Signed, Sealed and Delivered.

The deed is done! All documents have been signed, the envelope sealed and delivered by hand to Henley's Head Office. I just hope they don't get lost, as the CSA looking after our file now is on holidays.



This will most likely be my last post before Christmas and the New Year, as I take a well earned break, and absolutely nothing is going to happen on the block until at least 19th January. It will probably be a long month...waiting...but hopefully, a relaxing one!

I'll bid you all farewell with some of my new Christmas decorations I splurged on from one of my favourite shops- "Bed Bath & Table"! Should look lovely in the new place, and with any luck I'll have them out next year.





My 'noel' letters and large glass jar came from my other favourite shop "Provincial Home Living." The letters will have beautiful embossed paper stuck to the front of them, but that might become a new years project! ;-)



Joyeux Noël!

Final drawings complete.

We finally had the chance to sit down on Thursday evening and go through the drawings again. Would you believe I picked up another 2 mistakes? One was the position of the entrance hall light which we had changed on our original electrical plan. On the standard electrical plan given to us for this house, it wasn't drawn in the middle of the entrance hall, but towards the front door a little. The entrance ceiling is surrounded by a bulkhead, and to have this light off centre looked rather silly (it also wasn't in line with 2 wall lights I added in the entrance), so we changed it, but they had never drawn it in correctly (we had missed it on our other drawings, as we were so stunned at their complete botch-up of our family room wiring!). So this was noted, also the position of one of the power points in the ensuite. It didn't match the other one on the opposite wall of the double vanity, so we wanted that rectified as well.

The earliest I could get to Head Office on Friday was after 10am, and spoke to the CSA who has taken over our file. She was quite happy to have the drawings amended, and couldn't promise they would be ready that afternoon, but would try. By midday, I had received a phone call to say they were waiting for me in Reception...amazing!!

So, another few hours will be spent tomorrow going through them and maybe, just maybe, we might actually be able to sign them!

Friday we also heard from our assigned SS. He gets back from Holidays on the 19th January...which of course means more delays. I'm beginning to think this house will never get started. I can just imagine the drought breaking, we have rainfall in biblical proportions, and handover isn't until Easter 2010...

Did I mention the 'house down the road' has a fully tiled roof, guttering AND windows...maybe I should just stop looking, it's not going to change anything.

I'll probably fit in one more post before Christmas, then have a much needed break and holiday. I'll try and de-stress myself after the last couple of weeks, only to prepare myself for round 2 when the build actually starts!

Inspirational Photos.

After all the heartaches and disappointments of the past few weeks, I thought I'd post some gorgeous photos of the 'feel' I would like to create with our new home. Naturally, It won't be the same, as this is a period home, but I just love the decor and the beautiful 'homely' and warm feel it has. Also note the clock they have on the wall outside, and the chandeliers! ;-) I have always wanted to do white panelling down the hallway from the entrance, and into the lounge and dining room. Might still be possible in about 10 years time when we can afford it!

































All images courtesy here

Stunningly beautiful!

Did you spot the cat??

FINALLY, we have correct final drawings, but no start date until mid January.

My Husband and I went to Head Office before 9am yesterday morning to try and get a resolution for our constant frustrations.

We sat down with 2 CSA's, one being the manager of our 'usual' one whom is on annual leave (and whom I spoke with last Monday), and the other I have dealt with last week. They understand completely our frustrations at their 'appalling customer service' (those exact words were used) and couldn't tell us enough how sorry they were for the breakdown in communication. Had our original CSA sent us the PCV2, Colour Selection and final drawings when they had been completed, they could have started a lot earlier, without all the running around that I have had to do. By this stage we should have had a slab, which is pretty much as I'd expected all along.

They possibly could start at this late stage with the cut, fill and laying of sewerage pipes, but then they run the risk of them being damaged without the slab over the Christmas period. Tradies are all available to work over the break, but because the suppliers all shut down, the availability of the materials is limited. We have been assigned one of two of the best Site Supervisors (SS's), who are experienced in our area, and usually complete their 'builds' 1 or 2 months ahead of schedule. Better hope so, as we are already running about 4 weeks behind, and that will blow out to 8 weeks once we get started.

So, we 'should' be hearing from the SS who is assinged to us this week, with a confirmed start date of sometime in mid January. At least then we will know, and I can still enjoy a little relaxing family holiday before the stress of building kicks in...although I don't think anything can be as stressfull as what I have experienced in the last 3 weeks.

My Husband didn't mention anything about 'compensation', which I was quite annoyed about. I wasn't going to as I am completey sick of dealing with them at this stage. He said what is done is done, and nothing can change that. You reckon? Some form of 'compensation' should have been offered for their complete botch-up as far as I was concerned, but again, I'm sick of fightning this battle.

So, we have our drawings and they all look in order. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to go through them as I had a dinner to go to last night. Still, getting them back to Henley quickly will not bring back the weeks we have lost, so now they can wait for us. The most annoying part of this Monday morning meeting, was I missed my Daughter receiving a Principle's Award for excellence in learning during assembly...typical!

Anyway, the last several blog entries have been far too long winded and frustating, so I'll cheer everyone up with some beautiful inspirational interiors next time...myself included!

No start prior to Christmas.

After my fairly positive meeting on Monday morning with Henley, and the news that I would be finding out this Thursday when site start would be, I have now totally lost all faith and patience. I hadn't heard anything from them for the past 2 days, and I was sick of running around after them. Now, Thursday has been and gone, and still I haven't heard anything.

I decided to take a trip there unexpectedly this afternoon, and spoke to a CSA (one of them) who has been looking after my file. Our drawings have been going backwards and forwards...I think she said 6 times. At least she assures me the dining windows are now drawn in correctly, but there was a bulkhead that was on one plan, but not the latest. Why there is a bulkhead missing is beyond me. She was trying to push the drawings through for 5pm this afternoon.

I let her know that during Mondays meeting, I would find out on Thursday a date for site start, but today is Friday. She still couldn't give me a start date, and then said once the drawings are finalised, there is still a week to wait until it goes to site. Great...NOT.

So, I then assumed to her we would not get a site start until after Christmas. Correct, was the reply.

It was then, I lost it completely.

When we signed almost 6 months ago, we were pretty much assured a slab, frame and roof at least before Christmas. Our block of land has been sitting completely empty for 8 weeks...that's 2 months...when they could have been finalising all our drawings. Especially when we rushed through our PCV2 so all our changes could be added into the 'free' one with the 2nd soil test and survey. This PCV2 is dated 27th October...what the hell have they been doing all this time? Why wait until now to do the final drawings?

I am not happy at all, sick of not being notified what the hell is going on , and I have no patience left whatsoever.

Merry Bloody Christmas...

Wrong drawings...AGAIN.

I had tried twice yesterday to contact several people at Head Office to see if my completed drawings were ready. Twice I couldn't get hold of anyone. In the end, I dropped in after picking up the kids from school. I spoke to someone who had the completed drawings, but they needed to be checked by someone else before I could take them. This 'someone else' had been in a meeting most of the afternoon, and the plans may not get looked at until tomorrow.

I asked if I could have a quick look and see if everything I had outlined in the letter and discussed the day before had been corrected. She gladly passed them over and one of the first things I noticed was the windows in the dining were still drawn in as awnings, not sliding to match the rest of the house and elevation. This 'issue' has been clearly outlined in 2 separate documents now. The PCV1 (dated 14th August) and the 3 page letter I gave to them yesterday. I was pretty furious, and there were so many things I wanted to say, but I kept my cool...again.

To their credit, they had finally drawn in the correct wiring configuration and switch position for the family room lights...only after I had drawn it myself!

I will be ringing them again today as I'll be out and about, and plan on dropping in again to collect the drawings.

At least petrol has come down in price...

Almost there with a site start date.

I ventured off to Henley head office this morning and arrived just before 9am hoping to catch a CSA before any appointments they may have had (printer ink issues were resolved at 7am with a trip to Office Works! See comments, previous post.). My usual Admin is on holidays until Feb, so our file has been attended to by several other people on her behalf.

I asked to see one of the Admins who was looking after her files to give them some final drawing corrections. As it turns out, I was in luck! Not only was she free, but she had also just received a 'Clarification Document' on a few discrepancies they had picked up with the plans. I sat down and went through everything, and chatted for about 30 minutes, clearing up a few drafting issues and learning about others we hadn't noticed (more so with things written on the site plan that shouldn't be there, 2 downpipes too close together, colour documents not corrected from some changes we had made, and other things we would never have picked up on!).

The meeting at such short notice proved to be very beneficial for me, and the staff, instead of relying on phone calls and email tennis! I very much appreciated the time which was spent with me this morning. One thing which she was quite surprised about was the date on the PCV2. It had been completed on 27th October, and really should have been sent to us straight away, as it looks as though we have 'sat' on it for over a month delaying things ourselves, but we both knew and agreed that wasn't the case as it took until 5th December for me to see it.

She let me know that all of our materials have been ordered, and we have been assigned a Construction Manager, and we will FINALLY have notification of a site start date this Thursday. Being so close to Christmas it is highly unlikely we will get the much wanted slab, but we should at least have the scrape and possibly pipes done. It all depends on the Tradies.

I let her know that I was very keen to drop past again this afternoon to pick up the completed drawings, and she agreed it would be a good idea, but would ring me to let me know how they were going. In the end, I did receive a phone call that they would be ready for pick up Tuesday (tomorrow) afternoon. I will check the drawings there and then, and either take them or leave them behind depending on if they need amending.

All in all, a positive outcome after a very stressful weekend, although I am still disappointed at the delay. Can I mention the 'house down the road' has roof trusses and a bricked garage? I wonder if they'll have windows and a roof for Christmas...

Construction Drawings received FINALLY, but with mistakes.

Good to see our final/construction drawings were received in the mail (at our current address), and upon glancing through them quickly, I have already picked up a few items which have not been included. I also have to strongly wonder why they are all dated 17th November, but it took until 5th December for me to see them. Hmmmm...

What happened to those valuable 2 1/2 weeks that have been lost? I'm not entirely happy about it, and I shall be going to Head Office on Monday morning with the 'corrected' drawings, suggest they fix them that day, as I will be returning to pick up the new set on Monday afternoon. If they are not ready, I will wait. I want to sign them Monday night and deliver them in person AGAIN on Tuesday. I'm not relying on 'The Postal Company' again, it would just delay the start even further.

Now, onto the changes. It appears we need root barrier protection all along the front of the slab due to trees in the vicinity. This would most likely be the rather large gum tree on the nature strip which the Council refused to cut down before we began this whole process...but that is another story in itself. I can't do much about that, other than grin and bear it, and hound the Council once we have moved back in. Usually root barrier protection is an expensive exercise, and this inclusion will cost us $2,932 to extend the depth of the footings to 1200mm instead of the standard 800mm. However, as some of our previous costs from our first soil test and survey have been deleted (earthworks, suspended slab, bulk concrete in another part of the slab), our total site costs only rise by $100 from what was 'estimated' on our preliminary documents. That's all good news.

We are also 'required' to install fence extension along the south fence, possibly due to overlooking issues, as this is the 'high' side of the house which will be on extra fill. That's OK too, we certainly don't mind, and would have done it eventually anyway.

There appears to be a few things 'not included' on our final drawings from our first PCV raised at the contract appointment. This is the wiring configuration of the family room downlights which were not drawn properly on the contract drawings from the first electrical plan. It also appears that although we deleted the porch light, it still appears on the drawings. After giving them a plan of exactly where we wanted sound insulation in the internal walls, they seem to have 'missed' a wall.
Most of the other things raised have been included, including the swing of doors, added powerpoints and the moved tap! It's just a matter of sitting down tonight with the 2 PCV's and the tender documents, and going through absolutely everything to see if it has been included.

One thing I am not entirely sure about is the $88 added on to the 'energy efficiency' to achieve a 5 star rating. Apparently, this applies to the changed windows between the lounge and dining, and the fact that we added extra heating vents into the bathroom and ensuite. I was under the impression that Henley would achieve the 5 star rating without us having to pay extra. I will be querying this $88.

All up, the PCV has cost us over 6K, most of which is the evaporative cooling, extra powerpoints, sound insulation and upgrades to external and roof insulation.

Bring on Monday, so I can sort this out, and hopefully get a site start. I'm sooo sick of waiting...

"No News is Good News..." In this case: I think NOT!

It's now been 6 1/2 weeks since Demo was completed, and still no sign of ANYTHING. I am highly frustrated, and beginning to get rather annoyed at the lack of progress and lack of communication. Our Admin has disappeared on annual leave again (although she has every right to!), but when I rang Henley on Monday, I had to speak to someone else, and she said she would get back to me that afternoon...I still haven't heard anything.

Just what are they waiting for? All the permits are approved, finance has all been taken care of, so what else is left?

We still haven't seen our construction drawings and the pricing for the second PCV. What if the drawings are incorrect (which is quite possible), and they have to be redone? Grrrrrr...

...come on, Henley, lift your game! So far, we have had a very positive experience, don't spoil it now...

A Change of Scenery.

Welcome to the new look blog! Although I loved the colours of the old template, I just felt it was all a little squashed together, and I was quite limited with the size photos I could put on it. This new template will take time to get used to (it's so white!), but I will jazz it up a little over time, and perhaps create another title banner. I have also added a 'timeline of our journey' as a list down the left side. It's amazing to think we began this journey 12 months ago...although there was a six month hiccup in the middle of it!

I didn't hear from Henley last week, but will email tomorrow to find out what is happening. I really want a slab before Christmas, but at this late stage, I guess it's looking highly unlikely...

Our Facade.

Many, many thanks to 'D@n' on the Homeone Forum for putting together a mock up of all of our facade colours. He has produced just what I had imagined! Although, the bricks will be smaller, and the mortar will be off white, not pink! But it certainly gives us a general 'feel' of what the finished house will look like. The doors look pretty prominant, but once the 4 black exterior lights are mounted, the fence in matching bricks with black metal work has been built and the charcoal grey driveway is done, it should all come together nicely, and fit in with the other houses in the street/area, and not date too quickly.

Thanks D@n!

Building Permit Arrives.

We have our building permit! Although it arrived yesterday and we forgot to check the mail, I discovered it in the letter box this morning!

All we need is to find out from Henley when site start will be, and it is all systems go. With any luck, they have sent our file up to the construction team, so they can begin the ordering of 'bits'. It's very exciting, but I'm not too sure of the 'slab before Christmas' at this stage...time will tell.

Hurry up Henley, I've been waiting long enough for this house... :)

Great News!!

I have finally been able to get in contact with Henley (Admin had been on holidays), and we have had all our drawings completed and approved by Council, and the building permit will be delivered here, along with our final drawings shortly!! Whoopee!

I queried the 'lack of pink ribbons' on the block from the re-establishment survey, and was assured that it had been done. The reason why there were no ribbons is because our fences are out a little (about 10cm), so what the surveyors do instead, is peg/mark 1 metre exactly from the true boundary into our property. As a little of our property is on the neighbours side they couldn't put in the pegs. This still works out fine for putting the garage on the boundary/fence on the left, as it is all our property. Had it been the other way around, and we had 10cm of the neighbours property on our land then the whole house would have had to have been shifted across to build on our 'true' boundary. Confused?? ;) It all works out in the end, and the house is built on the same place as we had anticipated.

It's no wonder I couldn't find the pegs when I did my (almost) daily drive-bys! They were well and truly hidden and I really had to search hard for them...and I was expecting something pink!! When I finally found them, the front left side peg is in the footpath, and right next to the electricity pit:



The one on the left at the rear, was stuck in the fence support with black writing on one of the pailings "One metre from title"...totally invisible from the road!



The right one at the rear was again on the fence support, but behind all the birch trees, and in amongst the now tall grass:



The last one on the right was in the footpath again, and I still had to go searching for it! There wasn't even any pink spray paint to say "Here I am!!!":





So, once Henley have received the permit (thanks to the Council for stamping it ever so quickly!!), our file will be ordered this week, and once that is completed it will be out to construction next week!! Please keep all of your fingers and toes crossed that we will get a lovely slab for Christmas!! By the way, the 'house down the road' has almost a complete frame...

Since the house has come down, it has rained a little in Melbourne (for once), and most of the tracks left by the excavator have disappeared. Broken bits of tiles, windows, flooring and pipes have come to the surface, and including an agapanthus which certainly wasn't there previously!



In fact, where it is growing was under brick paving, or possibly the study! Tough as old boots!

To finish off this post, here is something quite interesting to note as to why we are going down the path of demolishing and rebuilding, rather then selling, buying and renovating. This arrived in the letter box from a local Real Estate Agents, and happens to be the adjoining suburb to where we are building (about 3-5km away).

This is some 'noteworthy results' of properties sold:



...and this is some which are currently up for sale:




I might also just add, that some of these include new townhouses, with little or no room for kids to play in, and houses around 50 years old that possibly could be in original condition! We know our house was only valued at around $450K so to sell up , then buy something at this price and have to renovate as well was not an option! This way is so much cheaper...but probably more stressful! But at least we can design what we want for us, and choose what colours we like.

I've certainly got a few million bucks just lying around...NOT!

...and just to add to the long list of things I have to do today, the refund cheque from the Council's Asset Protection has just been delivered. I could think of many different ways to spend the $1800, but I will have to rip it up, or send it back! (roll eyes!)

EDIT: As a little side note, despite stating in our tender that we need to get asset protection, from Tender documents: "9-4 Asset Protection Fee by Owner", it appears Henley have paid for one themselves (yesterday) for the construction so we are free to cash the cheque!

Shopping anyone?

Council Asset Protection Cleared??

Today I received a 'letter of clearance' from the Council for the Asset Protection. It's all well and good that they sent someone around to 'check' the condition of their assets, but the letter went on to say I will be receiving the deposit refund shortly. I rang the Council on 17th October to let them know the demo had finished, but as the permit lasts for 24 months it needed to be used through the construction phase as well (I refuse to get another one totalling $4000 roughly out of pocket for 12 months!) So another phone call today to tell them not to send the cheque...which, funnily enough, is probably in the mail now! If I receive it, I will have to ring the Council yet again to get them to cancel it.

The letter states 'I am pleased to advise that Council is satisfied that it's assets have been returned to a satisfactory standard'. I'm sure they didn't look too closely at the mashed mess called a footpath! Hilarious!!

Still no word from Henley, and no more movement on the block...except for us who keep visiting and scavenging for 'old bits'! We've found many broken bathroom tiles, bricks, and roof tiles, and have fun getting the children to work out what part of the house it was from!! OK, so it's pretty sad, but we have to pass this waiting game somehow!!

Still here, and still no site start date.

It's been a very busy few weeks in our household, and not much is happening at the dust bowl. The neighbours must think I'm completely mad! I still drive past almost every day, hoping that something has happened, and yet I know nothing has changed.

I emailed our lovely Admin today, who is currently on Annual Leave. I received an Auto Reply as well as an email from another Admin explaining she is away. I am still very impressed with Henley's customer service, as she did inform me that the contour survey had been done, and the draftsman is looking into this and re-ordering engineering. I still haven't seen any stakes with pink ribbons on them yet, identifying our 'true' boundaries...which is what I'm waiting for. I highly doubt the fences are in the absolute correct place on the boundary!!

From time to time, I may mention 'The House Down The Road'. This particular 'house' was demolished during ours (and levelled and cleared in 3 days not 8!), and currently I was watching them this morning pour the slab. It is quite disheartening, so I keep telling myself it will happen, and it has to happen, because at the moment we are house-less!

Last week I did send into Henley all of the variations for the 'free' PCV, and I guess once the soil test and survey are factured into it we will see how much extra we are up for. I don't think it will be a huge shock, as we know roughly how much each item is.

Apart from being terribly busy with family stuff, I have made some significant decisions on the 'look' I would like to achieve for the Lounge and the Entrance Hall, and been window shopping accordingly! Much to my Husbands disgust, the plan may include a feature wall of wallpaper! And everytime I'm passing a Freedom store, I drop in and sit on the couches we have selected. They are so divine!





While I'm posting pics, here are the gorgeous candle sticks I bought for 'somewhere'! Currently, they are wrapped in bubble wrap and squashed in the laundry cupboard with other breakables from the old house! Only I have the smaller 2.



Last, but not least, another couple of pics of the interior I found of The Wilshire. Although I forgot to 'flip' the first one so the orientation matches our floorplan.






I will post my thoughts and maybe some (very) rough sketches at a later stage of my decor plans!

Soil Test #2.

I went for a little wander around the 'dust bowl' yesterday and discovered that someone had been digging (or drilling) holes in various places around the block. Yay!! Not sure if they have done the next contour survey, and they haven't done the re-establishment survey yet, as there are no pegs with pink ribbons on them. Well done Henley for getting started!!





I've also been emailing my lovely Admin throughout the week to decide on some extra bits we would like to include. Thankfully, we don't have to pay the $500 for this Post Contract Variation, as Henley will need to do one to include the results from the second soil test and surveys. We are trying to include as much as we can now, to avoid paying the $500 later!

Some of the things we have decided to include is:

* A couple more power points for ease of vacuuming the stairs and other areas
* A standard shower head instead of a water saving slide rail thingy that would leave 3 holes in the tiles if I ever wanted to change it!
* A Brivis evapourative cooler unit to the upstairs with 6 vents.
* Increased R value to ceiling batts and wall batts.
* the upstairs toilet door to swing the other way and moving the light switch accordingly.
* Sound insulation to most internal walls (unfortunately we can't have it between the floors).
* Move one of the taps outside from the side of the house to the back.
* Add junction box or power point for future split system air con in the meals/family/kitchen area.

We have this weekend to decide exactly what we want to add, and I'll hand deliver all the details to Henley on Monday. Fantastic to see things are moving, so my fingers are firmly crossed for a slab before Christmas!

Demo Complete!

Finally, after 8 working days of actually knocking the house down and clearing up, the job has been completed, and we are left with nothing but dirt and a few trees.







Unfortunately not without some damage. The two side fences have been bashed, and railings are cracked and pulled away, and several pailings in several spots are broken. Nothing a trip to Bunnings and a few nails won't fix though!




The major damage has, unfortunately, occurred on the footpath when they were removing the excavator from the site. The demolishes purposely left 1.5 metres of concrete driveway to protect the footpath, but they seem to have missed the driveway when taking out the excavator and mashed up the footpath instead. Looks as though I won't be getting my full $1800 security deposit back from the Council for the asset protection...

Trees Down.

I didn't get a chance to update the blog yesterday due to a computer issue, but it was a hive of activity at 'the block' yesterday! Most of the rubble, apart from the growing pile of scrap metal, had been cleared in the morning, and during the afternoon the trees were 'removed' from the soil. Most weren't chopped down as such, but literally pulled over by the excavator. Thankfully, I missed the Tulip tree coming down (too sad!), but watched the Liquid amber at the back and the mass of trees on the north side of the property.







I was also astounded at the huge concrete blocks left on the property, and had wondered where they had come from. They ended up being the footings from the house! Luckily I was spared paying an extra $800 for their removal, as they were HUGE!



Many thanks to my Neighbours for allowing me to get a completely different perspective and take photographs from their second story balcony! What a mess, but should look a heap better tomorrow, if not later this afternoon.

Clean-up Continues.

I didn't get a chance to go to the house (or what was...) today, but I know they were not going to be working. They were actually pretty busy yesterday with removing most of the rubble, and putting all the scrap metal into one pile. They were also successful in selling the picket fence, so I hope that has gone to a good home. It was quite strange looking at the 'property' (can't really call it a house now!) without the beautiful front picket fence I painstakingly painted 12 years ago! It will be very much missed...but that's life. These photos were taken at various times during the day on Friday.









R.I.P picket fence...



I had a lovely chat to the excavator bloke on Friday afternoon, and he believes he will most likely be finished on Tuesday. I also asked him how he was going to get rid of the beautiful tulip tree which stands to the right at the front of the property. He said it would be easy with the excavator, and he'll just pull down the branches and basically crunch up the trunk. Not sure if I really want to watch this either...such a beautiful tree!

Looks as though after several reminders to the demolishers that I won't be getting any floorboards. The 'Head Honcho' apparently didn't relay the message to the excavator operator, and they have all gone to the tip. The excavator operator said he wish he had known as it would have been easy to put lots in a pile for me...bugger. Our plan of making our large desk top for the study out of old floorboards from the house seems to have not eventuated. Should have cut them out ourselves before we handed over the keys :(

On a more positive note, the search for a French Provincial style chandelier for the dining room has ended. Although it's still sitting in a shop in Camberwell, this 3 arm rustic/shabby chic looking chandelier will sit above the new dining table in the new house. Absolument magnifique!



And if, on the off chance, it doesn't quite suit the dining room...it'll be perfect in la chambre des maîtres!!