Final Post Chelsea 37 Metricon

We have been in for a few weeks now and finally got the furniture moved from the shed to the house.
Tiles and carpet have been completed and we are settling in. Prior to Christmas we had the lights installed and exposed aggregate concrete to the entrance to the garage.

Thanks to all those who have followed our progress throughout the build, this will be our final post (unless any major issues occur in the future)

We have a list of issues for Metricon to fix. Most significant being a failure the shower drain in the En Suite is blocked with concrete, so we cannot use the shower until damage is assessed and repaired. Overall the build was reasonable, certainly wouldn't say its a high quality finish as the glossy brochure indicate, the "independent" Quality Inspection was a joke, scoring 99. (painting and staining is very poor, plasterboard joins can be seen, many of the locks are not fitted correctly, and the shower drain).

But overall we are happy with the house and structurally it is very sound.

Outdoor Room



Looking Down Corridor at Entrance



Family Room

Kitchen

Kitchen & Family Room



Dinning Room at Christmas

Ourdooor oom At Night

Decking Complete

The decks are now complete and the Merbau looks great.

We have decks leading from the French Doors in the Sitting Room and Master Bedroom, an extended deck from the Outdoor Room (which connects to the Master Bedroom Deck)  and the entrance deck under the Portico.

Outdoor room - decking extended to eaves.
Merbau Deck and Cedar Lined Ceiling



Master Bedroom Connecting to The Outdoor Room

 

Portico Deck

Sitting Room Deck

 

Decking Started

We have started the decking with the permission of Metricon before handover.

View From The Bedroom 1 Deck

Sitting Room Deck

Portico Deck

Metricon have agreed to finish the Hebel in the manner suggested by Kevin from New Home Inspections with a plinth around the base to allow render to ground level and landscaping right up to the house.

We are close to a handover. The scratched windows have been replaced and the painters were in today to patch up. (Unfortunately the painters were the same poor quality painters who caused many of the issues we have had in the first place).

Outstanding sre the replacement of garage door which has been scratched, finish of hebel base, commissioning of gas log fire, moving overflow of evaporative cooler out of closed water system, polishing or replacing scratched tiles in bathrooms and a few other issues.

Splashbacks - At Last !!

After waiting 4 weeks, and a number of false starts, we have the splashbacks installed, not much else has happened since our last post.

Splashback Colour - Paris



Butlers Pantry

 

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Today we had Kev from New Home Inspections inspecting the home and a number of new issues were pointed out, these include:

• Uneven ceiling in the Master Bedroom
• Installation missing from parts of roof
• Plastic strips on windows not BAL compliant
• More scratches to glass
• Exposed MDF in garage
• Entrance light switch behind door

The biggest issue is the base of the hebel. Some of the panels extend below the slab, and hebel cannot have soil against it.

The problem is how can the Hebel base be finished and look acceptable without compromising the panels. Kev suggested a number of solutions but it will be up to Metricon to solve the problems.

 Other activities include:

• Water tank connected and pump installed
• Septic connected
• Grass planted

Meanwhile the vegetable garden is starting to spring to life.

And the driveway is beginning to dry out.

Close , but not sure how close? Updated

Progress might be slow but we are inching closer to our first opportunity to comment on the quality of the build. Cleaners have been busy washing windows, tiles and mirrors.

The large number of scratches on the windows are even more prominent when they are clean. We have learnt that the toughened glass we were required to install for our bushfire BAL 12.5 rating scratches very easily on one side, pity the painters were not made aware of this.

The render has a number places where water has caused damaged and the  finish is also patchy which will require re coating.

Despite the issues the majority of the house looks great and sits well on the 1 hectare block.

Reflection In The Dam

Rear Of House

The kitchen benchtops and fire hearth (Caesar stone - Ivory) have been installed.
Glass Splashbacks should go in this week.

Kitchen Ivory Ceasar Stone Benchtops

Butlers Pantry.
Waiting for Paris glass splashback

The bathrooms are complete with the En Suite bath being installed.







Karen's Bath

En Suite

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Bathroom

Powder Room

The Garage Door installed

Meanwhile we are building a fence around the house to keep the Kobe from wandering too far during the summer months. (snakes also like to live in a rural stting)



Metricon Slowing

The days of something new happening everyday have gone. We haven't seen many tradesman this week and when they have turned up they have done little, or nothing, due to other issues.

We made our second last payment a couple of weeks ago and since the last payment is relatively small percentage Metricon have lost interest in completing the project.

The plasterers turned up and were going to plaster above the Gas Log fire until we advised them that the studs were not as required by the building permit and I guess building standards. If we were not on site we would never had known until we tried to hang a picture, or the walls cracked. I'm certain Metricon were trying to take a short cut.

Water tank is now installed.
We hope the rains come once we have connected to the house as we have 80,000 litres to fill for summer.

Sewage Treatment Plant (Worm Farm)

Texture Completed

The texture was completed yesterday and the colour looks great, enhances the merbau doors and windows.

Other progress continues slowly, the gas log fire was installed, the kitchen cabinetry was completed and the en suite vanity cupboard doors were replaced.

The mirrors continue to be a problem with the second attempt to complete the powder room mirrors being installed incorrectly. As they couldn't be removed in one piece it was necessary to break the mirrors and replace them again.

Barnfloor Coloured Texture

Barnfloor Texture Enhances Merbau Doors




Gas Log Fire in Family Room and through to sitting room

 Example of finished see through gas log fire



En Suite Vanity

Mirror Doors To Master Bedroom Robe

Mirror in entrance

A greenhouse has added to the vegetable garden to increase the growing season. Erecting the kit greenhouse was a challenge with the limited instructions.