Construction: Base Stage

Site works are well and truly underway... Finally!!
 
Site cut was completed on the 6th of October.
I thought I'd go have a look that same weekend and to my surprise the plumbers were on site measuring and installing pipes.

The weather delayed the concrete pour by a few days (typical Melbourne weather) however the slab was completed on Monday 24th of October.

We own Land!

Just a quick post to say, the block of land is finally ours.... we sort of... the bank technically owns it.

We received titles on Tuesday the 14th of June and a just over week later on the 24th the land settled.

Luke and I drove up to Kalkallo over the weekend to have a look. It was the first time the gates were left open in our section so we were able to jump out of the car and walk around.

Not much there at this stage - A pipe and 4 pegs to outline the boundary. Oh and a SIGN!!

Tender is booked in with Henley for July 21st.

Stephanie.

Cosham Interiors Pre Selections

Well last Sunday I got a little bored sitting around at home, so what do I do? Drive an hour to Cosham Interiors in Mount Waverley of course!

I spent about 2 hours in the afternoon just walking around the showroom and writing down all my pre selections. I now understand why they allow about 6 hours for the colour consultation fr a single story home. In my 2 hours I only completed the exterior, laundry and only just started on the kitchen. Its a really big process and the decisions are really important. That's why I felt its best to take the time now to start selecting the core items. At least if Luke or I change anything in the mean time it will a lot easier to change a small section. (hopefully)

The staff were really helpful, they were there to help whenever I need it.

I've taken a couple of photos of what I've chosen so far....

EXTERIOR 

We're still undecided on the brick. Its a toss up between CAT 1:- Austral Homestead Redgum or CAT 2:- Austral Chestnut (Extra $433)
We've contact Austral and now just waiting on some addresses in our local area that have used these bricks recently. Cosham Interiors suggested we go see the bricks on a larger scale. The single bricks just don't show enough characteristics.

Top: (CAT 1) Austral Homestead Redgum
Middle: (CAT 2) Austral Chestnut
Bottom: (CAT 3) Austral Blackwood

Brick: (CAT 2) Austral "Chestnut"
Mortar: Natural Rolled
Roof: Designer "Phoenix"
Gutters: Colourbond "Night Sky"
Fascia & Down Pipes: Colourbond " Monument"
Window Frames:: A&L Windows " Monument Matt"
Render: Dulux "Raku"
Garage: TBA
Front Door: TBA

 
LAUNDRY

Option 1:
Splashback: Bianco Carrara Herringbone Honed Feature Tile (P.O.A)
Benchtop: Polar White Natural Finish
Cabinetry: Licorice Linea Natural Finish

Option 2:
Splashback: Gloss White 200x600 (CAT 2)
Benchtop: Pure Mineral stone Natural Finish
Cabinetry: Licorice Linea Natural Finish

KITCHEN
I went to the showroom without Luke this time. He's already said he doesn't like the kitchen selections I've chosen as it looks too white. He's thinking we should do a matte grey tile as the splashback.

Option 1:
Splashback: Glass "White on White" (CAT 1)
Benchtops: Caesarstone "Ocean Foam" (CAT 1)
O/Head Cabinetry: Laminex "Polar White"
Silk (CAT 2 -$50p/door)
Lower Cabinetry: Licorice Linea Natural Finish

Option 2:Splashback: Gloss Alabaster 300x600 (CAT 2)
Benchtops:Caesarstone "Ocean Foam" (CAT 1)
O/Head Cabinetry: Laminex "Parchment"
Silk (CAT 2 -$50p/door)
Lower Cabinetry: Licorice Linea Natural Finish

FLOORING
I dont mind option 1's carpet. Its the right colour and as long as we upgrade our underlay I cant see a problem with it..... However Luke HATES it!! He thinks it's too commercial looking, though he does bring up a good point about how long it will last when it comes to us getting a pet.

Option 1:
Carpet: Sandy Point " Big Drift"
Timber: Bolero "Rustic Coffee" (CAT 1B)

Option 2:
Carpet: Briceville Hills "Pebble"
Timber: Bolero "Rustic Coffee" (CAT 1B)

Stephanie xo.

Where to start?

So we've decided to go all out and build our first home together.

The next questions is where do we start? 

Luke and I opted to look at locations first. 
We agreed early on we wanted to stay in the northern suburbs of Melbourne as it was close to family and friends.

There are currently a few estate that are quite well established in the north such as Craigieburn, Epping North and Mernda Villages. If you go further up the Hume Fwy there are some brand new estate starting to pop up, like Merrifield and Cloverton. These two guys are going to be HUGE!

After a lot of discussions back and forth and a couple of trips to the estates we ended up deciding on the new estate 'Cloverton' on Donnybrook Road in Kalkallo as the price was right (being so new) and it was only 15 minutes up the road from our current house.



In July we purchased our block of land:- 
Lot Size: 489m2
Lot Width: 13.98 (Front) 15.93 (Back)
Lot Depth: 32.06



This now helps us narrow down which type of house we get.


Initially we were going to go with Porter Davis. The house plans were great, we found a couple that really suited us as well as the land and the price we were quoted looked good..... That was until we went to the World Of Style. We realized all the standard category 1 fixtures and fittings were horrible and we would be upgrading more than 50%. Our budget went right out the door :(

Back to the drawing board we went. After a lot of further research we came to the conclusion Henley Properties was the right match. We found a plan that worked and that Saturday we were off to the display. We instantly fell in love.

We met up with our sales consultant at the Mernda estate, she did up a quote straight away. At first, the price looked high but when you sat back and really went through it all, the standards were of much higher quality than what Porter Davis was offering and it included some additional extras such as an electrical package, laundry cupboards and our estates mandatory bush fire package. Once the site costs were add in, it pretty much was on par with the first quote from Porter Davis.


And the winner is..... you guessed it Marina Q1

Here are a couple of images from the display (Credit: Henley.com.au)

Marina Q1; Broadway Facade

Open Plan Living: Looking out to side alfresco bi-fold doors

Kitchen & Dining: Looking from the family room

Open Plan Living: Looking from the side alfresco doors

Family Room: Looking out to rear alfresco stacker doors

Main Bathroom (I love a bath, haven't got one in our current home)

Second bedroom: Generous Size

Lounge Room: Soon to be Luke's man cave