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.

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

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 ☺

Waterproofing inspection

The tiling inspection happened as scheduled and the report from Damien of Project Logic was that "... in general the waterproofing was very good with a thick consistent layer going right into all the joints."

Although he would have personally preferred the floor to be waterproofed throughout, in his opinion the joints in the tile underlay should be at least sealed with a polyurethane sealant. So, we were very pleased when our SS Nick offered to seal those joints himself with some polyurethane that he just happened to have in his truck, and we were happy with that ☺

Note that it is standard for Carter Grange to only waterproof those areas that are of course required under code and not the entire floor of wet areas, but I imagine that you could certainly add that to your contract if you wanted it done.

Week 22 - we're getting there

We can't believe it's been just 5 months since Carter Grange started our build...

The update is painting's done (save for final touches at the end), electricals are done, heat/cool vents and thermostats are done, waterproofing's done, kitchen drawers being replaced as we speak, handles on internal and front doors installed so no more sneaking in :/ and the ground floor external rendering has resumed.

Next is our pre-tiling inspection of the waterproofing first thing Wednesday morning, followed of course by the tiling... and then it's mainly the stone benchtops, built-in robes and flooring!

So we can almost see the finish line now, it's all very exciting, and a bit daunting as we're starting to look at furniture, much sooner than expected... keep you posted :)