An Expensive Hole and Some Annoying Little Mistakes

We were down on site at the crack of dawn to meet with the pool company and help oversee markout for the pool position. All went smoothly and the layout and position of the pool looks really good. Then the diggers moved in and made at $12,000 hole in our back yard - now that's what I call value for money. The soil is being dumped fairly locally at a property where they wanted some fill. We had problems as to where we could take the soil as we are in a fire ant restricted area and can therefore only dump in another fire ant restricted area even though there is no evidence of fire ants on our block or those of the neighbours. I know its officialdom gone made otherwise we could have offered it to someone only 6 streets away!
The temporary pool fence will be up by lunchtime and the steel preparation for the concrete works commences either tomorrow or early next week.

Now the house..... The bricks have scrubbed up beautifully, the oxide brown patches are hardly noticeable now so I don't think we will be asking to have any bricks replaced. There are a few areas of untidy and missing mortar which I will have to discuss with the SS. Someone left a window wide open (tut tut! so much for security - we have no fencing around the site and I am asking for a refund on the 130 lineal meters of temporary fencing that was included in the site fees, any way - ) so Sandy climbed in and let me in through the laundry door. (We made sure we locked up on the way out as we don't want squatters.)

The floor tiling looks good, there is one row that hasn't been grouted, no idea why so that's another one to ask about. The hardware is on the doors but we have spotted some errors and a couple of things we are not happy with.

1. They have put a strip of wood one one of the double doors into the family room, it is a different colour to the door and does not sit flush so it looks really ugly
2. They have put a bathroom door lock on our rather expensive study sliding door instead of two big back to back horizontal handles and have thus ruined the door and the frame so that will need to be replaced (rather pee'd off about that because they have simply not read the plans!)
3. The way the sinks are plumbed under the vanities is crazy, I have never seen so many joins and weird angles. it takes up half the cupboard space instead of running neatly across and down.
4. I, sorry, we do not like the fact that the tiles in the showers have been laid in a diamond pattern when we have specifically asked for straight lay throughout. Pull em up and do it again please.
5. There is a blackened linewood end fill piece in the kitchen at the end of the white cabinets er duh this should be white.
6. The water pipe from the side of the water tank comes down too close to the kitchen window leaving no room for us to place the pool fencing so hopefully this can be re-angled and moved over.

The security and data networks have been installed and they have made a very tidy job so that's good.
Look overall we are very pleased but it gets to the point now when silly little mistakes end up spoiling the end finish. Time for a big chat with TC the site supervisor.
Oh and Metricon have been unable to provide us with colour samples for the master robe doors so we know have to go to the supplier which is an hours drive away to pick something out, not sure when we are going to get time for that as I am away for work this weekend and then busy all week. Hmm can you tell I'm slightly irritated by the inconvenience, perhaps I should send Metricon a bill for my time and car expenses?

I will add photos in my next post. Be warned there will be a lot.

Flooring Is Spreading

The tiles continue to spread across the floors. From what I can see through the windows there are only a few edges left to lay then grouting can commence.
There was a guy there measuring up for the balustrade for the balcony so obviously that will be coming soon.
No concreters they must be busy doing other jobs, no toilets, showers and baths etc I presume even though I don't know for sure as I can't get to go upstairs to check. Must be happening once the tiles are finished.

The site bin is over flowing and there are piles of building rubbish growing around the site plus someone locally thinks our site bin is their personal dumping ground....I'll be keeping an eye out for them....... I know they have a small dog (tins of dog food) and a child - packaging from toys hmm that should narrow it down.
I can't wait for them to do a site clean again. But for now it is up to us to try and control what mess we can and oh joy its brick moving day to day.

We managed to pick out some really lovely light grey granite pavers for around the pool and in the outdoor room. I would have liked 600 x 300 but the only options were 400 x 400 or 600 x 600, our floor tiles are 400s so we opted to go for the same size to keep the flow and also the 600s are harder to lay. Sandy is still concerned about glare but even the lady in the pool tile shop said the darker ones get really hot. Also we are having quite a dark interior finish to the pool so I feel darker pavers will be too much. I got to have the final say on paver choice as the pool is my baby....... Gulp! I hope it works out ok, oh well too late now.

More flooring pics for those who can't get enough....

Entrance and Hallway

Kitchen Floor

Dinning Room and Family Room To The Back Right

Laundry Floor

I Must Be Psychic

As predicted in my last post the tilers turned up and commenced the mammoth task of tiling the floors downstairs. The areas to be covered included the kitchen, dining room, family room, laundry, butler's pantry, entry and hallway - quite a big expanse. It seems like it will take 2-3 days to lay the tiles and another 2 days to grout them. Sandy asked them if they'd do another 2 rows of tiles for the butler's pantry splashback if there are enough left over tiles otherwise one extra row would be fine...and as our tilers are great people they are more than happy to do that for us. Must make sure to remind them though.

It's one of those odd optical illusion during building moments as now the tiles are going down the place looks even bigger. May be it's the knock on effect of living in a once bed one room apartment, who knows?

At 3.45pm the roofers also put in appearance to fix up the remaining damage to the roof on the garage and outdoor room.

Granite Paving

We're off to look at pavers for around the pool and in the outdoor room area this morning. We are thinking of a light grey granite finish so it's not too hot to walk on but are a bit concerned it might create too much glare. The show home at Underwood has some lovely granite pavers and we are hoping to replicate what we saw there. Here's a snap we took when we were idea gathering.



The only photos I can get are through the windows so sorry for poor quality...

What The Tiles Look Like - Family Room Looking Into Kitchen (The House Isn't Really Leaning Over)

Tiling

Tiles - Family Room Into Hallway

Bench Tops, Tiles and Photos

The cladding work has been at a stand still, don't know where they are or why they aren't on our job they packed up and left lunch time Friday and haven't been seen since. Positive - not at lock up stage until the cladding is done so the money gets to stay in the bank longer. Negative - the scaffolding stays up longer and excavation work for the pool gets delayed again. I know it will get done eventually but I find it difficult to comprehend why they start something and don't finish it when it only looks like there is a days work left to get it completed. I know they get scheduled to do other jobs and can't be in two places at once but still....hang on oh let me do a double take what's that up on the scaffolding......could it be...yes it is it's the cladding team.

And well pardon me for thinking nothing had been happening on site. Inside is a very different story... the chippie has finished all the skirting and architraves and put shelves in the wardrobes, linen cupboard and butler's pantry. The floors have been cleaned (to a degree anyway), the floor and wall tiles have been delivered and are now taking up most of the garage and the team from a marble and granite company were there installing the Cesarstone bench tops. They were in the middle of doing the island bench for the kitchen when we arrived but had already finished the bench tops for the bathroom vanities and the rest of the kitchen.

Yummy they look beautiful and very luxurious. We went for a colour called ice snow which as the name suggests is mainly white, but it has small off white to grey flecks in it which goes really well with the cupboard colours and hopefully the tiles we picked from the standard range. As the bench tops were part of the promo package we only had 5 colours to choose from but luckily we really liked this one.


The tilers have started the wet areas today, the rest of the flooring will not be done until after painting which will be starting in a bout a week. The doors for the study have been delivered and installed, we went for a fixed glass panel and a big slider with translucent glass, really smiko (no photos yet sorry). And our SS said we can keep the bricks, we just need to put a note on them saying "leave for owner" and move them out the way. Hmm that's going to be fun just the two of us and a wheel barrow through the mud.

Update:- yes you wont believe your eyes but our house should be finished in about 9 yes 9 that's nine count them 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 weeks!!!!!! No way 9 weeks plus 13 weeks (already gone) makes 24 weeks wow that is one speedy build. Better start repacking our things... We were given that information straight from the horses mouth the construction manager (CM) was on site and that was what he told us.

By the way we asked him if he knew why the builds in Vic and NSW take so long and he told us that the CMs from up here had gone down to find out why and to try and rectify the situation so that things can be sorted out. I know that doesn't help you guys who have had 40+ week builds but it looks like Metricon realise that there is a huge problem down south and have sent the Queensland boys to show them how its done. Might make a difference to those of you just starting out, it will be interesting to see if things improve.

Photo time:

Cladding In Progress

Gas Lift Cabinet

Miles of Tiles

Butler's Pantry Bench Top and Sink

Shelving in Butler's Pantry

Yummy Kitchen Bench Top

Vanity With Caeserstone

Sinks

Manhole and Architraves

Cladding and Flashing Over Garage

Hollywood Robe Master Bedroom (we don't have this many clothes!!!)

Capping on Balcony

Linen Cupboard Shelves

Island Bench Awaiting Waterfall Edges

Lots Of Activity

While we've been away it has rained a lot but the tradies have been busy on site doing lots of little things and completing tasks that were already underway. There were about 8 blokes working away at the house when we went in on Monday. So what progress did we see?

The kitchen installation continues
The cabinets have handles on
Doors have been hung (some not all)
We have door handles and locks on the exterior doors (our son wants his keys now!)
The floor prep has been done for the bathrooms
Laundry sink is in
Holes for lights, switches and other electrics have been made
Architraves are being cut and fit
The brick work is finished
A new kicker has been made for the ensuite vanity
Ensuite vanity has been moved (amusing photo to follow)

The tiling should start soon however the last we heard the tiles are not in the country yet so no guaranteed timeline can be given on that one.
Its looking good and really starting to come together as a house and not just a build now.

Front Door Handle

Rear Garage Door Hardware

Translucent Glass Door to Powder Room

Butler's Pantry Left Kitchen Right With Cavity Slider Middle (No Doors Yet)

Laundry Sink, Laminex Seal Bench Top

Island Bench With Space For Dishwasher

Close Up of Door Handles

Island Bench From Another Angle Note Silver Kicker

Bathroom Floor Prep

The Balcony

More of the Balcony

Cut Out For Light (This One Is Patch) In Wrong Place

Look They've Repositioned The Vanity!!!!!

Vanity Solution

The vanity position will be rectified but it will cost us more money as they will have to make a new kicker and alter the carcass. It is to be moved over 500mm so it will be centred give or take 5-10mm either side. Our SS said it would be done yesterday because the tilers are starting to prepare the floors today but as I'm away I can't go on site and check it out until Monday so here's hoping its done properly and that they don't make a botch job of it. We have no idea how much it will cost at this stage however we did get a bonus of a $255 refund for the pot drawers that couldn't fit below our different specification ovens. Fingers crossed that will cover the vanity moving costs.

Please Move 500mm to The Left

Well done to our SS for sorting it out the vanity as at first he said there wasn't much scope to move it by more than 300mm but I persisted that there had to be a way to rectify the problem. I explained that I didn't want to spend all that time, effort and cash in planning a home the way we wanted to have to compromise on something that would royally pee me off every time I went in my ensuite. He was pretty understanding and didn't mess about coming up with a solution that suits us and the build. He'll have to draw up some paperwork now for both the refund and the additional charge on the vanity - there better not be any admin fees.

So floor prep for the tiles starts today and the holes were being cut for the electrical sockets and lights (hope they move the one in the ensuite over to be in the middle of the vanity!!!). I will be having a very good look around when we get back.