with the General Manager on site and if he/she would accepts that the status of my house is at a display house quality? Only then I’ll settle and with a letter from our solicitor.
I might be harsh but we have given the builder all the time in the world, without harassing them to build the house, now 37 weeks later and still haven’t got handover.
We saw the builders display house and all we want is a house good enough to be like a display house, is that really too much to ask??
We had our second inspection last Wednesday and without surprise, there were still outstanding defects still needing to be fixed from our inspector’s first inspection report.
This is what really upset my partner and me; it took nearly a month after the first PCI to hear back from the builder to say that all defects on the report are now fixed. Does he think we are stupid, we could clearly tell that nothing was done on the outside of the house and he insisted that everything possible was done and it was time to do handover. This was the reason why we had to get our inspector in to do a follow-up inspection.
After our second PCI, we gave another copy of the report to our SS and this time a copy to his manager and our CSO, so they can see where we are coming from and the reason why we are not settling.
I went passed the house yesterday and saw progress, the patches of mortar which stood out from the road, had been blended in and not as noticeable.
The bricks at the front of the house still have water stains on them and they need to be fixed before handover. If they are not I will only do handover with the General Manager on site and if he/she would accepts that the status of my house is at a display house quality? Only then I’ll settle and with a letter from our solicitor.
I might be harsh but we have given the builder all the time in the world, without harassing them to build the house, now 37 weeks later and still haven’t got handover.
We saw the builders display house and all we want is a house good enough to be like a display house, is that really too much to ask??
July 6, 2010
36th Week Finally Second PCI inspection
Metricon expect us to just handover final payment because on their system the house is complete, this shows they have a lack of communication amongst themselves as I informed my SS last week that we are not happy with the bricks and not to ask for handover or issue final invoice until defects are fixed.
Since this conversation with our SS, Metricon has now sent a us two invoices one last week that afternoon after I spoken to my SS and another this week asking for final payment and saying we have no right to be holding payment as house is complete, this is without us having a second inspection to see if all defects have been rectified.
Finally we are having our second inspection 36 days after the first PCI.
We’ve had to get our independent inspector in to do a follow-up inspection as we feel the builder hasn’t completed all points from our inspectors’ first inspection report, with the most noticeable defects are the bricks and also to check if all the defects we marked with red dots have been fixed.
I have no problem with giving the builder there money, but it looks like they have a problem with fixing our house. We want our house, but only when all defects are fixed, surely this isn't to much to ask for.
Since this conversation with our SS, Metricon has now sent a us two invoices one last week that afternoon after I spoken to my SS and another this week asking for final payment and saying we have no right to be holding payment as house is complete, this is without us having a second inspection to see if all defects have been rectified.
Finally we are having our second inspection 36 days after the first PCI.
We’ve had to get our independent inspector in to do a follow-up inspection as we feel the builder hasn’t completed all points from our inspectors’ first inspection report, with the most noticeable defects are the bricks and also to check if all the defects we marked with red dots have been fixed.
I have no problem with giving the builder there money, but it looks like they have a problem with fixing our house. We want our house, but only when all defects are fixed, surely this isn't to much to ask for.
June 16, 2010
33rd Week Spotted a Desgin Fault
This is what I would call a design fault as the gutter system is clearly defective with the facade.
How will the builder fix this problem so the water does not overflow down the bricks and do more damage.
I emailed this picture to my SS and I hope he can come up with a solution that will fix this problem.
Compensation or Rendering or Stackstone won't stop the water from running down the bricks. This will have to be fixed before handover.
How will the builder fix this problem so the water does not overflow down the bricks and do more damage.
I emailed this picture to my SS and I hope he can come up with a solution that will fix this problem.
Compensation or Rendering or Stackstone won't stop the water from running down the bricks. This will have to be fixed before handover.
June 1, 2010
31st Week PCI inspection
We had our inspection today 1/6 @ 11am and it looks like the inside of the house has the chickenpox, there are red dots everywhere, in every room and wall.
My partner and I combed every centermeter of every wall, it took just under 3hrs to inspect the inside.
We almost went through 2 rolls of red dots, with our SS calling me hawk eye as I was finding all these small things which you really had to look for and also found a few things questionable. It pays to read other peoples posts on building fourms and blogs.
We also had our own independant inspector as well and he inspected the outside and also the inside of the house. I recommend people to get themselves a inspector at least for the final inspection, it's money well spent and it gives you the peace of mind.
There are quite a few things which the builder has to fix from what I could gather after a short chat with our inspector, as he found quite a few minor things but we just have to wait for his report, which our SS will get a copy of.
With all these errors, who knows when handover will be, it mostly cosmetic.
We took plenty of pictures today nearly every room.
Enjoy the pictures!!!
My partner and I combed every centermeter of every wall, it took just under 3hrs to inspect the inside.
We almost went through 2 rolls of red dots, with our SS calling me hawk eye as I was finding all these small things which you really had to look for and also found a few things questionable. It pays to read other peoples posts on building fourms and blogs.
We also had our own independant inspector as well and he inspected the outside and also the inside of the house. I recommend people to get themselves a inspector at least for the final inspection, it's money well spent and it gives you the peace of mind.
There are quite a few things which the builder has to fix from what I could gather after a short chat with our inspector, as he found quite a few minor things but we just have to wait for his report, which our SS will get a copy of.
With all these errors, who knows when handover will be, it mostly cosmetic.
We took plenty of pictures today nearly every room.
Enjoy the pictures!!!
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