week 34: And it still continues............

And so, the never ending process of building is still continuing.

Week 34 - did our walk through and pointed out things that need to be fixed. Extremely unhappy with the paintwork as it looks like a five year old picked up a paint brush and painted everything carelessly. Our list was the below

1. Benchtop Markings need to be buffed.
2. Bottom of the doors need to be sanded and painted.
3. All blue taped areas need to be puttied and painted or sanded and painted.
4. Final clean needs to be done
5. Tile near the stairwell needs to be fixed.
6. Tiles in the main bathroom window sill needs to be laid.

Luckily, it was nothing structural and all cosmetic stuff that needed to be fixed. Anyways, our SS said that he would have the painters back to fix all the touch ups. (this was the day after our walk through). So we decided to head over to the house after the painter had finished and check it out. Needless to say - highly disappointed again. Walked in and looked up at the ceiling to find a huge blister mark in the paint near the down light. Anyways, I don't want to start because then I won't stop.

There has been other things that have been completed on site:

1. Gas installation.
2. Air-conditioning unit installed.

Our driveway is still to be poured - is actually due to be poured today however, they stuffed this up also. It was meant to be a double car driveway and they had only formed it up for a single. Over the weekend when we went to visit, it was still single so I hope they don't stuff it up and pour as the framework is now. They should have gone there to form up before the concreter goes there today but hey, I am not a tradie what do I know right......

SIGH feels like this is never ending and that we will never be getting our keys.

Oh and as per usual, post our walk through, they were quick to send the invoice!

Won't be paying until I am completely happy with the work done on the house, end of story.

Apparently, we are set to have handover on the 24th.. but like I said, I won't be accepting until all my problems with the place are put to rest.

Week 33: Walkthrough Date Finalised

Our walk through date has been finalised.

Thursday 13th September @ 3.00pm (which is the end of week 34)

Whats been completed up until now: 

1. Rails for bathrooms.
2. Rest of the light switches and power points need to be covered.
3. Tiles in ensuite need to be fixed by tiler.
4. Door locks.
5. Laundry tub to go in
6. Laundry shoot needs to be cut out.
7. Linen & Walk in Robe shelving.
8. Aircon Unit.
9. House Clean.
10. Driveway.
11. Carpet.

Still waiting on a few things to be completed however don't think it will take as long as I thought. Driveway form work has been completed ready for pouring. Sadly due to the weather on Friday they could not pour. So hoping it will be done today!

Assuming the finishing touches like carpet etc will be done before walk through this week.

Cannot wait to go through the house with a fine tooth comb and hopefully have a date of handover soon after.

This weekend was a very busy weekend for us as we arranged all of our final things that needed to be purchased like our Fridge, our mattress and we also ended up buying a recliner for upstairs lounge room as hubby really wanted one for his SPORTS watching days at home.

We have so many things to do after handover that I am almost dizzy just thinking about it.

The list as it stands today:

1. Concrete for the granny flat pathway
2. Kitchen in the granny flat (probably a flat pack)
3. Fences for our puppy
4. Landscaping
5. Brick Fence to be completed from hubby
6. Pool build commences
7. Wardrobe for the upstairs dressing room

That's about all I can think of at the moment.. 

Week 32: Site clean......

So, this week don't think much happened on site as we have not been in contact with our supervisor.

Hubby went to head office and spoke to some people to check on what was happening and apparently there are a few tradies who have to go back to patch things up. Not sure why we weren't really notified but whatever, like I said I am quite over it at this stage.

So, we went passed the house to see what was going on and the only thing we were able to see was that there has been a site clean up done, the carpenter was back to patch the fronts of the doors with small wood panels (not sure what the technical term is)..... and I think that is about it.

So, trying to forget the drama's with the house, we decided to go shopping. First we started at pool furnishings, then pavers and ended up in homeart shopping for recliners cause hubby wants them upstairs. Didn't really find many that we liked besides one in Harvey Norman which was grey and nice fabric that we both liked - didn't get a photo of it.

Anyways, below are some photos we got from the pool tiles, pavers to FIREPLACES.

Yes, we are thinking of doing a fireplace after we move in. Most likely not straight away as winter has now ended. I also saw an amazing room divider that I could use in the front room to match all our furniture!

Week 30: Garage Door, Water unit and Glass Blocks

This week we are 100% through contract time. The builder says they always allow 3 weeks after contract date for public holidays, wind days and rain days. Whatever. Just cannot wait for this to end so we can move in!

Anyways, this week saw the completion of the below:

- Garage Door
- Painting
- Water Unit
- Glass Blocks for Granny Flat (somewhat). So this is a little bit of a tricky one, they went to put the glass blocks in and found it didn't fit so, they left it as is. No word from Supervisor....... nothing.

Cannot wait for this to end!

So hopefully the following week will see the below completed:

- Rails for bathrooms
- Door Locks
- Laundry Tub
- Laundry Shoot Cut out
- Linen/Pantry and Wardrobe Shelving
- Splashback
- Driveway
- Carpet

SS says handover by next week but I don't see how!?
Also another issue, we thought we selected white for the cladding............ to match the garage door...... guess I'll have to double check the paperwork.

Week 29: Shower Screens, Mirrors, Alarm & Main Floor Tiling

Week 29 saw most things being done which was kinda taking ages to do.

The below are what has been completed: 

- Shower Screens
- Mirrors
- Alarm System
- Ducted Vacuum Fit out
- Patching for Final Coat of Paint
- Main floor tiling
- Alfresco Tiling done
- Feature Tiling done

Still to be completed: 

- Rails for Bathrooms
- Door Locks
- Garage Door
- Laundry tub to go in
- Laundry shoot still to be cut out
- Electrical - some light switches still need to be done
- Shelving in pantry/linen/wardrobes
- Final coat of Paint
- Glass blocks in Granny Flat
- Carpet
- Driveway
- Kitchen Splash back

I feel like there is still so much to do!
Contacted our SS today and he said he has started our handover procedure and will contact us as soon as he knows of a handover date. As per usual.... not wanting to commit to a date.

Below are some photos!

Upstairs Main Shower

Alfresco

Leisure Tiling

Alfresco

 

Porch

Alfresco Tiles & Feature

Ensuite Shower

Ensuite

Upstairs Main Bath

Porch Feature Tiles

Week 26.1 - Bathrooms Completed & Other Bits

End of week 26 saw the below all being completed or started:

-          Wall tiles complete.

-          Benchtops in for the kitchen.

-          Painting started

-          Niches done with mosaics

-          Benchtops in bathroom complete

-          Sinks on in the bathroom

-          Kitchen sink went in

-          Painting started

-          Cupboard doors painted

-          Window architraves painted

-          Stairwell gypbrocked

-          Mosaic tiles in bathroom complete

-          Air vent cutouts done

-          Power point cutouts done

Also, more good news is that our SS called and said we may be able to have walk through in 4 weeks!

We are beyond excited at this point. Cannot believe this is actually happening and that we may be in our brand new home next month! 

Some photos below :) 

Shower Niche Mosaic Tiles

Vanity tops and sink

ensuite Shower

Ensuite Vanity

Air vent cutouts

Leisure Room Electrical Cutout

Kitchen Sink

Kitchen Benchtops

Powder Room

Laundry

Single Toilet Upstairs

Main Bath Upstairs Shower

Week 25: Bathroom Tiling Started & Other Bits

So, end of week 25 saw quite a bit of work completed which was amazing news to my ears!

- Bathroom floor tiling completed
- Bathroom vanities complete.
- All sliding doors and internal doors in as well as cupboard doors.
- Mosaic tiles were laid on the floor ready to be laid behind the sinks and inside the niches.
- Architraves finished.

Also, we are excited to say we finally went to Beacon Lighting and chose pendants for our dining room, alfresco and stairwell. All up this cost us about $800.00. Also deciding if we would like Sean their electrician to fit them for us as if we decide this, we would receive an extra year warranty on our alfresco fan/light. Something to think about I guess....

On another note, the only thing I packed this weekend was my printer. We ended up purchasing one of those internet dongle things (because we don't currently have internet at our place) and we ended up watching 13 reasons why on Netflix all weekend which was probably one of the best weekends I had in a while.

Anywho, we are now 4 weeks from contract date. Lets see what else is in store for the forthcoming days/weeks.

Week 23: WE HAVE STAIRS!

Can I get a hallelujah!

It is about time that we got our stairs!

Decided to do a drive by to the house on Sunday last week as our SS did not call us for an update. Went there and found that they had installed our stairs. Walkeda round the home as per usual to see if there was anything else that was different and they had made little cuts inside the gyprock as to where they would cut out the circles for the light fixtures.

Our doors were also delivered! So, without speaking to our SS I am going to ASSUME that the doors should be going on this week, and the electrical cut outs should be happening also.

Di Lorenzo had notified us to let us know that the tiles we chose for our bathroom were out of stock which was a great big bummer but we got over it and chose new ones. The lady who served me at Di Lorenzo also told me that our site was released for tiling mid July which I am hoping by then we will have our kitchen and bathroom deliveries.

It's getting close now and I can taste it!

Really just want to move innnnnnnn

Week 16: Slow Week

More eaves deliveries for the ground floor. Other than that, don't think much was done on site....

Update

Spoke to our SS yesterday and now we have a comprehensive list of what is booked in for when - so we are hoping we can stick to this. The SS also mentioned that PCI will most likely be mid to late August.

Forecast:

Week 18: Cladding to be completed
Week 19: Electrical Wiring Rough in
Week 20: Gyprock
Week 21: Stairs

Then I am assuming we will hopefully be at lockup stage..

On the other hand, today I was going through furniture websites for 'fun' and I came across a great deal for a pair of sofas that I really liked! They offered to do 20% deposit for a forward order so they can order this when its time to move in to our brand new home!

Fingers crossed all goes well for us and we can be at lockup stage by mid June.

AND fingers crossed time will go by quickly so I wont have to think about it much longer.

Frustration Central

Okay, so why does building always have to be so damn hard? Organisation is key don't you think?

I am just going to use this place as a venting point because I feel like no one else I speak to understands my frustration. It has been almost 17 weeks since we have started on site and all the blogs I read (yes I know I shouldn't be comparing my build to others) are always done or completed within 6 months or fewer. I just find it ridiculous that just because supervisors were changed that now everything else has to go to sh!t. The lower roofs are apparently being completed this week however the SS is reluctant to say what else he has planned for the up coming week/s. This frustrates me to my core.

If you know what comes next, organise the tradies. if that tradie cant make it, organise someone else that can come and do something else! It really not that difficult. I feel like I would feel so much better if this issue was addressed with all builders.

Organise your days/weeks in advanced and if you do changeover SS, run through the build with the newbie and tell them what was planned next! BETTER YET, request head office to create a spreadsheet or a document that is accessible online by both the builder, the SS and me so every time it is updated or changed, I will be notified. Would this not cut down frustration? Would this not cut down so many calls to the SS from individuals that are building?

I feel like the building industry is just so behind in everything they do. Times are changing and this boom is demanding new ways of thinking and new ways of organising. Sure, more organising is more work but hey, if you can turn over double the amount of houses you do in a year due to better organisation and better ways of thinking, would this not benefit you in the long run?

EUGH!

I'm just frustrated that we have been building for this long and still have not started on internals. Just completely ANNOYED.

I think I may need to take a meditation class until the finish of our build otherwise I'll just lose my mind.

Week 13: Down Pipes

This week, the down pipes and gutters were completed on the second story. Hoping that the cladding will be done next week so that we can move on to the next stage! Just want to start on the inside of the home because I know for a fact that is the longest stage which takes forever.

Just want to move in already - can time just fly past please!

Took some snaps of the whole house and the granny flat!

Week 11: Fascia & Gutter

This week was a bit slow as the fascia and gutter went in, no photos as I have been super busy with work and my own business that there have literally been no time between then and now for me to visit the block! Next week the roof should be going on. Yay!

Week 10: Second Story Brickwork Completed

Hubby went to complete the second story brickwork this week and it looks so great!

Week 11 will be the completion of the eaves, cladding and roof. We are hoping the roof will be going on by the end of the week.

Scaffolding is scheduled to come down end of April so all things upstairs need to be completed before then.