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!!
That's great news Shayne. Glad it all went well :) Its only downhill from here..sooner or later you will be in your beautiful home :))
ReplyDeleteThat's AWESOME! What a relief for you. You're going to be in before you know it :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome, start chilling that champs!!!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant news, so happy for you! Almost at the finish line :) Hope you're enjoying the weekend, I bet it was brisk there this morning!!
ReplyDeleteOh Shayne how exciting to finally be at this point. I hope all the stars are aligned for your handover on schedule.
ReplyDeleteGood luck. Rush.
hi Shayne and Jason,
ReplyDeleteFirstly I would like to thank you for detailing the entire build process with lots of photos its going to be a gr8 help to us. We are also considering to build Laguna 36 and I spent few hours going through your blog on Sunday afternoon. We were pretty much in a similar situation as yours when you decided to rebuild. The house prices in Sydney and specially in West Ryde where we live are ridiculously high. Most of the houses are 40 – 50 years old or older.
When we visited the display village for the first time we decided that we will build rather than buying an old house. We went to display villages a few times before we stumbled upon Metricon in Ponds. The moment we saw Laguna we fell in love with it, the main reason being master in the back. We just hate the idea of having the master in front of the house. We have paid the tender fee and have an appointment for Tuesday to do walkthrough the house to finalise the options. Any points of wisdom for this step... one i gathered from your blogs was to ask them to include everything you intend to have in the tender that way you have to choice of knowing the price before hand. If the price is too high we can get that removed.
Thanks once gain and look forward to some advice from experienced people :)
Rachael, so close its agonising! But I can hardly believe it :) It was VERY brisk over the weekend - think 1.5 degrees at 9pm!
ReplyDeleteThanks Rush - still need to email you to compare notes!! Hope your place is coming along??
HI bigM!
We live very close to where you are! Prices in our suburb are the same - they've gone up SO much since we bought there almost 6 years ago so I am glad we decided to knock down and rebuild :)
We loved the Laguna straight away too - a big reason being the Master Bedroom situated at the back and the balcony/outdoor room - love it! We live in a very quiet street but I much prefer the Master Bed at the rear :)
Biggest advice is ask about everything you can possibly think that you might want to add/change etc to your house. As I am sure you know, most of what is on display is an upgrade, but what I was a bit clueless about was just how much you can change about the standard design. You can move rooms, change the sizes, move doorways, add/delete and move windows etc etc etc - but of course it all costs $$!
I probably would've changed a few small things had I really thought about it - but I am very happy with our house so far. Apparently they have a "kitchen person" you can have a consultation with which I didn't know about until it was too late - I would have liked to have known what else I could've added or changed in there. I added an appliance cupboard which was a massive nightmare as they kept drawing it wrong!! Got it kind of right in the end but its still not 100% what I wanted. I also wanted a rubbish drawer but they didn't do them then - I think they do now.
So I guess as you say - get a quote for everything you think you might want - you can take it our if its too much or you decide against it. Some things are really reasonably priced - others not so much!
Are you going to blog about your build??
Ask away if you have any other Q's - and good luck!
thanks Shayne yes you are right we are going to ask for some changes to the structure, we want to include the outdoor area in the living and also add the rumpus. While asking this we are also aware that all this is going to cost extra. The idea to include this in the tender is to get a good estimate before we start. We just bought the land and are also starting a family so we are very conscious about not increasing the expenses too much. The cost can really add up very quickly as you already know. One more query we had was how did you go with the council approval, did you get it approved under complaint development standard or did you have to go through the entire DA and were there any major dramas.
ReplyDeleteWe noticed Laguna 36 Master bedroom is one of the best designer ones we have seen however we later realised its not a standard layout nor accessories. If you have opted for standard one then can you send us some photo of the bedroom and the bathroom please, if they are already in some posts just send us a link and we will go check it out. Would also love to see some more pictures of the inside finishes. We have heard that their finish is a lot better than most of the other developers.
P.S
The final house photo is looking gr8. Congrats, its excellent to see all the hard work pay up. You must be really looking to move in soon.