Tomorrow is hand over day!!! Can’t believe it is finally here after over 2 years of waiting, planning, organising and more waiting! Our fencer finished over the weekend and the fence and gate look fantastic! Our SS called today and said most of the fixes are done and we will be ready to go tomorrow afternoon! I intentionally haven’t gone to the house this week as I want to get a little surprise when I walk in tomorrow and see it all finished with the blinds up and the feature walls painted! While hand over is tomorrow none of the appliances will be put in until Thursday and we won’t move in until Friday, so we have a big couple of days ahead of us! Stay tuned for photos!
PCI done!
Our inspector and the Porter Davis inspector went through the house on Tuesday and all went very well. Very few issues, mostly very minor. One issue that does need rectifying is the door to the theatre room. The plaster above it is on a slight angle so will need to be taken down and refilled. Our SS wasn’t concerned and during our PCI walk through already had dates for all trades to be in to complete the house, with 2 days spare. He brought forward our hand over date by 1 day as well! We went through the house and our SS pointed things out that were being fixed or had been fixed in the last couple of days. He also explained that PD are no longer giving out the tea 2 baskets or other gift, rather they are offering a 1 year subscription to RACV home care which is handy! We have been busy organising quotes for concreting, landscaping, pergolas and fencing thinking we were ahead of the game. However, fencing has proven to be difficult! Our estate only specifies that the fences must be capped, you can choose colour bond or timber. Most of our neighbours are wanting colour bond like us, but the process of giving them quotes, them wanting to check with their neighbours, them getting quotes and so on is proving lengthy and slightly annoying!! Don’t these people know I have a timeline!! We are almost there now so I can see the light. For those of you building, start this process early! So no photos today, just an update, lots more packing to be done to get ready to move in less than 2 weeks.
Getting close!
It has been a busy week at the house! Lots of trades in and out, coming to fix things up or complete things. The funny drain pipe got fixed, gas and electricity all got connected and the big things – my flooring – got done. I was so happy to see that our SS came through it it was the original floor boards I chose 16 months ago that were installed! No groove to be seen! Yay! We are happy with the colour, it was so hard to choose from tiny samples so it looks like it has come together well. Unfortunately the carpet layers ran behind schedule and so we had to postpone the inspection that was booked for Friday, which will now take place on Tuesday. Our SS is then giving himself 2 weeks to get everything else complete ready for hand over. There is still things to be done, mirrors to be installed, feature walls to be painted, towel rails installed, replacing the architrave in the bedroom that the carpet layers damaged and fixing a drainage pipe that the bob cat broke when they did the site scrape. Plus anything else the inspectors pick up. None of the fixes are major so I’m hoping they can be done in time. Blinds also need to be installed, but if they are not ready Birk apparently come and put temporary one ups so that isn’t going to delay hand over. They removed the temporary fence and the portaloo this week and it is amazing to see the house standing alone! Finally we get to see what it looks like in ‘real life’ not just a rendered drawing. We sent off letters to our new neighbours this week to try and organise fencing, hopefully we hear from them soon and we all agree so can get the ball rolling on fencing, which will then lead us in to concreting, pergola building, more concreting and finally landscaping! Exciting couple of weeks ahead!
Big things!
Hi all! Sorry for being that horrible blogger that has a big break between blogs! I hate people like me! But I have reasons! Not much happened at the house for a long time over December and January, but since they have come back on board it has been all systems go! During this time we have also been crazy busy organising things like fencing, concreting, pergolas, landscaping, the list goes on! We have been meeting people on site for quotes, discussing options, researching the difference and boy does it take up a lot of time!
Over the Christmas break the painters came through and painted the whole house. They did a great job and the house looked so different with a lick of paint on. They haven’t done the feature walls as apparently they wait until all other trades have come through and then do them when they complete the paint job. After the painters very little happened for a while as everyone was still on leave. They were still working on a fix for the island bench and we eventually figured out that the drawings kitchen kulture supplied were incorrect as there were technically 2 sets with 2 different island configurations. Thankfully they configuration we preferred was the ‘easy fix’ and so they flipped the island around and it all fit around the tap fittings. It does mean the power point is on the opposite side to what I would probably prefer but that is no biggie.
The tiler came through and started his work, we haven’t had a good chance to see his finished work as yet as they are keeping the house fairly secure. Due to the issue with the island there was a big worry the stone for the bench tops was not going to fit. Our SS informed us that if it didn’t fit there would be about 3 weeks added on to the build time. Thankfully on Thursday it was delivered and looks like it fits perfectly.
Our new SS has been great, offering extra assistance and advice along the way. He also allowed us to meet with a robe installation company for them to measure so they can have robes ready after hand over, which was very nice of him. On Friday I dropped by and there were cleaners at the house, getting it ready for flooring installation next week. While I was there I had a quick peek around and could see taps, sinks and shower screens had gone in which was exciting but no photos of those yet!
The plan is for carpets and floor board to go in this week and then on Friday our private inspector as well as the Porter Davis inspector will go through the house together. Then on the 25th of February we will have our PCI where we get to go through the house, test everything and find anything that needs to be fixed. Our SS is giving himself another 2 weeks to fix anything and then potentially we have handover on the 10th of March! Very exciting to have a tentative date! We have booked removalists for the 11th of March so we are hoping all dates go ahead! SS is pretty confident and said because we have had inspections the whole way through there will be no major surprises. So without any further rambling, here are some updated photos! Sorry they are out of order, they are being difficult tonight!
Cabinet install!
We met with our new site supervisor on Friday and he was awesome. Very friendly, honest and happy to share information with us. He took us on a little tour and told us what was planned for the coming weeks. If all goes to plan he hoped to have the kitchen in this week, arcs and skirts before Christmas and he hoped to have painters in over the Christmas break as they planned on working through. We informed him of the issue with the flooring (the flooring company have changed the style of floor to one with a groove, which we don’t want. They informed us if there is any left when Porter Davis order it we can have the old stock – boards without a groove aka dirt trap) and he said he would try and order it and store it, which would be very helpeful!
We went by the house today and just as he said the kitchen was being installed. The front of the house had also been rendered and the doors, skirting and architraves had all been delivered. I was chatting to the builders and they informed me the kitchen would have been finished today, however, the island has had to be delayed. Apparently the plumbing is is in the wrong spot, with the tap connections in the dishwasher space. He also asked why we had extra high bench tops made with extended kickers. I told him my husband is very tall and he said that is a great idea. He told me he had made some for a client who installed lockable safes in them! I would love to install pop out steps for the kids so we didn’t have plastic stools all around the house!
Picture time!
Plaster work!
After a week of not much happening, this week the plaster work has been completed and the house looks much more like a house now. Considering we haven’t seen the house exactly like this before (the display was a split level) it has been exciting to see the space in real life! Last week was our old Supervisor’s last week and he had put the plasterers back a week to fix issues raised by our independent inspector. The time needed to fix the errors was only 30 minutes so the house had very little done last week. The insulation was put in and we went by the house and ensured it was a nice, tight fit and also ensured the sound proofing between the home theatre and our sons room was put in place. Then the plasterers got to work. They were quick and efficient and the house looks great. This afternoon we are meeting our new SS at the house as he has offered to do a walk though with us, showing us a few things and chatting about the build. We are looking forward to this as the old SS never offered this and and never really rang us to update on what was going on. Hopefully he can give us a bit of a time line as to what happens now, how long they will take off over Christmas and the potential ‘move in’ time line. We are also having our wardrobes fitted after hand over but it would be great if our SS let the company in to measure so they can have everything ready for install when we have hand over.
Picture time!
Electrical, plumbing and brick work complete
It has been a busy couple of weeks. Bricks were finished this week and they look great. The tough in for electrics and plumbing is complete and we had our pre-plaster check with our independent inspector. He was fantastic again, checking everything from our last inspection and finding a few small things to be fixed prior to the plaster being installed. He is very happy with the quality of work. I’d like to think it is because Porter Davis hire fantastic trades and not because they know we have hired an inspector! Our inspector gave a few pointers to look for in the next section, making sure they properly tape up the rips in the house wrap and to look at the insulation installation before plaster, ensuring no holes or gaps. We also need to ensure the soundproofing goes in between the theatre room and one of the bedrooms. We also got a call from our site supervisor advising us that he was leaving Porter Davis. He advised that a new SS would be starting this week and they would be doing a full handover. The relationship hasn’t been fantastic so this was no disappointment. Hubby has already received a call from our new SS and he described him as a breath of fresh air. He has asked to meet us at the house and do a walk through and see where we are up to. Very happy to chat and sounds like a lovely guy. Photo update:
Works continue
Brick work started last week and seems to be going well. They completed the garage wall and then the bottom sections of the house. They hope to be finished this week. The plumbing rough in has been done, with shower bases and the bath frame in as well. We have had a few issues with our SS being difficult in regards to our independent inspector. We were told the pre plaster check should be done after all the rough in work had been completed. SS tried to pull the wool over our eyes and wanted it booked in before the electrical had been done. He claimed that he was worried about the wires being stolen and while he has a point (our solar wiring and 2 windows were stolen last weekend, as well as every single window from our neighbours house) there is also no point our preplaster check being done when half the work has not been completed. We compromised on getting a check done the day before insulation so he would still have a day to fix any outstanding issues. It is a difficult relationship, which is not something I wanted, but hopefully as time goes on it gets better. I’m sure it must be annoying having customers live nearby and check on progress regularly, but it should be something he is used to and should deal with it more effectively. Anyway, photo update time!
There’s a house with a roof, with a roof, with a roof!
Lots of things have been happening in the last 2 weeks! Personally it was our bubba’s baptism and first birthday (which we used to joke with our sales consultant that we would be in the new house for his first birthday party – obviously prior to all the land delays!) so it has been a super busy 2 weeks. House wise they have been busy too! Frame was completed and our private inspector came to check it all out, he was very happy with the frame and said it was a great job. A few minor changes to be made and the report would be with us by that evening. We sent the report to our SS and he replied back saying all the faults would be fixed asap. The framers were back on site in 3 days and fixed the few things that need fixing and the only things remaining is to add structural grout to the front pillar as the concrete came away and also to add some in the garage where the overhang of the frame extends past 10mm, which is the acceptable tolerance. The house has since been wrapped and the gutters put on and today the roof was installed. Bricks have been delivered and will hopefully start this week. All moving along nicely!
Framing continues
We stopped by the house on the weekend and saw the great progress that has been done. A lot of the house has been framed, the roof trusses half up and the windows have been installed. We also noticed the door frames for the front door and the garage door have been delivered. The window to the study that was a little big has been closed up and the window fits well. We are really happy with the window to the ensuite. We changed the layout to ensure we could have a double shower, which meant making a small window above the shower.
There will be no one onsite for the next day or so as the framers are on another job, but they are due to finish the frame off by the end of the week.
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dunedin31 