Where the bloody hell are ya? ONE YEAR ON...

Yes peeps, we are still here!

Its has been 12 months since we moved in and it seems like so long ago that we were a midst the final tortuous stages of the build.

We have not yet signed off all of the issues from our 90 day service. We are still waiting on one thing...Anyone want to hazard a guess? Its the lowering of the dreaded gas meter, which has been a pain in our proverbial since about half way through the build itself (in excess of 18 months, I'd say). Ill post more about the 90 day service soon. There have also been a few things pop up in the past few weeks that also now need attention and fall within the warranty period.

The house is a work in progress... but from the moment we moved in, it has felt very much like we always have been here; like HOME!

Here are some of the latest pics of the front landscaping. There is still a fence and gate to come and something decorative on the front deck, and a nicer letterbox, but you get the drift.

Along each side of the driveway are Liriope Muscari with purple flowers.They are hardy little plants so ideal for the driveway.

A pretty row of Little Gem Magnolias, Gardenias, Azaleas and Christmas Bushes.

€

Fences have all been painted in the Colorbond match colour "Monument" to match the gutters and pipes. The backyard has also been totally painted, what a massive undertaking that was!

A gorgeous Port Wine magnolia in the centre, surrounded by 4 Gardenia Augusta low growing bushes. Cant wait for the scent of the magnolia!

A big thanks to my Dad for he;ping me with plant selection and taking me to Plantmark Wholesale Nursery (twice) to get the plants on a commercial account he has there!!!!

Hopefully there will be more posts to come soon :)

Kirst xxx

Lounge Room REVEAL

Our gorgeous King Furniture Modular Lounge and ottoman.

 TV unit from Nick Scali

Bally poster from Etsy Shop (that I will not recommend... its a long story).
Yellow bamboo vase from Freedom.

Yellow side table from Freedom

Matching cushions in Dandelion Clocks from Etsy shop Charles and Oliver in UK.
Yellow square and grey round cushions from Sheridan.
Yellow pashmina throw purchased in Florence on our honeymoon nearly 6 years ago! Cant believe the colour is back in vogue!

I'm still missing a few things like a lamp and a rug... All in good time and when the budget allows of course!

Kirsten

Hardscaping has commenced

Its been a little while since our last post and its safe to say the exterior has been the focus.

All the hardscape works has commenced with all in varying stages.

Well the landscapers arrived driving an excavator and with jackhammer in hand. It doesn't take long for them to get into it, moving a huge amount of dirt so the concrete footings could be poured.

View of the Bob Cat in our front yard digging the footings from our balcony.

The first stage is the building of two retaining walls with appropriate drainage. One of the walls will be rendered brick running along the side of the driveway then across the front of our house continuing down one side to where our side gate will be. On the other side of the gate will be a sleeper retaining wall. They have just about finished, so more informative photo's to follow this weekend.

Stage 2 is the concreting which is progressing very well. The first pour being the pathway from the rear door to our garage down to the rear of our house to the deck area, also down the other side of our house. The driveway will be cut, filled with crushed rock etc etc and poured this weekend (weather dependent). These guys know their stuff and have been very helpful through the process. Photo's to follow shortly.

Stage 3 is the decking at the front entry and a huge rear deck area as shown below. These decks are being build by a mate of mine and will be finished off in lovely Spotted Gum. The photo doesn't do it justice but the rear area is massive and will look awesome when finished.

The rear deck area is extending to the fence line to give it the 'larger' feel.

During the process we have discovered (& discovered is an appropriate expression here) a number of very questionable to illegal plumbing pipes and joins. Just glad our landscapers and concretor made us aware of the problems. More on that in another blog.

Lots of machines, lots of noise and lots of dirt.... It always gets messy before it can be clean and tidy - so they say.

Hopefully all finshed within this month.

Cam

QA vs Independent Inspector

Interesting issue this one, everyone has an opinion and one I have been wanting to ask for awhile.

The builders say they aren't required and not worth the money while the inspectors say its worth it if only as an insurance policy for your investment.

Each are paid by opposing parties, so have vested interests in opposite directions and it appears each has varying degree of attention to detail.

So the M employed QA guy went through our place weeks ago and obviously prior to handover and rated it a 98.3%. How the hell that is worked out is beyond me, but a pretty good score none the less.

Our engaged Independent Inspector found quite a few obvious issues that was over looked by the QA guys including,

• A window lintel was not painted at all,
• The fire box was still not to code - frustrating given he raised it in April at his early inspection,
• The heating duct was not connected to the outlet - ok if you intend to heat and live in the roof space,
• Insulation wasn't correctly installed in all places,
• The carpet still had visible lines through it which needed replacing, and
• Two of the 5 ceiling mounted vents / fans didn't have dampeners which are required for the star rating.

Excluding paint imperfections and other tidy ups, the above are a couple of really obvious, easy gets if your inspector is on his game and / or has a quick look through the manhole into the roof.  Our independent inspector did. Not so sure about whoever did the QA.

With a mark of 98.3% - which is a great score - I can't help feel like I was copying the paper of the student next to me and really deserve a score less than awarded....

I must say M fixed all remaining items without fuss (although at their leisure), so we are really happy overall with our house but the question remains - QA vs Independent Inspector ?

Cam

Sanity has prevailed!

Today was a good day! A really good day! Not only is it Cam and my 5th Wedding Anniversary but we have had two (major - in my opinion) wins with Metricon this week. Go us!


We finally have a resolution on the position of our gas meter (see previous rants posts HERE & HERE). We marked in where we would like to have the gas meter, which was directly to the left of the house along the fence line and the neighbours garage wall. Well SURPRISE SURPRISE... it was actually moved to that very location and no longer impacts the façade of our house! Well Done SS... its nice to know you listened to us :)


So this week's 'item of discussion'  has been about a expansion/control joint typically within the plaster board around the stairwell. We THOUGHT that we had requested it to be included in the contract. But this week it became apparent this was not the case as the fixing carpenters nailed an ugly piece of MDF to the join between the plaster sheets (which is a standard inclusion!!!??#) instead of the nicer expansion joint.


After a bit of toing and froing with our new CSC (yes... nice to meet you too!), our SS and CM... SANITY HAS PREVAILED!


Thinking back to middle of last year, I know we spoke about this item in detail with our sale consultant when we obtained the advice.  Did we follow it up in writing via email ??  Well with a little bit of digging - you betcha.  An email from us to our Studio M consultant on the 23 June clearly states we want this finish/joint around the stairwell and we actually requested that it was to be stated within subsequent version of the contract to avoid any confusion.  Our Studio M consultant responded in writing on the 29 June and I quote "Yes, I will raise a variation to include this as a clarification."  Nice clear and active reply from our consultant.  


To cut a long story short, for whatever reason, the Studio M consultant didn't action the request, we overlooked its omission from the contract and here we are.


A copy of the email trail was provided to Metricon for their records and as a result Metricon have allowed us to include the control joint for its cost without incurring the $1000 mid-construction variation fee...


Key for this blog - have EVERYTHING in writing - including any conversations.....See our Top 10 Pre-construction tips from October last year.


Kirst

Filling up the piggy bank! (and then emptying it)

We got a nice surprise in our bank account last week.


Some company from the USA.. Google or something like that paid us the hefty sum of $1.02 as payment for the advertising and clicks that have taken place on our blog in the past 12 months.


I have spent the whole week wondering where I am going to spend it! 


Freedom's divine new winter range, that where!


Loving these beauties...

I love the natural textures of wool and wood in these. I'd love this sort of thing in our sitting room. Cant you just imagine sitting in front of the Jetmaster on a cold Melbourne day?

Not sure if this fits with our modern look or bamboo floors, but the timber is lovely, has so much character!

I'm especially loving the pendant in the centre! Clean and contemporary  but not too industrial!

This gold side table is DIVINE! and at $129... a steal!

The new cushion range are also pretty special! Soft colours to brighten up winter! $34.95 each...

Finally I've still got my eye on this bad boy... The King Furniture Concerto 20 modular package in beautiful black leather... just waiting for the mid year sales...

Until next time (stay tuned... things are hotting up in the next few weeks... FINALLY!)


Kirst

Plastered

As I hadn't heard anything from the SS this week re progress, we popped down to our house (quickly looking and feeling like a house rather than a construction site) this afternoon. The plasterer I spoke to on site Friday morning mentioned it would be all done by Saturday afternoon. I was a little skeptical, but you never know your luck. It has been a case of over commit and under deliver thus far. We are impressed with the speed of the plasters none the less.

Thankfully nothing was closed up so we were able to have a quick look through out. The team of plasterers had a red hot go at it over the past three days hanging plaster to all walls and ceilings. They had also plastered all the corners using the metal 90 degree things (whatever they are called) and smoothed out the joins between sheets etc. They have also plastered the portico and the outdoor room. A huge pile of cornice is sitting in the kitchen/dining area presumably ready to be hung Monday. Looks pretty good from the quick walk through we did.

The scaffold guys must have been back on Saturday to pick up all their stuff so itwas our first real chance to have a look at our colour choices and we like what we are seeing….

Afew pic’s of the plaster work and the view from the street as itstands today.

Study

Formal sitting room with stair well to right

Lounge

Kitchen with window splashback

View down hall way from kitchen to front door

Master bedroom upstairs

Upstairs sitting area

Upstairs sitting area looking at stairwell

Front from left hand corner

Front from right hand corner

Til next time.

Cam

Finally some movement

Finally some movement…

Well finally the scaffolding has been taken down, just not away as yet. But the SS did say it was coming down, he didn’t specifically say it was going to be taken away. That was my assumption…. It has in some cases been piled up ready to be taken, while other parts of it are spread across the remainder of the block. Wouldn't be as much of a problem if we were in a new estate – but we are in a well established inner suburb.

The Plasterers (x7) were on-site yesterday and back again today. I only know this because I saw their van at 7am this morning on my way to work and again at 7pm on the way home... I stopped briefly this morning and counted at least 7 of them but only one van…..it's a little odd..... but we are happy to have them there. The plaster has been there for nearly two weeks waiting for them. The guy that spoke to me said they had finished hanging walls etc downstairs yesterday and were hoping to finish upstairs today. Cornice etc tomorrow. All done in 3 days and much quicker than the SS prediction of around 10 days. Maybe he didn’t realize there was going to be so many of them.

Anyway a quick photo of our place with the scaffolding everywhere.

With scaffolding down but yet to be removed

Anyway, will try to pop in late tomorrow (Saturday) while the plasterers are working away for a quick look at their handy work. Didn't get a weekly call from our SS today so not sure what is next. I'm sure I'll find out Monday.

Til next time.

Slow going......

Progress on our build has slow dramatically over the past few weeks.  A small number of jobs here and there and that's about all.  What is getting done is as our SS has said – it’s just minor work.  Is it better than setting our expectations at an unrealistic level?? Probably...

I get the feeling our SS is doing his best.  Does that reflect the fact he has transferred in from the southern region to central in January and he hasn't built up the required rapport with the trades yet, issues with his scheduling or is it just M in general??

Our site meeting last week didn't resolve the three key issues - the insulation query, the gas meter location and the powder room sewer point.  All these items had been raised over two months ago now.  Very frustrating. We have now been told that plastering has been pushed back another week whilst the insulation issue is fixed. Its not like they haven't had enough time to get this fixed before now! I hope they dont try and pin this hold up on us...

Anyway, when you want something done, best to do it yourself.  Well, we are now aware of why the gas meter issue hasn't been resolved.  The excuse for the past month from M is the need to clarify the requirements for the location with Jemena.  By absolute fluke last Saturday night we found out that Kirst's friend's husband works at Jemena in the exact division which looks after new gas installations.... we found out that our site is not even within the Jemena system as a new install.  Not really surprising M is still waiting for a solution from Jemena.  M - you need to contact someone at Jemena, record the gas install requirement, tell them your query and they will probably action something for you..

Anyway, via our contact at Jemena – who signs off on the installs – we have our answers.  After mentioning this briefly to our SS I was basically told to 'stay out of it' and that he will resolve the issue once scaffold is down. Which really means it will happen in a another month, probably more…

Good to finish on a positive note – our tapware has now been fixed (3rd try) and the plaster can now commence this week.

Til next time

Plan to be Plastered......

Well most of the work our SS said would be done last week was actually done.  I think he is a little bit of an optimistic or maybe i'm a little pessimistic about what will get done when.  Either way, he appears to be getting things done and so far so good re communication ( excluding the text message to cancel a site meeting but its been less than 4 weeks that he has been on the job so you would hope so...)


Last week the painter were in painting the upstairs externals while the scaffold is still in place.  Very happy with our choice of colours.  We'll save the pic's til when the scaffolding is down so you all can get a better feel for how it will look.
What wasn't done was our site visit with our SS due to him being ill, a complete brick clean and the plaster being delivered.


Well as its only a 2 minute detour from my usual drive home, I drove pass to see if there was any visible change.  Nothing from the street but I did notice the front gate was again open.  Thought I'd close it up (again), but as I was out of the car lets have a look through the window.  Then I notice the front door wasn't secure (again) so I popped in to see what had been delivered during the day.
Plaster , Plaster and more Plaster......  Massive sheets.  Not sure how such massive sheets can be handled without them breaking in half - but that's probably why I'm not a plasterer.  Two of the five huge piles of them below.

Plaster sheets in downstairs dining area...

Plaster sheets in upstairs sitting area....

Very happy to see the plaster on-site.  Must mean its not far away from the plasterers starting but first a few things need to be finalised namely,

• the insulation - that's an ongoing discussion with M as the wrap was poor quality and our independent building inspector has recommended the insulation needs to be upgraded to conpensate its poor quality,
• the gas meter has to be moved from the front of the house to the side next to the switch board - this has also been an ongoing discussion point which M has put off and off.  This needs to be moved prior to plastering can start as the brick work has been finished and access it only internally, and 
• the powder room sewer points needs to be aligned.  Current quite some distance off alignment.  Not sure if that impacts plastering but best to get it sorted first one would have thought.

We have a site visit this Wednesday - all being well (pun intended) so lets see what happens.

Cam

Poor Form....

Our scheduled site meeting didn't go to plan.

Just prior to 1pm yesterday, I received a text message from our new SS - he hadn't been well the day before and was still unwell so we would have to reschedule our planned site visit intended for 3pm that afternoon.

Fine, if you're not well, you're not well - can't be helped. But a phone call the day earlier or early in the morning or even a text with a heads up would have been nice but a text message 2 hours before hand... I'd re-arranged my work schedule and we had arranged for the kids to be looked after so we could both attend rather than just me having to relay the message on that evening....

Poor Form  !!!!

His text said that he would call today to reschedule - that didn't happen either....

Anyway rather than waste our time completely, we thought we would pop in and see what has been happening while the kids were being cared for, even if we are locked out we were keen to have a good look at the finished brick and clad work. No need to worry about just checking out the externals - front and back doors were open as was the upstairs balcony. So much for being secure... Unfortunately this seems to be quite common based on other blogs we have read.

So we had time to look around inside and out and make a few further notes re items for the SS to follow up on including,

• the plumber had been back to correct the bath tap settings. That's great news - would have been better if he had actually corrected it to the specifications of the tap fittings we have selected. Would not have thought it would have been that hard. The mixer and spout is on the same large backing place. So, why would you have the spout at the foot of the bath and the mixer in the middle...
• nothing further has been done re the gas meter location...
• the down stairs powder room toilet waste outlet has not been corrected either - raised with M mid December.

Lets see if he rings tomorrow for the Friday update.

Cam

NELSON NO MORE!

It has come to our attention that in Victoria you can no longer build the Nelson design. The displays have closed down and it isn't listed as an option on the App or main website. After a bit of detective work I found out that you can still build it in QLD and NSW. 

Its such a shame, as in our opinion it was the perfect design to fit on a narrowish inner city Melbourne block. 4 Bedrooms, Study, Sitting, Lounge, Leisure and Rumpus all on a 15m wide block!

Here is a refresher of the floor plan for our Nelson 43 (which by the time we added a few things is more like a Nelson 46 square!)

The Nelson in Nuvo Facade

This is our Ground Floor with Grand Outdoor Room

This is our First Floor

*** Sigh *** its such a shame it is no longer available :(

There is lots going on this week including a meeting with our SS on site. We will update throughout the week :)

Kirst

xxx

Work schedule & further 'requested' variations

Progress since scaffolding in place.

Front entry with battens ready for cladding 

Front view with some eaves and battens in place

Rear view with battens along back second storey wall ready for cladding.

Work Schedule
Per our new SS, the following is the work schedule for this week,

• Brickies only have a few hours work left,
• Chippie only a few days to complete all externals works including construction of the balcony, install eaves and cladding,
• Solar panel to be fixed on second storey roof,
• Chippie will double check the internal walls to ensure all plum etc, 
• M’s ‘independent’ inspection done for compliance prior to plastering to commence, 
• Once mortar had some time to go off the brick's will be cleaned, and 
• A general clean inside - which is desperately needed.

Next weeks schedule includes (assuming all of this weeks work is completed),

• Painters in to paint externals while scaffolding in place,
• Window film to be removed and windows cleaned,
• Full site clean,
• Our inspection re insulation quality given our concern as reported within our independent building expert report, 
• Plaster delivered and maybe started later in this week (plastering to take 12 to 13 days which sounds a long time but I'm no expert and it's a 46 square house, so maybe right. Rather they take an extra day or so and get it right that rush it).     

M's Variations

M has requested further 'no cost' variation to be signed off.   The latest came to us from M's CM (JP - our 'acting SS' for those regular followers) requesting us late last Friday afternoon via email 'would we acknowledge the need to adjust the size of the central Kitchen island bench so the office could raise a no cost variation'. WHAT THE....   All news to us....  Acknowledge your email maybe, accept a change very doubtful.  

Notification by email, with the assumption we would just say 'yeah why not, do what you want, whatever is best for you as long as it doesn't inconvenience you at all...'   A touch arrogant for my liking - whether intended that way or not, that is the perception.   And we all know perception is generally reality.  

My initial reply was for further information as to why the need and what is the change.   Five days later and no reply from the CM.   No doubt this will drag on similar to the other items this CM has been involved with.  Extremely poor customers service.

We did some investigating ourselves and it appears all island benches are now slightly smaller than previous. Our bench is modeled off an old display home now closed.  Hence the issue.  The dimensions are within our contract so we don't have to change a thing.  Time will tell if we elect to.

Next time (hopefully next week) I catch up with our new SS, I will be asking the direct question as to why this request has come from the CM, not himself and why without any prior discussion.

Til next time...

Back in full swing.....

Well we are back in full swing post the Christmas break.

True to our new SS (AT) word, last week saw scaffolding set up and the wrap in place on the second storey.  Hope they come back and pick up the parts not used that are all over the nature strip.  The neighbours have been quite accommodating to date but don't want to push our luck.

This week the brickies were back bricking up the second storey.  They have been waiting for the scaffolding for a few weeks and were starting to get a bit snakey regarding the delays.  Dropped by yesterday (Australia Day) to have a quick look around etc - as you do - and they were hard at it on a public holiday...  That slab of crownies at Christmas was a great investment.  Anyway a quick chat with the guys and they have 2 days of work left. 



From what I understanding we have the scaffolding for up to 3 weeks where all upstairs cladding will be done together with eaves by the chippies.  The roofing guys and plumbers will be back to finish the last few things re the roof, gutters etc.  I imagine while the scaffolding is up, the solar panel will also be installed and the upstairs painting will be done. - safe assumption...???  Keen to get those things done and the scaffolding back down for a really good look at our new home in lock up stage and then we can get a true feel for what it will look like in our colour selections etc.

Just a quick update re our blog on 28 December last year titled 'sitting on our blogging hands' where we detailed a few items M needed to address.  Well the update is quite a quick one.... In essence our "acting SS" (who is also our CM) didn't do a damn thing.  I suspect he has hand balled it to our new and true SS to resolve.  He has taken them in hand and where required is checking things against the building regulations - wow... our 'acting SS' never mentioned building regulations - I wont assume he knows they exist.  So much for if you don't have anything nice to say approach.

Anyway, this is to be carried forward and resolved shortly with any luck.  At my catch up with our new SS, I mentioned I'd email him the answers to a few Q's he had for me regarding position of external lights etc.  Email is great for these type of things, get it in writing.  While I was at it, I included the key outstanding points he needs to address, politely worded, and attached a copy of our independent building inspectors report for his reference. Just in case it wasn't passed on to him, of course.  Watch this space.

Cam

Belated Happy New Year!

Belated Happy New Year to all.


For those of you currently building, hope all continues well and those who have had an issue here and there, hope the new year brings a fresh focused team your way.


As mentioned in our last blog, I dropped off a slab of Crownie's for the brickie's on the 23rd Dec.  Given the issues we have had with sourcing the bricks and the fact they have been working flat out and done a great job - thought it was only right.  Everytime I have dropped by they have been only to happy to show and explain to me what they had achieved and what is next - and mostly initiated by them not by me.  I actually got a text message from owner of the bricking company on Christmas morning (unbelieveable, but true) thanking me on behalf of his crew for the beers and wishing us a Merry Christmas.  Well and truly over and above what I expected given I don't employ him.


We also dropped off a bottle of champagne for our Building Support Co-ordinator (Alana) and our Pre-Construction CSC (Cassie).  Both have provided us with excellent service to date, so its the least we could do.


Cam

Brick work - Day 5

Well after a solid week of work, the brickie's have done a huge amount of work.  They have had up to 6 guys in the 'gang' so probably about right - but I had no idea what amount of work to expect.  Mike, the guy who owns the business sub-contracted to M - comes across as a very straight shooter.  He gave me his business card and I've spoken with him on the phone a few things during the week.  Didn't ask for this to happen nor did I expect it but none the less great to be informed of their progress.  He has 4 'gangs' working at any one time and does a heap of work for M.

Still a heap of brickwork to be done including the portico, garage, around windows etc to finish up the ground floor.  Hope this is the focus this week heading into Xmas.  Second storey next year I guess.  Would have been nice to have been at lock up this year but the delays we have had with the bricks didn't help much..

A couple of pic at the end of week 1 - bricklaying.

From left front corner

From left rear to street

Outdoor room

Rear right corner

Right from to rear

Friday on-site meeting & FINALLY - solid progress

Friday's Meeting

Friday mornings meeting went 'surprisingly' well and we finally have some solid progress....
I didn't know how it was going to go, but had notes and plans in hand.   All but two items, from what appeared to be an ever growing list of issues, had been rectified.  The other two items he told me he was aware of and will be resolved shortly.  Interestingly, he had my emails in his folder with hand written notes all over it.  At least they have been addressed...

He did use the Co. line re OH&S and being on-site etc etc... Not surprized by this given my emails with identified issues.  He also offered the use of the scaffold when its up to install my air-conditioning - that was a nice surprize.

I'm a little more comfortable with his 'hands-on' approach.  But I will still be doing my regular review and asking questions etc so time will tell as to quantity of things I find.  I may have been a little harsh on him but things defiantly fall away with the hand over from our original SS to our new 'acting' SS.  But hey, its not an insignificant investment I'm making, so I'll continue to keep an eye on things....

Progress

I'm happy to say the our bricks actually arrived on Thursday.  All but one pallet look good and will mix in well.  One is very light in comparison - which the 'acting' SS actually pointed out to me - so it will be used where rendering will be done or rejected and sent back.  There is about 7,000 bricks on-site now with a further 9,000 odd bricks to come when there is adequate room on site.  The brickie's were on site Saturday from around 7.30 to 4...  Surprised by that, but very happy at the same time.

Not much in terms of photo's at the moment.  By the end of this week we should have half of the ground level bricked up and the 'lock-up' carpenter is in this week so maybe some changes to the internals.

Lets see how the week unfolds.

Cam

'Super' Issues....

Just a quick update re progress and the latest with our SS.


Progress...
Well there has been quite a bit of progress with the framers being back to finish off a few things, the roof tilers have been back to finish off the rear ground level roof as well as the electrician, plumber and the duct guys have been in to rough in the electric's, plumbing and duct work.  Sounds all great but there are problems with all of their work, except the roof tilers.

The framers have finished off the front portico which is great.  Problem is one of the vertical posts, which sits on steel stippups are to be bolted into a concrete slab - ensures no movement to the front portico and provides solid support for the front upstairs balcony.  Well one side is, while the other is sitting unbolted on dirt....

The electrician has missed two lights.

The plumber has rigged the bath(s) tap ware as conventional two tap system - should be mixers.

The duct guys forgot to run duct work into an entire room.

Apparently the bricks are now available and were to be on site today with the bricklayers to commence tomorrow.  Lets just wait and see.


Latest with our SS...
As you all know, our SS resigned.  No love lost between our former SS and the CM.  So much so, that these two guys would not pass each other in the street... only one would continue to walk on by...  A little ugly and I feel I'm in the middle...  Leave me out of it, you guys are old enough and ugly enough to sort it out yourselves.

Anyway, we were told our file was to handed over to another SS, who we know of and has a very good reputation.  Well it turns out the Construction Manager (CM) has decided to 'act' as SS for our home until another SS from the Southern division transfers across.  I have a problem with this.  Not only is it M's building practice that all jobs have a SS, a CM, a Building Manager (BM) all reporting to the GM - which I do not have - the CM is still in his role as CM so in practice how can he be across everything that is happening on my job when he is looking after other SS x all their jobs.  Hence the above issues I suspect.
The reassuring 'I'll be there as much as I can' doesn't cut it.  So, I voiced my concern with the BM, once we finally returned my call a few days later. Oh yeah, the return call only came after I call the GM.

Satisfaction levels are not high and my reasonable expectations are not being met.

I have a 8am meeting on site with the 'acting SS' tomorrow to discuss the above issues together with other items I've noticed. Oh, did I mention, I found out why I had not been supplied with a copy of the building inspectors report - it wasn't passed, four items not quite right.  Nothing significant but still not correct.

Going to be a very interesting meeting tomorrow.

Cam

Little change vs. Massive change

Well upon return from our short holiday away and the follow few days, we have seen little change to the construction of our new home but massive changes within M.

Construction - lack there of.. 
Lets start with the changes - or lack there of - in the construction of our new home.  Below is a list of action proposed by M prior to our departure and what was actually achieved.

• Upstairs front half - tiling finished.  -  YES
• Frame inspection by M and scaffold down.  -  NO
• Building surveyors inspection, rear ground floor roof trusses done.  -  SORT OF (survey done but as scaffold not down the rear roof was incomplete so survey will need to be done again !!)
• Plumbing roughed in.  -  NO
• Roof tilers back to finish off the rear ground level roof.  -  NO
• Duct work, house to be wrapped and site cleaned.  -  SORT OF (house wrapped)
• Brickwork to commence  -  NO (whole other story - refer below)

One 'YES', four 'NO' and two 'SORT OF' = FAIL........ 

M
Well it came of no surprise to us that our SS has resigned.  He was a nice guy, working hard to achieve the desired result and our open communication was such that he gave me the heads up he was on the way out.  He simply had too many "discussions" with the CM re the process for the construction of our home and others.  Its safe to say there is/was no love lost there.  Time will tell who is right and the better operator....

Thankfully our SS was never interested in a reverse build (previously discussed) largely because its Melbourne.  We're not in northern Queensland.  Melbourne's weather is just too unpredictable.  With his discreet help, the CM intended process was stopped before it could commence.  So must thank him for that.  It was discreet, past tense now I guess.....  He has finished up so no harm done.


He had been planning to commence his own building company for sometime and had recently signed up a number of projects himself so it all works out for him.  The word on the street or construction site.... is that a few other SS from M central Melbourne team are about to call it a day as a result of this CM.  Lets wait and see what happens there but hopefully doesn't impact any of this blogs readers. 

But what about us.......
Its safe to say I've had several phone calls and emails to the CM regarding the next steps, who will be taking over as SS etc etc.  Talk a plenty - action a little..... and no reply to emails.....  Those who know me, know that approach doesn't work well.


Well via other means, we have been unofficially told who our new SS will be.  Interesting enough, its a SS who we requested at day one but was told was unavailable.  If it all works out, it will be the absolute best result possible (other than having him from day one).  He has an excellent reputation within our area of Melbourne as one of the best SS and comes highly recommended by one of my mates (a SS with another residential builder) who has worked with him and still remains in contact with him.  From all reports, he is a guy I can have open communication with and he can be trusted. 

The Great Brick Debacle - part 2

Whilst we were away, we were informed our bricks will not be available on 24 November as previously advised.  The expected date is now 14 December.  WTF - a week and a half pre-Christmas....  So the better part of 6 weeks late.  Looks like lock-up pre-Christmas is out the question.
Still waiting on a satisfactory explanation from the CM as to how this can happen.  Especially given M have a pre-construction ordering step....
Oh yeah - 14 December.... I'll believe it, when I see it...


Construction - since we have been back
The scaffolding has come down and the framers have been back.  The rear of our house is now complete as is the portico.  Our new home is on the way to work so I know they were there around 7am yesterday morning and still there at 7.30 last night when I drove past last night. Good effort from the guys.


The plumbing and duct work has also been roughed in.  A few issue there but I'll save that for another day.

Until then....
Cam

We have a HAT .....

Well the great brick debacle, as its been called, has been sorted.   After a few bit of mucking around we are sticking to our original plan.  The wait is only a few weeks and as many have pointed out a few weeks isn't long considering we will be living in our new home for many years to come.

Well I met with our SS this morning at 8am to discuss progress etc and the roof tilers were hard at it.  Stopped by very quickly on the way home tonight and we have a HAT on it.  Its a two storey so you don't really see a great deal of the roof so no pic's this blog.  The roof is probably 85% done.   There was at least three of them climbing around up there.  No mucking around with these guys.

We are heading off on a 10 day break up north so it was important for us to get an update and an understanding of what is scheduled while we are away.  So this is the plan (subject to weather as they say in the building game),
Monday - upstairs roof finished,
Tuesday - frame inspection ahead of building surveyors visit and scaffold down,
Wednesday - building surveyors visit and chippie' back to finish rear ground floor roof trusses (couldn't be done because of the scaffolding),
Thursday - potentially plumbing roughed in,
Friday - roof tilers back to finish off the rear ground level roof.
Next Monday to Wednesday - duct work, the house to be wrapped and site cleaned,
Next Thursday onwards - brickwork to commence (assuming delivered on time).

I'm happy to say the whole reverse build process wont happen.  I wasn't happy about it and told them very clearly I wasn't.  We are in Melbourne not Queensland - didn't they see the down pour the other night... Anyway apparently they were listening...  It appears the SS wasn't a fan of it but the office was pushing for it - implied this was the case anyway.  No doubt the office view is - quicker its done the quicker they can invoice...

Til next time
Cam