End of May & lots done

Electrical done, well most if it. A few lights yet to go in, some don't work, a few points damaged, a noted one bathroom had a 4 switch installed but only meant to be a 3 switch (no point having a blanket switch when they could follow plans and out a 3 in). Smoke detectors in but unsure what type as we have 3 smoke ones and one photoelectric one, also meant to be on their own electrical circuit. Dimmer switch and lights missing from guest room.  Point not centered in rooms, heights need adjusting. One light switch on wrong side of wall in wrong room!

Stone bench tops all in and look great.

Massive island has a join and they located it perfectly away from sink area and it's hard to even find it is so subtle. 

Mirrors, all but one installed. 

Wardrobe fitouts done in all rooms but ours we will do ours after handover so they just put in this which I wish we had said don't install. Await now doors to arrive. 

Tiling mostly done, minus all the broken bits missing grout and seals. Facade tiling was a challenge for them but they got there eventually. 

Plumbers have been in and out moving pipes and installing most things. Kids bath is wrong size but I can see we aren't going to get what we wanted 1700 and have to settle for 1500 due to space issue. They've missed all our push plugs and have ugly plastic plugs in bath. Wrong kitchen tap installed. Sinks look good but hope they come with cover like we paid for. Shower hoses are correct heights. Love our mixers and taps for bath as goose neck heads move out of way. 

Carpet on stairs yet to come as need staining first. Carpet is so nice to walk on, it was worth getting the thick underlay and the thick plush carpet. Just bought a vacuum today too, cordless and has DustBuster thing for stairs. Kids can easily use it so help clean the house. My 21 mth old successfully tried it!

Floor boards start tomorrow and tonight we could see they had leveled the slab in areas needed. 

Got access to measure curtains this week. Totally overwhelmed about choosing blinds curtain materials. Brilliant company found to make blinds way out near dandenong. 

Landscaping quotes also doing my head in, some prices are extreme going over the $100k mark. Waaaaay over our budget. Picking pool coping and paving hard but easy thinking about decking, garden and layout which i have thoroughly thought through. 

Enough for today. 

Busy week. Count down soon to start.

The waterproofer came yesterday finished upstairs toilet area. 

Tilers there from 6am today finishing laying it all. Grout to be done today or tomorrow. 

Internal chippy putting in handles today on all internal doors. Also covering the exposed beams I. Alfresco area which were going to be just left exposed or painted. So we are paying a bit of cash on side for them to cover beam with plaster and render them so they look completed. 

The heating ducts and evaporative cooling guys installing vents today too. 

Concrete repairs done and now await render outside to be completed. 

Wardrobe guys to come soon. 

Electrician starts tomorrow. 

Plumbers started next week. 

Essentially within a few weeks it will be all finished. Wow. 

Inspection & clarification of issues

Our private inspector came yesterday and reviewed our slab concerns and checked a few other areas. Not a full inspection this time just a review. Report mentioned the following:

- He wasn't too concerned about most areas despite them not looking too pretty at the moment. The exposed steel part of the slab (reinforced mesh frame) in my basic terminology will be sanded back treated and then sealed before finally being covered pre the remaining render applied to lower part of slab. The issue remains that pre slab pour concreters were told the cracker bars in this section needed to be lifted up and they said it was done. During pour it must have dropped back down as it isn't in the top 1/3 of slab as agreed on the day. Solution, nothing can be done re its position in slab and we've been reassured this bar once corrected sealed treated and properly covered still keeps the slab integrity high.

- Alfresco – the aluminium sliding door frame bottom sill section is showing a bow  downwards of about 10 mm. Supervisor has had a go at his internal chippy once again as this is yet another thing he "forgot" to do. Seriously if the SS wasn't friends with the internal chippy I think he would have been put into line a long time ago. Door to be packed and sealed soon.

- Guest bedroom – the wall outside the ensuite is showing misalignment of about 10 mm. Wall needs re working.

- Fascia & guttering not aligned yet.

- Garage Hebel overhang by 50mm, I was worried this now in neighbours land now but told our slab was 80mm short of boundary line so we still have 30mm. Lucky for that or I might have had a fit. Whether or not the slab was actually on the boundary line or not I will never know as impossible to check as front boundary dot on footpath disappeared when United Energy dug the underground electrical pit.

- Entry door frame completely needs working as margin of 7mm gap in door to frame and also a 7mm out of plum in the whole frame too. Apparently they haven't replaced the hinges which will correct the gap but the frame needs reworking too.

- Various bowed skirtings and plastered walls were marked and should have been picked up pre paint by builders.

- Roof space – the pipe is running through the manhole opening and inhibiting clear access through the manhole. Plumbers will correct this when they come and correct other issues and pipes.

- Lounge – I was able to detect an out of square skirting that exceeded the allowance of 4 mm tolerance over 2.0m.

- Kitchen – the bulkhead is showing out of level from front to rear by about 10mm. This is very evident at the overhead cupboard end panels

- Missing waterproofing to wet areas as per BV which we paid extra to do. Still not done. Tiler now going to be delayed as they now have to come back and do this.

Tiles are all onsite and are correct ones. I just hope they put the correct ones in the correct location! Also I confirmed the tiles we selected are the 15mm grout line. The tiles/grouting needs to be sealed post handover as PD don't do this, must add that to my list of jobs and quotes.

Today we met with site supervisor which was great as many issues can be instantly resolved or noted in person rather via phone or emails etc. Also helps me feel a connection to the process along with supervisor rather than just a painful customer noting or complaining about every tiny issue. 

I felt reassured all issues have been acknowledged and fixes are coming. Others new to SS will be fixed now rather than wait for pre completion inspection. 

Excitingly he think house will be finished by end of June. That's a 7 month build including a large break over Xmas nye period. Wow.
Now I better start with landscapers...

This is where the kitchen piping was altered due to a design fault but luckily the plumbers could correct it so I can still have my corner cupboards.

A quick kitchen shot

My little one already loves going up and down the stairs

Here is some of the waterproofing in master ensuite

Tiles galore. Confirmed we will be given leftovers approx 1 box per tile type. 

Painters will leave approx 2L of paint per colour. 

A biggie I ask SS where our line will be in kitchen bench and he confirmed it won't be near the sink. Also asked if we can have cut outs of bench for chopping boards or hot plates. Super excited if this eventuates, nice bonus. 

SS is a good man and had a leftover plaster sheet and put it under our stairs which wasn't in plasterers plans. Lucky me understairs looks really clean and finished now.  

I believe they are doing their best to make a high quality home for us. There are hiccups along the way but overall standards will be high when complete. Even the paint finishes on doors is really good with a minimum of 3 coats which is great for my kids will test them once they arrive.