House pre-clean and PCI today

On Monday I went out and these are the pics I took:

The port-a-loo is gone and all outdoor painting is complete.


The pile of rubbish was still there, and in the top right you see the free microwave.


The outside drains have covers.


And this is the mains earthing with warning tag that some idiot painted brown so I had to get close to read it...


and the meter box inside.


Today was PCI and everything looks good.

The rubbish is gone but the fences will come down before handover of the keys.


This is the ensuite, which I normally take photos of from outside.


This is the internal main toilet. A solar tube will be installed because as you can see it is fairly dark in there without the light on. I have opted for the internal light fixture for the tube, so the bayonet wiring will be re-routed to a light fitted inside the tube and this will reduce the number of the holes in the ceiling and reduce the clutter.


This is one smoke detector with the dust cover on. The back-up batteries need to be replaced annually.


And the alarm panel near the front door still has its protective cover on.


Annually the termi-mesh must be inspected as part of a regular pest inspection, this can be through any provider but it must be logged on a sticker inside the meter box to keep the warranty up for insurance. Also the water filter in the kitchen must be replaced and the filter in the water tank cleaned. The SS advised to put it in the calendar, same time each year and do it all on the one weekend.

But because MB made contact with the bank too late the valuation inspection was conducted in the afternoon after the PCI and the payment won't be issued until that report goes in.

Looks like handover will be the middle of next week.

18-10-10 Interim Occupation Certificate

In the mail I received the interim occupation certificate. The conditions on it are that landscaping and floor coverings are finished within 60 days, along with some general council conditions around preserving the street trees and ensuring the landscaping involves channelling the flow of water away from dwellings towards the street.

I went to the site in the afternoon to see if the tidy-up had happened as I hadn't had word from the MB if the valuation inspection had been conducted as Allworth had requested. But no cleaner than on the weekend so I am guessing no inspection.

Looking around all the internal taps are installed, a few minor touches such as the drain guards below the outdoor taps have been fitted to the pipes, and I noted for the first time the electricity earthing device which is located below the meter box coming up from the ground. I'm just happy I didn't kill myself as I had no iodea what it was went I bent over to read the tag and if it is anything unsafe it can't stay there as the dog will have a field day chewing on it.

I also noticed someone has kindly donated a microwave to the rubbish pile out front - it really makes me wonder when people do this as I am sure they wouldn't have been pleased had someone done it to them.

Also in an email I recveived a quote for landscaping, which included levelling the block, retaining the front and rear, providing garden soil and turf. No concrete though, no fences, no plants - so have a guess what it was... $12,500.00!!! I nearly fell backwards. So the hard work will be done by the family slaves, otherwise known as my uncle and my cousin's boyfriend, and me. With a 60 day dealine this will be tight, but since I have looked into it last night I'll be having galvanised steel H and C posts with treated pine sleepers as this is a matter of stringing, levels and concrete, and having soils delivered and renting a digger with a rotary attachment and a compacter and tilling it through. This will be preceeded by the concreting and the fences, which wil be done professionally.

From reading an excellent post on HomeOne I know the key to having a great lawn, despite the fact it is only going to be a small area, is firming the soil so as the avoid ditches developing as people walk over it (read earlier posts to familiarise yourself with my hatred of shoddy lawsn Mirvac is laying for the neighbours).

Flooring issues resolved

I had a lovely long discussion with the Acting General Manager yesterday afternoon, which was an excellent demonstration by senior Allworth mangement to identify customer service problems and focus on moving forward rather than apportioning blame.

It gave me an opportunity to raise a nubmer of issues particularly relating to communication and some poor incidents where the team could have made an effort to be more approachable and resolve matters early. The Acting GM did clearly indicate that he was concerned about word-of-mouth damaging their reputation, for which no one can blame him, and so I greatly appreciate him giving me the time to simply put it to someone who can do something about it, but even if he doesn't I at least felt someone has had the decency to listen to what I have said.

In summary:

• the work by the company is covered by the builders insurance for seven years, if work is completed by the owner before handover this can void the warranty or lead to a dispute about liability, and it is a risk they are not willing to take.
• to change the contract now would involve a variation to contract, which may impact on eligibility for FHOG, and be pointless as it would push out completion needlessly.
• the contractors can not be controlled or policed but they can be asked to refrain from smoking inside and collecting their butts before leaving.
• a schedule is avaliable but not set in stone and the SS should be able to say what is coming up in the near future.
• the company does not have a policy about regular contact between the SS and the client, but SS should be available or return calls and the CM should be prepared to take a message and communicate it to the SS if the client cannot get onto the SS.
• any leftover bricks or damaged bricks do not belong to the client, but the client can negotiate to collect those bricks and put them out of the way as this will also save the company some money on tip fees.
• the build is tracked on a computer system and events are checked off as they are completed, but if an event is not checked off in time a trigger may be activated and generate a notice that does not apply.
• the site should be left clean of rubbish and recently run over by a bobcat - it will not be as perfect as landscaping but should reasonably level out any variation around the site.

He also managed to negotiate a further discount on the floor tiles and carpet with Lockwood, so I appreciate the assistance all round (quote frankly if they've covered part of the bill it wouldn't surprise me but at least either way he has tried to make ammends).

As painting is scheduled to start today a drive out tonight will soothe my frayed nerves, and because the screen doors and blinds guy from Wynstan has a cancellation today he is going to go and see if he can measure up.

See I wasn't being unreasonable at all.

Garage photos

Got out of a meeting on time and made it back home whilst the sun was still up so I kept going as I am so in love with getting photos. My new Nokia E72 has a 5mp camera and a 4gb memory and since it is my first mobile of this capability I having fun with it.

The panel above the doors is going to be painted to match the scheme. I'm kind of getting used to the wood look but not a fan of the tone as a permanent feature so I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out.


I know it isn't a picture of the house but it is evidence that the remote controlled door device was also installed.


The rubbish pile is also growing. Another house has been tiling because there are tiles that don't belong, heaps of leftover aluminium strips that are often seen in showers and other various items plus a whole heap of unused concrete.

Both the front and back door thresholds were tiled this morning I think because both of them had a note in place saying "KEEP OFF WET TILES GO AROUND".

8 weeks to go!

Two days late, but it's only two months to go! (That's with me ignoring the one week extension I reckon they will not need)

I went out last night and think it was just the front and the outside wall of the garage left half done to go. The eaves have also started. Going out this weekend so I hope to post pictures showing this later.

Funny thing is all this time I've been coming and going and now they have locked the gate. What they don't know is I have my ways... if they still exist that is, haha! Mostly the unlocked gates makes me cranky because of people dumping rubbish, and in fact I don't know why other sites have one of those special bins but mine doesn't so there is just this growing pile in the front yard.

Got a water bill this week too, but the hide of them - when I went there last night a hose was running. So will raise this with the ever silent SS2 when I can corner him.

8 weeks to go! YAY!!!