Who else could I be speaking about – except for Hermetix. They promised installation and failed and failed again. I am starting with the area where this affected me the most – the basement.
Tenants – The tenants were supposed to be moving in today. They were told a couple of months ago that it would be very tight. A week ago we told them it would be an extra couple of days. I do not currently know how long until they move in as I am waiting for two main areas as will be explained below. The tenants’ main issue was that they had to leave their current property and therefore they needed to store everything. They are using the apartment for that without issues and they are currently staying with family. It says something about how difficult it is to get a good apartment that they are willing to “live” with the delayed real start date.
Basement Front door – We had the kablan (contractor) arrange for new facias and lock to be installed onto the existing front door. This has been done (white on the inside and I guess grey on the outside – the guess is because I saw it at night without any lights). It did look good though.
Basement Tiling – The kitchen splashback was completed and all grouting has now been done.
Basement Electricity – All lights have been installed, all sockets and switches have been completed. The only electrics that need doing is “covering” of the heater cables in the bathroom as I do not want these and the labeling of each circuit fuse switch in the electricity box for clarity. The electrician specifically came to the house on Friday (weekend here) to complete this part of the installation.
Basement Windows – The basement windows and patio door have now been completed.
Air conditioning – The 4 air conditioning units and base unit have been installed.
Cleaning – The kablan did basic cleaning of the basement. It wasn’t amazing but it was acceptable.
Protective bars – We are now onto the areas left to do. The protective bars around the basement windows/patio door needs to be returned/replaced. This hasn’t been done yet. It is cheaper to add the bars than to install an alarm.
Vanity Unit – Everybody has been nagging for the vanity unit to be installed in the bathroom for the last 2 weeks. We have been told today that it will be installed on Wednesday.
Plumbing – The hot water (pumps/hot water tank and solar heat collectors) are being installed tomorrow. The final plumbing connections in the kitchen haven’t been completed either. I may offer to do them myself tomorrow to speed things up!
Gas Points (inside and out) – These are being installed on Thursday by Amisragas. They are supposed to be giving ballonim (gas canisters) as well – just not sure if that is at the same time or on the following Sunday (normal delivery day).
Interior doors – These were supposed to be installed on Sunday but Hermetix did it again….they failed to deliver what they had promised. The kablan was waiting for the doors so that he could do the last finishing touches, but the Hermetix installer was sick yesterday and today so the doors haven’t gone in. I am not sure that the installer is sick – I have a feeling that the doors just aren’t ready. I have been told that the company feels very bad and that this is the first time that anyone has heard them apologise for anything (although they didn’t bother calling us to apologise – nor offer any compensation however small). We still do not know when we are getting the doors as the company wishes to use the “best” installer that they have. It doesn’t make us feel any better. We feel really guilty that the tenants are being messed around so much.
That’s enough for the basement, on to the rest of the house, starting outside and moving in and up.
Garden – The water feature, stepping stones and watering system have been installed. Most of the fence netting has been installed except for where the neighbour was complaining. We are going to wait until we have cameras looking at that part of the garden in case what we do doesn’t gain her approval.
Front door – Hermetix did actually manage to get one thing installed on time – the front door. It is due to the front door and windows being installed that so much has been done in the last week.
Windows – All windows and doors have been installed now. Andersen are hoping to complete the “finishing” tomorrow with the single exception of the painting of the wooden doors. They have a specific worker who specialises in this part of the project. Andersen are planning on walking through the whole project with me tomorrow afternoon. The painting will be organised in the next couple of days.
Concrete – The concrete was installed both in the garage and for the play area. The garage looks great, but the play area has white streaks on it – I am not sure if this is related to dirt or some other issue.
Electrics – The electrician continued with finishing off our electrics. He has not yet done the lights.
Alarm – The alarm is being partially installed tomorrow.
Smoke Alarms – after a confused discussion with the electrician we found out that we had approved for our smoke alarms to be wired into the alarm system (rather than separate battery operated units). This will also be done as part of the alarm installation.
Network – We have a quote for the installation of the hard and wifi network. We also need to arrange for an internet provider to give us connection at the house.
Gas Points – This is the same as the basement. Our points will be installed on Thursday, the only difference is that we do not yet have an oven as they need a point to install it. Therefore we will not be given our ballonim and will have to call the gas company back the following week (more money!)
Hot water – as in the basement, our hot water is being installed tomorrow. Our underfloor heating air pump will be installed at the same time.
Counter Tops – Our kitchen counter tops and sinks were installed.
Under sink waste disposal – We ordered an “insinkerator” from a US exporter that specialises in 240V appliances. It arrived last week and was collected yesterday after VAT was charged on the item plus shipping costs.
Fish tank – moving sideways (or forwards depending on perspective) we get to the fish tank. The wooden base has been installed and the glass tank is being made at the moment. When installed the carpenter can then create the unit around it.
Glass – The glass railing, mirrors and shower/bath doors were installed. The railing still needs a wooden top that the carpenter is not yet aware of!
Cleaning – this is booked for the 17th and 18th March. After this there will be very little “dirty” work to do. Mainly carpentry and “finishing” off.
Wardrobes – The wardrobes were booked for the 18th which is not possible due to the cleaning. The company has promised to do their best to get the wardrobes in on the 19th. It has not yet been confirmed though.
Study Paint – the kablan is including Magnetic paint for the area behind the desk in the study so that we can use it to hold company magnets and “post-it” notes.
Carpentry – we found out that the carpenter was working on the units for our garage. These are probably the lowest on our “order of importance”. We created a new list for him that included cupboards and public areas before the bits that are just for our personal storage!
Sofa bed – this has been ordered. Normally it takes 30 days plus – but as we need it for use on the 28th the company is trying to push it through quickly. I think they are trying to impress our designer as she hasn’t used them for about 6 months!
Deliveries – I wanted to arrange all deliveries for Tuesday 24th – but that would be too tight for us moving in. Instead I decided to do everything on the 19th but being in Israel this didn’t work. We now have our fridge, freezer and oven being delivered on the Wednesday (have arranged that kitchen cleaning is done first). Natanel’s bed is being installed on the 19th as is ideal (closets as well hopefully). The other beds are coming in on the twentieth. We also ordered today a new dishwasher and TV for the Wii – we do not yet know what day this will be delivered. The fun was arranging the delivery of the fridge freezer. We are getting a more European style and it comes in two units (separate fridge and freezer). The delivery company have it documented in their warehouse as two fridges rather than a fridge and freezer. The shop has promised me that the delivery company has it wrong and if there is an issue to call him. For those who need to buy large electrical items in Israel for the first time – be aware that once the item turns up you cannot even unpack it. You need to call a installation service – paid for by the manufacturer/shop – who install it for you. This confirms your warranty. If you unpack a fridge and plug it in yourself you have no warranty at all – even if it doesn’t work out of the box.
Moving – We have arranged for a removal company to move us on either the 24th or 26th March. We want the 26th but it is easier for them on either the 24th or 25th. They are only moving the large items as we will be moving the rest ourselves as we have overlapped the move and our rental by a whole month. We will not be moving our everyday kitchen until after pesach (We are moving into a brand new/clean pesachdik kitchen – and house – a really lucky side benefit of the timing).
Pesach presents – Israeli companies often give “bonus” presents for Rosh Hashana and Pesach. I was offered a set of choices and I decided to be nice to the boys (actually – it may be nicer to Joelle!) and I selected the fancy Karaoke machine which connects to the TV and will provide minutes of embarrassing fun.
That’s all for the week (except that which I forgot or am not aware of due to the protection of both designer and Kablan),
Adam & Joelle.