3 Month inspection! Bah!

Hi everyone, again another post where I start off saying 'Sorry it has been so long'.

When I look back at my last post, not much has happened since then, other than settling in to my lovely home.

Only 2 things have happened.

First and most important, my lovely boyfriend has moved in. I love having him here when I get home from work. He is wonderful and very helpful, cooking tea most nights and hanging out and bringing in the washing. I have a need to be organised and he helps me do that even on the toughest of days at work. He is so caring too!

Anyway, back to the house stuff.

The second thing is that I've had my 3 month inspection. Over the first 3 months in my house I wrote a list of things that needed fixing, that weren't right and that were missing. This list looked very long. Although, now I wish I had of added more, like the carpet flattening in walking paths, the state of the yard after handover and the amount of rubbish buried under the soil, the crack in the front footpath left by their trucks.

Being the organise freak that I am, I make copies of the house plan and marked on them where paint defects were, where cracks/gaps were appearing, where nail heads were showing, etc. I also colour coded the different heights (near floor, on wall and near/on ceiling. By now I hope you understand why I used the word 'freak'. But if I still haven't convinced you, I also wrote down descriptions of where the paint defected were and kept that for my reference (eg knee height, chest height, etc).

The Inspector, Rowan, came about 2 weeks after I handed in my 3 page list and maps. He commented on how detailed I was. We went through the list and I showed him around the house pointing defects out. He stayed for about an hour, although he only stayed for about 20mins for the people across the road. He managed to reduce my list down to 2 pages by adding all the paint defects together. He said the Site Manager would come around and we could go through all the paint issues including corner cracks in architraves, skirting boards and corners of walls. He did dismiss a few things with excuses. One thing he dismissed was the water pressure in the bathroom shower saying that the flow was within the standard. After his inspection, I had a guy come over and test the shower flow and commented that it was better that any water saver on offer, so something else may be wrong. I then called the Simonds Ballarat office and got onto my Inspection Case Manager, Nicole. She was very helpful and added it to my list of things to fix (thank goodness).

Just pausing briefly, I'd like to mention that I wouldn't have Nicole's job for the world. Imagine all the complaints and anger customers she would deal with... Wow. Therefore, knowing that the defects in my house are not her fault, I made it my mission to be myself and not the Housezilla (instead of Bridezilla) that she normally deals with. In fact, I decided to not let myself get upset and stressed about the whole house thing. My philosophy was 'As long as it will be fix and I don't have to pay, we're good'.

Anyway, back to it...

So after the 3 month inspection in JANUARY, I waited... and waited... and waited. I finally called to see when things would be organise and fix, remembering my philosophy and staying calm. Nicole and I orgainsed a few times and dates for things to get fixed.

First the carpet guy came and fixed the nails in the carpet. He was also meant to fix the wooden floor but couldn't so he organise another guy to come and glue the wooden floor back down.

The other items were organised for my next lot of holidays in April. The site Manager, Martin, came and looked at the things that needed fixing. He started fixing nails in the roof and organised a painter to come the next day. The painter, Yardly, has been wonderful. He began fixing all of the issues I had on my list.

In the meantime, we found out that a tile had not been secured properly and water had been getting into the roof, creating a bulge above the kitchen sink (breathe and remember to the philosophy). Thank goodness I had marked that there was a defect in the paint above the sink. I didn't realise that it was a bulge until the ceiling had been repainted. Martin fixed the tiles and called a plumber in to check the air conditioner and the solar panels. Then Martin told me that part of the ceiling will need to be replaced. I handled that very well!

The only thing that has made me stress has been the state of the house after Martin cancelled the painter until the Plasterers have finished. Poor Yardly had to leave the mess he had made (plaster dust mainly). The furniture in the lounge and study is pulled away from the walls, and their is no point putting it back because I'll just have to move it again for Yardly to finish. My boyfriend reminded me there is nothing to stress about; things will get fixed and better their be a little bit of mess for a short time than a collapsed ceiling in the future. I love Mick!

The Plasterers are due on the 11th of May, which can't come soon enough. I cleaned up as best I could, trying not to vacuum the plaster dust up (but 2 weeks later, the vacuum was out and the dust was gone. I can't wait and look at that mess).

Now, looking back at all the things that have happened, it is a lot and there is still a lot of things on my list that needs fixing. And the saga continues...

Busy, busy, busy

Sorry it has been a while since my last blog. I haven't forgotten about all of you. I've been extremely busy settling into my new home.

It has been just over 3 months since I moved in. Simonds have a 3 month inspection so I have written down every single thing  that is wrong. It was a long list although I love my home. Mostly there were still complaints about paint (the painter don't know how to patch up a wall and left bog marks in a few places), there are some cracks forming in skirting boards and architraves, one of the downpipes doesn't work, some of the fly wire isn't sitting in properly and a few other things.

I have spent a lot of time thinking about what to do in the garden. I thought it would be easy working with a blank canvas, being able to do what ever you what, where you want, but it isn't! Too many possibilities!

But I have made some decisions;

First I wanted to close in the yard so my dogs are safe.

I didn't want colour bond gates (sorry but they remind me of public housing). When the fence guy put up the side fences I got him to dig (with his post hole digger) four extra holes for my gates and concrete in four 100ml gal posts. Then my wonderful step-dad measured up and built some frames and together we screwed on the wood.

Originally I wanted Merbua, but after finding out the price, I couldn't afford it.

One of the guys at Bunnings (my new favourite store; sorry Spotlight I'm finished with you) suggested Forrest Red Hardwood. It is an alternative to Merbau and a bit cheaper. It was also on special in their catalogue (so watch out for their specials; I saved over $1 per metre!) It worked out the be $4.05 per metre.

One of my goals are to stain the wood with a Merbau oil in the next few days.

Stay tuned for those photos.

Secondly, I needed a letterbox. Thanks to my dad (and again Bunnings), I got this one. I love it! We also got numbers that just stick on. My mum, neighbour Penny and I concreted it in using instant cement. Go girl power! And we even used a level!

Thirdly, I wanted some grass for my dogs and to keep the dirt down so I could put up my clothesline. Sounds easy, but in order to get grass several things had to be done. I decided to get a guy in with a bobcat to save my back. I got a few quotes. The one I picked delivered dirt and spread it out fairly level while still allowing the rain to run away from the house. The dirt was $15 a cubic metre, which is a lot cheaper than $45 from the local sand and soil place. I know the dirt I got isn't the best quality, but it is what I can afford and I did most of the back yard with about 12 cubic metres. The day the guy came to to the fence was the day the guy came to do the ground. What a busy day (for them anyway, I just made coffee and snooped by the windows).

Then for the next few days mum and I raked and planted grass seeds.

I know there are a few weeds (yes from the soil) but nothing I can't handle. I will have to re-seed some patched after summer. And my clothes can go out on the line without being covered in dirt!

 I have started a garden but I haven't finished yet. I have a few plans that I will do during Jan so post up more photos. I'm also looking into the cost of concrete and pavers for my outdoor area near the siding door (but I have to save for that).