Land update

After being overseas for the last eight weeks we returned to find that not much had changed in the land situation. Apparently the development was delayed due to rain so the settlement has been pushed back to mid September. There are some additions though, the bike path has been laid beside our block as well as the footpath in front. The ashphalt has gone down on the road beds which were still just gravel before we left. However I'm curious to know when the driveways go in... seeing as they've already laid the gutters...?

 

As we drove past the other day, we discovered the fences had been left open so we snuck in for a quick look up close and took a picture. Lucky we're situated next to the bike path, otherwise we'd have never known which two little white sticks marked our block!

 

Electrical appointment

Late last week, Ben and I met with the electrician to work out the electrical configuration for the house. We had a lot of entitlements included in the build package but some things we wanted were considered upgrades and others we wanted more of then were supplied, like power outlets. A rough run-down of what we're havng includes:

• downlights for the living areas and al fresco area;
• normal light points for the bedrooms;
• a feature light in the rumpus room;
• a feature light over the dining table;
• additional external lights (security/sensor lights); and
• an external outlet in the al fresco area.

The feature lights we'll have to go out and buy ourselves, as well as whatever security lights we choose, and the electrician will install them for us.

That's the last of our input until the build commences. So now the waiting game begins. Hopefully the land will be released in late August and the fun can begin!

Tiles and Carpet

We had our tiling and carpet appointment this afternoon so all our colours are now locked in!

TILES/CARPETS

• Tiling to front porch and al fresco area - Torino Coffee matte 'grip' 450x450

• Carpets to all bedrooms, wardrobes and formal lounge - Sierra Vista, 140

• Tiling to the hallway, living area, dining area and kitchen - Torino Coffee matte 450x45

• Mosaic tiling splashback in kitchen, including behind rangehood

 

• Tiling to bathroom, ensuite and laundry floor - City Latte 300x300

• Tiling to bathroom, ensuite and laundry walls - Matang White 300x400 (laid horizontally)

*No picture*

• Mosaic tiling to bathroom and ensuite shower niches

 

Here's a combination shot of the kitchen with samples of the Ceasarstone bench top, cabinet colour and paint samples:







Here's a combination shot of the bathroom with samples of the Ceasarstone bench tops and cabinet colours:

 





 

Colour consultation

Ben and I met with the colour consultant yesterday to confirm our external colour choices. She was great and knew exactly what she was talking about making it so easy to put together a simple but effective colour scheme. Considering how indecisive and stressed I was over the choices a few weeks ago, its surprising how happy and confident I am now!

The first gem of advice she gave me was that the brick I originally wanted, Austral 'Latte', is a painted brick, so if it chips its immediately noticeable. The brick we ended up selecting is coloured through so chips won't matter. It's also one of the bricks in our inclusions so it doesn't cost any extra. I'm happy because it still has the varying colours through it that I liked about the Latte, rather than being a flat uniform colour.

The other colours I had down to one or two choices and once we started putting the colour scheme together those decisions were easy. The front door was a big difference to what I had in mind though... red! I love it and with the otherwise bland colouring, it's really going to make the house pop!

EXTERNAL COLOURS

• Bricks - PGH 'Gravel' with off-white flush mortar

• Roof, gutters and water tank - Colorbond 'Dune'

• Fascia, downpipes, windows (frames and flyscreens), eaves and garage - Colorbond 'Surfmist'

• Front door - Corinthian 'Madison PMAD101' in Bristol 'burnt toffee'

After working through the external colours fairly quickly we still had half our time slot left with the colour consultant so we decided to continue on with as many of our internal choices as we could, without having had our tile/carpet appointment yet. Wanting to bring the same colour scheme from the outside in these choices were pretty easy and we locked in the majority of the internal colours. All that's left now is choosing the floor tiles, carpets and finding the perfect mosaic tiles to be the feature on the kitchen splash back and in the bathroom niches.

INTERNAL COLOURS

• Walls, ceiling, architraves and cornices - Dulux 'natural white'

• Feature wall - Taubmans 'Quarry'

• Benchtop - Caesarstone 'osprey'

• Kitchen cupboards - Polytec 'classic white' 

• Bathroom/ensuite cupboards - Polytec 'Marni Lini'

 

 

Stay tuned for the tiling and carpet choices next week.

 

 

 

 

 



 

Curbs

On a routine drive-by of the developent yesterday, I noticed the first hints of our street have appeared. The road bed has been laid and the curbs are in. Seeing as the workers left the gates wide open and were all the way down the other end of the area working, I figured it wouldn't hurt anyone if I wandered in to have a look and take a few quick snaps of their recent handiwork.

Plans and elevations P1

A couple of days ago we got the plans back from drafting. Here's the front and rear elevations of the house.

And here you can see how the house looks on the block. Big backyard for ACT standards!

This morning we had a meeting to go over any alterations we wanted. There wasn't much we wanted to change, just a few little variations and minor tweaking.

• Our first alteration was when we noticed, now having side view images of the house, that the windows in Bedroom 2 and Bedroom 4 were tiny, narrow windows right up near the roof. At that height, any kids we eventually have in there won't be able to see out their window!  So we've switched them for 1600mm windows - the same size as the bathroom window seen between them in the image below.

• We had originally added a sliding door to Bedroom 3, seen below, to allow for the laundry having no external access. Howevver we decided recently that it might effect the resale value of the house later on down the track if its not considered a bedroom anymore. We switched it for a 1600mm window like the other bedrooms and instead added an external access door to the side of the garage.

• We made a minor adjustment to the window in the rumpus room / 'Formal Living' to allow for shelving we want to put up along the front wall. 

• And lastly, we added the fencing and landscaping into the tender to save having to fork out for it later on.

The plans have now been sent back to drafting where the final version will be drawn up!

From here the fun begins. Next up are the appointments with the colour consultant, electrician and working up our fit-out for the kitchen.

Civil work begins

We're at a standstill as far as the plans go. We signed off on the final variation list two weeks ago so the tender is now with drafting and the plans are being drawn up. We shoud have them back in another two weeks or so.

Meanwhile, the civil works have begun. The land clearing continues and the vague outline of the road has appeared.

Still no idea on our street name yet...