Progressing Along

Things are progressing along nicely but still not without issues. There are a few things that we will request be changed and things that Wisdom tell us are acceptable by their standards but we believe are unacceptable so we will persevere with trying to get them fixed.

However with the events that have been in the news this week our  building issues have well and truly been put into perspective.

The Kitchen and bathroom cabinets, garage door and balcony railing have been installed, waterproofing was done and tiling of wet areas has commenced.

Tiling should be completed this week and painting is due to start. The following week should see taps, toilet, bath and caesarstone bench tops installed. Insulation should be finished in the roof space and the electrician should return to install power points, light switches and light fittings.

We still want something done to stop the support post for the upstairs railing imposing into the stairwell. Wisdom Homes and Designer Staircase say it is acceptable but there is nothing like it in any display homes and we haven't seen anything like it in any Wisdom building blogs so we say it is not acceptable. Gyprocking on the underside of the stairs in the dining area ceiling was done and looks messy. Apparently because we raised our ceilings we had to have an extra step and this is the one that protrudes into the downstairs ceiling space. I would have thought Wisdom would have had a standard finish for this situation that looked OK, as surely our house is not the first, but it appears not. Our internal doors have all been cut too short so we have massive gaps between them and the floor and even when our timber floors are installed the gap will still be large so we may have to put ply under the floorboards to raise them, which means we will lose some of the extra ceiling height that we paid for. We may demand that our doors be replaced. We gave them the height of our flooring so there is no excuse.  Our kitchen window to the alfresco was put in at the wrong height so they had to remove it, then remove a course of bricks to lower it. Now they have done some very messy brickwork to fill the space where the course of bricks were removed. There is a massive gap at the top of the window which cannot be filled with bricks because the window frame cannot have that weight sitting on it. Can't wait to see how that fix that F*%#up!

The man doing the tiling has been fantastic and has constantly consulted us about how we want the tiles lined up. He is one of the few tradies working on our house that has taken pride in his work.

Facade Complete except for painting of front door and timber posts

Garage Door Installed (Colour Surfmist)

Kitchen Cabinets installed (White Polyurethane)

Stairs Gyprocked

Look at that ugly post sitting on the wall on the right. Wisdom and Designer Staircases think this is acceptable.

Below is a picture of a staircase in another Wisdom home and their support post looks a lot better than ours.

Underside of the stairs. What happened to the cornice? Still looks Yuk!

Toilet waterproofed

Laundry waterproofed

Main bathroom waterproofed

Main Bathroom floor tiles.

Toilet floor tiles.

Ensuite shower tiles

New brickwork under kitchen window. 

Gap at top of kitchen window after it needed to be lowered. How will they fill this I wonder?

Looks like someone decided to put their lit cigarette out with their drink on our bedroom floor.

Lovely Lockup

We have hit a major milestone and the end is in sight. We are at lockup stage. The actual lockup didn't last long. Friday we were locked out but today all the back doors were left unlocked by the trades that worked in the morning. Being opportunists, in we went to check out the week's progress.

The gyrpocking was finished on Monday, the stairs went in on Thursday and the cornices, skirting boards, door frames and doors have all gone in. It is really feeling more like a home than a building site now and we are very happy with the feel of the house.

It wouldn't be normal  if we had progressed through these stages without any hiccups, and there are a few from this week, but as the end gets closer they seems easier to deal with. I think that is because now we know that they are superficial things that can be fixed easily if we have the energy to deal with Wisdom to get them fixed. My husband has more motivation than I do so he is dealing with them, which is probably why it seems easier to me, and he is way more persistent than I am.

When we decided to build the Trinity there wasn't one on display anywhere so we were building it blind. We asked Wisdom if we could go through some that were in construction but were told that the floor plans had been changed so much it wouldn't give us a realistic view of the house. Not being able to see things in their finished state or visualise them in our minds has lead to a few things that we are not happy with now we have seen them in our house. I really think more builders should use 3D modelling for their customers as it would save so many issues further down the track.

We have already had the main bathroom changed slightly. After this week we realised that we should have had taller doors put on the built in robes in the downstairs bedrooms. Because we have normal height wardrobe doors and higher ceilings, it will be difficult to access all the extra space above the shelves inside the wardrobe. We are also really unhappy with our stairs. The base of the railings upstairs overhang the stairwell void so make the stairs feel really narrow and confined at the top whereas at the bottom they feel spacious. There is also a massive timber brace for one of the upstairs railings that imposes into the stairwell void and we can see people hitting themselves on it as they go up and down the stairs, not to mention that it looks ugly. They have also had to cut into the ceiling and wall space in the dining area to accommodate the stairs and this also looks terrible. Looks like the credit we got for the feature bottom step we couldn't have will now be used to do something with the upstairs railings.

So this week the kitchen fit out and water proofing of the wet areas should commence. Can't wait to see the kitchen as I will be spending a lot of time in there.

Dining Area with study doors on right

Upstairs Linen with Bed 2 door on right

Entrance Hall Before Gyprock and Stairs

Entrance Hall After Gyprock and Stairs

Front Door

Garage

Kitchen Before Gyrpock

Kitchen After Gyprock

Laundry Before Gyprock

Laundry After Gyprock

Living Room Before

Living Room Now

Media Alcove Before

Media Alcove Now

Part of Staircase protruding through into Dining Room Ceiling. Yuk!

Staircase

Post was cut too short and needs to be replaced.

Looking downstairs. See the bottom of the post in the top leftside railing? That is protruding into the void and easy to hit yourself on as you walk up or down.  

Closer view of that pesky post.

Study Before

Study Now

Upstairs Living Before

Upstairs Living Now

Framed Windows