A lot has been happening the last few weeks. On the 17th July we had our lock-up inspection. Lock-up came up very quickly and at the last minute we booked the in our building inspector, except he was on leave for a few weeks so instead we got his son.
The inspection went very well, there were quite a few items to come out of it, but we'll get to those. There were actually a series of frame issues that were also picked up that our first inspector missed which is a little disappointing.
It might be worth while getting a cup of coffee or tea before reading this MEGA update.
Lock-Up StageThe list of things that were picked up during the lock-up inspection were:
- Fit infills above doors and windows where required.
- Fit infills to raised roof area.
- Clean bricks.
- Provide weepholes and flashing under all windows.
- Brickwork overhangs the slab by approximately 22mm at the Outdoor Area/Dining
- Room door – maximum overhang allowed is 15mm.
Articulation joints to the right hand side of the Outdoor Area and north wall of garage are not continuous. - Brick lintel above garage front door to be galvanised to match all other lintels.
- Rubber window sill gaskets are missing to the Sitting Room windows and the brick sills should have a clearance gap.
- Provide fascia and spouting above retreat window and complete roof cover.
- Door stud to left hand side of Bathroom door opening is not nailed to the bottom plate.
- Ensure bath & spa hob tops are flush and continue to window frame.
- Window and door frames to be installed to manufacturers requirements.
- Pack studs to wall under opening at Family/Rumpus – both sides.
- Explain partial roof sarking.
- Fit stud to left hand side Kitchen bulkhead.
- Ensure insulation is installed to manufacturers requirements.
- Provide trimming for plaster south west corner Sitting Room.
- Ensure all walls are straight, plumb, corners fixed and correctly packed.
- Ensure adequate bracing to internal wall frames.
- Ensure floor flashing is complete to both shower bases.
- Cut out Ensuite toilet door plate.
- Provide nogs for panel lift garage door.
- Ensure power points are as plan in Laundry and Bathroom.
- Replace odd coloured bricks (3), left and right hand side of front door (orange coloured).
As you can see most of these are not an issue. Some of them are things that the building inspectors pick up are just because you're paying them money and the longer the list the better it looks. The first observation that was made was that the bricks were very good, they were very well aligned and he commented how they looked good even though they hadn't been cleaned.
Now for the issues:
You can see the brick below is a litle bit orange, the surface had been scraped away so it had to be replaced. I think the bricky must have thought that this area was rendered so he left it.
These are some bricks in the portico that were also damaged.
These were the bricks by the garage that had some surface damage.
This is the replacement bricks that were put in a few days later. They managed to grab one more brick that was slightly damaged but there isn't much I can do about it. I mentioned it to the SS and he basically said yeah if you look at them all they are all like that...which they aren't.
These are the garage bricks that were replaced.
The waterproof skirting around the bathroom didn't go all the way to the showerbase esentially meaning that it may not be waterproof. This area was fixed, but another one wasn't.
This one below didn't get fixed. The SS said it would be alright, I don't believe him but I will follow up on it this week. Because Metricon passed their frame inspection they said it was fine to proceed to plaster.
This is how they decided to fix it...its better but still a bit dodgy.
This bit wasn't even touched. This is the one I'm going to follow up about. It is the cloest point to the shower and Metricon said it would be fine!!!
I can't believe this was missed in the first frame inspection, however it is harder to pick it up without a roof etc. There is a whole stud missing from the kitchen to make it square. This is now fixed.
There should be a rubber seal under the window which is missing from 2 windows. They initially said they would just put some sealant over it but I asked for the windows to be replaced..after all there new.
This was meant to be packed prior to plaster, I don't think it happened.....
All of the beams on the portico are galvanised steel meaning they won't rust. This one above the garage entry wasn't for some reason. My inspector said make them put in galvanised which would have meant pulling all these bricks down. I called the council and the surveying firm that did our building permit and they said it should be alright. What it means is that I'm going to have to keep painting it to ensure it doesn't rust.
The insulation was a little dodgy with whole areas missed.
You can see they thought this area wasn't even worth doing. This has now been fixed.
There was an expansion joint that was missed at the bottom. Initially my SS forgot to tell the brickies to fix it so they'll have to come back to fix this bit. Apparently they just cut off some of the brick at the bottom.
The spa is in as is the pump. This is a dodgy bit of work however there is a cover that goes over the hole in the bricks so we'll see how this turns out.
You can see the window bowing from the weight of not being packed correctly. Getting the windows packed has been a real issue. The manufacturer says they should be nailed at 3 points in the side, ours are nailed at 2, they are also meant to be packed solid, ours aren't packed at all. I was told by the SS that there is a gap after plaster and they will pack them. I know they won't but there isn't much I can do except for keep asking, I can only assume it will happen otherwise they can pull off the window skirting and pack them properly.
There were a couple of braces missing from the frame initally. I ended up getting a copy of the bracing plan. You can see here that they replaced a stud and in doing so cut the brace. I had them replace it prior to plaster and I also confirmed every brace as per the bracing plan to ensure nothing was missed. Apparently Metricon's frame stage is quite strict but still, you're better off checking it yourself to be safe.
PlasterIt took us a couple of weeks to get to plaster after lock-up was meant to be finished. The main reason for this was due to the issues with the frame needing to be resolved. They got all of them except for a few minor issues, but building with a volume builder what do you expect. I trust that 99% of the issues are resolved that we picked up and the rest will be done in due course.
The house has now been rendered at the front as you can see below. This is just the prime coat of render, it isn't the final colours, it will be painted closer to completion.
As you can see below the plaster is now all in. The skirting boards are going in this week with plaster expected to be finished by the end of the week. The plaster actually looks pretty good, we'll see how the next inspection goes but it seems pretty straight. Most of that I think comes down to the fact our frame was made really well with good timber and it was already quite straight which has been commented on by the 2 building inspectors and also Metricon.
The spa is now also in which is very exciting!!!!!
This is the view looking in from the front door. You can see that you can look straight through to the backyard which I really like.
One of the issues that wasn't resolved before plaster was the electricity box pole that is meant and was leaning into the bedroom. I'm not sure how they will fix this without damaging the plaster but we'll see what they do.
This is the view from the family room looking towards the dining area and backyard.
This is the projection in the bedroom...it's hard to get a full shot of the bedroom it's a little big for the camera without a wide angle lens
I'm guessing that the optic fibre has been installed. I can only trust that this locked box is the ONU where the fibre is terminated.
It is funny how by writing this blog I realise how much stuff has happened in the last few weeks. Not seeing any progress between bricks finishing and the plaster for 2 weeks I thought nothing was happening but it appears as though things were busier than I thought.
This week hopefully all the cabinets should go in, next week we'll hopefully be painting and based on the estimates I've been given we should be in within about 3 months.
Our next door neighbours appear as though they are basically ready to move in, we got a letter today about the fences. That side of the fence will needs a wall to reinforce it which was included in the quote however I'm not sure how deep they are going to do it given that our soil needs to be built up quite considerably.
We also got a bill from Metricon for removing our rocks, they didn't ask us they took them and charged us about $300 but we were going to keep a couple for the front yard. I still need to work out if I'm going to pay it or argue that they should have told us first.
Hopefully next time it won't be so long between entries.
Kitchen with view of walk in pantry, fridge cutout and front door.
Ensuite cabinets and board for mirror. The bottom section will all be tiled right up to underneath the cabinets.
Bath sink installed...same deal here with tiles going up to meet the cabinet. This was an upgrade but we though it would like nice to go with the full tiled shower base compared to laminate.
The door in and ready for some paint.
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