Building a Wisdom Homes Impression 38 MK II - Sovereign

Front Garden Complete

2012-01-25T15:16:00.000+11:00

Have been working slowly to complete the garden in the front of the house ..

some pics taken one rainy morning

Handover Date .. belated pics

2011-10-28T01:14:00.001+11:00

Hi all we had our hand over 4 months ago and been busy with moving in and settling in..

here are some pictures from handover and i will post pictures progressively to what the build looks like now

Watch the space for more pics

you have witnessed a champagne moment !!

hip hip hooray we got the keys !!

PCI Booked in for this week

2011-05-16T12:36:00.001+10:00

we are so exited that the PCI is booked in for this week and the drive way was getting poured this morning

here are more pictures of the build ... i have added 3 more posts with pictures below this one :)

Kitchen Sink Tap installed

Range hood and Splash back installed

Landing during the day !! (clear coat dried and no shiny lights on it)

Almost there now

2011-05-16T12:32:00.001+10:00

Entrance Tiled

Gutters installed

Stairs with fresh coat of clear lacquer

Feature walls

Progress Pics II

2011-05-16T12:31:00.001+10:00

More pictures

no comment

Walk in Pantry

Linen cupboard

More Progress Pics

2011-05-16T11:11:00.000+10:00

Here are more pictures of the build .. i am a couple of weeks behind on posting pictures so you will see more progress soon

Upstairs Floor Sample Pics

2011-04-23T13:45:00.000+10:00

We have been looking at different types of floors and like the bamboo floor pictured below

One of the companies i work at happened to install the floor and we like the colour and texture..

like all wood the Colour and Shade looks different in each type of light and amount of light in the room

Progress Pictures 3

2011-04-23T13:25:00.000+10:00

More Progress Pictures .. i told you i will catchup :)

Garage Door installed (lockup stage)

Wet area floor tiles installed

Smart wastes

Bathroom Wall Tiles & Vanity Tops etc

Kitchen Benchtops installed

Progress Pitcures 2

2011-04-23T12:30:00.000+10:00

Here are more pictures catching up to the progress so far

Entrance Doors Installed

Laundry Door

Internal Doors

Telstra Velocity Fibre Termination Box installed

3 Phase Meters + Solar Grid Connect Feed Meter Installed

3 Landing Steps for Stairs and Stair Case Installed

Laundry Cupboards

Bathroom Vanities Installed

Kitchen Cabinets Installed

Progress Pictures 1

2011-04-23T12:02:00.002+10:00

Catching up on the pictures 1

Solar panels on the roof from the Road

Scafolding is a thing of the past

Meter box ..Yay !! (never been so exited to see a Meter box)

Data , AV cabling at Central Distribution Point

Conduit for the TV Cables and Speaker Cables

Speaker cables upstairs :)

Cable Bunch after Gyprock done

Rendered Balcony Parapet

Wooden Posts Installed (Balcony)

Inusulation Installed

More Pictures of Gyprock

Solar Panels / Security Cameras Installed

2011-04-22T09:56:00.000+10:00

Have been working away and busy with checking the home build in the last couple of months ..

We are approximately 5 weeks from PCI .. hip hip hooray !!

I will catchup on the pictures here in quick succession so watch for the progress in the next couple of days

Below are pictures of the Solar panels / Inverter and security cameras ..

Pictures of the roof being installed & post install

2011-03-04T18:29:00.000+11:00

here are pictures of the roof being installed and after it was completed partially

Pics with Render

2011-03-01T20:16:00.000+11:00

Here are some pics of the render to the facade

Bricks Cleaned fron Rendered

2011-02-24T21:03:00.000+11:00

Have been very busy last couple of weeks and did not get a chance to post updates ..

here are some pics of the bricks after they were cleaned

Will play catchup with the pictures here in the next few days

Phone call from SS yesterday !!

2011-01-12T13:48:00.003+11:00

We received a welcoming phone call from the Wisdom Site Supervisor yesterday. He advised that he has booked the brick cleaners, cement render'er and the guttering installers for the work to commence. He said this week some of the tradies are on leave (until the 17/01) and do not have much confidence in getting all the items completed. We are hoping at least the bricks will get cleaned before the weekend.

Happy 2011 and Near Map Updated

2011-01-03T11:46:00.002+11:00

Hi all,

Wanted to wish all of you a happy 2011 .. all of us building hopefully get good progress in the new year and have all our projects completed timely manner

if you are interested the Near Map has updated the map pages a couple of weeks ago

below is our lot with the slab on (October 2010) Our Lot on Near Map

Bricking Completed before Xmas... yay...

2010-12-22T18:42:00.000+11:00

Here is a panoramic picture of the new side fence .. we need to fill a fair bit to get to the retaining wall height on this side of the property.. (Notice the 1.8M is the roof level of the next door neighbours house)

Here are more pictures of the brick work.. spoke to the SS this morning and he said that since the mortar is fairly raw the bricks cannot be cleaned right now and will be cleaned after the Xmas break ..

Rain and all ..Progress with Bricks

2010-12-20T18:48:00.001+11:00

We have had a couple of mixed weeks with Rain and Shine ..

here's where the project is up to now

We met with the SS last week and he said we should have the bricks completed before Xmas

New Fence up with the next door neighbour

Weather man you are a bad man !!

2010-12-07T13:13:00.000+11:00

Xmas is getting close and the weather forecast is not looking any less depressing for all of us who are building .. for those of you have done landscaping .. hip hip hooray (no watering)..

Hope the days keep somewhat dry so the guys can perform work on the building sites for us..

forecast for next couple of days and here's hoping the W man is WRONG !!

Rain rain go away come back another day !!

2010-12-02T06:59:00.002+11:00

It has been raining for almost the past week now and no progress at all on the lot..
We only wish the rain came in after our roof was up and the site was shut for the Christmas holidays !!

Here is the 10 day weather forecast (NOT Looking good at all)

Weatherchannel Link

Scaffolding and second lot of bricks delivered to site today

2010-11-26T14:57:00.001+11:00

Spoke to SS this morning and the Scaffolding was delivered already to the back of the site and he was expecting the second lot of 6,000 bricks to be delivered too. The scaffolding is scheduled to go up on Monday and the Brickies should be back again on Wednesday to start the work..

This great weather hopefully continues during the next couple of weeks for the brick work to complete and the roof to be installed too

Bricking continues

2010-11-25T00:56:00.000+11:00

We had a slight glitch with the bricks since the Brick that we had chosen have a lot of chips and defects due to transport etc. The reason for this is the smooth face on them is quite brittle around the edges and can easily be damaged. We found that the brickies took extra long time to lay these brick too since they had to check each brick carefully before laying them.. they have discarded quite a few bricks ..

Today we had a meeting with Austral Rep regarding the replacement of the damaged bricks .. they said what ever we need as replacement will be sent to the site on request ..

We are still working out if we are going to pursue the removal of chipped bricks from one of the main walls in the front of the house before the brickies were careful about picking only the good bricks (before we reported the issue to the SS)

here are some pics of the work so far

Bricks / Sand / Cement Delivered to site

2010-11-17T01:41:00.001+11:00

The Bricks were delivered to the site on Friday as scheduled and looking at them closer we have noticed quite a few of them have been damaged especially the ones at the back of the property (seems like a couple of pallets have been dropped on delivery)
The Cement and Sand was delivered yesterday and the rain has held any work from proceeding (Ground is too bogged down to work on at the moment)

Here is hoping the rain will stay clear or light enough so the work can start at the site .. Some pictures of the bricks etc

Our Plumbing Work Completed

2010-11-11T23:59:00.000+11:00

Yesterday i was driving past in the morning and saw the plumbers at the site .. lucky caught them onsite since they were going to install the garden taps in the wrong places etc..

We have not visited the site and inspected the plumbing in details yet (will have to do this on the weekend because of busy morning work schedule)

Tomorrow (Friday) we are expecting the Austral truck with 12,400 odd feature bricks for our home (not sure how many 1000 standard bricks they will deliver for the Facade rendered area (balcony and portico)

Hope the rain clerars for next week so the brickies can start work.

from the second floor

2010-11-06T01:25:00.001+11:00

Second floor frame went up very quickly (all up the frame was done in 5 working days excluding the rainy days) very efficient and professional team (two blokes)

here are some pictures of the second floor frame and roof trusses ..

Our Frame Completed

2010-11-04T14:56:00.001+11:00

Our Frame is finally completed and the workmanship looks pretty neat and tidy .. the guys who were installing the frame were very professional and tidy. Here are some pictures from this morning (Sorry the sky was overcast..) will take some more pictures of the second floor internals and post in the next couple of days

Progress from Yesterday - Second Floor

2010-11-02T14:04:00.002+11:00

Today is Melbourne Cup day and don't seem to have much activity at the estate at all ..

The boys were working on the frame yesterday through the rain and these are some pictures from this morning ..

More work on Frame

2010-11-01T15:59:00.005+11:00

Here are some pictures taken on the weekend of the progress on the frame. Hope it does not rain through the week for the second floor frame to go up..

Work on the Frame Started Today

2010-10-26T16:22:00.002+11:00

We have seen activity on the lot this morning with more Frame and Windows delivered

here are some pictures from this morning

Frame delivered on Friday

2010-10-25T17:02:00.001+11:00

We had the frame delivered to the lot on Friday (22/10/2010)

Since it has been raining on the weekend the work had not started today ..

Here is hoping the sun stays out the next couple of days for the boys to start work on the lot!!

Ground Floor Frames to be delivered tomorrow

2010-10-21T23:12:00.000+11:00

Contacted the SS today and had a chat about the frames and when the work will start.
He said the Ground floor frames are scheduled to be delivered tomorrow and the First floor frames are planned for delivery on Monday. He also said that the boys should be around to start the work on the frames on Monday (25/10/2010) Fingers crossed the weather stays clear in the next couple of weeks

Drainage Pipes and Water Connected

2010-10-20T22:54:00.001+11:00

Last Friday the Drainage Pipes were installed and the Water Supply Connected to the Water Mains ..
Some of the Pipes on the Slab seem to be damaged or roughly dealt with instead of being cut with a saw. Had a chat to the SS about the pipes and he said they will be rectified when the requirement arise to work on them. The reason for the damage is due to the lots next to ours already been worked on and fenced and the drainage installers needed to get the machine on the slab etc.. (All under control phew....)

Here are some pics of the site with a bit more light than last time

More Pictures of Slab Curing

2010-10-19T13:58:00.001+11:00

We had a lot of rain in the last couple of days and the slab has been curing very nicely with the light weather !! Uncle Hector and my self (Marlon) measured the slab too to ensure the measurements were according to the plans !!

here are some pics on a dull evening...

Uncle Hector checking the Slab

Slab Poured quicker than expected.. YaY !!

2010-10-10T10:37:00.001+11:00

We have been eagerly waiting for this day and the Slab was poured on Friday (08/10/10) earlier than the scheduled day. We think that the workers saw a opportunity due to the good weather on Friday and they went for it..

here are pics of the slab being poured

Piering and Foam Work

2010-10-07T16:41:00.001+11:00

Had to wait through a couple of rainy days however we have movement on the site yesterday with the Piering done and the site being prepared for the Foam and Iron Works for the Slab. Had a quick visit to the site this morning and the Slab dudes were working away and not very talkative at all. Called up the SS and he said if all goes well we should have the slab in by Tuesday (Weather Permitted)

We are very exited to have the slab poured soon so we can get the rest of the build going soon.. :)

Will add some pics here when we get a chance to take some on site tomorrow ..

SS called and Work starting after Long Weekend

2010-10-01T13:18:00.000+10:00

We sent an email and had chat to the Wisdom Admin staff yesterday and our SS called to introduce him self a few hours after. He said that they will start working on the site in preparation for the piers and slab on Tuesday (Weather permitting of course) Here is hoping the weather will stay clear for all of us on the long weekend :)

Waiting for the SS to call and the Concrete (Slab) works to begin

2010-09-29T23:21:00.002+10:00

We were told by the Wisdom Office that the Site Super will call us this week and we can expect the Slab Prep work to start by the 8th of October since they give them selves 10 working day to start the work..
We are awaiting in anticipation for the call and here is hoping that the Slab Prep work and Slab pour will happen before the 8th October if at all possible. ( x Fingers Crossed x )

PS. We were also told that the reason for the delay is that the Slab workers has been playing catchup since the rain delayed their schedules at the previous jobs

Site Scraped.. Hooray !!

2010-09-24T14:02:00.000+10:00

Visited the site this morning and YAY !! .. the site has been scraped and the rocks have been laid on the entry path to the site..

here are some pics of the site ..

No Work on the Site yet

2010-09-23T23:17:00.000+10:00

Have been chasing up Wisdom for an update however we cannot get a definite date on when the site will be scraped. Spoke with the admin staff and they said that next week will should see some movement on the site.
We just wish we can get a date locked in and we can look forward to the work starting without having to drive past and second guess when the the work will start..

The wait is painful however we are within the 20 working days that the builder can take to start the work.. Will keep you all posted on here about the progress

Portaloo and Fence Up

2010-09-10T12:59:00.001+10:00

Yay !! more good news ..
The Portaloo is onsite and Wisdom have erected the fence too (never been happier to see a Portaloo)

Now the rain has to stop so we can get the site scraped ..

Wisdom Sign and Sediment Control Fence

2010-09-08T16:28:00.005+10:00

Yay !!! We had a pleasant surprise this morning with the Wisdom Sign and a short green fence (Sediment Control Fence) up in preparation for the site leveling (site scape)

Called the Wisdom office and spoke to Sandi (Sandi handles our file in the office) and she said the orders have not been completed yet and we do not have an SS allocated as yet either..

So exiting now that we are almost ready to start with the slab .. Hope the weather stays clear for the site prep and slab pour ..

Here are some pics from this morning ...

Our Home Floor Plans

2010-09-08T01:28:00.003+10:00

First Floor Plan

_____________________________________________

Second Floor Plan

Our Home Colours & Others (updated 02/03/2011)

2010-09-05T01:56:00.008+10:00

Bricks - Austral Bricks - Symmetry Asphalt
Brick Mortar Colour - Off white
Brick Joints - Ironed
Roof Tiles - Bristile Roofing - Classic Shake - Coal
Gutters / Barge - Colorbond - Monumnet
Fascia / Downpipes / Meter Box- Colorbond - Jasper
Windows -Trend Windows - Aluminium - Anodic Natural Matt

Bathroom Vanity Benchtops - Caesarstone - Osprey (3141) - 20mm
Bathroom Vanity Cupboards - Laminex - Smoky Sapelle - Natural Finish
Kitchen Cupboards - Laminex - Parchment - Natural Finish
Cabinet Handles - Horizontel - Stainless Steel
Kickboards - Brushed Aluminum
Kitchen Benchtop - Caesarstone - Ice Snow (9141) - 20mm
Kitchen Splash back - Decoglaze - Phantom
Laundry Cupboards - Laminex - Smoky Sapelle - Natural Finish
Laundry Benchtop - Laminex - Platinum Micro - Natural Finish

Render Front Peers and Balcony Parapets - Bristol Paints - Clay Dust (P13-D4) - Dulux Colour
Walls / Internal Doors - Bristol Paints - White Smoke (P239-N1)
Cement Sheet Infills - Bristol Paints - Briar Patch (00YY 23/169) - Dulux Colour

Eaves and Varandah Celing - Bristol Paints - Canvas Cloth (P195.N2)
External Doors - Bristol Paints - Joey (P240-N5)
Ceilings - Taubmans - Tradex Celing White (D434)
Feature Walls - Taubmans - Murky Water (to be painted after handover)
Garage Door - B&D Panelmasta Contemporary - Timbergrain Classic Cedar
Timber Post to Veranda and Balcony - Clear Wood Finish
Entrance and Balcony Doors - Clear Wood Finish
Balcony Rails - Silver Chrome Finish
Stairs and Posts - Tasmanian Oak - Clear Wood Finish
Driveway - Stencilled (Large Tile) Bluestone

Our Doors and Handles

2010-09-04T22:45:00.002+10:00

Entrance Doors - Hume Doors - XIL6

Entrance Door Handles - Gainsborough - Styled Pull Handles
(Back to Back)

External Doors - Hume Doors - JST1 & VEN1

External Door Handles - Gainsborough - Trilock

Internal Doors - Hume Doors - SOR5

Internal Door Handles - Gainsborough - Lianna Leverset

Rain in the last couple of days

2010-09-04T21:27:00.002+10:00

It has been raining in the last couple of days and hopefully it clears up during the week.. We are hoping that Wisdom Homes will call us during the week with some good news about preparing the site and fencing it off
Weather Forecast for Sydney

Our Lot on Near Map

2010-09-03T16:03:00.000+10:00

Have a look at our lot and the surroundings on near map Lot 1303 on Near Map

Construction Certificate and now ready to build

2010-09-01T15:01:00.003+10:00

We finally received the Construction Certificate and have now finalised the two pages worth of Post Tender Variations .. (not sure how we racked up that many ??)

Sandi from the Office just called (2.54pm) and said she has signed off the file and passed on to the estimation department to order all the goodies and work required to build our new home ..

Big thank you to Sandi for all the followups and taking our calls and changes through out the post Tender process.. Working with her has been fantastic..

We should see the site being prepared in the next 20 days (here is hoping it does not take the whole 20 days to order the goods and services for us) hip hip hooray !!!!

Site Pegout

2010-08-25T23:02:00.003+10:00

we had a very welcome surprise yesterday with the site pegged out with the sexy red pegs (as Maria put it)
this means the site is ready for the scrape to occur as soon as we get the construction certificate for the work to commence. Spoke to Sandi at Wisdom and she said we should have the approval by end of the week.. :)

Pics of some Pegs

Council Approval - Finally (Sign Moved)

2010-08-19T22:35:00.008+10:00

HURRAY!!!! After what seemed like the longest wait ever we have finally received council approval!!!!!!!!
It was disappointing that it took so long to address a simple issue. We had to call regularly to try and get updates and progress information. Even though it took a LOT longer than we anticipated ...I suppose all is well that ends well.

A special thanks goes to Councillor Allan Green, Glennys James (council director of planning) and Sandi(from Wisdom) who went above and beyond the call of duty to help us out.

The troublesome "no stopping" sign has already been moved and we are so excited to report that our build is back on track!!!

"No Stopping Sign" moved to the side of the property

Before the sign was moved

Sketch of our Home (updated 09/11/2010)

2010-06-25T00:00:00.011+10:00

Here it is!!!!

This is a sketch of our new home with the colours and materials we have selected. Marlon's MS Paint Skills :)

Tender Process .. Inclusions .. Exclusions and handy tips

2010-06-24T02:31:00.005+10:00

We were very pleased with our tender and feel that it now includes all the things that we needed. We made mistakes along the way and even now wish we had thought of a few things at the start.... It would have saved us time and effort. So Marlon has compiled a "short" list of tips and things that might be useful to consider.

We found that the following items would have been helpful if we had done at the beginning

Identify the upgrade items on the Display Home you choose to build (take the upgrade list and visually tick them off one by one making a note that they are upgrades) If you don't do this eventually you will find out some items that you thought were included are not included and it will create disappointment from your end.
Have a look at similar house plans on the online forums if possible since this will give you great ideas that others have thought about and you may think about once you have signed the contract (you need to search through the blogs for the plans that have been posted online for similar houses)
You may want to ask the sales staff to give yo a couple of plans of other people who built the same house (they may give it to you without the client's details obviously )
Make sure you check all the items such as bricks, bathroom accessories (Sinks and Niches etc) and kitchen, Windows etc
Make sure all items that you would like to have and think you have included are listed i the tender document in one way or another
When you pick Facade make sure you check what is included in the cost and not included (what you see in the display is what you get)
Communicate all inquiries, questions or clarifications via email and ensure you store the responses safely just in case the sales staff you started the project with is no longer working for the builder etc
Take the items in the tender document very seriously since this eventually becomes part of the contract you sign.
Take the time to understand the itemised pricing on the tender and double check the pricing in the market since the retail price at times be cheaper than what the builder lists on the tender
Make sure you ask for any discounts in the $100's not $1000's before you sign off the tender in preparation for the plan drawing stage
Ask questions from fellow home builders for recommendations (do and don'ts) since some the other home builders bad experiences may help you avoid a painful situation
Ensure every item you think of or its detail is listed in the tender since no assumptions will be honoured by the builder if it comes to a crunch one day
You can also include cost provisions for upgrades etc so the price estimates of these items are included in the master tender document and will be payed with the progressive draw down payments if you are borrowing the money form a Bank. if you do not do this the variations costs post tender requires short payment terms and this will need to be settled before soon..
If you have any doubts on any items make sure you ask and clarify (Even if it is a slight though in the back of your mind) .. it is recommended not to keep any items unresolved when you sign the tender or contract.
Good luck with your new home build project - Marlon :)

SCR Design Review Board (Urban Pacific)

2010-06-24T01:48:00.004+10:00

We have submitted our construction plans and landscape design to the Stonecutters Ridge Design Review Board (Urban Pacific). Made several phone calls to followup and after a week or so Wisdom received a letter that the Setback from the Fence on the side and the Fence from the front were incorrect on the plans. Also had to pick a certain type of mailbox according to the SCR design specifications .

We picked option 1 Mailbox and passed this info to Wisdom Homes for passing on to landscape design person. Wisdom has also requested the plans to be re drawn with the correct setback from the side and front for the Fence.

We were a bit disappointed that Wisdom did not update the architects and the landscape design staff that the Stonecutters Ridge had specific requirement since they have build 2 houses already and is in the building multiple houses more on the new Lots..

Here's hoping we can get this turned around pretty quickly so we can get the documents going to the Council for approval.

23rd June 2010 at couple of mins past 5pm we have received notice with the review board approval .. the staff i was dealing with was very nice and helpful .. they seem to have a overload of applications on top of the usual and they will need to get used to it since SCR Lots are selling like hot cakes currently

Wisdom Homes

2010-06-04T01:17:00.006+10:00

Wisdom Homes have a couple of great homes and display houses built in Sydney.. The quality of the homes are great and the sales staff is great too.

We fell in love with the Impression 38 MK II Display home at the Ponds and Colt is our primary sales person and Linda also assists at the Ponds Office..

This particular home has a very tidy open plan with all the rooms upstairs with all the latest amenities and features one requires included in the package (one would always include upgrades obviously)

Colt at the sales office has been great and he has a lot of knowledge of their homes and costs involved in upgrades etc. Colt was a builder himself before migrating to Australia and that experience carries a long way in his customer services, sales skills, consultation and advise for sure.

As we learn from our mistakes we will be sure to let you know so that you do not face delays or costs associated with the same issues. Whatever we post is purely from personal experience as clients and 1st time builders.

Display Home at Ponds (Pic from Wisdom)

The Begining

2010-06-04T00:35:00.005+10:00

Hello all ..

Let the fun begin!!!!

At the beginning of the year we decided to buy a house, we were looking around for a nice house when we happened to stumble upon Stonecutters Ridge. We fell in love with the place straight away and decided to build our new home there.

Many good things in our life have happened "by chance" and we feel that this is another one of those.

Since then we have pursed our dream and all of the rest is history. This is the reason we have called our blog Serendipity.. enjoy the journey with us.

also wanted to add the new community web site link here http://www.stonecutterscommunity.com/