As it stands as per the pic below, all of the lower level has been wrapped in sislation ready for the brickies.
Got a call from 'F' yesterday to give me an update. He said that the recent spate of rain we have been experiencing has slowed down development everywhere. The Brickie who was meant to be starting this week on our place has not been able to complete his current job and therefore won't be able to start on ours until at least next Monday. I should probably start counting the number of rain days we have as PD have a clause in the contract to allow for 10 rain days on top of the standard schedule - gotta keep the buggers honest.
Also spoke to 'F' about our window locks. As part of our Post Contract variations we included to have window locks to all of the lower windows for security & peace of mind (keeps the Insurance company happy too). When they fitted the windows we noticed that none of them have locks. He said that this can sometimes happen and that he would look into it and rectify.
All the while the building has been progressing, we have been busy bees looking at items to be completed post-handover, things like carpeting. We've had two quotes now, both somewhat higher than we had budgeted for....OK... almost double. Yes, I know, many posts ago I uttered the words '...no more upgrades...' but when you go out and sample the carpet and the underlays that are available (and when I say sample , physically take your shoes off and walk on the carpet) and you consider how much of the house is carpeted and the length of time that we hope to be in the house, well, you start to realise that you do need to spend a bit to have a good ROI (return on investment). We have another quote coming back this week and will then need to crunch some numbers.
I have also been tossing around ideas for the electrical work to be carried out after handover, things like the lights in the Garage, front of the house, security lights around the sides, down lights in the upper storey (all of the lower storey will fitted out with down lights by PD - cheaper that way). Have decided to go with these lights for the front, one each side of the garage door and also one each side of the balcony. They are Compact fluorescent compatible so I can ramp up the wattage if the old 60w is not enough in 'incandescent' terms.
We have also been looking at fences for the perimeter of the property. We like the Stratco 'Good Neighbour' range and have been getting quotes for this as well - 100m right round is a LOT of fence!! We spoke with the agent who sold us our land about the land owner going halves in the cost and then passing that on to the new owners of the surrounding land as it gets sold. Ba-Bow! The vendor has a clause in the land contract which removes him from any involvement in the fencing of properties, therefore we will need to cough up for the entire amount and request the new surrounding owners to chip in when they move in - that should be fun :-) NOT :-(
7 comments:
It's so hard to see nothing happening, isn't it? (I know...I have a lot of experience where that's concerned...)Well, you're still ahead of us, even though you started a week later!!!! Bricks should make a huge difference, and while it's frustrating having to wait, you don't want them doing something that important in adverse weather conditions. I never thought about counting 'rainy days', I thought they just had a certain # of 'extra' days, including inclement weather days, and that as long as they finish on time, it doesn't matter what delays them...? Even without the rain, we're already more than 2 weeks behind!
Hi Guys,
You were going so well...... hopefully things will pick up again once the brickies start :-)
Re the fencing are the blocks next to you sold yet? I'm not sure if you will have much success asking future buyers for money if the fence is already up. Hopefully, if they are not sold already the they might be once you are ready for fencing. Stratco is nice, got a brochure on that in the junk mail yesterday.
Love the exterior lights. Very nice. Is your portico going to be rendered? I've put in a request for lights for Mother's Day!
sorry just remembered what I was going to ask re the window locks. Isn't the lock part of the window frame?? How will they put them on afterwards?
Hi HTB, the window locks are part of the winder mechanism. Hopefuly all they need to do is swap over the winders for each window and all should be OK.
With regard to the fence, the blocks around us have not sold as yet, and I really don't want to wait around for everyone to buy before erecting our fence. So basically all we can do is ask politely :-)
And yes our Portico will be renered - this is the only part of the house that will be.
Great, well your lights will look lovely either way but will stand out more on the render. Nice.
Shame about the blocks.....I hope future neighbours are nice and go halves.
Cool about the w/locks. Good that it's an easy fix. We've opted to have them downstairs too, was just thinking though that I didn't do the window in the stair well. Might need to do that seeing as someone might be able to get onto the garage roof.
Ciao
Regarding fences, you should have a look at the Victorian Fences Act 1968 which is available free from here: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/fa196867/
If you follow the procedures in the Act, I suspect that you will find that you are legally entitled to contribution for half the cost of a reasonable fence from the current owner of the adjoining land; that may be the developer, for blocks not yet sold to future residents.
Your council (Yarra Ranges) links to this document for a guide to fencing: http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/lawreform/fences/quickguide/
This also looks promising - with a sample "notice to fence": http://www.fencingonline.com.au/disputes/victoria-notice-02.htm
Since Stratco sell fencing, they be able to give you a few clues as to how to get the best outcome.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Richard for the fencing links - VERY useful indeed :-)
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