It’s been some time since I last provided a build update.

Build is progressing nicely, despite record rainfall levels for Northland this year. Since the last update, where the framing had gone up, we now have building wrap, windows and cladding.

For the windows we have gone with low E (Emissivity) double glazed and thermally broken with argon gas. Upvc framing. These are not cheap! But a well insulated house has been the driving force behind the new build for us and it is a non negotiable. We have just had to be strategic with window placement, so we don’t have too many or too big ones to help keep costs down.

We want to be comfortable in our home, and having well insulated windows will help keep us cooler in the heat and warmer in the cold than we would otherwise. The eaves also overhang the building by quite some margin adding another layer of shelter from the sun.

For the cladding we have gone with a combination of white brick and Abodo wood. Abodo wood comes from renewable forests only, so is sustainable and we liked that. Their timbers are supposed to be very long lasting too and we liked the look of their crafted wood. The builders had never worked with Abodo wood before and found the customer service of the company very poor, so we did experience some delays, but once received, they really enjoyed installing it. Nice and easy and looked good.

That is the thing with our build. We are doing a few things that the builders may not have done before, or not much of, which makes it difficult for everyone. We aren’t building to the minimum home standard. We are doing things a bit different.

• We are getting a balanced heat recovery ventilation system that ventilates the house with pre warmed or pre cooled fresh air. Put very very simply, in the summer it will cool the hot air that comes in and warm the cool air that comes in.

• I’ve already mentioned the windows.

• We are going above code for wall, ceiling and underfloor insulation

• We are installing a Starlink dish on our roof for internet access via satellite.

• We are installing a home security system with cameras, motion and flood sensors.

• We are installing doors with pin pad/key pad access. No keys. We can remotely open the doors too. There will also be a video intercom for the doorbell.

• We are placing around 25 ethernet ports throughout the house so we can get reliable internet connection for my business and the family personal use. This is so we can wire as much of the fixed location technology as we can. Tv’s, computers, speakers, and so on.
  
  

Of course builds have had these things installed before, but it is not common. Not with our builders anyway. When things aren’t standard, there is a lot of discovery and that can mean mistakes are made.

We have already made one $1,000 error where we had a separate locking mechanism made for our pedestrian door to the garage, so that it can be compatible with the home automation system door lock. But it turns out there are many stock standard locks that are already compatible with this home automation system, so there was no need for us to buy the special locking mechanism. This came down to the head builder and the electrician not knowing the home automation system and not enough questions asked before proceeding with the work. Things like that hurt!

Hopefully the rest of the home automation install goes well, along with all the above items. Because these aren’t common, we are a bit nervous, but hopefully the building team figures it out with no costly mistakes to us.

In case that isn’t enough to worry about, our project manager has made the decision to relocate around July. So the person we have been dealing with for the past year is going to be far more hands off and not even doing site visits. He is relying on his 2IC to complete the build for us.

He assures us there is nothing to worry about.

Let’s hope not.

My wife has also been fantastic. She is basically the sole liaison between the builders and us. She has made quick fire decisions based on our needs and kept the build moving along. We are now right in the thick of the decisions, with all things electrical. Power outlet locations. High or low power points. Dual or single power points. Landscape or portrait power points. Ethernet port locations. Light switch locations. Which light switch will control what lights. Type of lights. Colours. Also finalising kitchen design. It’s so difficult to know these things when you haven’t lived somewhere yet. We have a vision though of how we expect to live in the house and my wife has bought that vision to life with great precision.

There’s going to be decisions we regret for sure. We won’t really know until we have lived in the house. But I expect the positive will far outweigh the negative.

To be continued……