New Development Royal Canal Park D15

Bruncvik

He said that they were keeping a set of keys for houses to do minor repairs "until the dust settles". We weren't aware of that, either, but getting a more secure lock right from the start seemed like a good idea.

dovetail

My first snag report had almost 90 items listed (for a Heron type house). For the re-inspection the inspector had noted around 50 items remaining to be actioned (3 weeks after the first report). The builders have advised 5 more days to action these items. My solicitor has advised against closing for now....just wondering how are other owners finding the snagging process?......how have other people experiences been so far with the snag by the builders after closing?

Arbie

dovetail wrote: »

My first snag report had almost 90 items listed (for a Heron type house). For the re-inspection the inspector had noted around 50 items remaining to be actioned (3 weeks after the first report). The builders have advised 5 more days to action these items. My solicitor has advised against closing for now....just wondering how are other owners finding the snagging process?......how have other people experiences been so far with the snag by the builders after closing?

They were quicker at the beginning when there were fewer houses built. They are very busy now dealing with both new houses and also dealing with issues on earlier houses. I would say make sure everything is sorted before you close as you may find it more difficult to get things addressed afterwards.

PhoenixParker

At 7pm tomorrow in the community centre (behind Romayos) the heating suppliers are going to talk about how it works/give some hints and tips.

Those of you due to move in might be interested too.

cronos

PhoenixParker wrote: »

At 7pm tomorrow in the community centre (behind Romayos) the heating suppliers are going to talk about how it works/give some hints and tips.

Those of you due to move in might be interested too.

If you could post a summary that would be handy,

Arbie

cronos wrote: »

If you could post a summary that would be handy,

+1 please, that would be great for those of us who couldn't attend

fluxxxxxy

I lived in this area for years, right beside the canal there with a small 3 year old. It was great, we loved it. There is plenty of space really, I wouldn't consider it a dense area, aside from those developments everything else is greenery, canals and walkways, and behind you is all fields leading into Finglas. Ashtown in general is a quiet trouble free area, you are right beside the train into town etc/ For kids you have a great playground a minute or two walk from that new development, I would bo back no problem.

cronos

Couple of questions:

1. Has anyone been contacted with regard to the unconditionally of contracts once the house reached roof level? Thought it was unconditional once we signed to be honest. Just curious if it's anything important I'm missing. Solicitor is a bit difficult to understand to be honest.

2. Has anyone started the process of dealing with the builders on the help to buy scheme for this estate? I have one due January that should comply but as I'm going to be one of the first it would be good to hear some feedback from others who may be in the same position.

PhoenixParker

cronos wrote: »

If you could post a summary that would be handy,

Didn't make it myself in the end. The highlights from my husband are basically leave it on all the time, adjust temp using thermostats not by cycling the heating.

Radiators will be warm but not hot hot, that's normal.

Maybe someone who was there can say more.

tomfoolery60

Anyone know what the plans are for 2017 phases? Anything releasing in the new year/spring?

Bruncvik

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Maybe someone who was there can say more.

From what I remember from the meeting:

The heat pump system can be somewhat peculiar for people used to oil/gas heating or storage heaters. The engineer compared it to a refrigerator: it pulls air in, pulls the heat from it, and releases much colder air out. The pump is capable of doing it with air of up to -20C cold. However, the system is not suited for rapid heating: it can heat water by 5 degrees per hour. Due to its design and the energy rating of the houses, though, it never needs to heat by more than that. As a result, there are a few operating procedures that are quite different from older houses:

• Keep the house at a steady temperature - don't turn the heat when leaving, and only marginally lower the temperature when departing for longer. That's cheaper than constant on/off mode.
• Don't mess with the controller in the water heater room. It's set by the installer for maximum efficiency and comfort (Program mode; don't switch to Comfort or Eco mode)
• Don't mess with the controller in the utility room. It serves mainly to turn off or on heating at certain times, which is detrimental to your electricity bill (see first point)
• Use only the thermostats in the house, and fine-tune the temperature in different rooms by adjusting the radiators.
• Don't look for immersion. The water is kept at a constant 50 degrees (once per week, the pump is programmed to heat the water to 80, to kill bacteria). So hot water all day long.
• Once per year, call the maintenance company for annual maintenance. Cost is 120 Euros, but the unit has a 3-year warranty (not sure the maintenance fee is waived for that, though).

The engineer also talked about the most common issues with the unit. According to him and Jason, the building supervisor, most of these issues occur within the first three months of operation; then the unit settles down.

• Air back-up: When air is not drained well from the radiators, it may back up into the pump, the pressure drops to the point where the pump may shut down. When you first move in and turn on the heat, you may hear the air crackling in the radiators; that's normal. If that persists for more than a couple of days, though, you may have that problem. (In our case, the noise stopped within one weekend.)
• Clogging of the filter: This is very common. It's caused by foreign objects (building materials, dust, dirt) introduced into the circulation. It decreases the efficiency of the pump. Cleaning the filter is part of the annual service.

One of the residents complained on the meeting that he called the servicing company, was promised help, but never received it. After two days, the pump started working on its own. Jason suggested that people with heating problems call the builder first, and they can arrange servicing. The engineer also promised that he'd investigate, and this won't be happening again.

That's pretty much all I remembered. Was pretty tired from work, so didn't pay as much attention as I should have. Anyone else, please feel free to correct me or expand on this.

Nhol78

Thanks for the overview Bruncvik.

For those who have purchased the houses on Bridge avenue that are just being built now. I inquired with the builders for an estimated completion date. I was told it would be the 6th of March. Do the folks who already have a house think this is achievable? Our 3rd floor is only being built. We have the Christmas holidays during this time. I honestly don't see how they will get it done this quick.

PhoenixParker

They're quick.

I just looked back at my photos. Our house was at that point mid march, call for snagging was the first week of June. They've speeded up a little since.

Bad weather might slow them down but with the roof on it would need to be very bad to have a huge impact.

Snagging then, closing a month later, then allow a week or three for flooring.

cronos

Nhol78 wrote: »

Thanks for the overview Bruncvik.

For those who have purchased the houses on Bridge avenue that are just being built now. I inquired with the builders for an estimated completion date. I was told it would be the 6th of March. Do the folks who already have a house think this is achievable? Our 3rd floor is only being built. We have the Christmas holidays during this time. I honestly don't see how they will get it done this quick.

The Heron's on Bridge Avenue is it? What numbers? Just curious which side of the road they are talking about. A couple of months back I was told 20th of January and hadn't received any update since then.

Nhol78

cronos wrote: »

The Heron's on Bridge Avenue is it? What numbers? Just curious which side of the road they are talking about. A couple of months back I was told 20th of January and hadn't received any update since then.

If you are facing the canal I am talking about the left side which are mostly the even numbers. Odd numbers look very much on track for January

guns_healy

I take it they will be coming back to level and smooth out the roads in and around the estate that people have moved in to?

The shores and paths etc aren't very safe at present.

I presume they're waiting to finish the entire area in and around phase one and two before they come back to re do all the roads and paths?

PhoenixParker

Jason assured me that was the case when we moved in.
Certainly don't want that lip on my driveway permanently.

Arbie

guns_healy wrote: »

I take it they will be coming back to level and smooth out the roads in and around the estate that people have moved in to?

The shores and paths etc aren't very safe at present.

I presume they're waiting to finish the entire area in and around phase one and two before they come back to re do all the roads and paths?

Yes, they have to wait until certain rows are finished as the heavy machinery would damage newly laid tarmac. It's to be done in the new year.

Manion

I've found this thread very useful so decided to contribute back to it.

House Type: Herron

Snagging:
Floors.
The floor finish was very bad with a series of waves, dips, and humps in the floor. The kitchen people installed the kitchen without making reference to it. However we were lucky that the flooring company we used carried out a full survey of the ground level floors. Some parts of the floor has a height difference of as much as 2cms.

This is expensive and messy to get fixed. From what I've heard this is not something unique to our property either. I don't understand how people on our road are moved in a head of us given the effort involved in getting this sorted.

Kitchen.

Multiple broken drawer runners, missing shelves, wrong tap. We paid extra to get a different finish on the kitchen and although we like it I'd not do it again. The kitchen crowd have been very stressful to deal with and require constant emails and phone calls.

Locks.

I'd seriously recommend replacing the front door and backdoor locks. Not because the builder has a key still but because the locks themselves are vulnerable to several forms of attack.

Vents:
Our engineer pointed out that our property was missing several water drainage vents above doors and windows to the front of the house. I can only imagine this is a problem with all houses.

Bathrooms:
Silicon seal missing in several places. Water pressure from master bedroom on-suite is not super.

Electrics:
If you're interested in under cabinet lighting there is a spur that goes back to a wall switch in the in kitchen.

Paint:
Watch out for paint misses and some small bits of damage in hard to see places. We got the paint details off ballymore and sourced the paint ourselves rather then having the builders back in.

General Thoughts for people buying now:

Make sure you email every request in. We made several requests to the builders such as only pinning the skirting throughout, not installing fitted wardrobes in one room, etc. None where done. I'd say some other house has badly fitted skirting boards and is missing a wardrobe . In the end it came down to whether or not I had things in writing by email.

All doors will need to be cut to allow any reasonable flooring to go in. We didn't request this during the build, and would strongly recommend requesting it. We got the doors cut as the floor was going in and it was just awkward and expensive.

Doors are sprung closing. This is good to maintaining different heating zones and for fire safety but you should think carefully if you have pets or small children as doors will slam shut behind you.

At the end of the day I've found ballymore very decent to deal. Being able to be on site is very important, trying to do things remotely will just lead to miss communications. I'm very impressed with the house. There's been a few issues and delays but this is to be expected. We did our Snaging on the 11th of November and moved in on the 3rd of December, and as said we had numerous issues.

PhoenixParker

Thanks Manion.
Welcome to the neighbourhood!

Don't know about the rest of you but so far I'm loving it here.
Build wise it's the best house I've ever lived in - toasty warm with continuous hot water, and the convenience of the area is great too.

In other news, I was talking to the two guys with a rig beside the canal/coffee kiosk last week and they were doing a tiny bit of prelim work for the train station. There might be a glimmer of hope there.

Bruncvik

Thank you very much for the summary, Manion. I share your pain in two points: kitchen drawers (extremely poor job - falling off the rails, and quite skewed), and silicone seal. Both of our showers have been leaking in the bottom right corner until I put some silicone there, but it appears I need to be adding more, as they started leaking again. Don't know where the leak is coming from.

As for the locks, that's the first thing we did after we got all contractors out. Unfortunately, we gave a key to the builders for the extractor fan leak fix, and I've been requesting my key back since then (week and a half), with no result.

Other than these annoyances, though, I love our new house. It's warm and cozy. Beats paying 50% more in rent for a cold apartment with storage heaters

Nhol78

Can some one PM me the name and number of the person that they used to snag please, Especially if you found them to be reliable.
Thanks in advance.

_Jamie_

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Planning permission wise, Aldi have applied for signage permission for the big Commercial unit so looks like they're the most likely candidate.

Wow, really? This is six months ago, anyone know anything more about this?

PhoenixParker

Nothing yet. The commercial unit is clearly shown on the site plan and the planning permission designates it as a supermarket. It's similar to the SuperValu in Ashtown.

They're just pouring the foundations on the first block of apartments (block A) at the moment so it'll be a while before they start on the commercial unit. As yet there's no public confirmation I've seen from anyone that it will bye an Aldi. Presumably they wouldn't have spent the money to apply for planning permission if they weren't seriously interested in the tenancy though.

Id expect it to be about this time next year before it's clear.

_Jamie_

Cool, thanks. Twill take a while so.

I live near the new bistro (can see it from my balcony) and honestly, I'm not sure if it's going to survive. I've eaten there a few times, and the food is really good, I have to say, but it is never very busy. At the weekend, it does OK but on weekdays it seems really dead most of the time. I think they envisaged people going in there to grab a takeaway coffee on the way to work but people will usually get that the other end of their bus journey when they are nearly at work. So that doesn't seem to be happening for them.

Like I said, the food I've had there is really good but I honestly think they should consider bringing in a takeaway service too like Romayos because I think Royal Canal Park itself won't generate enough business. People leave the complex during the day to go to work and in the evenings people like to head into town or somewhere else more lively to eat out. Me and my fella were looking forward to it opening but even we won't be in there all the time, as we don't eat out that much really.

They are lovely people running the bistro and I really want it to work out for them but I fear for the place.

minkey

Hi

Just two questions for those of you moved in or moving in
1. The Gym. Whats the story with it. I see there is still a big sign beside Romayos saying Gym opening soon, but I think ts been like that for a few years. Anyone heard anything about it?

2. The rear lawn. In the Brochure its supposed to be seeded. Is that the case or how was it handed over? I dont think now is the best time of year to seed a lawn

Thanks

PhoenixParker

There's already a gym. Its along the canal, at the end towards rathborne. It's closed for renovation at the moment. Should be reopen next week. Talk to tammy in the management suite. Not sure what's happening with the second gym.

Our lawn was seeded. Maybe get a commitment in writing that they will resend in April or thereabouts before closing?

Manion

Hi

Is anyone else having problems getting a telephone line installed for broadband adsl. The Engineer from KN called out today and indicated that he was expecting a line from the house to the sub exchange to be already there, but nothing is there. He suggested this was atypical and that other houses in the development he worked on were already wired up by Ballymore.

Gumbo

Manion wrote: »

All doors will need to be cut to allow any reasonable flooring to go in. We didn't request this during the build, and would strongly recommend requesting it. We got the doors cut as the floor was going in and it was just awkward and expensive.

Doors are sprung closing. This is good to maintaining different heating zones and for fire safety but you should think carefully if you have pets or small children as doors will slam shut behind you.

Most likely, the developer will not alter these for you as the would be in breach of the Building Regulations, Part B and Part D, probably Part C too with regards to the CPR Regulations and fit for purpose.

Fire doors should be ordered to fit and not cut on site at all. To do so may render the door useless in the case of a fire and.

If the Building Control Officer spots this, he may tell the builder to replace them and he wont take that risk.

noriordan78

Yes re phone line

I'm on Royal Canal Avenue, I had them out a few weeks ago and was told the same and latest estimate given to be by eir was December 28. That's just for the preliminary work t be done, you'd then have to make another appointment for the line to be installed.