Our Carlisle Monaco 32 - All moved in! Photos!

glenp · May 07, 2009 12:54 pm

Hey Jo & Dale,

I am Sarahq's better half

We had our first contract appointment the other day which all went fairly well although still waiting for them to email us even though they said they would that afternoon.

I am wondering because sarah was telling me Charlisle allowed you to build a niche in your ensuite in the bathroom wall 600mm wide by 300mm high, which is what we would like to build. Our CLE told us they don't do nieche's that wide with the maximum being 400mm wide. I was just wanting to confirm you were able to build this nieche and to see if there has been any problems with it.

Glen

wonderland · May 07, 2009 1:33 pm

Hi Glen,
Altho i'm not building the Monaco, i am building a CH house also. I was the same as you, i saw Jo's shower niche and wanted it as well. We got quoted the same 300m high x 400mm wide, I also asked whether I could get the 300mm high x 600mm wide and they said that because their studs arent 600m wide, they cant do it. Which is bulldust because they did it for Jo, no worries. Also, considering that you and Jo are building the same house, you have a good case to get the 600mm wide niche.

Good luck

doghouse · May 07, 2009 2:13 pm

Hi Glen - welcome! I think Sarah might have something to say about that better half comment...

Just triple checked for you and yes both our niches are 600 wide and 300 high. You can sort of see the main bathroom niche tiled in the photos I posted the other day. I think we paid $200 each.

We didn't have any problem at all. I can't remember if our studs are 600 wide which I think they are - or if not then the frame included the niche, which I think it did - just like they do for the hallway niches, you can see the shape at framing stage.

Happy for you to quote our case to argue your point. They will definitely know who we are!!

Re now getting stuff sent when you expect, just keep contacting them by phone and email. You do have to let them know that you expect them to follow through as promised sometimes.

So annoying when they say no to things you know they can do.

glenp · May 07, 2009 5:24 pm

Hey,

Thanks very much for all that information. I have sent off an email saying friends are building the same house and have a nieche that size so we will see what happens. Hopefully fingers crossed can argue the point and they will do it for us.

Generally I find its very annoying as the CLE is just a liason / coordinator of everyone in realtion to your job and don't know anything about building a house. The classic example is last week we got them to explain why the cost of removing the rumpus room walls was over $1000 as we initally got quoted $400 approx. The funny thing is they then came back with a price of about $455 I think which means we ended up getting a $600 credit so it just proves you got to question and push at all stages as the CLE will just accept what ever they are told without questioning it.

Glen

sarahq · May 07, 2009 7:38 pm

doghouse

I think Sarah might have something to say about that better half comment...

You are right Jo. I am clearly the better half.. and he even admitted that to me today!!

doghouse

Happy for you to quote our case to argue your point. They will definitely know who we are!!

They definitely already know who you are... We have quoted you that many times already..

lol

You want to know one other weird thing. We asked to upgrade to the ME30I Brivis heater. They charged us way more to upgrade than you (almost double!). Then we asked about the cost of the HE30I. She said that we could have the HE30I for the same price.. Weird ey!!!

doghouse · May 07, 2009 9:33 pm

Quote:

cost of removing the rumpus room walls was over $1000 as we initally got quoted $400 approx. The funny thing is they then came back with a price of about $455

And the cost for us to remove those walls was only $295!

Goodluck with hearing back re the niches.

glenp · May 08, 2009 12:52 pm

I just spoke to Charlisle about the nieche and they said the studs aren't that wide which I find funny why the distance of the studs would change but oh well. I think if we have a nieche which is 600mm high with a glass self it should look good still and provide the same amount of room. I have just asked our CLE how much it would cost for the shelf as well, so we will see what they say.

Also looks like we may be able to get Opticomm on site as they provide the optical fibre in alamanda which is good and will make it easier to make sure everything gets done right in regards to the optical fibre.

Glen

wonderland · May 08, 2009 1:36 pm

Thanks for the update Glen ::lol::

. At least I know not too fight for the larger niche as there isnt any point because they will just say no ::angry::

doghouse · May 08, 2009 2:22 pm

What a pain re the niches.

If you want to push it - how about asking them how the standard niches are done? The hallway ones are 800mm wide and the bedroom one is 2300mm wide. A little more than 600!

It can be done - they are just choosing to not do it... very annoying for you.

glenp · May 08, 2009 2:38 pm

Yes I guess very annoying but the idea of having a nieche with a glass shelf is growing on me as I think it might look good.

They keep saying though they have poblems with the nieches that big. Which I don't think is the case I think they are just trying to standardise things, which means people are actually worse off from now on. This is because its like we where almost not allowed to move the cook top from the island bench to the corner. As now they don't allow it to happen which I think is stupid.

Ultimatley though as long as I get a house Sarah and I like and are happy with thats all I care about.

doghouse · May 08, 2009 2:45 pm

Exactly. The niche will be fine. And you will love everything about your house!

I think the no moving the cooktop thing is stupid, given the standard is on the island which many people would not want for various reasons.

Maybe we were the catalyst for some of these changes! ::lol::

glenp · May 08, 2009 3:15 pm

Yeah although Nathan said he has only had us and one other this year request the change. Maybe there is more short people in the world than what I think lol.

Yeah its alright that means now I can blame you guys for Carlisle not allowing us to make the change lol. :lol:

The other thing we have to check this weekend is the glass splackback if we want it to come up to the rangehood because they wont cut the cupboards into it. How high is your glass splashback?

Also with your ensuite shower did you move the dumper shower or leave it? The reason is I think we got to move the dump shower so its a bit more centered like the display in lyndhurst but it means you would be under the water when you turn the taps on.

Glen

doghouse · May 08, 2009 3:58 pm

Yep, it's all our fault! :oops:

Re the splashback - our drawings show all the way up to the rangehood. They did that themselves when we moved the cooker - but we had to pay more as there is more splashback than in the standard design. We then also requested that that piece be out of one piece of glass, again cost more. Otherwise because it isn't square they would have used two pieces. So yes, they are cutting a corner out of the 'sqaure' to fit around the overheads.

Just checked - was $380 for splashback extra behind cooker to 700mm high. And $198 more to have no join.

Re the dumper shower - no change. I didn't even look at it's location on the plans or in the display... hopefully it is ok!

Dale · May 08, 2009 4:09 pm

Hi all,

Just talking with our SS and he informs me that the appliances don't get installed till the day after handover and the gas heater isn't commissioned till the next day either. Apparently this is to safeguard against theft.

This means that you can complete the purchase and handover full payment but still not have thousands of dollars worth of appliances and the heater might be faulty for all you know.

What do other companies do? I'm all for pushing them to put them in or not settle but what normally happens?

Dale.

glenp · May 08, 2009 4:37 pm

Hey Jo,

Thanks for that cause I think it would be good to have the one piece of glass cut around the cupboard hopefully they will do it for us but we will see.

I'm sure the dumper for you guys will be fine.

Glen

glenp · May 08, 2009 4:45 pm

Hi Dale,

Yeah that sucks but if thats what they do if they don't work I can only presume they are all covered by warranty. They might want to do it this way as the warranty might start on the day of installation or the day of purchase. As a result in theory they install it the day after in you have purchased the applicances.

But after saying that personally I would want all the appliances installed and checked as the house is locked up anyhow and if they are not installed they can still be as easily stolen if not more so than as if they already been installed.

Glen

glenp · May 08, 2009 5:58 pm

Hey Jo

I saw on your blog that your shelves weren't moveable. How'd you go with getting them fixed as we checked this out and they said it would be moveable although it is not in writing I don't think in our contract?

Glen

brittany · May 08, 2009 7:34 pm

We're not moving for a few weeks and our appliances aren't going to be installed until we move. I suppose if we wanted them in we could insist but it is obviously an ongoing problem with them going missing. We don't need them till we move in and I don't think I'd cope with someone stealing them. I have complete trust in my builder. Our locks only went on this week and no-one has a key. The builder is leaving the back door open instead. I'm happier with no-one else having access to a key.

doghouse · May 08, 2009 10:09 pm

Glen - you will be ok with your shelves, as you have done the fancy upgrade! Ydour tender specifies the laminate doors and adjustable shelves. We left with standard as we wanted white anyhow so didn't see the point of upgrading to laminate. Anyhow, we have given up on this one as our drawings etc did show what has been done.... but we did whinge a bit about having to interpret things rather than having standard specs spelt out.

Brittany - thanks. Yes I think lots of builders do the same, so imagine it will happen to us unless we push. A real pain in terms of more time of work etc to be there when things happen the day after handover. We will definitely ask formally if things can be done differently.

Salt&Pepper · May 08, 2009 10:24 pm

Dale and doghouse, our appliances were actually installed days before us getting the keys and paying final claim. Our handover was delayed a few times, and because of this, I think the appliances were installed on the day of originally booked handover. So I guess thats a good thing, I wouldnt have paid without having EVERYTHING done, so good luck with it. Installing on or after handover date is normal with Carlisle, for that exact reason - theft.