Building the Charlton by Porter Davis

Apologies for the absence from this blog but it's been a busy period as you can imagine.  PCI and handover did end up getting pushed out by a week so for those of you playing along we are due to be picking up the keys this Thursday!!! That's right baby its THIS WEEK.


I can't express to you all how excited I am that we are nearly there. Building a new home is exciting enough but for the last 8 months I have been living with the in laws in a neighborhood that I'm not familiar with and on top of that I gave birth and having been almost chained to this place as I give up my independance to look after our first baby so you can appreciate how excited I am to have my own space.

The lead up

As you get close to your PCI date expect a formal email and letter from the accounts department which will include and reconcile any building variations you have submitted during your build. Your building coordinator will then send you a settlement letter which details what you need to do post handover. He/She will also ask you if you want to complete a review for productreview.com.au and if you do you'll go in the draw to win an ipad. Great idea Porter Davis but I choose to review once I have received the product? Bit strange to be asking me to review something when the  build isn't even finished yet? What if the house crumbles down after day 1? Well if that happened I'd have a lot to say in my review that's for sure. Ha. 

As it happened

PCI is conducted as a walk through with your site supervisor. We started at the back of the house and worked towards the front, room by room, from top to bottom. This is then followed by an exterior inspection.

As we went through we would 

• Open and shut windows
• Turn on taps to check for water was draining ok
• Turn on and off lights 
• Check electricals match the plan 
• Check for paint marks scuffs or inconsistencies
• Run your hands on bench tops edges 
• Check privacy locks on doors work 
• Check grout on tiles

We didn't bother with testing power points. I've read from other blogs that some people will bring with along a hairdryer to test each powerpoint. We decided not to after our site supervisor said he had never had any issues in the last 5 years and if we were to come across issues to just call him. We could always raise any concerns in the 3 month post handover visit anyway so we weren't too fussed. 

The inspection lasted 2 hours, this time frame really depends on you and how thorough you want to be and how many issues you come across. As we walked through we would raise it with our SS who would have a look at it and mark it up with some blue tape and noting it down on his notepad. We are pleased to say that the majority of items were cosmetic. 

Here's a summary we agreed on the following defects/improvements to be made prior to handover:

• Cracked window in upstairs bedroom
• Splash back in kitchen incomplete
• Render touch ups required to front facade and rear alfresco
• Paint touch ups throughout house
• Stairs to be re stained and risers painted 
• Galley and pantry sliding door need to be repainted 
• Pantry cavity sliding door didn't run smooth 
• Balcony tiles to be finished off 
• The robe doors need some minor adjusting to ensure they are level
• Downpipe to garage roof area is missing a spreader 

The independent inspection

We engaged an independent inspector for the final phase considering how important it is. Typically their inspection is conducted prior to your own but in our case we did ours on the same day separately and by the end of it all we all regrouped to discuss our findings. Pleased to say that there were no major items to report. I would certainly recommend using an inspector particularly for this last phase whether or not I would recommend SPI (the company we used) I'm not sure if I would use them again only because I felt as if they weren't thorough enough? I keep hearing great things about Darbecca so would consider using them next time. (Not that there would be a next time anytime soon) In saying that though their 36 page inspection report is clear and easy to understand with photos for visual evidence and has icon definition which clearly highlights what needs attention.

I sincerely apologise for the lack of photos. I was on a crazy high just seeing the place that I just forgot. I can tell you though that the place looks sooo amazing even without the flooring. I promise to flood you with photos in my next update once we get the keys.

Until then......