In a Whirlwind (Final Inspection)

Well it is almost time for handover and the last few day have been complete craziness!

In between preparing for a Garage Sale (which was advertised to start 8:00am Saturday morning but in fact in the eyes of the professional dealers started Wednesday morning) and packing I had my final walk through and inspection on Friday.

I was most impressed. Everything that I had been worried about when I walked through the house a couple of weeks ago had been taken care of without me having to point them out to my SS. Both the windows have been fixed. I took a friend along as an extra pair of eyes and with the companies inspection, the independent inspection and mine I am pretty happy.

My SS advised me that the feature wall in the rumpus room had been re-painted again due to damage made by the carpet installers and that they had also repainted the two walls in the dining as there had been a scratch in the plaster work and some dirty marks.

The only disappointment for me is the splash back in the kitchen. Although the colour ordered was 'stone' it does not seem to be the colour that I had picked out and taken a photo of all those months ago. Instead of a green tinge it seems to be more of a latte colour.

I could kick up a fuss and have it replaced but this would hold up the hand over for another four weeks! Do I want to do this? No! I know some people will say do not compromise but I am in a corner at the moment with having no where to live after this week, I just want to get into my home and if a green tinge on a splash back is all that's holding things up than it is not worth it. I have been told by several people who have spoken to sales people that the colour can vary from the show room once installed so maybe this is the case. Never mind, I will get used to it.

There were no other problems, just a few splashes of paint on the brickwork that will be removed in the final clean. I have even been given left over paint in case I needed to do touch ups after I move in (there can always be the odd accident even if you are so careful).

So - Where are we at? After much drama with my bank about getting the valuation and cheque (I am still waiting to be told when I can pick up the said cheque but have been guaranteed I will have it by Tuesday) We are set for hand over on the 30th of November! Could not be a better day as this is my Birthday and I could not ask for a better Birthday present. (Well maybe George Clooney wearing nothing but a bow tie but I won't let bore you with my fantasies).

The hot water service will be put in that morning, no appliances to go in as I am doing that myself, cleaning will be later that morning and I will have the keys that afternoon. Look out for the lovely curtains (aka sheets) in the windows that night.

As I have a hundred and one things to do between now and then this will be my last post until I move in. Look out for some photos next week.

Oh and one final thing. I had the pleasure of meeting two of my new neighbours who are also building the Santorini just a couple of doors up. Unfortunately because I am old and have the memory of a gold fish I have forgotten their names but they are a really lovely couple which makes me feel even more content that I have made the right decision in where I have chosen to live.

Waiting is the Hardest Part

For the last week my SS has been very quiet, rather than him calling me to tell me what is going on I have had to call him. Twice now he has said he would get back to me that afternoon with answers and twice he has not called back. Is there something going on I should know about?

The house has been finished now for a week. I received the Certificate of Occupancy over a week ago and was told that I should be getting the keys 19 November. When I spoke with him on Monday his Manager was going through to check things out at the time, yesterday it was QA so hopefully tomorrow it will be my turn. I need to get my Inspector in to have a look through, however they won't even give me a date that I can do that. I need to allow for the fact that my guy is probably going to find mistakes that need to be rectified so I guess I am looking at another week again.

So close and yet so far. Wish me luck!

November 19th

Yes that's right, November 19 is set as the date for handover!

Had a call from my SS today to advise that the Certificate of Occupancy has been approved, he has the painters coming in tomorrow to fix the facade and touch up around the house. His Manager will go through with him probably Wednesday and then Quality Assurance. He will then walk me through the house and my Inspector will go through on Monday.

It's now happening so fast. I have so much to do and so much more to pack. I am surrounded by 'to do' lists and have not crossed anything off. It's time to get organised!

Will keep you updated.

Photo Update

Had to go down to the house this morning to put my number on the window for the Gas connection so I took a few photos.

The facade has been fixed, didn't take much at all by the looks of things. It is yet to be painted however that will happen when the touch ups are done. There are a few more red stickers here and there but not as many as I want to see (I know no one wants to see red stickers but I know there should be a lot more).

The drive has been poured however it is yet to be finished as it needs to dry before they seal it.

There was a lot of work being done at the estate today with trucks coming in with loads of dirt. The end of the street was being rolled so it looks like they are getting ready to finish the road (this should make you happy Janine). I took a drive around the estate and noticed that there are four Metricon homes going up in Maplewood court, I'd love to know which ones are being built.

There has also been more tree planting along the boulevard and one of the side streets. I am just hoping that we get the same trees in our street as they provide wonderful shade and a shady street means $$$$ to the house.

Now I have to start thinking about the garden and what I am going to do there. I have three months from hand over to get it complete however I want to get on to it as soon as possible. I'm open to suggestions, I want something that is going to take care of itself but I'm not into natives. It looks like a visit to the nursery is in order. Does anyone know a good one.

Anyway, here are some photos, possibly the last before handover as there is very little left to be done now. I'm sorry if the quality is not too good, they were taken through windows once again.

Nearly a New Home Owner

Well it's been a little while since I have blogged as I have taken a little time off and been to Queensland to catch up with family. Had a wonderful time but I'm home now and it's all go, go, go as I start packing ready for the big move.

It seems like things have moved a little slowly in the last couple of weeks as it often seems to with building. I had a call yesterday morning from my SS saying that all the flooring was now in and all that needed to be done was the splash back which was going in on Monday and the driveway which was being poured today.

He said he would be going through the house with his Manager next week to check everything (this is where they put those little red stickers all over everything). The facade will be fixed this week and then he will get the painters to come in and do their touch ups.

I didn't tell him that I went to the house on Tuesday, found it unlocked and let myself in to have a little look around. I really was not happy with some of the things I found. There were scuff marks on several walls including a deep scratch in the plaster, paint on brick work and windows, paint scratched on skirting, paint on my nicely stained bi part doors, fly screens that were not in properly because they were too big, blood all over one wall from someone who had obviously cut them selves and one window frame badly dented.

I've made note of all of these, taken photos and if they have not been picked up in the Metricon inspection I will point them out to my Private Inspector when we go through the house. It's better that these come from him than from me.

I also noted that there was a sign on the window saying that the house had been cleaned however I still thought it was very dirty. My SS advised me that he would be getting the house cleaned again next week before hand over.

He also said that they would be applying for the certificate of Occupancy on the 8th of November which is Monday. I thought they would have everything finished to do that however it must not be the case.

Also got a call today from the energy company saying that they were putting in the gas metre on Monday or Tuesday and connecting the gas.

Oh and I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I thought the garage door was the wrong colour.....it is, however, this is my fault. I had chosen the darker door when I was having the original darker coloured paint work on the facade. When I changed the paint colours we had also talked about changing the colour of the garage door to the lighter one, it seems the colour consultant missed this and I did not pick up on it, my own fault but it is a lesson to any of you still in the contract stage to check things very closely. I'll live with it, 12 months down the track I will probably change the facade colour anyway.

So according to my SS I should be in my house some time between the 15th and the 20th of November. Keep your fingers crossed that this is true. If it is it will be Christmas Drinks at my house.

Keep you updated.