Thanks for bearing with me in my pictureless posts! I haven't really had much to show of late and probably won't until early next year when construction starts. I remembered today that I hadn't shown the absolutely riveting inside of our wardrobes. They will look something a little like this - white melamine with hanging spaces, shelves & drawers. Brad & I each have a wardrobe that will be U shaped. I am having a motion sensor light in mine - for fun! (Brad couldn't have one as the ensuite is off his wardrobe and I didn't want the light turning on everytime I went to the bathroom)

The children will have something similar but smaller...

Great customer service, EBH!

Geez, I am impressed. I just hung up the phone from a call from the Manager, Bev, who responded a few weeks back to my furious email regarding the storm water bill for $15.5K. She wanted to see how things were progressing for me and how I was feeling about EB. Fantastic lady to chat to. Listened to my concerns about the 'outside' companies and told me what she was going to do about it. I feel validated, cared for and not too fearful of the journey ahead if I have Bev and Rania on my side. Hats off to you EBH!

Finally ALL good!

.....though I am worried about DiLorenzo supplying the goods when it comes time. I mean, if they can't get a quote right on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th attempt, will they be able to supply the correct tiles & carpet in the correct quantities??
Dealing with DiLorenzo has taken up soooo much time - almost as much as Kitchen Culture did. EBH, in my opinion, really need to look at the outside companies they work with. For mine, they are letting down the process and ultimately EBH.
Cooks Plumbing - by far the best & most efficient.
Abbey Blinds - seem to be better at the moment & depends on your consultant.
Outback Landscaping - offered me an outrageously expensive quote for a driveway. No thanks!
Kitchen Culture - based on my experience lacking customer service & a headache to deal with
Electricals - no complaints here but a tedious appointment
DiLorenzo - dodgy marketing (my opinion), time delays on quotes, incorrect quotes, time delays to amend quotes, lack of customer focus (well they have our custom already, don't they?)

All quotes are now in. Waiting for them all to be converted to PCVs and sent to me for signatures - electricals, staircase, tiles, carpets, extra externals taps.

And they still can't get it right!

1) The carpet quote was finally returned today with the sums correct but the wording was NOT! How hard is it?? Not rocket science. Just careful checking required. Rather than asking for another to be emailed, I sent the acceptance with my handwritten, initialled amendments on it. Let's see if they send another back to me for resigning....

2) DiLorenzo tiles - This is the email I received "I have just spoken to estimating again, There is a tile allowance for the area behind the cabinetry in the laundry, We will need to adjust our Quantity but the quote price will not change as it is a standard tile." He has totally forgotten that he put a half wall of tiles in our quote that I never asked for. This is what I am trying to get taken out of the quote - about $400 worth. His email is telling me that I am allowed tiles all the way around my laundry bench as standard - yes, thankyou, but take the other tiles out! Waiting, waiting for an response.....

A few mistakes......

Just as well I am trying really hard to keep on top of things. There have been a couple more mistakes made in quotes. Mistakes happen & I am OK with that. It is the way it is handled that concerns me & so far so good - 2 of them have been apologetic and quickly fixed without argument.

1) EBH - We upgraded our doors in the tender process without looking at the doors (oops!). When we actually saw them, we didn't really like them so 'downgraded' them to something more suitable. When the PCV came in, firstly we had to pay an extra $911. Now, I was in 'over it mode' and electronically signed the document. When I had to sign the official document, I thought I would question the line 'in lieu of standard' given we didn't have standard doors in the first place. The estimator apologized that he didn't realise (read check the contract) that we had the expensive Eden 3G doors. A nice credit of almost $2200 coming our way.

2) DiLorenzo carpets - I discovered yesterday that they had done our measurements incorrectly. Based our quote on 259m2 of flooring to be carpeted which I didn't question (as I have no idea how to work that out) After about the 4th attempt at a correct quote (grrrr), Tilly told me to wait as she thought it was wrong. Yes, out by 80m2! The carpeted area is only 179m2. New quote to come tomorrow. I told her that whatever that is, we are accepting and if it is incorrect, they need to wear it! I am so over the amount of time spent on the phone & emailing them....all because of their mistakes.

3) DiLorenzo tiles - I am still waiting to hear back from them with an updated quote to our credit. Chris misunderstood what I wanted as far as tiling the laundry splashback. He thought I wanted tiles from the laundry floor all the way up to the top of the laundry bench and put that in my quote. What I actually wanted is tiling from around the tub right around the top of the long bench area. He informs me that that should already be included in my laundry quote from Kitchen Culture. Waiting for a week now to credit me for the other wall tiling that I didn't want......

Quotes - demolition & blinds

Will we regret it? I hope not. We received a quote today from State Demolitions which was in the ball park figure I was expecting (actually a little lower at $14.5K) This includes council application & tree removal. We decided to go ahead and accept this quote rather than mucking around wasting time & energy getting others for comparison. More quotes also mean inconveniencing our tenants which we want to avoid doing.

We have had a rush of blind quotes over the past few days:-
For the entire house in basswood plantation shutters......
Abbey Blinds - $14K (Eden Brae associated)
GR Blinds - $11.4K (highly recommended by friends)
Shade Elegance - $10.2K (approached me via HomeOne)
I am loving all these quotes as I was expecting a figure more like $25-30K for shutters.
No decisions need to be made for ages. Filed away for future reference.....

Blinds, tiles, carpets, demolition & hose cocks!

Today has seen me spend inordinate amounts of time emailing various companies to tie up loose ends.

I wanted to see the quote come in for carpet upgrades for 3 weeks ago so I got Eden Brae and my contact at Di Lorenzo both onto that. The quote came in and of course, it was incorrect. This was quickly rectified. The quote now contains upgraded carpet throughout the house ($5 per sqm more) to one that is a little softer under foot than the scratchy ones that were standard. It also contains a medium upgrade to underlay downstairs and the top upgrade for upstairs carpet (I am hoping it helps to muffle the elephant herds upstairs). Sleeping on the quote before I decide whether to accept it...

I had decided that the blind/shutter appointment I had with Abbey Blinds was a waste of time as I had heard they never respond to emails nor do they actually send the quote through unless you hassle for weeks on end. I was already armed with window measurements so thought it would be something I look into next year whilst the build is happening. Much to my amazement, I received the quote from Abbey today and it was very, very reasonable. To put plantation shutters on every window in the house, I was quoted $14K. Now given 11 years ago, we were quoted $13K for Venetian blinds in our current, much smaller house - this quote is too good to be true. This company also have access to the house before settlement as they work with Eden Brae.

Someone from a demolition company rang today to ask if he could quote for us.....within an hour!! Nothing like a bit of notice particularly when we have tenants that need to be notified via a property manager. Fortunately, it all worked out, thanks to my lovely tenants.

I decided that on a house our size we need more hose cocks (where did that name come from??!!). Waiting for a quote for 2 more to give us pretty much one on each corner of the house.