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Looks great as is, we cant wait to have the timber panelling up to add some further contrast to the rendered pier. Thanks again to
huhness for recommending to paint behind the timber black, our neighbors across the street had theirs up this week and it was white {surfmist-ghosting?} and it looks almost like white mortar from the street, definitely needs dark contrast to highlight the timber slats.
You were meant to share the news with them!
Oh well now you know just how bad it looks on a white background! The house is looking great!
Love the sne@ky message on the scaffolding too
S.n.e.a.k.y is a forbidden word on homeone...
Looks great as is, we cant wait to have the timber panelling up to add some further contrast to the rendered pier. Thanks again to
huhness for recommending to paint behind the timber black, our neighbors across the street had theirs up this week and it was white {surfmist-ghosting?} and it looks almost like white mortar from the street, definitely needs dark contrast to highlight the timber slats.
You were meant to share the news with them!
Oh well now you know just how bad it looks on a white background! The house is looking great!
Love the sne@ky message on the scaffolding too
S.n.e.a.k.y is a forbidden word on homeone...
Unfortunately we haven't met the owners of the chifley to ask them what they'd specified
Ha weird sne@ky is banned, my message wasn't meant to be!? haha
Week 25:
We had electrical rough in booked, but they didn’t show up, and we had the front door (side door in our case) frame installed and framework started on the porch above our front door, the remainder of the metal capping on the fascade and western side of the house.
Issue #1 when looking up at the porch framework Id noticed that the renderer had missed the side return face on the bricks.
This wont be witnessed from the ground floor as there will be the porch roof, albeit we have a big window looking directly at it from the 1st floor:
Issue #2 when looking at the metal capping it was surf mist. Strangely they’d started 2-3 weeks ago with monument (the correct colour) and came back and finished the job off with the incorrect colour
We had the lower ground floor roofing guttering done also
Week 26 shall see electrical rough in, ducted A/C rough in and eave carpenters finish of porch and ground floor eaves and a few other bits and pieces.
I sent our S/S an email he was onto our issues, and will address these mistakes. Every issue raised so far has been taken on board by Rawson and rectified so I must commend them for that
Week 26
We had our electrical and A/C rough in completed last week, and the eave carpenters have completed most of the lower eaves.
Having a quick squiz most of the electrical looks ok, I noticed since we're having a sliding door to the laundry it looks like the electrician is going to mount the P/P on the window sill, but noticed they'd mounted a bracket on the other side.. (I'd prefer it to be symmetrical)
With the A/C ducting they've installed 2 ducts inside the WIR in one of the bedrooms, unfortunately this will make it a lot smaller unfortunately when gyprockers lay sheets around it
Dedicated A/C duct still has room for one more?
Whilst around the side of the house looking at the new meter box, I'd noticed the window sill brickwork was still uncompleted. We'd paid for brickwork a few months ago now and I'd not noticed this in the past (as scaffolding and mesh was over these windows for quite some time and there was no room to walk down this side of the house)...
4 weeks to XMAS and the aim was from our S/S to be ready for lockup as the house will sit unattended for 4 weeks over the XMAS NY period, so we'll see!
Week 27 Not a great deal had occured in wk 27.
We received our independent inspection report from houspect, for pre lining and it was quite comprehensive with most of the defects raised I had already raised with my S/S.
At the time of inspection there was a heap of items on the exterior still incompleted, but the gyprock is due to go on ASAP as we have the XMAS break looming and our S/S wants to have the house ready for lockup whilst it sits over the XMAS period.
We met with our S/S Jeff yesterday to go through the items in the report, and get an update. We're still on track to have stairs, kitchen and gyprock in over the next few weeks then there's a heap of other items which require finishing off..
In my previous post I mentioned the A/C ducting. It's really dissapointing how they put placement of ducts on the drawings then the A/C guys wack them in a totally different spot due to structual beams etc in the way. This really should be considered at the planning stage, and the building Co's need to take more ownership of this rather then yeah sorry about that we're just gonna have to do with what you've got attitude..
The ducting in our ground floor dining is in a totally substandard position currently:
The drawing ducts in green, the red is where they've positioned it for install:
This means for the dining room and foyer this duct near the alfresco windows would have to cover this area:
Due to steel beams in the way the only suggestion our S/S had was to drop the roof and put a bulkhead in above the windows and install a long vent like the example below:
Various pics of roof
We'd had a design issue where our S/S proposed to install capping on top of the brickwork, instead of having recess in brickwork and sloping colorbond roof section:
We didnt mind either way, and trying to help our S/S get things moving we agreed to the proposal.
The guys finished it up last week, looks OK some more time needs to be spent on finishing the edging off so both sections (dining room and lounge room) are both uniform currently they've both been finished off differently..
Before:
After:
Front door (side of the house) pergola
Before:
After: (still incomplete but needs redoing from scratch)
Thankfully I didn't have to raise it with our S/S for them to redo the roofing, he told me he wants it redone it looked pretty damn ordinary..
I hope everyone reading this doesn't get the wrong impression, I'm quite fussy and I wish to report an honest warts and all style blog highlighting all the pitfalls and issues in the hope it may help others with their builds and what to look out for!
Great post and very helpful to others. Regarding frame straightening, I suggest you make sure they actually do it with a follow up check before the gyprock is fixed on. On my Metricon build they didn’t straighten the frame and they were forced by NSWDFT to remove and replace about 50% of the gyprock on the walls and ceilings due to waves and bows. It was clear their process did not include a frame straightening step and the expectation was that customers would accept this at PCI.
Yeah I don't understand how all these things like ductwork come up on site. They've presumably built these same designs a number of times and it should be known to them, and then if you have made a change to the standard home before construction, they should make sure it works.
I think it might be because they get other firms to design the frame and steel work and maybe never merge it together in a complete design to find things clashing, and leave it up to the site supervisor to add bulkheads to get around problems with little consideration to the owners expections of whats actually getting delivered. Or maybe they deliberately leave it to the build site as there is an extra pressure on the owner to accept a less than preferred outcome.
They give lots of warnings about redraw fees etc, but happy to add in a bulkhead onsite and then have a final version of drawings 'as built'. Makes bit of mockery of all the design choices we go through with the sales teams.
I noticed in one of your photos, a bracket that doesn't appears to have any screws to the floor joist?
Edit: And thanks for sharing your build.
I don't think you are fussy, and I bet the build would be done differently if it was the site supervisors home getting built.
Great post and very helpful to others. Regarding frame straightening, I suggest you make sure they actually do it with a follow up check before the gyprock is fixed on. On my Metricon build they didn’t straighten the frame and they were forced by NSWDFT to remove and replace about 50% of the gyprock on the walls and ceilings due to waves and bows. It was clear their process did not include a frame straightening step and the expectation was that customers would accept this at PCI.
Im hoping my blog will help others on what to look out for and other steps as we go through our build!
As for wall straightening it was a bit difficult as it occurred the day before they put the gyprock up, and im not allowed on site without the S/S..
Our S/S assured me that they'd done it so yeah..
Yeah I don't understand how all these things like ductwork come up on site. They've presumably built these same designs a number of times and it should be known to them, and then if you have made a change to the standard home before construction, they should make sure it works.
I think it might be because they get other firms to design the frame and steel work and maybe never merge it together in a complete design to find things clashing, and leave it up to the site supervisor to add bulkheads to get around problems with little consideration to the owners expections of whats actually getting delivered. Or maybe they deliberately leave it to the build site as there is an extra pressure on the owner to accept a less than preferred outcome.
They give lots of warnings about redraw fees etc, but happy to add in a bulkhead onsite and then have a final version of drawings 'as built'. Makes bit of mockery of all the design choices we go through with the sales teams.
I noticed in one of your photos, a bracket that doesn't appears to have any screws to the floor joist?
Edit: And thanks for sharing your build.
I don't think you are fussy, and I bet the build would be done differently if it was the site supervisors home getting built.
yes I agree 100% with you, its so annoying when they've made a mistake its no big deal and they run things by you and its done verbally no problems.. but if you ask for something its the end of the world and fees apply etc...
I think it would be fair if you had say 1-3 opportunities to change thing then its a redraw fee or something along those lines?
I'm guessing they don't really have all the details for A/C ducts and things like plumbing etc can get in the way but for as you say it puts you in a squeeze as its already done and normally gyprock is going up the next week so you dont have much time also to think of a plan B.
Well spotted the bracket had 1 screw in it!
Week 28: We had some of our scaffolding come down, and they finally done a site cleanup (literally walking on/over bricks and crap everywhere).
Wall and ceiling insulation was put in all ready for gyprock next week
We also had an issue where the metal capping we specified in monument was half done in monument then they came back to finish it off they'd put up surf mist... They came back and redone it in monument to finish it off (still had a bit left remaining on the brickwork to finish off)
Before:
After:
Week 29 & week 30 are the two last weeks pretty much left before the xmas shutdown. Our S/S plans to have the house ready for lockup so it seems that rather than 1-2 days per week on the build there will be 5 days a week being spent on it to get it to that stage (its been a very slow 3 months prior to this) so that will be pleasing to see.
Week 29:
Gyprock will be put up
Stair install
Week 30:
Kitchen to go in
Fixing materials delivered and fixing carpenter
Week 28: We had some of our scaffolding come down, and they finally done a site cleanup (literally walking on/over bricks and crap everywhere).
Wall and ceiling insulation was put in all ready for gyprock next week
We also had an issue where the metal capping we specified in monument was half done in monument then they came back to finish it off they'd put up surf mist... They came back and redone it in monument to finish it off (still had a bit left remaining on the brickwork to finish off)
Before:
After:
Week 29 & week 30 are the two last weeks pretty much left before the xmas shutdown. Our S/S plans to have the house ready for lockup so it seems that rather than 1-2 days per week on the build there will be 5 days a week being spent on it to get it to that stage (its been a very slow 3 months prior to this) so that will be pleasing to see.
Week 29:
Gyprock will be put up
Stair install
Week 30:
Kitchen to go in
Fixing materials delivered and fixing carpenter
Looks beautiful but man, it’s a slow build!
Week 28: We had some of our scaffolding come down, and they finally done a site cleanup (literally walking on/over bricks and crap everywhere).
Wall and ceiling insulation was put in all ready for gyprock next week
We also had an issue where the metal capping we specified in monument was half done in monument then they came back to finish it off they'd put up surf mist... They came back and redone it in monument to finish it off (still had a bit left remaining on the brickwork to finish off)
Before:
After:
Week 29 & week 30 are the two last weeks pretty much left before the xmas shutdown. Our S/S plans to have the house ready for lockup so it seems that rather than 1-2 days per week on the build there will be 5 days a week being spent on it to get it to that stage (its been a very slow 3 months prior to this) so that will be pleasing to see.
Week 29:
Gyprock will be put up
Stair install
Week 30:
Kitchen to go in
Fixing materials delivered and fixing carpenter
Looks beautiful but man, it’s a slow build!
haha yup sure is a slow burn, it was way back in 2016 when we bought the block! (developers took 2 years!)
Week 29: We had our gyprock put up and our stairway installed.
It's finally starting to take shape when the gyprock goes up as we can visualise the rooms and their size and get a feel for the house floorplan layout.
We always felt the large ground floor living area kitchen dining in the Balmoral 38 felt just right (we'd made dining slightly larger also to elongate the LH side of the house when we made our garage bigger which is on the RH side)
We also customised the staircase to include a few landings (my wife wanted to make it safer) and I loved the Vic Ash staircases that were featured in some of the Rawson display homes albeit my wife wanted soft practical carpeted stairs.
We had a storage room put in under the stairs:
Upstairs living area:
Main bedroom
Ensuite
WIR:
Looking at gyprock ceiling in alfresco I noticed the substandard brickwork (this had been done for months I'm annoyed with myself I didn't see it earlier!)
The brickies have to come back at some stage to finish off the bricks around windows (previous S/S must have paid them and brickies never finished the house off) so I raised this with my SS. He initially started saying that bricklayer had done the right thing after some discussion agreed to replace it as it could be done much neater..
Week 30: Since this is essentially the last week in 2019 the S/S had to get the house ready for lockup as the house will sit for 3 weeks over the xmas new year period.
Unfortunately they didnt get the glass in (still on order) so plywood etc was used to secure the house.
We had the gyprock sanded, some internal doors installed, kitchen installed and bathroom vanities mirrors and laundry cupboard fitout started.
There was an issue with the bulked being at the incorrect height in the kitchen so those cupboards weren't installed this will have to be rectified in the new year.
Front pivot door installed sidepane yet to be installed (wish we'd gone for a wider door now since its such a large sidepane)
Kitchen:
We had shadowline drawers installed (they used sharknose in butlers pantry underbench cupboard doors I noticed)
Laundry
Some lovely temporary plywood windows
Vanities & mirrors
So our 43 week contract will effectively become a 46 week contract due to xmas break.
Then if there's any rain delays, hot days over 35 Deg C it could become more.
We're hoping for a April 2019 Completion, still essentially 15 weeks to go as we're into week 31 on the 23rd Dec.
Over the xmas period obviously not a great deal of activity for our build.
So Weeks 31, 32 the house sat but there was some activity for week 33 in the new year.
We had waterproofing guys come and do bathrooms and our fixing carpenter got all architraves and internal doors started.
Week 34 we inspected the house to check progress (didnt take too many pics) we have all architraves, skirting boards in and internal doors.The guys also had to redo bulkhead in kitchen as the plans were incorrect (the kitchen cupboards were too tall)
We still dont have the glass in for our windows.
Week 35 we're hoping to have painters start and also tilers. The guys are also hoping to add some finish touches to the fascade we have the aluminium timber look slats go up on our fascade.
We're hoping for a late march early april handover so on the homestretch now!
Week 35
We had our kitchen issue sorted (bulkhead was too low had to redo bulkhead and gyprock it) and we had our timber look aluminium slats installed on our facade.
No interior painting yet or tiling.
Week 36
We had our ceilings painted and all doors architraves and undercoat on internal walls.
Fortunately we had an appointment booked with our S/S, and luckily we did as we spotted another major mistake which would have been a huge setback if it went unnoticed (before xmas we also noticed they'd missed a large niche in one of the bathrooms which took a bit of work and replumbing etc but thankfully we spotted it before tiles went on!)
With our staircase we asked for custom vic ash vertical slats which we'd seen on one of the balmoral 34 display homes in Sydney.
Our S/S didn't have the staircase plan and minimal info was on the rawson plans so the carpenter just went off what was on the rawson plans (dwarf wall 1100mm high) but alas the dwarf wall was the wall on the 1st floor not the staircase hence why it looked so out of proportion and not right as soon as I set my eyes on it...
Stair case plans by supplier (which the guys said they didn't have)
Rawson plans (lacking detail):
Dwarf wall on first floor:
What was done:
dwarf wall on 1st floor:
Our S/S was great he agreed straight away a mistake was made, he will rip this work down and restart it again as per the staircase plans. I felt sorry for the chippy he had a few days worth of work there...
Pics:
Looks like we also had some NBN FTTP (?) installation started
We also had picked an outdoor tile to use on the alfresco after handover
With our alfresco the standard size by rawson was too small in my view. Once you install a BBQ add an outdoor dining suite there wouldnt be enough room.
We also have a 300mm or so drop off the edge of the alfresco, this would be a safety issue if entertaining so my plans are to install a timber deck (blackbutt or spotted gum hardwood) off the side so its flush with the tiled alfresco area and then extend off the alfresco 3000mm to enlargen the entertaining area once handover is done:
We'd started organising landscaping, furniture, fencing, electrical work, outdoor decking off the alfresco also, the old piggy bank is going to get smashed!
We have a king furniture jasper for the ground floor family room we bought some new lounges from Castlery for the other loungerooms:
Our benchtop stone will be going in on week 37 and tilers should start also!
Our S/S thinks end of march early April 2020 handover is on track so fingers crossed
Sorry to hear about your staircase issues.. Rawson need to pay more attention to this area as it seems they often have problems around the stairs.
Its a good sign to be looking for furniture!
Not long now.
Sorry to hear about your staircase issues.. Rawson need to pay more attention to this area as it seems they often have problems around the stairs.
Its a good sign to be looking for furniture!
Not long now.
Ahh really I wasnt aware of that
Not a huge setback but frustrating nevertheless!
Yes the end is near, still a while off but at least we have a deadline which is quickly looming!