Busy week

A lot of work being done to the outside at the moment. Levelling out the front and backyard. Trenches dug out and ready for the footing of the fence. Had no idea how to move the pallets of bricks without a fork lift. Kinda had to work around it, luckily it wasn't really in the way.

Front

Back

Backyard

As for the inside, the electrician was able to install all the downlights today. Lots of batten light holders switched out to surface sockets. Now, I won't need an electrician to come out and switch any individual downlight in the future. Simply unplug and plug in the new ones.

Brightgreen D900 in Main Bedroom

Brightgreen D700 in Hallway

Brightgreen D400 over vanity

I was a little worried at firstabout having different sized downlights throughout the house. However, I think it turned out alright. Will try to take some night shots when I can. Definitely alot better in real life.

Wattsaver DL16 in Bedroom 2

Labelled switches

He was also kind enough to switch out all the buttons in all the bathroom to ones with labels, free of charge. That was a nice gesture and will definitely come in handy.

Dimmers and SockItz

A bit hard to see, but here's a shot of the dimmer dial (Luxman T400P trailing edge) and the SockItz power socket with USB charging ports. The combination of these downlights and dimmer dial, means the lights can be dimmed all the way down to 0% without flickering. I would recommend these to anyone looking to purchase lights and dimers.

Sanding

In the meantime I spent most of the days sanding down the stairs handrail. I think this is going to take me a couple of more days to finish.

Back to painting

Rawson was going to charge us $100 per wall to paint them in the feature colour. If I remembered right, it was slightly more to have it done in another colour. So definitely do them after handover. Luckily there was about 3 litres of left over paint for the feature colour, which worked out perfectly for the two walls.

More feature walls

The skirting boards came off easily enough (had them soft tacked) but what was disappointing was the painter's tape ripping off the paint. The cornice paint came off immediately as I attempt to realign the tape. Therefore I gave up on taping that up. Without it means I'll have to touch up the cornices afterwards. What's more frustrating was the walls were also peeling from the painter's tape when I removed it at the end of the day. It didn't when I initially had to realign the tape, and it wasn't even on for more than several hours. I'm suspecting that there was only one coat of paint instead of the three as stated in the contract. No idea how to prove this though. Might just have to stop painting more feature walls, too much effort if the tape does more harm than good (I can't paint the edges without them, tried those sliding applicators but there's always a small gap). Maybe wallpaper instead. 

Handover

With all the drama regarding the lot consolidation, we figured it was best to obtain a bank cheque out of our own pocket to get the handover completed with keys. Hopefully the bank will reimburse the amount when the lots are consolidated and the occupancy certificate issued.

Cedar board stained

Appliances installed

Rangehood, cooktop and oven

I find it strange that the rangehood column was done in two pieces. However the site supervisor had already left before the electrician came to install the appliances. Will mention it in the rectification work list after the warranty period (3 months) has lapsed. Most likely knocked back since it's not a defect.

Microwave

Dishwasher

I don't really see the point of installing the dishwasher at this stage. When the flooring gets installed, it will have to come out and re-installed again. 

AC controller

AC Unit

They somehow managed to forget about the extra AC controller that was meant to be in the master bedroom. On top of this the AC unit is the wrong model, we were supposed to be upgraded to the 160 model but the one here is the 140 model. At least it hasn't been bolted to the concrete yet, that should make it easier to switch out. 

Hot water tank

The solar hot water tank was installed after the appliances. you can see the green LED light blinking that indicates whether the solar or electric boost was on.

Also noticed that I've yet to put up any pictures of the wet areas with the mirrors installed. So here they are...

Powder Room

Main Bathroom - Vanity

Main Bathroom - Shower

Main Bathroom - Bath

This was the troublesome mixer tap that had to be raised to clear the bath rims. Turns out it only required another 5mm or so.

Ensuite - Vanity

Ensuite - Bath

Ensuite - Shower

Wasn't really happy with how the shower screen turned out. The top portion hardly covers the shower area, but there were no dimensions in the plans or contract so I think I just have to accept it as it is. At least the extra tiles (up to the cornice) was added free of charge. Might try and remove the shelving in the corner, it looks out of place and with the large niche, it becomes necessary anyway. 

Lots of things to do before it's all done and dusted...

So close yet so far away

We've just been told that our interim occupancy certificate cannot be issued because of the fire safety requirement set by the Building Code of Australia. According to section 3.7.1.3 of Volume 2, the external walls of the building must be at least 900mm from the allotment boundary. Since our land is made up of multiple lots, the house is sitting right across one of the internal boundary (between Lot 29 & 3). Therefore, a lot consolidation is required to remove the internal boundary.

Lot 29, 30 & 1

I went over to the Land and Titles office and was told I'll be needing a surveyor to draw up the plans before I can submit an application. The application fees are roughly $1500, but I have no idea how much the surveyor will charge for their work. Even worst is the time frame, the approval process can take 3-4 weeks and this estimate doesn't include account for the time taken by the surveyor. 

So the bank will not release the funds for the final payment pending occupancy certificate, and the handover that's scheduled for next Monday will likely be without keys. If only we have been informed about this a lot earlier, we could have had the lot consolidation prepared. As it stands, our only option left is to come up with the funds for the final payment ourselves. Then, once we have occupancy certificate, we'll have to chase up reimbursement from the banks.

More Drama

Garage Door

The garage door went on today and the colour is so dark compared to the rest of the cedar features. This TimberCoat Cedar was an upgrade that was recommended by the colour consultant during colour selection and we just went along with what was advised. Apparently this has happened before on another seaview build last year. Luckily for them, Rawson decided to allow them to change to another colour. I don't think we will be so fortunate. Even if we were, it would delay handover as the current garage door took 5 weeks to make. I'm guessing a new order would take just as long. I tried to bring this up back in Oct 2013, around the same time the other build was going through it. However, the colour consultant assured me, my Dark Oak stain that I've selected would match the TimberCoat Cedar more and the other build must have used a clear stain on their cedar panels. I'm going to give it a shot and see if they will replace it with another colour, perhaps Merbau. But I'm not going to hold my breathe for it.

Timber Coat Range

Stain Chart

This is compounded by the fact that the stairs is also a totally different colour to the display home. I clearly asked the colour consultant for the stain used in the display home, and was advised it was Dark Oak. Judging by the handrail (we were allowed to take a small piece home for comparison), it's a lot lighter than what is on displayed at Kellyville. I kind of expected it to match the alfresco decking as that was also stained in Dark Oaks. However, the SS stated that even though the same stain is used throughout, each area will have a slight variation since different species of timber were used. Decking to the alfresco used Spotted Gum (even though the contract stated Merbau, I'm actually not fussed about this at all as I like how the alfresco turned out. No idea what the difference is between Merbau and Spotted Gum), the facade used Cedar and the stairs used Victorian Ash, I'm not sure what the handrail used, it may or may not have been Victorian Ash but I still believe it's a good representation on how the stairs will turn out. Nevertheless, it should at least match the display home if it was the same Victorian Ash and Dark Oak stain. Which it isn't, there's no way the stairs will be a close match to our bamboo flooring that we've ordered based on what we saw on the display home. Will now have to ask the SS to leave the stairs un stained, and sand the handrail down after handover. That way we can stain it ourselves to something that's darker and more like the display home and the bamboo floor.

Handrail next to Bamboo floor

Display Home

PCI

Yesterday was the PCI walkthrough. We were prepared and brought our independent inspection report along with us but we totally forgot to bring light bulbs and mobile phone chargers. So we were unable to test out all the individual light points and power sockets. Just have to take the SS word for it that it's all working. Anyway, apart from the minor paint, brickwork that needed touch ups and repairs the only major issue we encountered was the mixer tap in the main bathroom.

Main Bathroom

It appears to have been installed too low. The mixer handle cannot be pulled out to turn on the water without first twisting it to either side. Obviously, the same also applies when you're trying to turn the water off. The same bath in the ensuite did not have this problem, the mixer and sprout was installed 5-10cm higher (imagine the row of tiles that's been cut is 5-10cm taller).

SS stated that this was the standard height and the bath here must be taller than the one in the ensuite. I went back to check all the plans, contracts and tender and no where does it mention the height of the mixer to be installed nor the height of the bath. Only the shower head and the mixer to the vanity are mentioned. Apparently the top of the bath is based on the height of the window and the top of the tiles to the bath is 50cm from floor level. The mixer then gets installed based on a standard offset from the top of the tiles. So this is probably why the gap is smaller here compared to the ensuite. The bottom of the window is further off the ground. A silly way do have it all calculated and totally prone to issues.

No sure what can be done at this stage and if they are willing to reinstall the mixer taps or not. I assume moving it up is a lot of work. The tiles need to be redone and I'm not sure what is involved with the walls and water proofing or the holes in the old position. I did suggest to rotate the mixer (180 degrees, so it points upward will make it look weird, but perhaps only 45 or 90 degrees will do).

Cedar board

At least Rawson replaced the pine board out the front facade that was painted black. The carpenters actually tried to pull out the old pine board and slot the new cedar board in. Until he realised it's a structural beam so he just boarded the cedar if front of the pine (but it did get replaced because it's now blue).

There is also an issue with the preparation of the final progress payment. Rawson expects the cheque to be given at handover but the bank will not release the funds until the proper documentations are supplied. Things like Occupancy Certificate (we're getting an interim occupancy certificate since the driveway is being done after handover) and Currency Certificate for the building insurance etc. These are all part of the handover package. As you can see one relies on the other so it's a catch 22. In the end, I'm guessing Rawson will have to cave in to the bank if they want to get paid.