OUR HEYWOOD 25

2009-04-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

well last night we went to the house and the bath has been pulled out, and thats about it, the tiles are still all there.

WE have finally got our letter regrading the practical completion inspection (which happened on the 31st March) so this letter was really pointless as it also said that handover will be the 20th April.

Apparently the plastering painintg and tiling will all be done next week ready for final inspection next friday arvo and then handover the following monday or tuesday...not holding my breath there is a whole house to repaint as well as outside as well, and we will not be taking possesion until everything is done at least on the inside...font want tradies coming in and out once we are living there

THE BRICKS

2009-04-15T05:06:00.000-07:00

THE BRICK ISSUE EXPLAINED
The main hold up has been the bricks which is still not completely rectified. When the bricks were put up in November, a noticeable variance in color was detected on the side wall of the meals area. Boral checked it out and authorized for the wall to be pulled down and replaced. Only problem was while waiting for Boral to check the wall, the brickies continued and did the wall around the sliding door and the wall next to this one in the alfresco wrong color as well. We bought this up and it has taken up until last month for someone to acknowledge that they were infact different and for these bricks to finally be replaced.

But before they replaced them Boral suggested a procedure to make the bricks blend in (the right bricks had a paler line through and the wrong ones didn’t- but the wrong bricks were also very brown and the right bricks had a red tinge). So paint was put on the wrong bricks (and many of the correct bricks) and it looked liked a five year old had been playing with a paint brush, it was ridiculous.

This all happened at the end of February.
Then we were told that the paint couldn’t come off, so more walls had to be replaced, the rear wall of the family room and the one next to it which is the side of the bedroom which was done mid march along with the walls of wrong bricks being replaced

Our SS didn’t want to have to pull down the pillars which they had painted on or any more walls (under the windows in the ensuite and lounge room) so he called a graffiti removalist who suggested paint stripper, which worked. So they could have saved so much running around and stress and money by either not using this paint in the first place or by investigating removal options earlier. I dont understand why anyone would see this painting as acceptable.
After almost 5 months finally it is sorted and all the while we were holding off making our fix payment.

Along with this, almost every thing that has been done has had to be redone at least once as it was incorrectly done- such as mirrors, position of vanities, basins, tiling, bath placement, windows, the list goes on.

Lets hope it all happens soon

MARCH

2009-04-15T04:57:00.000-07:00

MONTH SEVEN
MARCH

19th March Inside has been cleaned up and it is all looking good although it is now quite messy again, but the brick issue was still continuing.

Outside was cleaned up after many complaints from the neighbours- the mess was terrible and embarrassing. (you can see some of it in previous photos)

20th March Carpet is in (vintage leather)

On 31st March we had our PC inspection with many painting and wall alignment issues, as well as a couple of other things such as the bath and spout not aligning, and it is all all connected up.

Since the PC inspection very little has been done, none of the walls or paint issues have been touched, neither has the bath, which is also not centered. There are also doors which have been damaged and need replacing. All that seems to have been done is the realignment of cupboard doors in the kitchen and a power point has been replaced. Outside also still needs painting- including alfresco, entry porch render and above all windows and doors and the front door. I don’t think our handover will be next week as we were told before Easter. One thing we defiantly recommend is having an independent inspector through your home.

We continue to wait for work to be done and for contact from the SS ans CSC, which surprises me now that we are 5 weeks into the “they pay us” period

FEBRUARY

2009-04-15T04:49:00.000-07:00

MONTH SIX
FEBRUARY
5th February- bath tiling and laundry tiling – Lucindo bianco gloss white 250x330-- (this bath tiling has been redone once and now needs to be redone again…15th April)

Lights are in also (thanks to the tradies who often leave doors unlocked, we have been able to get lots of progress photos)

By 19th February- toilets showers and mirrors are in

this toilet wasnt connected up and had no water in it but some tradie decided to use it anyway

25th February- yikes it is supposed to be purple- it took our SS two-three weeks to tell us this was an undercoat. It still remains today (15th April) and we have been told the purple (FEVER) gets painted on- not happy we thought the purple was render not paint. Otherwise why could we not just choose any paint color rather than the selection at Hopetoun?

January

2009-04-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

MONTH FIVE
JANUARY

20th January 2009- floor tiling has begun (BANUR EARTH 450x450)
This was also something that we changed in our plan- we put tiles in front hallway and rear hallway instead of carpet.

29th January splashback is in- ocean trapeze is the color- the hardest decision of the whole color selection stage for us, but we are wrapped with the color

31st January- garage door is in- beacuse we made the gargae wider the door had to be wider but is defiantley worth the extra cost

DECEMBER

2009-04-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

MONTH FOUR

2nd December window frames skirts archs and doors underway

19th December- painter done for round one and bench top is in (quantum quartz- Ice)
Paint is new soft blush for walls and chalkdust on archs skirts and window frames and doors

24th December rendering has been started (now its time for the Christmas break)

At this point our SS was predicting a late February early march handover date

NOVEMBER

2009-04-15T03:26:00.000-07:00

MONTH THREE
NOVEMBER

6th November most of the plaster has been hung, bricks are still going, some walls were done with the wrong color bricks so a wall was pulled down and redone, but two walls were not redone at this time, in fact it wasn’t until march that they were finally pulled down and redone.

22nd November - bricks are sort of finished and cabinets have arrived

24th November -vanities are ebony macassar in color for both bench top and cabinets in bathrooms and bench top in laundry is Peruvian clay to blend in with floor tiles

26th November- kitchen is in- espresso under cupboards and moleskin overhead cupboards

OCTOBER

2009-04-15T02:57:00.000-07:00

MONTH TWO
OCTOBER
By October 1st the roof trusses and windows were in. The color of the windows is paperbark October 10th the sisilation is up and gutters and fascias are done. The gutters are woodland grey and fascias are paperbark. The plumbing also began. October 16th- the Gunmetal Grey roof tiles were done in a day. October 30th- Bricking begins with Boral Brown Terrain bricks.

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS

2009-04-15T02:28:00.000-07:00

MONTH ONE

September 2008

It all began in September while we were on holidays, on September 21st we found that preperation had begun on the block. The slab was poured September 25th and the framing had begun September 26th.The frame was done by September 29th.

COLOR SELECTION

2009-04-15T02:27:00.000-07:00

In June/ July we picked our colors and luckily we both had similar tastes so it was easy, although it did cost a little more but definitely worth it, we were all set for a November start. But the people at porter Davis had better ideas and gave us a little incentive to start in September instead. This still meant we would be held up with Xmas but the contract end date was now a couple months earlier, ending in mid-March, so we were looking forward to Having Easter in our new house. As it turns out we will probably be in by our initial date that was set, had we had started in November :-(

DECIDING ON THE PLAN

2009-04-15T02:20:00.000-07:00

We had initially made a deposit on the SOHO by Burbank before changing our minds in terms of the house's style and going with the Heywood 25, feeling that the 28 was a bit too big for us. We signed up for this home on 29th April 2008, Joel at Tarneit display home was fantastic, even though they didn’t have a Heywood here on display we still designed our home along with Joel.
Many changes were made to the initial plan, with the garage extended, a “grand” alfresco area added, doors added to back hallway and WIR and ensuite. The courtyard was also omitted and the lounge extended in this space, with doors added on the hallway side.

ORIGINAL PLAN

OUR HOME

THE STORY SO FAR

2009-04-15T02:16:00.000-07:00

Our Heywood by Porter Davis

Here is a bit of an overview of the houses progress- Jamie and Narelle- Bannockburn

In January 2008 we settled our land and continued looking for a home to build. Our block is a corner block 855m2 with a 24m front and 36m side.

The Block: