We have keys!!

Yesterday was the day.. we received our keys!!
SS was onsite from about 12.10pm to go through paperwork and sign over the keys to us. I even got to hold the ‘builders’ key and try it in all our locks to prove that they have changed them and only we now have access.

We weren’t able to do a full walkthrough as the tiler from South Coast flooring was doing his thing (remember how i said he was meant to be done Sunday, or monday at the very latest?! He mentioned he wasn’t planning to be done until Friday. But more on that can be found under the ‘issues’ tab on the right if you’re really interested) So we stood awkwardly around the kitchen bench and went through our ‘handover folder’ and discussed certificates, warranties and completed the HIA booklet. There were a few outstanding issues that were noted: two kitchen cabinet doors were still away being fixed, no lights/shades installed, appliances still to be delivered, door handle to WIL still needs to be replaced, Manhole cover replaced, various paint touchups. The one thing we forgot was that the WIR still doesn’t have a door handle or door plate thingi. Hubby will follow up with SS during the week.
We have around 90days now to note any other defects we want the Clarendon warranty team to fix/replace and after we lodge our form it will be reviewed and then someone will visit our house to assess the issues.

Appliances delivered in our garage today ready for install tomorrow or Thursday.

Our hot water system is installed and good to go

Here is a shot of our ensuite too; tiling still needs a wipe down

So forgetting about the stressful issues with the tiler and company; Handover went great. We received a lovely ‘Sheridan’ towel and fragrance package from Clarendon.
Our Site Supervisor has really been great the last few weeks which has really helped us manage the stress and disappointments we’ve faced.

Tomorrow is moving day! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT, finally!!

2 more sleeps (and then keys will be ours. MUHAHAHAA!!)

Keys Keys Keys Keys sung to tune of:
WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Our bank released the funds early Thursday and after several calls/emails to our CSC and Clarendon accounts department on Friday it was confirmed around 2pm that they had received our final payment! Our SS called hubs and booked in Handover for Monday. He had our keys with him but not the fancy handover leather book thing they give out. SS also has arranged for our appliances to be installed Monday morning before we get keys so that’s nice.

We went for a quick drive out to Brooks Reach yesterday afternoon to check in on the tiling. We really love the tile we chose and how it’s all blending well together (obviously the grout still needs to be done)

The tiler has done a great job so far considering it’s only him working on them. He told the SS he should be done by Sunday.. BUT he wasn’t onsite at all today so this makes us a bit worried.
Tiler needs to be done by Monday morning so Clarendon’s painter can pop in on Monday morning and finish the nib walls in the kitchen. SS is also having our appliances installed on Monday before handover too. 🙂 woo!! South Coast Floor Coverings were meant to be installing carpet on Monday, but last week they pushed it back to Tuesday and when we rang to confirm yesterday they’ve now told us Thursday is the earliest :S We’re getting a bit frustrated with them now as they just aren’t consistent in what they say. We’ve let them know that we’re actually moving in on Wednesday and won’t really be setting up furniture in the rooms for one day just to try and move it out the next for their carpet layer. Hopefully that gets sorted and they keep their original agreement with us.

We’ve organised for our gas/electricity to be switched over to AGL, organised our mail redirection, having the NBN connected on the 26th (WOOTWOOTWOOT) arranged a cancellation date for our services in this apartment .. we had a very productive afternoon yesterday haha.
Today we also went out and purchased some more furniture, a lovely Bosch dishwasher and a bunch of other random things for the house. It still doesn’t feel real though!

There are still minor issues with the home that we’ll take note of when we sign for the keys on Monday: *scratched sliding door *kitchen cabinet still away being repaired *back stop tiling still uneven *bathroom cabinet door not aligned *Lightbulbs/shades not installed yet.
These are just the few things we saw while we were onsite for 20mins 🙂 hopefully most of it will be fixed before we get keys.

A week to go …

Ok time for a quick sit down and a few deep breaths… We think we’re a week out from actually being able to move in. The bank has done their valuation and we’re now just waiting on the report. Payment is then sent from our bank to Clarendon via EFT and 24hours later we can have handover!!!

Here is a snapshot of our glass splashback installed last week (nib walls weren’t painted at the time; we didn’t pay to upgrade to have the splashback wrap around the sides)

Our current timeline looks like this:
15th Tiler starts (expected to finish 19th at the latest) Our SS has been really accommodating in letting us start before we have keys; a big shout out to Shrimpy. Thank you!
16th Potentially have handover if final invoice has cleared in Clarendon’s bank account
17th August Go to Warrawong and pay off furniture at the wood factory outlet.
Go to Harvey Norman and purchase our dishwasher to then be delivered on Thursday 22nd
Purchase queen mattress and arrange for delivery on Thursday 22nd
Go to Bunnings and buy letterbox
19th/20th Carpets installed. Mop tiled areas/wipe down kitchen cupboards
20th Appliances installed (hot water system, cooktop, rangehood and oven)
21st MOVING DAY. A big truck comes and takes all our lovely things to the new house
22nd Air con installed in the new place
End of Lease cleaning in the apartment
Wood furniture delivered
Dishwasher delivered
23rd Air con finished being installed
Wynstan Blinds install flyscreens, fly screen doors and panel glide blinds
26th Keys back to rental agent (if not beforehand)

Still waiting on a call about our Shutters but they will probably go in next week too. Once we have official date of keys we will arrange NBN hookup and change our gas/electricity back to AGL. We’re still awaiting the quote from our landscaper for various items that need completing; retaining wall, driveway and fencing the most urgent.
Then it’s all the little things like mail redirection, changing addresses for the cards/services we have.

I have our meal plan sorted too for the next week so one less thing to think about amongst it all. We still actually have to BOOK a removalist and cleaner, but we’re trusting God to provide us with great quotes and service people.

I feel like I am having a ‘Home Alone’ moment like we’ve forgotten something majorly important.. But don’t worry, we don’t have kids that we’ve left in another country or anything like that haha.

The Final Countdown …

Doot Do Doo Doot Do Doo .. Hopefully we’ll have the keys to our brand new home this time next week.
On Wednesday 31st July we had our Practical Completion Inspection (PCI). It was quite breathtaking to see the house without the site fence; it is starting to look like a real home!

There was a hive of activity onsite as cleaners were onsite wiping down the laundry and kitchen, a few guys were outside clearing away the majority of big rocks from the site. We wonder if they had planned to have tradies around so it looked like they were busy working on our house.

We were onsite for around 2 hours and 20 minutes. Nothing too major to report on really. Howard Ryan, our private certifier, did his inspection yesterday and we received his report soon after.

The key issues we found

• Missing 50mm mosaic tiling strip above ensuite vanity
• Wrong shelving installed in pantry (wire shelving installed, is meant to be melamine)
• Stormwater pit, sewer vent still to be moved
• Sides of external laundry door frame are yet to be adequately sealed
• Gap between brickwork and gyprock wall on right side of front garage brick wall needs to be filled
• Underside of window architraves are yet to be sealed to the wall and painted, excessive filler has been used

Other minor issues

• Lots of paint chips, dirt/scuff marks on walls. Every room has paint cracks along the skirting joins
• Inside edge of front entry door is yet to be painted
• Slab surface requires cleaning
• Front door is tight in operation and requires adjustment
• Locking mechanism to Bed 1 door does not operate as intended
• Striker plate and handle is yet to be installed to robe door in WIR
• Tops of tile within shower recess area are yet to be completely sealed/grouted in ensuite
• Re install light fitting against ceiling
• Manhole cover missing (had been stolen)
• WIR door missing (had been stolen)
• Incorrect hand dummy handle has been installed to linen closet to rear hallway
• Inconsistent heights of shelving to walk-in-linen closet near garage entry
• Shower frames still not delivered or installed
• Scratches and marks on most window frames
• Bent sliding door frame
• Chipped/scratched front door near locking plate
• Kitchen cupboards and drawers require adjustment in areas
• Scratches and imperfections on kitchen cupboards in areas
• Striker plate is yet to be installed to external door jamb
• Grouting to be improved around tap to laundry tub and taps and waste to underside of laundry tub
• Bathroom bottom of door is yet to be sealed/painted
• One of the windows was not sealed/closing properly
• Holes in bathroom where towel rail was incorrectly installed
• Towel rail is loose
• Bathroom locking mechanism to door does not operate as intended
• Silicone seal is incomplete to rear left corner of bath tub
• Tops of shower tiles are yet to be completely sealed/grouted
• Handles to BIRs are loose and doors not aligned

Things still to be done

Rainwater tank to be installed
Oven, rangehood, cooktop, instantaneous hot water (ss is pushing for after handover)
Splashback (Was measured up on Saturday with BBS glass. We chose the Dulux colour ‘Native Scene’)
Window service (clean and grease all windows)
Lightglobes and shades to still be fitted
Correct pantry shelving installed
Sewer vent & stormwater pit moved
Site scrape down
Final clean
SS advised painter will be back after splashback installed to paint the nib (side) walls.

SS seemed to be understanding of our frustration at the time and said we should go ahead and book our carpets, tiles and AC for this week; if we didn’t have the keys he wouldn’t mind them onsite doing the essential jobs so we’re not delayed moving in… Well that all changed when no work was completed onsite since our walkthrough last week. We’re devastated to say the least.. Our tiles were due to be delivered tomorrow but the SS called on Tuesday afternoon to say we had to push it back a week as he has finally got hold of the painter to be onsite and finish all touch ups etc. It just so happens he has to be there on Friday so it means no tiling or carpets for us this week. SS has now said he is hoping for handover next week sometime, but we’re still waiting for Clarendon to send us the final account balance so our bank can get onsite and do their inspection before paying the last instalment. It’s really hard to trust what we’re being told as things have changed so often. There seems an awful lot of work to be done in such a short amount of time..

SO… Our current plan is to have tiles delivered Wednesday 14th and installed Thursday, Friday, Saturday with carpets being installed on Monday. We’ll then have the movers out on Tuesday 20th. We’ll then do a mad clean of the apartment and hand the keys back on either Friday 23rd or Monday 26th. There has been no talk of when appliances, hot water system and splashback will be installed; but we’re pushing for those things to be done right away.

Ok so some pictures of the place:

Ahhhh! So after all that we’re just praying that things continue efficiently and correctly. We want those keys in our hands!