The Story of Stormy's Castle. *Loooooong overdue update*

looking great - lovin the stylish nook!!!

Looking good stormy, dont you just love those weekends when you actually get a few things done, then sit back and look at it and think how good it looks.

well done

I love your little Paris things on the shelves

Thanks Southies! More work to be done eventually...it never ends!



Thanks Annie! Shelves are a bit bare, and I'm currently stalking all $2 and office supply shops for 'goodies'! Loving Kikki K stuff, but not the price



Yes, it was very productive! We have 2 parties at our house this weekend, so I made sure things were done last weekend in preparation!



Thanks Erin! They're dotted around most of the house

Hi All,

We have our 12 month maintenance inspection on Monday...I can't believe it's that time already!

This is what I have on my list so far....we'll be going around the house with a fine toothed comb tomorrow again!

* Front door panel is lifting so paint has bubbled (discovered this the day AFTER we got the keys, and has NOTHING to do with warped doors as they are black because they were painted in Winter, and there was no direct sun. I believe it's a door fault.)
* Cold tap in bathroom needs adjusting (The pin on the tap needs screwing in, and I can't budge it)
* Plaster nail popped in Loungeroom
* Roof cement (the coloured stuff) is peeling away in many places. It looks terrible and not how a roof should look after 12 months (actually first noticed it last November - 2 months after handover)
* Nail popped above bed 3 door in the cornice
* Nails popped in stair well next to bed 2 and bed 3
* Skirting come away from wall in bathroom next to shower recess and along the wall shared with bed 3 (not water related)
* Skirting come away from bed 3 wall - the same wall as above point!
* Eaves sheeting needs to be replaced where it was water damaged when it rained and wet it where there were no roof tiles on and roof scaf. There was a big wet patch that was painted over....now the stain has come through the paint.
* Timber finishing quad around the eaves in the alfresco has bowed and needs fixing/replacing.
* Front door handle has corroded. It's the same as the laundry door and that one is OK.
* Bathroom window seal (black rubber) has split and needs replacing
* Nail popped above kitchen sink
* Pantry doors have squeaked terribly since we moved in and drives me insane...could have fixed ourselves, but figured they could do it!!
* A couple of other doors squeel and squeak and need oiling.
* A few other little hairline cracks around skirtings/archs and windows that 'might' be fixed.

That's all at his stage, and I will photograph everything tomorrow. I actually have photographs of the wet patches on the eaves and they will see that the stain that has come through the paint is the same shape.

fingers crossed they fix everything. Nothing major at all, but a few things annoy the crap out of me, and the roof mortar is a HUGE disappointment.

Love what you have done with your study nook Stormy!

I'm having mine on Monday too!! Although admittedly mine is a month early but I wanted to get it done before I get my blinds installed as just about every window frame needs some kind of work done to it due to the house settling etc. Apart from window and door frames not much needs doing

Haven't dropped for a while....and wow to your house. Looking just beautiful. It's amazing the difference window covering make to a house - they really do provide the finished feeling!

Congrats and good luck with maintenance (be careful with your carpet - and cover things when they go to fix the nail pops - the dust they make is unbelievable!)

Thanks Flagstaff! There's still a bit to do with painting the desk and adding a few more things and reorganising the shelves, but it certainly looks better than what it did!



Good luck with your's on Monday, Lisa. I've added a few things to mine and will most likely add a few more as we go around the house today and add things we've noticed but may have forgotten!



Thanks mpcj, hopefully they'll provide lots of drop sheets too, but I will cover bedding and couches with sheets to protect from dust.

Just thought I'd post a list with piccies the items that are on the maintenance list that will be fixed.

* Touch up crack above garage and internal access door:




* Sand rust off external door jambs to garage external door, prime and repaint (no photo)

* Downpipe above rear garage door needs sealing as it leaks, and has done all over the w brickwork and caused moss to grow on the mortar. Bricks will be cleaned and a sealer put on to prevent them going green again IF it happens again.






* Fix quad at rear eave under alfresco:



*Stain seal the eaves beside the meals area and repaint. This is where the eaves were wet from the inside when the the roof scaff had been on but the tiles were not replaced, and it rained...right onto the eaves. The first image I took back in July last year before they had been painted and clearly shows the wet patch:




...and this one today with a nice big water stain showing through the paint work:




* Repair nail pop and cornice (not shown) in lounge:



* Touch up kitchen/hall doors along lounge wall (few cracks - no pics).

* Repair nail pops in ceiling above kitchen sink. There is a whole line of them - no pics as they didn't show up terribly well!

* Refit and touch up centre moulding in stairwell (that's the thin flexible wooden moulding around the wall in the first pic):




...it's cracked and come away from the wall in several places (added contrast makes it look loads worse than what it actually is):







* Touch up stair landing:



* Refit skirting in Bedroom 3:



* Refit skirting in Bathroom (funnily enough it's on the other side of the wall to the bedroom 3 skirting):




* Repair flexi pointing (coloured mortar) to roof in several places, and inspect upper storey as well (it looks like a 30 year old roof, not 12 months old...HUGE disappointment):





* Replace window beading in bathroom (this split very early on and I have been scared to touch it!):



* Supply cold water tap to bathroom (we have to install). The 'pin' on the tap (which I hate anyway...long story) is the wrong one for that tap. It's too short, and I cannot turn it to make it sit into the tap as it's too short. The gap has always been evident and doesn't look like any of the other taps:



* Seal around tap washers in shower (I wasn't aware there was a problem!)

* Repair cornice above bedroom 4 door in TV area (added contrast to make it more obvious....my walls are not that colour!!):



* Replace lever door handle on front door (it's corroded and looks terrible. Hopefully the replacement won't do the same):



* Electrician to inspect cut HDMI cable (the plug was cut off as they removed the 'excess' cable when they fitted the plate). This is the one item left over from handover which (12 months later) still has not been attended to. It's the $200 cable from the family room to the alfresco which was cut by the fit off electricians prior to handover, when it was installed by our own Network cable guy. It had nothing to do with Henley's electricians, and they shouldn't have touched it. It's useless and needs replacing, as the plug on the end cannot be soldered back on.

The last item (which happened to be the first on my list...) is the front door painting. As I have panel doors, the 'cricket bat' panel has not stuck to the door properly, and it moves. Where it has moved it has cracked the paint to reveal the lovely blue undercoat of the door. I'm not sure whether it is a fault of the door(s - they both do it...) or a fault of the paint/painter. I could literally peel off the paint if I wanted too (but won't).



Now, the trouble is, I signed a 'dark disclaimer' in the contract as the doors are black, and they will not warantee them against warping. The doors have not warped, as they close properly and have never rubbed, which is why I believe it may be a fault of the doors themselves. I actually noticed this LAST SEPTEMBER, just after moving in....so the doors had only been painted for a month, or so. I did not have time to take a photo of it when I first noticed it, so all I have to go by is the date I wrote down on my 'maintenance' list in the back of my 'book' where I wrote down EVERYTHING during the construction phase. The maintence guy said I should have called them straight away due to the 'dark disclaimer', but of course I was never told this if there was a problem. I always thought you only call them in an emergency (broken pipes, leaking plumbing, walls falling down etc...etc). This was not an emergency. So, despite what appears to be faulty doors or 'not terribly good' painting, it may never be fixed unless I do it myself.

All in all, I'm very happy the house is still standing, and the majority of the items will be attended to!

I am absolutely furious, and I need to vent.

The majority of the fixes were done on Tuesday and everything looks great. They will NOT fix the front doors which I am really disappointed about, knowing that it happened within a week of getting the keys. Looks like I'll have to fill and repaint the doors myself, or better still, replace with better quality (not 'builders' grade) and have them coated in 2 pac.

There are 2 things I am really annoyed about. 'Aparently', the roof tiling company has been out and fixed the roof putty/mortar where it was falling out. Ah...WHEN?? No one informed me they were coming, and I certainly hope they have NOT been in my property and on my roof without my knowledge. My home is NOT a building site anymore. I can tell you now, looking out my window it does NOT look fixed (but I'm looking into the sun and cannot see anyway). If that is the case, then I don't appreciate people trespassing on my property without my knowledge or prior arrangement.

The second is the matter with the $200 HDMI cable in the alfresco. This was installed by our network guy, and had nothing to do with Henley. When the electrical fit off was happening, the electicians fitted a plate to the HDMI cable (which was on the wall next to the TV aerial and the GPO) and they shouldn't have touched it as it wasn't their 'job'. In fitting this plate, they cut the plug off the cable, rendering it useless...$200 of our money down the drain.

This was mentioned at our PCI and was to be fixed. 12 months later and after mentioning it AGAIN at the 12 month inspection, I get told today that they will not fix it. Why? there is a clause in the contract to say they will not have anything to do with any outside tradies work if it gets 'damaged'. I'm sorry, but where is the responsibility for ones actions. It shouldn't have been touched in the first place.

There is no fairness in the building game, I am furious, and this has tarnished the WHOLE building process for me. One persons 'mistake' has cost us already $200, and will probably cost us another $300 to replace including labour costs.

Why wasn't I told this 12 months ago??

I'll be honest, our roof was fixed when we weren't home and I didn't have a problem with it. Actually, my Mum came home when the guy was here and he was already on the roof and his little boy came in and watched telly while he worked.
BUT, I do understand that it could be something that could be upsetting.

The cable, I know it's not fair, but I guess this is the reason they say no tradies on site. It is the risk you take by getting other things done. I know that doesn't help and if that was their postition, they should have just said that from the start, not dragged it out 12 months.

The front door.... WTF? Cannot understand why that isn't going to be fixed. It's clearly not warping, but bad manufacturing. I'd be pushing that if I was you... utter crap IMO.

Stormy, just going back to your previous post.... the second pic. Did they not paint the lintels above the window? It still looks like steel as opposed to Paperbark to match your window frames. Or are my eyes playing tricks?

Thanks Joles.

On closer inspection of the roof (now the sun's not in my eyes) they have NOT been on my roof, but I can't understand why they were telling me it's been fixed when it clearly has not.

As for the front door, because of the disclaimer I signed it won't be fixed. Had they told me 'if there is a problem within a short amount of time with the doors let us know' then I would have called them straight away. But because I have always been of the understanding that 'do not call the warantee department unless it is an emergency' I didn't.

The really ridiculous thing about the cable fiasco is the network guy was recomended through Henley who does lots of cable jobs for them. I am most annoyed about it taking 12 months for them to tell me they won't fix it. I do have a signed piece of paper pre handover that it will be fixed.

The lintels won't be painted by Henley. They don't do it. None of their display homes have painted lintels. I'm considering doing it myself...

I need a drink to drown my sorrows.

Oh really..they don't paint lintels? That's a bit..ahhh..slack.
Did they leave you with touchup paint for that colour?
Wouldn't be hard to do on low windows yourself.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. A shame indeed about the front door and the cable! Keep us up to date with the roof battle I'm sure things will work out!

Just a tip when you replace the $200.00 HDMI cable. Don't spend $200 on another one HDMI, being entirely digital is either transmitting data, or it's not. ie: Using a $200 gold plated, titanium coated, diamond encrusted cable will do absolutely nothing more than a $20.00 copper cable from your local computer shop. Don't let any AV salesman talk you into thinking otherwise. Yes, with analogue cables (such as analogue audio), higher grade cable makes a difference due to signal loss, but with digital (binary) HDMI, there is no such thing. It is honestly scary how much people spend on these cables, and you're getting ripped off. It's a shame they damaged your expensive cable, but you can at least save yourself a bucketload by replacing it with a $20 one


(http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/hdmi-cable-speed).

Sorry to hear this, Stormy , totally agree about the above (and the rest) and can understand how you feel. Seems like some traders feel they "own" the place, as long as they were sent by The Builder.
Unfortunately, I can't offer you any advice or suggestion ... other than sympathy and best wishes that things get sorted out properly for you
Hope your luck turns for the better and you cheer up

If they've given you it in writing that they will fix it, try and argue again.

I've just been through two WEEKS of arguing with them about my included costs (long story short - bought house and land package that included estate guidelines, month later they said I had to pay extra $2500 for raised ceilings to be in guidelines, cue me FLIPPING out because why the hell was this not included), I got about 3-4 emails where they pretty much said they wouldn't/couldn't do anything and it was an error, after arguing and sending some strongly worded emails they turned around and included it. That's crap that they didn't advise you of it beforehand and are now coming back onto it as an excuse.

Yes, exactly my thoughts. They were very quick to state the contract in terms of the black front doors, but the handover inspector and the maintenance inspector BOTH have signed separate pieces of paper saying that the HDMI cable will be attended to. BOTH didn't let me know of the contract then, but were quick to outline the contract with the doors. If it's such a big part of the contract that they will not fix any damage caused by them to 'outside' tradies, then why the hell wasn't I informed of this 12 months ago at handover? That's the part I find the most disappointing.

Anyway, I won't say too much more as I am seriously considering other 'options'.

...and further to the roof, no one has been on my roof to fix it, so I can't believe they are telling me it has all been fixed, when clearly it has not. Dated photos speak volumes.

I don't know if i've posted in your thread before but I think your home is just divine
Everything about it screams style

Stormy, have you seen this american website ? They ship to Australia.
Aren't you a fan of the Fleur de lis?

http://www.touchofeurope.net/linens/Fleur.html