Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 161May 22, 2017 3:02 pm So I've been rather ill, and in and out of hospital for the past few weeks, but it looks like I'm finally on the mend. So much has happened at the house! - roof and guttering is on - external doors and windows are in (But I am concerned about the front door... my plans stipulate I am providing all front door hardware... they've already put a mortice lock inside the front door??? I can't have that, as I'm using an electronic front door lock and there won't be physical room on the door for their mortice lock (which they credited me back for on my contract already) and my electronic lock, and the long pull-bar that I've bought... so I need to have a chat with the SS about that) - plumbing rough-in is done - electrical rough-in is done - frame inspection by my private inspector is tomorrow morning. I've finally bitten the bullet and purchased my ensuite showers (two rail hand-helds and an overhead rainfall), I've delivered those to builder's office for installation later on. I'm also about to go and buy the loft ladder for the garage, SS said they'd install it for me Lastly, I've got to buy soundproofing insulation this week and go and install it next weekend. External bricks this week, I think I'll do a daily drive-by to see progress, and next week the plasterboard should get delivered, so I have to get the soundproofing in before the gyprock is delivered. My neighbours slab has been poured and I got out there with my tape measure on Sunday... there will be 35cm between my fence and their garage wall! That's insane, they've built so close to the boundary, and I'm mad because I wasn't allowed to build to boundary so why they were and I wasn't is frustrating. It is amazing to walk through the frame and hang my head out the windows and get a feel for things. Have been looking at paint swatches over the weekend too for a feature wall in the study, still can't decide so I think I'll wait until I've moved in to pick a colour. No pics right now as I'm at work but will try and load some tonight. Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 162Jun 07, 2017 1:18 pm Just caught up, I some hoe unsubscribed myself Wow you are flying. What else has happened? GJ Gardner Modified Coolum 277 http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=83643 Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 163Jun 12, 2017 11:19 am charlibear Just caught up, I some hoe unsubscribed myself Wow you are flying. What else has happened? GJ Gardner Modified Coolum 277 http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=83643 So much CB! I've been so slack with updating this thread, will chuck some pics up and an update now Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 164Jun 12, 2017 11:38 am So, lots has happened since my last update 3 weeks ago! The bricking was done in maybe 3 days straight, I managed to get a few snaps of it half-done one weekend, and then on the Tuesday I popped out for a quick look and it was all completed. We spent a busy Sunday afternoon installing our own soundproofing insulation around the bathrooms, sadly we had to do this before the plastering was done (obviously, it's easiest to install insulation when you can butt it up against a boarded wall on the other side) so we stapled it all in with string criss-crossing between the studs. It was a relatively easy thing to do ourselves, we just brought a staple gun for $20 and some insulation from Bunnings, so if your builder will allow you to DIY that like ours did then I think it's time very well invested. It was less than $150 for the bits I bought, and only 2-3 hours of time, and the builders were going to charge over $1000 to do it so that was money really well saved to DIY it. The plasterboarding was all done in a day or two, and another day for them to put on the cornicing, and to walk through the house once the walls were all complete was yet another huge change. It's been so interesting watching the house change and grow through all it's stages. Garage door was installed on Friday so there will be no more internal walkthroughs for me (unless I can get onsite before the tradies leave for the afternoon). The schedule for this week includes : soffit & fixout (does this include hanging internal doors I wonder?), kitchen and bathroom cabinetry installed, external rendering. I can't wait to see all of this week's changes, they will all be huge ones and will be so great to finally see these parts coming to life! Anyway, here's some progress pics... Wrapped, but with no roof: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bricking started: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bricking completed: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Another shot of pretty completed bricking: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Plastering started: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Plastering completed lounge: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Enclosed stage complete - we now have a garage door: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 165Jun 12, 2017 11:45 am Wow babes!!! Lots has happened!! So happy that you are flying, can't wait to your cabinets in Facade looks great!! GJ Gardner Modified Coolum 277 http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=83643 Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 169Jun 16, 2017 2:44 pm zacherine We wanted the same front door as you but Bold said they could only do the 8 panel (skinnier glass panels) so wonder what the story was there ! Oooooh that's really odd? I almost went with a 6-panel or 8-panel but I drove around a bunch of estates and stalked front doors and decided I liked the 4 better, in my standard-width door. Are you getting standard-width or wide? I loooooove the wide doors but I couldn't afford the upgrade Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 170Jun 16, 2017 2:54 pm So, I got an invoice on Monday for Enclosed Stage, saying I was complete... on Monday night, I went to check the house and I still didn't have a back wall, just the frame with paper wrap on it. So I rejected the invoice and asked them to send it again once it was actually complete. I just got the invoice so fingers crossed there's actually an external wall at the rear now... I also followed up as I know the tiler was booked to start soon and I still hadn't been given a day or time to meet him on-site, found out he starts on Monday so luckily I didn't miss him.Plus yay, meeting him on-site on Mon means I will get to walk around inside the house, so I can see the kitchen and bathroom cabinetry installed Stand by for inside pics on Monday! Lastly, I also followed up on the gas connection. They clarified that all I'll have to do when I move in is call a gas supplier and connect with them, and then I will get billed any consumption from during the build... sounds like that means that the builder organises the gas connection, which is a contradiction from what they said earlier, but whatever, I have this in writing now if I need to refer back. Have started thinking about packing my current house up, and what furniture I'm going to sell etc. Have made quite a few purchases for the new house, all geekery-related (e.g. alarm systems and cameras and networking equipment etc), can't quite believe that I will be in and unpacked in just 8 weeks time! 6 weeks until PCI, 9 weeks until I have to hand over the keys for my current house, man this is happening fast! Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 171Jun 16, 2017 7:01 pm scubabe zacherine We wanted the same front door as you but Bold said they could only do the 8 panel (skinnier glass panels) so wonder what the story was there ! Oooooh that's really odd? I almost went with a 6-panel or 8-panel but I drove around a bunch of estates and stalked front doors and decided I liked the 4 better, in my standard-width door. Are you getting standard-width or wide? I loooooove the wide doors but I couldn't afford the upgrade /quote] Yeah just standard width, we are only on 12.5 frontage and the house is 11 or so wide so not a lot of room for a wide door haha. The big doors are beautiful aren't they! I think the 8 panels will make ours look really skinny, hence why I wanted the four. It looks really good! Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 172Jun 19, 2017 12:45 pm On Friday afternoon the builders sent my invoice again, so on Saturday morning I went to check and yay, I finally have cladding on my rear wall!!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ So I'm now Enclosed Stage Complete and have yet another lovely bill to pay Just got off the phone from the building inspection company and they're going to try and inspect tomorrow. I met with my tiler this morning (I'm not having much luck with site meetings, he wasn't there and I had to get SS to chase him up, this is becoming a bit of a theme for my build), I gave him the feature tiles I had bought for the shower niches and we chatted about the best way/direction to lay those. We also spoke about how else he could incorporate the extra feature tiles into the bathroom and ensuite and he had some great ideas so I am content to just leave it to him, he seems awesome and so switched on. We spoke about directional lay for the bathroom tiles and the kitchen splashbacks, and also the floor tiles - I had no idea there were so many things to think about with tiling but he already had a bunch of things in his head to ensure I don't have weird thin tile cuts against walls etc. Was a really worthwhile meeting and I'm so happy I had it. He thinks it will only take 3-4 days to tile my place since its so small, so hopefully by the weekend I'll be fully tiled. He's also doing my stone feature on the front, but he can't lay that until after the renderers have finished, so fingers crossed they show up today or tomorrow otherwise he'll have to come back. He also said the stone benchtops should be installed this week, so that he can tile after they've been put on, so fingers crossed a lot will happen this week! My cabinetry has all been installed in laundry, bathrooms and kitchen. I was surprised at how light it was, I was thinking it would have been both darker, and greyer. They're quite light and look to have a kind of taupe colour to them and not grey. But I'm not going to judge them yet, until I have benchtops, tiling and paint on the walls - there's a lot to happen yet which will all affect how they look, so maybe they will turn out to be how I imagined them once the house is complete. I'm so impatient Ensuite cabinet: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bathroom cabinet: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Laundry cabinet: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen island side cabinetry: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And tsk tsk I forgot to take a pic of the cooker-side cabinetry, which is in white instead of the wood-look cabinets elsewhere. See what I mean about how light it all is though? I'm looking at my inspo pictures and this is what I was picturing: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ But I think my cabinets are too light? I held my sample chip up to them, and they are the correct colour that I selected... In geekery news, my internal security system has been delivered, and my external security cameras have been ordered but are coming from US so may take a while to ship. My Smart Hub has been delivered, this is going to drive all the automation for the house - e.g. it will schedule my robot vacuum to run when I leave the house each morning, it will switch my alarm and cameras on as soon as I leave the house, it will run my powerpoints and aircon/heating and will hopefully be able to unlock my front door or open my garage door for courier deliveries. I've ordered my WAP, but still need to get my switch. Have narrowed down my NBN providers so just need to read some reviews on downtime and actual speeds in my area, and then I will make that decision and organise installation for the start of August. Oh, and I've emailed the office admin for my build and asked her to supply info on the garage door opener they use, and the aircon, so I can confirm that I can connect to them both with my Smart Hub and automate them. Fingers crossed! Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 173Jun 20, 2017 7:20 pm Wow Scubabe, you are so on top of everything! Your house will be so smart - you just need to find a program for it to make you dinner and do your washing! - B A vue of the pines on the Gold Coast forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=87210 Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 175Jun 22, 2017 7:06 pm scubabe Lastly, I also followed up on the gas connection. They clarified that all I'll have to do when I move in is call a gas supplier and connect with them, and then I will get billed any consumption from during the build... sounds like that means that the builder organises the gas connection, which is a contradiction from what they said earlier, but whatever, I have this in writing now if I need to refer back. Hahahaha And more falsehoods come out of the woodwork! Today I've been told I need to organise my own gas connection, despite me questioning them twice last week, today they've changed their minds. So I ask them for the certificate number I need to have the meter installed, and I don't hear anything back from them. I've also emailed them THREE TIMES to just ask for the make/model of the garage door opener they've installed (I want to figure out how to hook it into my home automation system) and they're ignoring that email too. Sick to death of the constant changing of stories, ignoring me, and having to pick up and correct them on errors. I thought I was paying them to project manage for me? Really wishing I'd chosen another builder right now. Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 177Jun 26, 2017 10:49 pm Hi lovely, What stage are you at now? I am having my meeting with the tiler tomorrow morning and I have managed to persuade them to bring my tiling forward. My bench tops should be going in this week too, plus rendering and bagging?! (Fingers crossed). I feel like I have caught up with everyone on here now. Yay! Have they told you a final inspection date yet? They still won't even guess at mine. Not even an estimate. Very annoying. I am not having any landscaping, fences etc done by them so I am hoping it won't be as long as most. Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 178Jun 29, 2017 8:53 am Hi Maddie, I'm enclosed, but haven't finished fixing stage yet as they need to complete tiling and do the downpipes before they can issue my next invoice. Last I saw they had done floor tiling but nothing on the walls yet, and they hadn't grouted outside or half of inside, so there was probably 3-4 days work this week to get that done. Expecting that this week though, or maybe on Monday. My initial schedule of works that the SS showed me had PCI on 25 July, and I guess handover probably early August? But nope, I don't have anything finalised yet either. Just chilling and hoping maybe I can move in around the Ekka public holiday... Yay for your benchtops in, are you happy with how your colours are all working together now? Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 179Jun 30, 2017 1:42 pm Hey! Sounds fantastic! I just sent off my 'fixing' invoice. Tiles have gone down, render and bagging are being done at the same time and my driveway is going down TODAY (wow!). My SS never showed me an expected PCI date or anything, I guess maybe they think I am naggy and don't want to miss the date. I have been told painting will commence next week, and then my laminate and carpet will go down last (I opted for laminate in the main living area). I actually paid extra for an electric oven and they read the plans wrong and put in a gas pipe, so that has to be fixed too. I also have internal doors already, which I didn't realise went in so soon. Yes! I am so pleased with the colours thus far. I have a marble effect benchtop - looks incredible, with just crisp white everything else because the wood look laminate should contrast and my light grey walls will contrast too. I got a lot of inspo from Instagram home bloggers. As a school teacher, I am hoping it will be handover by at least week 3/4 of the school term. That's just before everything starts to get very very busy and I shouldn't be too stressed. My students are beyond excited, I only wish they could help me pack haha. Re: Building the Bella with Homes by CMA in North Harbour, S 180Jul 01, 2017 12:00 am Haha, so much can happen in one day. They did my downpipes yesterday and have issued me my fixing invoice today. I'm going on Monday to inspect all of that and make sure its all done before I send my next cheque. You will of course have your PCI date, well you should, you should have a letter of commencement from them, and it will have your PCI date on it. OMG you have a driveway already? Wow that's insane! Mine isn't booked for 2 more weeks yet I hope you manage to get up to your lot this weekend to get a look at your new drive, how exciting it just powers along at times doesn't it? I hear you about the packing, I'm dreading mine I have a house full of guests this weekend so I'm not starting my packing until next weekend, but I hope to power through it quickly with a lot of help from friends May I ask why you chose not to use GJ Gardiner? I'm actually meeting with one of the sales guys tomorrow for an appointment. Definitely not signing anything yet… 3 9595 Hi i am looking to buy an investment near by North Rothbury. How is this area? is there schools inside this estate? please advice good builders around that area to buy… 0 1755 The warning is on the sticker on the door too. Second the aluminium powdercoat 6 12645 |