H.F.T's NEW HOUSE

Time to Show some pictures of the House

2009-06-05T10:23:00.001+10:00

I thought after 6 month moving into the house, we better show some pictures of the final finish.

The first in the list is what I went through to put down the Laminated floor, it took, my brother and I two days to lay it down and two days to finish off the quads around the wall.

And here are some of the finished pictures:

Overall, things end up to be OK, but still few issues, which we will wait until 1 year maintenance and will raise up with Henley.

GOT THE KEYS

2008-12-05T17:17:00.001+11:00

JUST ANOTHER QUICK UPDATE THAT WE GOT THE KEYS.

PICTURES TO FOLLOW.

Final Inspection

2008-11-18T21:52:00.001+11:00

Finally heard what i needed to hear, and that is a date for the final inspection/hand over:

24/11/08 @ 15:00

So stay alarm and will update you of the progress.

Fit off update

2008-10-07T20:56:00.001+11:00

Time for a little update,

Things has been moving along and in a right way, however we still away from any finalisation day.

now things that has been done:

The doors has been installed and door handles has been mounted

The front door has been changed and the new one has been painted, same as rest of the house:

The tabs has been fitted off:

And the electrical fit out:

The laundry has been done:

We had a meeting with Kevin last week, and went through the house, and there is an extensive list that of the items that needs to be fixed. the report is getting prepared and will be sent to Henley, very soon.

We are hoping that hopefully within the next one month we can finally move into the house,so let us see how thing will go.

After the Re-Works Started

2008-08-10T11:49:00.001+10:00

A lot has been happening, which I will try to go day by day as I have visited the site.

25-07-2008

Lot of plasters around the house came off and there are a lot of notes on the walls from Henley's Inspectors:

04-08-2008

The sliding on the back door was replaced, and a new front door was delivered to replace the old one that we were not happy about.

Also the ducting for the heating system was installed and the vents were also installed, I am guessing the actual heating unit is also installed, but since it is on top floor, I could not check it yet.

Additionally the Frames have been replaced/grinded and straightened in a a lot points.

05-08-2008

The Plaster guys were back and installed the removed plasters again.

08-08-2008

This is a day, I had an appointment with our construction manager, there was a fixing carpenter on site and started doing his part of the work and getting things ready for the painters.

From the initial 6-7 weeks of verbal guess of the timeline from our construction manager that was giving to us, already 3 weeks passed, but I still do not have an exact timeline of hand over.

What we have is that the plasterers are back on Monday to apply the compound and on Tuesday back to sand it off, during that week the painters are back do their part and the tiles are getting delivered on Monday and the tillers will start their work so the shower screens can be measured and ordered according to the size.

The missing cabinet doors that were stolen has been delivered.

There are still lot of walls and points that I am not happy with, but got a promise that they will be fixed.

Painters should take about 1.5 weeks and after that the final fit off will start.

The seal on the garage should be looked into yet and the floors will be once more filled with the self levelling compound once all the work from different trades are finished.

Trying to stay positive and hoping everything will be handed over on a reasonable timeline.

Today's Important meeting

2008-07-17T19:34:00.001+10:00

I thought I update you all,

had the meeting, the summary that within the next approx. 6-7 weeks I will get the house and when I bring my inspector, there will not be any defect.

There has been some more grinding and filling, which I have informed H3nley I will not sign the hand over paper until I will get an engineering report that the slab is still structurally sounds OK.

Also I did propose that they come up with solution and suggestion, when there are further cracks on the walls how H3nley is going to fix it, so I am waiting for their reply.

In General I think the meeting was positive, but I can only confirm it in the next week or two when I see actions and fixing happening in a right way.

Off course there were few other discussions and points which i rather not put it to the public (Sorry all, I hope you will get my points, why I can not)

Could this be the reason for the Cracks???

2008-07-14T09:46:00.002+10:00

I was just talking to my brother, and I think he could have taken my wondering mind "why the cornices cracked" to a right direction!!!

The picture I have taken before the plaster goes up and I think this is the reason why things starts falling apart. This kind of things were all over the house, this is only one point.

In my idea, picture explains it the best, when you have a roof over this sections (there are a lot of points like this), what is going to happen with the weight? it is going to push down the frame on an uneven slab and as a result, we get a crack cornice or un-level walls.

This is my best shot for explaining the situation, if anyone else has any idea, please feel free to let me know.

Sliding Door Measurement

2008-07-12T13:44:00.001+10:00

Here is a picture and measurement references I have taken from each four corner of the big sliding door to the back yard.

As you can see the edge of the Brick from the door frame is as follows:

Top left 68 mm

Bottom left 90 mm

Top right 93 mm

Bottom right 77mm.

Some more update of no more work for now

2008-07-10T22:03:00.001+10:00

I got an email that we have a new site supervisor, I don't know to be happy about this or not anymore since this is the third site supervisor.

He is going to visit the site and after that going to inform us of the progress, now how long again I need to wait to see this will happen is still again unknown.

What is most frustrating to see is, now every morning due to the project I have and the way I get to work, I have to drive by the house, and seeing that there is so much work left and contract is due and no one is around to do anything,gets me pissed off!!!!!

Will keep you all up to date with the next update as soon as it comes through.

More Frustrating update

2008-07-05T12:48:00.005+10:00

Have any constructive things happening.............No. and the explanation, we need to wait until the slab is fixed, OK, BUT I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE LAST 5 MONTH.

As mentioned on the last update, Henley is waiting for the concrete guys to come back and fix up the issues, finally they came on Thursday and did their work for a day, which from what it looks like is more grinding and filling.

Today, went by the house and noticed that the back window was left open, so went in with the camera and got a lot of pictures and discover a lot of more issues, which will be reported to Henley by end of the weekend.

First a lot of more walls that are not straight::

This is the side wall of the study.

Side wall of the Laundry door has been completely opened up, the reason behind it, I do not know, but same as the rest of the walls I suspect.

The last bedrooms room is not on a right angle and also the quality finish is not acceptable at all:

Noticed a very interesting thing, at least on half a dozen point around the house the cornices are cracked:

looking at Ensuit door frame from inside, noticed that the frame is not right, you will see the right hand side frame is higher than the left hand side.

Furthermore, the wall to the bedrooms hall is not right again:

Now to the main issue: Yes, you guessed it right the concrete slab:
Here are some of the pictures from the floor after being grinded and filled:

What I am interested to find out, is the slab not right yet or most of the skirting are all faulty, I think the picture will explain it better, have a look at the gaps between the skirting and slab and see in some areas there is a big difference:

Now outside of the house is the down pipes, I don't know what is wrong with people, can't they get the things right in the first place?

Not happy with how things are left by their own, this is top of the big sliding door to the back yard:

Also noticed that the either the sliding door is not right or the wall as the distance from the top to the lower section is different:

Well these issues + all the outstanding work, are left considering that the contact timing will be finish by 18th of July and we are talking about 13 days.

I will be taking further action with the authority when thing do not get moving very fast and in a right way as I had enough of these.

Late finish date.....

2008-06-18T17:47:00.003+10:00

Fist good news:

Got an email that the concrete has been finalised according to Henley, which is defiantly a positive point.
Noticed that the painters back and some work.
The front of the house that was texture finish is now changed to render and the quality and the looks has improved by a lot, much happier now with this.

By the way you will notice that the picture qualities will increase since I have a new DSLR camera now.

Now the bad news:

It is now known that we will go over our contract time and we will not have the house on time, now by how long we will go over the time, is unknown and no one can give an answer.

Still there is still no news on when the walls are going to fixed and a proper program on the rest of the job.

The things I can not call bad or good:

The rock removal variation came back, there has been some charges which I have asked for the invoice for this, but during the sales process I was told and also given a paper from Henley that if there was any rock I will be the first one to be noticed to take care of it, but off course I was not informed about it.

Our site supervisor is apparently finishing this week and there will be a new person in charge now, who? I do not know it too!!!

I have further requested to have a meeting with our construction manager and building manager so they can inform me the situation and let us see how quick we can get this appointment.

SLOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

2008-06-04T14:47:00.003+10:00

OK, the more it is passing by, the more frustrating it is getting.

Floor grinding has been kind of finish in some areas of the house, in some areas has not even being close. When I say Finished, I should correct myself, from what we are seeing and still will be checked to see if this time it is according to the Australian standard and if not?????

Further more the Rock removal cost has not been finalised, even thou I was promised that it had to be finished and finalised long time ago, I want my 5 digit number be returned when there was no Rock what so ever on site, lucky I have videos and pictures as well as some internal Memo of Henley on how it should have been done.

The walls on the angle has not been fixed! about 4 of them what I could see with my eye I guess there will be extra walls coming after the visit of the inspector, this time I will take two if them....

The worse of all, it has been 1.5 weeks that there has been no contact and no update from them, considering there is only about a month left of the contract final date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think someone should start thinking about their actions.

I started thinking did I make a mistake and changing my contract from PD to Henley!!!!!

The next couple of weeks will be very interesting to see, but I can not explain my anger at the moment.................................................

Finally Fixing the floor Started

2008-05-24T12:29:00.003+10:00

After a few month of chasing up and delays, the floor grinding started, it seems to be hard and noisy job.

It looked like the Garage's big lump was grinded, and at least this group looked professional with their equipment and laser level, and hopefully they will do the final job properly.

After Walking out of Garage noticed that when they installed the Garage Door Broke one of the Bricks, which will be reported to Henley.

You can see the reason on the picture below:

Here is the picture of the Vanity on the main bathroom:

Noticed that they have recently water sealed the showers as well:

Some pictures of the Kitchen with ceasor stone bench top:

The laundry Cabinet has also been installed:

The front door has been stained but I do not like some of the finish on the door:

While ago I found out the laundry door was stolen and now the replacement has arrived:

Also last week when I drove by the house saw the door is completely open, so I went in and there was no one inside, so I called our CSR and apparently the front door frame was broken, and now it seems they have temporary fixed it:

Here is also all the doors pained and stored in the walk in robe:

There is also one more problem, and that is on the down pipe, I think the picture explains it the best:

Now according to the report from Henley, Monday the 2nd of June the painters are booked to finalise their job.

The rock removal cost and credit back was going to be presented to me this week, which was not finalised, lets see what we will see next week.

The final date is coming very close and lets wait and see what will happen.

list of the current issues

2008-05-06T13:59:00.002+10:00

After the meeting with our SS "N" there was a list of issues that was raised, which I am listing them below, an email was send to our lovely CSR and still waiting for an answer from our building:

Floor Leveling:

Only two rooms has been so far grinded and the rest needs to be still processed, when it happens there is no update and I am also waiting to see when there is a response on that.
Due to this reason there has been only one coat of paint on the house and the rest has been stopped until the messy process of grinding finalised.

Around two wall of the Garage, Concrete slab is sticking out (further than the Plaster) so this needs to be cut and it will be covered by a skirting board. DATE UNKNOWN.

Apparently our Laundry door has been stolen, and there is no sign of it. so this needs to be supplied. DATE UNKNOWN.

The front door after being stained has a section on the bottom right corner which the painters can not get it into a proper color, and also there is a stripe 1/3 up the door, which runs cross the door. ACTION UNKNOWN.

There are about 4 wall that I have only picked up with eyes (Without proper tools) and our SS also confirmed needs to be fixed and straighten. DATE UNKNOWN.

There are a lot of points on the cornices that needs to be fixed, this is almost on all the rooms. DATE UNKNOWN.

The First raw of the Roof tiles in front of the house looks like it is on too much of an angle and needs to be fixed. (I personally belive it is all around the house) DATE UNKNOWN.

Due to all the Grinding of the Slab, I have requested our builder to provide me with an official Engineering report which states that this still falls under Australian Standard. DATE UNKNOWN.

OH, by the way the last rooms Ceiling height is 5 mm below the standard, so we Will need to wait and see what happens. DATE UNKNOWN.

The Storm water drainage has been completed, so I am waiting for my 5 Figure credit to be sent back to me as there was again no rock on this stage. DATE UNKNOWN.

The thing that has happen recently is that the Garage door has been delivered and installed. FINISHED

Still no pictures as on the visit day, my Digital Camera was faulty and after that the doors are locked and I can not take any pictures.

Will update as soon as I have some official response back from Henley.

Finally an update

2008-04-23T10:57:00.002+10:00

I think I have been lazy again with updating the blog, so I will update it and will post the photos on the next update.

The progress on the house:

The main point is still the concrete slab, from the last update, two rooms has been grinded and the rest is remaining, waiting to see when that is going to be finalised.
The plaster has been finalised, there are some points that needs to be fixed, which I am going to see our Site Supervisor tomorrow and see when that is scheduled.
The front door has been delivered and getting painted.
The fixing carpenter was on site and installed the entire door frame and the doors.
Kitchen, bathrooms and the laundry cabinets has been delivered and installed.
The down pipes have been installed.
The storm water connection has been done.
First coat of paint has been applied.

Where we are at the moment?

Well I am going to find that one out tomorrow as well.
But as far as I understand, the painters have been stopped, until the grinding of the high points on the concrete to be finalised and then they will continue (according to our CSR).

Things we have done ourselves:

The Bedroom suite has been ordered
1 set of lounges has been ordered.
The floor covering has been ordered, we went with Harvey Norman, for few reasons.

They had a 45 month interest free
With all the long warranties on these things, I can be surer if something down the road happens to the carpets or flooring they would still exist compare to the rest of the smaller companies.
The price I negotiated was not bad at all.

For the flooring we ended up ordering Mocha colour carpets for the bedrooms, which Harvey Norman will install. And for the Study, Dining, entry, Theatre, and the lounge we will be going with the Floating floor, for three reasons:

They are cheaper than hard wood or carpet or tile.
I can install it myself (even thou I have never done it) so we can save $15-20/sq m for the installation.
They are more wear resistance compare to the hard wood.

This is for today’s update, but I think I will have some more update coming soon after the site visit.

AMAZING PERFORMANCE

2008-03-05T20:30:00.002+11:00

Here is the best performance I have seen so far.

Today, just noticed that a lot of the plasters has been already been installed, well all the ceilings, and most of the walls, off course the rest of the work is going to take long, but so far so good.

Finally an update :-)

2008-03-04T19:39:00.004+11:00

Some good news and some not so bad news:

As I think everyone who follows knows that we had some problem with the process so far.

Well I guess now I can mention the issues since they are getting solved one by one nicely.

The first one and the major one was the concrete, after the Inspection by Kevin we found out that it was not level according to Australian standard, and in some places was out by far, so after few frustrating days finally noticed that the grinding the high spots started on site.

Last week on Friday got a call from our CSR, that this Monday the Insulation will be installed, and if we want to inspect the site again, we better do it afterwards.

So quickly called Kevin, and he happily accepted to come around on Monday lunch time, after he set up his laser level and put his futuristic red glasses on he started to point out the points that are still out of level. And our Site Supervisor started Marking these areas with pink paint.

While we were there, the arrangement with the concrete guys was made to bring the big gun concrete cutters and start grinding the high spots, and after that filling the low spots with a self leveling.
Due to these modification Henley is going to happy provide us with the Non-slip epoxy paint on the garage, Thank you so our garage will also hopefully look just as good as the rest.

Also while we were there, asked our Supervisor what was the chances of getting couple of extra power point in the garage and couple of GPO's around the outside, and he did the arrangement straight away and the boys were there even before we left, so while they did the job, I decided to have couple of future light in front of the main bedroom.

Ohhh, yes, we had the (I think) the cement sheets installed and all the Eves were installed end of last week.

The next thing was as we arrived on Monday for the Inspection noticed the guys for sealing the Brick came and they did their work too.

Further more,sine yesterday we have the insulation installed all around the house:

The last here is the picture for few of the friends that were checking the colors of the bricks:

OK what is next...Plaster, they were delivered today and waiting for the action.

Just to update my mood, I am again happy and I think Henley picked up from the right time and i hope it will continue like this...

Any Action By End of Today??????????

2008-02-20T20:58:00.002+11:00

Well so far the same, No answer and no Action, let's see how things will go tomorrow and if something will happen, I will look forward to see all the issues will be addressed by end of the week...
More Updates to follow, as hopefully tomorrow I will get some update.

Response to the Report

2008-02-19T18:35:00.002+11:00

Yesterday, I got the mail that our construction manager wrote last Friday.

The issues according to the response are going to be fixed by end of this week, but today is Tuesday and I have not seen any action as yet, I guess rest of the week is going to be very busy to keep up the timeline.

The issues with the slab are going to be fixed by grinding the high spots and filling back the low spots. The garage is going to be covered after that with a special covering, I am guessing epoxy floor.

And also today I have requested our CSR to fix an appointment for the following week for another inspection.

Progress Report

2008-02-17T19:02:00.003+11:00

OK, After some dramas from last week, which I am waiting for a response from Henley, now is time to say few good things that is happening around:

First and the most important is the brick, after Kevin also inspect it, he was happy with everything and he also did confirm what I thought as well, that the Brick layers did a fantastic job, end of last week, also they were cleaned and they ended up looking even better than before. Unfortunately I just noticed that I did not any pictures, so in the next post.

The plumbing rough in was done and the hot water solar panel was installed.

After that, all the electrical wiring was carried out on the 12-02.

Further progress that has been confirmed verbally by our CSR, is:
The lock up should be finalised soon, and by end of the week the issues after the visit will be fixed by end of this coming week.
The insulation and the plaster should start by end of the week.
I hope these dead lines will be kept.

Brick, Frame and Brick Inspection

2008-02-08T11:29:00.000+11:00

First of all, my apology for the people who are following up on the progress, yes I have I am not updating as much as used too, but it is all for a reason. And also like to thank few you of you who are following up on the progress, these days I get "almost everyday" an email asking me about the progress.

Well now back to the serious stuff, today we have the first inspection for the Brick, Frame and Brick.

I would like not to make much comment at this stage as there were a lot of problems, which thank to Kevin from New Home Inspections, picked up and addressed to our Site Supervisor "N".

I should receive the report from Kevin on Monday and will forward it to our CSR in Henley for further follow up and action plans.

But as mentioned there are some major issues, however before I make any comments on what they are, let us see how they get atacked and fixed/resolved by Henley. I am sure they will do the right thing for both of us 'as it has been done so far' ot overcome these issues.

Further detail to follow as soon as we have made agreement with Henley on the issues.

Getting closer to Lock Up

2008-01-17T18:31:00.000+11:00

It has been a long time since the last update and my apology for the regular visitors.

Well the brick was finished last Saturday, couple of small points, which they happily changed and fixed, here are some pictures of the final work:

Here is my brother already planing the pool table, I am not sure I am going to give up the Theater room for a pool table!!!

A little section top of the door is missing, which I guess going to be fixed by end next week.

Yesterday the roof tiles were delivered:

Today when I went again, most of the tiles has been assembled.

I also discuss the further schedule with our super nice lady in Henley"J" and found out the plan is to have the roof completed this week and early next week lock up, so I called Kevin from New Home Inspection and book a time with him and out site supervisor next Thursday the 24-01.

So far everything good and fine.

Brick Work Continues

2008-01-05T17:49:00.000+11:00

And some more on the brick work

The left wall is 80% finished now:

Rear wall is 60% finished:

Left wall side is 30% finished as well, the side wall is 60% and the Garage side door is not started yet:

In general not a bad effort for 2 days of work.

Here is the last picture which took from the main street, which recently opened up:

Happy New Year

2008-01-04T12:24:00.000+11:00

First we like to wish every one a Very Happy New Year.

Our New Year stareted with seeing the commencement of the Brick Work.

The guys seems to be doing a good job so far and will wait until the end to see the final result.

I will have a discussion with the supernice lady "J" after she comes back from the break regarding the rest of the process.

Delayed Update

2007-12-21T20:45:00.000+11:00

It has been a while since the last update, but things are moving, but slowly.

The roof was going to start last Thursday (18-12), but instead we left with a few blue painted frames

Talked to "J" and she mentioned that Henley had the quality person going to the site and he did rejected the quality of the some sections, which they are going to be replaced before the roof goes up, as some of them are structure frame.

Furthermore, the Brick was schedule to start, which the current rains are not helping, but it is OK, since we need the rain. But in a mean time I got a promise that the brick layers will be working during the break, except the main holidays.

Today when I went just for a visit to the site, to check my new camera and the panorama shot

notices that there are also lot of wood around, and seems that there were some activities to get the frame right.

Also saw some 90 deg angles, which I do not know what they are for, but I guess I will find out soon.

Feel Warm Already

2007-12-11T18:45:00.000+11:00

Last night I got back home late from interstate, and I was too tired to update the blog, but the Gutters were finished and today when I went to the land, most of the Insulation (Green wraps) were around the house.

Also what a great thing to see the bricks already been delivered, and can see the final result soon, I was actually very pleased with the color selection of the bricks, they look very nice, they will be with off white Mortar in between as well, so hopefully the final result will be great.

Second Video of the Blog

2007-12-08T18:00:00.000+11:00

A hot day, I don't feel like doing anything, what would I do?

Well, turn on the laptop, and start making a little photo story. I think it turned up to be not so bad...

Frame, Windows, and sliding door finalisation

2007-12-08T17:11:00.001+11:00

Yesterday called our super nice lady in Henley "J" and asked for some update, and she said that by this week (Friday the 08-12) the frame was going to be finalised and when I went to the land indeed it was finished (well as far as I can understand).

She also mentioned that the Fascia will start from this coming week and followed by the Brick, which she hoped that would be achieved still before New Year.

Had a discussion about the cost of the rock removal that is stated in our contract and after she found out how much really the cost is, she promised she will follow it up and let me know the status and how it is going to be credited back to me by a variation.

Therefore, so far still happy with the process. Here are some more pictures of the process until Friday afternoon.

Windows Assembly

2007-12-06T20:27:00.000+11:00

The frame I think is now finished, and the windows are now almost finished as well except the big back sliding door.

Here are some picture of today's visit:

Garage and Roof Structure

2007-12-05T18:24:00.000+11:00

It was even better today once I saw Henley done another fast job today, to me looks like all the column frames is now finished and I would say more than half of the roof, I think (just a guess) by end of tomorrow most of the windows should be finished too.

Here are some updated progress:

Start of the roof and windows and gutters delivery

2007-12-04T19:11:00.000+11:00

The roof started in few different points and here is some pictures of the Windows that was delivered yesterday, also noticed that some gutters were delivered.

Aluminium Windows and Doors

2007-12-03T18:23:00.000+11:00

Nothing did happen today and to all the fairness I was not expecting anything to happen with all the rain.

For the first time, when I went to the land and there were couple of guys working. They were the delivery guys who delivered all the aluminium windows and doors and put it on the ground.

Also got a phone call from super nice lady "J" our CSR and she said that the frame will be finished by end of this week and the wrapping up will start by early next week, which is good and look forward to.

I will update tomorrow with some pictures.

Roof Structure

2007-12-01T20:02:00.000+11:00

Not much too say, except the guys were on site today and delivered the Roof Trusses and couple of doors, which the doors are mysteries for me where they are going to be.

I hope before the end of the year we will have the Frame and the brick finished, but lets see.

After the Frame stage is complete, I will meet the superman "N" our SS, and see where we are and what will be the next stage, but so far a A+ to Henley and I am sure they will keep it the same way. I have to say, compare to their competitors they have been fantastic so far and the atitude has not been changed since the sales process, which is very comforting for me.

Frame Progress Update

2007-11-29T21:03:00.000+11:00

Not much more except the frame progress is advancing very well. I could actually now feel like I am walking in our house as you could separate the rooms now.

I have also sent an email to the first building inspector and canceled it with his, as his first report did not came after 5 days. Now I called Kevin from New Home Inspection, which is also recommended by one of my favourite blogs (The House that Bob Built). And he already gave me a lot of priceless advice on the phone.

Frame Continues

2007-11-28T19:48:00.000+11:00

Here is some picture from end of today, and off course the boys have been busy.

Looking from the master bedroom

Looking from the Garage Side

Entree and on the right is the Study

Theater Room

This is going to be the dining room, Kitchen and bedrooms

These guys (Henley) Rock

2007-11-27T19:26:00.000+11:00

Couple of things, on the weekend noticed that the dirt was removed from the site and it was all nice and clean and some gravel on the Drive way, which i assume it is for protecting the trucks and equipment not taking the mud on the road.

Also Yesterday I had the Building Inspector to go the site to have a look at the Slab, and basically he came back that the guys did a good job...

It is always a good feeling after a long day at work going to the land and seeing the guys have been busy and didn't forget about you.

Yes, today went by the land and they have already started the frame work and here is some initial pictures of today's progress. Thank you Henley

Call from the Superman "N" himself

2007-11-21T20:50:00.000+11:00

Got a phone call from the Superman "N" himself today, and he is reading this and he wanted to ensure me that the yesterday's heat will not effect anything and everything will be according to the Australian Standard. I have to admit to that he did a good job explaining it to me and happy 100%.

The frame will be also starting from next week according to "N". which is another positive step.

So far, 100 out of 100 for Henley and specially their front team "N' and "J" (well done guys).

We have now Slab as well

2007-11-20T17:49:00.000+11:00

Well to all the good news, one was added again today, yes Henley did keep up to the promise and the slab was finished.

Just a little concern, as it was a hot day (top 36)and I am hoping that does not effect the process and we see cracks on the slab later on, in a mean time lets be positive about it and see how things will go.

Further Progress on Friday

2007-11-19T15:07:00.000+11:00

It is not so good to run out of monthly download limit 14 days before the month is finished, the result is equal = No Internet + going for a higher and more expensive contract.

Well anyway ended up getting connected, and I have some picture from Friday after work, I think the pictures explains it the best:

Preparation Work for the Slab

2007-11-16T09:32:00.000+11:00

Well until Wednesday evening when I was driving by the land, I noticed nothing was happening, and as I was thinking to call Henley and found out what is going on the new super nice lady from Henley "J" called and she mentioned that we are getting the Superman himself "N" to come and supervise our building construction.

She mentioned that if I go today to the land I will see some action as the Concreters have been on site and started the preparation work for the Slab, and by Tuesday next week we will have finally the slab.

Well off course as always, went to the land after work and yes some major steps was taken and I was actually surprised to see so much work in a day can take place. here are some pictures of it.

By the way As you could see, I think we have been very lucky with the Rocks, as there is basically nothing since the start and we can have the construction cost lower.

Power Box and Rio Delivery

2007-11-09T19:09:00.000+11:00

Well, the Power box is now there too and also at the back the Rio has been delivered.

Starts looking better and better,

Power Box

Delivered Rio

Go Henley Go

Underground Utilities

2007-11-09T10:48:00.000+11:00

The underground Utilities are done as well. I think the pictures explains it much better.

Under ground Utilities

Also there are lot of dirt that has been piled up on the side, which I looks like it is good news as I can not see any issue with rock.

Dirt Pile up

Also there are some Wooden posts around the house which they all have different part of the house marking on them but I don't know what they are for. "Here is an example"

One of many posts around the house Block

Fence and Chnage of Administration

2007-11-07T19:35:00.000+11:00

During the day, had a phone call from "P" our first administrator and she inform me the Slab will be poured now middle of next week and that we have also a new Admin which will be called "J" from now will be supervising our job.

Drove by the land after work and the fences were up and they were some wooden post around the block, which I think was the perimeter of the house structure.

Go Henley Go

2007-11-02T20:58:00.000+11:00

As I mentioned just before I drove by the land and yes, something did happen. even with the rain they did the cut and fill.

As you can see roughlyfrom the picture they did cut about 300 mm and they raised the front about 100-200 mm.

Overview of the land

Back of the land where the cutting did happen

Do we need rain???

2007-11-02T10:18:00.000+11:00

I know we need rain in Melbourne at the moment and it is great actually seeing it happening, but did it have to rain right on the first day that the site construction was going to start?

Yesterday (with all the excitement) drove by the land after work, and we still have the toilet :-) but nothing else happened.

I am guessing today, it is going to be the same scenario as the rain is actually heavier than yesterday, but I guess you may get some update tonight if anything did happen.

We have a TIOLET

2007-10-31T19:20:00.000+11:00

Yes, I got a phone call from "D" to introduce himself and inform me that the work will start from tomorrow on site, and if everything goes fine, by Monday the 12-11 we should have the slab.

Drove by the land today and noticed we have the first toilet in our land, at the start of the project, I guess even such a thing is exciting, that I had to take a picture, open the photoshop and add some text into it...

I guess tomorrow I will have more pictures.

Thursday is the DAYYYYYYYY............

2007-10-30T11:44:00.000+11:00

Got a phone call few minutes ago from "P" and she informed me they will start the site work from this Thursday and do the underground work first. e.g. Power, sewerage, and rest of the utilities.

And by hopefully end of next week we will have the slab done.

So another step forward......

We have a board

2007-10-27T10:42:00.000+10:00

Yesterday, we drove by the land and yes now we have a sign board detailing the lot number , address, supervisors name and the contact detail. And yes that no unauthorised person is allowed.

I have to call Henley and ask if I can have an induction done to enter the site anytime. Officially, it should be possible as far as I understand from all the construction sites, but …we will find out.

THANK YOU "L", HELLO 'P"

2007-10-24T14:20:00.000+10:00

Some good news today, I got an email from Henley's Superwoman "L" and she said that the new administration will give me a call by end of the week.

And what a super performance, the new Admin called "P" and she already introduced herself and the site supervisor "D".

Apparently the site starts from next week, and all is now on the go..HOHO..

THANK YOU "L"

AND HELLO "P"

Here is a Joke I got today at work, which I thought I will share it:

WHY I WAS FIRED.....
For the last departmental picnic, management decided that due to liability issues, we could have alcohol, but only one (1) drink per person. I was fired for ordering the cups... ...

Display House Video

2007-10-23T11:30:00.000+10:00

Here is a little video I took with my mobile from the display house in Point Cook while ago.

I hope my house will look just as good looking when it is finished. I was sold to this display house.

DISPLAY HOUSE (HENLEY - POINT COOK)

Grass Cutting, what a job...

2007-10-08T11:08:00.000+10:00

I got an email from Henley, that the file now will be handed over to construction department, and from there on everything is pretty much the process is quick.

I was also asked that I should cut the grasses soon, so since on Sunday I woke up early enough, went to the land and started my work, which took me roughly 3.5 hours, (Ohh my back).

But the result was good to see, as you can now exactly diffrentiat between the land on the back and the side.

Complete of Finance

2007-10-03T15:51:00.000+10:00

Everything was finished and signed with the finance part of the project Yesterday and also the Block title transfer has been completed.

I think looks like everything is on the go now, Called Henley yesterday (always a pleasure talking to "L") and she said that material has been ordered and everything is ready to go.

I am hoping that within the next two or three weeks we can see the works starts on the land.

On the weekend I went by the land and noticed that the water has been connected, I have never been so excited seeing a water tap. But I guess this is my first TAP....HAHA.

(our newly installed Water) I guess first bill will be coming soon

OK, from now on, I will possibly have more updates, but that is it for now.

Contract

2007-08-24T19:04:00.000+10:00

I think it is about the time to give an update.

On Wednesday finally signed the contract, and now everything is ready to go and just need to finalise the finance.

Bought few things, Side by side Fridge, an HD DVD player, a nice Speaker set and AV Receiver and few other small things, and the most important I got a present from my brother FARSH, which I am sure going to enjoy it, a nice HD LCD TV (Love you mate), so I think I have almost everything for the Theatre room.

I am trying to get the best deal at the moment for the interest rates from different bank.
Need to finalise the Land transfer, at the moment it is in Farsh name and I, which will be only my name.

I think everything is coming along pretty good and very happy with the progress, as soon as I finalise the finance, I am going to really relax for a while until the building process starts.
So for today, basically that is it and will update you as more comes up.

I Just wish I had some pictures to put on this post, but couldn't get them together, maybe next time... :-)

Tender

2007-07-12T08:27:00.000+10:00

OK, a lot happening since the last update, but I thought I collect few things and put a post at one hit:

I went for the color selection to the Cusham interior, and what a professional team, selected few extra thing, but in general all the goodies are standard and there was not much I could add. The extras were things like tiled base showers, few extra lights, timber finish exterior door. And Lever type door handles which the price surprised me, 285 extra for the whole house, wow.
I got my soil test and the first tender, but when I look at the site cost, everything was great except when it came to rock removal, well nice 10,500, which I hope to be cheaper by the end of it, as there is not much cutting and filling on the land, which is virtually flat.
Got to the tender appointment, and here we go, a old student of mine when I was tutoring for a year back in Uni, and also a good friend of mine, which I have not seen her for 4 years or so, she gave me even some more confidence to go with Henley, so I decided after a few things has been fixed, I will sign the tender.
Talked to the broker as my budget was kind of blown, and he assured me that he can do something to get some more money. Which is good.
Now going to Germany for work and set the contract date on the 22-08, which before that I need to prepare the land title transfer to my name only and also get the final approval for finance, and hoping by Mid to end of September the construction should start.
I think all is coming together now slowly and nicely, so far happy with the progress, and again I need to thank Henley guys to be such a professional team so far, I hope it will stay like this until the end.

Just an update

2007-06-01T12:06:00.000+10:00

Well it has been a long time since my last update, but not much has been happening anyway, I set the appointments with the color selection and the tender appointment 15-29 of June, so now I start getting serious to finalise the finance during this I have left.

Went to the Cusham interior, and Henley in my idea has a great range of standards and I almost do not need to upgrade anything and happy with the standard range.

Sales Quotation finalization with Henley

2007-05-13T12:38:00.000+10:00

So far everything looks OK and happy with the process, I am really glad that I am now with Henley, as the more I think about it, the more value I am getting out of this deal.

Also yesterday I got a Home Manual that Henley does, which is perfect as it explains all the processes that needs to be done and what I need to get prepared before each stage to get things moving much faster.

I am going next week for a browse to Cusham Interior for just checking the color selection process and get ready for the real day.

By the way here is a picture of the Facade I have choosen "Fairhaven"

Cancellation with Porter Davis and a new Sales Contract with Henley

2007-05-07T09:09:00.000+10:00

As you possibly have read before, I some trouble with PD and I was waiting for their decision, so they came back and they said that I have to pay for the change in the drawing, so I ended up canceling with them.

I was also called a Dictator by them, This is to an answer I got to the question “why PD is not Flexible at all on making appointment?”, and they said, they can not wait and the customer dictates them when they should make an appointment so they tell me on their available time when to come and select the color, tile and the contract... HELLLOOO, WHO IS THE CUSTOMER HERE??? PD or the Client????

Anyway, yesterday went back again to all the builder and now I have chosen Henley with their Carinya Design which is 2.5 square, more than the Standfod with an additional bedroom, not that I need it, but still it is great re-sell value in the future.

Here is the plan of this new one.

If you are wondering, how much extra I had to go; the answer is nothing so far and looks like it comes with a bigger standard inclusion list. Other than loosing 4 weeks from the whole process, I am happy with the decision. (SO FAR!!!)

Pulling the Plug

2007-04-30T18:06:00.000+10:00

OK, today I had a little problem with Porter Davis and ready depending on their decision, I am ready to pull the plug off with them. I requested to change the layout a little so the standford 23 instead of looking like Lyndherst display, it will look like a Highland display, which basically, changing the position of the 1 window and 1 sliding door.

They have already the drawings as they have the exact house in display, considering I have my contract appointment on the 18-May, I got a phone call that they will charge me $300.00 for changing the layout, which was like DDAHHHHHH. And made my blood boiling.

So I gave the call and send an email confirmation to them that this change is before the contract appointment and any changes I request as long as it is a standard change it should be at the same cost and there should not be any additional fees for it. End of the day they have the drawing already with the same price and since I know the drawing package, it will take the draftsman about 5 min to copy and paste that section into my layout at the max.

So now the sales guys has got in touch with the Area Business Manager and if I get this approve that I will get this change with no additional fee, I will stay with them, otherwise I really will take off and go with someone else, as I have already spend about 20,000 for the variation and I think this 300.00 is my right and I really should not pay for it. So let’s see what they will say and I will update you as soon as I have some update myself.

Facade Selection

2007-04-25T20:37:00.000+10:00

The Facade we selected was the Thredbo which is in display in Craigieburn display centre. And since at the time of the purchase I had the option of having the exterior Bag&Painted (First time I heard this term), so I am going to get it exactly the same excluding the stone futures on the column in the front, overall I think this does not look bad at all.

Soil Test

2007-04-23T15:09:00.000+10:00

By the way on Saturday I went to see the Contractor my Neighbour selected for the fencing and I noticed that The Aliens have left a sign on my land, after asking the neighbour, I found out some guys came and took a soil test.

Also that day I brought down the for Sale guy from my useless real estate.

Now I will be waiting for the result of the soil test and see how much the site costs will be fixed on, so I can have some money on electrical and so on. (I hope at least)

Update on Contract, Finance, Fencing

2007-04-23T10:27:00.000+10:00

It has been long time since my last update and few things happening so far:

The Contract: I have finally got the reply back from the PD regarding the contract, and I will be there on the 18th of May to sign the final contract, and until then I will have the color, tile and electrical selection. so will be busy kind of with all of these.
The Finance, Talk to the guys from Choice Home loans and he sounded very helpful again and filled out all the forms and so on for re-financing and looks like we are getting closer again to the final target.
The fencing on the land, I had to do one side, as my neighbour was pushing it, trying to contact the neighbours on the other two sides and they want the colors to be different, and the same supplier as they have used before, I do not know what to do and need to come up with a strategy.

I think so far everything is going very smoothly and let's hope it is going to be like that until the end.

Finance

2007-04-04T20:36:00.000+10:00

Today I had a visit from C-Choice which PD recommended it, The Gentlemen was very nice and informative, we went roughly through refinancing the things and all looked ok.

So I guess this is soon out of the way as well.

I have also some pictures which I took from the display house as well which I am posting them all, I wish the house would have looked like this. lol

Downpayment

2007-04-02T09:19:00.000+10:00

Well, Saturday was a very exciting day, I ended up putting the first down payment on the house, I ended up deciding on the Stanford 23 which is much better option for us.

Been promised that Porter Davis will start in October and finished by February 2008 so we can move in.

All looks good now and on the go, took a lot of picture of the display house and will post it later on.

Change of mind for a bigger Plan

2007-03-30T08:05:00.000+10:00

Last night decided maybe stretching the budget and going for a bigger plan, it cost 10,000 more, but considering th land frontage is very wide (27m) this will be better option and in the future will look a little better, and off course just in case I want to sell it will have more value in the future.
As I mentioned before on Saturday I have an appointment with Porter Davis for the proper quotation, so will see what happens.

Which Builder

2007-03-29T09:17:00.000+10:00

Hi, Just a little planing for building the new house.

We have already a land in Taylors Hill (Watervale Estate) which is the nice size land with a very wide frontage (27 meter) the total size of the land is 783 m^2.

I have started to look for a builder since last Saturday (24-03-2007), and the first stop was Metricon, and the first display house was NewHaven (WOW, loved the designed) but kind of double out of our budget. so looking for a cheaper option.

Then Looked at the Bellino 20MKII, which the designed looked nice and the base price was yeah a little over the budget. By the way, for the first time I found out about the base price and the extras.... Interesting.

Also then we had a look at Simmonds new Promotion, 99,900 Package (WOW), but when we added up all the costs it came to 140,000 approximately. so we looked at the Hillcrest option which the layout is closer to what we are looking for.Sunday the 25-March went and had a look at few other options Henley, and Denis, which they looked good. So kind of I started to know what i am looking for now.

On Monday Decided to be a little more serious about Henley as apparently they are the largest one, and they have Charleton which starts at 130,000, but when I asked for few extras came to the cost of 165,000, for basically nothing much.

So Also saw the Porter Davis House there,which and decided to give them a call, and ended up talking to Jason from Lyndherst office, (At least a decent sales guy"not like Henley sales guy") Cumberland 20, and will all the options came to 150,000.

At the moment I am trying to choose between Metricon and Porter House and reading a fantastic Forum (http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=497) which is very helpful and let me know what I should really look for.

I have another appointment with Porter Davis on Saturday and with the angry girl from Simmonds on Sunday, so I will update this soon again.

Just already my filing is one big lever Arch folder, which is full already.