Day-116: Lockup Stage Completed...

We have got the invoice for the fourth stage; Lockup stage. So we understand that this stage is completed. We are not sure though. There is a meeting with the SM on Wednesday morning and then perhaps the things will be more clear. As per our understanding the lockup stage means that house should be to that stage where there is no entry possible in the house from outside. By this stage the following should be completed:

• Roof tiles
• All external doors/windows should be installed (Partially done in our case)
• All rendering/painting on the external walls should be done (Partially done in our case as the painting is still not completed and we have been told that it is a deliberate action so that to avoid any marks!)
• Front door and the backside doors should be all done (front door is not done and we are not sure whether the back one is done or not.
• Garage door should be done as well (This is not done)

As per the telephonic conversation with our SM last Wednesday:

• The Gyprock should start by today and should finish in a couple of days

I had gone to the site this morning and found that the rendering was happening on the balcony. Inside of the balcony is not done, I presume as there is some sealing has to be carried out there first. I wonder how long this rendering and painting saga will continue...

Day 111: Lockup Stage in Sight...

We have not been updating the blog for the simple reason that it has not been exciting time for us for the last six weeks. These last few weeks have been the longest ones for us. Rains were partly to blame, but we could hardly see much activity even when it used to be sunny. Last week was some action because they had to reach to the Lockup stage.

I was informed by our SM that our Lockup stage will be done soon. This means that the whole house is locked and there is no opening in the house any more either from the roof or the outside doors/windows. We can see a lot of things untidy at the moment, but should not take long to fix them. The real issue is that there is no resources devoted only to this project and as a result although they seem small in nature, yet they could take days to finish.

First floor painting is done, but it two coats are absolutely unacceptable and also we can see marks everywhere. They do not show a good professional touch and we are worried now as we have been told that the first floor walls are done! Here are the things that are worrying us at this stage:

• Front of the house rendering is still incomplete (even after more than six weeks). They had to re-do the balcony as it was not straight.
• Painting in the front and the ground floor is all incomplete
• Doors inside are not done as yet
• Main door is also not installed and I wonder if the sliding doors at the backside is done at all...
• There is a pool of water in the front of the house which never ceases to dry because of the constant rains and also because there is no drainage done to the street level drainage system. This is quite worrying as we wonder what it would be doing inside the ground.
• The slow progress in the last six weeks has been frustrating and we wonder if there will be some more activity around the house in the coming weeks or not. If not then we are sure that project will be delayed.

We are all the time told that the project is on schedules and we always wonder how this could be possible with so little work being done... Only God knows or our SM!!!

Some more photos here...

In the light the wall glows, but when you see in the shadow it shows the true painting quality which is not good enough...

The top part of the wall are two coats and the downward it is only one coat. Pretty poorly done.

These patches are not a good sign...

The garage roof, rumpus and alfresco roofs are done and that is a good news. The pool of water just near the entrance worries us now as it has been there for a long time and we are surprised that nothing has been done about it.

Day 92: Disappointing Progress

There has not been much to report on for the last few weeks and it has been disappointing run for us. Had a call from Metricon on Friday to find about the frequency of the updates that we get  from the SM. I was positive in my response, but deep down I am thinking I should not have been that nice looking at the progress for the last one month. The whole thing seems to be stalled without any reason. I have been getting the same update for so many weeks. I have been told that by the end of the next week i.e. 28th June the following things will be done:

1. Rendering on the outside walls
2. Painting on the walls
3. Downpipes installation
4. Painting of the downpipes
5. Removal of the scaffoldings

Day-78: Rendering Sampling

I had a meeting with the SM yesterday morning and the renderer had done a sample of the render that will go around the house. It was smooth although I wanted a bit more smooth. There will be 4mm of rendering height and will be acrylic. Touching the render seemed to be pretty tough and I hope after the two coats of the paints, it will look more smooth. So looks like the rendering will be done in the coming week and then the painting will start just after that which should not take more than a week. The downpipes will go after that and then the scaffoldings will come down. The roof tiles on the rumpus and the garage will follow suite after that.

The Lockup Stage is not far now and as per the SM, it is just a couple of weeks away. So I would say that at the most it should be ready for that in the coming three weeks. And then will start the internal work.

I hope that the next three weeks will be eventful.

Day-71: Roof Tiles, Fascia/Eves Completed

This month has been a little bit disappointing looking at the progress made in the last month. But overall the good news is that the roof tiles are done along with the fascia, gutter and the eves. I was told on Friday last that the rendering will start this coming Monday and will run for almost a week. There after the painting will start. After that finishes the scaffoldings will be down and  then the rest of the roof tiles around the garage and the rumpus area will be covered. I have reminded the SM that we have a variation the smooth rendering and now it is to see what level of shooting they will be able to achieve ultimately. The rains have spoilt a few days no doubt, but the consolation is that the roof tiles will protect from any down pour.

Here are some more photos:

Day-60: Hebel Installation Completed...

Hebel installation is completed and that is the major news at this end.

The SM had phoned me and he advised that they needed to adjust the scaffoldings today and so the next tasks could not be carried out. The Fascia & Gutter will go tomorrow. Roof tiles will follow after that. But I wonder if he knows about the weather forecast... Tomorrow onwards there will be rains in Sydney and will cover most of this week so there will be hardly any work this week. 

Hopefully the next week will be eventful.

Here are some of the recent photos of the house:

Day-55: The Tour Inside...

The last time we had an appointment with our SM, it was a surreal feeling as then we could go inside the house and look around all the rooms and all the spaces. So all the things are taking shape slowly and steadily.

Apart from the tour inside some more developments have happened. The Hebel installation is in progress. The ground floor and the first floor are done. The scaffoldings are up as well so the next week the rendering will start and we are told by our SM that the roof tiles along with the gutter etc. will be installed as well. The painting will follow up after that.

Regarding the Hebel, we were convinced that it could provide us quite an alternate option and as we wanted a rendering, it made decide for it more. Hebel is highly fire resistant, boasts high 
acoustic absorbing properties and assists in improving energy 
ratings and reducing costly energy bills for cooling and heating.
We do not have a ready references, but looks like it is a good 
option and this technology has established the world wide.

For more information on Hebel the following site could be very useful:
http://www.hebelaustralia.com.au/Pages/Default.aspx

Here are some of the photos that we took when we had the tour of the house:

And here are some of the photos that reflect the progress made over the last ten days:

And here goes up the scaffoldings and the hebel installation on the first floor: