sorry for my poor english - what does it mean by Lemon house?
why I need to have the inspector? shouldn't the new home have pre-inspection before we closed?
I never had my own house before (even back in HK) all my life is paying rent... so need to know more..
where is the appliance canada? any showroom around? but no rush, as we did not wish to buy/pay now while delivery date is not certain...
will netvigate the website you gave to me, and if I have question, will certainly trouble you again.
does anyone know where can i get a cheap sleeping bag (as i only use it one time)?? is there any different size (kid size)?? i need one for my daughter going to camp. thanks.
Just like any builder around the world, each job is sub-contract. From foundation, bricks to electrical, paint and tiles. Quite often workers don't know other workers had completed their job before they started theirs. And it can cause nightmares to the buyer. It's true that there is a pre-move-in inspection. Usually the builder will give you 30 - 45 minutes to inspect. Others (if you're lucky) may extend the inspection time. I remembered my first inspection. I tried to flush the toilet in the master bedroom (checking the plumbing), next thing I noticed, my living room were filled with water. That's because the plumber didn't finish his work but the drywall guy already put up the drywall.
If you hire an inspector, he will finish all the inspection for you on time plus he will tell you what items to be reported to the builder for repair. Meanwhile, you will be busy working on window measurement for your curtains.
Do visit your new home frequently. I know it's still under construction. But this is the time you point out to the builder what's missing or goes wrong so that they can fix the problem before it's too late. Also, talk to the workers, sometimes you can pay them to do extra work. I did it before by paying them extra to install the pressure control on the shower head. (A pressure control is a device that control the water temp. so that if you flush the toilet while your hubby taking the shower, you won't burn him to death). Check with your builder does it include in the feature list.
Since this is your first home, may I suggest you take a picture (same position) of your land each day. It's a great memory for your first home in your lifetime. Looking back those pictures is like looking the child grown.
thanks oscar
it is not as expensive as i thought - i have no idea of how much does it cost now - just remember it costed more than $800 in hk which my friend bought many years ago. so if it is more than CAD150 for one now, it is not worthwhile to buy one for one time use only :-P :-P
my elder daughter just enrolled to be a girl guide yesterday, not a brownie anymore la. she will be going to a campsite at lake simcoe in mid june. a little bit regret to have promised to let her go (shadow of holly's case/ afraid of accident/mosquito etc.), so many things to worry about - typical mother, she has never slept over from home without me. anyway, everything must have the first time - but no more next time for the coming years.
i remember seeing one in the Walmart for around CA$60-70, but not sure how good the qaulity is - as they mentioned about something like lbs (down/feature being used for the sleeping bag - I guessed) and temperature (good fit for down to -10C something like that).
thanks for the advise. will take photo with our site starting this coming weekend as we were told that the water tank being laid and foundation will be poured in this weekend.
mind my asking is Appliance canada retailer chain stores? people keep telling me to buy appliance thur Sears, so all the way, we just keep an eye on the promotion items from Sears....
besides, any advise on the security alarm? is it worthwhile to
a. install a keypad in the second floor - master bed room?
b. a motion detector in the basement?
c. sensor all around the window in the second floor?
should we use the builder's security alarm company (as they will do the pre-wire before putting up the drywall) or go shopping outside?
I am not sure about Sears. I thought they carry their own brand (KenMore). I like MayTag and KitchenAids. Those are my favourite brands. Appliance Canada used to deal with builders only and now they opened to public (I think they realize the profit are alot higher). You can also try Famous Appliance located in Bayview/Hwy 7 (on Bayview). Neighbors who bought from them have great feedback too. Another place you can compare the price is The Bay.
As regarding the alarm system, it really depends the floorplan. Which model did you choose? Arlington or Conrad? (Found in www.aspenridgehomes.com)
There are so many kind of alarm company out there. Some can be as low as $9.95/month monitoring. Each contract is different. Some include free equipment but require to monitor for 3 years lock term. Others will only charge the monitor fee but you pay your own equipment. The most important is read the terms. What if you break the contract? How much penalty you have to pay? If I change to other alarm company after the contract, how much does the company charge for uninstallation fee (esp. free equipment). If I sold the house and still under contract, do I get sue because the new owner don't use your alarm service (how much penalty or closing service fee)? How many times of free false alarm do I get per year (and the cost after that)? Are there any hidden cost that not include in the monthly bill? How much more if I put an extra keypad or motion senor and what if I used my own equipment, will my warranty void? ... Those are just a few sample questions you have to ask.
I bought the Arlington, as only 2 of us + my in-law (if she decide to move come).
yeah, I like the maytag and the kitchenaid, and Sears do carry these 2 brands and during the mother's day, they offer $200 off for some of the model... but we did not wish to hold the item as we're not sure about the closing.
the builder's refer security company do require us to lock for 3 years. we only need to pay the monthly monitoring fee and we get free installation and equipment. Paid if we need to add extra keypad, motion detector...etc.
only for a few days and there are quite a few posts....
doggie:
one of the reason that people recommend sears is because they have excellent customer service. however, their price seems to a bit on the high side. so i guess that's the trade off. i've dealt with them b4 too and i too think their customer service is great. if this is something you think it's important to you, you can keep that in mind.
and congrats about your new home. i haven't bought a new house b4 so not much advice there. however, i know one of my friend who built a new house, he told me that, jsut as oscar said, visit the construction often so that you can keep an eye on what's happening and can make correction etc asap when needed. because of the location, my friend pretty much visit the site as often as 3 times a day. and it's true that a good builder is one thing and yet a lot of the job is contracted out anyways. so the most important thing is have very responsible site supervisor. make sure you keep in touch with him/her.
the advantage of having the builder's alarm system is they will do all the wiring now, which will save you a lot of time in the future. one thing to keep in mind is this. in calgary during the past winter, there were quite a few break ins. majority of these houses have alarm system. however, because those are pro-theives, they make sure all the wires are cut be4 they broke in. so now everyone here is getting the wireless version. so may be that's a thought too.
we shopped around the chinese mall, and the sales said if you do a lot of deep fry /stir fry, buy the pacific (diamon model) otherwise, they are about the same same...
but most of my friend use the sakura
I used the sprint, but does not like it. the line is really bad. as when I called HK, most of the time, they do have echo or they would not hear us...
people saying because we are using "647" as the residential. which is worse than the normal "416" is that true??
oscar 寫道:
Let's start another poll.
Which long distance company did you join?
I had been One-Communication, AIC, CTI, Sprint, Primus and now back to Bell. So far, my worst experience is Primus. I only like it because it collect air miles.
o, another thing about alarm. do you really need it. do you live in a neighbourhood with high occurance of break-ins?
it certainly a good thing to have, but do you really need it.
there are issues with false alarm, monitoring... so on so forth.
i know a lot of people just have to alarm but not the monitoring part as they think it's not necessary.
poohpoohma:
and the sf of homes in calgary doesn't include garage either..... i don't know why your sister would think that way
i use aic.
nowadays, because it's so cheap now, 7 cents? or less and we don't call that often, so we prob won't be changing phone company for a while.
my hubby hate sprint, he had some bad experience with them. b4 we got married he's with sprint. one day they call him up and said that his account was behind with over $200 unpaid.... to add to it, they had him as mrs!! of course he's not gonna pay those. he end up switching to another company in order to get rid of them
I am now using Pacific with autoclean feature. Not too bad. My parents had the sakura and they love it. I think any vent. that has high cfm will do the work (just as doggie said, deep/stir/steam ...)
doggie:
Here is my suggestion after reviewing the floorplan.
One motion senor above right door main entrance (that will sense the corridor along the stair case and door access to the garage.)
All windows include basement windows (second floor too) wired with sensor.
Door sensor in Main entrance, Door to garage, Patio door
Extra keypad outside your powder room
Panic button in the master bedroom
Is it too late to alter the floor plan? If not, have you consider to change the door access in your master bedroom ensuite bathroom. Not too many chinese like their bed facing the bathroom.
we add extra key pad outside the power room.
an panic botton in the master room and sensor in the second floor altogher costs us $400+, so we just give away from it.
yes, we were told about the master bed room door, but if we need to change the floor plan, we need to pay the architect fee for adjusting the floor plan and extra costs for any additional material. they never quote us the price but we just try to minimize our costs in our home (as it is already $350K)... so we just live with in. but thanks for the concern
I remember back in old days where in summer time we open our main door entry at night (central a/c was not popular in resident home). Well, not anymore!! Vancouver and Toronto are the among highest break-in in Canada.
I would highly recommend doggie to get one. You can't distinguish whether the stranger works for the builder or not.
Hey, how's the Alberta beef? Have you stop buying the beef because of mad cow disease?
I once heard a joke about mad cow disease.
A british female reporter decided to conduct an interview with one of local farmer.
"Sir, could you tell us where the mad cow disease came from?"
"Before I start, let me explain to you one thing. As you aware, we plumb the cow's milk 4 times a day, 365 days a year and only once a year where the cow and the bull stay together...."
"Sir, what does this have to do with mad cow disease"
"Well, lady, if your breast get squeeze 4 times a day, 365 days a year and your husband only make love with you once a year, won't you get mad too?"
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