Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

(source: achievesuccess.com.au)

From our family to yours ... a very Merry Christmas to all and a safe, blessed, and prosperous New Year ahead of us ...




(source: travel.ninemsn.com.au)
May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart might desire.


... and if you're building, too ...
May the sun shine, all day long, everything go right, and nothing wrong ...

Hope to see you all and more :) back here next year as we continue on and share our build journey with you all.
'Til then, have a good break, safe travels, and a brighter outlook ahead.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Day 150: We've completed Lock-Up, yay!!! but ...

Lock-Up Stage Complete - 12/12/2011

You know that Metricon has completed a stage when you receive the invoice from them ... 3 ways:
1- via SMS;
2- via email as an attachment; and
3- the original invoice in the mail

Hmmmm ... should we only request the bank for the drawdown once we receive the original invoice via Aus Post or should we print the email attachment now?

We received the good news from Metricon via SMS and email last Monday that they have completed the lock-up stage.  They have been delayed for more than 3 weeks and this was sort of the news that we're anticipating to receive prior to Christmas (and their 3-week Christmas work shutdown).  We kinda not like the idea of going thru the Christmas break with the lock-up not completed.  It's a good thing that my new Site Manager have persevered in getting the outstanding roofings (outdoor room, dining and garage) to be done and the rear external cladding to be completed and get thru their Pre-Plaster Quality Inspection.  We've arranged to meet Friday as we were hoping that they would also have started plastering late last week, as been planned previously.

So what's the going rate for a kilogram of copper (scientific name Cuprum or Cupremianticia, scientific symbol is Cu) these days?

When we met our Site Manager last Friday, he did confirm that they have completed the "Lock-Up" stage as of Monday, but they haven't started plastering. Why not? Apparently, the previous day or night, some low lives (my description, not the SS, pardon me) have broken in the site and have ripped and cut the electrical cables and took them away?!?!  The plasterers apparently came that morning to commence hanging the plasterboards, but with the electrical cabling either gone or cut, they can't do anything.  OM*, I heard about copper tubings (plumbing) being taken, and train electrical cablings, but domestic electrical wires?!?!?  How much would they get? $60? $100? $1000? I just hope that this is covered by the builder's insurance, and I'm hoping that we're not going to cop the cost, or do we?

Anyways, to cut this story short,  I guess, we just had our first experience of a construction site burglary or theft.  Though, I heard it's a common occurrence amongst new homes being built, we do hope and pray this is also the last one.  Just can't afford any more delays and inconvenience.  We do also hope that the electrical cablings that these people have taken away have provided them the much needed Christmas cheer that they seek.

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone and a blessed and prosperous New Year ahead of us.

 

Friday, December 9, 2011

Day 141: Are we there, yet?

It's been a while since my last update. I so was hoping that "lock up" completion will be by the end of the month, and that was November (last month).  I got a call from someone from Metricon telling me that my SS has been away for personal reasons for more than 2 weeks.  He's not sure if our SS is going to come back or if he will, will get this assignment back.  The new guy who called me sounds very affable, and very experienced.  Here he was introducing himself as our new SS (whilst our former SS is on leave).  He'll be looking after our build and the first thing he'll be doing  is do a site cleanup and get our build back on track ... at least to Lock Up completion.  This was 3 weeks ago today.

Today, I finally got to meet our new SS, in person, at the site.  Since the last time I posted some pictures on the site, there were only some minor improvements.  But I was being assured that we'll get into lock up by the end of this month (December) and well into fixing stage by mid- January in the new year.

We're keeping all our finger's crossed.

Watch this space ...