PCI complete

Well we had our PCI at the beginning of the week.  It was nice to finally meet our SS Craig. He was lovely and made me think that the build would have been a lot more stress free if we had met earlier on in the process.

I do find it very strange that we had our PCI with so much work left to do but Craig assures me this is very normal.  We didn't pick up any major issues on our inspection (well our very laid back SS didn't think anything we picked up was major lol) just the normal painting touch-ups and scratched windows so it is all systems go to complete now.  Normally handover would be in 2 weeks however Craig is away that week so handover has been pushed back to Wed April 22. It is wonderful to finally have a date. Luckily we are able to push back the date we have to be out of our current house by a few days so it has worked out well.

What happens next is a bit confusing. Craig made it all sound so simple - meet him onsite on handover day for a final inspection then off the Head office for handover. He advised to contact head office for a time and when I did that they sent me an email to advise when PCI is? This was followed by a very confusing email about Occupational Certificates and Interim certificates. I think I will need to call the office for clarification after the long weekend.

Next week the touch ups should happen along with the Driveway and the long awaited rendering should be finished. The end is in sight!!!!

PCI tomorrow?

Well we have our PCI tomorrow. Feels very strange I should be happy but the house looks far from finished and in very nervous that in its unfinished state we will miss lots of important things. I always thought the PCI came when the house was finished. 

We have had the carpet installed over the weekend but still left to do (that I know of) is:

- finish rendering to front facade

- finish painting balcony

- clean brickwork

- kitchen glass splashback

- lots of paintwork

- some holes in plaster to be filled and painted

- bottom stairs to be stained

- architraves to pantry window

- wardrobes and linen cupboards fit out

And of course the driveway

As you can see from the photo below the stairs have been plastered but still need to be painted

Hopefully the inspection goes well and we are still on track to complete by 20/4. 

Tiling and carpet nightmare

Well it has been a few weeks since my last post. Not because there hasn't been any progress but more that I am finding the closer we get to the end the more stressful it has become. Most of the frustration has come from Tiling and Carpet and its no surprise 1 company is responsible for both.

 

When we decided to build (3 years ago!) I fell in love with the Wooden look Porcelain tiles that they have in the Display homes.  So when were making our choices in May last year we decided to make them our 1 big upgrade - and let me tell you the cost was enormous. When we went for our appointment we told the (very unhelpful) woman that we wanted the tiles as they are in the Display Home and she told us 'you have to pay more for that'.  Yes yes we know we have to pay more! Anyway she explained it was extra for the tiles, extra to have them laid and then extra again to have a 3mm grout line. We agreed to be quoted on that and she circled her sheet and we signed.  What we didn't realise is that she was quoting on having them square set (ie laid next to each other) not offset as they are in the Display Homes (the only way you should lay them as any other way would look ridiculous). We should have paid extra, extra, extra and extra for that!!!

 

Well we didn't pick this up until the day before they were due to be laid when we looked through the window to see the tilers had been in and placed some down to space out.  Surely they wouldn't lay them like that?  I couple of frantic phone calls to the SS and a sleepless night (because he didn't call me back - it wasn't Friday after all!) and the next morning I had a message to say the tilers had been put on hold and the someone would be in touch to sort it out.  Sure enough a lovely man from Norwest Tiling called and we worked it out - he also said when he saw the order he couldn't believe we wanted them laid that way and agreed they looked so much better laid offset...Argh!

 

Here are some photos of the tiles - they will look stunning once they are all cleaned up

 

 

 

The next drama we had was the carpet (same company).  Again we chose everything in May last year however we received a call in December to say the carpet had been discontinued and we had to choose another.  No problems.  We went in January to make another selection.  The new range didn't have a colour exactly the same but there was a close option which we went with. It had gone up in price of course however they did say we could have it for the original price. 

 

Fast forward to the Saturday before the carpet is supposed to be laid 2 months later and we get a phone call to say sorry you can't have that one as there isn't enough in stock and won't be until the end of April. So back we went again but this time we were limited to whatever they had in stock that could be delivered by Friday when the carpet layers were expected to start. What a nightmare. So we have ended up with a 3rd choice carpet in a colour I'm not 100% happy with.

 

In hindsight my advice to anyone building with Wisdom is to have the tiles and carpet taken out of the tender and do them post handover. For the following reasons:

1. you will save a fortune as instead of going to the 'very unhelpful' Tile Company you can shop around. I have a work colleague who recently had the same tiles laid only in a grey colour and she paid half what I did for them

2. you don't have to deal with the 'very unhelpful' Tile Company.  We felt like a number to them - just another Wisdom client. I'm sure any other company we would go to asking for 200m2 of carpet and 90m2 of tiles would be falling over themselves to help us.

3. You would be onsite to make sure they are laid correctly with no dramas.  I can't even think of the drama if we hadn't picked up the tiling problem until it was too last

 

Here are a couple of photos of some more latest additions:

 

  

  Bench top extended to the Alfresco - bit smaller than I would like but still looks good

 

 

 

    Pantry shelves - I don't remember choosing this colour but I do love it!

Bathrooms tiled

The house is really starting to take shape now.  This week has since the bathroom tiles completed and kitchen benchtops installed. 

 

 

 

Exciting time but also one of frustration. We are so close to the end but nothing is getting finished -every thing is 90% there and I don't really understand the theory behind it all.

 

 

For example: the gyprock is still not complete to the stairs but house has been given its first coat of paint? See below they put the bottom panel on so they could install the skirting board but left the top one off???

 

 

Another thing is the house if filthy but the painters just painted around the dirt.  This is a photo of the niche in the stairs. They just left all the builders dirt and painted around it???

 

 

 

Today we noticed all the electrical has been fitted out and looks great however as you can see from the photo the bricks in this section still have not been cleaned as yet - I'm no builder but I can't see anyway they won't get damaged by the cleaning (or the rendering that still has to happen overhead)

 

Its very frustrating but we are just hoping it all turns out fine in the end - and that is all that matters.

Kitchen and bathroom cabinets installed and tiling started

Big....BIG week on our build. So much has happened it is making my head spin.

 

Monday the kitchen and bathroom cabinets were installed. I wasn't expecting it until Tuesday so it was a huge surprise and it looks amazing.  And it is HUGE!  One of the things we wanted in the new house was a big kitchen with lots of storage and bench space. Seems we may have gone a little overboard but I LOVE it!  I can't wait to see it all painted with the beautiful bench tops

 

On Monday we also had a meeting onsite with Wisdom Landscapes to talk about the driveway. He was very nice but I have to admit I was only half listening - my new kitchen had all my attention.

 

Tuesday the bathrooms, laundry and patio were all screeded? Not sure if that's the word but sand/cement stuff that goes under the tiles was done (lol) along with all the skirting boards throughout the house.

 

Wednesday the tiling started with the Patio and laundry floor tiles laid.  We are locked out now which is a bit bitter sweet- great that its all safe and secure but so frustrating that we can't go in when we like.  

 

We did manage to get in on Friday afternoon to take a few photos and the tiling looks great.  We went with the standard Wisdom range of tiles in the bathrooms (as we had gone over board on every other upgrade) but I think it will look ok when finished.  Dark grey colour on the floor and large white tiles on the walls with mosaic's in the niche's.

 

Here are the latest pics....

 

    Half the kitchen...too big to fit in 1 photo lol

    The other half

    Ensuite cabinet

   

    Front entry

 

    Bathroom tiles

 

Looking forward to next week already - apparently we will have the tiling in the wet areas complete, render to be finished on the balcony and first coat of paint. It's all happening!!!

Lock Up....well almost

Well it has been 2 weeks since my last post and what an eventful 2 weeks it has been. I can't believe how much work has happened on the house....and how different it looks now.

In 2 weeks we have seen the gyprock and cornice complete, the eaves to the Alfresco and garage complete, Staircase installed, waterproofing to wet areas, doors installed complete with architraves and finally the balcony has been constructed.

SS called on Friday to say we were at Lock Up but there is no garage door as yet and the internal door from the garage to the house doesn't have a lock so I'm not sure how this is Lock Up but we are close anyway (and we can still get in to have a snoop).

Only a couple of issues we have noticed so far.  They have placed a power point in the shower in the ensuite (not the safest place to have it lol) and despite being told a few weeks ago before the gyprock went on it has now be cut out in the shower and the waterproofer has waterproofed around it??? Very strange but I'm assured that it will be fixed.  There is also some broken tiles making a hole in the roof above the garage but again I'm assured they will be fixed and are nothing to worry about.

Next week....wait for it...the kitchen is being installed. I'm just a little excited!!!  We also have a meeting onsite with Wisdom Landscapes to talk about the driveway. It's powering along now.

Here are the latest pics...

    Gyprock complete in entryway

 

   

    Lounge room through to kitchen  

    Games/theatre room

    Love the eaves in the Alfresco Area. Makes it look like a proper room

    My new stairs - I am in love with them and they change the

    whole house now that they are in.  The bottom 3 steps will

    be stained with the remainder carpet.

 

   

    The front door

 

    One of my favourite photos - the new entryway

It's getting so close now...

Plastered!!!!

It was a rainy week this week so we were not expecting much action but the house was insulated early in the week and, when the sun came out on Thursday, so did the Gyprockers.   The whole house had the rough Gyprock completed in 1 day - we finally have walls and it looks AMAZING and huge! and the surprise is that it is quite cool as well.  Very happy :)

 

Here are a few photos although I will have to take some more - every time I go to have a look I get so distracted that I forget to take the damn photos

 

    Fridge space in the kitchen

 

    Media alcove in the boys games room/home theatre

 

   The Dining area from the kitchen into the games room

 

    The biggest laundry in history...

 

I also have a great chat with our SS on Friday and apparently its all systems go now. Next week the Gyprockers will be completing all week (all the detail work and cornices etc) along with the carpenter coming back to complete the lower roof Eves, cladding to 2nd storey and balcony.

 

After that he has booked the stairs to be installed on Tuesday week (10/2) then it will carpenter back to complete up to lock up, waterproofer in, cabinets installed, tiler, painter, fit off, tiler and then painter again (yes I was taking shorthand when he was speaking).  He said we are on track to have PCI by the end of March and.....the big news....when I said we had to be out of our existing house by April 20 he said 'Oh you will be in your house by then'.  What a weight off my shoulders - I can actually enjoy the building process again rather than stressing that I will be homeless in April (we have no Plan B)

 

Oh man Wisdom Homes if the house continues to look as amazing as it does and we are in by April 20 all will be forgiven and I will be shouting your praise to everyone I meet.

Yay the builders are back!!!!

Finally the builders are back on site.  The 3 weeks felt like an eternity but we made it through and are now looking forward to seeing some progress again.

 

The first week back saw the tiles on the roof of the garage and alfresco area being completed and the electrical/Air Con rough in. We were also supposed to have the eaves on the lower storey completed and balcony completed but that did not happen.  Here is a few photos -

 

 The lounge area where the new TV will be place...



    The new Air Con system is huge

 

       Looks a bit like a space suit

 

The 2nd week back we were again told that the lower storey eaves would be completed along with the balcony but it did not happen again.  We did have a carpenter on site 'fixing' the frame and the whole place has been given a much needed clean (the site still looks like a tip but at least the house is looking a bit better), so that is something.  

 

SS has advised the Gyprockers will be on site on Wednesday to start the walls which is very exciting but I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

On other news we sold our existing house prior to Christmas which settled this week.  We are now renting it back from the new owners until 20 April so the new house needs to be finished by then.  We were originally told end of March, and planned to be in by Easter (April 3), which would leave us plenty of time but the way progress is going I'm not so sure - I can see a few stressful weeks ahead.