It is Spring...would you like a cuppa?

Most people would tend to agree that Spring is a lovely season. A season full of new beginning, promise and hope. Time to kick back and enjoy a calming cup of tea (or something stronger if you prefer). Let me get the kettle, it's boiling.

Hold on...the kettle? I didn't put on the kettle. What is that high-pitched whistling sound?

The whistling noise is the sound of our front door, on a windy Spring day, doing a great imitation of a boiling kettle. It turns out, the front entry way is not sealed properly. Preliminary (and non-expert tests and examination of the door) suggests:

1. The front door seem to be too small for the frame
2. The seal around the door was insufficient to cover the difference between the door frame and the door, creating a thin crack where upon bursts of wind in a particular direction creates whistling noises.

This latest issue broke the calm of our past Saturday and Sunday repeated, sounding like an unwelcoming siren going off unpredictably, giving anyone who would like one - a headache.

I have yet to broach this latest problem with Plantation Homes because we heard back (discouragingly) on another issue regarding the door - the metal door handle plate on the same problematic front door.

Upon exiting our house after the house handover (having just completed the handover defect paperwork), we noticed that there were scratches on the shiny metal plate attached to the door handle (as is likely to happen one of these days - keys near shiny metal). However, has we had been in the house zero days at that point, we raised it with the Site Manager putting his shoes on.

At this point, the Site Manager expressed willingness to put this on the defect paperwork (in said Site Manager's hand) and have this problem fixed ASAP. Fair enough, we didn't stop him putting his shoes on to demand that he do the paperwork in front of us - we were the trusting sort.

A response received today after I once again emailed them to remind them of this issue yielded this:

I wasn’t aware of any issues with the door handle panel. I cannot see it noted on the practical completion sheet and when I followed up with Cxxx, he couldn’t recall this being discussed either. Please feel free to make note of this for your 12 month warranty review.

I hate the "he said/she said" scenarios, knowing full well that we can't bloody prove a thing because it hadn't been written down. Foolish of me for trusting someone to show some professionalism and honesty. I am going to hazard a guess that we will have to live with this one, because come 12 months warranty review, we will most probably (85% anyone?) that this will be cosmetic, superficial and not worth fixing.

So my guests when visiting this Spring will be treated to a whistling door that makes you want to bolt from the house, and a shiny but damaged handle - making the new house seem not quite so new. That's the look I am going for anyway! Ha says no one ever!