Saturday, April 7, 2012

Issues that slow things down.....

Well at least I can say I now have my Chocolatte bricks on site ready to go. One thing I've learnt when building is that if there's an issue with your house while building it basically holds you back a week or more each time. Saying that, the house is looking pretty sweet and I know it won't be to long before we see the bricks up.
This is our main brick around the house.

The red commons are used on the front to Moroka finish.


Would you believe that the laundry chute and a metal beam has both resulted in a weeks delay in progress (each). The laundry chute didn't line up and the drawing was off. Because of this Kurmond had to get my permission to move it and someone back in to finish it. A metal beam in the back took a week and a half to have constructed because a piece of timber was going to make my alfresco look like a dogs breakfast. Oh and my balcony needed some extra work.

I'm crossing fingers next week that it will be a bricking laying week and Ben at Kurmond has hinted it should take about 2-3 weeks to finish that stage. Seeing other Kurmond homes going up faster is a little frustrating but I must admit since speaking to Kurmond homes about communication a few weeks back they've been telling me everything and letting me know of when subby's are coming back. I'm in line with a lot of houses and if you miss your spot you quickly learn you're going to suffer.

I've taken a few more photo's and was very lucky to have a builder next door quickly allow me to go upstairs of the house next door before he started tiling so I could take some upstairs shots.

Balcony was finished last week.

Plumbing was also completed last week.

Pipe that comes down into the laundry from the top floor.

Pipe that comes down into the laundry from the top floor. 

This is upstairs, my ensuite is shown here.

That window there is to the main upstairs bathroom.

Our main bedroom is found upstairs at the front of the house.

Cornerless frames are put in place ready for bricks.

Not sure what this is, think they're doing some type of waterproofing.??





8 comments:

  1. Being stalled is the worst (don't even get me started on the delays we've had!) but it's so exciting to see the rest of the progress and at least they've been correcting things when needed. It's also great to see those upstairs shots! Yay :)

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  2. Hi, good to see your build has progressed pretty smoothly and quickly. We're also building with Kurmond at Nelsons Ridge in Pemulwuy. Currently in the last stage (painters are in) and I can't wait to sit on our balcony for my morning coffee! We started our build mid June 2011 - it's been a long and exhausting battle. Goodluck for the rest of your build!

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  3. Wow 12 months Kee, is that date from the Slab?

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  4. Hey, yes excavation started on 20th June, slab poured beginning of July, then it was "curing" for almost 4 weeks before the frames went up...?! We have experienced our fair share of delays and are onto our 4th supervisor. It hasn't been a great experience but thankfully, and most importantly, the finished result is great. Construction wise everything looks fantastic and workmanship is of a high standard (I hope I don't eat my words once we move in...)

    Faucets, toilets and alarm system were installed today, main floor tiling should be happening this week too I imagine, but our main delay may be the roofing on our first floor balcony (which was not done initially because KH decided it wasn't included in our tender, when it very well was).

    I'll cross my fingers for you that your build will be completed on time for July. We expected to be in for our daughter's 1st birthday which was the end of Feb and now it's looking to be early May. All we can do is hope :)

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  6. Hi,
    Thanks for sharing you building experience,
    I am looking to finalise a builder for a duplex I will share with my family and in-laws next door. Kurmond is in the final with Lily homes.
    I have seen people write about HORRIBLE experiences with Kurmond and wonder if you feel the same? I can’t find one happy experience?
    thanks in advance
    Rather concerned,
    Renee

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    Replies
    1. Hi Renee - I've seen plenty of bad comments and a few people have had issues. I'm not one of those people and I think you need to have a good relationship with the builder for it to work out well. Abusing the builder or complaining and not compromising with them leads to bad relationships which do end up affecting the build. By all means I get that we're paying a lot of money for this and it should be to a std, but it's all about the approach. They're good guys and they don't want things to go wrong, sometimes things just do. We work through them and give them time to explain and offer solutions. Heck if it can't be resolved then they will give you cash back.

      I've had 2 little issues (which i just shrugged off as I understood the head scratching) in this time and a slow start due to the weather but once we got rolling I've been stoked, the team has been there for me everyday just about and the build is going great now.

      Everyone's experience is going to be different so you just need to go with your gut feel, but my advice for any builder is to make the relationship personal and praise the builder as much as you can, it's worked for me and I've got everything I've asked for....and a little more. ;)

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