Our House - Take #2

We've Moved... for quite a while...

2009-08-10T10:09:00.017+10:00

Have not been updating for some time... :P

After two rounds of PCI, we've moved in on mid June 2009 and have been busy putting bits and pieces in the house.

So here is our "not-so-new" house... :)

[Lounge]

[Family]

[Dining/Kitchen] The kitchen has been cleared for photo taking, it is nowhere near the everyday condition...

[Rumpus] Kids playroom aka Messy Room

[Bed1]

[Bed2] Triston chose this dark blue becoz of Geelong Cats

[Bed4] Trudy as usual... chose a girly purple colour

Might put a basketball hoop on the wall... if the rangehood vent is not too obstructing

Need to get plants for the planter boxes

VegePatch and cricket pitch at the end

Cafe blinds on Alfresco should be ready by next month

Pre - Completion Inspection (PCI)

2009-05-18T19:30:00.008+10:00

Had our 1st PCI done today.

We had prepared a LONG list of defects, 7 pages, portrait format to be exact!

After we had a walk through to check the external of the house, SS gave us a "New Home Care Folder", which includes a page that describe inspection of defects.

"Including for fixtures and appliances, the inspection of a surface, material or item is to be viewed or observe from a normal viewing position: being defined as a distance of 1500mm or greater from the observed surface, material or item. Such normal viewing position is to be subject to illumination from a non critical light source. For glazing assessment, this should be done in normal daylight conditions and viewed from the interior of the building"

SS highlighted/hinted/told us directly that he'll not entertain defects that are too minor like bits of scratches or minor paint crack, so our defect list was cut short by half at least! :( To be fair, SS did found a few defects that we've missed out too.

[Stairs] Dots and tags to indicate touch ups need to be done

[Pantry]

We had arranged BigK to do our private inspection today as well.
We are aware that the roof insulation is not done yet, but it will be done via the manhole on the upper floor. However, we've totally forgotten that the Rumpus, which has it's own roof but no manhole, need to be insulated at the roof too. So thanks to BigK who took a peek through the Rumpus roof tiles, reminded us there need insulation too!

PCI Postponed

2009-05-12T22:19:00.007+10:00

Due to the break-in incident over the weekend, our PCI has been postponed from this Friday to next Monday. The cleaners were in today and had quite a decent clean (can be better :P) all over the house. The dirty carpet were vacuumed and SS will arrange for steam clean. It's nice to walk around the house now without seeing dirt all over the place :)

The fixing carpenter was in today too to install the door handles and privacy locks, as well as re-do the decking for the balcony (he had already re-do the bottom layer for the portico). Didn't really have a good look at the end job of the decking coz it was dark, but was pleased he did pre-drill the holes before nailing the timber down.

Front of privacy lock

Back of privacy lock

[Ensuite] Shower screens were installed yesterday

[Bath]

We had requested PD to put 4 downlights in each of the living area (Lounge, Family, Rumpus and Games). When we had the light turned on at night, the lights were not bright enough to cover the room, and hence there was a dark spot in the middle of each of the living area, with the Games room has the worst effect.

Not sure how are we going to add more downlights, especially for the ones downstairs, it suddenly strikes us to take down one of the lights to have a look. Apparently PD is using only 35 watts light. So a trip to Bunnings today and got 4 x 50 watts downlights with 60 degrees angle, problem solved!!! :D

Pre - PCI

2009-05-10T16:39:00.016+10:00

We'll be doing our 1st PCI (Pre-Completion Inspection) this Friday. To prepare ourselves, we did a Pre-PCI today to find things to be fixed... and we had compiled a LONG list on this, here are some examples!

[Facade] Window outside Study and Master Bedroom had large gaps between window and bricks. On this photo, you can see staples on the right of window, and a piece of timber on the left

[Facade] There are holes under the weather seal for some of the windows

[Facade] There are chips on the portico pillars

[Facade] Gutters retains water

[Games] The joints for the carpets are quite obvious, is this acceptable?

[Powder] From plan, there should be a border of 20mm on top, left and right of mirror.

[Bed1] Electrician cut the wrong hole for downlight and did not patch it up properly

[Games] Downlight not fitted properly

[Kitchen] More than a hairline crack on the cornice

[Kitchen] Sink with spots of rust

Errrmmm....

2009-05-09T14:51:00.009+10:00

We arrived on site around 10am, and found part of the internal access door frame had been ripped. Quite glad thinking SS must have saw the uneven door frame and decided to change it.

[Garage] Part of internal access door frame ripped

Was in shocked when we saw the carpets that was laid YESTERDAY were full of muddy footprints from stairs to ensuite and bathroom.

Quite disappointed thinking how can the tradies be so unthoughtful!

When we're about to leave the place, a police car was parked across the street outside of another newly built house.... hmmm...

Could it be our place had been broken into???
Probably nothing can be stolen so they broke into the house across the street???

Carpets

2009-05-08T21:43:00.006+10:00

The cleaners were in yesterday, probably cleaning upstairs getting ready for the carpets to be laid today.

We had requested not to have carpets on the stairs, because a friend told us it was a pain to vacuum the stairs.

But when we drop by this morning, the installer had already prep the stairs ready for the carpets. After a "impromptu phone conference", we decided to keep the way it is, that is to have carpets on the stairs. Now just hope our vacuum cleaner's wire is long enough to cover from the nearest power point to the end of the stairs!

[Games] Carpets installation in progress

The carpet we had chosen was Hammond - Sequoia Brown 8585. Can't remember the actual shade, but thought it should be chocolaty brownish. But looking at the carpet laid today, the colour is kind of lighter shade...

[Portico] The holes on the bricks were exposed on the top left of entrance door frame

[Portico] The bricks on right of door frame looks fine

[Portico] The bottom layer of decking had been replaced. But there are few pieces of timber seems kind of shorter than the rest...

Niche Saga Continues...

2009-05-07T18:53:00.010+10:00

The niche in the bathroom was nicely done and grouted yesterday.

Today when SS had a check at the niche, he realised there's sharp edges on one of the corners and phoned the tiler to come back and fix it.

When the tiler arrives at 5ish in the evening, he realised the back of the niche where the mosaics are had been taken down. Not surprising he had left a "friendly" phone message to SS.

Apparently, the plasterer was in this afternoon to fix the wall at the back of the niche, so he took down the temporary fixed plaster and put up a new one.

So now will need to re-order the mosaics and the tilers have to come back AGAIN to waterproof the niche box and fix the niche, poor guys.

[Bath] Mosaics in niche gone

[Bath] Mosaics that had been taken down

[Bed4] Wall behind niche had been plastered again

[Ensuite] Edges of shower base had been grouted yesterday

[Ensuite] A piece of skirting board was taken out when tiling the shower base edges

[Ensuite] The cut in the tiles (top right) were not aligned. Should we request it to be changed?

9 sleeps to PCI!!!

2009-05-06T21:41:00.014+10:00

The security system had been installed two days ago.

Security system control panel had written for 5 sensors, but actually there's only 4...

The "heart" of the security system, connected to a phone point

[Powder] Mirror had been installed today

[Powder] Was expecting a full height and width mirror, so quite disappointed with the border around the mirror.

[Ensuite] Suppose to be "full height polished edge mirror", but again there's still a gap between the mirror and cornice (forgot to take a photo to show the gap)

[Ensuite] Edging for the shower base had been done, no grout yet

[Ensuite]

[Bath] The niche had just been grouted

[Bath] Grouting in progress

[Bath] A little mirror installed here

12 more sleeps to PCI!!!

2009-05-03T17:34:00.023+10:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ 12 more sleeps to PCI!!! ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Bath] The box for the missing niche had been put up

[Kitchen] The electrician had put in the duct and power point for the rangehood.

The vent for the rangehood.

Vent for the rangehood in the middle of the bricks. There goes our basketball hoop area. :(

[Pantry] Shelves were put in yesterday. Not quite what we had imagine coz we didn't expect to have a "line" in the middle of the shelves.

[Master WIR] The shelves were in and the shower screens were delivered too.

[Bed4] Shelf for wardrobe

Painter still at work on Sunday afternoon.

[Family] Lights installed were not in a straight line

[Garage Access] Not camera trick or parallax error... but human error...

Fittings

2009-04-30T22:52:00.014+10:00

There have been quite a fair bit of people in and out the house these two days... and lots of shoe prints on the floor. The tiler had written notes at the front entrance and garage access entrance requesting people not to wear muddy shoes in, but there's still people who just don't seem to care.

The heating and cooling guys were here yesterday for the fittings. Looking through the vent, they didn't place the duct properly... some ducts where actually become "half a duct".

We had upgraded heating control for downstairs and upstairs both to be variable (ie. zoning), and network controller for heating and cooling system. This remote control downstairs is all we get. Should there be one upstairs?

The electricians came this morning for fittings. They had completed most of downstairs, should finish upstairs by tomorrow.

The switch seems quite near the stairs handrail.

[Ensuite] The drainage for shower had quite a fair bit of debris and cement, tiler said it will be cleared... shall wait and see.

[Bath] The drainage not very clean either.

[Bed4] The hole cut up for the niche had been roughly plastered. Forgotten to take a pic of how the niche look like.

Apparently it is illegal to duct rangehood to the roof or inbetween floors for double storey houses. So thanks for the note of a homeone forumer, we've emailed our CS 2 days ago and today the electricians put a duct (similar to the one in powder room) for the rangehood to external wall.

Also, we've got a PCI date and it will be on May 15, slightly more than two weeks. Things still need to be done... probably shower screens, mirrors, door stoppers, door handles, alarm system, carpets, cleaning...

Had started compiling a list for the PCI, quite sure the list will be pretty long...

We Have Taps

2009-04-28T16:10:00.013+10:00

Plumbing fittings started today. Most tapware were in except for the bathtub.

[Bath] Plumber broke a tile and left an apology note for the tiler.

[Bath] Carpenter came today and cut a hole for the niche. There are wires in the niche area... so more plasters need to be ripped off?

[WC]

[Ensuite] No splashback here, will be a full height mirror against the wall.

[Ensuite]

[Laundry] We've decided to keep the tiles as it is.

[Powder] The tiles will stay for this too. There be a full height mirror above the tiles. (pic quite blurry due to flash from camera phone :P )

[Kitchen] Vegie spray! *yay*

The tiler had not put in the expansion joints between the floor tiles. It will be just silicon (hopefully it is white silicon) instead of grout, so the whole floor tiles will look uniform, nothing "outstanding" :)

Also, don't think he had sealed the tiles yet, coz the floor near the entrance is still quite dirty with all the footprints and the tiles in the bathroom are not done yet.

Tiles Almost Done

2009-04-26T19:09:00.013+10:00

The tilers were scheduled to finish their work tomorrow, but due to a mistake made by SS, they'll have to come back again to finish up the tilings.

The floor tiles looked really good with the white grout. To maintain the white, the tiler suggested to seal the grout. He quoted us the price for the floor of whole house or wet areas only (ensuite, bath, wc and powder). Picturing the image of using a toothbrush scrubbing the grout, we decided to bite the bullet and do it for the whole house, plus the shower walls in ensuite and bathroom.

[Kitchen]

[Bath] Shower wall not tiled because SS forgotten to arrange for a niche

[Bath] Bath tub not installed yet

[Ensuite] Shower wall tiles done, but no grout yet. Can't have a niche here coz the side is on an external wall.

[Laundry] Splashback tiles supposed to be laid vertically... however, might keep it this way.

[Powder] Again the splashback tiles supposed to be vertical.

Might keep the existing tile layout too... or should we change?

Floor Tiles

2009-04-17T23:44:00.012+10:00

Managed to sneak in today as the tiler forgotten to lock the sliding door to the Alfresco.

Majority of the floor tiles were done, except the whole of Rumpus and tiles against the walls because those need to be cut. Really happy with the tiles so far, not as dark as we thought it might turn out. We're using Kimberly Smoke 450mm x 450mm.

According to the drawings, there will be quite a fair bit of expansion joints throughout the tiles, so still not sure how the tiles will eventually look like with the expansion joints in... will the expansion joints be very obvious?

[Family]

[Living]

Work had also been done on the shower area for both ensuite and bathroom.

Bathtub had been delivered, should be installed next week.

The front entrance doors had been painted. It looked nice on its own, but quite disappointed with colour coordination with the overall facade. It kind of look dark at the entrance/portico. Contemplating should we paint it again to Paperbark so that it matches the garage doors...

[Entrance doors in Woodland Grey]

35 More Sleeps

2009-04-15T08:52:00.005+10:00

Had a quick chat with SS yesterday, he said should be done in 5 more weeks.

The two painters had been working EVERYDAY during the Easter break, and will be finished by this week, the tilers will then start and should finish by next week.

All the fittings will start once the tilings are done! Can't wait to see that happened! :)

Garage Doors Are In

2009-04-09T12:06:00.004+10:00

Drove past this morning and saw the garage doors were already installed. Probably they were done in the afternoon yesterday.

Both the doors were opened, so can't really see the colour effect of the door with the facade.

[Front panel doors - Caprice in Paperbark]

[Back roller door - in Paperbark too]

Painting Continues

2009-04-08T17:22:00.003+10:00

The first coat of painting had been done throughout the house, and the painters were getting ready for second coat this morning.

The main colour we chose is Wattyl Deauville, it's a bit yellowish, kind of a slightly darker tone of Paperbark.

The glass splashback had also been installed, and the colour we had chosen was Dulux Mocha Magic.

Our floor tiles Kimberly Smoke 450mm x 450mm had been delivered. So should see some action pretty soon! :P

Painting In Progress

2009-03-30T09:56:00.009+11:00

We've been locked out again for the past few days. We can't even peep what's going on inside because the painter has locked, covered and sealed every door and window. This might go on for the whole of this week.

Looking at the construction progress provided by PD, we're not far from completion. :)

Weeks 19 to 20
The time to complete ceramic tiling depends entirely on the amount of tiling to be done throughout the house.

Weeks 20 to 22
Final fit offs will occur which involves completing the electrical, plumbing, alarm, vacuum and heating systems. All door furniture, doorstops etc, mirrors, shower screens and floor coverings will be installed where applicable.

Weeks 22 to 24
Preparing for completion. This involves paint touch ups, cleaning, corking of wet areas and articulation joints, and site cleaning. Final inspections for the certificate of occupancy and compliance will be completed.

Of coz we don't expect to have a perfect house by then. There are still fixes need to be done such as...

[2nd layer of decking for balcony/portico had been completed, but again workmanship...]

[the timber cracked where the nails went in...]

One of the things we want it to be looked at is the metal plate thingy on top of the garage roof, where the downpipe come down to. Shouldn't it be at least the same colour as the downpipe or roof or brick? Should have this downpipe thingy position at the back of the garage roof. Anyway... will take note if we ever build again... :P

Facade New Look

2009-03-23T13:23:00.005+11:00

Drop by this morning and saw the renderer at work. Our portico is now coloured with Rockcote Dry Creek, kind of chocolaty colour. We're happy with how the colour has matched the bricks. Now we'll have to wait till the front entrance doors (in Woodland Grey) and garage door (in Paperbark) to install in order to see how the actual facade will look like.

[Garage - plasterers were in this morning to put up plaster on the ceiling]

[Kitchen - QQ benchtop has been installed over the weekend]

Downpipes were done too, will get some photos later :)
Also, according to SS, painting should start this week, how exciting!

Updates

2009-03-20T08:14:00.008+11:00

The garage access door was not locked yesterday, so we're happy to sneak in and see what had been done.

[Kitchen - the hold on the ground had been sealed]

[Upstairs - manhole was done, but there's a cable right across it?]

[Balcony - not happy with the work done on the decking, see next pic]

The gaps between the boards are very close, and a some kind of stick was used to fill the gap at the end. We think if the carpenter had spaced out a little more, probably he won't need that extra stick isn't it? Anyway, we saw Home For Our Cherubs blog and they had asked to redo the decking, so we're going to ask them to do that too!

We also noticed that there are gaps between the bricks and the windows, is this normal? Will they use something to cover up the gaps eventually???

Locked Out

2009-03-18T22:18:00.006+11:00

The fixing carpenter was still on site about 6.45pm today, so we drove around the estate while waiting for him to leave. When he finally left, we realised he had locked every single door and window, except an awning window in the study. We tried to wind the window to max and SQUEEZE through... ermm... more dieting needed... should have brought our 3 year old along and let her get in and open the door!

Anyway... we just walk around outside and peep through windows and doors :(

[Alfresco - 2 big pile of sand right outside the sliding doors, don't know why]

[Balcony - some work had been done on the flooring. Not sure has it completed because don't remember seeing beams across in the display house at Deer Park]

[Garage - electrical wiring had been done]

[Powder room duct had put in. Not sure how they managed to do it without taking out the plaster board and looked kind of weird right now]

Render on Portico

2009-03-16T18:45:00.004+11:00

Rendering of portico had been done today. Looks alright :)

The fixing carpenter had fixed most of the skirting boards and doors upstairs, and there's still a few windows that need the architraves.

[Master Bedroom doors - all internal doors upstairs will be flushed]

Noticed some places had quite big gaps between the plasterboard and skirting boards.

Garage Roof Tiles

2009-03-12T21:44:00.008+11:00

The garage roof tiles had been laid. The house now has a more "complete" look. :)

According to SS, the roof tiles that were broken previously had been temporary fixed so that no water leaking into house. Not sure when will the actual fix be done.

The fixing carpenter had been putting up internal doors, architraves and skirting boards for the past 3 days. Quite a few places not done yet, so we're holding on to the payment on Bill #4 for the Fixing Stage.

[Study - window architraves and skirting done]

[Door under stairs]

[Corridor for Power Room / Laundry / Linen]

Garage And Cabinets

2009-03-06T21:14:00.014+11:00

Saw SS arrived early this morning clearing the garage to make room for more timber delivery. When we're at the site again around 4pm, the roof truss of the garage has already been done.

The cabinet carpenter was in yesterday, and he was still working when we drop by at 6pm. He had finished installing all the cabinets and the sinks.

[Powder Room]

[Laundry]

[Pantry]

[Bathroom]

[Ensuite]

[Kitchen - the bench tops will be Quantum Quartz - Ice. Also, kind of regret did not get the overhead cabinets next to the fridge space]

[Kitchen - there's a hole on the ground... not sure why]

The hole on the right will be a vent for the Power Room. The left hole will be filled up with bricks.

Brickies Are Back... And Gone

2009-03-03T18:31:00.022+11:00

The brickies came back yesterday and today to finish up the garage and the bricks under doors and windows. The pillar at alfresco was done too, but forgotten to take a picture of that :P

For this pantry window, there was a gap in the bricks suppose for that expansion thingy. However, there was nothing there and we can actually see the green sisillation wrap...

Also noted is the plaster ceiling in the alfresco. The plaster board was not screwed properly and it is as if falling off any moment...

The cornices were done last Monday.
[Rumpus]

[Games]

[Master Bedroom with morning sun]

[Balcony, flooring not done yet]

Internal doors and architraves had been delivered and will be installed this week.

The stairs were also installed today. We did not have any upgrades on the stairs or balustrading. With the standard ones, we're pleased they looks good... so far :)

We had also received a updates call from SS this afternoon, first time ever! Anyway, he has informed us the powder room will be installed with a square shape exhaust fan instead of round, because only the square ones come with the duct. So, our powder room will be ducted next Tuesday, good news.

He has also mentioned our broken roof tiles will be fixed by the roof tilers eventually, and they'll have to manage without the scaffolding. Hope this rain does not cause any issues.

Not Much Action

2009-03-01T11:41:00.004+11:00

It has been a quiet week. Nothing was done internally after the cornices were installed on Monday.

For the exterior, the eaves were painted before the scaffolding were pulled down, and the bricks had been washed (except portico coz it will be rendered).

The outstanding issues remain outstanding :(
SS has yet provide a better solution for the vent in the Powder Room, and for the broken roof tiles, not sure how are the going to fix it since the scaffolding are no longer there...

[washed bricks]

Broken Roof Tiles

2009-02-20T20:06:00.009+11:00

Had decided to take a walk up the scaffolding since it is still there, and was surprise to see quite a fair bit of broken roof tiles at the corners of the roof. We suspect it was due to the change of gutters that happened four days ago.

Not sure does SS know about it... will have to hint him since he had warned us not to go to the site due to OH&S (or rather our phone calls regarding the back wall cladding). :P

The plasterers had finished our place (think so) and had left the front door opened. So... we let ourselves in. :)

[From front entrance]

[Kitchen]

External Walls Completed... FINALLY...

2009-02-18T22:30:00.012+11:00

The plasterers arrived early today. The ceiling for Pantry, Laundry, Powder Room and some upstairs were already done by 8.30am. For the record, they were still there when we left at 7.15pm!

With the plaster boards now up, the interior of the house feels different... the rooms feels smaller!

[Family]

[Rumpus]

There was a small drama today.

The carpenter had arrived early this morning too, and he said he'll finish the back wall with sisillation and external cladding by 3pm today. However after he finished the eaves, he was missing in action and nothing for the back wall had been done. During his absence, the plasterers had already started to put up plasters at the back wall, without any external wall insulation! X(

When he finally came back at 3ish (after some phone calls were made), we hang around the site just to make sure he stuffed the wall insulation and sisilation all across the back before he put up the external cladding. He was still working when we left at 7.15pm.

Now with all the external walls done, will probably get a call from CS tomorrow regarding Bill#3.

Exhaust Fan in Powder Room

2009-02-16T22:33:00.003+11:00

The exhaust fan in the Powder Room was not ducted externally. As seen in the photo, the exhaust fan will be installed between the joist, but the vent on the brickwork is actually next to the joist!

Had raised this issue with PD. SS came this morning to fix this by drilling a 20c coin size hole on the joist next to the vent. We are totally not happy with his solution.

Based on Part 3.8.5.0 Ventilation Requirements of the BCA’s requires that ‘contaminated air from a sanitary compartment must exhaust directly to the outside of the building by way of ducts; or exhaust into the roof space provided it is adequately ventilated by open eaves, and/or roof vents; or the roof is clad in roof tiles without sarking or similar material which would prevent ventilating through gaps between tiles’.

Will be insisting PD to provide a better solution than a 20c coin size hole.

Busy Weekend

2009-02-14T22:24:00.004+11:00

Did a few things...

Cut batts that are covering the electrical brackets
Sweep floor areas that are next to the walls before plastering starts
Wiring for speakers in Rumpus

Another thing we did that was so unnecessary if our SS had been more careful... was that he forgot to arrange plumber to connect the pipes between both floors in two areas. So when the plumber was here today, he pulled out quite a fair bit of subfloor sound batts and we had to put them back up like putting puzzle pieces together, and had to make some cuts to the batts to accommodate the pipes.

Also, from the Pre-Plaster Report from Big Kev, he mentioned that our Power Room exhaust fan did not ducted externally, which is not right because exhaust fan must have a duct fitted, to properly clear all contaminated air from the Powder room out into the outside air. Will try to sort this out with SS on Monday. :(

Lock Up

2009-02-12T11:15:00.015+11:00

The insulation from PD was done yesterday. It was mainly on the external walls and the roof insulation will be done at a later stage.

The work on external wall insulation was not completely finished because the back wall on the upper floor has not been fitted with infill, or even the sisillation yet. Had been chasing SS on this to be installed quickly because we don't want the batts to get wet, and his answer was "will be this few days". Not happy.

The installers had made a mistake yesterday, they've used external wall insulation instead of the soundscreen on one of the corner which has pipe in it. Has raised this to SS, so hopefully they can change this before the plasterer work on this area.

Also, had found quite a few areas that the installer did not cut the hole properly for the electric sockets. Not sure will this cause any fire hazzards. Anyone has any idea?

The brickies had finished on the balcony yesterday, and they are working on the garage today.

Also, the carpenter came to fix some issues as well as install the front entrance doors, with locks. So we're now in Lock Up Stage, and had received call from CS today saying Bill #3 from PD is on its way. However, we don't intend to release the money until the back wall is completed. :P

[Front Entrance]

[Bedroom 2]

[Bedroom 3]

[Garage]

Soundscreen / Insulation

2009-02-10T22:47:00.008+11:00

Other than the garage, the brickwork is almost done. Looking at the progress, it might even finish tomorrow. As for the top/bottom of all windows and doors, SS said it won't be done until the scaffolding is taken down.

Today, we had our own insulation guys came in to install the soundscreen/insulation to some internal walls and sub-floor. There were 4 guys and they were done probably about 5 hours.

[Laundry]

[Ensuite]

[Sub-floor] Nothing was used to hold the batts. It was stuck in between the studs.

PD insulation guys will be in tomorrow. We're planning to get them use up all the insulation batts if there are any leftover, in exchange for a slab of beer perhaps?

The fixing carpenter should be in tomorrow to install the entrance doors, so Lock-Up Stage should be within next few days.

Big Kev came to do Pre-Plaster Inspection yesterday. However, we have not receive his report and the plasterers are schedule to be in Thursday. Not sure how are we going to fix any issues if they've already put up the plasters...

Lastly, Coles will be donating their profits for this Friday to the Victoria Bushfire Appeal 2009. So if any of the readers here who need to shop for some groceries, maybe you might want to wait till Friday and shop at Coles. Every little bit helps :) For those who want to donate directly, you can do it online at Red Cross, or check this Yahoo! website for more donation methods. Thanks!

Few updates

2009-02-05T23:05:00.009+11:00

The electricians had started work today and will be back tomorrow to finish up downstairs. Had a check to make sure they've include the extra work that we've requested, and found out they've missed a phone point under the stairs. Will catch them tomorrow morning and "remind" them :)

After some "studying", we conclude the markings on the floor means Switch, Power Point, Data Point.

This means Power Point, Phone Point, Power Point

The garage access and laundry doors had been put up, and our 2 stolen front entrance doors had been replaced, but not up yet... hopefully the carpenter can put it up before it got stolen again.

The insulation guy finally finished the sisilation (the green wrap) and the brickies had started their work too.

Quite dissappointed with the look of the evaporative cooling. We thought it would be "contour" so that it will inline with the roof... didn't expect it to be so "outstanding".

Heating and Cooling

2009-02-04T22:40:00.004+11:00

There were guys here today to install the ducted heating and cooling.

After the installation, somehow there are water dripping from the cooler, and it flows down from the roof into the downpipe hole, and since there are no downpipe yet, the water drips onto the floor board upstairs. Will try to take some photos tomorrow...

It's Gone!!

2009-02-04T09:23:00.003+11:00

We had our front entrance doors delivered last week, and yesterday when we're there, we realised the doors were missing. When we checked with SS, he said both our doors had been stolen, and two house down the road (another project he's managing), they bi-fold doors and plaster boards were gone too! What???

Anyway..... another scaffoldings had been setup, so hopefully they can finish the bricking soon and change the gutter to the correct ones (ColorBond gutter in Woodland Grey colour).

Last electrical changes

2009-01-28T18:10:00.008+11:00

Though we had looked through the electrical plans n^th number of times before we signed-off the final drawings, there are still things we realised that we've missed out.

Luckily, we've managed to find out the electrician PD used, and had dealt with them directly to include some changes before the actual electrical work is to be carried out. Hopefully, this time will be our final change.

Electrical Plan - Ground Floor

Electrical Plan - Upper Floor

Hot and sticky updates

2009-01-28T14:07:00.011+11:00

It's 41 degrees now.

Was at the site a while ago. Other than the cars parked outside our place, there was practically no sign of other tradesman along our street. It was SO quiet. Why?? It's just too hot to work under the sun!

The fixing carpenters are there today and according to them, our brickies came this morning and left when the weather got too hot. Anyway, here are some photo updates.

Front Elevation (pillars for the porch are done)

Elevation B (Left side)

Elevation C (Back)

Elevation D (Right side)

Alfresco (pillar at the corner not done yet)

The bottom of all windows and doors are not done yet coz the bricks will need to be laid differently.

The 2 front entrance door had arrived. It will be in Woodland Grey.

This door is for the garage internal access. Colour will be Deauville.

Fixing carpenter at work

Weather Forecasts

2009-01-26T21:03:00.004+11:00

The following are the weather forecast for the next 7 days... must put more coke in the fridge for the brickies...

Hot! Hot! Hot!

2009-01-20T14:37:00.008+11:00

The weather for yesterday and today is nothing but HOT! It's 37 degrees outside now, and the hot breeze is filled with dust. Very uncomfortable to be standing in the outdoor now, not to mention if it is under the direct sun!

Drop by the site today to give the brickies some icy cold coke, hoping they'll not get heat stroke soon...

Brown Terrain with off-white mortar

Closer look at the bricks

Had a quick chat with one of the brickie and was told we have power supply now. *phew* Was worried PD is going to charge us extra if they still need to run on generator.

By the way, the windows for upstairs had been installed, and again, the glass for sliding door to the balcony had been shattered completely...

Its A Wrap

2009-01-08T16:36:00.014+11:00

Drop by again and noticed that not only the sisilation (the green wrap for insulation) for the ground floor had been done, the gas and plumbing seems to be completed too.

There's water pipe under the laundry door. Will talk to SS tomorrow to see if this is ok.

Laundry

Kitchen island

Kitchen

Study

Ensuite

Bathroom

Oh bricks had arrived too. Hopefully can see the place look more like a house soon.

We had received the Framing Report from Big Kev. Generally it seems ok, with some "technical issues" which we'll be walking through with SS tomorrow trying to sort it out. Surprisingly when we sent PD a copy of the report, the CS replied they don't accept our independent report and wanted us to sort it with SS directly. Hmm...

[EDIT]
Met up with SS this morning, and the outcome has been good. He has agreed to address most of the issues, and for the few he's not sure, he'll check with his engineer and get back to us. We've told him Big Kev will be back for another pre-plaster inspection to follow-up the issues that he had raised before.

During the holidays....

2009-01-05T14:53:00.012+11:00

Went to fix up some noggins during the holidays and this is what we've found..

The pipe in the Powder Room had been fixed. Not sure how to test, so we've poured some water through the pipe and so far seems ok, no water leaking through the joints.

[Before]

[After]

[Different angle of the pipe]

[Modern communication method]

The other thing we found was that 2 windows had been smashed.

[Window in the Study]

[Window in the Lounge]

Builder mistake #1 and #2

2008-12-20T16:38:00.010+11:00

The tradies have officially stopped for their Christmas break, and will be back only around 12 Jan 2009.

The roof tiling has been completed (except for the garage), and the scaffolding had been removed. Here are the pic from different elevation.

Front Elevation (Balcony and garage on the right not done yet)

Elevation B (Left side)

Elevation C (Back)

Elevation D (Right side)

The gutters had also been done earlier and guess what, it was wrong material and wrong colour. It should be ColorBond in Woodland Grey, but they've installed Zincalume in some silver colour. We've called SS to tell him the mistake, and his solution is "...will paint it Woodland Grey...". Errr... don't think he is kidding. Contacted CS on this issue and they've come back that they'll remove and replace with the correct material/colour when another scaffolding is put up during bricking stage.

Another mistake the builder made was actually during the slab plumbing stage. The vanity pipe in the Power Room was in the wrong position. As seen in the photo below, it should be on the right side of the frame. SS said they'll jackhammer that part of the slab and re-do the plumbing. *sigh*

Frame fully completed

2008-12-11T22:43:00.007+11:00

Our roof truss has finished on Tuesday, so officially, the framing stage is completed. PD has been efficient enough to send us bill#2 which we've received it today.

We've meet up with our SS this morning to have a walk through the building and raise any issues concern. He has run through what has been done, and also what are the tasks following. He mentioned that a frame inspection has already been made and he'll also check the frame himself to make sure everything is OK before X'mas. Anyway, we've also called BigK for the inspection on frame stage. He should be here on Monday.

We've missed out asking PD to do the insulation/soundproof for sub-floor, and SS is kind enough to help us call his contact from CSR so that we can get a quote from them.

Up to this moment, we're happy with the people we've dealt with from PD (CS, SS, etc). The experience so far is very different from what we had when we built our first house with $imond$. Just hope it stays this way!

This is not the actual "completed frame" photo, will upload the actual one soon.

One important point SS brought up was that this newly titled stage of the estate has no power yet, and the building guys currently run on generator and it cost them $100/day, and if it goes on after some time, PD is likely to charge us in order to share the cost! A quick call was made to Peet and was told power only comes in Feb 09, and they'll not compensate us if the builder starts to charge for the generator. Not happy with that answer!!!!!

Not too bad week

2008-12-06T22:12:00.015+11:00

Few things had been done this week.

When we spoke to the frame guy on Tuesday morning, he said the frames should be finished in 3 days. We thought... "yeah right"... but hey, he's right!

Windows and sliding doors had been delivered

The guys started to work on the frame for upstairs

Ground floor windows and sliding doors installed

Half-way there..

Nearly there

There!

Scaffoldings up too

The roof truss had been delivered, should be starting on Monday.
Also, will be meeting SS for the first time on Thursday to walk through the place.

Hit and Miss

2008-12-01T22:04:00.005+11:00

Progress has been S.L.O.W past few days.

On day 1 of framing there were 6 guys, then 2 on day 2, zero on day 3, 2 on day 4, and today there were 3.

Anyway, the guys were fitting the boards for the upper floor today, and we noticed there were quite a fair bit of nails that were not nail correctly. Not sure is this an issue.

[edit] Had a look from upstairs, the frame guys had re-nailed the missed ones :)

Ground floor frame

2008-11-26T22:30:00.007+11:00

Today's progress was not as "wow" as yesterday, probably because there were 6 guys yesterday but only 2 today.

With the powder room walls and the walls between stairs and kitchen/pantry done, the frames for ground floor are completed now (I think), and the guys have started on work for the "ceiling" (?) of the ground floor.

The main entrance door frame and the translucent sidelights are in. Without any protective layer on the glass sidelights, we're keeping an eye on when the glasses will start to get scratches.

Door frame for laundry is up too.

Here comes the BILL... and the frame

2008-11-25T23:45:00.010+11:00

We've received the bill for stage 1 from PD today. Not as efficient as we thought :)

Had a quick chat with SS this morning. This is our first chat and he sounds like a nice chap. Was asking him is it possible to add some noggins and few other things, and he's alright with that.

Anyway, there has been a good progress in the building. The guys arrived early and started on building of the frames. By the end of first day of framing, the ground floor is almost completed, except for the powder room walls and the walls between stairs and kitchen/pantry.

Happened to notice the pipes in kitchen are slanted, and there is another one behind, probably for the gas. Not sure is this ok... need to have a chat with SS when meeting him on site.

Concrete Slab Done

2008-11-20T21:26:00.006+11:00

Drop by the lot this morning not expecting much happenings because the frame for slab was completed yesterday and according to PD, pouring of slab will only happen next Monday.

However, a big thingy has parked next to our lot and few guys standing in our lot were ready to get their hands dirty. That's right!! They were waiting for concrete from that big thingy!

Now that we have a slab, I wonder how efficient will PD be in collecting $$$ for the first stage...

248 Days to Complete

2008-11-19T22:10:00.005+11:00

Received a letter from PD today to confirm the start date of the construction, and will take 248 days to complete. Why 248?? According to the contract, that includes public holidays, wet weather allowance etc? Will there be extra delay due to Christmas/New Year break?? Not sure, will have to check with CS from PD.

Based to PD's schedule below, we're kind of ahead of schedule... not surprising when work actually began before the official start date.

WEEK 1
Site start is the day that all construction starts on site, usually when home is set out on the block. Hire items will be delivered, any excavation work done, under slab drains are laid and electrical connection cable is laid.

We're now in concrete slab preparation. The formwork and steel reinforcement were done this morning. Here are some pics.

Final Drawings

2008-11-19T10:21:00.011+11:00

Here are our finalized the drawings

Facade - Arlington

Elevation B

Elevation C

Elevation D

Floor Plan - Ground Floor

Floor Plan - Upper Floor

Electrical Plan - Ground Floor

Electrical Plan - Upper Floor

Today Is The Day!

2008-11-14T13:23:00.006+11:00

Today is the official start date for our 30 week building process.

Though we have not receive any calls from the site supervisor, but work had already begin at our lot few days before the actual start date.

Stakes that form the outline of the plan (?)

Temporary fencing set up

Plumbing work before slab pour

End of Day 1

Another Surprise

2008-11-10T21:26:00.006+11:00

Drop by our lot few days ago and saw the big bin already setup, so today just thought of going back there to take a picture and say "We have a bin!". To our surprise, not only was the bin there, the loo and the cross-over protection was there too. Can't believe we can be so excited over a loo!

Other than the loo, we were also thrilled that work had actually begin on our lot as the excavator has actually started scraping the site! We were not told of any work start nor receive any call from site supervisor introducing himself. In fact, we've only received the Final Working Drawings last Thursday and sorted out few minor issues only this morning, and we have yet to sign the drawings and send them back to PD. Hmm.. does this mean today is the start of Week 1?

Post Contract Variations

2008-10-29T22:40:00.018+11:00

Besides the standard inclusions and the promo package that we've taken up, here are the list of post contract variations :)

1	Extension of the garage by 1500mm
2	Include 2100mm x 2400mm roller door to the rear of garage
3	Internal access from the garage
4	Upgrade to Corinthian PMAD104 Front Entry door with translucent glazing
5	Upgrade to Corinthian Translucent glazing to Front Entry Frame sidelights
6	Keyed locks to all upper floor openable windows
7	Include doors to WIR in Master Bedroom and Bedroom 2
8	Include door to Ensuite
9	Upgrade to 4-panel doors to all ground floor doors (Total of 7)
10	Upgrade front entry deadbolt to Gainsborough Contemporary Trilock
11	Privacy lock to all bedrooms, Ensuite, Bath, WC, Powder (Total of 8)
12	Relocate window in Rumpus
13	Include 900mm x 850mm pot drawers in Pantry
14	Upgrade cabinet handles to Kitchen, Pantry, Laundry
15	Security system NX12 with 4 detectors
16	2-way switch in Master Bedroom
17	Upgrade batten holders and add to downlights (Total of 59)
18	Include 2 external junction box for lights outside garage
19	Addition of 3 TV points (Total of 4)
20	Addition of 1 telephone point (Total of 2)
21	Addition of 10 double power points
22	Addition of light point inside stairs area
23	Addition of 2 double waterproof power points
24	Upgrade heating control for downstairs/upstairs both to be variable
25	Include network controller for heating and evaporative cooling system
26	Upgrade wall shower mixer to Ensuite and Bathroom
27	Upgrade handheld showers to Ensuite and Bathroom
28	Niche to Bathroom shower
29	Addition of 1 external garden tap
30	Tile floor coverings to whole of ground floor
31	Render finish to Portico
32	Off-White mortar
33	Include Bradford Soundscreen R1.5 Insulation to Dining internal walls of upper floor waste void only
34	Include Bradford Soundscreen R1.5 Insulation to Bathroom/Bed4
35	Include Bradford Soundscreen R1.5 Insulation to Bathroom/Bed3
36	Upgrade external wall insulation to R2.0 Glasswool Batts

A Pleasant Surprise

2008-10-27T14:06:00.008+11:00

On Friday, the CS from PD called to say that she'll send our file to the building department a week earlier than previously discussed, and the actual work will then start anytime within the following two weeks. Nice!

Drop by the land after work, and guess what, there's a tap!! What a pleasant surprise :)

It is not just a tap, it is our first tap!

Tiles, Tiles, Tiles

2008-10-21T14:20:00.015+11:00

We did our tiles selection in February, and had only received the samples from National Tiles in October. Other then the samples, there was also a letter to notify us that one of our selected tile had been discontinued. It will be replaced by a porcelain tile at no extra cost to us.

We've did some read up and there were sayings that unless it is dark coloured tile, or else porcelain tiles stains easily. Just to make sure, we did some experiments using the samples we received by soaking it in lime flavoured soda and red wine over the night, and sure enough, the brown tile did not leave any stains :)

Anyway, here are the tiles we selected. Not a big range because we can't really visualize how will the tile colours coordinate, so we decided to follow the colour scheme used in the Cremorne 41 Mernda display house as much as possible. Less headache.

GROUND FLOOR COVERING
--------------------------------------
Entrance, Study, Lounge, Rumpus, Kitchen, Dining, Pantry, Family, Laundry

NT8-322FL (Kimberly Smoke 450mm x 450mm)

ENSUITE
------------
Shower Feature - VOLMT308 (Entiva Mosaic Ivory Matt 45mm x 45mm)
Shower Walls - NT8-302FL (Kimberly Smoke 333mm x 333mm)

BATHROOM
-----------------
Hob Feature - VOLMT308 (Entiva Mosaic Ivory Matt 45mm x 45mm)
Bath Niche - VOLMT308 (Entiva Mosaic Ivory Matt 45mm x 45mm)
Shower Walls - NT8-302FL (Kimberly Smoke 333mm x 333mm)
Bath Top, Hob and S/B - NT8-302FL (Kimberly Smoke 333mm x 333mm)

POWDER ROOM
----------------------
Splashback - MAXWL005 (Cafe Mocha Matt 100mm x 300mm)
Floor - NT8-322FL (Kimberly Smoke 450mm x 450mm)

LAUNDRY
--------------
Splashback - MAXWL005 (Cafe Mocha Matt 100mm x 300mm)
Floor - NT8-322FL (Kimberly Smoke 450mm x 450mm)

Selections and Upgrades

2008-10-20T21:34:00.017+11:00

It has been a while since our colour selection appointment, not too stressful during the appointment becoz we kind of know what we wanted for most of the items.

Facade	Cremorne with Arlington Facade
Render on Portico	Rockcote Dry Creek
Window Frames	Paperbark
Internal Paint	Wattyl Deauville
Glass Splashback	Dulux Mocha Magic

Boral Bricks with Off-White Motar

Roof Tiles

Garage Door in Paperbark

Door, Door and Door

Deadbolt on Entrance Door

Quantum Quartz Kitchen Benchtop

Kitchen Cabinet, Ensuite Benchtop/Cabinet, Bathroom Benchtop/Cabinet, Laundry Cabinet

Laundry Benchtop

Cabinet Door Handles

Land Settlement

2008-10-16T21:06:00.001+11:00

Finally after 6 months delay

View from the crossover, a mini city view

A quick call to the Council and we now know our house number....32