Day 155: We Got The Keys!!!

yehey.. we got the keys today for our house and Carlisle even gave us some gifts -- kettle and toaster.

now to start the move.. we got 28 days before the landlord kick us out :D

Day 148: Final Inspection...

Hahahaha.... final inspection.. getting really used to this thing. I.M. and G are there in the house doing their own inspection and checking the house. We did the tour and one by one ticked off PCI list and NHI report.

We actually saw two things that were not done but are on the plan, the tiles on the laundry were supposed to be all the way to the bottom of the cabinet and a double power point in the laundry was missing. I.M. said that this will be done when they install the appliances.


It was not as long as the PCI but there were still a few outstanding items. G. assured me that most of them he will be doing himself and will be done today or over the weekend.

And they replaced the data hub and it is on the right spot now. :D

After doing the inspection, I called T.W. regarding the final payment and I just emailed him the final invoice and signed copy of the progress draw form.

Hopefully by next week we get the cheque to give to Carlisle so we can have the keys.. :D

Day 145: CoO

Yay.. E.R. sent us our Certificate of Occupancy.. can't describe the feeling when reading the word "occupancy". :D

Day 140: New SS again!!!

I made an appointment with I.M. to meet him on site early in the morning to measure the data hub and have a look inside. He didn't show up!!! I was sitting in the car, in front of the house waiting for him and when I called him, he didn't answer. Then I saw this guy walking towards me and saw that he is wearing a Carlisle uniform, and it turned out that he is our new S.S. Geeezzz, is Carlisle going to send us each S.S. they have?

Anyway, G. and I quickly went inside the garage for me to take some measurement and photos of the data hub that they installed. And guess what, it was actually smaller that the one I requested so there goes the "we upgraded it to a bigger one" excuse.

Quickly sent an email to E.R. and she said that Argus will replace the hub when they move it to where it should be.

Me happy again with Carlisle.. :D

Day 137: Wrong Data Hub!!

I was reviewing the PCI photos yesterday and noticed that they put the wrong Data Hub enclosure!!! I sent E.R. an email regarding this (with a photo that our colour consultant emailed me ) and she replied today saying that the electrician said they need to change/upgrade it so that everything that needs to put inside can fit.  I don't think so, I reckon they are just going the cheap route and installed a common box.  Will definitely chase them up on this.

Me not happy!!!

Day 134: NHI PCI Report..

Wow, R.D. is fast, I just read his report and he actually sent it this afternoon. I guess he can't wait to go to Africa. Anyway, I am glad that we had an independent inspector to do the PCI inspection, he caught a lot of things that me and R.M. missed and some of them are expensive to fix.

Highly recommended those guys at N.H.I.

Day 134: PCI !!!! AND SMART WIRING!!!

Yay!! We made it this far... :D

Woke up really early as the PCI is scheduled at 8:30AM (or was it  9AM?). When we got there, our good old NHI inspectro R.D. is already there doing his thing. He said that he was actually on leave that day as he is going to Africa for a three week holiday.

R.M. was our PCI supervisor and he was alright. He already marked most of the paint jobs that needs to be redone.  Most of the things that we saw are paint touch ups. We're glad that we schedule the PCI to be in the morning as the sunlight lighting up each room really made a difference spotting wrong paint works and there are plenty of them. Some of them you can't see when staring at the wall directly but once you move to the side, it stands out.  R.M. thinks that an apprentice did the paint touch up and he used the ceiling paint which is flat instead of the wall paint which is glossy.

R.M. also mentioned that he checked the garage paintwork and he is recommending that the whole garage be repainted..

An example of the marks for the paint touch up is below.

But pretty happy how the kitchen turned out, especially the plumbing.. NEAT!!!

One funny thing though is that while we were there doing the PCI, the L&O guys were also there installing the smart wiring. Then when we got to the garage, I saw they were putting the data hub in there and I then told R.M. that it's not to be installed there but somewhere else. Showed him the plans and he just shook his head.

Oh, and the Boss was really mad at me as I forgot to tell her to bring slippers and the floor tiles were really cold.


Well, other than them installing the data hub on the wrong spot, house looks good and the Boss is happy. R.M. gave us a list of what needs to be fixed and we will go back in two weeks for the final inspection.

Day 129: Fiber Optic conduit installed..

Visited the site today and saw that they already put the fibre optic conduit.  But peering into the windows, it seems that the data cabling is still not done...

 There is also another thing, they put the gas entry point on the brick pergola post and on the side of the footpath making the footpath narrower...

Day 127: Updates on issues..

Got an email from E.R. today regarding the variations on issues:

-- all quad power points will be replaced by 2 X double power points
-- pergola colour will be deep walnut
-- the corner floodlight will be a power point instead..


also booked in for PCI next week, Friday... :D

Day 126: We "forgot" the paint colour for the pergola

Got a call from E.R. today asking for the paint colour that we want for the pergola since we forgot to choose it during colour selection. I told her that we didn't forget, it was just that the pergola was presented to us during tender and we pretty much have to agree to it since we were told that it would delay our build if we want it removed since the plans have to go to the estate approval process again..

Can't decide on the colours, but I might go deep walnut to match that beam on top of the porch...

Also got the news that there are no slimline version of the quad power points. Told them to put two double power points instead. Still waiting for the answer.

And still no news if the data cabling is alredy there!!!!

Day 121: Facade Colours

Wohooo...we didn't mess up the facade colours...

Day 114: Pergola and Garage Door

It's been too long since I last updated the blog, been very busy.. But I am happy to say that the expensive pergola is finally up and it doesn't look bad all..

And we have the garage doors already so there is no way we have access to the house now..

Front Door

Bedroom carpets

Day 100: We bought a new TV for the new house

Hahahaha, not really an update on the house build but today, we have decided to buy a new TV for the new house. I was so decided on the Samsung 46" LCD but then I saw the Sony 50" one and the guy at JB HiFi pretty much gave me a decent deal for it. And with free PS3 :D. The downside is that they don't have stock for 3-4 weeks but that's all good since it is for the new house anyway and the house will not be finished before they get the stock.

And on the way home, we realised that when we moved to our current place, TV was also the first major appliance that we bought... :D

Day 80: Painting

It's been a while since I visited the site so I was hoping that there would be a lot of work already done, and there are.

First of is that the top of the porch is finally put on. It is like one of the main features of the facade so I am very happy to see it.

And I notice that the bricks looked different and upon closer inspection, it is because they already cleaned it.

But a bit worried with the image below as the damp-proof plastic used is showing and sticking out of the bricks.

And also, they have started painting the walls, ceilings and doors.

And they still have not fixed the benchtops and I still don't have my smart wiring.

Day 68: Benchtop and door issue meeting

D.X. called me today to set-up a meeting regarding the issues with the benchtops and doors. Got there around 2PM and he was actually there waiting for me. I showed him that the doors in the master bedroom, bed 3, bed 4 are wrong. Also, the benchtops are wrong as they are not bullnose profile. He acknowledge it and said that he will have a meeting with the team back at the office to find out what happened.

I also asked him again what's happening with the smart wiring cabling and he said he had no idea but assured me that it will be done as it was in the package.

Bricking is also finished and architraves are all done.

Day 67: Benchtop and door issue

Well, I emailed E.R. today regarding the wrong profile on the benchtop and the wrong door styles installed. The doors should be easily fixed but I am not sure about the benchtop profile.  I re-checked our colour selection and the benchtops should be bullnose and not square edge.

E.R. just replied that she already forwarded my email to the construction team to see if they ordered the items correctly..

Day 66: Cabinets, We Got Cabinets

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

And N was really happy to see the kitchen cabinets and benchtops. She kept on bragging that she chose the colour combination and they look beautiful. Who knows what will happen if I disagree.

You know what's wrong with the photos above.. I ORDERED A BULLNOSE EDGE PROFILE!!!!! Need to quickly sort this out with E.R.

The ensuite that N keeps on saying has a ridiculous colour combination. I reckon its perfect. Guess who chose the combi. :D

Laundry

Bathroom

Master bedroom door (WRONG DOOR STYLE!!!!)

Bedroom doors (WRONG DOOR STYLES AGAIN!!!)

A few more updates and photos below..








Facade is taking shape..

The expensive pergola

They finished the bricks in the garage

Well, still got a few issues. The lintel above the alfresco door has not been installed and they already put the bricks on and the plaster, so I am not sure how are they going to put that in. I saw that the framer already had the lintel made but it was just in the alfresco floor. And also the issue with the doors and the benchtop profile.

Gotta email E.R. quick. :D

Day 60: Plastering has started...

Went to the site to check on the outstanding issues with the pre-plaster inspection and was surprised that they have started plastering the walls. My initial reaction was, oh no, they hurriedly put the plaster on so that I won't be able to check if they fixed the issues. Well, they still have not fixed some of them but the critical ones (like the missing wall batts) they already did.

First off.. the facade taking shape.

Side bricks almost done

View from the entrance

Bricking still not done at the back of the house

These wall sarking got ripped and I had to fix them myself

Day 54: Pre-plaster inspection report..

I got the pre-plaster inspection report today from NHI and there are a few issues listed. I met D.X. on site and gave him personally the inspection report and as usual, he doesn't like it but he said that he will have them fixed.

I also went inside the house and found another problem, they did not put a foil (the green paper) at the corner of bedroom 4 and it already has bricks. Showed it to D.X. and he promised that he will have them fixed.

Day 49: Pre-plaster Inspection

First off, photos for the electricals:

Also, they installed the ducted heating tubes.

I arrived early on the site and waited for D.X. to appear, but NOOOO, he didn't even bothered to call me to say that he won't be there for the pre-plaster inspection as he said yesterday so me and R.D. went ahead with the inspection. R.D found a few issues, some were serious, some are aesthetics. The more serious was the kitchen bulkhead was attached to the trusses and he said that this is no good.

While we were there, the insulation guys came and started putting the batts on the walls. And they were using this:

They also added the green paper between the entry and the lounge so that they can put the batts.

They have also replaced the garage post with the treated pine so I sent the frame stage payment.

One annoying thing was that when I came back that afternoon, D.X. arrived but didn't even got out of his car. I waved to him while he was parked outside the site but then he just drove off without even getting out of the car to ask how the pre-plaster inspection went. I had to call him on his mobile to say that there are a few issues. I will be meeting him tomorrow morning to discuss them but I won't be having the report yet.

Day 47: Electricals started..

Got a call from Carlisle (Tanya) today following up the payment for the frame stage. Told her that I will wait for the issues with the slab and frame to be fixed before I send out the payment and that I already talked to E.R. about it. She's happy with that. :D

Went to the site to meet D.X. to see how if the frame and slab issues had been already addressed. The concreter was there fixing the slab but him and D.X. were reluctant to grind the slab overhang on the side of bedroom 4. Lucky I was there as D.X. just told the guy to fix it.

Also, the electrician already started putting in the wires. It seems that he already finished the lot but found that there were a few points still missing, mostly in the wet areas (bathroom and laundry) so I am not sure if they will do it later. The wires are there but no brackets.

Also found an issue with the fridge power point, it is almost in the middle of the fridge space. Might have problem putting the fridge all the way to the wall.

I got no photos but will go back to the site tomorrow to have another look, hopefully to meet the guys from Argus as I have a few questions from them.

Also, D.X. told me that plaster will be done on Friday so I have to schedule the pre-plaster inspection to be on Thursday. I am really doubting that they will finish all the pre-plaster work before Friday. They still need to do the batts, fix the wall sarking, do the smart/structure wiring and the heating.

Oh, and it is really pouring heavy tonight so will be interesting to see tomorrow if there are any leaks again. :D

Day 44: Oh No!! LEAK on the roof..

There was a light rain yesterday and guess what, since they have not yet finished the roof, we got some leaks on the roof and the roof sarking got wet. I don't know if there will be any effect in it's insulating/reflectiveness but it sure did it's job as a rain protection. :D At least the ceiling will not get wet if we ever have a problem with the roof tiles..

Oh, and they rearranged the bricks getting them ready.

And, really glad I upgraded the roof tile profile. LOVE the roof!!!!!

But I am not too sure about the decision on upgrading the alfresco doors. Now I don't have any walls on the side, it's all glass sliding doors. Well, at least that will make it look a bit more spacious. :D

Day 42: We Got Roof!!!!

Well I have not visited the site for days just because it gets dark too quickly in the afternoon. But today, I am very glad to see that the house actually has a roof (though not complete yet).

We also got the wall and roof sarking. Wall sarking is not yet complete (missing in the garage) and there are some tears outside.

The above tear is just an example. There are a few other places with worse tears than this.

Bricks has been also delivered. Not sure of the colour though. It says chocolate in the pallet but it seems that the one in the display home at Williams Landing is a lot nicer than these bricks. Maybe after they cleaned them.

And this is the damp proofing that they used.

View from the back of the house.