90 day Service Inspection

It's come around very quickly but our 90 day service inspection has arrived.

So, we met with Paul from M re the items we had listed and supplied to the office previously - plus one or two more we omitted by mistake.

Not an exhaustive list at all, with plumbing being the main focus. The stormwater at the front of our house has been problematic from day one and again doesn't flow. From crushed pipes, inclining 'run off' pipes to 90 degree joins secured by silicone rather than an elbow joint, the plumbing has been below par. If we do get any real rain it will flood our garage. Ideally, a pit is installed in that area to assist with future access but it will be interesting to see how they fix it......

Paul arrived at 7am, as agreed. We went through each and every item. He was a supervisor previously but now focuses on the service side of things. I suspect he would have been a great supervisor. He was very interested in hearing about our overall build experience and also gave us a tip here and there re ongoing maintenance. Very knowledgable, informative and a pleasure to deal with.

We agreed on all the items, signed it off and it was all done in around an hour and a half (incl. chat time).

As soon as suppliers trades are back from the break he is keen to get things done asap. All we need now is for the trades to play their part.

Until next post, which will be soon we promise!

Cam

Sitting on our blogging hands!

The old adage “if you cant say something nice… then don’t say anything at all” has certainly been applied by Cam and I of late, with regards to blogging about our build. We did really want to update you all on what has been going on but the thought of writing it all down and reliving it again was too stressful in the middle of the silly season.

So here we are… it has been 2 weeks since we last blogged about the house and it is still very much a ‘brickwork in progress’. The relationship we have had with the “SS”/CM (inverted commas because he really has been a site supervisor in name only) has deteriorated and we have really been tearing our hair out.  He will revert back to our CM once the new SS starts, so unfortunately will need to deal with him further at some point.

Less than satisfied, we engaged the services of an Independent Inspector to run his eye over the build and here are some of the key things that he found.

• Substandard wrap used underneath the bricks with no reference to Australian Standards (and wafer thin to boot!) Apparently all M builds are now using this cheap wrap with no Metricon branding and the company responsible will provide us with a compliance certificate for sustainability purposes at hand over. Little comfort at that point in time as if there is an issue - what can be done once built.  For all the sections that are ripped, shredded and pieced together by gaffer tape, the “SS” said he would get someone to fix it!??

• Waste plumbing for powder room toilet does not line up and drainage is restricted. Not sure how this will be fixed yet. The 'acting SS' said he didn’t know the plumbing code and would get the plumber to fix it at some stage (what bollocks!).  Doesnt know the plumbing code.... how can he supervise the plumbing side of things of our build then.... further, he is ment to be a CM.  Offers little comfort to the customers of M.

• The framework for one of the front portico piers (holding up the balcony) is sitting about 20cm under the ground, meaning the frame will rot over time. This particular issue the Inspector took photos of to put into his ‘idiots’ book! Our 'acting SS' wasn't to worried about it initially saying its how its done. However our inspectors report quoted Australian Building Standards (with sub-sections etc) so the SS will now fix it.  This will be fixed by propping up the frame and building a brick pier underneath on a timber plate.

These are really just the tip of the iceberg. The wrong bath taps (ie Hot and Cold rather than mixer) were plumbed into the bathroom and Ensuite. There are windows/doors galore that are damaged.  The powder room windows are off centre so to fix the problem extra battens have been placed on one side to centre he windows - results in us losing some space on one side of the room. We are paying for a full room right...

Then there are issues the bricks. The first batch of bricks delivered were mostly good with one pallet of bricks of a questionable lighter colour. No problem there, the brickies were cluey enough to use them on areas to be rendered. However the second batch of bricks warranted a second visit from the Selkirk brick rep who confirmed that because this delivery were of variable colour, height, length and depth, that they would need to be double-handled by the brickies. SOooooo to cut a long story mid-length… the wonderful brickies are still working on our house even though they should have finished it AGES ago because they are sorting out bricks as they lay them. Thank god we’re not footing the bill for that one!

Anyways… we are sooo happy with the work that they have done and the quality of the bricklaying! Cam went up to see them on their last day to leave them a slab of cold beers and judging by how much more has been done they obviously did another 3 hours plus of work (taking them to well over 5pm on Fri 23^rd Dec). How good is that!

The Brickies idea of funny... it says "Nah, we want to keep this one, © owners"

Garage walls

Other garage wall

Rumpus and Outdoor Room (glad we upgraded to the brick infills as it looks soooo much better!)

Outdoor Room loveliness!

Where the Jetmaster will be going... the firebox!

Our actual front door... its over 1m wide... massive!

The beginnings of the front portico piers, i love how the piers run in different directions!

Portico from another angle

They will be back on the mortar on Tues 3^rd Jan to brick the rest of the upstairs part and finish off the portico. Interesting to see what wrap their use for the upstairs.  Then it is over to the cladding guys to do their thing. The plaster is to be delivered on 16^th Jan so Cam is busy getting all the data, speaker wiring organised as we speak! If anyone has any advice on CAT 6 or speaker wiring please leave us a comment…  The general speaker / data wiring had been cleared with our original SS, so nothing untoward there.  If you are doing anything at all on site - you must clear it with your SS. 

And finally….. HURRAY! Our new SS starts in the Central Area on Monday 9^th January. We CANNOT WAIT!!!!

It can only get better from here….

Kirsten

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

Site cut / Plumbing / Electric's / Site Supervisor Meet & Greet

Site Works
Well since we last posted about our build, there has been a reasonable amount of progress - considering the weather over the last week or so.


As you know the site was cut and pegged a few weeks ago, but unfortunately as the weather turned for the worst 10 days ago and most of the soil wasted away.  So we ended up with a nice sized lap pool similar to the one we originally thought about and then quickly dismissed.....

Anyway, after it dried out, on Monday and Tuesday last week the piers were drilled and filled and then the plumbers and electrician's got in there and set out the storm water, wet area points etc and run the electrics from the front of the block to a freestanding meter box.  So we have water and nearly power - subject to united energy getting back to finalise the power connection from the street lamp post.  The best thing about this is we wont need a temporary power pole.  Nice unexpected credit...

We have water....

We have power....

Site Super - meet and greet

So last Thursday we met up with our site supervisor, on site, to do the meet and greet etc.  Nice enough guy and from our first impressions, a guy we feel we can work with.  He was interested in our 'office' experience to date and keen to hear the good bad and the ugly. He was happy we weren't there to pay out on him at the first meeting.  Lets keep that for another time - hopefully not required at all...

He told us to expect a call every Friday for an update and contact him via email, text or mobile if we have any queries.  That was luck cos I'd used two of the three options already.  He has 9 jobs on at the moment all within a few neighboring suburbs at various stages.  One being a large double that's nearly 6 weeks into build around the corner and at lock up - so we checked it out. 

We popped back again Saturday morning and found this guy below working away, laser levelling the block.  Footing around the 'grand' outdoor room and the portico have also been dug ready for concrete. Another bonus was that they apparently didn't find any of the rock mentioned in our contract (our last provisional amount!) and so we will be getting another  $4k credit. Hooray! (for some more new furniture - Kirst!)

Waffle Pods (the white things in the background, not the two in the foreground - K)

Steel reinforcements

Our little site supervisor enjoying the sunshine out the front of the block.

What's Next?
After a brief call with SS today, we were told that there were 13 guys out on site today (including other SS from the area and the CM) getting the form work for the slab prepared. When Kirst drove by at 4pm it was all finished and ready for the concrete to be poured tomorrow! 

SS has also booked in his framers to start on Thursday. Followed by brickies (also tentatively booked in) etc. He thinks that lockup by Christmas is not out of the question. There are 50 working days for them until Xmas. 


We cannot wait!