Insulation installed

Went by today (Sunday) and was surprised to see some people there.

There were installing DW2 wall and ceiling insulation for the plaster tomorrow.

Spoke to the insulation guy. He told me my internal wall 1.5 batts weren't thick enough for sound proof and that I would need 2 batts. I don't really care about those. Mum wanted it for the heat/cool and the insulation guy said it doesn't matter, it's more the external walls. So internal wall insulation is for sound proofing - meh. He told me about rock insulation for the external walls that are meant to be much more effective, don't need air conditioning, but of course more expensive. It was also nice because he was saying how he takes care in his work to make sure the house is better.

Just hope they've fixed all the other problems.

I also went around and checked EVERY single noggin to make sure they were there and secure. Yes I know I'm anal! Noggins - so that the walls don't warp.

Preplaster Building Inspection - 'It's not going to fall down!'

Had the Preplaster Inspection done on Wednesday. Thankfully was able to get half a day off work to go. I wanted to go to learn more.. didn't really learn that much but better than nothing. I would have liked him to give me a commentary on what he was looking at, but he really only pointed out things that were incorrect. And when he did point out the things that needed fixing, sometimes I didn't know what he was talking about - lintels? what?! If only I were a building inspector - he earns so much! About $900 for 90 mins of work.

When I arrived, noticed that the front doors had finally been put in. (And no, my doors aren't green as dumbo P thought they were - they get painted over).This is more like lock up!

I finally got to see and speak to some of the tradies - plumbers, electricians and carpenters were there. Plumber had been doing work for George for 7 years. Spoke highly of George, and also Dale, didn't really seem to like Dan much.

I was a bit annoyed when I got there to find out that the electrical was still being done (I was told it would be done the day before) so my building inspector wasn't able to look at all the frames after they had been drilled/cut into. Although in a way, it was also good because I could check and rectify any mistakes. They had missed a powerpoint. I also found out that they would be working on Australia Day so I stopped by to check again.

Kevin's overall impression was 'It's not going to fall down!'. Okay he was saying that in a joking manner, but he doesn't know what a stress head I am! I think he was quite happy with the way it was going. He mentioned how normally he with the bad sites, the site supervisor won't even talk to him because they won't know what he's talking about. Dale was good in that he approached Kevin and asked him to talk about the faults along the way so that he could rectify it. I found out that Dale was a carpenter by trade.

Some of the things Kevin mentioned that I understood:
1. Some of the door opening studs needed to be blocked ie have a block in between, so that it wouldn't move when the door was opened/closed.2. The pipes shouldn't be secured to the wall otherwise it may cause water to leak into the plaster.3. The SmartJoists shouldn't be cut into.
I think the main things I'm concerned about is what I was originally concerned about with the engineering - and that was the flooding of the houses.
- DW1: waterproofing of the stairs leading to the garage
- DW2: waterproofing of DW1 garage and DW2 masterbedroom. But I think that's more the fault of the engineering. With the engineering, I was more concerned about the flooding of DW2, that I didn't think about DW1 POS - it only has a small grate...

We'll see how it goes in time to come!

After the Christmas break, things are moving to the fixing stage

After Christmas the builders have a nice long holiday. Last Sunday nothing had been done, so it was nice to see when I went today that work had begun again and in a week a bit had been done.

1. Concrete floors of both garages had been poured. Although DW2 is not low enough in my opinion - should be 8cm step to the internal access but it's only 4cm.
2. The driveway had been cleared and markings for DW2 porch.2. Sliding doors have been fitted out. DW2 powder room isn't meant to have a sliding door, but it actually works better with one.3. The concrete steps leading out to the back from DW2 laundry.4. Entrance doors had been delivered. One of DW2 entrance doors.5. Baths and shower bases put in (DW1 ensuite has a bigger shower base than its meant to - I happy with that mistake!) This bath will be taken out because it is too big and a 1500 bath installed, otherwise the vanity will hang over the bath and look weird.

Cabinetry

In the end I didn't need to go into the office to have a look at the cabinetry design as it was emailed to me (I asked for this in the first place and initially they said that they couldn't do it...)

An initial concern I had was that the measurements were different from my building plans - was this again another lack of attention to detail? After talking with George, I found out that the reasons for this were plasterboard (add 1cm), and also sometimes when things are built, they need more structural support so it doesn't necessarily match the building plans.

Overall, most of it was quite good except for a few things:
- DW1 sink was restricted by the cabinets on the left. Unfortunately, can't switch the sink as the pipes have already been laid.
- DW2 pot drawers were too small 650. I replaced the cupboards on either side of the oven to extend the pot drawers so they're now nice wide 956 drawers.
- Wanted to switch DW2 dishwasher/cutlery drawer and sink around so that the cutlery drawer is closer to the dining room, but same problem as DW1 sink in that it can't be done because the pipes have been laid. So in the the end I just switched the cutlery drawer - it's still close enough to the dishwasher (that we hardly use).
- DW1 fridge recess was slightly too small 884 - won't fit D's 890 fridge. Although pleased that it has a walk in pantry (didn't know it would have one otherwise I would have put a light inside it.) I have been able to change the fridge recess to 910. Trade off is that I lose 8cm from my walk in pantry, but D can now fit her (stupid) fridge (what dumbo needs to think about living in a house according to whether or not it can house their fridge!).
It now fits:
Things I've had to check and measure:
Microwave - height ideal is 400 but 364 (DW1 measurements) is sufficient
Fridge width 900 is ideal, but 884 would have been sufficient for most fridges
Dishwasher 600 sufficient
Washing machine 600

Lesson learnt:
Cabinetry needs to be considered from the start - once pipes are laid in the slab, it can't be changed and will impact on where the sinks are.

Feeling of Angst

This last week I've been feeling stressed. I'm not sure what started it off, but it was a number of things.

When I went last time to have a look at the house I noticed this:

It's not so clear on the photo, but the left window is smaller (1.05m off the ground), and it should be the same as the right window (0.9m off the ground). This may seem like a minor detail, but for me, it is something obvious, and if this has been missed, then what about all the other things that I have no clue about that I can't check on.

Went to see Dan on Monday to drop off my lights, and as I was speaking to him, it seemed like he didn't really know where the houses were at, or what was going on.
- He hadn't been to the site
- He couldn't give me a time frame of completion until lock up - but 'lock up' had already occurred.
- When I asked him about the window, he looked up the plans and saw that the measurements had been changed, but couldn't say why. He then talked about how changes may have been made because the window was too close to the ground floor roof - which it wasn't.
- I asked about the missing doors, and he talked about how they could have charged for the retention system, or put it in at the end(which makes no sense as it would take them more time and effort.
- Other things that I thought about was how Dan was so slack at replying to emails. He didn't get back to me about the frame stage inspection and I didn't hear from him about the electrical until I emailed George.
So don't really like liaising with Dan. Half the time he just tries to talk his way out of things. And he charges ridiculous prices for variations - still have to pay the extra $270 for the stairs lights (all up $870 for 8 stair lights - such expensive lights that no one will notice except for me!).

On Wednesday I received an email to say that I needed to come in to look at the cabinetry design - in the next couple of days. I work full time, so I can't just take time off, and I was also annoyed because I had just come in on Monday.

Thinking about the admin fee of $250 which although waived annoyed me that it was given in the first place. I asked for the variation on Nov 30th. This fee was given due to the 'lateness' of the request. But the electrician is only coming on Tues, THIS Tues, 7 weeks after the request.

They changed the building inspection appointment 3 times. Which made me doubt again as to whether they really know what's going on.

So the overall feeling I was getting was that my project is a small one in comparison and hence was being neglected.

Throughout the week I was thinking about how I was going to approach George and speak to him without sounding accusing. I am not so eloquent with words when I have to speak them (some would also say when I have to write them) But I finally had another reason to call him because of the cabinetry.

So I finally ended up speaking to George yesterday.
The main thing really was to let him know of my concerns, to have some reassurance, and basically be a 'squeaky hinge'. ie. people who don't make noise, normally have less attention paid to them.
He told me that he had been to the site every couple of weeks and said that Dale the site supervisor was there nearly everyday. In regards to the window he admitted it was a mistake. He gave me the option of replacing it or a credit of $500. Dan had already said that they wouldn't replace because of the time and costs involved, and I guess it's only a minor error. BUT being anal, it's going to bug me. Little kids can't look out the window! He said that procedures were in place to ensure that everything was done correctly (window... anyway!)

So after speaking to George feeling slightly less stressed now.

Lock up stage completed...

... but I'm not convinced!

Went by yesterday to give a Notice to Fence to the community centre. She had left a voicemail message saying that they were not willing to pay for half the cost. So I am now going down the more official route. The end route is the Magistrates Court, but I won't take that pathway, it's not worth it. So just need to wait and see what they say.

Anyway as I was driving out, I saw a truck pulling into the block. I was surprised as I thought they were still on builders' holiday. Apparently though the 2 guys were there to clean up the rubbish. I was nearly going to check out the property, so it's a good thing I didn't! Would have been sprung! They told me that Dan was in the office today - again a surprise as I thought the office wouldn't be open until Monday. So I wrote an email to him asking him to call/email me to clarify about the Lock up stage invoice and the electrical which I still had not heard about.

A couple of hours later, I received a call from George - even more surprising as he wasn't meant to be back at work for another week. He said the electrical admin charge of $250 would be waived. So it should be as the cost was originally due to the lateness of the request, but it's been more than a month since I asked for the variation, so they can't say it was last minute.

With the Lock up stage invoice, he told me that everything had been done, except the doors, which were under $1000, wouldn't take long for the carpenter to put on and are put on between fixing and lock up stage. As I've said before, I'm quite happy to deal with George, and the money had FINALLY been transferred from Ubank to Mum's account on Thursday - TWO weeks after it had been blocked (D was on the phone to them refusing to hang up until they promised that the money was transferred), so there wasn't any point in me delaying the payment.

So I've agreed to pay the invoice next week. However, I noticed some other things:

Eaves have not all been completed! And the internal brickwork for DW2 garage has not been completed! I'll ask next week (see how much the electrical variation is going to cost me...)

Lock up stage 'completed' - 35%