PDI Results
Hey there fellow Centro homeowners!
I had my PDI today and it went very well! I am in the South Tower in a SW facing unit, OAK format - 1 bed + den.
The builder's rep was an elderly gentleman named Dick Mann and he was fantastic. Didn't rush us, found things we didn't see at first, never tried to make us not put something on the PDI list (even if it was minor) and he was very knowledgeable about the building, our features and how everything should be.
We found a few minor things, i.e. grout not filled out in corners where cupboard meets wall, tub meets wall, etc; caulking speckles on the counter and floor that can just be scrapped off with a finger nail, dusty floors.
We found a few major things as well: door handle to laundry was not there, bathroom sink plug leaking, no shower rod, kitchen sink hot water pressure not high enough, transition piece from living to bedroom was not adhered in any way and instead was just sitting above the edge of the carpet/laminate flooring, electrical breaker not marked indicating which switch is for what, bathroom counter had small chip in the laminate (not sure how they are going to fix that one without replacing the whole thing - I think there is laminate fill called SeamFil that you can colour match, might be their best option if they do it properly).
I know that sounds like a lot but compared to my work colleagues and my buddies who have done new condos and homes before, this went very well.
A few things I really liked: Track lighting in the kitchen with two hanging spot lights, stainless steel hood fan with glass hood, toilet seat lid that automatically goes back down if u give it a movement downwards it slowly lowers itself the rest of the way, bathroom shower head that makes it like a water fall (large flat square head), kitchen faucet is a normal faucet that also become a sprayer with a press of a button on the faucet head itself, removable for complete mobility or can stay in the hardware and swivel from one sink to the next, TONS and I mean TONS of electrical outlets in all rooms, even the kitchen had 6 above counter outlets.
One thing I did not like: the cable outlet in the living room is 12" tops from the end of the wall nearest the sliding door to the balcony, meaning even if I place the TV unit against that wall, which I cant because the couch has to go there as the facing wall is to small for the couch, I have to run the cable quite a distance. Sooooo stupid! For me, I will have to run the cable across the wall, over the framing of the sliding door/window and down to the other side and along the facing wall. Did I mention how much I did not like this!!
Positioning off all other outlets, cable, telephone, electrical seems well placed in every room, but of course, the most important one in the main room is the one they made the only mistake on. I think I'm going to look into repositioning that with the Cable rep (Rogers) or my contractor buddy.
Storage locker - are located on the 3rd floor, in a room with a door no bigger then a normal condo unit door which is ridiculous as most people are going to want to fit bigger items into the locker. The lockers only go about 4ft5 in height! VERY STUPID. Yes, that means to get into the back of them you will have to crawl/crouch. They are approximately about 6ft deep, and 3 feet wide from my visual reference (I only had a few minutes to see in the room). NOT at all worth $2,500 in my opinion. BUT, what else can we do? I have hockey gear, two bikes, two sets of ski gear, tennis rackets, baseball gear and youth equipment bag for the team I coach, etc. One part of me just wants to rent a near by storage place but then I would have to drive there every time I need these items which I use frequently. Just boggles my mind why they made them that small in height, its not like they stacked them, there is about 9 feet of room above them before the ceiling with nothing blocking them.
Also, they are still beating around the bush on these things, no confirmation on when they need the money for it, how much it is for sure, which one we get or do we get to chose, etc. etc. Apparently that gets assigned at the same time they assign parking spots, which happens once the papers are worked out between the lawyers and the builder receives your interim occupancy cheques, etc. Which = 1 or 2 days before you get your keys, etc.
On top of all that, I have no way of knowing before I pay them the money, whether all of my stuff will fit or not. That is the biggest kicker in my opinion. Looks like it might, but it will be a damn tight squeeze and cant know for sure.
Common amenities were not on the tour as they were being worked on heavily but we were told most of the amenities/features will be up and running by the time we move in and the remaining in the next 2 months - lets all just ensure the occupancy cheques take that into affect when calculating what % we should be paying in condo fees until title registration, i.e rent to the builder, essentially.
Our electricity company is EnerCare Connections, based out of Windsor apparently - which makes no sense to me but what ever. At least all units are individually metered. You have to call them yourself (you are given forms), to discuss setting up your monthly payments and it also lists the monthly admin fee (what a joke, seems all service companies have that crap now), as well as your charge per kwh.
We can use either Rogers or Bell for cable, phone and internet, we just have to call them to set it up individually.
Pictures attached as well.
Hope I answered most of your questions, please feel free to ask if you have any more and good luck to all of you on your PDIs.
See you soon neighbors!