Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Brickwork being pulled out and redone

Our brickwork is so bad the builder is pulling all the brickwork down and re-doing it. While we appreciate the builder did not force us to go the Fair Trading to rectify the brickwork, we had to go up the management chain at Eden Brae towards the end of the project to get them to address the brickwork. The site supervisor did a poor job there. The house is pretty much done apart from some minor faults and some painting, but now we have to wait a few weeks for all the brickwork to be done.

Our bulkhead above the kitchen will not fit our rangehood despite the rangehood model being specified in the contract up front, drawings provided and so on. Again, another kitchen stuff-up. We're going to have to figure out some compromise there. The builder wants us to wear the insurance risk on the rangehood because they might have to install it before settlement. The answer as far as we are concerned is NO WAY!!

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Slowly getting closer but a bit of a struggle

We haven't updated for a while because not a lot of things changed and there were quite a few issues which we were chasing up the builder for. Fair dinkum, the owner needs to know more than the builder.

One thing that came up recently was the venting of the rangehood. Our site supervisor tried to tell us it was OK to vent into the ceiling and that's generally what they do. However, this practice is illegal and a fire hazard (and has been for some time) and we're surprised Eden Brae would condone this practice.

Here are some pictures of some of the issues we've had:

Skirting not matching the wall - fortunately this issue is the only problem the fixer has caused and it's pretty minor.


We asked for this roller lock on our front door because roller locks work well with pull handle door furniture and below, what we were given (not a roller lock)

This lock may be part of the temporary door furniture, so we'll give them the benefit of the doubt here.

Oops, the gas point doesn't allow the kitchen drawer to shut properly.

The basins were supposed to be supplied with chrome accessories, not the cheap white plastic shown here. Perhaps the chrome ones are being kept off site.

All these issues and more have been communicated to the builder in writing with references to the contract specifications but the response has been silence. I guess we'll wait and see.
On a more positive note, here are some pictures of the kitchen and some of the painting (though most is just undercoat we think):New pantry doors and the bulkhead that was forgotten originally.

The kitchen has the benchtops and sink installed. A glass splashback will go behind the cooktop.

Another view of the kitchen. The cabinetmaker's work is very nice.


The Essa Stone waterfall edge in the kitchen.

The ensuite cabinets and basins.

Main bathroom cabinetry and basin. The basin is inset because children might struggle with a higher basin like the ensuite.


Laundry overhead cupboards with drying line


Laundry cupboard. A laundry tub and mixer will go into the benchtop.

Laundry broom cupboard

Looking through to the kitchen and family area, so of the walls, skirting and architraves have been painted but obviously there is more to go.