Thursday, October 6, 2011

Nearly There?

18 weeks have passed by since the build started with the site scrape and it has flashed by in a blur of concrete, steel, plaster, timber, cables, pipes, bricks and tiles.

Things are slowly coming to an end, the balustrade on the balcony is in place and the air conditioning unit has been installed. We were trying to think what else needs to be completed before our home is finished and this is what we came up with:
  • carpets
  • appliances in the kitchen
  • driveway and concrete path to portico
  • stain the stairs
  • little bits of painting
  • robe doors
  • fix minor hiccups
  • and let me see can I think of anything more ...... no I can't
No way, is that really all that is left to do before the final inspection and handover, surely we have forgotten something? No it actually looks like this house will be finished in a few weeks (or may be less than that who knows?) now we are starting to get a tiny bit excited, yes!

Balcony With Silver Balustrade

Air Conditioning Unit (This Is The "Ugly" Working Side of The House)

Over Bench Lighting In Kitchen

We have had a stressful few days with the SS verbally fighting with the pool builders. It got very heated and quite nasty and I had to tell everyone to pull their heads in and try to get them to reach a compromise but sadly because tempers had become so heated everyone was digging their heals in and refusing to budge. In the end I had to call the construction manager who eventually calmed things down and got the situation rectified. I never knew temporary pool fencing would cause so much mayhem. I tell you they are worse than kids. However, we are determined not to let a moody SS spoil it for us. But had this happened earlier in the build I would be approaching Metricon regarding a change of site supervisor as I don't appreciate dealing with someone who is dismissive and aggressively defensive and then tries to bully people in to doing everything his way. It is interesting that when you ask him about something his answer is always a sharp "that's standard" I think I'll ask him if he'd like that as his middle name! Yes it has been irritating but Sandy and I are very calm people and can see the funny side of it but when people are threatening to walk off the job and rip up your concrete because a pool fence is too close to the house you know that it's time to say enough is enough. We are supposed to be having a site meeting on Friday so have decided that each time we point out something that needs changing we will be a little tongue in cheek and simply ask "erm is that standard?".

We have had a native plant gardener come and look at the nature covenant, he is going to pull out all the weeds and spray to prevent them coming back, then plant around 40 lovely native shrubs and mulch the entire 250 sqm with a thick carpet of forest mulch. The fencing contractor is also coming out to do a proper measure up and help us decide on the finished designs. We will need to decide where we are having garden beds and turf then get the grass people out for a quote as well. What else will we need to think about - the gas supply, window treatments, mail box, house number, landscaping etc etc etc. What fun!

We would like an independent inspection before handover, can anyone recommend a certifier in the Brisbane area?

3 comments:

  1. A certifier certifies that the building complies with the building act, but does not look at the quality of workmanship, the quality of materials or fitting used, the slope of the land for drainage and so many more problems that could present. If it deviates from the plan or is under the quality the plan states he can sign a certificate that states it is of acceptable qulaity. You require a building inspector. We use one from Forest Lake, dont remember his company name but Bill is good and very experienced.

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  2. Thankyou yes I have realised I meant a building inspector and after doing some research and googling came up with the same people you recommended. Queensland building inspectors I think is there name, so far they have been very efficient and helpful when I have sent emails asking for information. I get the impression though that our ss was not too keen on the idea! But it is our home and we want peace of mind

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  3. Hi Rachel, it is a good idea to get one. We also just got one done from Building Inspection Services Qld and a few things were picked up. Metricon are now working to get these sorted before plaster. We got the temporary fencing removed even before the build started.

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