Monday, May 30, 2011

Busy days :)

Yesterday saw the completion of our downstairs flooring (apart from the living room which will be carpeted) and I am pretty happy with the way it has turned out. Love the colour, very happy I went with that one!

Today I was there all day continuing with the mammoth task of cleaning the place, and had a few visits from trades along the way. Terry, who owns the sealing/silicon business (he does all Metricon's places) popped by to finish off the sealing off the kitchen, after coming on Friday arvo and not being happy with the colours he had (none were a great match for our mosaics). So he bought the correct one and came back today. Lovely guy, very professional, friendly, respectful (and so were the two young guys who came on Friday), and did a great job. Thanks Terry!

A painter also dropped by to do a second coat on the timber step on the hallway and the bottom tread of the stairs. He still needs to come back to put a clear lacquer on and touch up a few spots around the house.

We also had an early morning visitor who managed to access the house, and set the alarm off in the process..
Apparently it was a tradie who had gone to the wrong job - and because we hadn't turned the lock on the laundry from the outside he was able to use his builders key to get in.. uh oh.

Our Construction Manager knew about it so obviously he called him and told him. Gave me a good scare when I arrived alone and heard the alarm telling me it had been going off, and seeing lights on I didn't leave on!!

Moral of the story? Make sure ALL your external locks are turned completely so as to render the builders key useless as soon as you move in :)

Tomorrow will see carpets and blinds and shutters installed - exciting!!



Still dirty!





Study







Dining Room



Dining, living, hallway to front door




Look Mum - the step looks great now!




On Sunday we cleared out the garage & I sealed the floor - so happy I did that, especially after all the torrential rain we had today.

Speaking of rain - our tank should be well on the way to full now ;)


Saturday, May 28, 2011

Sneak peek..

Here is a sneak peek of what's been going on at the house today..




Looks good so far :)

Wasn't I happy when I arrived there at lunchtime (Jason met them there and let them in this morning) to find they had been using TWO saws IN MY HOUSE to cut the boards??!!

What the??

Not much common sense going on there I fear. Our (already dusty but not too bad) house is now completely covered in brown dust..urgh.

I spent the arvo cleaning upstairs as far away from the dust as I could get!

More to come tomorrow.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Its OURS!!!

Yep - you read right - the house is ALL OURS!!!

Handover took place this afternoon thanks to some serious activity this week, and with great thanks to our Construction Manager who seems to have lots of pull with trades and can get them there fast :)

There are still a few minor things to be done, but all are ordered/booked in and I have lots of relevant phone numbers so I can stay on top of things if our SS doesn't. We have the assurance of the Construction manager (who I must say put me at ease about handing over today after a long conversation yesterday ) that he will be personally on top of our SS and trades to ensure things are completed in a timely fashion. To be honest I am not all that concerned - just relieved right now.

I LOVE the feeling of being in control of what happens there now!

So after our SS left I spent ages figuring out all the keys (there are LOADS) and sorted out the alarm - and waited for the guys doing the final caulking to finish (LOL), then locked up and headed home, happy and exhausted.

No rest though - back there at the crack of dawn to meet the flooring guys - EXCITED!! - and I need to keep packing :)

Will keep updating over the weekend/next week as things are completed - the next part of the journey has now begun.







Yes - thats a brick cleaner finishing up while we were waiting for our SS :) The portico projection hasn't been acid washed as it is being rendered as soon as the driveway is done.




Looking forward to having real floors tomorrow!!





MY keys!

Now - back to the boxes!!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The wheels are a turnin'...

Firstly I want to thank all of you who have contacted me and commented on our current woes - it means a lot to me to have a place to vent, and come for support, and every comment helps!

So - after emails and phone calls yesterday, the powers that be at Metricon are coming through for us.

They first agreed that if we were prepared to pay the final invoice they were happy to handover the house to us (almost) in time for us to have all our scheduled trades come through on Saturday/Sunday/Monday - provided we understood there would still be a few outstanding items to be rectified. The front door reglazing is one of those - yes, those following closely will remember in February when I told our SS it was wrong he said it would be reglazed. Then at PCi he said he would order a new door. Now its back to a reglaze - got whiplash yet?

I am hesitant to handover with too many items outstanding as we all know Metricon are not getting really bad reviews for after handover service all over the place lately. So I asked them for a detailed breakdown of what/when everything would be fixed, and said I would only handover with a written assurance from management that outstanding items had been booked in and would be fixed in a timely manner (for what thats worth..)

Then Jason received a call from the head honcho of Metricon NSW, which was appreciated. He said our Construction Manager would go to the site today and would assess what was to be done and he would personally get back to us today.

The Construction Manager called from the house and has organised painters for tomorrow, brick cleaners today or tomorrow, cleaner tomorrow, carpenters tomorrow and is calling the GM of the window company to see if he can get the window/door service done tomorrow too.

F I N A L L Y.

Not sure why it was all so hard in the first place??

Anyway - now that I have re-shceduled all my flooring,carpet and blinds & shutter installation it looks like I might have to beg them to change dates again..

Time will tell..

I will update when I know more. Back to the boxes - I had my head wrapped around the idea that it would be two weeks until we move but it could be less now so I gotta get crackin'!

Monday, May 23, 2011

BEYOND FURIOUS.

Ok - so you all thought I had blown my stack previously in regard to the complete incompetence of our SS?

You ain't seen nothing yet.

Based on assurances from our SS on the day of presentation, I have our blinds and shutters booked in, bamboo floors booked in, carpets booked in, landscapers, electrician and solar guys ready to install.

I asked him, would it be safe to go ahead and book them all in two weeks after presentation. YES, he told me. I'm days away, he told me - I will be ready, he told me.

Guess what? LIES. Again. Why on earth should I have expected anything different?

AND despite NUMEROUS attempts to contact him last week to check on progress after noting very little had been happening at the house, and to confirm handover was this week - he did not answer our calls or emails. Getting our invoice was a HUGE drama and it simply should NOT be that hard.

FINALLY - tonight he emails back saying he is "trying but realistically no it will be next week".

YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. "Trying?" Really? Hardly.

ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS.

As usual my question is this - WHY has it taken us chasing it up, and a week of almost no activity to get this guy to do his job efficiently?

Tomorrow this goes higher up. Enough is enough.

Look out Metricon. You have NO chance of us recommending you to anyone now. I'm done.

More wasted time, effort and a whole lot more stress thanks to someone who clearly cannot perform the job he is employed to do efficiently.

That house had better be PERFECT.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

It just couldn't be easy could it?

Given the recent dramas,emails and phone calls to bring this house over the line we couldn't have expected something as simple as being sent our final invoice to be easy could we?

At our presentation which was Thursday week ago, our SS said he would organise the final invoice on Tuesday when he was in the office. In hindsight I should have insisted he do it then and there.

Come Tuesday I sent him a 'gentle reminder' to have the invoice issued.

Wednesday - no invoice.

Thursday - no invoice.

By Thursday night I started to panic and we sent him an email and phone and sent him a text - all of which he chose to ignore.

So we emailed our Customer Service person - who replied telling us the invoice had been requested and we would get it at our presentation. Doh. Told her that happened a week ago!

So with much panic, emailing and phone calls we got it at 4.45pm yesterday. I was straight on the phone to our bank to see if indeed it was possible we still may be able to settle late next week.. I was told yes - might be by the skin of our teeth but it was possible! So, invoice and request for payment have been faxed, with a cover letter requesting urgent attention and all is in the hands of the bank now!

And our SS, of course - if he ever replies to our attempts to contact him.

Big props to our contact in Customer Service, without her help who knows when we would've got that invoice!

Another stalling tactic from our SS perhaps??? Hmmmm....

Stay tuned folks!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Getting closer!

Wow - quite a while without a post, unusual for me to have so little to say!!

We were in the stunning Southern Highlands over the weekend for the wedding of Jason's best mate - they met on the very first day of Kindergarten and have been firm friends ever since. It was a stunning setting and a beautiful weekend, the wedding was wonderful and a brilliant time was had by all (too good a time by some, judging by the tales overheard at breakfast on Sunday, LOL!).

Then we came back to reality with a sick son, me getting sicker after already being sick for two weeks, days off daycare and my packing schedule thrown into disarray!

C'est la vie!

We received our report from Tyrells on Friday (very promptly the day after the house was inspected) and I am very pleased to report that it was actually very good. A number of small items to be rectified - most of which we knew about and were earmarked for completion or rectification before handover anyway, which is fantastic!

The inspector went crazy marking the house which was fab :)

Since presentation last week there has been a steady stream of work taking place, plaster patching, painting, minor brickwork fixes etc - good to see.

I've been making lots of calls and scheduling flooring, carpets, blinds & shutters and landscapers to start ASAP - so heres hoping we have handover late next week as anticipated!

Now we just need a final invoice so the bank can start their part in this process :)

I still can't believe its now so close - and I haven't packed a single box yet!!


Here is the house as it looks today! Look Mum - the lintel has been painted! Looks good now :)




























We are going to render the Portico soon so I need to choose a colour to paint it. I'm thinking something a few shades darker than the upstairs cladding?

We will also be decking the portico and steps which will tie them in with the front door and garage door nicely I hope.

I forgot to mention our site fence came down last week - so exciting!! Bet the neighbours are happy about that!

And a few pics from the wedding for good measure!













Thursday, May 12, 2011

Presentation done and dusted!

We are very happy to report that presentation did indeed take place today and given the recent stresses surrounding the house it is looking really good!

Our independent inspector arrived an hour before us and was well into it when we arrived at 2pm. We found him and  had a quick chat and he said it was looking really good.

I was SO relieved! He pointed out a few small issues I already knew about then continued on, finishing at around 2.30. We should receive the report tomorrow, so we are keen to see what he found :)

As I had already spent a fair bit of time poking around the house I was able to point out a number of small issues and of course there were the usual small areas of patchy paint, the odd bump or nick out of a wall and the like.

I made our SS note the condition of the bottom of the poly kitchen doors - he seems to think they are dirty rather than scratched, but he said if they don't clean up they will be replaced.

Our pantry and linen cupboards are missing shelves (which I notified him of weeks ago!), and our front door still has clear glass - which I notified him should've been translucent back in the first week of Feb...
Back then he said he'd have it reglazed - now he is saying he will order a new door.. And he said "oh you told me about that didn't you?" Doh!
SO - 3 weeks for a new door (custom made, very pricey), so we agreed we were happy to handover with that door and have it replaced when the new one arrived.

There is a dent in the roofing over the side study projection (also something I notified him of months ago!) so that will be replaced - and may also not happen before handover although he seemed keen to do his best to get it done beforehand.

Yesterday I mentioned our 3 sets of stacking sliders had been lowered, and today our SS told us this was something he decided to do as he didn't like them sitting as high as they were - and to get them more in line with the level of the flooring we will be installing. Props to him for that - much appreciated. That means we will only have about a 10mm change in level between the flooring and the tracks of the doors - win!

Our site fence and portaloo have been removed - its amazing to see the place without that fence!!

So, handover should be in two weeks. Lets hope the final invoice is organised quickly and our bank sorts out their end and pays up!!

Inbetween now and then there are a number of finishing touches, lots of cleaning and for me - PACKING!!!

We are off to a wedding over the weekend in the Southern Highlands so are rugging up and getting our drink on :) See you all next week!!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

Nearly...

After checking on the house yesterday and finding the only thing that had been done was the cabinet doors in the kitchen and laundry (that had been sitting on the floor for 6 or so weeks), had been rehung, I was not a happy camper.

The bottoms of the ones in the kitchen (poly) are scratched, which I have informed my SS of weeks ago - so of course I will be noting that at PCI.

We called the construction manager who told us he was having a meeting with our SS today and after that he would confirm presentation.

I was happier to see the carpenters vehicles outside this morning.

This afternoon it was confirmed presentation is set for 2pm Thursday.

I went by at around 3pm and the place was empty but lots had been going on.

The Tassie Oak lining has F I N A L L Y been completed on the Outdoor Room. It looks like our 3 sets of stackers have been lowered closer to the slab as the architraves have been removed and replaced and you can see where the old ones were - a good few cm's higher than they are now. Could explain why the doors needed so much packing under them!
They finished off around the doors finally too and the electricians have been back to install the ceiling fan and lights to the Outdoor Room and lights to the portico.

They still have to rectify the missing shelf to both the pantry and walk in linen but clearly that isn't going to happen before Thursday!

Apparently painters are back tomorrow - they will need to put in a LONG day if they expect to finish by Thursday..

Some pics:



Lights and eyeball motion sensor installed




*cue angels singing* - TADA! FIIINNNNAAAALLLLYYY!



















Riveting stuff eh? Nice to see things finished off here..




And up there..









Evidence of moved doors/architraves



































Ok thats a ridiculous amount of pics of the Outdoor Room ceiling - I feel after causing us SO much grief it is deserving..

Will report back on Thursday night!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mothers Day progress update!

Firstly wishing all the Mums out there a Happy Mothers Day - hope you have all been spoilt :)

I was woken with a lovely bunch of flowers, chocolates, a day spa voucher and my gorgeous son (who has only recently started talking properly) wishing me a very clear Happy Mothers Day and showering me with kisses and cuddles. Priceless!

We had a lovely breakfast out then went to the house to see what progress had been made.

Of course first thing I saw was the lovely garage door in all its splendor :) Look much better in person than in the pics, thankfully!

Also the portico ceiling is FINALLY fitted. Can't say the same for the Outdoor Room Tassie Oak lining - it was apparently supposed to be done yesterday, and obviously they did the portico but not the Outdoor Room. They had better be back tomorrow...

The second shower screen and all mirrors are still missing, despite us being told they would be fitted Friday.

Kitchen and laundry cabinet doors are still missing. However the laundry wall in FINALLY patched and tiled - could hardly believe my eyes!

We noticed today a lot of our door handles are scratched/marked in some way - all in the same spot funnily enough!

I'm still perplexed about our portico steps - there are two in our contract but now, seeing the levels there really should be 3 - its too high to actually step up onto the first step! Maybe one site has been filled slightly it will help.. I'm planning on decking over the steps anyway so I guess they can build an extra one :)

There are still lots of small things to be done, and a few largish, but on the whole it is looking pretty close to completed now. WOOHOO.

We will be onto our SS and Construction Manager Monday morning to get a day/time for our presentation :)



Not sure why they bother paying for that portaloo anymore..



Note the height of that first step?? Not sure if/what level they backfill the site to on completion - might turn out ok..




Colourbond Timberlook Caoba up close




FINALLY - a ceiling!



Ensuite - practically complete bar another clean, mirrors and touch up paint in toilet - oh, and heated towel rail & control for underfloor heating :)


Love the colour combo :)




Main bathroom. Also love this colour combo :)




Complete except for shower screen, mirror and underfloor heating control panel.


View to study/front door from stairs. Front door glazing STILL incorrect 3 months after I alerted our SS to the issue.



Powder Room - complete except for door handle (which is sitting on bench ready to go.)



Laundry - needs cabinet doors fitted again, and powerpoint to be screwed in. (not shown in this photo)



There it is :)



Family Room




Dining Room




Hallway






Looking into living room/playroom



My view while washing up! Just FYI - I will eventually be getting this tap :)


L O V E




























Lovely and airy with all the sliders open!


So sportsfans - there we have it!

Let's all hold hands and cross fingers that this week brings no more let downs and disappointment's at the hands of Metricon. Will update when there is news!