So Close, Yet So Frustratingly Far

So we received the bill for the sewer encasement. While it wasn't a worst case scenario, it was certainly more than we'd budgeted for. The 7.5 metres will cost us $11K, as well as required strengthening of the slab which will set us back $3K. Chuck in $6K for additional piering, and we're smack on $20K.

We've made the decision to sell our caravan to help cover the costs. My dream was always to have a lower mortgage than our previous property, and we should still come in well under if we use the van proceeds towards the sewer and landscaping.

Meanwhile, our file has been passed on to drafting and estimating where it has stopped... again, due to "high sales volumes and associated delays". Story of our life! Meanwhile the land release backing onto our block sold 6 MONTHS AFTER OURS, and most already have builders onsite, slabs, frames and one is already finished (Clarendon)!

Frustrating to see, especially when all paperwork is returned within 24-48 hours and no changes have been made. Getting a little despondent now. We hoped to be in by Christmas at the most, but even that seems to be slipping away. Think it's time to make some waves again, Wisdom... get your bloody act together!

I'll stop now, I'm venting. Instead,  I'll leave you with a few pics taken at the beginning of our building journey. The first is a feature that I fell in love with (the awesome entry and shelving in the study) when initially stalking the Prosperity display home.

I'll also include a pic of my eldest complaining about the fact that we're stalking the Prosperity display home.

Catch ya on the flip side,

S

Complications... Wine Needed.

Our rapid progress has unfortunately been halted... again. We knew we had a problematic block. Cul-de-sac front, sewer at the back but we chose a house design that apparently 'fit like a glove'. By choosing a floor plan with a smaller-than average depth (19 metres), we were under the impression that we would avoid complications with the sewer line which runs across the back of the block. We were told that we were classed as "Building Adjacent to Sewer".

Engineering report came back 2 weeks ago.

Guess what? Hmmmm. Yep.

The slab falls within the zone of influence, which we knew (within 900mm of the sewer pipe). Half of the house encroaches upon this area of influence (but not over the sewer itself) so we were initially told by builder and plumbing contacts through hubby's work that extra piering would be required in this instance. We had a $5000 contingency within our tender to provide this.

Unfortunately, our builders engineer has instead requested complete encasement of the sewer, which through my research can be upwards of $30 000. Pretty devastated, as our incredibly flat block of land has the potential now to have amassed a ridiculous $50 000 total in site fees.

Waiting on the plumbers variation to come back now, and not looking forward to it :-(

So, I will leave you with this inspirational quote. #foreheadslap