Independent Inspection!

Howard Ryan, from www.hnkryan.com, did an inspection for us this week, checking the brickwork, roof, plumbing, slab and frame. Howard is very professional and excellent value.

Howard's report indicated there were a few minor issues with the frame, one leaking water tap and a bit of flashing that wasn't complete on the roof (the site supervisor is still waiting on a part for the roof). Some of the brickwork was problematic as expected from our previous posts.

The good news is that we are meeting with our site supervisor next week to go through the defect report and get them rectified as soon as possible.

More progress but still issues with brickwork

Over Christmas, it appears the roof has been concreted, some eave lining has been done and the cement renderer has done most of their work.

Unfortunately, some of the eave lining will have to be ripped out to fix the bricks mentioned in the earlier post. The site supervisor is on leave until Monday so we're not sure when these bricks will get fixed. Here are some photos:Most of the front facade has been rendered. The area above the front door (obscured by the shade) still needs to be done. The final colour is Dulux Slate - much lighter than the colour of the cement.


Close up of the misaligned bricks with the eave lining. The cause of the misalignment at the articulation joint appears to be that extra thick mortar layer beneath the bricks on the left. The three courses above the alfresco on the left do not line up properly with each other either.

Roof on....sort of!

The tap was fixed last week fairly promptly.

The roof tiles, guttering and sarking went on this week because the weather has been wet in Sydney and is expected to continue. There is still some brickwork outstanding though. Some window sills and the pillars for the front facade, particularly the front porch, are still outstanding and these things should be done early in the new year. Hoepfully, some of the brickwork issues shown in the following pictures will be fixed as well:

Alfresco area - the guttering is Dune colour

The front facade - the "lighter" bricks will be rendered over.

I've never seen this before. The weepholes go up the wall and then across.

Some misaligned bricks above the alfresco - to be fair these bricks were done quickly to avoid more weather delays so the roof could go on. However, it is still unacceptable. We'll be employing an inspector to formalise this issue as well as inspect the rest of the home.

This picture shows a missing brick in the bottom right hand corner of the wall near where the the stormwater pipe is. I assume this brick will be replaced!!

Brickwork about 85% complete, but with a leaking tap

This week, it was clear the brickwork is nearing completion. The brickie said he still had to do the window sills, the pillars at the front for the entry and southern side and to finish the fireplace.

Unfortunately, we have a leaking tap - leaking for the last two weeks. We've left messages and emails with Eden Brae (who were re-locating last week), but the leak is still there. We'll see what happens this week.

Here are some photos:

The front walls are almost complete

The southern wall is now complete apart from the window sills

The top on the fireplace still needs to be done.


The leaking tap (with the hose attached). It's hard to see in the picture but it's dripping at the rate of a drop every 2 seconds. The pool of water is related to both the leak and a savage storm the day before.

A little bit of progress

There was a day or so of rain this week so only a bit of progress was made on the brickwork. Most of the progress was on the Southern and front walls:

Front elevation - the wall with the two windows will be rendered.


It's difficult to tell but most of the Sourthern wall is complete to the rear of the laundry door.

Brickwork 1/2 complete

Last week's photos corrupted, but as this week's photos show, the brickwork is about half done. The brickwork progress claim arrived in the mail last Monday - a fair bit early. A quick phone call to the accounts section and everything was sorted.

Here are the photos:The front

The southern boundary


The outside of the living room with the fireplace

The alfresco

Taps fixed and frame pretty much complete

The windows for the front facade have been installed and the taps have been relocated to the correct location. Brickwork was expected to start during the previous week but has obviously been put off for a week.

Front facade with the windows installed.


No taps between rumpus windows anymore.


Taps are now located between these two windows. It's hard to see from the photo, but they are there.