Pool hole
Pool shell
Pool Installed
Friday, 7 March 2014
Pool Installed
Site pegged
We've had our portaloo and temporary fencing since December 2013, but now our old house has finally been demolished the site could be pegged. The peg out was done on 17/2/14, but in usual Wisdom fashion there was an error. They placed a peg where our pool excavation was going to be. The pool has to be installed prior to the house starting as it is fibreglass and needs to be lifted in while the land is clear. Wisdom were given the plans for the pool before contracts were signed so the area for the pool was always noted on their plans as a service free zone. It was also included in their landscape plans so they couldn't claim ignorance and blame this one on us, although we expected them to try as that is their way. So we got it in writing from them that they would not charge us to replace the peg. A small win.
Demolition Dramas
Demolition was finally completed on 14th February. What a huge relief because of course, as with anything to do with this build it turned into a drama.
The demolition company engaged by Wisdom initially told us that they would have the demo completed by the New Year. Well it got to the end of January and apart from a couple of hours work here and there, and removal of the asbestos sheeting from the walls, the house was left standing in a half demolished state and no one could give us a date of when the demolition company would complete the job. They had already breached our council DA conditions because they had not notified the neighbours 7 days prior to removing the asbestos. We asked them to do this on numerous occasions and they kept telling us it wasn't necessary. They also hadn't posted any signage on the safety fence showing their company name or licence number which is a breach of Workcover regulations. The neighbour notification letters are also supposed to show the licence number. I was a bit suspicious of why they weren't willing to give a licence number. Out of frustration with the lack of progress on the demolition, I called to get a quote from another demo company to see if I could expedite the demolition. They said they required a site clearance certificate for the asbestos removal before they could come on site and advised I could get a copy from Workcover if one had been issued. So I called Workcover only to be told that the owner of the demolition company did not hold a current licence for asbestos removal and asked if they could investigate. Now I understood why there was no public notifications forthcoming that needed to include licence information. I asked if perhaps they were subcontracting and Workcover said an investigation would clear that up. So I thought if they found he was unlicensed we could get another company in to finish the demo quickly. In the meantime Wisdom's demo company had finally moved their heavy equipment in to complete our demolition. Workcover also decided to do an audit of our demolition to make sure the demo company was above board. Suddenly letters from the demo company went out to our neighbours notifying them of the asbestos removal, which had already mostly been done, so the letters, complete with poor grammar and spelling were backdated. Signage went up on the fence with the name of a totally different demo company, which apparently the job had been subcontracted to. Suddenly everything was being done by the book.
The demo company was really annoyed with me because they they said the Workcover audit would delay things. I don't understand how doing the job the way it should be done can delay things. Anyway once the house was cleared, they lifted all the concrete paths and driveway and found lots of asbestos buried beneath. We are still awaiting the bill for the additional asbestos removal but are expecting it to be at least $5000.
The demolition company engaged by Wisdom initially told us that they would have the demo completed by the New Year. Well it got to the end of January and apart from a couple of hours work here and there, and removal of the asbestos sheeting from the walls, the house was left standing in a half demolished state and no one could give us a date of when the demolition company would complete the job. They had already breached our council DA conditions because they had not notified the neighbours 7 days prior to removing the asbestos. We asked them to do this on numerous occasions and they kept telling us it wasn't necessary. They also hadn't posted any signage on the safety fence showing their company name or licence number which is a breach of Workcover regulations. The neighbour notification letters are also supposed to show the licence number. I was a bit suspicious of why they weren't willing to give a licence number. Out of frustration with the lack of progress on the demolition, I called to get a quote from another demo company to see if I could expedite the demolition. They said they required a site clearance certificate for the asbestos removal before they could come on site and advised I could get a copy from Workcover if one had been issued. So I called Workcover only to be told that the owner of the demolition company did not hold a current licence for asbestos removal and asked if they could investigate. Now I understood why there was no public notifications forthcoming that needed to include licence information. I asked if perhaps they were subcontracting and Workcover said an investigation would clear that up. So I thought if they found he was unlicensed we could get another company in to finish the demo quickly. In the meantime Wisdom's demo company had finally moved their heavy equipment in to complete our demolition. Workcover also decided to do an audit of our demolition to make sure the demo company was above board. Suddenly letters from the demo company went out to our neighbours notifying them of the asbestos removal, which had already mostly been done, so the letters, complete with poor grammar and spelling were backdated. Signage went up on the fence with the name of a totally different demo company, which apparently the job had been subcontracted to. Suddenly everything was being done by the book.
The demo company was really annoyed with me because they they said the Workcover audit would delay things. I don't understand how doing the job the way it should be done can delay things. Anyway once the house was cleared, they lifted all the concrete paths and driveway and found lots of asbestos buried beneath. We are still awaiting the bill for the additional asbestos removal but are expecting it to be at least $5000.
Friday, 24 January 2014
Contract build time has started but no builder in sight or on site
Well we are officially on Wisdom time now. Under the contract they should have started on 20/12/13 but then there was was the 5 week Christmas shutdown period which brings us to today. So the longer their appointed demolition company takes to demolish our old house the less time Wisdom have to build our new one. 30 weeks from today we are supposed to have a house, weather dependent, so we are counting down now.
Once again we have received empty promises from the demolition company about when they will be back to complete the demolition. They were supposed to return either yesterday or today with their heavy machinery but surprise surprise they were a no show again. They will not answer our texts or phone calls.
They have appeared on site for the odd day here and there since before Christmas. Must be the longest demolition ever. My neighbours are over looking at an overgrown dilapidated property, not to mention that Wisdom are now considered a joke by so many people we know, especially those who have done knock down rebuilds with other builders. They certainly won't be getting any business from any of our friends or acquaintances.
On top of it all we have been evicted from our rental property after only 6 months because the owner wants to do a knockdown rebuild. Ironic. We asked for a 12 month lease and were told by the real estate agent the owner only wanted a 6 month lease so he could verify his tenants were reliable, and he would renew if we were. So we signed the lease. What a load of BS that was. So we need to move for the second time in 6 months and are desperately trying to find another rental property within our price range and area. So far we have not had much luck. More wine please!
This is how our old house looks at the moment.
Once again we have received empty promises from the demolition company about when they will be back to complete the demolition. They were supposed to return either yesterday or today with their heavy machinery but surprise surprise they were a no show again. They will not answer our texts or phone calls.
They have appeared on site for the odd day here and there since before Christmas. Must be the longest demolition ever. My neighbours are over looking at an overgrown dilapidated property, not to mention that Wisdom are now considered a joke by so many people we know, especially those who have done knock down rebuilds with other builders. They certainly won't be getting any business from any of our friends or acquaintances.
On top of it all we have been evicted from our rental property after only 6 months because the owner wants to do a knockdown rebuild. Ironic. We asked for a 12 month lease and were told by the real estate agent the owner only wanted a 6 month lease so he could verify his tenants were reliable, and he would renew if we were. So we signed the lease. What a load of BS that was. So we need to move for the second time in 6 months and are desperately trying to find another rental property within our price range and area. So far we have not had much luck. More wine please!
This is how our old house looks at the moment.
Saturday, 11 January 2014
New Year New Start. Bring it on!
Well it's a brand new year so we are hoping all things in relation with house building will be more positive.
Have enjoyed the last few weeks of not thinking about the house enormously, but we can't let things slide too long or otherwise Wisdom may not start our house for a very long time, causing the stress levels to rise again.
Have reviewed the time lines provided by the builder and so far we are:
Have enjoyed the last few weeks of not thinking about the house enormously, but we can't let things slide too long or otherwise Wisdom may not start our house for a very long time, causing the stress levels to rise again.
Have reviewed the time lines provided by the builder and so far we are:
18 days over the 20 business days quoted in our Building Agreement under HIA Clause 8, which states the builder must commence works
within 20 business days after all building permits and planning approvals
have been received. This clause is not subject to Clause 9: Delays and Building
Extensions (i.e. adverse weather, Christmas 5 week break, etc.). Clause 9 is only effective from the date of commencement of
building works.
35 days over the date quoted in the Building Agreement
under Building Condition 12 that states that all conditions required to be met
to facilitate the commencement of Building works must be met by 07/12/2013.
This includes demolition. Wisdom Homes are responsible for the demolition and
have not met this condition. In fact the demolition company are still
unable to provide us with a date for demolition, despite advising us at the end
of last year that it would be mid January 2014.
13 weeks over the 20 weeks time frame quoted in the Procedures of Purchase - KDR documentation we signed on 13 November 2012. Under Stage 3 this document states that the
period between Contract Signing with Wisdom Homes and commencement of works
(subject to council approval times) is 10-20 weeks. We only had minor delays in
obtaining council approval, and these were as a result of errors made by Wisdom
in the DA. We signed our contract on 25/5/2013. It is now 33 weeks
since we signed the contract.
10 days over the time frame quoted in an email received from Wisdom Homes on 25/11/2013
stating that demolition would take place within 21 working days. It is now 31
working days since we received this email and our house has not been
demolished.
The only thing that has happened since we finalised all paperwork with Wisdom is the temporary fence went up just before Christmas.
They are so unreliable. They need a bloody good kick up the backside. What to do next, apart from the email I have sent bringing to their attention the above breaches of contract? Another review on Product Review or perhaps a discussion with the Department of Fair Trading.
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Trailer Returned
Our trailer was returned today along with it's contents. A big relief as one less issue to worry about. The temporary fencing ordered by Wisdom was installed yesterday. The guys who installed it were expecting an empty block as they assumed the demolition of our old house had been done. They described our block as worse than a tropical rainforest in QLD, because of all the vegetation. I guess that means the demo company won't need to install their own fencing, but they will need to move Wisdom's so they can remove all the trees along the boundaries.
No more tears for the dramas caused by the incompetencies of the builder, just total indifference now. However, we are dreading dealing with the problems that are awaiting us over the next 12 months, and considering our experience with Wisdom so far, we are reasonably sure there will be many more to come.
No more tears for the dramas caused by the incompetencies of the builder, just total indifference now. However, we are dreading dealing with the problems that are awaiting us over the next 12 months, and considering our experience with Wisdom so far, we are reasonably sure there will be many more to come.
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Demo Delay
I had a meeting with the demolition company on the 30th November at our house. The owner's words were that somehow Wisdom let our demolition fall through the cracks. The demo company is very small and can only handle one demo at a time, so we are in a queue, with others ahead of us. He said he would discuss moving us up in the queue with Wisdom, as he pretty much worked exclusively for them, so maybe they could swap us around with one less urgent. If Wisdom used one of the bigger demo companies we would have had our house demolished by now. We have seen many houses around us being demolished who's DA's were approved after ours.
Unfortunately it appears we did not get moved in the queue and the only thing that has happened at our house is the kitchen has been ripped out and left in a heap in the middle of the floor. They still cannot give us a date of when they will be in to demolish, and still say sometime in January.
On top of it all, one of the employees of the demo company took our trailer without permission, which was full of galvanised steel mesh that my husband had plans to use, and so far after a few phone calls and many text messages promising its return, it has failed to reappear at our property. So we are left wondering what to do next. Do we call the police? Then our demo may be put to the bottom of the queue.
Unfortunately it appears we did not get moved in the queue and the only thing that has happened at our house is the kitchen has been ripped out and left in a heap in the middle of the floor. They still cannot give us a date of when they will be in to demolish, and still say sometime in January.
On top of it all, one of the employees of the demo company took our trailer without permission, which was full of galvanised steel mesh that my husband had plans to use, and so far after a few phone calls and many text messages promising its return, it has failed to reappear at our property. So we are left wondering what to do next. Do we call the police? Then our demo may be put to the bottom of the queue.
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