Day 17 - Bricks have been chosen

Just a small update today. Yesterday Ash found out that our bricks had been ordered to be on site next Wednesday(Day 22) so she organised for us to go down to the brick yard and pick our bricks out. As I mentioned in a previous post, we have obviously chosen our bricks at pre-start, however the bricks we chose (Midland Brick - Sandalford Handmade) vary from batch to batch. Because of this we went to the yard and were shown the three different batches available at the moment, they were all quite similar and also all quite close to the ones you see in the brochure. Ash and I have very similar taste and we both knew which ones we wanted without needing to ask each other. I forgot to take my camera but Midland Brick takes a photo of each batch so Ash got that:
So that's our bricks, we actually got to see our house today, just in pieces :P

I know I said just a small update, but I just remembered that the other day Joel bought over the photos that he took a week or so ago with his fancy camera. So I thought I'd put a couple of them on, they're so much better than anything my camera can take.


Day 1 - We all went down for a couple of drinks the day after our block settled.



Day 13 - Panorama of our block after the footings were done.


Day 13 - As above


Day 13 - We're an environmentally friendly bunch. Joel, Nys, Ash and I all came in separate cars :P


Day 13 - Ash braving the cold.

I've also got a slightly updated time lapse picture for the sidebar, I'm going to try and get an animated time lapse thing happening soon. That's about it for pictures today.
In other house related news, the block next to ours(Right hand side looking at the block) has been cleared and I imagine the slab will be down soon. Also, as you can see in the new picture in the sidebar the house behind ours is growing a roof.

That's it for today, I'm off to play with photoshop for a while.

Day 14 - Slab Down

Well, today involved an early start for me, I got down to the block just after 7am to find the grano workers having finished placing all the form work and in the process of placing the chairs under the mesh(The chairs hold the mesh up off the plastic so the concrete can get under it. The mesh strengthens the concrete.) The site supervisor wasn't there but I told one of the guys who I was and that I just wanted to watch and he didn't have a problem with that. I stayed until all the concrete was poured and took lots of photos throughout the process. The guys were obviously experienced and showed a lot of care for their work, I don't think you could hope for anyone better to do such an important part of the house. They even took the time to explain to me why they did certain things and I learnt quite a bit. Probably the easiest way to explain it all is by writing a description after each photo of the process, so here goes:


As mentioned above, the form work(Wood around the edges to hold the concrete in) is all complete and the chairs are being placed under the mesh.



Not long after everything was ready the first truck showed up. I was happy to see it was Boral. Ash works for Midland Brick which is part of Boral, so we have somewhat of a loyalty and also despite possibly being biased, I have a slightly educated opinion that Boral generally has superior products to most other suppliers.



Another sight I was happy to see was the truck driving onto the middle of the slab-to-be to pour the concrete. No concrete pumps here, so that's about $1800 provisional site work costs saved, plus we have evidence so we can argue if need be, although I'm sure there won't be any problems.



Here comes the first of the concrete!



They started at the back and worked forward. Two of the guys left after the first truck.




Truck number one almost empty.



Truck number two ready to pour.



Truck number two all just about done.



Truck number two driver was a bit of a pain in the ass and resulted in a delay, here you can see truck number three waiting.



Luckily truck number three's drivers were helpful and things got back on track.



Here you can see our bathroom, powder room, toilet and laundry. Those of you who have seen slabs will notice that usually the bathroom floor is recessed and not finished very well. This is because normally the tiler uses a different type of concrete on top to shape the floor to make the water flow to the drain. I was told that RedInk is the only builder who does it this way, the grano guys actually shaped the floor and the tiles go straight on. I don't know if there are any advantages or disadvantages to doing it this way other than you don't have to wait for the other concrete to dry. I can't see it making a big difference either way. The recesses that are there are for the shower and the bath.



The slab is almost done being poured, here one of the guys is going over the first part of the slab. I think this process is called breaking, I'm not sure though. As my helpful teachers told me though, the idea behind this is primarily to bring the water to the surface(I imagine the dry surface is being broken to allow the water out, hence "breaking") it also smooths out any imperfections in the levelling and just generally smooths the surface. This process is done a number of times(About 4 or 5 I think), the machine is run length ways and across ways alternately so that you end up with a really flat surface.



Here it is, all poured. Still a bit of work to go, but mostly done.



The last few passes are more for smoothing than bringing water to the surface. At this stage I was told the slab would be ready to walk on in 10 mins. It was about this time I headed off to work after thanking the guys for letting me watch them work and for explaining the process to me as they went. I got their card and if I need any concreting done I know who I'm calling.



Ash and I went back to the block after work and I took a couple of photos of the finished product. Here it is! Even though it should have been fine to walk on, we decided not to just yet, we'll give it a couple of days.



From the back yard.



Here you can kind of see the shaping of the floor around the drains.

One thing that is missing is the garage. I haven't been told, but we've observed that the garage slabs get done separately after the bricks are all done. My mates and I have decided that it must be due to the extra loading of cars compared to people which means it requires a thicker slab and necessitates separation from the main slab so any movement due to cars going in and out doesn't effect the main slab.

That's it for today, I've added a new picture to the side bar, you can click on it for a bigger view. Ash also found out that the site supervisor has advised Midland Brick that the bricks can be delivered next Wednesday. The order hasn't been placed yet, but it's expected in the next day or so, at which point we can go and choose which batch of bricks we want.

The next step will be selecting our bricks, clearing excess dirt from around the slab and delivering the bricks. I'll update as things progress, so stay tuned!

Day 13 - More Surprises

Well, today was full of surprises. On my way to work I went past the block to find a whole bunch of guys digging the footings and preparing our block for the slab. Considering construction wasn't supposed to begin until tomorrow at the earliest, this is all looking very good.

As I mentioned in a previous post, we were supposed to have a meeting with the site supervisor, which we are yet to have. So I called RedInk and just asked if the meeting would be bought forward seeing as construction has started, I was then corrected and told that there is no meeting, it's just a letter with contact details. I don't mind, I don't think we would have had much to say anyway. Whilst I was on the phone I asked if they could tell me when the slab would be going down as I would like to watch, I was told that it was scheduled for this Friday but they'll just double check. When they came back they told me the concreter had an opening and it's now being done tomorrow. Apparently they aren't allowed to start work until after 7am, so that's when I'll get there tomorrow morning, hopefully it's the first job of the day :)

So, this is all fantastic news, everything is going much faster than anticipated. Luckily my (Civil Engineer)friends Joel and Nyssa were free this afternoon to come and check it out and give it the thumbs up, not that there was too much to check. I was also able to get some time off tomorrow to go and watch the slab get poured, I mainly want to see if they use a concrete pump because that's an $1800 provisional cost and I have no way of knowing whether it was used unless I see it, plus I'd also like to see it all happen.

One other thing, seeing as things seem to be moving at a high pace I thought I might now label each blog post with a Day number. This number being the amount of days since the settlement paper was given to RedInk. Today is Day 13, as noted above, check back regularly, there will definitely be an update tomorrow. Here's the picture from today, Joel took some more photos which I'll try and get a hold of soon.

Maybe every title should be "Finally!"

Well, in keeping consistent with my posts, this one is a bit over due. Since the last one we have finally settled on the block. As I mentioned, it was due to settle on the 28th of August and as far as I knew that was what was going to happen. Being unfamiliar with the process I assumed that it was all pretty straight forward, there was almost a month for everything to be organised so what could go wrong, right? You'd think I would have learned by now, wouldn't you?

I hadn't heard anything from our settlement agent since we got formal approval and being in the mind set I just described, I wasn't too concerned. A couple of days before settlement was due, I called the settlement agent just to check that everything was on track. They informed me "Oh, umm, no, we haven't even got the FHOG yet, no it won't be happening this week". Over the following few weeks we had many extensions on the settlement date and I also wrote a letter to Keystart.

In the letter to Keystart, I outlined the dates of major occurrences, such as application date, pre-approval, formal approval, settlement and the time frames between each. I also told them if settlement didn't take place in the next week we'd be going to the Minister for Commerce. I forwarded a copy to our local member for parliament, Judy Moylan. The following week we settled.

In total we settled a bit over 7 weeks after formal approval. One of the people I spoke to at Keystart mentioned that 6 weeks was the longest some of the files had been waiting for settlement, so I'm not sure if my letter actually achieved anything or if it was just a coincidence.

So anyway, on Tuesday the 29th of September, our block settled, so we now own land. Ash and I went down to the block, just to see if it looked different now that we owned it or something I guess :P. It just so happened that Andrew, the sales guy for Waterhall, was there, which was strange because he isn't usually on Tuesdays. Anyway, we went and said hi, and he asked if we wanted a SOLD sticker, which of course we did. We went to the block and put the sticker on, finally some change in the block.

The following day we sent the notification of settlement to our builder who told us that construction should begin in about 2-3 weeks, which today is less than 1-2 weeks. Apparently we will receive a letter letting us know when construction will commence and we also will meet the site manager who will then be our new contact person.

Also, due to Ash working at Midland Brick, we get a bit more of an insight into things. Our bricks are Handmade Sandalford and because they have about 5 or 6 different shades of bricks, each batch is slightly different(Apparently it's down to the clay that's used and I suppose some other factors which are uncontrollable). The normal procedure is that when you're building a house with these bricks, you go down to the yard and there are a couple of batches of bricks that you can choose from, so if there is a batch you don't like, you're not stuck with them. When the bricks are ready, photos are taken of them, and Ash gets the photos for work, so we've seen the current batches and they're pretty much spot on to the catalogue versions. We're really hoping we can go and choose the bricks from these batch's because they're exactly the way we like them. Ash is going to find out today if we can choose them yet. We'll actually get to see part of our house!

...

Well, that was a bit of a surprise. I wrote that blog entry before going to the block with Ash to get a picture of the block with the sold sticker. When we got to the block we discovered our block has been excavated and has the metal framework for the slab ready to go. Quite a shock considering we weren't expecting to even hear from RedInk for another week or two, never mind actually have construction begin.

So I never got a picture of the block in it's untouched state with the sold sticker, but I'm willing to live with that seeing as construction has started early. Here are some photos:



I've also updated the photo of our house in the side bar at the right. That's it for now, but hopefully we'll have a lot more to update from now on!

Finally!

I finally have some good news, we got our finance approved! We got the news last Friday, but it's taken until today for me to actually start getting excited about it and want to tell people. Our finance broker said that ours was the longest application he has ever dealt with, it was around about 6 months in the end.
Anyway, we got the letter on Friday(Which also happened to be the last day of our final extension on finance due on our block) saying we have approval, which I then forwarded to Time Conti who advised us that Settlement would be the 28th of August. We received the contract from Keystart on about Tuesday or Wednesday(The first part of the whole ordeal with Keystart that has been completed quickly) and we received our final final final drawings from RedInk today, once we sign these, they are what is used for construction. So after I finish this, Ash and I will be double checking and signing our plans and our contract, ready to send off tomorrow. Ash is going to pick up some forms from our settlement agent tomorrow which we need to sign and return and then all we do is wait until the 28th.
The whole ordeal with getting finance was taking a heavy toll on me and as I said I've only just managed to start getting excited about the house again. Now that we have all the forms and final plans I think it's starting to sink in. Provided everything goes to plan, construction should start next month, maybe even early in the month!

Getting soooo close

Just a really quick update. We were told by Keystart today that they would probably have everything done today. Of course, they didn't, but it's the shortest time frame we've been given yet and also probably means they haven't got anything else to hold it up with. So hopefully tomorrow or the next day we will have finance!
Also, I've updated the picture of our block, nothing has really changed on our block except for some tire marks, but the block behind us is being built on now so I thought it was worth updating.

I can not avoid it any longer...

Well, I haven't posted a new blog entry for some time, basically because it's the only way I could stay sane. After what has happened the last few weeks I've been trying to avoid anything to do with the house so as to reduce my stress levels, I've even stopped going down to the block, which I was doing every second day at least(It's on my way home from work). What could cause such stress you ask? Well, I'll tell you, just let me try and remember the beginning...

Wow, I just checked the last blog post, that was a long time ago. I'll start where we left off.
We'd just finished pre-start and were waiting for our final costings, after a couple of days, we got them. Mostly they were to our liking, there were a few things that were a bit more expensive than we would have liked and a few things that were less expensive than we expected. Apart from a couple of alterations and some confusion with the cost of our different to standard pavers and bricks, everything was as it should be and after a week or so it was all done and signed and returned to RedInk. At the time there were a few things that seemed dramatic, but in light of recent events, I say "meh" to them. That's about it as far as constructive progress, now on to the Keystart saga.

Firstly, a bit of background; when we got our pre-approval from Keystart, they said that once we gave them the required documentation it would take 5-10 working days for them to process everything and give us the money. About 4 or 5 weeks after we gave Keystart the documents they requested (and also the day before the extension on our block finance ran out), we tried contacting Keystart and asking them what's going on, in a day or so they got back to us and said,
"Oh actually, you know how we originally told you that the maximum property value and loan amount couldn't exceed $500,000, and then after 2 months of waiting we told you that the maximum loan amount had been reduced to $412,000? Well we've now decided that the maximum property value can't exceed $412,000 either. We know that you've already planned your whole house out, signed the contracts and based your whole budget on the original $500,000, but oh well."
That's paraphrased, they probably cared a lot less than what I made them out to seem there, but you get the point. Our finance broker was frustrated to no end, and I tell you, that man has earned 10 times his commission on this job. He'd had his state manager onto Keystart and done everything he could do, but to no avail. He advised us that our options were basically;
a)Apply with a bank. (Which would obviously take months and we would undoubtedly lose the block)
b)Take it to some commissioner person and complain.(Which again would take months and we'd lose the block) or
c) Try and reduce the house value to get below the $412,000 mark and supply Keystart with the new contract.
Seeing as we really didn't have a choice, we went with c) and with collaboration with RedInk were able to achieve this. I won't go into the details, but it worked out OK in the end. Keystart also assured us that should we supply them with a revised contract then everything was ready to go and it would be a matter of days until we got the money. So with this relatively good news in mind and a light at the seemingly never ending tunnel, we got to work.

We managed to get an extension on the block finance for another 2 weeks(Time Conti have been extremely understanding with us). The only thing RedInk required from us for the revised contract was a FHOG(First Home Owners Grant) approval form, which of course Keystart has to give us. After a week of waiting, Keystart informed us that they couldn't give us the approval form until they got the new contract. Of course, we couldn't get the new contract until we had the approval form, but Keystart cares not. After our finance broker ensured RedInk we will be approved for the FHOG they took his word and re-did the contract that day and then we gave it straight to Keystart.
Because of Keystart's delay in not giving us the FHOG approval form, there were only a few days remaining until the block finance was due again, but Keystart had assured us everything was ready to go so we weren't too concerned.

Jump forward to the day after finance was due for the block, our finance broker asked Keystart if there was any news and if they could put the job forward as urgent. Keystart informed us that because they'd only just received the forms it couldn't be set as urgent and it'd probably be another 5 days or so(Apparently, for something to be set to urgent status, it has to sit there for a week or so first. Never mind that the only reason new forms were required was because of Keystart in the first place). So anyway, once again I informed TimeConti that Keystart hate us and I'm sorry and could we please have a further extension, and once again they very kindly agreed and gave us another 2 week extension.

That was the end of last week, now we're catching up to the current time, I got home tonight to find an email from our finance broker saying that Keystart is now asking for proof that Ash's credit card is cancelled. Now, I agree that this is an entirely logical and fair thing for a lender to ask for, however, when we were given our pre-approval it came with a list of questions and documentation requirements querying such things as certain transactions that were made, pay slips etc. This is something that should have been asked then, asking it now just seems like they are trying to screw us over, trying to hold things up as long as possible.
I wish, if they really aren't going to give us the money, they would just tell us instead of getting us to jump through hoops making me go half way insane and then have it all be for nothing. It really feels like they're just doing this for fun now, and the worst of it is, we can't do anything about it.

However, if there is one thing that this whole extended process has taught me, it's that you have to just accept it, look at all the options open to you and do what you can. In this particular instance, it's get everything they require as quickly as possible, unfortunately there is no arguing with Keystart, they don't care, they're not trying to make money, if you take your business elsewhere it just means less work for them. Ironically, because they're set up to help people, that's what they do least.

Looking to the future, should all the stars align and buddah smile upon us, Ash will be able to get some kind of proof that she doesn't have a credit card any more first thing tomorrow morning and we can forward that to Keystart. Keystart will then be satisfied, finish processing our application and then we can finally arrange settlement for our block by this Friday, which is when our extension runs out.

I'll leave it on that slightly positive note and with the promise that I will update more regularly in the future. If you made it this far, thank you for reading and feel free to leave comments about anything, all you have to do is click the "0 comments" text just under this.