Hand Over Postponed

So our house isn't ready, and to make matters worse we're currently battling with the A/C manufacturer who don't want to honour our warranty because they've suddenly decided that they don't like the placement of the exchange unit as it differs to the original plans council approved (council have since approved of the new location in their inspections). The installer wrote a very strongly worded email on the subject, to which we replied in kind. One excerpt I will share with you from my email which I feel actually sums up a lot of issues we have encountered while building, is this:

"Ultimately this matter should have been weighed against building standards/regulations, council requirements and manufacturer recommendations by the professionals we have paid (and who have been licenced) to make such decisions."

We are not the experts, and when we are told that the installer has suggested we can move the unit, we take it on good faith that they know what they are talking about and won't turn around six months later and try to get out of giving us a warranty.

Anyway, I spoke to Fairmont, and they are currently working with the A/C installer to come up with a compromise that will enable us to have a full warranty, but it should never have got to this point. I will not be recommending this A/C installer to anybody, nor will we ever use them again.

Other points holding up handover are the paint and electrics. The painter should be in tomorrow and the sparkys on Friday, however we're not confident the house will actually be ready Friday. The glazing issue, which has been going on since August last year, is still not fully resolved. Fairmont is waiting for the glazier to provide the replacement panes for Bed 1 and the Laundry (Bed 1's wardrobe pane is currently opaque but should be clear and vice-versa for the laundry window). 

Another issue is the gap between the front pylon and driveway. It looks horrible and is one of the first things you see when visiting the house. We are unable to, at such short notice, get the right size tile - though because of the front fascia tile, they would never perfectly line up anyway. For the sake of symmetry, and so that it doesn't stand out immediately to the eye, we have asked that the grout line up and be centered again:

As always, we will keep you posted.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Apologies for the overdue update, but as you can see even within this post, it has been an ongoing struggle for us with changes being made every five minutes! We're also planning our wedding, which has ramped up with the date being less than a year away now and our combined Engagement/Housewarming party currently planned for early March. But we'll continue to fight the good fight and keep you updated. 

The Good:

• -       Scaffolding has come down and the exterior is (mostly) looking good:

• -       Giprock arrived on site last week and is due to start soon

• -       First rough-in of most trades done
• -       Data-cabling done
• -       Our air-con exchange unit can move next to the HWS, which frees up vital room down the side passage

• -       Drain box was installed in the laundry

• -       Powder room plumbing corrected

• -   Balcony has a floor and (mostly) a roof

• -       Waste water pipe moved from Study (Yippee!)

The Bad:

• -       Air-conditioning: vents have not been installed as per the plans and can’t be due to direction of floor joists and raked ceiling /  ducting taking up valuable space in already tiny closets, or just badly positioned within the closets / no say was given to us before install of vents, ducts and controls (this debacle deserves its own post…stay tuned)
• -       Positioning of some items are either incorrect or were installed without asking our input first. One such example (pictured below), is the alarm keypad (white cable) and video intercom (blue cable) which have been installed next to each other but on different walls. The video intercom location is where we specified, and allows for a consol table in the hallway. The alarm keypad was never mentioned to us, and is now inconveniently located (and must be moved):

• -       Have I mentioned the struggle to get landscapers to quote the job? Even our landscape architect is finding it near impossible. We finally met with one on Saturday. They’ve promised to have a quote to us this week, but I’m not holding my breath. I’m also preparing for the worst, cost-wise.

The Ugly

• -       Front windows as drawn in the plans don’t meed code (apparently double-hung windows on the second floor are a falling hazard for young children…makes sense, but would have been nice to know earlier, say, before replacements were installed). It wasn’t until the scaffolding came down that I noticed them, but now that I see them, I hate them. None of the sashes match in thickness and I hate the line that runs through the middle pane (the main reason we chose the other windows was to have one single, uninterrupted pane of glass).

It's hard to see in the pics, but none of the bars are the same thickness (because the lower part of the frame is a different window to the top section), and it doesn't look very good.

This is what we got

This is what we (now) want (originally there were only two sections either side of the centre panel)

Update: It's not looking possible to get the windows we're after (we may be playing a game of "imaginary window"). I'll keep you posted.

• -       We can’t have our skylights *pauses to cry*. The reason, from what I can understand, is that the roofers and/or Fairmont didn’t take the skylights into account when designing the plans/roof. So, there is no flashing that exists (or can be made) that can be installed around the skylights in the position on the plans, due to the hips and valleys of the roof i.e. we could have the skylights…but they wouldn’t be water-tight. Our option is to have one smallish skylight, which I’m really unhappy with (pictured below). Plan B (which Fairmont is currently working on *fingers crossed*) is to install the largest skylight that can possibly fit. I’m trying to see the positives and be thankful that we can have a skylight at all, but this was THE favourite part of the house for me, the part I clung to when all else would go wrong. The space just suits two skylights in the size and location indicated on the plans *sigh* Let’s move on…

U Update: A skylight (not sure which one) was installed today. Stay tuned...

Fairmont's suggestion. We've asked for larger.

• -       We’ve realised that the wall between the stairs and Bed 4 blocks light and the view. So, we’ve asked for it to be removed and balustrading installed there instead.

The wall with the red thing in front of it (currently covering the stair hole), is the one we want to remove.

• -       Had I the time over again, I would have made the doors taller (especially downstairs).
• -    The wardrobe in Bed 3 is very tiny, and now even tinier due to A/C ducting running through it (no choice there I'm afraid). It's 1.1m wide internally. To overcome this, we've asked for the triangular framing between the door and wardrobe to be removed so that we may install a built-in bookshelf after hand-over. This will at least add some interest and as well as storage.

• - The views out of our fixed Media Room window and Formal Living area aren't ideal. I had thought that worst-case-scenario, they would look onto fence, and I could grow some manner of plant against them. However, because our house towers over the finished level of the soil, we will look over the fence at a rather ugly side of our neighbour's house i.e. pipes, fans and the like. In the Formal Living Room I'm content to install sheer drapes (as well as blockouts), but the fixed window in the Media Room really was a feature I was looking forward to, as you look straight at it from the Kitchen. There's not enough room or light to grow a plant to the required height as I first planned. So, my mind is currently thinking on options such as installing a very tall, thin feature of some description outside, or perhaps using a vinyl decal for the window...

I think it's too easy for tradesmen to forget that the buildings they're working on usually come with more than a financial commitment from the owner. They are people's homes, which makes the disappointment that much greater when expectations aren't met.