Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Fernyhouse 101Dec 05, 2010 7:58 am If I count rain days they can take another 55 days. However the rain hasn't been the thing slowing it. The frame was erected in the rain. The bricky took 6 weeks to do what he said would take 10 days and in that 6 weeks it only rained 3 times. I visited on beautifully clear days multiple times and nothing happening. The driveway was dug out an hour after the rain stopped and it rained again later that day. Our request to be told the guaranteed completion day in writing was met with a response from the CSO that it was a construction issue. So still only the verbal comments from the 3 different site supervisors that we would be in before Christmas and the most recent ss has said they are trying hard and trying to find out why 3 places are not finished. Another person in our estate had only the one SS. The same one we started with. One woman I know from work had only one SS as well. Her place started 4 weeks before us and she has been in her place for 7 weeks now. So they can get their act together, just unhappy it's ours that is dragging. I'm hoping for miraculous before Christmas as that is the time I have off work Re: Fernyhouse 102Dec 05, 2010 11:07 am Me too Ferny- I have the week before and the week after off.....will need that time to move in and then have the rental ready to hand back on December 29th! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: Fernyhouse 103Dec 05, 2010 4:05 pm Fernyhouse If I count rain days they can take another 55 days. However the rain hasn't been the thing slowing it. The frame was erected in the rain. The bricky took 6 weeks to do what he said would take 10 days and in that 6 weeks it only rained 3 times. I visited on beautifully clear days multiple times and nothing happening. The driveway was dug out an hour after the rain stopped and it rained again later that day. Our request to be told the guaranteed completion day in writing was met with a response from the CSO that it was a construction issue. So still only the verbal comments from the 3 different site supervisors that we would be in before Christmas and the most recent ss has said they are trying hard and trying to find out why 3 places are not finished. Another person in our estate had only the one SS. The same one we started with. One woman I know from work had only one SS as well. Her place started 4 weeks before us and she has been in her place for 7 weeks now. So they can get their act together, just unhappy it's ours that is dragging. I'm hoping for miraculous before Christmas as that is the time I have off work That's poor form. I contacted my CSO the moment I received notification that the DA had been approved and requested, (in writing), my Contract start date, that way I could work out my 26 week deliverable date and then start counting the rain days and adjusting the end date from there. I even dropped by Head Office to get a copy of the Building Cert issued by the Private Certifier they use. The Site start date and the Contract start date can occur on the same actual day (this very rarely occurs though) but they are in fact 2 different events from a contractual standpoint. Most build contracts state that the builder must commence site works within 20 days of the DA / Building Cert being issued. So at best your Contract start date can be up to 20 days prior to your builder starting site works. It would pay to double check your dates for the different events thru the DA approval and Building Cert issue stages leading up to actual Site start. I wish you all the best to be in by XMAS. Rgds Leonard. Re: Fernyhouse 104Dec 05, 2010 5:58 pm Yep I have the DA approval date which was a month before site start date. I calculated start date based on the date the formwork and plumbing started, but it could have been a week earlier. Either way when I checked 2 weeks ago there had been 55 rain days by week 24. So compensation won't be starting until at least March. Given I know we won't get the house by the end of the coming week we are no longer able to actually move in before Christmas now anyway because DH can't get time off work the week before Christmas and we can't get the fencing done, which we need to happen before we move the dog in. I'm going to push the SS to get the construction fencing to go before Christmas at least I hope and try to get the fences done Re: Fernyhouse 105Dec 06, 2010 6:18 am Have they made a submission to claim any rain days? Check your contract. I think you will find they can't save them up and claim them all at the end. Rain days have to be claimed within a certain time of the rain day occurring. Re: Fernyhouse 106Dec 09, 2010 5:49 pm No they haven't made a claim and the SS is still saying it should be finished by Christmas. I can't quite see it BUT I'm remaining optimistic. It might be finished, but... My list of what still needs to be done is exterior painting (this week) electrical (this week) gyprock resetting the ceilings (this week) repainting the ceiling (would have to be next week) air con (no idea when but vents went in the other day) hws (no idea when) oven and rangehood (no idea when) carpenter putting in the last piece of skirting near the kitchen (no idea when) tiling throughout (no idea when) carpet throughout (no idea when) security screens throughout (no idea when) PCI inspection (no idea when) Independent inspection (not sure if this is booked but doubt it as the place isn't complete) bank valuation to release funds handover at head office (not yet booked in) So the list of things is really not much but as I said doubtful for the 2 weeks remaining before christmas. Wildewombat did you see all the earthworks for your section. All the fill going in for your block, for the park etc and flattening down the hill. It looks amazing watching the progress and seeing all the different soil colours coming through too. Re: Fernyhouse 107Dec 09, 2010 8:08 pm HWS and Oven go in after PCI. That's how EB do it to so the items don't get stolen. Re: Fernyhouse 108Dec 14, 2010 11:22 am Hi, We were up there on Saturday morning and yes finally they seem to be doing something with the land other than annoying me with delays! There was someone beavering away at your place when we were there, seem like some progress compared to my last visit. I had hoped at least some of the hill would stay, but that looks like wishful thinking. They did seem to be sorting the soil, they look like they have all the nice topsoil to one side, bet none of that will appear on my land. Did you find the developer project manager impossible to contact, he does not seem 1) answer his phone, 2) return voice mail messages or 3) respond to email. I suspect this will be the first of many more frustrations on that front, but as I am not having a standard project home we wanted to make sure the design will be consistent with their expectations. We also want to run an idea past them on getting into the development approval process before registration. Re: Fernyhouse 109Dec 15, 2010 8:45 pm We didn't have any need for contact with the developer project manager. We got all the answers we needed from the sales lady at the office. We did enquire with council about whether we could commence development approval prior to registration however they said a big no to that because council is the one responsible for registration as well and it could (although unlikely) result in changes to boundaries or services. However the developer approval we put in at the same time as we put in council application and the developer approval did go through within the 2 weeks they said it would take. Considering our tiles were not in the pre-approved range (profile, although colour was the same as another colour and the profile was already on another couple of properties). Our house wasn't one of the builders in the estate, the external colours were not likely to be a problem to the estate and the sales lady also encouraged us to request the variation to the building line. Sticking to architectural and landscape guidelines is not that hard IMO. Roofline and colour choice were the big things along with the render or combination of front features/materials. There are several houses in the estate that are not standard project homes as well. A few random and custom designs Re: Fernyhouse 110Dec 15, 2010 8:51 pm Oh some of the topsoil has already been put onto your section as well, when I went out mid last week the lovely dark fill went to your section first. I think the stuff going on top now is going to be what will end up being your site scrape. I've certainly found that with our place, the soil on top is pretty blah but when they did the scrape the soil underneath was fantastic. I'm not sure if my land was fill though like yours is. Although not sure it makes any difference with the type of soil. We were still M class slab with extra piering for the sandy soil. Re: Fernyhouse 111Dec 16, 2010 10:40 am Thanks for the info, we hope to drive through again on the weekend, I might pay a visit to the sales office and try my luck there. Re: Fernyhouse 112Jan 15, 2011 11:48 am Week 32 and the house is finished finally. Of course we are in the 5 week industry shut down period. Cleaners are in today, we're still waiting to hear when pci is. Hopefully midweek Fencing quotes done and 2 neighbors happy to go with it straight away. A third we are still waiting on a response from, it seems they have a fencing mate too who may do it for free. I hope he can get the quote quickly for the 8 meters involved as we need it up asap for our dog. Inspector is hopefully going in early in the week. I'd like to see the report before we go in. I've found several things already but pointed those out to the SS and he was getting onto them New furniture is waiting to be delivered and we need to make a trip to ikea to get some media storage and shelving Re: Fernyhouse 113Jan 15, 2011 4:29 pm EXCITING!!!! Wow, enjoy your new (and looong awaited) new house! Looking forward to some pics. Check out my blog for an update since we moved into ours on 11th December. Fi plan,block,contract:8-9/2009 Land settle & FHOG$:15/2/2010 Site start:19/5 Slab:4/6 Frames&Trusses:11/6 Roof,windows:24/6 Bricks:1-5/7 Gyprock:14-16/7 Kitchen!,garage door:5/8 Driveway,verandah,tank:2/9 Paint:17-23/9 Tiles!!:15-20/10 Kitchen&bathroom appliances,blinds:22/10 Carpet:8/11My blog: http://buildingbug.blogspot.com Re: Fernyhouse PCI this week Finally! 114Jan 19, 2011 10:26 am Yeeehhhhhaaaaaaawww PCI is booked this week. I'm hoping there won't be much. I went through with the SS prior to christmas and we picked up a number of things. Tyrells inspection is today or yesterday. I hope handover won't be far behind. Re: Fernyhouse Handover date set 115Feb 06, 2011 3:48 pm With our final inspection set this week and handover I am really disappointed with what I could see on site this weekend. They have 1.5 days left and it looks like only the plaster restting and paint touch ups have been done over the last 2 weeks since our pci. From what I can see from the outside the tiling still needs to be fixed at the front door. The front door still needs a repaint, site cleanup is still abyssmal and the paint still hasnt been cleaned off the windows properly which is needed to fit the fly screens. I just hate to see that it really looks like they drag their feet so much. All the work required on the pci nd from the independent inspector I showed to a few people including a builder friend and an interior decorator and they said it was basically 2 days work worth. It's been 9 work days since then and with only 1.5 days left now I wonder how on earth they are going to get it done and surely they will have people working over each other and it will be crazy or there will be another delay. I don't feel I could recommend this builder to anyone. They seem to leave everything to the last minute all the way along. Even looking at our occupation certificate the length of time between the slab inspection and frame inspection was almost 3 months (from my calender the frame inspection happened after the brickwork and roof were on). Even the occupation certificate which we were told was complete and the inspector called up to tell us it had been sent to the builder. However when we still didn't have it and need it for the bank we had to chase that up ourselves otherwise that would delay us from getting the bank to release the funds. Please please please is all I can say now that the house gets finished without any delay and we get our handover this week. It better happen as I can't take more time off work and we have everyhting booked in for this week. Re: Fernyhouse Handover date set 116Feb 10, 2011 11:35 am Fernyhouse Can I ask whether you have still gone for the Bristol Colonial color for render? I went for my colors last week and selected that one in a hurry, but not exactly sure how it would look for render. Would you have any pics of your render you can share with me? Thanks Re: Fernyhouse Handover date set 117Feb 25, 2011 9:58 pm Hi Ferny, how did you go with handover, are you in yet?? BB plan,block,contract:8-9/2009 Land settle & FHOG$:15/2/2010 Site start:19/5 Slab:4/6 Frames&Trusses:11/6 Roof,windows:24/6 Bricks:1-5/7 Gyprock:14-16/7 Kitchen!,garage door:5/8 Driveway,verandah,tank:2/9 Paint:17-23/9 Tiles!!:15-20/10 Kitchen&bathroom appliances,blinds:22/10 Carpet:8/11My blog: http://buildingbug.blogspot.com Re: Fernyhouse Handover date set 118Mar 05, 2011 7:10 am Yes we're in. Handover happened even with some things incomplete and now almost a month later some of those things still have not been done. The electrician finally came this week to put in the power points that were missing and to fix the faulty one. We are working on landscaping now. Road base is down for the utility side of the house and paving and pebbles or crushed rock will go down that side. The other side has stepping stones and lots of mulch. It looks fab so far. I think we will get the soil and turf next week so today I'm pulling weeds and reading fu's details for soil prep again to make sure we will be ordering the right stuff Re: Fernyhouse Handover date set 119Mar 05, 2011 7:32 am Congratulations! get ready for the hard work to start. DIY landscaping is hard yakka but very rewarding. Re: Fernyhouse Handover date set 120Mar 06, 2011 4:04 pm I have blisters on blisters now after doing 3 cubic meters of road base and moving a half pallet of bricks, still half a pallet to go though. My side garden looks fabulous. A lovely little fairy garden will go in as soon as the fairy houses arrive. All my sentimental plants have new homes. The to do list is huge though. Turf prep Turfing Level front yard Stepping stones to front yard and garden edging Mulch front yard Plant out front yard Purchase remaining furniture so that we can unpack remaining boxes Pave side path and decorative gravel. Although I think we are going to hire someone to do the paving. Pave the alfresco area Remaining light fittings to be purchased and installed Hang paintings and pictures Finalize window coverings from quotes I'm about to put down some Merbau. Is it necessary to oil underneath the boards before laying? 0 1930 Hey There. No problems re jumping in. My original question was "should I have waterproofed" the concrete slab before putting batons down. We have been told we should… 7 4327 interesting situation what happened after builder issued final invoice? did you list as defect or not does the building surveyor have any responsibility? ie. issuing… 13 46956 |