Day 30 - First Issues

Yesterday we had our first site inspection, it was also the first time we met our building inspector and our site supervisor (SS). Both were really good guys. Our building inspector was recommended to us after he picked up 300 issues with another house, that wasn't Metricon and either the other builder was really bad, or he was really good, but either way he sounded like he had an attention to detail, which is what we wanted. The guttering and fascia is also finished.

Site Supervisor
Our SS said that things were going along well and that at this stage this week we should have the plumbing rough-in complete, the roof tiling complete and the windows installed in the frame. He also said that at a normal house build time is about 25-26 weeks for this type of house and that although he has no idea how long this one will take that if all things go well that's what we could base our completion date on. That would put us at completion in the middle of November which works out great for us. Let's hope things keep on track.

Building Inspector
We are yet to receive our report from the building inspector but he said that the quality of the frame was really good. He said they used very good wood and it was all pretty much square with all the rooms the right size. The slab he said was pretty much spot on and they had done a very good job. The only thing he picked up while we were onsite was a couple of blocks missing from the garge wall which need to be between each of the pre-fabricated frames. He was also happy they put down some weather-proofing below the frame where the bricks will go. I'll wait for the full report but hopefully it's all good and he found nothing more.

A Few Issues
All that said about Friday, today we visited the block to find the windows installed...we also stumbled across our first issues.

1. No Double Glazing
Our tri-stacker door has been installed but after close inspection there is no double glazing. It will be interesting to see what they do to fix this. The frame is in and it looks like they will have to take it out in order to fix it.


2. Window Upside-Down
Our family room window was installed upside-down. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to know that the handle is on the roof, just out of reach. Anyway, it will have to be fixed at some point obviously.


3. Broken Windows
We had 2 broken windows, the front window was the worst of the 2 with the family room, not only upside down but with a crack in it.


4. Wrong Door Frame
The front door frame hasn't been installed yet, it looks like it was because they ordered the wrong size. Today when we visited there was another door frame onsite but it didn't have the frosted glass. This is the first oen that was too small. The second picture shows the clear glass instead of the frosted glass.


5. Wrong Coloured Window Winders
The window winders were meant to be woodland grey, but they are black. In the end they look pretty good so I think we'll leave them the way they are.


6. Window Missing
It looks like we got all of our windows onsite except for one. The rear rumpus room window is missing...might get a bit chilly during winter....brrrr.



Progress Photos
There are also some photo's of things that aren't issues which is nice....see below:

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The front of the house with the roof on

View from the front door

The guttering and fascia is finished

View of the Kitchen

The house by default has a cutout inbetween the family and rumpus rooms

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It will be interesting to see what the outcomes with the above issues will be.....stay tuned.

Day 27 - Frame Complete

Very exciting times. Today I got a call from the Site Supervisor, it's the first time that I've spoken to him because I missed his call a few weeks ago and he didn't call last week. He seems like a good guy, he is motoring through getting the frame up, other Metricon houses in our estate are taking a little bit longer to go up compared to ours.

My SS told me that the roof should be finished (he hadn't followed up yet) and that the fascia and guttering would be starting today. At this stage, the roof tiles might be started by the end of the week. I visited the block today but I didn't get any images because it was too dark. The guttering and fascia were pretty much finished. There was a pile of sand in the driveway, most likely for the bricks but no roof tiles on site yet.

The tri-stacker door has been installed, however only the single door is on at the moment. The front door frame is also onsite but not yet installed. Even though it was dark and we don't have roof tiles or bricks yet the woodland grey guttering and fascia looked good.

I have an appointment booked in on Friday for my first inspection with my building inspector. Theoretically the builder is meant to stop going but they are motoring on despite the inspection. I'm sure if something bad comes up they'll have to stop and get it fixed.

The roof looks really high, it's going to be great seeing it all come together as they start the external walls over the coming weeks. I'll aim to get some photos on Friday.

Day 24 - Frame Walls Complete

Friday after checking the status of MyMetricon I found that the frame walls has been marked as completed. Friday night I dropped by quickly on my way to dinner to take a look but it was too dark to see how much progress had been made. Yesterday after a visit to the estate gym we drove by to do a more thorough inspection.

It was exciting to walk through the front door and get a feel for how everything is going to look, it's been a while since we visited the display homes and we made a few minor changes to our home from features we liked from them so it was good to see it starting to come to life.

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View from the front:

Initially looking at this i was a little worried. It looked like they put the shower in laundry, but after thinking about it, it made sense the pipe was where it was so the shower could come out of the wall :) Not sure where the other part of this wall will go, that will obviously happen later.
The tri-stacker door for the alfresco area waiting to be installed. The frame is also onsite, but in another location.
View from the kitchen looking towards the alfresco area.

View from the hallway looking towards the kitchen, dining and alfresco.

Looking at the garage, through to the sitting, family and rumpus rooms.

View from the backyard looking in through the alfresco.

Looking back in from the dining area towards the kitchen, walk in pantry and fridge area. The family room is on the right.

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Given I'm not a builder and I have no idea what I'm looking at, it appeared as though everything had been put together relatively well. We contacted our building inspector this week to make sure he received a copy of our plans etc. He told us to advise Metricon that we would be having a building inspector in at each stage. He said he needs about 2 days notice for each inspection.

I didn't hear from my SS or Customer Service rep this week, I guess at this point of building everything is relatively straight forward and they're busy, hopefully there will be a little more communication forthcoming as we move further into the process.

At this stage it looks like the frame is anticipated to be completed on Wednesday, this is about 5 days longer than the original estimate due to the rain last week. I will also start to update the site with some of our upgrades/inclusions and colour selections.