Fixing Stage Complete

On Friday, three weeks after we were told fixing stage would be complete, we got the call saying the fixing stage is complete!  There were only a couple of visible changes when we visited the site yesterday, but it was the most encouraging progress we've seen in a little while.

Architraves & Skirting

 

Architraves and Skirting

Finally, the architraves and skirting are complete (and correct!)

Wardrobes

 

Bed 4 Wardrobe

Bed 4 Wardrobe

All the wardrobe doors have been hung, meaning all internal doors are now hung.

Facade

 

Facade

Cladding

The cladding on the facade in now underway, the first change in the facade that we have seen in a little while.

Eaves

 

Eaves

Portico

The ceiling under the eaves and portico has been started.

Cornice

 

Cornice

 

We noticed that some of the cornice above the front door has been ripped off; we'll see what the site supervisor has to say about it.

What it's all about

 

Because I can't resist...

Loves the new house!

Who's there?

The little guy came with us on Saturday, and had a ball running around the house!

Slow progress

Yesterday's visit was a bit disappointing again.  There has been progress, but it's just been fixing mistakes and it feels so slow.  Our site supervisor had told us that we could expect the cladding on the facade to have been completed by today, but it wasn't (although it appears to have been delivered.  We were also told that the architraves and skirting boards would be replaced thins week, but there is still progress to be made on that - most of the architraves are done, however only one piece of skirting board has been set.

No change

Cladding delivered

Old architraves

New architraves

Our first meeting with the Site Supervisor

Last Friday we had our first meeting with our site supervisor (SS), at the house.  I'm a bit concerned I've left this update too long as I don't really remember the details, but the crux of it was that we are very happy with the site supervisor and the meeting renewed our waning confidence in the process.  A great outcome for everyone.

The SS was friendly, professional and helpful.  We had a few concerns to raise with him, and he patiently went through all the issues.  Most were 'standard' things that will be fixed up in time, but we weren't to know and he was never condescending.  Some of the things we were assured were:

• The roofer will be back to do a pre-handover service and will fix the piece of raised colorbond.
• The window supplier will provide matching aluminum strips to be fitted above the windows and doors that have a gap between the window and the brickwork.
• The missing plaster in the garage will be fixed up before painting.

The SS told us that we will be finished in October, but says he can give a better estimate once the tiling has started.  We'd be happy with October, but happier still with September!

The week's progress seemed slow again, but there were a few new bits and pieces for us to see.

Bathrooms

Ensuite Shower

Bathroom Shower

The shower bases are in in the bathroom and ensuite.

Internal doors

Pantry Door

All the internal doors have been hung.  The picture above shows the pantry door, which was the most interesting of the doors.  We had chosen the Balmoral 2 doors for all internal doors except the pantry, which was to be a flush panel door, but a Balmoral 2 has been delivered and hung.  We spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about it and have decided to stick with the 'wrong' door.  At least it will match all the other doors!

Architraves

 

Living/dining architraves and skirting

The architrave saga continues.  Despite calling the site supervisor at 8am Monday morning about the mistake, the carpenters didn't get word that they were using the wrong architraves/skirting until they had completed the architraves and were well underway with the skirting.  The correct materials have been delivered, and the SS tells us it should all be fixed up by the end of this week.

Front door

 

Front door (external)

Front door (internal)

Our front door has been hung and it looks great.  The wrong deadbolt has been put on it (it should be square), but apparently that is an easy fix.  The door is yet to be painted, but we are very happy with the look - we've been hanging out to see it hung and it didn't disappoint!

The writing's on the wall...

... literally!

Scribbles

The walls are covered with pencil scribbles.  The site supervisor mentioned that the plasterers would be out this week preparing the plaster for painting, so perhaps it's to do with this - we have no idea!

Generally, Saturday's visit was a bit disappointing.  Last week was definitely the slowest progress we've seen.  Fixing stage was scheduled to be finished last Wednesday, but it was held up by a trailer losing a wheel (at least that is what we've been told).  As of today it's still not done, so I guess we're at least a week behind schedule now.

Kitchen

Bulkhead

Progress in the kitchen was limited to the addition of the bulkhead.  It seems strange to us that they would do this after the cornice had been fixed, but as long as it gets done.

In the kitchen are a few extra cabinet doors.  We can't figure out what they might be for, I suppose time will tell (or they'll disappear).

Architraves

Architraves

The architraves are almost complete.  Unfortunately the wrong architraves were delivered so they will all have to be re-done.  Somehow we missed this last week.  The site supervisor has said that this will be fixed this week and shouldn't hold things up.

Bricks

What's going on here?

Bathroom window

Fence

Fence

The west boundary fence has been completed.  We also have confirmation that the rear fence will be provided by the developer, which is a nice bonus for us.  Technically we can be organise it once we have the certificate of occupancy, but hopefully we can at least get on the waiting list before then (a toddler and an electric fence don't seem the greatest combination).  We also discovered that the block on the east side has been sold pending settlement, which explains why the developer says it's sold but the council tells us the developer is the owner.  We will have to reapply for the owners' details at the end of the month.

All in all it looks like the dream run is over.  However we're hardly at panic stations, and hopefully our meeting with the site supervisor on Friday will set our minds at ease.

Kitchen

We heard from our building coordinator that our kitchen was scheduled to arrive during the week, and that fixing stage should be finished by next Wednesday, so we were pretty excited to head out to the site yesterday.

Kitchen

The kitchen cabinets have been installed, and they look great.  We had such a small kitchen in our last house that we won't know what to do with all this storage space!  There should be a bulkhead above the overhead cabinets which isn't in yet.  We thought perhaps that this would happen later, but the cornice has been fitted all the way around, which seems a little odd.  We will check with the site supervisor next week what is going on with that.

Kitchen

Kitchen

Pot drawers

Island bench

 

We were pleased to see that the overhead cupboards had a spring-loaded opening mechanism.  We had opted for no handles on these cabinets, and were told that it meant that the door would extend a little lower than the cabinet to provide something to grip on to to, but the push in gadget is great (something we probably would have done if wee weren't told it would cost extra!).

Overhead cabinets

We are very happy with how the kitchen is looking.  We noticed that one of the pot drawers is slightly out of alignment, but otherwise it is great.

Pot drawers out of alignment

 

Bathrooms

The bathroom vanities have also been installed.

Ensuite (double) vanity

Bathroom vanity

 

 Laundry 

The laundry cabinets have been installed.

Laundry cabinets

The laundry cupboard now has doors.

Laundry cupboard

 

Doors 

 

Internal

Some of the internal doors have been hung; the theatre and ensuite, as well as the master bedroom double doors.

Theatre door

Master bedroom doors

The sliding doors for the bedroom wardrobes have been delivered.

Wardrobe doors

 

Front door

The (beautiful!) front door has been delivered.

Front door

 

Cornice and architraves

The cornice has been fixed throughout the house.

Rumpus room (cornice)

Door and window architraves have been started.

Theatre architraves

Laundry window archtraves

 

Alfresco

The alfresco ceiling has been plastered.

Alfresco ceiling

 

Fence

The fence posts for the west side fence are up.  If the weather had been kind the whole fence may have been complete by now, but the weather has been most unkind.

Fence posts

 

Heating and cooling

The air conditioning unit has been installed.

Air conditioner