Eden Brae Newport 42+

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

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......

Thursday, September 6, 2012

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.....

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

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.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Time for demolition quotes

I had a call from Rania yesterday to officially let me know that the plans had gone off to council. Checked today on the tracking device online & they have been received and entered by Hornsby Council.
Rania also wanted to know if we had submitted our demolition application yet....ummmm, no! Next job on the list of things to do.
Mentioned to Rania that I still hadn't received our quote from DiLorenzo after 2.5 weeks and some followup emails. R said she would followup too from her end - we then had the quote within an hour! We are still waiting on the carpet component of it though.

Personally, I think the way DiLorenzo operate with the builder is a little sneaky. Even though they are up front about the charges for laying tiles that are larger than 250 x 250mm, the tile displays they show you for standard EBH tiles are all larger than 250x250mm. Basically, you need to specifically ask for smaller tiles to avoid charges. Anyway, our tile quote came to the amount we allowed for in our contract as I decided to ask for floor to ceiling tiling in the main & ensuite.
It will be interesting to see the figure for carpets as I would like to upgrade the carpet and the underlay!

Monday, August 27, 2012

Off to Council.....

The exciting news of the day is that our plans have now been sent to council to await the rubber stamp of approval! Yay! A major step closer though a long road still ahead.

I sent an email to EBH management this afternoon regarding my dissatisfaction with the hydraulics PCV. To be completely honest, I wasn't really expecting a reply. Within an hour, I had a call on my mobile from a lovely lady, Bev, who listened, understood & cared though not really solving anything! Bev was great at explaining things that hadn't been discussed with me. Thankyou for your prompt response Eden Brae.