Scaffolding erected

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??

Facade issue

I discovered our first hiccup yesterday when I saw the brick-to-be-stackstone pillars at the front door. On the advertised facade, each pillar has a passageway between the house & said pillar. I was shocked to see that ours didn't and to be honest, I don't like the look of it. I checked the EBH website to ensure I hadn't pictured it incorrectly in my head. No, as imagined. When I looked at our plans, it was drawn as per the photo below and of course, we have signed off on them so we have nowhere to go with this :-( I am really disappointed in Eden Brae for deviating from the advertised facade and in myself for not thinking to check that.

PS Just worked out how to get the advertised facade off the web into my blog. Nothing like a bit of PDFing and cropping! Can you now see what I am talking about? That peep of light behind the righthand pillar....

Photo update

Interestingly I thought the stackstone pillars were MADE OF stackstone not covered by it.

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.

Kitchen post - Quiet rainy day

No work is being done today even though it hasn't rained at all since about 7:30am and in fact we have had glorious sunshine since late this morning. Boy, the rain was heavy last night though - it kept me awake between asthma attack and toothache for different children.

I have had a few people ask me about the prices for different upgrades int he kitchen. I am happy to share them on here though note, it will be different for every kitchen depending on measurements. Kitchen Culture (supplier for Eden Brae Homes) was by far, our worst experience so far in the building journey. As I have mentioned before, their customer service is lacking. I feel this is mainly due to not having any competition - we have to use KC. Some clients like to complete their own upgrades after settlement to save the builders markup. We are aiming to do as much as we can up front for convenience, tidiness and the guarantee.

These are the upgrades we got through them :-

In the kitchen :-
* Reconfigure the kitchen to be L-shaped (needed as we relocated the kitchen) - $2000
* Provide fridge run including appliance roller cupboard & 2 others above & below - $1850
* Provide additional tall cupboard to the side of fridge for brooms - $850
* Pull out, soft close bin drawer with 2x20L bins - $700
* Relocate cutlery drawers - $330
* Additional pot drawers with 30kg runners - $720
* Overhead cabinets - $1300
* Bulkheads to overhead cabinets - $650
* Provision for overhead cupboard lights - $176
* Soft close drawers - $1150
* Soft close door buffers - $220
* Provide 2 row wine rack above fridge space - $620
* 2 Hettich cutlery trays - $147
* Caesarstone upgrade - $2000
* Two tone kitchen - $500
* Silk finish to white laminex - $1230
* Undermount sink including polishing fee - $1000

In the bathrooms :-
* Stone benchtops - $2200 (powder, main & ensuite)
* Drawers to main vanity - $350
* Silk finish - $320

In the laundry :-
* Laminex benchtop to run the length of the laundry - $2150
* Laminex shelf underneath this - $277

Upgrades to taps, toilets, baths etc were on top of this at Cooks Plumbing appointment ($2000)

Brickwork progress

I went to take photos of the brickwork only to discover that the suitcase I had lugged from the front of the block (with the brickies permission) to the kerbside for collection...has been thrown back over the fence :-( I am glad I didn't take the time to drag the colorbond fencing too. Little do they know that I can play this game!! I am up for the challenge.

I was stopped tonight by 2 ladies walking past. One built 10 years ago with Eden Brae and was delighted with the outcome. They were one of the very first EBH homes in Hornsby Council. She is going to walk past every day now she has seen our build happening.

3 days of bricking

Side view with alfresco pillars

Offending suitcase