Taps Solution

Like I said before the picture above which is displayed in the Home Option Gallery was what we thought we'd be getting but instead our taps were installed too low. I don't think they should display this photo in the Home Option if the end product does not look like this. Not happy about this at all as we had to buy new spouts so that we can use the basins. We opted for the Fluid Plus bath spout as these were shorter and went up slightly and they matched the existing taps. Hope this works. We didn't really need more unbudgetted expenditure.

At no time during the build were we asked to specify how high we wanted the taps. I thought I would have sounded too pedantic if I specified the height of the taps when we were choosing all our fixtures but in hindsight I guess this would not have resulted in what we have now. I did inquire about this at the start of the build when the plumbing went in and was told by my SS not to worry as they knew what they were doing, it will all be sorted out...gullible me believed him. I should have put this in writing then....

I should have gone with a mixer which was my first option but instead I went with the 'standard' taps. My bad, I should have gone with my instinct. I think the taps were the only thing I didn't change. lol.

Speaking of the Home Option Gallery - they have a frameless shower screen there too and there's no hob to be seen in site - my SS should visit this Gallery so he can see what a 'frameless' screen looks like.

How do I get over this? I'm just totally gutted about these mistakes. I guess I had high expectations and EB just hasn't delivered.

Cleaners

My house is looking very shiny from the outside, the cleaners did an amazing job with the windows. I should have asked them how they cleaned it. What a transformation. So tomorrow the painters are coming back to do the touch ups, and paint the outside - the pergola, cladding, downpipes (I hope).

I've decided to get curtains for the sliding door in the main bedroom, I thought it would be better insulation than the roller blinds I had planned plus I really love sheer curtains; so I can have a block out and sheer also. Now what colour??? I'll be meeting the curtain people on site tomorrow whilst the painters are there.

There's no end to what people will pinch, I thought the plumbers were done and dusted but what do I find today when I looked at the kitchen sink - two black holes...I think someone has taken this - the dual multi-link space saver waste fitting in satin finish. We ordered a riva double undermount sink. I saw the plumber fitting this. The taps are in lets just hope no one turns them on.


I wasn't going to say anything about this but this must be the same person that has taken the dish drainer that goes with this sink. We got the box but just not the drainer....this happened ages ago when the benchtop came. I know that this drainer was ordered because the person from HOGallery told us so....and I saw it myself with my own eyes - anyway no problem I didn't want to cause a fuss about a dish drainer and I just ordered one from Cooks plumbing - but someone taking the waste fitting - I just bloody hope EB replace it with the same one.

I couldn't see any plumbing for the dishwasher also - will talk to my SS tomorrow. They've got the box for the dishwasher but no holes to put the plumbing or the plug to go through as these are under the sink. Not really happy with the state of the kitchen either - the doors don't close properly in the sink after the detergent caddy has been fitted in and there are a LOT of scratches and bumps already - does not look like a new kitchen.

The painters must have a day job and just come around to our place after hours - someone came late yesterday afternoon - 5ish so not really the best time to paint - not much light and not really the best drying time possible. Today they came a little bit earlier 4ish and apparently coming back tomorrow to finish. I hate this piecemeal work because that's what the end result looks like piecemeal.

To top it off I think whoever has done the replastering has chipped the caesarstone in the bathroom - not happy Jan not sure how they fix this...they probably have to replace the whole thing??

I think the tiler will have to come back also as I noticed the mosaic tiles were coming off in the powder room - not sure what happened to the tiler here as I thought they'd done a good job in the bathrooms and ground floor despite all the tile sagas we've had; have not fully checked the tiling at all.

We seem so close to the end but there are still so much stuff outstanding.

Did a bit retail therapy on Friday and went to Signature Prints, I was surprised to see that they had cushions, prints on canvas and pendant lights all on SALE so I bought these cushions to go with the chocolate lounge. They look pretty funky, I've not worked out exactly what look I'm trying to go for but I thought these looked cheerful and fun.

Tuesday the temporary fence went down to my surprise, I was just told last Friday that this wasn't happening for another 2-3 weeks. No worries, I'm hoping EB would let us get started on our fencing, especially now we don't have one.

Lots of activity at the house yesterday the door fittings and bathroom accessories were installed, it was good I saw them before they put in the bathroom accessories so I was able to tell them where I wanted everything placed.

I would have preferred the door fittings go on last, after the paintings done. The touch ups will be getting done next week after the floors get sanded and the house gets cleaned. The painting looks very sloppy and have told EB that we weren't happy with it, so will wait and see what EB will do on this front.

The painters better cover up the floor tiles and benchtops before they start painting - will not be happy if they mess this up.

The bricks were also fixed on Wed finally; this was the first time I've seen a brick layer work in the rain.

No activity at the house on Thurs & Fri.

So exhausted from the weekend, we did the Relay for Life and raised almost $4k - I think this was a fantastic result considering we only had 4 weeks to raise money. I will be better organised next year.

The plumbers were in today installing the taps, toilets and bathtub.

Pendant Lighting

There's nothing like a bit of retail therapy to cheer you up, so I thought I'd start looking into getting some pendant lights; I need two - one for the study and another for the dining room.
I also love the chandelier look but I don't think my small house is grand enough for it, even with the upgrade in ceilings I don't think it's high enough also. So I'm leaning towards these pendant lights.



This is from Satelight Designs - I went to this restaurant Etch in Sydney and fell in love with these pendant lights, my eyes just kept getting drawn to these lights. I also loved there wallpaper.

This is from Satelight designs too - I love this print. Natuzzi have these same materials too.
This is from Signature Prints - Japanese Floral
Again from Signature Prints - Peacock Feathers
This is Maurice Kain - Allurim in Platinum

What's Left to do?

No activity at the house again...things have certainly slowed down you would think that the house was finished but there are still heaps of outstanding items. This afternoon I received the final invoice to be paid at settlement....we don't even know when we are having our practical completion inspection, we haven't been given any idea of when things will be finished, we have asked repeatedly about the outstanding items on our previous inspection report and when those will be addressed - still no concrete answer just that they will be addressed prior to completion...we are having a meeting with our SS on friday, this is just a general walk through and to go through these outstanding issues again - we already had this conversation with the CM

Here is a list of our outstanding items from previous inspection report:

1. Front top level window sill needs to be replaced as it has been poorly laid - nothing has been done about this
   
2. Rear right side brick window sill is broken and needs repairs - or this
   
3. Weep holes need cleaning out in areas - the last cleaning of bricks were poorly done, still an issue
   
4. Brickwork needs acid washing in areas - in the alfresco area there is discolouration as it was washed straight after it was laid
   
5. Lower level roof lead flashings need dressing down correctly - front and back of house - still to be addressed
   
6. Some of the windows will need aluminium angles to cover the cavity gapping now visible. - I think most of this has been addressed
   
7. Right side small fascia return is not level. To be replaced as per its intended operation - still not fixed
8. Site needs appropriate surface inlet drainage points to be completed off correctly in areas - not sure if anything is happening with this
   
9. Some Aluminium windows and sliding/Bi-fold doors tested “inadequate” (cannot even close the back window) - not sure if this has been fixed but the windows have not been cleaned also
   
10. Floor sheeting joints will need to be sanded smooth, prior to completion and some of the loose floor sheets must be screwed to prevent future movement after carpets or agreed floor coverings have been fitted. - as far as I'm aware still to be done
    
11. The front concrete kerb is damaged as shown and will need repairs. The cause of kerb damage is to be confirmed as to who did this damage. This occurred when the bricks were delivered. - still to be rectified
    
12. Rear steel door jamb needs to be sealed as there is rusting visible in areas - apparently this got fixed when the painting was done - still to check

There were 17 items on this list and 12 are still to be rectified and we are suppose to be doing the practical completion inspection...

Other outstanding items:

1. sanding of floor before carpet laid
2. bathroom fittings and accessories
   
3. bathtub & toilets installed
   
4. drains to be cleared, the tilers poured crap down the drain
5. painting - internal - the woodwork looks unfinished, baulstrade not finished also
6. painting - external - the cladding, lower eaves & portico, touch ups to moroko,
   
7. carpet
8. ac - apparently this doesn't get done till after settlement
9. rangehood - same as above
   
10. door handles
11. not sure if the electricals were done based on the amendements or plan - still to check
12. driveway
13. windows cleaned - will also need to check the bifold doors - these looked scratched also
14. hot water service

The one thing I've not done is check the measurements of the house or check whether the floor is level as I thought the inspector checked this....would I need to check each room? or does the builder provide a survey certificate that the height of the house and so forth has been checked???

Batch Variation

I have very little enthusiasm left for this house and it's dissipating very quickly, especially with my latest findings... I won't go into the whole saga of how I discovered it BUT I must say this has been the most disappointing thing that has happened to date. My favourite thing I picked for the house were the semi-polished porcelain tiles for the whole house. The one thing which I based the rest of the house on - this one tile. I picked the colour of the bifold doors, the house paint, the benchtops and the carpet.

So I find out that the tiles which have been laid in my house, bear only a slight resemblance to the sample tile which I had and the sample tile which they have displayed in the showroom. Apparently the tile in the showroom is from a 2005 batch and it seems like the only thing in common between these two tiles is the name -Rex concreate in Mud. I understand that there will be variations between each batch but there are huge differences. I wanted a semi-polished look and what I got is a very highly polished look so much so that light reflects from it. I didn't want the tile to be slippery but being so polished it doesn't have the same feel. What I also liked about this tile were the flecks of grey in the tile but sadly the tiles I have do not have this variegation. This was the whole point of getting this type of tile - to get this variegation, it adds depth to the tile.

What's really annoying is that the tiles in the powder room and laundry are not from the same batch as the rest of the house. They are supposed to be the same tiles only different sizes. The tiles in the powder room and laundry are closer to the sample tiles, so maybe they had leftovers from this 2005 batch??? who knows???

But when you have paid good money for these tiles - there are certain expectations which you expect to be met....these tiles were not cheap and we sacrified having our bathrooms tiled to the ceiling to get these tiles...so I'm just over it really.

There is no point asking DL to rip out the tiles and get a new batch closer to the sample tiles as they have no control over what they get...maybe because this is a project home it's been done a bit differently but you would expect DL to check if the batch of tiles are remotely similar to the sample tile as this is what you would be expecting them to look like and if they are very different then speak to the client; instead of hiding behind the excuse of batch variation....

We have voiced our disappointment with DL and are waiting on their reply.

What next?

PS. No activity at the house today

All hands on deck

Last week seemed very quiet compared to today, the electrician and tilers are back today finishing of the splashback in the bathrooms and replacing the downlights with brushed aluminium instead of white.

I think the driveway is getting finished this week also...the concrete was poured last Thursday so it's ready for the pavers to go on.

I'm hoping to see the house this week and see the tiles finished, would also like to be there after they sand the floors and before they lay the carpet so we can check for squeaky floor boards.

Driveway

I thought I'd go for a walk this morning and check out my new neighbourhood. I thought these trees looked spectcular, just love deciduous trees.

Last week I saw the downlights getting done - not sure if they've completed all the electricals. The colour of the downlights put in were incorrect but I knew this was going to be a problem as they didn't change the colour on the plan but just added this to the front of the schedule as a changed item; I guess the electrician didn't get this front copy??? I did ask about this at the time I got the plan amended. I think there is some issue between the home option gallery - head office - and construction in terms of co-ordinating information. I've found this a problem through out the whole process. They need to fine tune this process some more.

The tilers must have finished the ground floor on Wed, I don't think they've done the splashback as I saw Casa Marble at the site today, so they must have been adjusting the benchtops - maybe the tiles didn't fit behind the basin??? no idea what's happening these days - just a flurry of activities.

The termite barrier was installed yesterday - not sure if this is completed but apparently the driveway was suppose to get started today, maybe tomorrow???