McDonald Jones Homes - The new thread

Thanks on both counts!

I did realise that the Miele was only 60cm. Personally though I hated the fish burner on the Smeg stove and thought Miele was a better brand. So I chose to go for the Miele because of that! I'll only be cooking the odd pizza or meat pie in the oven, so oven size or features didn't really bother me too much!

Thanks Milby. The boards are 14mm.

Guess I'll just leave it.

If all things goes to plan we get frames by end of June!

Hi Jazz926,



We did Gerflor and fridge cabinets with MJH. Our fridge is 180cm tall from the floor and the cabinet is about 44cm high. The gap we have left is 5cm.

However, we did have to take off the skirting from one side to fit this 91cm wide fridge.

The height of our fridge opening is 1795. I had bamboo floor installed. You will need to watch the height if you buy a new fridge. Some of the newer ones are higher than 1,800. We have been looking for a new fridge, and have had to watch the height. Fridge has to wait for us, as we need other things first.

Hi all, I have a question about final accounts. I've been waiting for the final account to be sent to me for around a week now. I spoke to my clo and she said I'll speak to the SS. I got handed a new clo this week. So I emailed her on Wednesday to chase the final account up. She responds with we won't give it to you until after PCI. Well that didn't go down well as we have handover booked for a week after PCI and I've given my landlord notice to vacate. So I asked her do you have to have the final payment to handover and she says yes. Banks typically need 10 business days to process the final payment. So that'll mean if I get the final account after PCI we won't make handover. This means my family and I will be homeless! I've expressed this and my clo said get onto the site supervisor. So I tried calling him and low and behold he's on a day off and won't be back till Monday! Guess what?! There's only 10 business days between Monday and the handover date as there's a public holiday in between. Looks like my kids, husband and I will be sleeping on the front of what is supposed to be our new home! Oh and to make things even better we're currently in liquidated damages. So we've already gone over contract date! I've made no changes at all during the build, before or after to ensure we are not the cause of delays. I can't understand why MJH are trying to delay is!

So my question is when did you all get your final account was it before or after PCI?

Has anyone used downlights in Cool White? I prefer the dreamy look created by 'Warm White' but my partner prefers 'Cool White'. And we are not sure what to select and our electrical appointment is due next week. In fact we are thinking about having both light options to create different moods.

Can anyone show me some pictures if you have used Cool White downlights?

Hi Shobnom
We went with Cool white and added dimmers to them, the Warm white throws a yellow light which we didn't like.
The cool white is more of a true light so if too bright we can dim down.

Hope this helps

Hi Safaa,

We got our final invoice about 2 weeks prior to our PCI. We were advised payment needed to be made at least 3 days prior to handover or pass on the bank cheque to SS on PCI.

There was an adjustment needed to be made on the final invoice, so we contact/followed up with the accounts person who sent through the previous invoices/receipts. She responded quickly.

However, our bank required interim occupation certificate to made the payment (3 days to process). We were in the same situation as you, definitely stressed. The certificate was delayed and didn't come in time for the bank to make the payment (3 days prior to handover).

So we made an agreement with the bank to pay for the final payment out of our own pocket in cash, then bank reimburse the $ back to us as part of our mortgage. Luckily we had just enough cash and got the keys before our lease ended. That was a touch and go. Now one week after we moved in, our bank still haven't reimbursed the final payment to us, and requested additional documentations.

Did anyone got their plans rejected by certifier?

I am having this scenario - MDJ lodged the plans to certifier for approval. But they knocked it back saying there is a solar encroachment and its not minor. And the explanation CLO gave to me was that their draftie did not think the shadow plans were necessary and the solar encroachment is minor. Still saying that they applied for minor exemption to council. But the council rejected the application saying it is not minor.

And now, i need to look into my options and ask CLO whats the next course of action. But all this time is wasted due to this solar envelop not being identified by their architect before sending it to certifier. And now going through full approval process would take another 6-8 weeks.

I already passed my 1 year contract date and now paying 1K extra per month. Will this error by their certifier (or what they call it was not necessary in their case) that cost me time and money is rubbed on me.

Frustated so far, assuming they are big builder and would know in an out, we took a leap of faith that everything would be smooth. But these things come up.

We are the same as Sally & Craig and went the cool white downlights and added dimmers to nearly all of them. The dimmers are fantastic. So glad we got them, especially for the alfresco. The only places we didn't use downlights were in the bedrooms and we are going to make the bedrooms warm lighting. I am also going to have warm lighting for all my lamps. We probably went a bit overboard with the downlights and could have got away with a lot less of them so if you are on a budget you don't need as many as you think. They are really bright. We built the Monte Carlo Executive and on the alfresco grande we have 8 downlights. Probably could have gotten away with 4. Would easily have gotten away with 6.

Hi Everyone,

We are going for MJH Vienna plan from Next gen collection.
Our construction will start April next year in Willowdale
Anyone building with MJH in willowdale?
and anyone with Vienna plan?

Thanks,
Jay

Thank you for your response. I'd love to be in a position to pay out of my own pocket in cash that amount then have the bank reimburse me however there's no way we can come up with such a large sum of money! There is absolutely no way we have that kind of money!

Wow Lisa, that went really fast. Your home has come together beautifully. It looks stunning. You must be so happy with it all. When will you get the keys and move in. [/quote]


Yes very happy with it all, my husband did the PCI on Monday and there was only a couple of minor things that needed finishing, but generally speaking the quality of work is very impressive and our Site supervisor has been great to work with. Cant wait to move now. I think we will be doing handover maybe end of June there abouts so its all right on schedule too. We still have fencing and some excavating work to do ourselves before we can move in so hopefully in next couple of months. Hows your house been going. do you have any more updated pics have you finished your flooring yet[/quote]


Hey Lisa, we still have a long way to go. We still have no floor coverings or proper window coverings yet. We are focusing on trying to get the outside done first. We are not actually living in the house yet and live 2 hours away so it has been hard trying to get things done. We are both going to take 4 weeks off work in the next couple of months to try and get as much done on the yard that we can. My partner has had the excavator there to tidy up the whole yard and level it, he has dug plenty of trenches and put in a lot of drainage. He has done quite a few footings for our retaining walls and has finished one retaking wall on one side of the house and started one on the other side. He is currently in the process of bricking up some raised garden beds which we will then cover the bricks with stack stone. We will also be putting a retaining wall across the front of the house and will be putting stack stone on it too. Here are a few updated pictures. We will eventually put the dark brown shutters on the front windows and use the dark brown shutters in the bathrooms. On a lot of the other Windows we will go the white shutters and probably the pull down blinds on the stacker doors.

Thank you Denym, looking forward to meeting everyone
Cheers,
Mel

Thanks David. Definitely put us at ease. Will just make sure our new fridge is under 1.8m.

Hi Jay,

Not exactly Willowdale, but we are just down the road at Edmondson Park.

My cousin moved in Willowdale last April and it's an fantastic estate.

Thanks CathyLeigh and Sally & Craig, will check the number of down lights again if there are too many! Also the idea on dimmers are very useful because I was thinking adding dimmers to Cool White is not much of use because colour of light will stay 'white' while dimming unlike 'yellow to orange transformation' of Warm White lights!

But we are planning for 'warm white' for outdoor lights (pillars, eaves, patio, backyard, alfresco etc) along with Internal pendant lights, lamps (table, bedside, standing etc) and few hallway lights in warm white.

Thanks in advance,
Shobnom
http://cordova2withmjh.blogspot.com.au/

Just a bit of good news. We have been in our new MJH home since Christmas. No serious problems with the build, and any minor problems have been fixed up quickly. With all the wild winds and rain last week end, I was wondering how the house handled it. Good news is that not a single drop of rain came in any where. No roof leaks, no water under doors, or windows. Only a small amount of water came through under the garage door, but with the wild winds blowing directly on the door, I was pleased that not much came in, and it was easily mopped up.

Can anyone give me an idea on what it would cost if you choose to use a caesarstone colour outside the standard range? Thanks