Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been very busy!

Crest have made good all of the snags I was concerned about, including the window lock and the faults on the cistern lids. I am very happy with how things have turned out. They have also said that after 6 months they will come out again and fix any new snags we have found.

Primary fixes that were listed in previous post;

1. A small crack on the patio door – this was just glue that eventually rubbed off
2. A fault in the porcelain on 2 of the toilet ‘lids’ – fixed
3. Only 2 coats of paint in some upstairs rooms – 3 coats were applied, but because a roller was used to paint the walls, a paint brush had to be usd above the skirting board, giving the impression of a ‘band’ being visible. Happy with explanation.
4. Some large splodges of white paint on some of the wall, mostly upstairs – fixed
5. An exposed and unsealed piece of wood-end near the bath that would expand if water entered it – not wood, but plastic. Now sealed.
6. Poor finishing on the top of all doors – Not sanded or painted. Actually were painted, but not sanded. Left as they were.
7. Mixture of gloss and emulsion paint inside the built-in wardrobes -Decided against getting this done.
8. Window lock on one of the windows doesn’t work – fixed
9. We are missing a part for the oven – the ‘Cooker Handle’ that helps when taking the tray out of the oven – not missing, just no longer given out by Bosch, manual not updated.

I would like to thank New build inspections for all their help in getting me a satisfactory conclusion.

The carpets are now in, the desk has been assembled and the furniture has all arrived (apart from the sofa).

The only issues that remain are the following;

a) No phoneline. BT cannot put a new phone line in because all of the lines in the cabinet are taken (bad planning methinks!). They need to put new ducting in and new lines to the site, so this will affect every new build on the development. My estimated completion date is 11th December, so with a bit of luck I should have phone and broadband by Christmas!

b) TV reception is poor. We are only allowed to have an aerial in the loft unless the signal is very bad, in which case you can apply for permission to put one outside. I have mine in the loft, and I am restricted to the BBC channels and E4+1 if I am lucky (it’s intermittant). I have applied to Crest to have an aerial fitted externally, and I await their response.

c) Sofa. We are still waiting for delivery of our new sofa, but I have been told by MFI it should be delivered sometime next week.

Well yesterday we got the keys! I got the call at 11:10am from my solicitor to tell me everything had gone through, and I could go and pick up the keys from the site office. When I got there, I was taken to read the Gas, Electric and Water meters and then left to wait for my inspector to arrive.

She arrived at around 12:50pm, and go to work almost immediately. The Assistant site manager from crest had asked if he could watch her at work (!) but she asked if he could come back at the end for a summary. The whole inspection took around 2 hours, and I was impressed with the findings. She was extremely thorough, and picked up things I would never have noticed. Even things that are obvious when you know about them, I would never have thought to look for. I would definitely get another inspection done if I ever buy another new build.

Although largely there were no major errors, there were quite a few minor snags that I would really want fixed. These were (pictures to follow on Monday);
1. A small crack on the patio door
2. A fault in the porcelain on 2 of the toilet ‘lids’
3. Only 2 coats of paint in some upstairs rooms
4. Some large splodges of white paint on some of the wall, mostly upstairs
5. An exposed and unsealed piece of wood-end near the bath that would expand if water entered it
6. Poor finishing on the top of all doors – Not sanded or painted
7. Mixture of gloss and emulsion paint inside the built-in wardrobes.

And I also noticed later on -

8. Window lock on one of the windows doesn’t work
9. We are missing a part for the oven – the ‘Cooker Handle’ that helps when taking the tray out of the oven.

But apart from those things, I am pretty happy with the job that has been done. I will post some more detail on the report when I get it. Crest has agreed to correct all of the snags shown above (apart from 8 & 9 which they don’t know about yet) which will be nice.

Well it seems Crest have now changed their minds. They phoned to confirm our completion date yesterday for 5th October 2006. But when I mentioned snagging they said it was against policy and I should not have been told it was ok. After talking with 2 different people on the matter they have completely ruled out us having a snagging inspection carried out before we move in.

However they say if we do one immediately afterwards, they will accept the findings and will carry out any required repairs. So I have admitted defeat and booked my inspection for October 6th with New Build Inspections. They say it should take around 2 hours to do.

I suppose I could try and force Crest to let me carry out a snagging inspection, but Crest have been pretty good to us so far and i don’t really want to upset that relationship. Also, getting a solicitor to do this for me could be costly. Although on the other hand, this is a 165,000 house and I want everything to be perfect. I’ll have to have a think about it.

I was reading through the Crest homebuyers folder over the weekend and I found out that they accompany you on a ’300 point inspection of your home’ before completion. I presume this is some form of snagging, but they don’t actually use the word.

I am so glad I found out about snagging though, it is a very important process and judging by the horror stories on the Internet, worth every penny spent on it. I think I’ll do an independent snag outside of the Crest one…

I just hope Crest aren’t too bad, I am desperate to move in ASAP and don’t want it to drag out….

Forgot to mention – The Completion date is Mid September 2006 (but could be sooner – the house is up, just needs the kitchen and bathrooms to be fitted.)