Uneven to your eyes too??

Hmmmmm, a little uneven, I think. Can't wait to meet Matt on site next week to check out all the other hardware items that have been installed since my last visit.

Update on laundry shelving error

Half of the laundry cupboard shelving

Well, it has been an 'exciting' few days in my neck of the woods. I received a Building Variation from EBH to delete 1/4 of the shelving that was erroneously installed. (You may remember, we had it deleted from the contract so we could do a custom fitout to suit our needs) Imagine my surprise when we were charged nearly $700 for the privilege of taking some of it out and adding an end panel in. Surprise was the nice word for it. No explanation via phone call, just an email with a $700 price tag. I asked for clarification  - if I delete the entire amount of shelving, would I be charged anything? NO was the answer! So essentially, I was either being charged $700 for ONE panel of melamine or EBH were trying to recoup the costs of their mistake by charging me for the shelving. A very sour taste has been left in my mouth on this one even though yes, I am getting free shelving (not quite what I want though). After asking a few questions, the Estimating Department has flipped their decision and there will be no charges to cut out 1/4 of the shelving. Yet another mistake, this time not handled well.

On a brighter note, the Temporary Supervisor rang for a chat today - lovely guy. Matt gave me a rundown on what is being done currently and about to happen with the house. The main floor tiles have been delayed further and will now commence early next week. The bath wall mixers will be changed over to the basin wall mixers a little later when the plumbers need to return for something else. Matt reassured me that work will continue smoothly in Troy's absence and will be scheduled ahead for Troy's return. I will try to meet up with him at the house on Monday morning sometime to have another look/see. Before then, I want to go through the contract to see if there is anything we added or deleted, check door handles, towel rails/rings etc, outside taps etc.

And he is OFF!

On holidays! I wish him all the sun and sand that he can get as he deserves a good rest. Thanks Troy for all your hard work at keeping our job moving along. I am sure when he sees kitchen handles or basin mixers in Bali, he will think of those 2 annoying blondes Kerith & AJ back in Sydney LOL.

I received a phone call from DiLorenzo yesterday updating me on my delayed main floor tiles. They will arrive in Melbourne on Tuesday and be airfreighted up ASAP. The tilers will be ready to lay as soon as they arrive, I was promised.

Troy sent me a parting screenshot this morning with changes due to the delay in tiles. He mentioned the other rectification works that are scheduled to occur in his absence of 3 weeks.

"I have scheduled works as per the screenshot below. Other works to occur include- tiling behind rangehood, rectifying damaged tile to ensuite shower, rectification works to robes and treatment to isolated staining on bricks. I have am expecting to receive an answer on shortening the shelving to the linen and have left the vanity basin mixer query with Rania." 

So exciting!

Wow! The house is looking fantastic. Love, love, love it even without being cleaned or flooring in. We discovered a few issues to fix up.
* The laundry cupboards have been fitted out with shelving when we have put it in the contract to delete it all. The shelving installed is fine though they have not left us anywhere to store ironing board, brooms, mops etc. Troy is going to delete 1/4 of the shelving for that purpose.
* The vanities have incorrect mixers installed. Thanks to AJ for picking that up immediately. They are far too long and, in fact, are bath mixers.
* There is a motion sensor for my WIR missing.

Enjoy the photos.

Powder room vanity

Alarm pad (!)

Study/guest

Formal lounge

Stairs with step lights added

Undermount sink with mixer/vegie spray

Family room

Hallway to front door

My beautiful linen cupboard

Main bathroom (incorrect mixer)

Ensuite bathroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ensuite shower

Ensuite bath

Pantry

Pantry

Half the laundry cupboard

Other half

Alfresco fans

Site meeting today

Looking forward to a site meeting with Troy today before he goes on annual leave. Since I have last been to the house we have had electrical fitoff, plumbing fitoff, aircon installed, pantry & linen cupboard fitout and internal painting finished. It may even look a little bit like a home today. Camera ready......

Screenshot

Getting closer and closer to the end......

Hmmm....more wardrobes

But first I'll give you a photo of the house from this week, taken with my phone....

Yesterday I received a Building Contract Variation from my CSA for the amendments to be made as already discussed with Alan from HOG. I had already viewed it on my phone earlier in the day and printed it off when I got home ready to sign, scan and email back. As I signed it, I noticed a line in the NOTES section "10 calendar days will be added to your construction time due to these variations....". No way! An error on their behalf and I am penalised 2 weeks for it?? It wasn't going to happen. I might even offer to accept settlement with the wardrobes unfinished if I needed to meet in the middle but there was little chance of 2 weeks being slapped on the contract for giving wardrobes some extra height.
The lovely Bev rang me today, and amongst chatting about everything else under the sun, she took responsibility for the note on the BCV and apologised. She was asked how long it would take to fix it up, said about 2 weeks but didn't expect it to be added to the contract time by the other staff member. Bev said she should have been a little clearer in her answer. All forgiven here ;-)

And now for another update

Another phone call from Alan (HOG) this afternoon with a solution providing it can be done structurally. In consultation with Giovis from Wardrobe World, Alan is investigating the possibility of making the doors of the wardrobe higher. This would mean taking the architrave off, cutting the hole bigger, ordering new doors. Alan will now investigate with EBH and raise a variation. HOG are responsible for the cost of the error.
Interestingly, I also had a call from Cooks Plumbing today regarding some feedback posted in HomeOne forums. The negative feedback was mistakenly attributed to me but it was reassuring that HOG and EBH are striving to better their customer service.

Update post on wardrobe & splashback

I received a phone call today from the owner of HOG, Alan. A lovely guy and very easy to chat to. He was keen to work out a solution to THEIR problem (he stressed this LOL). Alan is going to come up with a sketch of a possible solution using melamine only in conjunction with Wardrobe World or some other company who may complete the reachins (Fab Kitchens or Stegbar) Alan thinks the sliding doors we added may be the issue though Giovis, the installer did not think so when I spoke with him. I will leave it in Alan's capable hands.
I also spoke to him regarding the splashback issue (tiling not going up to the bulkhead behind the rangehood) I mentioned a checklist for consultants of items to suggest/discuss would be a beneficial tool to ensure consistency across clients/consultants. Alan has offered to raise a Building Variation to get the splashback tiled at cost price - I will be happy to sign that one off. Thankyou HOG.

Wardrobe update

I spent most of the morning out on site today, either waiting for someone or meeting with someone. Troy and I had a chat in the house whilst we waited for Wardrobe World who were running quite late.
We looked at the kitchen splashback. After looking at another blog, I was told that tiling behind the rangehood is not standard. We need to ask for it. Personally, I think it looks incomplete. When overhead cupboards are requested, a quick question of 'do you wish to extend your splashback?" should not be too hard?! Or even at the DiLorenzo appointment when you select the tiles for the splashback. Troy is going to investigate options for me.
I met with Giovis and discussed some additions to our wardrobes (extra drawers and shoe racks). Payment to be made directly to him for that.
Giovis ran through the issue with me that he is experiencing a little of late. The reachin wardrobes selected (melamine shelves) need to have a depth of 600mm or a door height of more than 2200mm. It is clearly stated on the document that HOG have but it is not being addressed when selections are done. My option is to go with wire shelving with some melamine but this is not acceptable to me when I have deleted wire shelving throughout the house and paid for a premium product. Troy is going to talk to Customer Service to see what our other options are. Possibly another company can supply the reach-ins.

Problematic wardrobes it seems

This morning I finally heard from Giovis the rep from Wardrobe World. I have put in phone calls and many emails as I wish to discuss adding in some more drawers to each wardrobe - 2 is not enough for our needs. Well, unbeknownst to us, there has been a lot of discussion behind the scenes over the last month as this wardrobe design does not fit in our 3 reach-in wardrobes. Not sure how this happened as this is the only design we were offered AND our wardrobes are standard apart from the sliding doors. It seems no-one is accepting responsibility, no-one has informed us and it has been left to the installer to work out an acceptable solution with us the client. Not sure how this won't fit into the wardrobes but I will find out when I meet him on site on Monday at 11am to discuss our options.

How is it that I have not been contacted about this until a month later and not by Eden brae????

GUEST POST from re-do my space

Hello EB followers this is AJ from re-do my space!!
Today I'm going to update you with what's been going on with the decorating side of things for the house.
The time has finally come to start putting together the right mix of furniture and accessories, so it's all very exciting. Before I do, let me take you
back a little to how we got to where we are today.

The lovely Kerith had asked some time before demolition if I'd help put together the finishes and furnishings for their new home. I was more than happy to offer
my assistance to help bring their home to life. When I start with a client I need to get an idea of what they like. Favourite colours, looks, textures etc.
I have always believed a home needs to hold with the things that THEY love and treasure and be a place the whole family can relax and enjoy.
Of course I guided Kerith and gave her choices but at the end of the day it needs to suit their style as whole family.
I usually love working with what people already own but in Kerith's case she has had her exisiting furniture for so long that she wants a fresh start in their new place.
Some items have great potential so we are going to revamp them and mix them in with the new.

I remember our first meeting when we picked all the finishes was hilarious!!! It all started with the toilet ………….
When we saw that toilet we looked at each other, chuckled, popped a Mintie in our mouths and said to each other "this is going to be a looonnnng day".
Some things I wasn't prepared to back down on and neither was Kerith. So we tried to meet in the middle most times and we knew that with every change meant
more $$$ so we compromised.

This is the first picture that Kerith gave me. She liked the tones and the colours and this is where I started from.

 

This is where we are heading

 

My aim is to give the house a lighter feel whilst still incorporating Kerith's love of darker finishes.  I'm bringing in some
Turquoise blue that Kerith also liked so we create a lovely flow inside and out. It will be a work in progress and a finished home takes time.
A well thought out home cannot be rushed so I recommend doing it in stages. Let one piece at a time compliment the other and it will all melt together.

Actually after talking about having a lovely flow I better go as I need to follow up with Kerith what colour the pool is??

Thanks for taking the time to read today and if you have any questions please fire away. See you soon with some more updates.

AJ

 

 

Landscaping

 

Above you will find our landscaping scope of works carefully prepared by Tim of Hayward Landscaping. He cannot be faulted for the time, effort & sleepless nights that have been poured into the job already. Tim has worked hard to reduce costs yet ensuring that we have a design we will be happy with in the long term and one that meets all the standards that the private certifier will be happy with too. The work will take approximately 2 months, depending on weather. Let me know if you have any questions about the work above.

Scaffolding gone

Pretty hard to blog anything at the moment being restricted to this side of the fence. Stackstone is finished and the scaffolding has gone along with the portaloo. Not sure how the tradies are planning on relieving themselves as we have no toilets or plumbing.

Inside, the wet area tiling has finished and the painting has started. Not sure where they have gone but there has been no painting for 2 days now. 

Behind the scenes, I have been selecting furniture pieces with re-do my space's help and looking at landscape design. I will post more on those aspects of the build very soon.

Next screenshot

I received an email from Troy this morning which included this screenshot of the program for the next 2 weeks. Looks like a lot of it depends on how the painters are going.

Email from Troy.....

"Another good week on site. Tiling to wet areas complete and painting has commenced. We did have a bit of a hiccup with the stone tops to the wet areas having to be replaced because a hole was drilled behind the basins when the taps are wall mounted. They were replaced pretty quick and didn’t hold up progress though.
 Did have a complaint from a neighbour re rubbish on site. I explained our policy and procedure regarding rubbish. I had previously scheduled a Yard clean which will occur today. I explained to to the neighbour that we have milestones when rubbish would be removed and it is impractical to have the rubbish removed on a weekly schedule. I also asked if there was any rubbish outside of the site, to which she said “no”. She was purely concerned with the volume of rubbish on site. Just thought I would give you the heads up on this."

Sounds like Troy dealt with the issue. The neighbour is going to have to deal with more building on the other side of her house when it gets developed soon.