Hi Everyone... Fixing stage complete

VJ · Feb 06, 2008 6:55 pm

Quote:

Okay, I don't have the right front door, but I do have a front door. Is it normal for them to put a different door on for now or should I contact them and tell them it's the wrong door?.

Colleen,
I think they use a temporary door to close off the house (so they can call it 'locked up' :?:

and can send the invoice for it).

Michelle · Feb 06, 2008 7:07 pm

Bet you getting very excited now!

Looking good!

Colleen · Feb 06, 2008 7:48 pm

Yep VJ, when the site supervisor called me today to introduce himself I asked him if that was a temporary door or supposed to be the final product. He said "that's your final door" and I said "oh well it's the wrong door" and he started laughing and told me he was just having a joke - it's a temporary door so they can scratch and bang against it as much as they like. I told him I thought it was a temporary door but better to ask and be sure than have him try to tell me at handover that's the door.

Michelle, yes I'm getting excited, but also having moments when I have to remember to breathe! I've had these moments at each major stage of the process - when I first saw the slab, when I first saw the frame and then when I turned up one day when everyone should've been on holidays to find they'd bricked the house. It's an OMG it's a house and I'm doing this alone and OMG what was I thinking - and a lot of pride thrown in as well, like I built it myself lol. One part of me is thinking hurry up already and the other part of me is in a bit of a panic :roll:

When I saw the roof finished tonight it was a lovely feeling to think "I like how my house looks".

Michelle · Feb 06, 2008 8:03 pm

You’re doing it alone!!!

Well done Colleen, hats off to you, you go girl. What a proud time for you!!!
Pat yourself on the back….very day!

PhoenixStar · Feb 06, 2008 8:10 pm

It looks great Colleen, you've done a great job!!!!

Looks like a big backyard too....

rerob1 · Feb 06, 2008 9:18 pm

Congrats Colleen on getting this far....now comes the best part in my view - imagine how you will feel when you see your kitchen and bathrooms going in!!

Colleen · Feb 13, 2008 6:46 pm

Plastering was supposed to be happening this week but so far the only thing that has happened in that department is that it was delivered.

However, something has happened and it has me confused so I thought I'd ask the more knowledgeable members whether they know what this is about... someone (I assume a plumber) has been there in the last 2 days and put pvc pipes upright into the ground at various points - 2 of which are within 1-2 metres (in a direct line) from an external door, so if you were to walk out the door in the dark, or even not paying attention, you would bump into them. The pipes stick out of the ground a fair way - half way to knee height - and some of them have caps on the top. Anyone have any idea what they are and what purpose they serve? And whether they are supposed to eventually be cut down to ground level or do I have these things sticking out of the ground all the time now?

I'll call the supervisor tomorrow and ask him if no one here knows but I thought I'd ask here first.

PhoenixStar · Feb 13, 2008 6:56 pm

Colleen, could it be storm water or possibly a sewerage breather? Can you post a pic??? Have they dug up a trench that might lead to somewhere in particular???

Michelle · Feb 13, 2008 6:57 pm

Are you having concrete out there Colleen?

They sound like waist pipes/drains; they will be cut to ground level later.
Don’t worry, they won’t stay that height!!!

kiwi056 · Feb 13, 2008 7:07 pm

I’d hazard a guess most are your storm water drains, you’ll find they line up with your downpipes, the other will be sewer. These all get connected under ground, except the sewer will probably an access at ground level.

Don’t worry they’ll all be gone by the time you move in!

Colleen · Feb 13, 2008 7:47 pm

They don't line up with the downpipes - like I said, there are two that are one-two metres away from the house. If I walk out either of my laundry or back doors these pipes will whack me in the shins (ouch). There has been excavation out there as my once flat ground has been churned up a lot, at first I thought the new neighbours had dumped all the dirt from their cut onto my land. I looked into one of the pipes that didn't have a lid on it and it is connected to a pipe underground, I was just confused because they are a good distance out from the house so it looks like they are drainage for the back yard??? I think there were 6 or 7 of them.

Michelle, I'm not at this point having concrete out there but eventually I will probably pave over the top of the places they've put these drains so it would help to know what I would be covering lol. There are no easements on my block so it didn't occur to me that there might be other pipe related reasons that I wouldn't be able to use my backyard however I like.

I do hope that they will be gone by the time I move in because my puppy likes to chew on exposed PVC pipes :roll:

At least this time if he decided to rip them out of the ground he'd be doing my legs a favour.

Phoenix, I forgot to put the camera back in the car, so there are no pictures. If they are for sewage breathing I'm going to have a stinky backyard :oops:

because there are a lot of these pipes.

kiwi056 · Feb 13, 2008 8:19 pm

If you check your site plan these pipes should be marked on it.

Colleen · Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

They aren't on the plans, I already checked that. I guess I'll give the site super a call tomorrow and check with him. I'm sure they're not so silly that they would just put pipes in the yard for no good reason but I'm curious about what they are.

Colleen · Feb 14, 2008 12:17 pm

I got in touch with my site supervisor but I'm less than impressed with his response.

The pipes are "stormwater inspection points". I asked him if he intended on cutting them down and he said no.

I told him I'd like to pave in the areas he's put these things in future and he said I can do what I want with them after handover, I can cut them down as long as I put caps on them and I can pave over the top of them because they are just for him so he can inspect things now (implied that no one else would ever need them). He said there's no need to leave them accessible for anyone else in future.

Does this seem reasonable? I now have to arrange for someone to come and cut these things down before I can move in (because in my opinion they're a safety hazard as they currently are and because my dog will eat them otherwise). Given that no one I've asked has ever seen anything like this before, it doesn't seem that it's standard practice to either put them in or leave them exposed like this.

Oh and I mentioned that I'd expected plastering to have started and he said they've been delayed for a couple of days.

Colleen · Feb 14, 2008 7:06 pm

Photos:

Same pipe - different angles - this is the tallest one, right outside my sliding door
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The one outside the laundry door has been cut down:
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And these are the ones that are close to the house but none of them line up to a downpipe hole in the guttering:
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There's also one in the front yard that has been cut down lower. The batteries in the camera ran out before I could take a photo of it.

Colleen · Feb 18, 2008 6:32 pm

Plastering DONE. There's probably finishing touches still to do but the buik of it is finished. :z:

Michelle · Feb 18, 2008 6:41 pm

Colleen

Plastering DONE. There's probably finishing touches still to do but the buik of it is finished. :z:

Not long now!!!

We will be getting photos of you in your new home!

Build_build · Feb 19, 2008 9:49 pm

Hi Colleen,

You'll be moving in no time from now, your house is looking good.

Just wandering, did your builder asked you to remove part of the paling fence adjacent to your garage wall as i noticed your garage wall is built right on boundary.
My builder asked me to remove it, i'm still trying to negotiate so i dont have to remove it.....

good luck with the rest of the building process

ahuang · Feb 19, 2008 10:02 pm

Hi Collen,

I got 2 of those pipes at the back of my house too, we were told those were drainage pipes and when the landscapers do the concrete flooring or paving, the pipes will be cut to appropriate height, depending of what sort of material you choose for the external floors.

Have you decided on what are you going to do with your landscaping yet? Have a chat with a few people and they might give you some suggestions...

So don't worry too much, just be careful when you walk around your back yard.

Colleen · Feb 20, 2008 9:45 am

Hi Build_build, I don't have a fence adjacent to my side garage wall as it is a "shared driveway" - the house next door will have it's driveway right beside mine. That is the only fence that was not already erected when I built the block and I've been told that because it's a shared driveway, there can't be a fence.

The garage does butt up against the back fence though and there was never any mention of taking down the fence. I would've had an issue with that as the people behind me have a dog so I don't think they'd appreciate taking down the fence.

If you don't already have neighbours who will be inconvenienced by having the fence removed, I'd suggest letting them do it but with the clear understanding that they are to cover the costs, if any, in getting it erected again. If they say that your garage wall can act as a fence consider whether you want that wall to be available to your neighbours for whatever purpose they like... i.e. where I currently live, our neighbour has a garage in his backyard that forms part of our fenceline. We could (but never have) build, for example, a pergola using his wall as something to brace it against. We could've stacked all sorts of junk against it which might put pressure on the wall. Also while he's quite happy with his brick selection, I don't particularly like it and I've had to look at it every day since that garage was built - your neighbours who already have a fence might feel the same way about your bricks lol.