Jacinta & Steve's building experience

2009-09-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

Once again I have been slack.... We are now completed and have our inspection on Tuesday morning and hopefully handover the week after! We have our certificate of occupancy that we sent to the bank yesterday with the final invoice.... it's getting very exciting now! Here are some pics of what it looks like now!

2009-08-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

Well the house is well on its way to being finished... these photos are from monday as we are now 100% locked out so not sure what else has been done... allt hat was left to be done on monday was basins to be put in and taps for basins, tiles to be fixed on bath, render to be top coated and shower screens. Went up on tueesday but they had cleaned the house and completely locked us out.... eagerly awaiting our inpsection now!

Front door handle (regretting not changeing it but its now on the to do list)
Shower all fitted out

Ensuite towel ladder

Ensuite toilet

bath has been fitted - they did it ass about had to remove tiles to connect it up

Close up of connections nice to see some left over bricks came in handy!

Our taps

Bathroom towel rail

Kitchen sink

Outside tap

Door handle throughout (will change front to same)

2009-08-08T19:54:00.001-07:00

Ok lazy again.... heres what happened in the last 2 weeks.... Tiles are finished, electrical fit off is done, air con and heating vents are in, downpipes are on, garage door is on, cupboards are all decked out, colourbond is in the portico... here are the pics...

2009-07-26T01:56:00.000-07:00

Here are the pics from this week, painting is 75% done, benchtops in and bricks are clean and render done!

2009-07-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Well i've been slack but fixing stage is complete... SS seems to think about 4 week till we are in... i'm working on a few more to be safe... Pics speak a thousand words so here they are:

Kitchen Cabinets:

Bathroom Cabinet:

Ensuite Cabinet:

Laundry Cabinet:

Doors through out house:

Front door (huge porch):

Bricks finished (but not cleaned):

Eaves:

Front of the house (bricks finished):

Front from other side of the road:

2009-06-22T23:53:00.000-07:00

Ok well it has been a while and i'll try and bring you back up to speed!

We have a roof:

Networking cables:
Bricks:

Plaster is in:

Still waiting on bricks to be finished and today they were still working when I went up at 6pm finishing the plaster... its all going so quickly!

Bricks sorted hopefully for the last time and frame done!

2009-06-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

Well after thinking our bricks were sorted it was a "NO" they couldn't get them either so asked us to pick from Boral or Austral... So today we headed over to Cosham interiors and got downt o 2 bricks. It was between Raheen and Mocha both by Boral! We headed off to boral to look at their walls before we made a final decision and finally decided on Raheen even though it is a category 5 upgrade. So hopefully tomorrow we will recieve our building variation and they will be ordered.

In the mean time our framing is finished, gutters and fascia are done and windows and door frames are in.

Pics:

Bricks sorted!

2009-05-29T01:12:00.000-07:00

Well our bricks are sorted..... I have signed and faxed off our building variation to change our bricks to Musket Haze! Our administrator said now that we have signed the variation our SS can ring the order through first thing Monday morning!

Frame pics

2009-05-28T20:33:00.000-07:00

Just an update the started our frame on wednesday below are some pics from yesterday!
Oh and our administrator called yesterday and they can't get our bricks anymore.... :(
So I called Selkirk this morning and they advised that thye could no longer make ironstone anymore due to not being able to get one of the additives. But they did tell me that we can get Musket haze which was our second choice.... but of course now DP now wants to go back to Cosham tomorrow to double check that its definatey the brick we want!

We have a SLAB!!

2009-05-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well pics say it all! Here is our slab.. Frame should be starting Wednesday.

Preparation:

Slab:

WE HAVE SITE START!!!

2009-05-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

Well got a phone call from our contrstruction administrator introducing herself on Monday and she told me that we had site start that day! Went down and the guy was cutting the block.... Popped up yesterday and its all done and DP stopped in on later in the afternoon and met the SS and they were pegging out for the house. Plumbing and electrical roughing in should be done today/tomorrow and concreters monday! Soo excited I can see something happening now!

Water Meter:

Getting Cut:

Cut:

Final Drawings and bank loan done

2009-05-07T23:37:00.000-07:00

Well all the bank stuff is done!!! They have the signed documents and are ready to do our payment when required.

Final drawings turned up in the mail last night and are now all signed, sealed and hopefully delievered on monday! In with our final drawings there was a PCV which Henley did on our behalf as we chose a structural option and they had to shorten our kitchen bench by 180mm so they changed it on the plans and gave us a $106 rebate!

Spoke to our administrator and she said our site start was still looking good for next Friday! Lets see what happens!

Unconditional Approval and Site Start!!!

2009-04-30T01:14:00.000-07:00

Well got the call we had been waiting for we have unconditional approval..... Then Henley rang and said we just need to sign a form saying that we are happy for them to start building with out us complying with Clause 13 of the contract at this stage as we havent supplied them with our signed loan documents... they are offerring this to speed up the process aslong as we supply the documents to them in a timely manner which should be next week anyway before they start. Oh and out site start should be 2 weeks time no definate day yet they just said 10 days so im assuming working days and that it will be 14th or 15th of May! Im so excited now.....

Also in the phone call from Henley apparently the site supervisor went out to the block and believes that one of our pegs was missing but DP went up and they were all there, one was just covered by a bit fo dirt.... that was a relief. They also said some rubbish needed to be removed from the block. So I got onto Simonds as they are building next door and had left a pile of concrete on our block and surprisingly it was gone when I went up there tonight the rest of the rubbish god knows where it came from and some was from the council as a pipe must have burst in our nature strip and they repaired it but left their mess.... So I have just spent 45mins cleaning the block and then more time trying to squeeze it all in the bin here at home thank god its bon day tomorrow! Well end of the essay for today lets see what the next few weeks hold!

Bank valuation in!!

2009-04-28T00:43:00.000-07:00

Well i spoke to the broker tonight and our valuation came through yesterday at 370k... which is good very happy with it... its more than we have paid for the land and the house but not quite as much after we add in carpet, driveway, fencing and tiles but we can deal with that......

Good news today!!!

2009-04-21T22:26:00.001-07:00

Firstly in response to yesterdays rant - I spoke to our family friend and he is still over seeing all of his files until they are complete but has definately left. He thought the new person taking over my file who is the principal of the business would have informed me. Anyways dropped in all the information they require and copies of everything today and it all seems good to go again just waiting on the bank to do their bit of which i did notice in my netbank there was a new account number there but it was unable to show any anymore details so hoping its the home loan which means they are working on it!

Other good news today was I got a phone call from my administrator to tell me that our Developer Approval has come through so we are one step closer!!! YAY! Oh and forgot to say the other day we have had an excavator/bulldozer thing sitting on our block for the last week im thinking it awfully early to be there for ours but we will soon see!!!

SOOO OVER MORTGAGE BROKERS!!!!

2009-04-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

Ok before I start ranting went and paid infrastructure levy today so we can move along with getting our building permit sent that off to henley so that parts all good.

Then I went to the brokers to drop off the first home owners grant paperwork and copies of out birth certificates and i have been dealing with the boss for the last 2 weeks so i asked if my broker who is a family friend was on holidays and got tolf no he no longer worked for them.... now for starters I would have liked to have been told this. Then he proceeds to tell me I also had to get part of my contract certified aswell as both of our drivers licences! I wish he would have just told me this from square one because it now means i have to go get more things certified and go back there tomorrow to drop them off. Oh and whilst I was there he told me im too hard to get onto and never return calls well he has left me 2 messages of which i have replied to both whether it be that evening or the next day so i just said to him I was sorry i did not have a 9-5 job and he then tried to cover up he was joking!!! Ahhh sooo pissed off right now! I knew everything had been going too smoothly to be real! Well hopefully when I drop it all off tomorrow its all done and works out! Sorry bout the rant!

CONTRACTS SIGNED!!!

2009-04-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday we went and signed our contracts!!! They are all done yay best birthday present ever! Ou CSC is going to apply for our building permit today and order our final drawings! I'm, off soon to drop in contracts to the broker! Lets just hope this last bit runs smoothly can't wait till site start and I can actually see something happening!

Contract Signing Cancelled

2009-04-02T23:43:00.000-07:00

Got a phone call at about 2pm today from our administrator stating she had to cancel our contract signing tonight as due to the weather they had lost power and were unable to complete our signing. Now I have to call back on monday to organise another time to do it which is a bit of a pain as we had organised for time off work etc but i guess its something we have no control over! I just hope we get slotted in somewhere and don't have to wait weeks!

Contracts arrived

2009-04-01T14:48:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday we recieved the contracts in the mail and my god is there alot to initial and sign. We have our contract appointment tomorrow of which im quite nervous abot don't know why though but very excited at the same time! Luckily for us eveything has been right in the contracts which I think is a rarity these days!

Contract Documents..

2009-03-27T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday I recieved an email with all of our contract drawings and colours selection and a copy of our new tender which we will sign at out contract appointment on Friday as we made a few minor changes. My partner and I have looked over them and surprisingly they are all correct! So now I have to call our admiinistrator on Monday and she will send out a copy of our bound contracts via courier... It's getting so exciting! I just can't wait to have my house!

House Plan & Site Plan

2009-03-19T15:12:00.001-07:00

Well here is a copy of the exact house plan and a copy of the site plan that we recieved at tender.. The house plan has all our electricals drawn on it so apologies there!

Tender Complete, Contract Signing Booked

2009-03-13T15:21:00.001-07:00

Well we completed tender yesterday... stoked with site costs came in at $6768 thats with a rock provision... our tender presenter said they are the lowest hes seen in years! Everything else has worked out nicely the siting on the block is really good, all our upgrades came in at a good price! We left Henley then got a phone call an hour later booking in our contract signing for the 3rd April - I can't believe its soo quick here was me thinking 5-6 weeks.... Getting really excited now... looking more and more like we may be in for christmas!

Soil Test Results

2009-02-25T20:01:00.001-08:00

Well i got a call from our administrator at Henley yesterday to give me our soil test resuts as she knew i was quite nervous about them. We have M class soil thank god but she said they did hit a tiny bit of rock right at the bottom which shouldn't be an issue as it is so deep but they may put a rock allowance in our contract. She also said we shouldn't need piering but will have to make our slabb approx 150mm thicker across the back of the house. So we will see the formal report and costing on the 13th but she said nothing jumped out to her as being too much of an issue.

Tender Booked

2009-02-22T22:31:00.000-08:00

Henley called today tender is booked in for Friday 13th March.... lets hope itf not too unlucky of a day! Bit nervous about the site costs but hoping we will be ok as we only have approx 600mm of fall on the block! Just can't shake that feeling!

Loan approved and Administrator assigned!

2009-02-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

OK well our mortgage broker let me know this afternoon our loan has been approved for the house and its more than we need!!! Soooo Happy!

I then decided I hadn't heard about an administrator being assigned by Henley so i rang and found out we had one assigned today. Left a message and she called me back - apparently she hadn't called because she doesn;t have our paperwork yet as the Tender people are now booking their own appointments as they are now offering after hours appointments whihc is soo good to hear my partner wont need to take another day off work! She advised me that I should hear from the by the end of Monday soo all sounds very promising!!!

House plans and photos of block

2009-02-11T20:55:00.000-08:00

Ok now that I have found my adaptor I can put some of these up...

Our Block:

Its the yellow one on the corner

Standing at the top of our block

Thats my car in the driveway

Lookign across from next door(thats their toilet)

Our House Plans:

Colour Appointment/Soil Test/Morgage documents signed

2009-02-11T16:46:00.000-08:00

Ok well yesterday we had our colour appointment. It took us just under 2 hours to finalise all our colours and upgrades. We had previously been to Cosham Interiors on Sunday and already worked out kitchen and exterior colours so was only the bathroom we had to worry about. In total we have worked out it is roughly $3000 worth of upgrades which isn't too bad at all.

We also has a visit from the mortgage broker last night to get us to sign the documents for the contruction loan so we can get formal approval not just pre-approval.

I also took my partners mother up to the block just for a look again and found that they have done our soil test - we have 5 nicely drilled holes on the block even though they did fill a few of them back up... All looks like clay to me!

Heres some pics:

Its all getting very exciting just waiting on Henley to allocate us an administrator and organise tender appointment!

2009-02-05T04:36:00.000-08:00

Well well well... Last night mortgage broker came over (family friend) and all is good on the loan front can get what we need pending valuation but should be fine even on them being a bit cautious at the moment with the economy crisis! Then today we went back to Henley and signed all the price stuff to which they lowered the price of flipping the front of the house! So all looks good... we booke dour colour appointment for next Wednesday so i have 6 days to work out my colours... im scared but soo excited at the same time. We have also decided to do our main room tiling after handover (henley will only do wet areas) as we can save $3000-$4000 and also we have fallen in love with a certain tile which doesn't fall into category one.....

Deposit Paid!!

2009-02-01T04:33:00.000-08:00

Ok well the last few days have been full of decisions and discussions...... As per my previous post we have gone for The Cooper by Henley. The changes we made were the flipped front option, theatre to rear option to allow for the door to come off the side of the family room so the alfresco would be in a better place! We also decided to go for 2740mm ceiling height, brick infill above windows and doors, draws to bathroom and ensuite vanitys, laminate bench and cupboards to laundry, evap cooling, tiling to kitchen/dining, lounge and entry done by henley. So after handover all we need is carpet! I'm so excited... have been looking at colours today and its so hard but luckily my partner and I have similar ideas and tastes... Have a meeting with the broker Wednesday to get the final official pre approval.... which we need 40k under what they offerred us! Will keep you all updated!

Finally a decision

2009-01-12T04:35:00.000-08:00

Well we have finally decided that we are definately going to build the Cooper by Henley. There are a few questions about how we would like to change things but we will get to that. What we need to do now is wait for our mortgage broker to get back from holidays which is next week i think and then we can apply for the loan extension and get the ball moving. Hopefully we can meet with our consultant at henley this weekend or early next week and discuss the finer details! It all becoming so exciting... a few days ago I was over building a house full stop!

New house design again!

2009-01-10T04:28:00.000-08:00

Well went and had the Carinya sited as we decided we didn't like the other two and guess what it doesn't fit! The 15m version fits just but won't allow us to have an alfresco on the side and my darling partner requires his shed out the bak so we can't but it there and im not going to deprive him of the shed. So now we have found the Cooper which required us to reverse the garage and mast bedroom but has been sited on the block and is looking pretty promising thank god its about time. i think 6 months of looking at houses has gotten to me but i love the cooper and hopefully we can go and discuss options as we want to put an alfresco on the cooper aswell just hope its available where we want it or we will be back to square 1!

new house design

2009-01-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

Well last night my darling partner decided how about we look at something slightly smaller... so here goes i sit on the computer for hours and come up with 3 more options - henley - carinya, simonds - lumino and burbank - courbold. Went and looked at the carinya today and im absolutely in love wth it - the sales guy showed me all my options for changes and i made a fair few and the house is coming in $17k cheaper than any of the others and its still a 26sq house... So hoping darling partner will go with me Sat to look at it and love it just as much as i do and then one problem will be solved with many more to come i can imagine..... i just can't wait to have a house decided on!

How it all started & where we are at

2009-01-03T21:53:00.000-08:00

Ok well it all started one day when i decided a block of land looked good. Went up to Mernda/Doreen and looked at several estates and many of which i didn't even know existed. I found Eminenece estate which i really liked and went back to my partner and suggested we look well all went well and we bough a block in Eminence estate in Doreen. Signed our contracts on the 2nd of July 2008 and the land finally settled on the 11th December 2008.

Now we have been looking at house plans and are stuck between Porter Davis - Heywood, Henley Verve - Eve and Watersun Homes - Scarborough.

We are hoping to start building late this year. I just can't wait to be in our own place. Since buying the land we have come across a few issues. Initially the land was advertised as 607m2 but when looking through contracts a bit deeper its o nly 589m2 and 3 other blocks around us had changed aswell. The developer agreed to give us a $2000 rebate at settlement. Since settlement we have recieve an amended rates notice which is all good and well but we paid the developer $120 at settlement for the rates they had supposedly paid. Now the council are telling me I must pay them that because the developer hasn't paid them. I have spoken to my conveyancer who has been fantastic and they have documentation that they rates were paid by the developer and we should only have to pay more because its now a block. So I am yet to go back to the council and see what they have to say now!

Sorry for the essay hopefully cant pick a house and start filling you in on that.

Cheers Jacinta