Monday 18 January 2016

Week 33 - Happy New Year! ☺

Both our administrator and SS were back on deck last Monday (11 Jan) and although we got a bit worried last week as we couldn't see much action happening on the site (except for the fence which has been taken down), we were reassured today after receiving an email advising that all was on track for a final inspection and settlement next Wednesday 27/Thursday 28 January (to be confirmed)... which is just as well as we'd already given notice and must be out of the rental by 31 January after which we'll be on the street (but I'm sure that Carter Grange won't let that happen ☺)

So my next post will most likely be after we have moved in!... how exciting, we cannot wait to be in the new house and make it our home ☺... in the meantime, here's a little update of some photos (most of which were taken before xmas).

We can finally see it!

Entry

Theatre

Laundry

Powder 1

Living / Dining

Dining / Kitchen

Stairs

Up we go :)

Leisure

Balcony

Master

Ensuite


the contentious WIR :)

Bedroom

Bedroom

Bathroom

Powder 2

Monday 14 December 2015

Week 28 - Practical Completion Inspection

We'd arranged for our independent inspector Damien of Project Logic to carry out a pre-PCI inspection last Friday (12 Dec) instead of the final inspection which we felt we could do ourselves. As it's our first time building, we wanted to be most prepared for our PCI inspection on Monday, which would be our last opportunity to flag any defects that needed to be fixed.

We got Damien's report over the weekend listing 16 items (in several locations) to be addressed. In summary, some doors/hinges to be adjusted/tightened, a couple of walls and the balcony balustrade to be squared, a couple of minor electrical items, the master WIR not quite right (more on this below), but mostly just finishing touches on paint, grout & render. So all up not a bad report as no major/structural issues, and as Damien said himself better than most he's come across.

We had our PCI inspection with our SS Nick this morning, and went through all of the items in Damien's report. We (both us and Nick) pointed out any items we'd noticed as we were doing the walk through, and they were marked-up/added to the defects list. One item of concern was the laundry chute exit which was too low and didn't allow enough room to have a laundry basket underneath for the clothes to fall into, so the exit/whole would have to be moved up.

The other was the master WIR which had initially been incorrectly installed without the rear panels, so they were meant to remove what was there, put in the rear panels and re-fit the shelves, drawers, etc. But instead they simply tried to put in the rear panels wherever plastered walls were visible then patched it up. No need to say that the end result was not esthetically pleasing, not to mention didn't look at all like the one displayed at Byron.

Anyway, Nick agreed that the WIR was not good enough and this would be referred back to the contractor for them to completely remove and replace it. The laundry chute issue would also be referred back to the contractor to see how it can be resolved and hopefully they can come up with a good solution. All the other items on the defects list will be addressed, some in the few days remaining before Christmas and the others when the trades get back in the New Year.

Saturday 28 November 2015

Week 26 - we're nearly there

Another busy two weeks and we are nearly there... still a few loose ends which should hopefully be addressed by Carter Grange fairly promptly... but otherwise tiles & grout (almost) done (save for a couple of ensuite walls); sinks, taps & shower heads done (save for the handheld in the bathroom); baths & toilets installed (save for a couple of toilets to be swapped); timber floors & skirting to ground floor done; kitchen waterfall edge & glass splashback done; walk-in pantry, linen cupboard & laundry chute done; stairs glass balustrade & mirrors installed; balcony waterproofed & ready for tiling; external lights & render (almost) done; retaining wall done & we have a garage door!... carpet's next ☺


Monument garage door


black glass splashback

sink mixer &
vegie sprayer

waterfall edge

butler's sink

walk-in pantry

snippet of the timber floors before
they covered them up


Powder

Ensuite


Bathroom


bath


laundry trough

laundry chute

linen cupboard

balcony waterproofed

retaining wall

Saturday 14 November 2015

Week 24 - full steam ahead!

Trades on site again this Saturday morning, so managed to get in for a sneak peek and looks like it's been another busy couple of weeks...

The tiling has been laid and is almost done, with just the grouting to go. The correct kitchen drawers have been installed. All the benchtops have been put in, save for the waterfall edge (which probably goes in after the flooring). Most of the robes have been installed, save for the doors (probably after the carpet is laid). All the tapware was being installed this morning and will be finished today. The baths have been delivered to site. Fly screen, security system and termite protection also done.

And as we were leaving, our timber floor boards were being delivered to site, in time for the flooring apparently to start on Monday!... it's all happening ☺