Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Floor Plans

This is our final floor plan we had decided on and drawn up ourselves to take with us when talking to Eden Brae.
Original plans (left) and our drawn final house floor plans (right)

Changes made:

  • Storage Space: we wanted to make sure we had ample storage space, so we added storage in the garage, hallway and will be added to the laundry (not added in tender, has to be added during our kitchen/bathroom appointments).
  • Dining/Living Area: one of the biggest problems we had with viewing homes was the dining and living area were always separate from each other - no one wants to watch TV while having dinner on a weird angle. So we flipped the kitchen, Landry and dining area.
  • Kitchen: I've always wanted a big kitchen and WIP, so we removed the study area (converting bedroom 3 to our computer room), extended the kitchen and moved the WIP to where the study was.
  • Main Bedroom: personally I don't like having the bedroom right next to the front door, and we don't really need a home theatre room, so we flipped these 2 rooms around so the home theatre space can become a formal lounge area or just an entrance room.
  • Power Room: added a sink to the toilet room to make it more practical - if someone is having a shower, you don't have to walk to the kitchen to wash your hands.
  • Doors: we removed the doors from the laundry and garage, we would rather have that space for storage purposes instead, same with the main bedroom, didn't need 2 doors to take up space. Also added a sliding door to the WIR.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Signing the Tender

 Livingstone 22 with Monterey Facade

Initially spoke to Mark at the Gregory Hills display homes before the price rise after Australia Day, giving us a rough idea of how much it will cost with our internal changes we wanted to make (moving rooms around, kitchen and dining etc). Put down $1000 for tender and booked appointment for 17th February. Finalized tender on the 24th February and paid $2500 for tender acceptance.

Additional Tender Costs

  • H-class slab (saline affected soil area)
  • Additional construction costs due to sewer line
  • Acoustic report
  • Engineers report
  • NBN connection
  • Landscape plan
  • Moroka textured paint finish to brickwork (as pictured)
  • BEST EVER Sale packages (internal packages, alfresco, roof upgrade and $12k bonus)
  • Montery facade (windows for front room changed to 3 long windows equal size)
  • Driveway crossover

Floorplan Changes

  • Mirror reverse dwelling - garage on left side
  • Widow sizes changed in all bedrooms
  • Added additional closet with 2 doors, 4 melamine shelves
  • Removed second door for main bedroom
  • Sliding door for WIR in main bedroom
  • Aluminum framed mirrored sliding doors for all other bedrooms
  • Smaller window in laundry, removed door
  • Window change for kitchen to alfresco
  • Window splashback for kitchen
  • 2700mm high ceiling throughout house
  • 2340mm high doors throughout house
  • 2400mm alfresco stacking door
  • Window head height to 2400mm
  • Ducted Air throughout house