MIA & Lock up

It has definitely been a while since I last updated.

Since then the slab and frame went up, the roof and brink work completed, plastering has just finished and we have now reached the lock up stage.

It has been a long journey but we are almost there.  One day at a time.

A piece of mind

Although our slab has not been poured yet.  We are planning on getting an independent inspector on board as early as possible.  Beside from giving us a piece of mind.  Logically, if they are building in volume and hiring sub-contractors to do the job, what is the chance that the quality of their workmanship is high.  Any normal individual who has been pressured into doing heaps of houses within a short period of time would rush through it to get it done, no matter what the cost is, even if the house is not structural or otherwise right.  Obviously it does not give those people an excuse for producing bad quality of work, but that is reality.  Its a business after all.  It is all about high profit at low costs.  And we are just another number producing revenue for them.  I really don't trust builders..actually I lie, I used to and thought that they were working for the good of their customers.

I may sound pessimistic but one cannot be so naive as to think all will be well if you just leave it all up to the builders. If you know me personally, you would know I am actually one of the most naive and gullible people around.  As I know myself, I really don't want to be conned, especially on a house which has cost a lot and where sacrifices will have to made to pay it off.

Truthfully, I was never so negative like this until I discovered a great forum which has taught me so much and other people like me and my partner who are first home builders and who has gone through a lot of dramas while building.  It made me realise that its not all sunshine and rainbows.  Yes I had previously truly believed that all we had to do was sign a contract and then leave it up to them to build a wonderful house for us.  I'm just so glad I found out the truth about building before it was too late and before my wallet became even more emptier then it is.

Until they prove me wrong, I will be highly suspicious of everything they do.  My partner however has told me to not be so negative cause apparently negative thinking will cause negative results.  But its not really negative thinking, its just logic.  But deep down I truly hope they do prove me wrong and everything that I have read.

Site Start

After all the drama's of pre-construction, our site has finally started.  Yay!  Did a quick drive by on the day they said they would start and found they were levelling the ground, which is a good sign.  We live very close to the site so I believe we will be visiting it at least 3-4 times a week.  There might not be any changes but I think it will give us a peace of mind on how everything is going.

Based on our customer portal schedule they have stated that the base start date will be the first week of August.  We will see how that goes.

I wonder when we should contact an independent building inspector to start inspecting the workmanship and quality of the build?

Fingers Crossed

We were able to finally get through to PD and the site supervisor.  They have advised that they will remove the fencing and debris by Friday.

Fingers crossed that they are true to their word.

Lets see what happens from here.

It was too good to be true

To put it in short....more dramas.

Our builder contacted us advising that they were unable to survey our land to start our construction because our neighbours builders temporary fencing was in the way.

I was calm until I went to our lot today and saw this.

On the right, where the temporary fencing and crates of brick is, is actually placed on OUR LAND. 

On the far back left is also material for the other neighbour's construction, which is on OUR LAND.

At the front is all their builder's rubbish on OUR LAND.

Our own construction is now delayed because of the three above issues.  Our builder is unable to finalise our plans cause they cannot get onto it, let alone find the formal pegs to indicate where our land start and where it finishes because the neighbours' builders *cough* Porter Davis *cough* have nicely placed their "SH*T" (sorry to be crude) on our lot.

Both neighbours have the same builder and the same site supervisor.  We have already tried contacting their site supervisors many times, all those times his mobile was OFF.  Conveniently enough!

We have now contacted their PD's HQ who has now palmed us off to another area of their company.  Its not even our own builder but the neighbour's builders that's causing all these delays and trouble. 

What are we meant to do?  Seeing the above, makes my blood boil.  I wonder if I can take legal action?

~ I ~

A miracle

A miracle happened.  Actually not sure if we could call it a miracle but it certainly was a coincidence.  As you all know we found dirt and debris had been left on our lot by the neighbours builders.  Today, we thought we would check our lot again and take more recent photos of debris, before we contacted their builders to get them to remove it.  When we got to our lot, what we found was a miracle.  The mountain of dirt had been removed.  The fencing debris is still there but one could easily just lift it up and throw it away.  Don't know if it is a miracle or coincidence, but either way I am just glad that they have removed that mountain.

Now the wait is for our builder to actually start construction on the house.

The land - dirt/debris dumping saga

Well, I have actively been seeking advise from both forums, our CSC and friends regarding the dirt/debris dumping.  It looks like the consenses is to go directly to the builders and ask them to remove it.  However, here lies the other problem, which builder is it?  As you can see from the pictures posted in my last entry, both of our neighbours are well underway with their construction.  Hence which builder do we harass, the one on our right or the one on our left?  Who is the culprit?

I think we will put contacting the council on hold for the moment and see how it goes with contacting the builders.  I'm guessing we will have to go one weekend and ask to speak to the site supervisor.  Weekdays are out of the question as we both work fulltime.

Updates to come....fingers crossed for good news.