Working on a Saturday

Huge amount of water pooled at side of house

The bricks were removed to make way for the cladding

Drove past this morning on the way home from netball to see some guys working on site. Went by again this afternoon and actually stopped to try and find out what they were doing. The response received by the guy listening to the races on the radio was a vague 'just fixing up a lot of stuff'. Whilst that gives me an uneasy feeling, I also feel reassured that Troy is carefully checking the work being done by the subbies. I know they demolished the part of the facade that was overbricked now allowing for the cladding to be installed.

Onsite photos - yay!

From water tank slab looking up the side...towards garage

From backyard to the house

From rumpus room to kitchen/pantry

Rumpus room window (room with a view - NOT!)

Where the front doors and sidelights will be

For AJ - the mudroom area

Family room & alfresco from doorway

Photo fest today. I was fortunate enough to have a site visit for the first time today. I am still buzzing! So excited. Tim, from Hayward Landscapes, and I walked around the site so that he could get a better idea of the lay of the land to put together a quote/concept plan.
I was able to meet Troy, our SS, today as well. Good to put a face to the name. I am confident in his ability to deliver us a quality house. He did pick up a brickie error today.

As you can see from this photo, they have bricked where there is meant to be cladding (roof gable). Troy asked if I wanted it left this way. No, thanks! It will be pulled down in preparation for the cladding to be done.

A further update

Well....I emailed my Manager (Bev), CCing in my CSA (Rania) and my Site Supervisor (Troy) to let them know how disappointed I was with the facade as it stands.
"I just wanted to let you know of my gripe with our facade. Firstly, it seems to be an Eden Brae error and secondly, one that we didn't pick up on or think to check when going over the plans.
Excuse my non-technical speak but on the advertised Boston facade, each stackstone pillar has a passageway between the house & said pillar. This obviously isn't the case with our house. Going back to the signed plans, indeed our construction has been done according to these plans. I am wondering why there was a change and if there is a valid reason, why this was not pointed out to us, the clients? I honestly do not like the way these pillars look and worry that it will be too much stackstone when it gets added.
I understand that there is probably little that can be done about it now but I am really just looking for an explanantion."

Ever-efficient Bev came straight back...
"Its good to hear from you, but I am sorry for this reason!!
 I have just asked our designer to look at your plans and advise why the piers were been drawn this way. I am guessing that it could be that this wall carries the walls and brickwork for Bedroom 1 above.  Without the full piers, the bedroom above could not be supported. When I have further clarification, I will get back to you immediately. "

I am not sure this is the reason as we have not changed anything upstairs. No extra support needed. Possibly the photo was not the correct design in the first place??

Stacker door issue

Last week, the day before our stacker doors were instaled I received a message from a friend who has recently built with Eden Brae.
"Check how the bottom of the alfresco doors are sited...ours are not flush with the tiled family areas so you have to step over them onto the outside alfresco. We were never told about this and there's absolutely nothing they can do once fitted. Might be worth a chat with someone... We are now putting aside money to redo the doors (panoramic instead of existing stacker) with flushed finish"

I quickly sent off an email to Troy that night knowing that the doors would be installed the next day. Unfortunately the reply came back that night unfavourably.
"That would be correct. There is a track running across the base of the door. This track is the guide for the door panels and it will sit above the finished floor levels. At this stage it is too late to change this. The way they are designed means that there needs to be a substancial track to support the doors. The product is not specific to Eden Brae and you would find that a number of builders using the bifold doors in their homes will have the same thing. Thanks."

A little disappointed as I am already unhappy about having a 'step down' to the tiles. Now we have a step-over and then a step-down! Maybe we will need to put money aside too just like my friend.

Screenshot of upcoming work

Geez, 11 days behind already. Bad luck Troy! Not sure what those 11 days were.....

Hot water system change

I received an email early yesterday morning from Troy suggesting we relocate the instant hot water system from the study/guest wall at the front of the house to the media room wall. This will improve the efficiency as it will be more central to the water supply points. More than happy to relocate. At tender, I did ask whether installing another system would be advantageous due to the length/size of the house. The study is a long way away from the kitchen! I was told it would be fine.

Introduction phone call made

Today I received my call from Troy - sounds great. Based on the expected good weather, there should be action at the site from Monday with excavation. Concrete trucks are scheduled for later on that week.

Again, I was reminded about not entering the site unsupervised. The letter I received yesterday from Troy outlined the procedures for inspecting. Luckily, I am a girl that abides by rules and does not like to break them! I reckon if I posted photos on here from inside the house, it would be fairly obvious that I was doing the wrong thing (and I know Eden Brae read this blog)!

At last...the magic words!

Our file has moved to the construction phase of building after 12 months in Admin. We have the name of our Site Supervisor, Troy M. Another of my fellow HomeOners also has Troy as her supervisor and seems satisfied.

"He has been great so far. Very on top of things and has addressed any issues that we have had (e.g. shower niches were fixed up when I raised questions about them). He has been very accommodating anytime that we have wanted to go to the house to have an inspection and has been AOK with us employing our own independent inspector as well. Also provides you with screen shots of whats happening over the next 2 weeks so you know what is happening on site, even though you can't see it. When you go and inspect your house, you will notice that he will quickly do a visual inspection as well. He is happy to answer any questions you may have when you meet with him and I have emailed him countless of times with questions."

Here's to a happy build with Troy!