Where's The Site Cut????

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

Well it's the 31/7/08 and we do not have a site cut yet. I know we were a bit hopeful that it would actually happen on the planned day but you can't blame us for trying to be positive. Emailed administrator today who confirmed cut should happen at 7am tomorrow. The only problem of course is rain is predicted for tomorrow so we'll just wait and see...

Did get a call from our construction supervisor tonight to go through the upcoming building process and confirming all was about to get rolling tomorrow - so we will remain positive.

Site Cut Booked

Very exciting news - just heard our site scrape is booked for 31.7.08 and the slab due to be poured 11.8.08. Therefore will end up being two and a half months from original sign up with PD to official start of construction (which we think is on target for PD, if not ahead of schedule).
Have to say we enjoy watching the progress thermometer on our PD website keep on moving up. Construction stage here we come.........(hopefully)

Banur Earth tiles

If you have read previous posts you will know that NT have discontinued the Urban Earth tile. Bit of a P.I.T.A. for all of us who have selected it - or so we thought. We have just received a sample of the replacement tile for Urban Earth in the mail today. Happy to report it is very similar to Urban Earth, but slightly lighter. Even the name is similar Banur (Ur ban ur) which is very clever. Have advised our administrator that we are happy to use the replacement tile - so out will come another contract variation I guess.

Have attached a pic so all can see - might help those of you suffering the same tile replacement problem.

Also, signed final plans today so hopefully work can start on our block within the week.

The Dirt is Gone! The SS Balustrading remains.

H*nl*y have been true to their word and removed that mound of dirt from our block which is terrific - mind you the block is now pretty much ripped to shreds! No doubt this will happen anyway once PD start to build on our block. Not sure when this will be now given the probs of the last couple of days. Had hoped to break dirt by EOW but not likely now.

An update on our stairwell issue. We have complained once again to PD. They have listened just a little bit and reduced the price of the SS ballusters slightly. However, that is apparently the best they can do. Had a good discussion with our administrator today but it really doesn't make the feeling of being misled go away. These building companies really do need to start taking responsibility for ensuring we, their clients, understand exactly what the wording in the contracts mean. Although they live and breathe the terminology, we do not.

In addition, after comments mentioned in other threads and blogs we enquired about the tiles we have ordered - Urban Earth - and confirmed that they have indeed been discontinued as of NOW. So in addition to all else, we now have to select a replacment tile. PD have organised for a replacement to be sent out in the mail so we can have a look at it. Apparently it is very similar to the old tile but we will reserve judgement until we see it. Our administrator has assured us all will run smoothly from now on but we'll just wait and see as the track record for PD recently has not been that great.

That pile of dirt...

Good news at least from H3nl3y. They returned our call and have apologised for the big mess they left on our block and for the broken crossover. They will be removing the dirt by mid week. Getting better service from them than PD atm!

Our stairwell drama

Today has been a very bad day and to say we feel we have been misled by PD is an understatement. How a process that has been such a great experience so far can be so badly damaged by poor customer relations in one day is surprising.

It all started on the weekend when Hubby was going over our final drawings and noticed two small plaster walls on the plan at the top of the stairwell where our lovely steel ballusters were supposed to be.

So first thing this morning we contacted PD to notify them of their error. "D" our administrator was very prompt in calling us back but was just as prompt in notifying us that the only error was ours. Apparently where the contract states steel ballusters to "whole of the stairwell", we are supposed to read - "only to the staircase itself" (our bad - thought whole meant entire and thought stairwell meant all the way to the top and around). Of course, we were told if we would like to rectify "our error" it would cost an additional $3K!

Of course, we complained profusely and went higher and spoke with a manager who seemed to be listening. Maybe a small fish was finally getting somewhere? But no, "D" eventually called us back, towed the party line once again and then gracefully offered to take a couple of hundred dollars off the quote but that was all they could do.

So now we have a decision to make

• steel ballusters to actual "whole of stairwell and loft" to make the place look good - $3K
• wooden ballusters to entire staircase and stairwell/loft - $1.6K
• fight to the a satisfactory conclusion - priceless.......

...although we all know that can never end well for all concerned.

PS: Apparently the upper areas of the stair"well" are actually the called the stair loft (or something similar). Keep an eye on this if you are heading into similar territory with PD.

Rowland 41

Our colours

We know what you all like - colour details and more colour details so please read on...

• Bricks - Raheen with off white flush mortar
• Roof Tiles - Gun metal macquarie
• Windows and flywire - paperbark
• Garage door - paperbark contemporary
• Front door - paperbark
• Gutters, Downpipes and Fascia - Jasper colorbond
• Ceiling /Cornice - White
• Walls - Reiki
• Skirting / Architrave - New Soft Blush
• Carpet - Metrique 182
• Flooring - Urban Earth 450*450 with feature tile in showers
• Benchtops - Vicenza Walnut
• Quantum Quartz kitchen benchtops - Sandy
• Lighting - Downlights throughout

Our Plans

As you know, we are building the Rowland 41 with PD. We actually found out today that we are the first one in production - which may not be a good thing?!?

We have attached copies of our plans to show you a few of the extra options we have gone with:

• Render to part of front facade
• Changed stained timber slats on balcony to tiles - no point having the rain come falling through onto the front door
• Removed study/main bedroom wall to open front room up a bit
• added door to ensuite toilet
• chose fully enclosed stairs with storage underneath (couldn't justify the $8K plus for as displayed stairs) but with SS balustrades and wood stained handrails for entire stairwell
• Butlers kitchen as displayed
• cupboards above hotplates with enclosed pull out rangehood (had canopy range hood in last home and although it looks terrific, we found it a bugger to keep clean)
• added doors to theatre room
• extended laundry benchtop and underbench cupboards, as displayed
• Alfresco
• heating vents to laundry, ensuite and bathroom 1 upstairs
• heating and cooling network controller (part of package)
• larger unit to handle the extra heating vents
• upstairs and downstairs zoned controller
• additional option to preset temperatures on different days at different times
• double storage cupboard to upstairs games room
• 2nd bathroom option upstairs (will be useful for guests and the kids when they get older)
• "Brady Bunch" sliding doors option to upstairs bedroom one

What a Mess!

Just thought we would drive by the block today - you know how it is, even though there is nothing there you just have to see it again.

The picture shows what we found....

H3nl3y are building next door to us and they have made a huge mess today excavating for our neighbour's slab. They have wrecked the front of our block and the block across the road and also managed to crack both of our driveways in the process. But best of all (not!) is the huge pile of dirt they have dumped in the middle of our block. Apparently it is now our problem to ensure this is removed prior to our site scrape next week. We have contacted H3nl3y and left message for site administrator to fix the problem asap - will let you know how it goes.

I am sure the Developers are going to be thrilled trying to sell the one remaining block left in the court now given the train smash that is the block next door!

A bit of a tip - if you need to find out which company is building on an unmarked block in your area and they happen to have a skip bin, just call the skip company and they will let you know (thanks D from PD!).

Beware the tiles!!!

We all know when we build, there must be that one area that truly sucks! Well ours so far has been the tiles.
Not to bore you with too many details, we would just like to say check and double check your tile prices if you are using N Tiles. To say we have had 5 major errors in our tile selection and pricing would not be an understatement. To say we have had some touchy conversations with PD about our tile prices would also not be an understatement.
However, it has all ended reasonably with PD accepting the N Tiles error and effectively splitting the difference with us.
Just have to say though - wouldn't use N Tiles again.

Appointments

Just some notes on our colour, tender and contract appointments. You can see the dates on these appointments on our timeline.

Tender
Held at PD offices in Berwick. This was the first appointment after our NT tile selection appointment. We saw "M" who was very professional and helpful. Went through all structural changes and the electrical plan (no seperate electrical appointments for Lifestyle homes). Lots to go through and we were there for about 4 hours - longer than the 2 hours expected due to problems with the NT tile quote and a few other prices that the sales consultant had misquoted (read under quoted) to us. It may be useful at this point to let you know that your 5 stage building payment plan is based on your tender document. Any changes made after this date come up as variations that you settle with the final building payment. So, although it is nice to know a fully inclusive price at tender, it would be better to leave off as many items as you can until the contract appointment. You will then get until the end of the build to pay for them - with PD anyway. Have to say we found it hard finalising tender without doing colours. Although PD prefer it that way, we would have liked to do colours first so we knew what our colour selections actually cost us.

Colour
Held at Hopetoun Interiors in Port Melbourne. It is important to visit Hopetoun prior to your actual appointment to ensure you are prepared as there are an enormous number of "colours" and features you need to select during the appointment. We were booked in with "K" and she was wonderful. As we were very prepared we were out of there within 2 hours - very low stress and lots of fun.

Contract
Held at PD offices in Berwick. This is where your colour choices are costed and all your structural changes are finalised. You are presented with your final contract, drawings and electrical plan (any changes after this point become post contract variations and are settled at the end of the final payment) for signing and are expected to sign on the day. However, you can take it away with you if you want to battle for that right. Have to say of all the appointments this was the most full on for us. Don't see how it could be done in 2 hours - ours lasted 3 hours. It was a very intense appointment where we had to ensure every little detail of the house was correct. However, our administrator was very efficient and assured us that if we found a problem we could let her know in the next couple of days and she would fix it for us.
So we then took it all home and checked and doubled checked to ensure all was OK. We did find a couple of changes but "D" was true to her word and just raised PCVs for these without a fuss.

We have water....

It's amazing how the smallest things can get you excited! We have water and so begins the building process that started back in May 08 when we saw the Rowland41 on the PD website and thought it looked pretty perfect for us!

Our Experience with PD So Far

Given the blogs we have read so far on the web, we were rather dubious of what our building experience would be with PD. Most blogs have had a fairly positive experience with PD but of course, there are always those negative ones that make you worry.

We started with our sales appointment with J who was lovely to deal with. Like most of you we found our sales quote ended up substantially higher than first quoted due to a couple of errors in the true cost of the "as displayed items" such as render and balcony costs, pantry sinks and benchtops and heating/cooling options. A word of warning to those about to start the building process, be prepared to add $30K to $60K from your original "sales quote" to the final contract price. It is amazing how much it all adds up once you start looking at all the little extras like tiles, carpets, electrical and structural changes. It is also likely that the sales consultant doesn't really let you know the true cost of some of the extras you choose. Makes sense really, if they did you probably wouldn't sign up in the first place.

How It All Began......

Looking back on our previous posts, we realise we haven't explained how our little journey all began....
Once upon a time four people named Glenn, Vicki, Megan and James lived in a lovely house in Selby in the Melbourne hills. Then before they knew it, Megan was about to start high school so it was time to move out of their hilly retreat and down to the big smoke in Berwick....

So we bought a block of land, only to realise we couldn't happily place any of the homes we were looking at on the block. We also realised we just would not get on with the neighbours and their 9 (yep 9) kids! So, we sold the block and started looking at established homes.

As all of you out there would realise, once you have display home envy there is no chance you can settle on an established home. So even though we really did try hard to find something, we still found ourselves looking at building sites on the web. As fate would have it, we found a newly released design in the Rowland 41 from PD and found ourselves making excuses to just go and "have a look" to see what it was like. You know how it goes, you enter the house on display and fall in love. The rest fell into place pretty quickly and within the day we found we had bought a block and signed up.

So what made us choose the Rowland? Unlike most PD homes, the bedrooms (and not just the master) were big, the kids have their upstairs area for when they are older and we have our bedroom downstairs - away from their bickering!!! Also, we felt we wouldn't use an extra lounge room downstairs in addition to the family and theatre rooms. Of course, it also has the extra bathroom and bedrooms upstairs for those wild party nights......

The View

This is the view we will be looking at from our balcony once our home is completed.

Our Block

This is our 741msq block where we plan to build our dream home.

We love this area because it is close to parks, lakes and bike tracks which will be great for our family of 4 and dog Keira.

The block has only 200mm of fall. We have chosen a fixed house and land package thus saving us a huge amount on our site costs.