Painting & Ultimatum (with pic)

Since the completion of the tiling last week the painting has mostly been completed this week.  We checked it out early in the week and thought we had made some major mistakes on the render colour and the downpipes/water tank/water heater... We were seeking a variation from Fowler to change the colours, but went back today after more painting had been done and it looks better and we have decided to stick with it.  Probably not exactly what we were after, we hoped the render was a bit more cream, but it is close enough, particularly looking at the mock up I did all of those months ago which is shown in the header of this blog.  I think that the colour scheme will develop more once the front porch gets decked, we add a charcoal retaining wall to the front yard and the grass and front fence go in.  I can see why the rich clients on Grand Designs change things mid-build so much - if only we had the budget to be so fussy!

Render painted in Taubmans Vintage Lace

After following Kikichan's dramas with Fowler on productreview.com.au (link Kikichan's productreview drama while it lasts), and emails with her I note that they have sped up on her project after she had a go at them.  I have been playing nice guy so far, but decided that I might need to go a bit heavy to ensure progress is made.  I rang my SS on Friday and then followed up with the following email:

Dear SS,

As discussed just now on the phone our build has exceeded 7 months to
date. We have not contributed to any delays, on the contrary we have
on a few occasions reduced the impact of schedule blow outs through
being flexible and identifying problems early.

We have now paid all but the final payment and as such are incurring
near full mortgage plus rent costs. You are also aware of the
impending arrival of another child for our family. As you would
appreciate, we are extremely keen to have our house finished.

We agreed that the build could be completed within four weeks, which
from today is the 9th November. I vigourously request that you ensure
that this milestone is achieved on time. I will call you weekly to
monitor progress during this period. If I do not feel that progress is
occuring at a satisfactory rate I will need to escalate my concerns,
however I have faith that you will deliver, and that this will not be
necessary.

Please feel free to call me at any time if I can be of assistance in
meeting this deadline.

Hopefully assertive without being too heavy handed. A shame that things have to start getting heavy for commitments to be made.  It will be interesting to see if he can deliver.

I just cannot understand how these builders do not focus on speedy builds to improve their cash flow and customer satisfaction.  Check out this blog from a Wisdom Homes customer if you want to see how quick it can be.