28-10-08 Nearly there...

Two weeks ago we decided that enough is enough. Enough of the poor workmanship, enough of the slow response time to get things done, and enough of our house looking almost the same, week after week after week from our first PCI. We wrote to PD informing them in no uncertain terms, our issues and concerns with our new home, suggesting to them that maybe they should get someone out there to see for themselves what was going on. We also advised that we didn’t believe that our house would be ready for our second inspection by Oct 26th which had been suggested by ‘F’, because our house was so far off being completed, and it was so plain to see. We pointed out that we just basically expected a lot more progress on our house, 4 weeks out since the first PCI.

Within half an hour of sending the email, I received a call from the Construction Manager 'M', two up from 'F'. He was very apologetic and explained that they would have someone out there that afternoon. Two hours later, I received a call from 'T', 'F's boss, who had gone onsite. He too was also very apologetic and advised us that he would be taking over to manage the remaining issues and finalise construction. 'T' was basically shocked to find what condition our home was still in and agreed that there was no way the house would be ready for at least a few more weeks!

Since then, ‘T’ (who I might add has been fantastic) has come back to us with a schedule to rectify the remaining issues and is trying his best to have the house ready for our second PCI on Monday the 3rd Nov. Then, based on no major defects appearing, we should have handover on Friday 7th Nov. This date will mark 232 days (or 33 wks) since site scrape. Not an anniversary we want to celebrate.

On top of the existing list of issues and defects found by ‘K’ and us, ‘T’ has determined that several other areas around the house were not up to PD standard and has requested that additional works be carried out to bring them up to scratch. We are glad we are now much closer and on our way to a beautiful house and feel confident that the house will be at a much higher standard then what it would have been had we not escalated the issues. Having said that, we still can’t help feeling disappointed with most of the process pre-escalation and still feel a little ‘bitter’.

As a consequence of the situation, our moving plans have been thrown into disarray by the constant delays. We had allowed ourselves a 7 week buffer from the original (supposed) handover date to move out, but it appears that this wasn’t enough and PD will use up every single day of those 7 weeks. Work has been really good about the situation and understanding of the delays and my need to keep postponing my leave. We must also thank Andy and Tony, our carpet layer and sparky for constantly adjusting their schedule to accommodate our delays week after week. We have had to tackle some interesting logistics with the move process we have been forced into which has been documented so we can track who, when, how, where etc…. But we won’t bore you with that stuff. We can see a light at the end of the tunnel; it just may need some more batteries.


As part of the additional works being carried out, they have ripped up and replaced the balcony deck as the boards were laid to close together, resulting in little or no gap for drainage.


Extensive guttering has been replaced around the house (more than what we had suggested) mainly due to scratches/dents during the build.


The 'z' flashing along the outside garage wall (which sits in between the top of the brickwork and the Gutter) has also been replaced. The flashing has to be sitting either vertically or leaning away from the building to deflect any water - ours was leaning into the wall creating a water trap.


The Plasterer has now finished patching up all the walls - this one three times.


This section of cornice has been re-done 3 times.


The tiles around the nib walls have been ripped out and replaced.



The tiles near the Rumpus entry have been ripped up and replaced to float them higher and decrease the gap below the door, as there was a slight valley near the entry.



As part of our inspection we realised that they had forgotten to install the front door 'reed switch' as part of the Alarm install. They have now included the switch along with a few more holes.


The brickie has now finished off all of the weep holes and flashing above the upper storey windows.




The cleaners have done a once over and the painters are due to start today. A second clean will then be carried out before our 2nd PCI on Monday.

Sorry for the long post, but a lot has transpired in recent weeks.