Mud glorious mud!

This is a photo of me outside my front door yesterday...well almost! Oh my, I wish someone was with me and was able to take some video footage to share with you all. I decided to take another load to the house and started to wade through the deceptively OK area of dirt near the front door. I was wearing thongs having recently thrown my gumboots out due to low usage. I took one step into the dirt and immediately sunk low to above my ankle. I very nearly lost balance and topple head first into the mud. I managed to extract my leg only to leave my thong behind. Not wanting to lose my precious $5 thongs, I stuck my arm into the abyss to reclaim the footwear. I decided to change direction and head towards the laundry door on the side of the house. The very small, slippery, muddy walkway made me land awkwardly onto the newly formed concrete retaining wall. Picked myself back up again with 3 limbs completely muddied and get into the house. I hoisted myself onto the laundry bench and twist around to place my feet into the sink. I say a quick THANKYOU prayer for the choice of a detachable spray nozzle, only to find that we have virtually no water. I do the best I can to clean up, feeling fairly miserable about the state of our yard.
In fact, I then go into research mode to try and work out what we are going to do for the official moving day on Friday. Lots of great ideas from friends. I even lost sleep over it last night - it was stressing me. MDF, pallets, cardboard, astroturf, gravel etc. I received a welcome call from Tim, from Hayward Landscapes, today following an email from me asking for ideas. Tim said he would organize a load of gravel for the driveway and some pallets to make a bridge to the front door. Thank you, Tim! Now to organize the inside to prevent further dirtiness - plastic galore to be purchased to protect carpet, tiles and glass balustrading.

And the water pressure? Upon receiving my plea for help, Troy sent an email asking some questions like, hot water too? all taps inside & out? when was it noticed? etc. I had mentioned it to Tim this morning. When he drove past the house, he stopped to check the water meter and found the tap had been turned off! No need for the plumber to make another visit and I provided a few laughs for Bev, the Customer Service Manager when she found out. I think we are going to have a few issues like this being on a 'normal' street as opposed to our private access road off a cul-de-sac. We also found our letterbox ripped out of the ground on Sunday morning.

Bank cheque

I am the amazed holder of a CBA bank cheque. This is our final payment to Eden Brae and gets handed over to them on a visit to the office next Monday when we pick up the keys. Fortunately the last payment was much easier than the very first payment - probably the most stressful time of the build. We sent off the invoice, a valuer came to the property, we picked up the bank cheque....ready for Monday. As a word of warning, some banks require other documentation (proof of insurance, interim occupancy certificate etc) but CBA only required the valuation.

Today was the final electrical fitoff - outside lights, appliances, aircon unit/control panel, doorbell, hot water service. They were still hard at work at 5pm when I turned up for some photos. I was able to get a riveting photo of the aircon & gas hot water service ;-)

 

I received a call today from Troy informing me that Baumatic (supplier of appliances) are going through some financial difficulties at the moment and therefore there are some issues with supply. The incorrect oven was delivered today (to be rectified) but our dishwasher could not be supplied. Troy offered us a Venini dishwasher which we accepted to get us over the line for Monday. From what I hear Baumatic and Venini are pretty much as bad as each other!
Tomorrow will see the cleaners come through again for a final clean before settlement and Friday, the site will be cleaned ready for the big day on Monday.

We have a date...

....with Eden Brae Homes to make our final payment and collect our keys.

MONDAY OCTOBER 21 in the morning

A little disappointed that it couldn't be Friday afternoon to give us the weekend to 'play' in it. It probably comes down to availability to meet onsite too.

The last week has been full steam ahead with PCI, purchasing decorating items, loan settlement, insurances, tying up loose ends and creating other loose ends, on top of being sick and looking after other sick family members. A few more dates have been booked in to the schedule  - Shutter/blinds installation October 15 and appliance installation on October 16.

I received an email this morning from EBH informing me that our cooker is out of stock but that they are happy to offer us an upgrade. A Google search revealed nothing on this upgraded cooker so I rang Baumatic in VIC just to ensure we were getting at least a similar product. This cooker has extra capacity and triple rather than double glazed door. I approved the upgrade!

The private certifier has completed his inspection for the occupancy certificates. We have some items that need to be completed

 FOR INTERIM OCCUPATION CERTIFICATE
 1.       Provide a copy of the engineers certificate for glass balustrades confirming that the design complies with AS1170.1 & AS1288-2005
2.       Submit compliance certificates
3.       Site Cleanup
 FOR FINAL OCCUPATION CERTIFICATE

 1.       Comply with condition 23 with reference to retaining walls
2.       Comply with condition 21 with reference to vehicular crossing
3.       Comply with condition 20 with reference to driveway installation
4.       Repair/Reinstate damaged footpath 

None of these items seem to be an issue so the certificates should be fairly easy to access.

HnK Ryan has completed their re-inspection which marries up fairly nicely with our PCI inspection report. Troy has indicated that most items identified by the independent inspectors will be fixed anyway but I will use this report as the basis for our 90 day maintenance inspection.

PCI completed

Today seemed to go remarkably smoothly despite feeling under the weather with a virus. I had spent the previous 24 hours in bed. I went armed with checklists for each & every room, a torch, charger to test power points, cloth to wipe surfaces, the contract, variation sheets etc and of course, I used none of it! Troy was so thorough in his checking of the work. Most of the work to be done is paint/plaster work. Tyrrells and Howard Ryan are both re-inspecting tomorrow. All items noted, together with the items of the independent inspectors will be rectified prior to settlement. At this stage, it should be by the end of next week (7-8 working days). It will be a great way to end my birthday week.

Kids study

Media

Laundry cupboard where they have fixed up shelving

2 VERY happy girls

A fuzzy powder room vanity

Laundry

Adults study

My lovely linen cupboard

Bedroom 1

Another angle - the walls look green?

Ensuite bathroom

Main bath

Main bath

Main bath

Main bath

Fuzzy upper hallway

Mini update

I was walking past the house yesterday morning and Troy was there sitting in his ute. He came out to have a quick chat. Tory has finished scheduling as a result of the inspections that took place and PCI (Practical Completion Inspection) can take place around October 1 or 2. Problem....we are in Fiji then! I knew it would happen! Fortunately it is only for a week, returning on October 5. We have tentatively scheduled PCI for October 8. I suggested to Troy that our re-inspections by both Tyrrells and Howard Ryan (paying extra for this one) could be done whilst we are away to get a head start on anything outstanding that arises from those reports. If PCI is on October 8, we should have our keys by October 22. Fingers crossed.....

Site inspection

I went to the house to find most of the tiling completed. In fact, the tilers told me that they will have completed it today. They schedule 5-7 days but a large team was assigned our job so they have been able to fly through it.

It was great to meet Matt who seems very thorough and organised. I know our home is in safe hands with him. He is, though, going on leave next week for a few days. He is aiming to get the house ready for our Tyrells inspection as soon as Troy returns from leave.

The new things I discovered today were that the towel rails have been incorrectly installed. Standard for our house is a 600mm double rail in the ensuite and an 800mm single rail in the main bathroom. We requested an extra for the main. Unfortunately the 2 800mm rails have been put in the ensuite and the smaller one in the main. We decided to keep the ensuite as is and order another smaller one to add to the main bathroom. Here's hoping EBH don't slap me with a variation for this mistake too ;-)
The cladding on the front of the house has been painted white as per the eaves rather than Mountain Shadow like the render. This needs to be changed.

A busy day at the house all up with tilers, site cleaners and a carpenter there doing touchups.

PS. Oh and the front door handles?? The door aren't hung correctly so when that gets fixed, the handles should be even.

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

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.

A teaser....

Tomorrow's post will contain loads of photos. I am meeting Troy on site tomorrow to check out the progress and the kitchen handles. I am hoping that I will have time to wander around and shoot away. Maybe I can give AJ (re-do my space) those honours whilst I talk to Troy.
The stackstone on the front portico has been started and whilst it looks good, it is darker or 'dirtier' than I thought it would be. Photo to come tomorrow.
I also sent a message to the Wardrobe World installer today as directed by their head office. I am keen to find out the cost to add some more drawers to the wardrobes - 2 is not enough and it seems our wardrobes are too shallow to accommodate any stand alone shelving.

A quick spontaneous inspection....

....but sorry, no photos! I made a visit to the house this afternoon to see if I could take photos from outside. The carpenters were still there and so was Troy. After a chat, Troy offered a quick run through the house before he had to leave to go elsewhere. Happy to!
It was great to see the gyprock on, cornices, some doors on, stairs installed etc. Gives a better idea of the size of rooms. Other things noted include
* The garage door is on but hidden out of view
* The laundry cupboards are amazing - LOVE!
* The lowered ceiling in the powder/mud area doesn't look too bad really
* I really don't like the airconditioning box in Bed 3 :-(
* The decorative corbel has been taken off and half of it replaced.
* The wardrobes for the children do not seem very deep at all (450mm)
* The manhole has had to be moved to Brad's WIR due to a roof truss being in the way.
* Bricks can be left for us to use for landscaping
* The noisebatts and soundcheck gyprock has been installed between BED 1 and BED 2.
Troy confirmed that all is still on track for work to progress as per the latest screenshot.

An exciting screenshot

I love this one! It shows us what is going to occur in the next 2 weeks if everything goes according to EBH plans. Doors, stairs, waterproofing and even the start of the kitchen installation.

For those interested to know (Niall), I heard back from Troy about the frame inspection report from H&K Ryan. He emailed it back to me and had signed/dated each of the items fixed.

I had also asked Troy if anything could be done with the drainage issue on the north side of the house. The frame report from H&KRyan seemed to indicate that it could be an issue...

Surface Water Drainage: The retention of water from surface run off could have an effect on this dwellings foundation material which in turn could affect the slab to this house inspected.
Best practice is to monitor the flow of surface water and stormwater run off and have the water directed away from the house and then into storm water pipes by a qualified and licensed Plumber & Drainer.
Subject to this Builder’s contract specifications as to what is being allowed for by the way of surface water drainage, (Reference: AS: 2870 Appendix B, B2.3 (a) for site drainage requirements.) 

Troy seems to think that there is not an issue with the water...

"Re drainage, unfortunately we can't have any one go in to do any work as you know. Given the recent weather, there is some water sitting around. The house is on piers of uniform bearing, so the water won't affect the structure"

A very quiet week

All has been quiet on our Eden Brae house - no sign of action mostly due to the rain, I think. I did receive  phone call from the electrical company to inform us of an issue with our job. Our plans have recorded that we requested 2 external downlights in the eaves outside the study window. Um, we don't have any eaves there. Doh! We need to come up with some alternate or get credit for the downlights. I am waiting to hear back from them as to whether we can put on updown light there and one on the outer garage wall to balance it out.

I did say at the end of last week that there were some issues that I needed to get sorted with Troy from my time on site.
1) Our contract states that the shower niches are 270mm in height. I confirmed with Troy earlier in the year that the measurement was indeed the finished height. When I measured them on site, the timber framing is 270mm so by the time they put gyprock & tiling etc up, it will be significantly less. Troy said that he hadn't overlooked this and that it would be rectified.
2) One of our PCVs was to add extra noggins to every wall of the house(easier that specifying exactly which walls) We have some sports memorabilia to hang and want some large mirrors etc. There appeared to be no extra noggins at all. Troy will fix this.
3) I wasn't sure which way the front door would open and indeed which one would open. I wanted to check this before it was manufactured offsite. Tory was looking into this for me.

I am hoping that next week sees a flurry of activity at the EBH house and maybe even our current home sold ;-)

Building variation

Last week I was sent a Building Variation to the contract by my CSO following my aircon site meeting with Troy. I returned the variation to be amended as it did not include the lowered ceiling solution for the ground floor. When it was emailed back to me, the height of the ceiling was recorded at 2300mm rather than the 2400-2450mm discussed on site. Not happy with that, Rania suggested I call Troy to clarify. Troy said that he would ensure the best possible scenario for me regardless of what was on the piece of paper.
By the way, when I asked him about yesterdays 'no show' he said he only found out in the afternoon that the electricians hadn't been there. It doesn't explain why he wasn't there or why he didn't respond to my messages.
On site, there was a fair bit of action but I just don't know what!! Up to 4 utes there and working until at least 3:30pm. From the fence line, everything looked the same!

A disappointment!

Last week when  I met Troy on site to discuss aircon issues, he told me that electrical roughin was booked for Monday. We organised for us to meet mid-late Monday at a time to be arranged to go through with my interior designer as per my plan - there is a note on the plan that we are to still advise on placement of some powerpoints.
I sent a message to Troy on Friday suggesting 11am - no answer; sent another message this morning at 8am confirming 11am - no answer; AJ and I turn up to the site and there were no tradies and no Troy. Disappointing that I have paid that money for AJ to come and advise and we have no access and nothing to do. Just as well she is worth it ;-)

Vanity idea??!!

I met Troy on site today but forgot to ask him if Eden Brae can get our vanities hooked up like this. I heard they also come in white! Cool idea.

I met Troy to discuss some issues with airconditioning. At the plumbers/Troy's suggestion earlier, we moved the hot water service to the media room wall to help with efficiency. In fact, it was moved to the family room external wall right where the outdoor airconditioning unit is to be positioned. I agreed that it was OK to be moved to the media room wall instead. In fact, we agreed it would probably be better there anyway - less noise in the area we will spend the most.
We also have a few issues with the ducting coming downstairs to the living areas mainly due to the structural changes we made. When I ask for changes and they get approved, I assumed all aspects had been looked at to ensure it works. Um NO! As of today, we will now lose a corner of BED2 for ducting and the powder room, WC and mudroom area will have the roof lowered to standard height to enclose some ducting. Not particularly happy about it but they are our best options now.

Whilst I was there, we had the airconditioning roughin happening and the roofing had started. Torrential rain saw the roofing guys shut up shop. Lockup should be in about 2 weeks time and the gyprock will begin.

Screenshot for this coming week

Finally some major action on site scheduled though rain IS forecast tomorrow

Troy also wants to meet up on site to discuss aircon vents. Name the time & I'm there!

On our current home, it is all action here. I sorted out the childrens' rooms today and started filling my Aussie Skip Bag sitting on the driveway. I am meeting with the handyman tomorrow and the new carpet is booked in to be laid next Monday. Not much rest here until the removalists have been next Wednesday

Very quiet on site

....so I sent an email to Troy to see if what the reason was. I was still waiting on a reply to an email I sent on the weekend regarding possible damage to the house/site following our unwanted visitors on the weekend. The reply I received went like this :-

"There were some issues with material supply (fascia was scheduled for 31st May). Fascia and gutter will now be installed tomorrow with roof rail and roofing to follow. Given this all goes to plan, we will not have lost any time, just compressed the window that they would normally have to carry out the installation. Thanks."

I am still not sure where the external painters disappeared to?? Maybe the revised plan is to do upper & lower storeys at once

Security issues on site

Yesterday afternoon, when I went to take photos, the gate was locked but the way the tradies used the padlock and chain meant that the gate was actually wide open. All someone needed to do was to walk underneath or step over the heavy chain. I pulled the gate to meet up with the other one the best I could to make it a little less obvious.
Early this morning, I drove past in the vague hope that there was work happening today. I found another section of fencing wide open. Using my gym-honed muscles, I heaved it back into the blue block it sits in but noticed that the vandals had cut the wires too to gain access. From my vantage point on the footpath, there didn't seem to be damage.
I let Troy know via SMS and received one back 10mins later that he was there on site. As I had an hour to get beautified for a wedding, I didn't rush back over but I have sent him an email to ask what the state of affairs was.