Sorry to hear that things are stressing you out .... and don't let some insecure nobody make you feel bad about yourself. Is she mastering a new job, building a house, etc etc??? I think not ... Now hopefully your builder will continue to do the right thing by you when mistakes are made ....

Thanks for replies!
McLaren, yes she is actually mastering a new job. I am a teacher...and i have changed grades and learning the new australian curriculum for 2 grades.
She is a graduate teacher! So she is a brand newie! but no she isn't building a house!
That is one thing that got me right mad because she was telling me what to do! I have 12 years experience!!! AARGH!

Anyway...the house!
Met site supervisor and he is fantastic!
Yes definitely wrong colours.
We both thought the gutters were wrong.
Colour guy came out, and got the samples and nope...gutters right, FASCIA WRONG!
Wow! I am worried now about our colour choice! The Archer did not look that colour!

He has assured me that no delays will occur as colorbond is due for end of next week, electrician and plumber early in the week, and they can still do their job while the gutters are taken off and fascia off and then all on again. The fascia will only take a day to order and the guy was there ordering it. Gutters will have to be watched though due to scratching...but SS is excellent and he is onto it.

Day off today to take me girl to her first kindy day, went to gym and did a new class (never again...i am so uncoordinated) and i do feel a lot better!
Knowing we were right helps!

Yay so glad to hear that your SS is on to it and everything will fixed ASAP

And as for the graduate teacher, try not to let her get you down! Stick to you guns and be confident in the fact that you have all that experience behind you I have spent a lot of time training grads who think they know everything and found that the hardest thing of all is trying to convince them that they really don't and that all that text book learning doesn't even come close to comparing to real life experiences. Sooner or later, she will realise that she can learn a lot from you

Hi Vans,

Sorry to hear about your work situation. I work with a few insecure people but I have worked out how to work with them and not resign, 'cause I don't see why I should resign when I could actually enjoy my job! I use this more with the people I work very closely with, I call on their knowledge and expertise to "stroke their ego" every once in a while. It doesn't mean I'm doubting my own, it just makes my life easier for a bit

Another thing I try, is when I can feel that they are peed off because I do something differently to the way they do it (and they want it done their way!), is I just shut up and "hide" for a bit... Then I do it my way anyway, or, if I really can't be bothered doing that, I'll ask them to show me how they do it.

The last thing I like to use, is humour.... Sometimes the vibes can just be unbearable and humour just works wonders. I seriously wouldn't want to resign from my job over other people's insecurities.... Doesn't seem fair to me!

Did the "colour guy" tell you what the other colour was? Was it one you had considered? I thought the fascia was Woodland Grey too..... Gosh, I hope my Colorbond colours turn out how I think they will!

Surfmist is the one that looks white, isn't it?! I hope so, 'cause my roof and half of the front of my house will be Surfmist

Can't wait to hear [read: read] the good news

It's looking great Vans! I've been amazed at how the tradies have been working in the heat and even made some comments to the roof carpenters on my site. He just laughed and said they have no choice but to work in the heat!

I can relate to the work stresses and electrical point placements so have a good idea of what you are going through. Having a good site supervisor will help you because you know they will sort things out and give you one less thing to worry about.

Hope this week goes much better than last week!

Hi Vans - my build is also at same stage as yours. My slab was done on 19 Oct but had few issues after brick work was done. so no work was done at site from 29/11 to 25/1/12. now roof frame is done. gutter / plumber / electirician next week and then roof cover etc.

Work first!
I have been critiqued by the graduate teacher! She watched me teach one whole day...she got paid to watch me...love that! And nothing negative was said, no telling me what to do, how it should be done...
So from that, I gather she saw a FANTASTIC teacher in the class and there was nothing to criticise!
So rest assured people...experienced teachers are good at what they do!

I have also told the kids that I will be doing certain things on my days, that she won't do on her days and that is fine. Basically, my days are going to be AWESOME!

But I have been busy getting through work work work...where are the kids at...so I can plan!
Good, because the fact i have done it means I am motivated.
But my daughter has been devastated that I have been busy doing other things. Poor thing...now she is at an age where she recognises neglect! LOL! Thankfully she has a dad!

HOUSE!
It is horrible being at work, getting home late, and not visiting site daily!
Thankfully, somethings have worked out.

We have been very worried about the roof/gutter/fascias colour.
We were assured by our liaison officer that the colour of the Archer display was definitely Woodland Grey. So being the trusting people that we are we took an offcut of guttering over to the Archer today and compared colours.
Thankfully it is the same!

So one stress off the list!

So at present our home is sitting there with the gutters removed and laying around the house (some looking a little worse for wear and if they don't straighten up will need replacing), fascias ready to be removed, but the new fascias are there, ready and waiting.
The e-vents and flumes are also ready to go on.
The door that was wrong, but put in so the brickies could finish, is now fixed and the hinges are on correctly, so now the electrician can redo his cut/marking as he changed the plan thinking we had stuffed up.

So what lies ahead...
Electrician and plumber in Monday/Tuesday...
at the same time the fascia and gutters will be redone.
Wednesday sees the start of the roof!
FRIDAY the roof should be FINISHED!
We have been told 2-3 weeks for lock up!

Cannot rave about our Site Supervisor enough! He is awesome!

I do wonder though...if we lived a fair way from the house, and we didn't visit regularly...what would happen? would these mistakes go unseen...we pop down to see lock up with 3 different colours on our roof??!
I would hope that wouldn't happen...but??!!

At least it was picked up, SS agreed immediately and had already called in the right people!

Caz_770: the fascia/gutters/eaves go on first, then the electrician and plumber can get into the roof space to do their bit, then the colorbond (or tiles) go on...this way the tradies don't get all hunched up when working...i expect they stay a little cooler too!
The colour that they put on wrong was Monument...it is a dark colour...no it wasn't a colour we had chosen as it was TOO dark, and although we wanted a darker roof, we knew too dark meant HEAT!

News tomorrow for you all!

Time to share my news!!


Over January I spent some time trying to get a video together to enter the Dale Alcock competition about building.

Well I can finally reveal that I made it to the final 5!
cheerleader:
Someone in DAH selected the 5 finalists, and now it is over to the public to vote.

I enjoyed making the video...but alas, it didn't turn out the way my powerpoint had, as it was an old version and when it converted to a movie, some of the animations didn't quite work, but such is life.
Still pretty proud of the effort...and top 5!!!

And I must say, it made me look at all my pics, where we came from when we had given up selling our home and knew we wouldn't build, to selling on the 27th of December (who sells over Christmas/New Year??) and then all the plans really began! The ups and downs of buildings, the coping strategies you learn to have...even now, still the stresses, but knowing that the people who know what they are doing are able to fix the issues, and everything does come together at the end of the day...makes me really proud of the home we are building!
I have also loved sharing the experiences with the forum followers...warts and all!

So if anyone has a spare few minutes...check the DA website, and click on "The vans abode"...would love a vote or two! you like my video and vote for me!

http://www.dalealcock.com.au/welovebuilding/

You could win $500 just for voting...you can only vote once!

I was wondering if you entered that!! I voted for you .

Good luck! x

Yay!!! That's fantastic!!!

I think yours is better than the one that is currently winning.... Just quietly



And so you should be! I really enjoyed it because it tells a really good story



Done!!



This had nothing to do with it

I voted for your even though I was blocked as I am at work so couldn't see what you had done ... will check it out at home!! Good luck

Well done, you got my vote

Loved your video.

Congrats on selling over the holiday period. We put our house on market first week in Jan. First home open on the sunday after New Year, offer and acceptance on the Monday. Who said houses don't sell in the holiday period.
Problem now is buyer wants early settlement and our new house wont be ready for a month after that.
I've booked my bed, pylon no.4 under Shelley bridge - cardboard box for mattress and blanket arranged.
Now to give the builder another hurry on.

Thank you everyone for your votes!
I personally am not a fan of public votes, I don't like popularity contests! But make me popular!!!
So if you feel in the mood pass it on to friends/family! And happy if they don't look at the videos, and just choose mine!
The current winning one is very good...but I like..no LOVE our music! I would be happy to draw with them, and we both get the prize!

Timpen, i was very surprised we sold when we did...we had about 2 weeks left with our real estate agent and couldn't wait for it to be over! Hated home opens...and the cleaning with a (then) 3 year old around!
You are incredibly lucky selling after just one! Well done! Must be a great house!
We were in a mad rush to get a rental in the end...thankfully we found a real estate agent who just fell in love with us, and she told some clients who were going to put their brand new house up for rent that she had the perfect people, didn't even advertise it. Yet other properties she was getting 20 people plus to view! And we love our rental...hate renting, but if we have to rent, this is it!



HOUSE news...fascia is still where it shouldn't be
BUT electrician has all the wiring in!
There will be light!

Made the decision to NOT go with the silk finish cupboards, but we do have to upgrade our bathroom sink. We want wall mounted tapware, and although told the standard sink does not have predrilled holes for tapware, alas it does. We had already upgraded our ensuite, but not the bathroom. so decisions...to have normal tapware and get a credit, or have wall mounted tapware and spend an extra $280 on a basin. Winner is the extra money as I hate how the water pools on the sink mounted sinks, and being on white, it shows the marks. And well, it will look better, flow with our ensuite too. One reason to NOT do it was having a child who can't reach properly...but I figured another year (and if another one comes along it would only be for 2 years from when they can reach anyway to when they are tall enough) of climbng on the bath or tippy toes, to looking awesome! No brainer!

So whilst we probably wont have the roof on by Friday as promised...things are still happening!
Looking forward to see what tomorrow brings!

Thank you again everyone for the votes! Don't forget to share with wives, husbands, children who have a different email!

I know you can't really see the colour...but very happy to see the new fascia is up...and i didn't take a photo of it, but the old fascia in a big heap near the skip bin (what a waste!).
Just the gutters to go back on and the plumber to come in and we are ready for a hat!

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Wait! What?! Is it Colorbond?! I'll take it! It's gotta be better than painted zincalume! Surely.... Gosh, what a waste. Actually, I find that really disappointing to my inner "greenie"

Maybe it'll be recycled.... I'm gonna go vote for your video again now.... Don't want the "Our whole family is loyal to DAH" vid to win.... Although I'm sure they deserve to win! Just like you do!

hi there - how do you vote? I can't find any button to press!!!! or maybe I'm blind.. the link takes me to the videos and I can't seem to find how to actually vote

Ops disregard - I was blind - kept pressing on the videos to watch.... hehehehe my bad

I have good news and bad news.

Bad news first...which starts off sounding like good news!

The fascia's were replaced VERY quickly! YAY!

The electrical wiring and plumbing...all finished.! YAY!

The gutters were put back up...should be YAY!

Except...
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This is pretty much seen all the way around the house.
I seriously could have cried.
We paid extra for colorbond so that we didn't have to worry about maintenance on the gutters etc and so that they always looked FAB!
Instead they look worn and used before they have even lasted a day!

On the good side, SS has said that they will be replaced. Not just touched up but replaced!

So, to replace them...they should be off and on BEFORE the roof goes on yeah?
If the roof goes on before the gutters are off, surely taking gutters off, then putting them on will then scratch the roof colorbond?

But look what we saw happen in ONE day.

First the cloud shot!
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[ img ]
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It looks AWESOME! and up so quick!

BUT...the scratched gutters are still on.

So to me, it is fix one problem, make a new one...surely they should have waited to put the roof on?
I just hope they replace, and not try to cover up with painting. I am really happy with our SS, so I am sure he wouldn't try to pull a swifty, but you hear so many things!!!

I just have to be super happy with how good the roof looks...it does look awesome, we are so happy with the colour, and I just LOVE colorbond! And so far, we are the only ones on our street with this colour.

I just wish things could go according to plan!!! Puts a bit of a sore note to the "We love building" theme, I know!!!
We do still love building, still love that we are building our dream...and yes, still glad we built with DAH...I can only imagine the dramas we could have with other builders...i can see fighting over whether or not the colour was the same, arguements over scratches etc...I can just see it now! So at least when a problem arises, DAH are ONTO it. No arguements.


So if you haven't already...would really love for you to vote in the competition!
I really think we deserve the win now!
And someone out there deserves the $500!

i voted for u already.
roof looks really good. don't know when my roof will go as we got roof frame inspection through a private builder inspector and he found few issues. we have advised builder and waiting for those issues to be sorted out first before hat goes on.

You have my vote. Good luck. DRG