Week 2

No Slab Still

Our slab was due to be poured (November 27th), I hadn't heard from anyone at PD so I presumed/assumed it would go ahead as per schedule. So I decided to travel to the block (3 hours drive there and back) and have a peek, to my disappointment, no slab, no prep work either, but I did get to see the site cut pre pour. We have electricity connected now, temp fencing up, port a loo, I was excited just to see that. PD did call me later in the day, pour is now rescheduled to December 6th. Also my left hand side neighbour has been storing a left over pallet of roof tiles on my property, PD are asking me to have them removed asap, I asked the neighbour to remove them two weeks ago, hope this doesn't cause me drama.

Week 1

Monday November 18th

It has finally begun, what a long haul to get to the beginning, I am so excited!

Weather has been wonderful in Kilmore, so there was no problem on the horizon for cutting out the site. 

I arrived to see temporary fencing, a port a loo as well as a rubbish crate on our block, all good signs. It is such a long drive to the house block from where we are living at the moment, that I haven't seen the site cut, but a neighbour whom I briefly met on a block visit, emailed me to let me know it had been done. 

The slab is due to be poured next Wednesday 27th (which also coincides with youngest grandchild's 1st birthday).

I will get some pic's of the progress in the next few days.

Upgrades

Upgrades

All The Extras Promotion Pack:
Render to front facade features (refer to specific facade working drawings).
Sectional Panelmasta garage door in lieu of standard roller door.
Remote control to garage door with two transmitters and additional power point.
2590mm high ceilings in lieu of 2440mm high ceilings to ground floor only.
Aluminum framed fly screens with aluminum mesh to all open able windows.
Keyed locks to all open able windows (excludes sliding doors).
2040mm high x 820mm wide flush panel internal access door to garage.
Posh Base handheld shower rail and wall mixer in lieu of standard to master ensuite.
Extended laminated vanity unit and double basins in selected Access homes in lieu of standard to master ensuite (house specific).

The Right Ingredients Promotion Pack:
Teknobili Billy sink mixer with pull out vegie sprayer.
20mm essastone benchtops to kitchen in lieu of laminate.
Shadowline feature to kitchen benchtops.
Fully tiled splashback.
900mm Technika stainless steel upright cooker (TU950TME8) including installation in lieu of standard.
One set of 3-drawer pot drawers to one side of the cooker.
Blum soft closers to kitchen cupboards and drawers.
Technika Bellisimo 600mm stainless steel dishwasher including installation (TDX7SS).
Additional overhead cupboards to run the full width matching base cabinets.

The Great Outdoors Promotion Pack:
Landscaping to front of house.
Colour concrete driveway and path to door up to 25m2.
Letterbox including installation.
Includes allowance for construction of timber fence (1850mm high 28m in length with capping).

Plan Every Step Promotion Pack:
Choice of flooring to the entry, kitchen, dining and family rooms:
1. Ceramic tiles
OR
2. Bolero timber look flooring
Reflections carpet to the entire house excluding the tiled areas.

Structural:
Provide Bedroom4/Living/Kitchen/Grand Alfresco option
Provide 450mm eaves to house and garage

Windows:
1200mm high x 2400mm wide Aluminum Square Set Reveal sliding window to Kitchen rear external wall.
2100mm high x 1200mm wide Aluminum fixed picture square set reveal to family room.
400mm high x 1500mm wide Aluminum fixed square set reveal to Kitchen side external wall.
2100mm high x 3600mm wide Aluminum sliding stack door to rear of family room.

Brickwork:
Provide Category 2 Homestead Blackwood Austral Bricks
Provide 1 470mm wide x 470 deep Brick pier in lieu of Timber Post

Plaster:
Provide 1 425mm high x 425mm wide x 90mm deep tiled niche to Bathroom shower wall.
Provide 1 325mm high x 1200mm wide x 90mm deep tiled niche to Ensuite.

Cabinets:
Provide laminex vinyl gloss finish to the Kitchen base, overhead and Kitchen Island cabinets.
Provide extra overhead cabinets to the length of the wall in Laundry area.

Stone Benchtops:
Provide additional Essa Stone 20mm benchtop with 20mm edging to Kitchen Island benchtop extension.

Plumbing:
Provide Mizu 1550 wall mixer to bath, bath 1 shower & ensuite shower.
Provide Posh Base Shower Rail to bath 1 shower & ensuite shower.
Provide AFA Cubline undermount sink to Kitchen.
Provide additional capped gas point to Alfresco/Kitchen corner.
Provide additional capped cold water point to Pantry/Fridge space for future appliance.
Provide Posh Dominique toilet to WC and ensuite.
Provide Mizu Drift chrome basin mixer to bath 1, and to ensuite x 2.

Heating & Cooling:
Provide Brivis Promina P44 evaporative cooling with manual wall control to 6 outlets.

Mirrors:
Provide extended mirror over bath in the bathroom approx. 900mm extension.

Timber Flooring:
Provide additional Bolero Europlank Laminate to Master Bedroom, Master WIR,
Living, Bedroom 2, Bedroom 3 & Bedroom 4.

Colours & Tiles

I spent a lot of time reading other blogs, reading threads on the Home One forum's, in general about their choices for their new homes. I tried to stick as much as I could to the basic/standard range for my choices in regards to the colour and tile appointments. I have never been one for too much color and my tastes have always been on clean lines when it comes to decorating.

I have no feature tiles in bathrooms and the tiles I selected will be on my floor, running up on to the walls. I picked the largest standard tile available for this with a standard lay (400mm x 400mm Simply Mocha with a Cappuccino grout).

For the laundry I have a simple Polar White cabinet scheme with a brick lay ( Mocha Wall Gloss 100mm x 300mm with Cappuccino grout).

Kitchen I have a huge area to cover, I decided to tile the whole wall that the splashback is on and again a simple standard choice in a brick lay. (Low Lands Gloss Portifono 200mm x 400mm with Cappuccino Grout).


Exterior
Brick: Homestead Blackwood (Category 2)
Mortar: Natural (Rolled)
Roof Tiles: Mocha Choc (Standard Elabana Profile)
Windows: Dune
Garage Door: Jasper
Front Door & Sidelight: Corinthian Door Madison PMAD 104 in Dune with Desert Sand glazing
Gutter, Fascia, Downpipes: Jasper
Render: Light Leather 
Facade: Riviera (Standard, my facade had to be cutback to fit the house on my block! Silly covenants that can't be built on or over boo!)


Interior
Walls: Alabaster
Architraves & Skirting: Standard in Alabaster
Interior doors: Standard in Alabaster
Interior door handles:  Velocity Summit L1 handles in chrome

 Kitchen
Benchtop: French Nougat Essa Stone
Cabinet doors: Polar white vinyl wrap 
Splash black: Tiled Splashback
Sink: AFA Cubeline undermount (2B) (Upgrade)

 Ensuite & Bathroom
Benchtop:  Licorice Linea
Cabinet doors: Licorice linea
Vanity:  Kado Cirque Round 405 Basin (Standard)
Shower head in ensuite: Base Posh Rail Shower
Showerhead in bathroom: Base Posh Rail Shower

 Laundry
Benchtop:  Pure Mineralstone
Cabinet doors: Polar White 

Laminate Flooring

External Colors

Kitchen Stone & Laundry Laminate

Bathroom Cabinets

Front Door

Kitchen Splashback Tile

Floor & Wall Tile In Both Bathrooms

House Plans

I looked at so many homes for so long that after a while they all started to just give me a headache thinking about them! I really needed a small block of land, with the biggest house I could build on it. I just don't have the time or the energy to spend on gardening and maintenance.  Our family had good experiences with Porter Davis in a previous build, and were happy with the experience and the quality of the home, so I knew they were definitely the builder for us.

I finally decided on a Montague 21 with the Living, 4th Bedroom, Extended Kitchen and Grand Alfresco option, this brings it up to 25sq. I made quite a few changes within the home to accommodate my husband's needs.

Most changes were made in the ensuite, and PD were so helpful with redesigning it to suit our needs, showering is so difficult for us, it was important that I got this right. I widened doorways, removed shower screens and shower hubs, added a double doorway entrance to the garage (internal), extended the Grand Alfresco even more to fit the width of the house.

I did have to make some sacrifices to get the house to fit on the block. The portico for instance was cut back, as well as the width of the Alfresco.

This has been such a difficult time for me personally, my husband was a tradie, so he was always the one who made decisions in regards to building/renovating our home. Post stroke he isn't well enough to decide what he would like to eat or drink let alone look at house plans. To say this has been overwhelming for me is a massive understatement, but I am determined to make this work for us, so we can have our little bit of Heaven in the Country together :)

Our Little Block of Paradise

So after selling the family home of 30 years, we bought our little block
 of country lifestyle in Kilmore

Two years ago my husband suffered a major stroke, it has left him paralyzed on the left side of his body as well as a significant ABI. I decided the only way we could move forward, and be proactive while coping with the challenge's we face everyday, was to build. I had tried to renovate our existing home, but there was  an aging house needing constant maintenance, despite my best efforts the layout of the home just wasn't working, we really needed an open plan concept lifestyle.