It cant always be roses.....

So we're within sight of the finish line, but we've unfortunately had our first stumble.

We've had a slight difference of opinion with regards to the stair issue mentioned in the blog entry below.  We have however stood our ground requesting the product that we paid for and was detailed in the contract, and after some less than comfortable discussion the builder has begrudgingly agreed to remove the incorrect staircase and install the maple one. But not before making us feel as though the issue was our fault and that our desire to have what we paid for was unreasonable.

The whole incident has left us feeling a little deflated and now the excitement of it all seems a little tainted.  So now we're just hoping that both parties can put the matter behind us and forge onwards for the last few weeks until practical completion.

So, this weeks update is that the tiling is being done, we met the tiler onsite yesterday and he advised that the job will take approx 2 weeks.

A couple of recent pics of the exterior

The front elevation with front door hung and garage door installed

 

 

The Completed Rain Water Tank

Update Time

Hello All,

I know you've been feverishly awaiting a new update, so although I don't have any more images to share with you at this time, here is where things are at.....

So, since the last update the gyprock has gone in, the waterproffing of the wet areas has been completed, all internal doorframes and doors and window frames have been installed.  The cornices have all been completed and the stairs and balustrades have been installed.**

All external doors were installed and at the end of last week (11th March) we were at lock up.

This week we have seen the baths, bathrooms cabinets and kitchen delivered and installed.  The Rain Water tank has been fitted and looks like it's finished. And the garage door has also been fitted and is ready to roll (see what I did there :-)

** One problem that arose however, we paid to upgrade the staircase to solid maple timber so that we could match the stain of the stairs with the bamboo flooring we intend on finishing the top floor with.  We did however notice that the stairs that have been installed are the regular MDF particle board stairs which usually get covered in carpet.  We've raised this cocnern to the site manager and we are assuming he'll address the issue, but at this point in time we are still awaiting confirmation that the stairs will be changed to the solid timber we requested.

Apologies for the lack of photos, but now that the outside is completed we don't get much of an opportunity to get inside and take a look around.  We are basically limited to peering through windows or hoping someone is still working onsite when we drop by. 

Would be nice if the builder offered the odd walk through so that we could take a look now and then.  We got lucky that we picked up the mistake on the stairs which we would have missed had we not dropped by whilst the workers were still onsite.  We would rather the opportunity to pick up any issues now during the build than after the fact and have to go about ripping things out.  Anyway, just my 2 cents

New pics coming soon......... hopefully

Time for a quick update....

Ok, so now that the external parts of the building are pretty much complete, the pictures are not going to be really changing all that much.

That said.  Last week the scaffolding was removed and the bricks cleaned top and bottom.

This week we are expecting the insulation and the gyprock to go in, we're hoping for the stairs to be complete next week as well as the waterproofing and with a little bit of luck by the end of next week we are hoping to be at lockup.

We had a couple of little setbacks, nothing major.  A glass panel from the front door frame somehow got cracked, but a repair there has been promised.  And one of the exterior light points at the front was installed a couple of brick course lower than on the opposite side, which would look pretty bad to have front house lights that were not level.  Good thing is that the Project Manager noticed this before we did and he has had it fixed already. So we were pretty happy about that.

So here's the latest pics.... enjoy!