Thursday, June 11, 2009

PCI Measles time!

Hello all,
We had our PCI today, it took about 2.5 hours and at least a box or two of dots. By the time we got there, the SS had already been through and put dots everywhere he thought there was a problem. There was a serious case of measles!

Now for the geek admission, we had previously sat down and created spreadsheets to cross check everything in the contract, PCV's and BV's on a room by room basis. So armed with 24 pages of spreadsheet, we worked our way through each room ticking off light switches, power points, fly screens, key locks, etc on the spreadsheet to what was in each room/area. That's how we found out there were no HDMI cables fitted off on the walls and no push plugs in the bath or spa. We also found we bonused an extra alarm sensor and a double power point.

The block had been cleared (unfortunately) so instead of the sand/gravel that was in the driveway, the bobcat had moved all the dirt up and around, result?? 4 inches of mud!! OMG how are we ever going to move stuff in with all this mud and how am I ever going to get it clean?

Unfortunately we had some camera problems so I do not have a lot of photos.
Ensuite with measles..
Our SS was pretty furious with the plasterers. Seems that they did not end up coming back until yesterday, which meant that the painters could not come back to finish off either. Add to that with this colder weather the plaster is taking longer to dry. That means that the house was not up to his standard at the PCI. When we arrived the cleaner was there trying to clean it up a bit because she has been pushed back because of the plasterers as well. She was lovely and kept apologising because she had not been able to do a better job. She was booked for yesterday which was when all the trades should have been completed.

Bed 4 with a large plaster repair, you can see that the plaster still is not dry.
One of the heat lamps was blown in the Tastic, and it was not seated properly in the ceiling.

They forgot the shroud for the range hood cover. The hole should be covered by the shroud once it goes in.
More plaster bit fixes, this time in the lounge room. Also because I love this room.
I'd like to say it went well, and it kind of did. We did not find anything major, just lots of paint spots, dings, doors that needed adjusting, plaster issues, a missing man hole cover, lots of blow outs in the mortar, chipped bricks, grout touch ups, missing seals on doors etc.
In one way it was really a relief because of all the other arrangements for flooring, carpets, time off that would have needed to be juggled if we had to push it back. In another way, I too was really angry at the plasterers. It was "finished enough" but I was expecting to see a basically clean, completed house and to find the huge plaster bits in some rooms was really off putting and did not look finished at all. Not to mention the mud!
We have to trust our SS at this point when he says it should all be done by next week. He has been true to his word so far and has always said that there will be issues, but once he knows about them that he will get them fixed and he has.
So we are feeling quietly confident that we should get handover next week.
Good luck with your builds people!

21 comments:

kexkez said...

Disappointing about the little plaster bits and pieces. Thank goodness there was nothing major. Sounds a bit like how our PCI went. though of course our place didn't come with painting done. Sounds like you have a terrific S.S> Ours picked up a couple of things we missed completely. I also did a 2 page check list. Not quite 24 like you. lol our S.S. kept asking "what have you got on your list?" Here's hoping your handover goes smoothly next week. When do you hope to move in?

K AND T said...

Hi J,
Oh, mud! What was that silly man thinking???? Right when you need it the least!
Glad that it all went "pretty" well, and interesting that a house that has had a relatively trouble free build can still come down with a case of the measles!!!
At least there is nothing major and if SS keeps up his good work it should be doable by next Thursday.
Wow, it's all real now, it's really happening!
You'll soon be lounging around in front of the fire place in your gorgeous lounge room - that is such a beautiful room.
Not geeky at all to go in armed with a spreadsheet to tick off - sounds like good old fashioned common sense to me.
Best wishes for a great week - hope you will be able to sleep.
Oh, and please make sure the camera is charged and ready to go! ;-)
K.
xx

Cozmo said...

Your house looks amazing and I can wait to put red dots all over my place..... wow nearly all done and its good to see that PD have being doing a great job overall. Goodluck woth handover.

Cheers

Cozmo

would be home said...

Hey J
I reckon you should be so glad that there was nothing major. Good on ya fo preparing a checklist of 24 PAGES. WOw that would have been time consuming!!!
The issues at our PCI were much more than plaster and paint issues and really it all got fixed within a week. So, i am confident that you will get the handover in a week.
You must be excited? Well I was more of nervous. ha ha ha. But all this excitement and nervousness pays in th end.
BTW did I mention earlier that I really like the feature walls in your house. I am sure that your version of Illoura will be stunning and so will be yours too K.

Jo said...

Fantastic that there is nothing really major. Bloody plasterers... it just takes one crappy trade and the whole thing can go to crap. Other trades get put out and the poor cleaner feeling she has to apologise for something that is not her fault.

It all sounds really fixable and definitely doable for next week!! Woo Hoo!!!

And I don't want to be too graphic.... but that lounge room is just made for some lovin'! lol It is one sexy room! hahaha

NoShitSherlock said...

Hey J, thanks for your best wishes. All went well. You made me feel all inadequate when you mentioned your spreadsheet - lol. I put together a few pieces of information to refer to during our PCI and then promptly forgot to refer to them...
There is absolutely no way your handover will not go smoothly!! Just think - only 6 MORE SLEEPS!! I envy you - I have to sleep one more time and that is gonna take ages!!
Hope your measles clear up very soon,
Mandy

Relle said...

Hi J, good to hear that overall your PCI went very well. Yes, the plaster issue is annoying but at least there were no major problems.
Are you getting concreting done and will this help with the mud situation? There will be nothing worse than trying to clean mud especially if yours is like ours and is predominantly clay.
How clever of you to have spreadsheets! Sounds a bit difficult for me but what a great idea!
I'm sure things wont take long to fix and the week or close to it will be easily achieved. Good luck on the lead up to handover.
Relle.

M&J said...

Hi BB,

Great to hear there was nothing major that needs fixing but isn't it so frustrating when one particular tradie doesn't do his bit and holds everyone else up!

Hopefully everything is on track for handover! Will keep our fingers crossed that all goes well!

BelleBeau said...

Thanks everyone for all your kind wishes, it is really appreciated.

Kexkez, we hopefully get the house on Thursday 18th and most of that week will be taken up with flooring, heating, connections etc. We hope to move in the weekend after that 27-28 June.

K, that Bl@@dy camera! Last one died so we got a new one but it just will not hold a charge. I cannot believe it is happening either. It seemed to take so long to start, then forever to build, now it seems like I blinked and I missed it. I soooo love my lounge room, it's making all the pain worth it.

Cheers Cozmo, the way your place is going, you'll be in pretty soon too.

Hi WBH (K), LOl yes it did take a bit of doing, when you are waiting for the start, things like that keep you busy. We just updated it as we went. It was 24 pages because we divided it into rooms and areas. I was soooo nervous, I forgot my glasses!! I was terrified we'd find something that would set us back weeks.

PMSL Jo, you got it in one! All we need now is a "bear skin rug" hahaha. I adore that room, I can't wait until I see it with the carpet. Fingers crossed it all goes together well.

LOL Mandy, yes I hope your measles clear up soon too! I was relived to read your blog and find out everything went well for you as well. This part of the build is actually nerve wracking, I think.

Hi Relle, because we have to settle on our current house fairly soon, we decided to move in and then get the concrete done. It is booked for the 30th. We'll probably get some crushed rock delivered onto the driveway so we can at least get into the garage/house.

Thanks M&J, gosh your place is moving fast. I know watching other blogs, it felt like it was never going to be my turn, now I can't believe it is here!

Cheers
J

Toni said...

Good to hear that things went pretty good for PCI J. Shame about the plasterers.....they seem to be the problem in most of the builds.

Still loving that blue room!

Hope things go to plan and all is done on time for handover. I know it may not seem like it to you but your build seems to have gone by so quickly! So pleased that you haven't run into trouble like others in the East.

Good luck for this coming week :-)

My Kylie Life said...

Take note of all those paint 'fixes' needed. Many of the dots that my SS put on the walls, I'm sure were removed when I left. I have found some areas still the same after the painter has surposed to have finished.

Hels said...

Great idea to do the spreadsheet and check everything off, I will do the same thing at our PCI.
I hope all the issues get sorted asap so that when you move in the house is perfect or close to it.

Are you going to keep your blog going after handover? I'd love to see your beautiful Illoura when it's completely finished with landscaping etc.

~ Hels ~

Thuy said...

woah, congrats on making it this far!

Doesnt sound like there is too much to fix, so thats a good thing!

omg, loving ur fire place feature! love the white against that colour!! such a beautiful feature piece!!!

good luck for the final stretch! :)

DeGaul said...

Hey Belle. You guys still going? I thought you would just about be in by now.
Your PCI sounds like it identified nothing major, which is good. Some quick fixes and then you're in the home straight for those keys...!
You must be excited

K AND T said...

Hi J,
Best wishes to you and your family for tomorrow....woo hoo!!! It's finally here.
Hope all goes well, looking forward to the update!
K.

K AND T said...

Well hello there stranger!
Here's hoping that your lack of updates means you are flat out doing your floors/carpets/driveways/cleaning of houses X 2/packing and the like..... and not sitting crying in a corner somewhere because handover didn't happen. :-(
Fingers crossed for you that it all went well. :-)
K.

pci compliance said...

Hi your blog is cool.
I think it's a good point for debate. Looking forward to it.

G+A said...

Hey how's it going so far? I know you're probably busy packing and all, but we want updates!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi,
you are probably in your house now and might not be blogging anymore but I was hoping you could answer some questions about your bricks. Firstly, we have the same bricks but did not know when we chose them that they were orange underneath the nougat colour 'treatment', so any chips would show orange underneath. Is this the same with yours? Also, some of our bricks have gone green too - did yours get cleaned up and have they stayed clean or have they gone green again?
Cheers

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