4 months of heating cooling woes

It's been 4 months since we moved in and we're really happy with the house. There are a few (minor) things to fix and a few things we would have done differently ( - pay attention to where the doorbell speaker is positioned at installation) but overall things are good. Comdain have been great to deal with - no issues there whatsoever.

The only real problem we've had (and it's caused a lot of grief) is the ducted heating/cooling. We have two units - one for each floor. The units have broken down numerous times leaving us with no air-conditioning during those unbearable hot spells Melbourne experienced this Summer and now, with no heating. One breakdown you might excuse but 4 breakdowns in relatively new units is just ridiculous. We could just say "So we got some bad units, just fix it and move on" but dealing with the company that installed the units has been both disappointing and frustrating. Calls not returned, leaving us to do the chasing. Taking days to come around to even look at the units. Sometimes not coming as promised or giving just 15mins warning that they are about to come around (- who can afford to take time off work "in case" the engineer can come by). No clear explanation of what was wrong - only that it's all "fixed", only to have it break down again days later. We have heard that others with units like ours have had recent problems too. Comdain have been great and are dealing with the installer now. We'll keep you posted on this saga.

We're in!

About a fortnight ago, we had our PCI. We had been issued a Certificate of Occupancy a few days before so we knew that we'd be in very soon. The PCI took a couple of hours and aside from minor things that required some touch up paint or  patching, all looked good. The private inspector came by a few days later and that was worth it because he picked up on things such as one scratched window glass, poor cleaning of the bricks etc. Comdain agreed to rectifying these problems.

On handover day, we were met by the owner of Comdain who took us through the house pointing out various features and what maintenance would be required in the future. It was fantastic having this final walkthrough with him as we discovered little things that weren't working properly (vac-pan in kitchen) and he too agreed that the brick cleaning was below their standards; all of which he said would be addressed. (In fact, the ducted vacuuming guys were out the next day and also helped us re-program the alarm).

Having spent a little bit of time now in the house, there are some things we absolutely love:

The vac-pan and the laundry chute are a hit with the kids who have been falling over eachother to do the housework.

Features like the wide eaves, double-glazed windows, fly screens on all openable windows have meant that we have been able to keep the house at a good temperature without using the heating/cooling.

Storage! ( enough said.)

Having the dishwasher and sink for dirty dishes in the pantry. 

We've also noticed things we should have done:

Added a Powerpoint in our long corridor for a nightlight.

Thought about practical things like how the ironing board would be positioned so the we could position a Powerpoint to suit that.

Road-tested our kitchen (and pantry) tap before choosing. The water stream just doesn't seem as strong as we would have liked.

Getting a louder doorbell ( or an intercom).

But there's not much to complain about. Comdain have built an amazing home. We'll keep you updated on post-handover dealings with Comdain.

A few pics:

Building with Comdain

With the end in sight, we thought it was about time we summarised our building experience. First and foremost, dealing with Comdain has been a real pleasure. So much so that it hasn't put us off the idea of one day building again. There is no doubt that you could build a cheaper house with another company and people often ask us whether the "extra" cost of Comdain is worth it. Here's what we think we got for our money:
Excellent communication - there was not one enquiry or email or phone call that wasn't responded to in a timely manner. Unlike our experiences with another builder, we did not have to chase Comdain for answers.
Custom design - when we originally looked at high volume builders, we were often trying to adjust their layout, accepting a façade we didn't particularly like because it fit our block, tacking on more rooms in odd places. Now we have a home that suits our lifestyle rather than the other way around.
Quality workmanship - The tradies that Comdain use have been with them for many years. Their attention to detail, and that of the SS and CM are clearly evident. In addition, they were great to talk to and provided us with some very good and sound advice.
Common sense - Going into the building phase, one of our fears was being locked into decisions made earlier that may later turn out not to be the best. Our concerns were unfounded. Comdain were very reasonable with ongoing adjustments and even suggested some themselves. In addition, they were accommodating when it came to other requests, e.g. allowing the TV antenna installation by a third party while their scaffolding was still up.

This is not to say that everything went to plan. There were details that were discussed early on which we were told we would be consulted about at the right time, that unfortunately never occurred. One example was trying to specify the location of the ducted vacuuming ports. We really wanted a vac-pan (port for sweepings from the floor) located in the main ensuite. We were told this could be discussed with the installer when the time came, but one day we walked in to find that the ports were all installed and it was too late to make any adjustments. This is not a criticism of Comdain particularly but a caution about the building process with any company. So much time is spent going through your wants and needs with the sales person and house designer but unless these are documented in your contract, it is likely that your SS or CM will never hear about or remember all of these. If you can't have a clause written in your contract such as "Locations of ducted vacuuming points to be determined with client", then you need to be on the ball and constantly monitoring your stages.

Are we happy we built with Comdain? Yes. Would we recommend them? Certainly.

Details of the PCI to come.

PCI booked

The PCI is booked and we are so excited with the prospect that handover may be before Christmas. We have decided to book a private inspector even though we have not used one to date. There are two reasons for this: firstly, there are so many things to look for from scratched glass to chipped paint and working taps that you're just bound to miss something; the other reason is because both the site supervisor and construction manager are really nice, reasonable and practical guys. If we had an issue that we felt was significant, it would be very hard not to accept their view as they have always been reasonable and professional. Hopefully there won't be any major issues but if there are, we won't be asking them to rush anything just to get in before Christmas.

Early Christmas present looking likely.

Fence balustrades and gates installed yesterday. Electricals done. Carpet scheduled for later this week.

 

Lights, camera, action!

Electricians in today hanging up lights and fitting powerpoints. Also in: glass splashbacks, sinks, showers, basins. All looking good. 

Still encountering small problems that need to be resolved. Some issues have been difficult especially if it's something initiated by us because we are constantly reminded that any changes could easily set handover day back. You really have to decide which battles to fight and what you're happy to concede.

Some random shots ...

Laundry with the big 70L Clark trough:

Guest ensuite

Storage!

Just add carpet!

Garage door installed!

Wet day in Melbourne today hence the colour of the bricks (and the frame of the car door in the corner).

Garage door in Jasper.

Balcony balustrade

Balcony balustrade colour: monument. Same colour as the metal infills for the fence. Really happy we decided to go with this colour instead of the original choice of Jasper ( of the flashing and gutters). Having the third colour really adds another dimension. So many colour decisions were made without a clear vision of what the final product would be. The monument was a win but the rendered paperbark is a dismal fail. We used to look at other houses and think "What made them choose that colour combination?" but now having been there, we can totally sympathise with others because you don't necessarily get what you asked for. 

Last dash

Who would have thought building a home was like being pregnant. In that last month, you're over it all and just want to move in ... then you realise that there is a whole tonne of stuff you should have organised earlier and now it's a mad dash to get things organised because like it or not, that handover date is getting closer. 

With Christmas and Summer holidays around the corner, we've decided the most we can hope for is to organise the security porch enclosure and perhaps the slats for the fence at the rear of the property. Getting the driveway done this year looks remote. 

Fence pictures

Landscaping issues

Progress internally is going well. Tiling of the downstairs wet areas and floors is almost complete. Painters have started. The only setback is that some of the internal doors have a manufacturing defect which has meant that Comdain have had to send quite a few back. This will probably set us back a week.

Attention has turned to the outside with the brickies  erecting the brick pillars for our fence. The top of the pillars were supposed to be finished with bricks set at 90 degrees (horizontally) to the orientation in the pillar. The design looked great on paper but in reality, as the pillars are rectangular rather than square, it would mean large mortar gaps between the bricks making it look a bit odd. This was explained to us and we have elected to finish the top with some (custom-made) concrete tops. An extra cost to us but hopefully this won't delay handover.

Something we hadn't anticipated were landscaping issues. House plans look great but they don't show you the reality of soil levels. We've had to start thinking about where we will need garden steps and because our front door is relatively close to the street, whether there is enough room for the garden gate to swing back as we'll as having steps to get one from street level to the front door. Soil levels and slopes have also become as issue because we would like to install another gate at the back of the fence. Time to call in the landscaper.

Fixing stage billed.

So the bill for fixing stage has arrived although there are still a few things missing (like basins and the laundry trough) but we'll leave that to the bank inspector. 

Downstairs tiling has started. Last week, concrete was poured around the boundary in anticipation of the brick fence. The rain has caused some delays with this brickwork but overall, progress has been good. 

Master ensuite.

For those interested, tiles are white and beige; cabinets: classic white; benchtop: Linen caesarstone.

Benchtops, tiling and talk of the fence.

Very happy with the tiler. Not only has he made fantastic progress but his attention to detail is excellent. Nice guy as well.

Stone benchtops are in, including the amazing "Shitake" caesarstone kitchen benchtop. It's probably one of the best "colour" decisions we made although we really have to credit Comdain's colours co-ordinator who suggested it in the first place. 

Good chance that the digging will commence this week for the brick fence. Looking forward to this because we need the fence up before we can organise the driveway and crossover. Also because it means the end must be near!

Polished concrete

A small peek of the polished concrete floor. 

For those considering this, it's worthwhile knowing that this process takes quite a few days (multiple grinds and treatment); with virtually no possibility of other tradies working on these rooms during and between grinds. Ours was only one room so fortunately did not hold up overall work on the house.

Tiling started today.

Watching the weeds grow

We've reached that really painful phase where work on the house is not visibly obvious. Others building will certainly know the frustration. 

Having driven past the site on an almost daily basis, we've got a good idea of which tradies are on site and on which days, so we're happy that there has been constant work on the house. It would be nice though if we received a regular update on activities. Comdain are always prompt at returning calls and emails, but it would be even better not having to chase them just to know how things are going. That being said, they are probably no different from other building companies in this respect. Anyway, in answer to our enquiries last week, it seems that the cabinets are all done, the concrete floor in the rumpus room has been polished and tiling is due to start second half of this week. What about the answer to the million dollar question - are we on track to finish on time? No comment. 

Cabinetry and stairs

Steady progress with kitchen, bathroom and laundry cabinetry. Pantry shelves also in. Stairs have now replaced the ladder ( which will be carpeted later).

Painting

Painters have been busy priming the internal walls and almost completing all the rendered walls on the outside. Having painted internal walls definitely makes the rooms look bigger again. 

Waterproofing has started and cabinets are being installed. 

No photos at the moment (sorry BW) because SS wanted us to get a surprise when the cabinetry is all in. 

We're ready to be dazzled.

Cornices!

Roof now complete.

Garage and Alfresco roof completed today.

A word about windows ...

In the interests of keeping our future energy bills down, we chose double glazed, Low E, argon-filled windows where possible. It is a significant part of the overall cost of the house but something that we hope will be worth it in the long term.

Our windows were installed by Stegbar a while ago and only because the stickers are still on have we noticed that some windows have the LowE side on the inside of the house (with the toughened glass on the outside) while other windows have the reverse situation. The person at Stegbar couldn't recall what the correct configuration was but he did agree that they all should be the same. There are a few more windows to install so Stegbar will be back on site at some stage to resolve this.