Saturday 3 November 2012

Post-PCI

At the end of the PCI, our SS asked us to sign-off a PCI Checklist for items we identified during the inspection that needed fixing. We signed off on the document with a provision referring to a follow up email from us to our SS.

Following the PCI we sent an email to our SS highlighting issues that had been identified during the review including areas of the house that were not reviewed as work had not been done on them to an adequate standard. We also requested a copy of the checklist that we were asked to sign at the end of PCI. The checklist was not given to us by our SS on the day of the PCI - we were told that he would email a copy to us.

A week and several requests later, the checklist was still not made available to us. We were then told by our SS that this would be given to us on the day of hand-over and settlement. We said that that seemed unreasonable and really wasn't good enough given that we would not have adequate time to review it before moving in. It was also different to what we had been told and a lack of replies from our SS resulted in a phone call to his Manager. Within five minutes of that phone call we had a copy of the PCI list made available via email by the Manager. So why all the delaying by our SS?

We also forwarded to the Manager emails that had previously been sent to our SS to which he didn't provide adequate responses (actually, he didn't reply at all) and included that we will not be accepting the house unless we receive it in a standard we expect from Carlisle.

Resulting from the above we have had a "continuation" of the PCI scheduled with the Manager. This will be done later this week.

Here are a few pics from our first round of PCI:

Garage - definitely not ready for PCI

Alfresco - also not ready for PCI


Ceiling in need of paint around downlights. That's our SS in the shot

Entry and front door - also not ready for PCI

Another example of the workmanship

The Ensuite toilet, probably the smallest room in the house, had lots of defects that we marked up with red dots. If this is just the loo, imagine what the rest of the house was like!
Balcony - the seepholes in the bricks have been covered by the tiled skirting.

Sunday 21 October 2012

Practical Completion Inspection (PCI)

The day was finally here!

We were up early on the Monday morning so we could beat any potential traffic and get to the house early.

We gathered all of the things we wanted to take the night before, and set off at about 7am.

We got a message from our independent inspector saying that he planned on getting there a bit earlier so that he could start on the outside of the house.

We arrived at 7.45am, just before our SS and independent inspector.

The inspection could have started off a bit better. The house had been 'cleaned' at some stage between Saturday afternoon and 7.45am on Monday. When we say 'cleaned' we really mean that it looked as though all of the larger items of debris (carpet off-cuts, chipped or broken tiles, paint, timber etc) had been swept into the Garage, and the place had had a bit of a vacuum or sweep.

When we saw this, the first thing we said to our SS was that it would be impossible to inspect the floors (tiles, carpets, and wooden floors, which were all key areas to be inspected). From the paperwork we received and discussions we'd had in the time leading up to our PCI (which included a large invoice from Carlisle Homes as well), we were under the impression that the house was being 'presented' to us as a new home. So we expected clean carpets and floor boards, shiney tiles, and dirt-free window sills and frames. We didn't get any of this.

On top of that, our SS kept answering phone calls, and he disappeared for a bit to attend another site.

We were about to cancel the inspection, but our SS insisted that the condition of the house was appropriate for a practical completion inspection and that the point of the day was for us to indentify any defects that needed correcting prior to handover. He was willing for us to talk to his manager and possibly inspect the house with him, but we ended up saying that we might as well go through with the inspection, but that there would be privisos built in to our PCI report because there were certain things that we couldn't inspect.

The standard process is to have a PCI, and then a final inspection on the date of settlement. We said to our SS that, because the state of the house prevented us from completing a thorough inspection, we would require another inspection between PCI and handover. This inspection would effectively be a proper PCI, because we weren't able to complete a full PCI on the actual date that PCI was booked. Our SS agreed to the additional inspection.

We went through the house, room by room, identifying all of the defects and marking them up with red dots.

Here is a list of some of the items we identified:
  • Garage - not cleaned out so didn't bother inspecting
  • Alfresco - not cleaned out so didn't bother inspecting
  • Floor tiles - not clean so couldn't identify any chips/cracks/grout issues, although we did notice a few tiles in the entry that were chipped
  • Wooden floors - not clean so couldn't identify any sctaches, although we did note a few areas where the boards were lifting and weren't joined properly at the expansion joints
  • Paint - the entire house looked like it needed to be painted again. There were patches, scratches and dirt marks throughout
  • Ceiling - definitely needed another coat of paint througout. Even our SS was wondering what the painter had been up to
  • The staircase and surrounding are had not been completed. Our SS agreed that this was include so we didn't inspect it
  • Light switches, power points, and wall outlets at several locations were just wrong. Our SS said he would get all of the power points tested as several of them weren't working. We didn't test all of them, and will do so when they are actually working
  • The silicon seal around all of the wall and vanity tiles was the wrong color
  • For some reason our meter box had been messily painted in the wrong color
  • The outdoor tap in our front yard was right in front of the front door, which would make it impossible to create a pathway and entrance to the house from the street. Our SS said he would look into getting this moved
  • The sewer pit in our back yard was placed right in the middle of the yard, and that meant that we wouldn't be able to have a clear, decent sized patch of grass. Our SS said he'd look into getting this moved to a more reasonable location.
There were a few other issues that our SS noted on his list (hopefully he got all of them).  We haven't been successful at getting a copy of this list off him though and will keep pushing to get it, especially because we were made to sign it. Our SS did say that we would be going through the list at our settlement/handover inspections. That seems a little late to us.

And he also advised us that we would have a 3 month maintenance inspection after our handover date. We would have to note each problem/defect etc that we find over the first 3 months and then they'd come out and fix it all up.

Our expectation was that we would be moving into a house after all of the defects were rectified. Sure there would be bits and pieces that would come up as we started using the house on a daily basis, but why not fix up what they can now, and give us something that they are confident in and proud to say is completed to the highest standard?

In addition to these things are the items that our independent inspector picked up on. Most of these things were more structural - there were a few walls that had bows to them, the insulation had not been properly spread in the roof space, some of the tiled skirting on the balcony was blocking the vents in the bricks, and some of the articulation joints hadn't been sealed properly. There were about 15 things on his list, and we are waiting for our SS to respond to them.

Our SS has indicated that we should be ready to settle within 2 weeks of our PCI, which takes us to the end of October. Given the items that need fixing, we're not convinced. We're also not in too much of a rush and won't be bullied into taking possession of the house until we're happy with it.

We're supposed to learn more about the items being fixed and a more realistic handover date this week.

Saturday 20 October 2012

Prep for PCI

Our practical-completion inspection (PCI) was booked for 15 October with our SS. We had arranged the day off work, and were looking forward to being given an official tour of the house.

We spent a couple of weeks preparing for our PCI. We did a bit of research on forums and blogs to get an idea of the sorts of things to look for in addition to the usual things. We also made a room-by-room list of each thing to check and confirm. The list was about 15 pages in total! But many of the points were similar for each room.

We also made a list of the things to take - camera, measuring tape, rags, a small level etc.

By the weekend, we felt that we were ready for PCI. However, it didn't seem like the house was ready for us!

We had an electrical walk-through the Friday before PCI, and the house was still dirty with tools, paint, and debris all over the place.

We sent an email to our SS at about midday, after our walk-through, and wanted to confirm if our PCI would still be taking place considering the house was a mess and we wouldn't be able to inspect it properly. Our SS replied, saying that he was on leave, but that he had booked a clean on Thursday, and obviously the cleaners hadn't turned up.

We visited the house again on Saturday, to meet a fencer out there, and peered through the windows to see if any cleaning had been done. Nope, still not done.

We were getting a little stressed at that point, wondering if we would turn up on Monday for no reason. We had also booked an independent inspector to come and do a 'pre-handover' inspection, and he would be charging us whether he could do his inspection or not.

We didn't go out to the house on Sunday, so we would just have to see what greeted us at our scheduled PCI time of 8am on Monday...



Electrical Walk-through

We're getting towards the end of the building process now. It's really exciting, but it feels like there is more to do now than there was during the planning and construction phases.

We scheduled an electrical walk-through with Argus Technologies on Friday 12 October. We also arranged for the installer of our security system to meet us on site so that the electrician from Argus could show him how everything had been pre-wired.

The inspection went well, and most of the things that our installer was looking for were in good order.

There were several issues though, and we noted these to be discussed with our SS during our practical-completion inspection (PCI):
  • Heights and distances between wall outlets (power points etc) were uneven and looked very untidy throughout the house. We were told that the uneven spacing was due to having to find studs in the wall to fix them to. But that didn't explain the varying heights.

  • We are getting our smoke detectors hard-wired to our alarm system, so that if they are set off, we can get mobile notification. This means switching the standard smoke detectors over to something that is compatible with our alarm system. The house has to be handed over with the smoke detectors working, so we will have to get the smoke detectors and alarm system installed and working prior to moving in. Our contact at Argus is happy for us to arrange this.
  • Several of the LED light fittings weren't fixed properly, so there were gaps between them and the ceiling. Another point noted for PCI.
  • Some of the light circuits and switches deviated from the plan, to the extent that the main light in the entrance hall didn't have a switch at all.
  • Our Argus rep showed us that the speaker cables that we've got wired back to the Garage have been cut. They will all have to be lengthened again in order for us to be able to use them. Another point for our SS.
  • There were a few power points, light switches, and cat-6 cables that hadn't been placed correctly or pulled through the wall.
We finished off our inspection with some notes for our SS. We also confirmed our requirements with our security system installer.

PCI was coming up after the weekend, on Monday 15 October.

Sunday 7 October 2012

Update on ducted heating

Our SS has advised that the ducted heating and zoneable network controller will be fixed up this week. The guard rail is now up on the roof for the unit itself, so things are looking good and shouldn't impact or delay our PCI.

The painters are supposed to be back towards the end of the week, and the house is supposed to be cleaned later this week as well.



Update

We're getting closer and closer to the big day! The house is looking pretty good, but there are still a lot of things that need to get tidied up/corrected/installed before the house takes on the look that we're after.

The fencing around the perimeter of the house has been taken away and the site has had a bit of a tidy up. This is how the outside is looking from the street:


Unfortunately the tap out the front is right in the middle of the front entrance. We will have to ask our SS if it can be moved, otherwise it will really limit what we can do by way of a pathway to the front door and our front landcaping.

The gaps in the brickwork seem to have been filled/sealed:


Someone didn't get the memo...



The laundry tiling has come out nicely and the neutral colours should mean that we don't get bored with it too soon! The tiles and laminate still need to be cleaned up.



The flooring has come a long way since our last visit:




The staircase is yet to be stained, but the stair lights have been installed:


Can't wait to use this!



Our practical completion inspection (PCI) is getting closer and we're putting our list of things to check together. We'll have one inspection with our SS and independent inspector, and another one with the electricians to walk us through all of the cabling. We're hoping for smooth runs on both.

There is still a lot to organise aside from preparing for the PCI.

We've got to find out who our neighbours are (both sides and back) so we can get fencing organised. We got a couple of quotes over the weekend and need to follow these up this week.

We have to get our driveway sorted out. Again, we've got a few quotes and need to organise this.

We need to find out what other council requirements there are (eg getting our waste bins), organise a mail box, get our phone line up and running, a few more quotes for window furnishing.... the list goes on and on. And then there's packing and moving out of our apartment.

The lead up to Christmas is going to be busy!

Friday 28 September 2012

The heat is on...

We were reviewing our plans and getting our questions ready for our PCI when we came across an issue with the ducted heating unit.

Our sales and tender documents specified a networker controller with a heating unit that we were told could be zoned for upstairs and downstairs separately. We wanted to confirm that the correct unit had been put in with our SS, and when we asked the question, it turned out that the unit that was installed wasn't actually right for the house, nor did it agree with our sales and tender documents.

We made further enquiries with the manufacturer (Brivis), recommended installers for the Brivis unit and Carlisle (builder), and initial indications from the builder were that it was too late to change the unit and Carlisle thought that the unit was appropriate for the house. That would mean that there would be no option but to heat the entire house rather than being able to heat upstairs and downstairs separately.

After several discussions via phone calls and emails, Carlisle finally agreed to change the unit to one more appropriate for the house. At a cost of course. But we thought it was more important to get the right unit in now and not regret it in winter. Carlisle's management agreed that a unit that could be zoned would be more appropriate for this house, and to their credit, they absorbed some of the cost involved in changing the unit meaning that we only had to pay for the upgrade cost. We were told that a crane would be involved, and part of the roof would need to be lifted to change the unit and the costs for this and rework done on walls or ceiling will be taken up by Carlisle. 

The ducted heating unit is being changed to a higher efficiency zoneable unit. The controller will also be different, as the controller that was originally installed was not correct as it was not one that could control zoning. 




We've just signed and returned the building variation for this, so work should commence on changing the unit and controller next week.

A close up peek

So far all of the problems we've identified and raised with Carlisle have been fixable. We noticed a few things on our last visit to the house, which may have been rectified during the site clean, but if not, we'll be raising them at our PCI (practical completion inspection).

Here are some pics of the issues we found:

The tap in the front yard was leaking

Guttering to be finished properly, and the seal around that tap is very messy
 
Uneven power points #1

Uneven power points #2. We can't comprehend how the sparky thought this was ok

Uneven power points #3. Is there any method to this madness? Not only is the spacing uneven and random, the heights at which they've been placed is all different



Gaps in the brickwork still to be sealed

Infills above the Alfresco doors to be completed. The brickwork in this area (especially in the corners) is very untidy. We're hoping it got cleaned up when the house was cleaned during the week


We have no idea why this brick is different...

Messy mortar and finishing in the top corner of the Alfresco
Gaps in the brickwork to be filled

The join between the bricks and the window frame needs further work

Guttering on the rear of the Garage roof to be completed


On the whole, the house is looking good. We managed to catch a swan swimming around in the pond. Hope it hangs around and makes a home there!

Rendered

We've got a few bits and pieces to report to cover the last couple of weeks. Some inconsiderate person dinged our car and didn't fess up, so it's currently with the panel doctor getting fixed up. And the weather in Melbourne hasn't been the best over the last couple of days, so we haven't ventured out to the see the house using public transport.

The most exciting developments are as follows:
  • External rendering has been completed
  • Tiling has finished
  • Carpets have been laid
  • Plumbing has been completed, with all taps, showers, baths, sinks, and toilets in
  • Wooden laminate flooring has been laid
  • And, our SS tells us, the house has been given a good clean, inside and out.

Render
The front of the house has been rendered. Our SS told us that this is one of the last things they do once the site has been cleaned up, because they have to get it right the first time, and any damage is hard to fix later on.

We're happy with the colour (Dulux Yarwood), but the finishing on the right of the balcony looks rough and uneven. We haven't discussed this with our SS yet, as we've got an inspection coming up. But it is very noticeable (and very annoying). We're not sure how much work will be needed to fix it, but we're hoping it's not too much of a big job. We do need to go and see it again though, just to see what it looks like at different time of the day and in different light.

The rest of the rendered areas (above the Garage and to the right of the house, part of which you can see in the above photo) look ok. The colour (Dulux Pale Earth) looks nice - it's probably a little lighter than we would have preferred, but it's so hard to tell when you're looking at paint samples. It suits the brick and the rest of the house though.

Tiling and Carpets
The floor tiles, feature tiles, and bath tiles have all been completed, and when we saw the house last weekend, the carpets had started to be laid downstairs. Our SS tells us that the carpets are all done now. Unfortunately we weren't able to get into the house to see the finished tiles and carpets, but we managed to get a few snaps from the outside:

Excuse the shadows in these pics! This is the Laundry, fully tiled. The shelving in the Walk-in-Linen is also in, and that gave us a good idea of how much room there is in there. On the whole, it looks light and bright, and it looks like there's enough room in there for the washing machine and dryer to sit side-by-side.


This is still the Laundry - we noticed that one of the spec downlights had come crashing down onto the tiles, leaving a pile of glass. Mental note - check for chipping of the tiles in this area. These tiles were a bit of a luxury upgrade, so we won't accept anything less than perfect!
This is a view from the front lounge, looking into the house. The entry hall is fully tiled, and the Lounge, Study, and Theatre have all been carpeted. The carpet looks darker in this pic than it really is. The caret we chose was Quest Sunday Dawn, with platinum underlay. Looking forward to testing this with bare feet when it's all done and cleaned!





Taps
The only tap we were able to see was the kitchen tap:



We were a bit worried about the height of this tap as there are overhead cupboards above it. It looks as though we've got a space of about 10-15cm between the top of the tap and the cupboards. The tap needs a bit of room to move, so we'll need to check its functionality when we go through our inspection. We did raise this issue with our SS before the cupboards and tap were installed.


We haven't been to the house since the laminate was done, and also haven't seen it cleaned up. We get our back on Monday, and have an inspection coming up in a couple of weeks, so that might be the first time we see the finished floors, tubs, tiles, loos, and the cleaned house.


Grand Designs Melbourne

We visited the Grand Designs Live show at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre last weekend. We've been watching the UK series of the show with Kevin McCloud for a while now, and became more interested in it when we started thinking about building.

The main focusses of the show were in the kitchen, bathroom, outdoor living, and media/lighting areas. And of course there was a main theatre stage on which Kevin McCloud and other celebrity designers presented.

Kevin spoke mostly about his own 'grand design', the Triangle - a community housing project in Swindon, UK. It was good to see and hear him up close. He was, after all, the star of the show.

The exhibits were slightly disappointing and probably not as helpful as the other home shows that are on during the year.

Miele put on a good display of their kitchen products. Fisher & Paykel also had a display of fridges and other stainless steel appliances, all of which you can see at good old Harvey Norman anyway. They did have an impressive BBQ on display though. Hmm... is it too early to dream about summer barbies?

 
The outdoor living displays were pretty good. We came away with some gardening ideas that may or may not make it into our back yard.
 

 



And there was another special guest - the Dulux dog! He is an Old English Sheepdog, and his fur feels like cotton wool. Very cute.






Grand Final Fever

It is Grand Final time in Melbourne and the two best performing teams in the AFL this season are in the last game of the season today. It's the Sydney Swans against the Hawthorn Hawks.

 


The traditional Grand Final parade was on yesterday with the supporters making their way to upper Collins Street despite the weather. Let's hope for a cracker game at the MCG today!




Sunday 9 September 2012

All tiled up

It's a bright, sun shiney day in Melbourne! We headed out to do a routine weekend check on the house.

Our street is starting to look more like a neighbourhood, with more and more houses being started or completed each time we go to see ours.




Since we found an unlocked door last weekend, we had high hopes today.

For the most part, the outside looks the same - the rendered areas still haven't been painted, and there are still a few loose roof tiles and some rough brick work. The most exciting change to the front is the garage door that has now been put in, and the colour matches the front door - Colorbond Dune.



We found a few unlocked doors today and the garage door was partially open. The front door was unlocked so we used that (for the first time!). Since we found the house unlocked, we thought we should check that everything was safe and sound.

All of the floor tiles have been laid. The skirting and some of the corners need to be tidied up. Tiling in the Bathroom, Ensuite, and Powder Room are also nearly complete, including tiling around the bath tubs, vanities, and mirrors. Feature tiles in the showers have also been laid.

Tiling almost complete. We're glad the tiles contrast with the whiteness of the walls.

Looking in from the front door. The stairs are yet to be stained.

Showers are tiled. The dark feature tiles need a good clean to get the real colour coming through.

Tiles around bath hob almost complete. They go well with the floor tiles and the vanity.

Ensuite shower with the same colour scheme as the main Bathroom.


There was also a noticeable addition, and removal, that has added a different dimension to the house. The temporary floor/ceiling that was covering the void from the front entry to the top floor has been removed, and the railings and balusters have been fitted. This has opened up the whole front of the house nicely.



With the finishings now being done to the house, we are also keeping our eyes peeled for damages to any of the surfaces, omissions, errors etc.

This hole in the wall is from the front door handle slamming into the wall.

Some of the tile joints are rough and there is still a bit of work to do to tidy the tiles up.

Stainless steel kickrails in the kitchen
.
Missing tiles around the bath hob. The same tiles are missing on both baths, so there must be a valid reason...

Randomly placed roof tile that doesn't seem to be doing anything.

Timber splitting on the outside of the Balcony door.

Rough finish to the mortar. We noticed this on most of the higher corners of the house.

Fireplace provision still hasn't been tiled.

Inside the fireplace provision...

Gaps in brickwork. We have to check with our indpendent inspector what the tolerance level is for this.