This little email came as quite a surprise today...... a notice to pay an additional $2400 to Eden Brae within 5 days. I wasn't expecting it let alone 2 days before Christmas. Thankfully I had the money and was able to pay it.
The money was to pay the 5% deposit for all the extra things we added to the house.
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
Saturday, 13 December 2014
CDC approval
It has been a busy couple of weeks getting the plans to the CDC and making sure it is all planned exactly as we want it to be.
Our plans were lodged with the CDC on Wednesday 3rd and we received the approval on Friday 12th......and yay it has no difficult specifications.
Having never built lke this before I was unsure what changes they might have or want but thankfully for us, there is nothing that matters to us needing changing.
Now, a little more paperwork needs to be processed before the Christmas break and then final plans for signing in new year.
I have been really lucky because our Admin officer has kept me well informed along the way!
It's getting real!
Our plans were lodged with the CDC on Wednesday 3rd and we received the approval on Friday 12th......and yay it has no difficult specifications.
Having never built lke this before I was unsure what changes they might have or want but thankfully for us, there is nothing that matters to us needing changing.
Now, a little more paperwork needs to be processed before the Christmas break and then final plans for signing in new year.
I have been really lucky because our Admin officer has kept me well informed along the way!
It's getting real!
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
After thoughts and Hiccup #2
A last minute change to my plans...... I think the round water tank will take up to much space in our not very big back yard so have decided to upgrade to slimline water tank for $1318. I just think it will look better.
Hiccup # 2 is that because we decided to tile to the ceiling in the two bathrooms, we now have to change our windows. We have to have pop out windows instead of sliding ones for some maintenance reason that I don't quite understand.
Also, because of the additional tiling we now have some additional costs that we were not expecting
Return visit by the plasterer to fit the bathroom cornices after the tiling is complete $384
Additional cleaning charge due to additional tiling $274
Awning windows $624
We will also have to pay a small additional fee as the plantation shutters price for this windows will be different
Not exactly thrilled given that none of these costs were mentioned when we asked about tiling to ceiling! Knowing it was going to cost me an extra $1000 may have impacted my decsion
Hiccup # 2 is that because we decided to tile to the ceiling in the two bathrooms, we now have to change our windows. We have to have pop out windows instead of sliding ones for some maintenance reason that I don't quite understand.
Also, because of the additional tiling we now have some additional costs that we were not expecting
Return visit by the plasterer to fit the bathroom cornices after the tiling is complete $384
Additional cleaning charge due to additional tiling $274
Awning windows $624
We will also have to pay a small additional fee as the plantation shutters price for this windows will be different
Not exactly thrilled given that none of these costs were mentioned when we asked about tiling to ceiling! Knowing it was going to cost me an extra $1000 may have impacted my decsion
Thursday, 20 November 2014
Hiccup #1
So I knew it was all running too smoothly..... apparently the paver we have chosen ( because it was on the list we were given ) is not allowed in my estate. SO, because we were given the wrong information, Eden Brae are ofering us an upgrade to a coloured concrete driveway at no extra charge.
Gotta be happy with that as that is what we wanted in the first place but didn't want to pay extra for it.
Happy days and thank you Eden Brae. An onyx driveway will go nicely with out monument roof
Gotta be happy with that as that is what we wanted in the first place but didn't want to pay extra for it.
Happy days and thank you Eden Brae. An onyx driveway will go nicely with out monument roof
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Land Registration
So, it has been a long few months waiting for our land to register, but finally the day is here! It's very exciting that we can now start the serious stuff to get this house ready to build!
We have as much paperwork completed with Eden brae as we could so we are on track to start building in February 2015!
Our lovely almost flat land!
We have as much paperwork completed with Eden brae as we could so we are on track to start building in February 2015!
Wednesday, 6 August 2014
Colour Selection Day 2 - Kitchen Culture and DiLorenzo Tiles
I had been waiting or this day and with Mum in hospital I had to make the decisions alone. I knew I wanted to make changes and upgrades and I knew it was going to be an expensive day!
Thankfully we had chosen the bulk of the colours before she needed to go in for surgery. I decided to ask for all the possible options I might want and work backwards if the budget didn't allow.
Kitchen Culture
This gave me the opportunity to discuss what I wanted in my new kitchen as well as take on board suggestions from the experts. Again, not many suggestions although they have an entire showroom of options. I was given the quote on the spot and I was pleased overall with how the appointment ran.
I chose to add
Di Lorenzo Tiles
This appointment ran well and thankfully I was dealing with a person whom I ha asked questions of several times in my research visits. This was a huge help as she knew what I wanted. The only frustrating part of this appointment is that the quote didn't arrive for maybe 10 days.
I decided to go with included tiles for floor, bathroom/ laundry walls and floor and only upgrade the feature tiles. We wanted plain white tiles so it seemed silly to pay when the basic option worked.
There was a reasonable choice of floor tiles and I loved the large square tiles on offer. I had swatches of my chosen paint colour as well so I could match and compare.
Our choices
the feature tile for the ensuite with the vanity and benchtop
The feature tile for the main bathroom with the vanity and benchtop
We also decided to add tiling in lieu of carpet to the rumpus, Rear hall and children's retreat as well as having the porch and alfresco tiled.
Total additional tiling $6269
Carpet was also chosen at this appointment and we went with a standard carpet and an upgraded underlay at $8 sqm
Thankfully we had chosen the bulk of the colours before she needed to go in for surgery. I decided to ask for all the possible options I might want and work backwards if the budget didn't allow.
Kitchen Culture
This gave me the opportunity to discuss what I wanted in my new kitchen as well as take on board suggestions from the experts. Again, not many suggestions although they have an entire showroom of options. I was given the quote on the spot and I was pleased overall with how the appointment ran.
I chose to add
- pot draws x 3 to the bench either side of my oven $1386
- overhead cupboards on either side of range hood. $1724.8
- bank of 4 drawers in island bench where they had allowed for microwave $340
- lift up cupboard above fridge space $530
- extend the width of my island bench 30cm to give me a breakfast bar size bench $871.20
- add a two door cupboard on hallway side of island $585.20
- soft close runners to drawers $340.00
- soft close buffers to doors $200
- bulkhead above cupboards $646.80
- upgrade stone bench colour to Torrone $261.80
- Gloss Formica upgrade o cupboards $1232
- organisational tray to cutlery drawer $73.92
- upgraded laminate in both bathrooms $880
- garbage bin under sink $255
- glass splashback in lieu of tiles $2818
Di Lorenzo Tiles
This appointment ran well and thankfully I was dealing with a person whom I ha asked questions of several times in my research visits. This was a huge help as she knew what I wanted. The only frustrating part of this appointment is that the quote didn't arrive for maybe 10 days.
I decided to go with included tiles for floor, bathroom/ laundry walls and floor and only upgrade the feature tiles. We wanted plain white tiles so it seemed silly to pay when the basic option worked.
There was a reasonable choice of floor tiles and I loved the large square tiles on offer. I had swatches of my chosen paint colour as well so I could match and compare.
Our choices
The feature tile for the main bathroom with the vanity and benchtop
We also decided to add tiling in lieu of carpet to the rumpus, Rear hall and children's retreat as well as having the porch and alfresco tiled.
Total additional tiling $6269
Carpet was also chosen at this appointment and we went with a standard carpet and an upgraded underlay at $8 sqm
Thursday, 31 July 2014
Colour Selection Day 1 - Home Options Gallery
This was a big day...... a six hour appointment that covered the following. I had done a lot of research with multiple visits to the Home Options Gallery to look, touch, choose and ask questions. I was advised by many that until your appointment day there would be nobody to answer questions or give information but I didn't find this to be the case. I may have just been lucky by going on weekdays that people were happy to speak with me. They didn't however offer up any information with regard to prices of anything and I must admit to finding this frustrating. As with most people there is a budget to stick to and I was wanting to make sure I spent the money on what mattered to us. I also knew that I wanted to have as much of the additions I chose added in to the contract so that we could get the full amount from the bank, rathe than have to add extra items after completion as I know that when that time comes I will be poor. This of course means you pay a premium but I want this house as finished as possible when we move in.
Cooks Plumbing
This appointment included all tap fittings, toilets, baths, hand rails, oven, cooktop, range hood, microwave etc
The toilets were my Mum's only request for the new house as she does most of the cleaning and lets face it, who wants to get down and clean behind them if you don't have to.
Colour Consultant
This was lengthy and involved choices of lots of areas o the home including brick, mortar, gutter, fascia, flyscreens, security doors, garage door, downpipes, doors, entry frames, hinges, handles, locks, cornices, woodworks, moroka, paint colours, skirting, architraves, water tank
I had once again done lots of research with a visit to PGH bricks. We had a BAL 19 regulation on a small part of our home and 12.5 on the rest so flyscreens were mandatory on all windows and doors. We would have wanted them anyway.
My colour consultant was great and that helped a lot. Apparently me being organised also helped the process. I knew what I wanted and had a detailed list with the names, samples, colours and also the codes of the products I intended to choose.
This appointment had no huge shocks except with brick colour. The brick I wanted "mocha" was approved in an earlier land release in my estate but not mine and so in the en we went with "gravel". I didn't feel the need to spend extra money on bricks but was given no choise as Gravel was th only one I liked and it was $881 more
Our Choices
Brick - Gravel
Mortar - raked natural
Roof - Monument colorbond
Gutter- monument
Fascia - Surfmist
Windows and Stacker doors - surfmist
Moroka- surfmist
Eaves- surfmist
Downpipes- on moroka - surfmist, on bricks- monument
Front Door - Surmist
Garage Door- surfmist
Apologies for the crooked pic - we went with a classic round in Monument
This is our brick butted up again our chosen paver
Internal paint colour Winter Ice
Architraves , ceilings, skirtings - crisp white
This is the skirting we chose
The door handle for our front door
We chose the flatline garage door
We added
Abbey Blinds and Shutters
For the house I chose a variety of blinds and shutter. I am very aware we could get it cheaper after completion but I didn't think $7617 to do the entire house was too bad and they would be installed at completion or very shortly after as Abbey have access o measure well before any other company would.
We chose
Plantation shutters in white study, main bedroom, children's retreat, rumpus and both bathrooms
Sunscreen blinds in white - both sets of sliding doors to alfresco, formal living,
The blind on the left is the sunscreen chosen because we can see out during the day when they are down
Block out blinds in white to bedrooms 2,3 and 4.
Outback Landscaping
Here we chose our pavers for our driveway and also any additional paving or cement work. We added a small section next to our garage for our bins . Total cost $318
Electrical
I was well prepared for this knowing where I wanted my power points, what lights and fans and where I wanted them all. We chose a standard fan with light for the three bedrooms that we will use everyday, additional power points to most rooms, one under the island bench top in the kitchen as well as adding data USB points in most common areas and bedrooms.
My fathers main request was for fluorescent lights in the garage and we also added 5 additional television points in various places and both front and back outdoor lights and lighting to the alfresco and front porch.
We only added 3 down lights above the kitchen bench as they are $115 each and we don't yet know where we want them. A friend is a sparky and he will do those for me later.
$4281 was our total which I didn't think was too bad.
Air Conditioning
The air conditioning included in our $1 ducted air upgrade is expensive to run so we agreed to the more efficient $4234 upgrade. With power prices always on the ride it seemed a sensible idea as I know we won't want to feel unable to use our air con because of cost.
We chose three zones which we separated as
The day ran much to time and there was a break in the middle to grab something to eat which was much needed given that it was a brain overload kind of day. I shudder to think how people who haven't done any research cope.
I was surprised though that people didn't try to give me more alternatives or suggestions particularly with electrical. I love to shop and I like gadgets and nice things so if a suggestion of some great product was made I probably would have taken it. There was no mention of upgrading the alarm or any other optional extras and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. That said, I didn't feel like I was unable to have any option I wanted, it just came at a price.
Cooks Plumbing
This appointment included all tap fittings, toilets, baths, hand rails, oven, cooktop, range hood, microwave etc
- upgrading our appliance from Venini to Baumatic $620.00
- longer length bath in both bathrooms $670.00
- closed couplet toilets in both bathrooms $374.00 + $75 inst.
- double towel rail in main bathroom instead of single $25.50
- increasing the height of the shower head slightly no charge
Colour Consultant
This was lengthy and involved choices of lots of areas o the home including brick, mortar, gutter, fascia, flyscreens, security doors, garage door, downpipes, doors, entry frames, hinges, handles, locks, cornices, woodworks, moroka, paint colours, skirting, architraves, water tank
I had once again done lots of research with a visit to PGH bricks. We had a BAL 19 regulation on a small part of our home and 12.5 on the rest so flyscreens were mandatory on all windows and doors. We would have wanted them anyway.
My colour consultant was great and that helped a lot. Apparently me being organised also helped the process. I knew what I wanted and had a detailed list with the names, samples, colours and also the codes of the products I intended to choose.
This appointment had no huge shocks except with brick colour. The brick I wanted "mocha" was approved in an earlier land release in my estate but not mine and so in the en we went with "gravel". I didn't feel the need to spend extra money on bricks but was given no choise as Gravel was th only one I liked and it was $881 more
Our Choices
Brick - Gravel
Mortar - raked natural
Roof - Monument colorbond
Gutter- monument
Fascia - Surfmist
Windows and Stacker doors - surfmist
Moroka- surfmist
Eaves- surfmist
Downpipes- on moroka - surfmist, on bricks- monument
Front Door - Surmist
Garage Door- surfmist
Internal paint colour Winter Ice
Architraves , ceilings, skirtings - crisp white
We added
- dead bolt lock to internal garage door access $ 153
- door lock to main bathroom and toilet $ 66
- matching handle to pantry door as other doors $ 25
- clear mesh supascreen doors to meals, rumpus and from door $3677
- additional cold water tap to fridge space (for a water/ice fridge) $ 136
- melamine shelving to pantry instead of included wire racking $616
- sliding door instead of opening standard door to bedroom 2 wardrobe $417
Abbey Blinds and Shutters
For the house I chose a variety of blinds and shutter. I am very aware we could get it cheaper after completion but I didn't think $7617 to do the entire house was too bad and they would be installed at completion or very shortly after as Abbey have access o measure well before any other company would.
We chose
Plantation shutters in white study, main bedroom, children's retreat, rumpus and both bathrooms
Sunscreen blinds in white - both sets of sliding doors to alfresco, formal living,
Block out blinds in white to bedrooms 2,3 and 4.
Outback Landscaping
Here we chose our pavers for our driveway and also any additional paving or cement work. We added a small section next to our garage for our bins . Total cost $318
Electrical
I was well prepared for this knowing where I wanted my power points, what lights and fans and where I wanted them all. We chose a standard fan with light for the three bedrooms that we will use everyday, additional power points to most rooms, one under the island bench top in the kitchen as well as adding data USB points in most common areas and bedrooms.
My fathers main request was for fluorescent lights in the garage and we also added 5 additional television points in various places and both front and back outdoor lights and lighting to the alfresco and front porch.
We only added 3 down lights above the kitchen bench as they are $115 each and we don't yet know where we want them. A friend is a sparky and he will do those for me later.
$4281 was our total which I didn't think was too bad.
Air Conditioning
The air conditioning included in our $1 ducted air upgrade is expensive to run so we agreed to the more efficient $4234 upgrade. With power prices always on the ride it seemed a sensible idea as I know we won't want to feel unable to use our air con because of cost.
We chose three zones which we separated as
- main bedroom / ensuite / hall
- living areas
- bedrooms 2-4 and rear hall area and children's retreat
The day ran much to time and there was a break in the middle to grab something to eat which was much needed given that it was a brain overload kind of day. I shudder to think how people who haven't done any research cope.
I was surprised though that people didn't try to give me more alternatives or suggestions particularly with electrical. I love to shop and I like gadgets and nice things so if a suggestion of some great product was made I probably would have taken it. There was no mention of upgrading the alarm or any other optional extras and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. That said, I didn't feel like I was unable to have any option I wanted, it just came at a price.
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