Landscaping - Part 2

So as I mentioned in Landscaping - Part 1, we used Example 1 provided by Eco Design and told them the changes we wanted.
Mainly we wanted some shrubbery against the back wall so the backyard didn't look so plain, and a path from the driveway all the way to the backyard to make it easier to move things like bins from the back to front of the house easily.
We initially were thinking stepping stones and pebbles for the side paths of the house, but we'd need to deal with weeds and it would be difficult to move things from back to front.

Landscape Plan 1

We are pretty happy with the plant choices they made for us, however there were some changes with positioning that needed to be made.
I didn't want the tree at the front so close to the driveway after bad experiences in the past where the roots damaged the driveway and cost a fair bit to fix up, so we moved it to the right side of the frontyard.
We ended up removing some of the shrubs from the very front of the yard, make it a little more open instead of being so closed off, and extended the shrubs at the back all the way from one side of the fence to the other, as well as putting a few of the smaller ones infront of the tree.
As we removed the watertank (forgot to provide the amended floorplans to Eco Design), we instead made the pathway go around the corner and finish near the AC unit so we could store the bins there instead of along the side (we removed the side door from the garage to give us more room for storage along the wall)

Amended Landscaping Plan

We are a lot happier with the changes made, we hope to spend around $12,000 for our landscaping needs, as we knew doing the concrete paths along the side of the house would be around $5,000 - $6,000.

Outback Landscaping & Paving are doing our driveway already through Eden Brae, so we decided to go with them to do the paths. After looking at other peoples driveways, we ended up deciding on doing a stencil border around our driveway, costing us $525 (exc GST).
They showed us what stencils they have available, and selected "Edge Brick Header 225 x 105mm"

The path on the left hand side of the house (with the bins section) is $2,700 (exc GST), while the side on the right hand side of the house (next to the alfresco) is $2,160 (exc GST). The total for all this lovely concrete and stenciling is $5,923.50 (with GST).

Post Appointment Changes 2

Some updates have been a long time coming! So busy with other bits and pieces in our lives I had to put our house documentation on hold :(

I was a bit hesitant about the shelving options Eden Brae offered us, not only because they were very limited in choice, they didn't offer exactly what I was after, very little customization (only 3 options for wardrobes each type of wardrobe), and rather pricey for what you get.

Turns out, my father knows how to build wardrobe and pantries - he did it while renovating their home and never knew! He said we should easily get all this done for $1000 or less, and I get exactly what we want!

Oh - turns out we accidentally added the cold water point behind the fridge twice in the paperwork, make sure you check over all the paperwork you receive!

 

Final Overview & Post Contract Variations

Supplier: Eden Brae

Time taken: 2 hours

Consultant: Amy

Savings: $3,877

We removed the following from our PCV;

•  Cold water point to fridge space - $136
  
  
  
  Even if we don't use it, its better to have it then do it later!
  
  
•  Melamine shelving to WIP - $704
  
  
  
  Basically this, not sure if I'll go through Eden Brae for the pantry and wardrobes
  
  
• Wardrobe World L-shape option 3 fitout in Expresso to Bedroom 1 WIR - $1,201
  
  
  
  Not 100% sure if we will go with this option
• Wardrobe World reach-in option 3 fitout in Expresso to Bedroom 2, 3 and 4 - $612ea ($1,836 total)
  
  
  
  Not 100% sure if we will go with this option

Post-Appointment Changes 1

After counting everything up and allocating amounts for the few things left to do, we're getting pretty close to our budget - so some things are being pulled out of Colour Appointment 2 that we deem as unimportant right now or can be done/replaced with something cheaper now or at a later time.

I'll be editing Colour Appointment 2 and adding the things we took out to this post :) There will still be more to come depending on the post-contract variations we are awaiting quotes for.

Air Conditioning

Supplier: Home Air Design
Time taken: 0.5 hours
Consultant: Glen
Savings: N/A

We were thinking of upgrading to the ESP Plus System (SRD131C) for an additional $3,315.00, which would give us the following benifits:

• Additional controller
• Ability to move rooms around within the 3 zones supplied at no extra charge (normally $167.00 per room)
• Energy savings (up to 60%)
• Quieter indoor & outdoor unit
• Better temperature control

If we upgraded to this unit, we would most likely removed the 4th zone (costs $244) and add the home theater to the living areas zone. The savings on our energy bill would make the upgrade worthwhile after 4-5 years.

We decided this wouldn't be beneficial for us, mainly because we do have ceiling fans which take up less electricity to run during warmer day, and would only use the air conditioning system during summer months (which is what we did in our apartment and where we live now)

Electrical

Supplier: Clipsal by Schneider Electric
Time taken: 1 hour
Consultant: Michelle
Savings: $1,339

This was our original plan we walked away with after our appointment with Michelle:

Electrical plan drawn up in our appointment

Electrical plan symbols

We decided to take the following out of our plan, purely because they were an expensive feature we wouldn't use and can find cheaper alternatives at a later date if we wanted something like these back.

We removed the following:

Alfresco & Backyard

• Upgrade:
• 1 x Ceiling Fan stainless steel 1200mm - $313ea
• 1 x Double Floodlight, black - $197ea 

Porch & Frontyard

• Upgrade:
• 3 x Feature Light, up and down - $237ea

My partner was considering having security camera's installed, our consultant quoted us $2814.00 for the following:

• 4 x SDI Ness IR Cameras 
• 1 x 3 Terabit hard drive 
• 1 x Digital Video recorder 
• 1 x Connectivity to the internet including programming 

We are doing these after handover now, we have a friend recently set up their home for less than $1000 for many more cameras and system, so we are pretty happy to follow suit - it isn't a top priority but we will have them done

Shutters & Blinds

Supplier: Abbey Shutters & Blinds

Time taken: 0.5 hours

Consultant: Ashley

Savings: $1,033.63

I wanted the front windows to look fancy, but for over $1000 for the front room, I'd rather put that money towards something else in our house, so we have decided to not go for Plantation Shutters in the Home Theatre, made from Basswood, 90mm blades in Pure White. We can always add these in at a later date, but it isn't a huge thing for us right now.

They are so nice, but way to pricey for us :(

Tiles & Carpet

Supplier: Di Lorenzo

Time taken: 2 hours

Consultant: Lisa

Savings: $1571.71

We asked for a quote to have our alfresco done with the same tiles our threshold is done with, while the tiles themselves are cheap, the labour is most of the price (same with all the other tiles). We are skipping it for now, if we don't do this with landscaping we can come back to it later - hell we can buy these tiles outright from Di Lorenzo and do it ourselves! These tiles would go with neutral grout, tossing up between tiling or having it done with our landscaping, so its good to have the option.

A little darker in person, has a gripping feel

Colour Appointment 2

Today went much more smoothly than our first day - but I didn't think anything would take as long as our kitchen appointment! From 9am to 3.00pm, we went through the following:

• Air Conditioning (0.5hrs)
• Electrical (1hr)
• Shutters & Blinds (0.5hrs)
• Tiles & Carpet (2hrs)
• Final Overview & Post Contract Variations (2hrs)

We came very well prepared for our electrical plan thanks to the Eden Brae thread in the Homeone Forums, which probably saved us a lot of time. We also finalised all our colours, but I will put that in a new post.


There may be a few more variations from today which I'll mention as we think about certain upgrades - those too will be a new post with the cost difference.

This post will be as in depth as possible with lots of photos to give others looking to build the Livingstone 22 likes ours :) All prices I've listed include GST, to save confusion!

Air Conditioning

Supplier: Home Air Design
Time taken: 0.5 hours
Consultant: Glen
Total: $11,858.00

We knew from the start we wanted ducted air through-out the house, so it was added in as part of our tender at $11,614 (basically our whole $12,000 bonus with the promotion).

The model we added in the tender is the Actron Air 12.4kW Classic Ducted Split System (SRA133C), which comes with 3 zones as standard. The control is located just outside the bathroom, along with the vent. We decided to add an additional zone for $244.00 and have split it like so;

• Zone 1: Kitchen, Dining & Living
• Zone 2: Bedrooms 4 & 2
• Zone 3: Bedrooms 3 & 1
• Zone 4: Home Theatre

If we kept this 3-zoned, all bedrooms would be together

The standard air ducts are the round jet vent, the next one up is the 4 way vent which is an additional $40 each - the benefit to the 4 way is the vents can be angled where you want.

4-way vent & round jet vent

Electrical

Supplier: Clipsal by Schneider Electric
Time taken: 1 hour
Consultant: Michelle
Total: $10,745.00

I haven't received the digital drawings just yet, so you'll have to put up with my crappy photos of the prints. As we had no indication on what the standard plan was, we drew everything up that we thought we'd need:

Our sketch for the electrical plan

Overall, this is quite a pricy quote - we can save a little by doing things after handover, or another option is buying what we want and they can install it for a cheaper fee - but it doesn't always work out cheaper doing that. We've decided to stick with the supplier doing it all for us, purely for peace of mind and not having to worry about doing it after hand over and waiting longer to move in.

Electrical plan drawn up in our appointment

Electrical plan symbols

The standard style for sockets and powerpoints is the Slimline SC2000 series in white - there are many options for upgrading, but this isn't anything we're interested in. We also selected white light instead of yellow, I personally hate yellow light (when I paint or draw, everything looks different in yellow light!)

 
Slimeline series, its classic and suits everything!

Breakdown:

Kitchen

• Standard:
• 2 x Batten Holders & switches
• 1 x 1 Socket for rangehood
• 1 x 1 Socket for cooktop
• 1 x 2 Socket at bench height
• 1 x 1 Socket for dish washer
• Upgrade:
• 6 x 6W LED Down-light - $115ea
• 2 x 2 Socket at bench height - $79ea
• 1 x 4 Socket at bench height (island) - $111ea

Walk in Pantry

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• Upgrade:
• 1 x 11W LED Down-light - $179ea
• 1 x 2 Socket at bench height - $79ea

Landry

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• 1 x 2 Socket for washing machine
• Upgrade:
• 1 x 11W LED Down-light - $179ea

Dining

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switches
• 1 x 2 Socket 
• 1 x Motion Detector 90 P.I.R
• Upgrade:
• 4 x 6W LED Down-light - $115ea

Living

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switches
• 1 x 2 Socket
• 1 x TV Point digital
• Upgrade:
• 4 x 6W LED Down-light - $115ea
• 1 x 2 Socket - $79ea
• 1 x 4 Socket - $111ea
• 1 x Data Cat 6 - $146ea

Alfresco & Backyard

• Standard:
• N/A
• Upgrade:
• 4 x 6W LED Down-light - $115ea
• 1 x RC 2 10A Outdoor Socket - $137ea
• 1 x Double Floodlight, black - $197ea

Bedrooms 2, 3, & 4

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch per room
• 1 x 2 Socket per room
• Upgrade:
• 4 x 6W LED Down-light per room- $115ea
• 1 x Futura Fan white (210865) per room -  $274ea
• 1 x 2 Socket per room - $79ea
• 1 x Data Cat 6 per room - $146ea

Bathroom

• Standard:
• 1 x Heat Fan Light 2 lamp & switch
• 1 x 2 Socket at bench height
• Upgrade:
• N/A

WC

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• 1 x Exhaust Fan
• Upgrade:
• 1 x 2 Socket at bench height - $79ea

Side Hallway

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• 1 x Smoke Detector
• Upgrade:
• 2 x 6W LED Down-light per room- $115ea

Main Hallway

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• 1 x Smoke Detector
• 1 x Phone Socket (from study)
• 1 x Data Cat 6 (from study)
• 1 x Security Keypad
• 1 x Motion Detector 90 P.I.R
•  
• Upgrade:
• 7 x 6W LED Down-light per room- $115ea
• 1 x 4 Socket - $111ea
• 1 x Switch 3-way - $154ea

Bedroom 1

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• 1 x 2 Socket
• Upgrade:
• 4 x 6W LED Down-light - $115ea
• 1 x Futura Fan white (210865) -  $274ea
• 2 x 2 Socket - $79ea
• 1 x Data Cat 6 - $146ea
• 1 x TV Point digital - $110ea
• 1 x 1 Socket, extra noggin for TV @ 1600mm afl - $40ea

WIR

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• Upgrade:
• 1 x 1 Socket for alarm - $76ea
• 1 x Phone Socket for alarm - $110ea

Ensuite

• Standard:
• 1 x Heat Fan Light 2 lamp & switch
• 1 x 2 Socket at bench height
• Upgrade:
• N/A

Home Theatre

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• 1 x 2 Socket
• Upgrade:
• 4 x 6W LED Down-light - $115ea
• 1 x 2 Socket - $79ea
• 1 x Data Cat 6 - $146ea
• 1 x TV Point digital - $110ea
• 1 x 4 Socket - $111ea

Garage

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• 1 x 2 Socket, double GPO @ 1050afl
• 1 x 1 Socket, on ceiling for garage door
• Upgrade:
• 1 x 6W LED Down-light (in cupboard) - $115ea
• 1 x 2 Socket, double GPO @ 1050afl - $79ea
• 1 x 2 Socket, in manhole - $79ea
• 2 x 18W Diffused Fluro, Double - $181ea

Porch & Frontyard

• Standard:
• 1 x Batten Holder & switch
• Upgrade:
• 1 x Doorbell, push button D611 - $282ea

Shutters & Blinds

Supplier: Abbey Shutters & Blinds

Time taken: 0.5 hours

Consultant: Ashley

Total: $2051.86

This was rather easy for us, as we both knew what we liked and didn't like. For the whole house, we decided to do the Blockout Roller blinds - I didn't want venetians because they are a pain to clean all over the house, nor and vertical hanging blades because of how easy they get ruined, and full fabric draping curtains need to be washed to keep looking good.

All you need  to do is wipe them with a damp cloth and they are new again!

We chose Mantra Roller Blinds with silver metal chains and brushed metal base rails, the fabric colour in Flint - we love the fabric pattern, looks a lot nicer than the plain colours.

Blockout fabric in "Flint" - its a lot more black in person, less white lines

Tiles & Carpet

Supplier: Di Lorenzo

Time taken: 2 hours

Consultant: Lisa

Total: Currently $12,936.00

Allowances:

• $24 per m² for tiles
• $27 per m² for carpet

Square meters for Livingstone 22:

• Laundry Floor: 5.9m²
• Bathroom Floor: 5.8m²
• Bathroom Walls (standard): 11.1m²
• Bathroom Walls (2740mm ceiling height): 17.6m²
• WC Floor: 2.7m²
• WC Walls (standard): 1.3m²
• Ensuite Floor: 5.4m²
• Ensuite Walls (standard): 6.9m²
• Ensuite Walls (2740mm ceiling height): 14.1m²
• Alfresco Floor: 14.5m² 
• Main Floor (entry, hall, cloak, kitchen, dining, living, study & side hall): 82.62m²

We were initially worried about this appointment - after visiting them 2 weeks before to take a look at the selection, we wanted timber tiles because they look amazing and don't scratch like timber or other variants (I've had a lot of experience of this growing up).
The lady we spoke to originally only showed us the import products at $110 per m², and then an additional $100 for laying due to their size. We calculated the tiled area in our house (minus wet areas) to be around 86m², which would cost around $16,000 - not the amount of money we had left for tiles!

Lisa showed us their cheaper, non-import alternative, which was only $45per m² - What a difference! It will cost us half as much as the import products with labour fees and looks just as good. We picked Grey timber (DLT82077) with off-white grout, it will suit our colour scheme the best.

There are 5 colour choices, $21 per m² (after allowance)

As a second option, we're also receiving a quote for vinyl to compare prices - although at this point it looks like its going to be more expensive with all the preparation involved. We picked Amsterdam Grey in Omega Vinyl, which is $85 per m² ($59 per m² at carpet court), but it would need to be laid on plywood, so there is that cost to consider as well as labour - we are hoping the tiles come back cheaper than the vinyl, it was our first choice :)

There are too many colour choices! $61 per m² (after allowance)

For the Bedrooms and Home Theatre carpet, we upgraded from the standard choices to the Quest Carpets Rochford range - mainly because its more stain resistant and classified as "Extra Heavy Duty" for domestic use. Its $45 per m², and we selected the thickest underlay (Supa blue, 9.5mm) to make this carpet last even longer, the upgrade was $8 per m².

The carpet looks a lot darker in person, closer to black. $18 per m² (after allowance)

We had already picked Galileo for our bathroom benchtops, so we decided on keeping the bathroom black and white - classic and doesn't go out of fashion (coming from one household with a yellow/brown bathroom and another with a blue bathroom growing up).
From experience, we opted to have our bathroom, ensuite and WC tiled up to the roof instead of just the wet areas. Our consultant told us it would roughly be $1,500 each room to do, but makes cleaning so much easier and don't have to worry about paint staining or growing mold.

We picked a plain black 200mm x 200mm tile for the floor (D890) along with neutral grout, plain white glossy 200mm x 400mm tile for the walls (DCW1354) laid vertically with white grout, and for our feature strip (which will run half way through the shower niche) we picked the diamonds in different shades of grey (ha), black and white (WONDC1254 Circus Decor) - there were a few other black and white choices, but they had more grout and weren't as wide in their designs, these look like they will be easy to keep clean.

Pretty happy with the standard range of bathroom tiles!

Our laundry has the same black tiles and grout as the bathrooms, as well as the skirting with the same grout - apparently the grout colour we picked is only standard for floor tiles and not wall tiles, so in order to have it match the floor they charge $15 per m² for the grout (440 Delorian grey, or neutral when its standard).
 Di Lorenzo actually has a pretty decent range of tiles that are included as standard, unless you wanted crazy or wacky colours!

Some of the standard selection, there is still a lot more to choose from and mix & match

We have our lovely long window as our kitchen splashback, but we could still pick some tiles to put in our kitchen as part of our tender which is good :) we went with a slightly creamy, brown colour glossy 200mm x 400mm (KIGSM SMOKE) wall tiles to go with our kitchen cabinets, laid horizontal.

 Larger tile in the back for our kitchen

Lastly, we needed to pick a tile for the threshold at the front of the house, which was a simple grey 450mm x 450mm outdoor tile (DC 3324 Nero) - its $30 per m².

A little darker in person, has a gripping feel

Final Overview & Post Contract Variations

Supplier: Eden Brae

Time taken: 2 hours

Consultant: Amy

Total: $7,917

After all the appointments we met up with Amy again to give her our final colour selections and simple things like handles (will be in another post), we went over our checklist to make sure we didn't miss anything and have them added now- the forums have great resources other members have put together, check it out before all your appointments!

Included (as per promotion/tender):

• Gainsborough 100 Series - Lianna Lever (Round Rosette) with satin chrome SC
  
  
  
  From the standard range, locks are extra (as pictured)
• Gainsborough Contractor Lockset (Terrace 540 TER) with satin chrome SC
  
  
  
  From the standard range for garage door
•  Cornice Symphony 75mm and Cove 55mm
  
  
  
  From the standard range, Symphony for living areas, Cove for everything else
  
  
•  Skirting Corinthian Doors Splay 67mm x 18mm (SPLA6)
  
  
  
  From the standard range
•  Kitchen & Bathroom handles - Hettich (9120199) in matt chrome - horizontal to draws, vertical to doors
  
  
  From the standard range

Upgrades

• Corinthian 2040mm x 920mm x 40mm Madison PMAD106 front door, translucent glazing - $467
  
  
  While the standard door is lovely, I worry about having glass a hand can pass through easily, this was one of the choices I felt comfortable with
  
  
• Off-white mortar for bricks - $247
  
  
  Makes darker brown bricks stand out nicely
  
•  Cold water point to fridge space - $136
  
  
  
  Even if we don't use it, its better to have it then do it later!
  
  
•  PGH B Range brick option - Gibson - $740
  
  
  
  Similar to Mocha, less speckly - its a new brick so not many people have it
  
• Window Glazing; Viridian 6.38mm Laminated Comfort Plus clear 82 glazing - $3,843
  
  
  
  For sun protection and noise reduction, will be getting one of these options depending on the BASIX requirement from our Acoustic report
  
•  Internal soundscreen acoustic wall Insulation Gold option to bedroom 1, 2, 3, 4 and Home Theatre - $1,100
  
  
   
  Our study will be right next to the main bedroom, as well as the Home theatre, so we need that extra soundproofing
  
  
•  Whirly bird vent to roof - $28
  
  Need to keep the roof ventilated
  
• Gainsborough Handle set to front door; includes Gainsborough Oblong Pull Handle (9266PH600 SS), Gainsborough Square Escutcheons (S5SEEUSS), and Gainsborough Roller Bolt Mortice (775SC60) - $403 (rough quote)
  
  
  
  We wanted one of the long pull handles, but without the opening hiding behind it! They were annoying

• Gainsborough 100 Series privacy adaptors to Bedroom 1, 2, 3, 4, Bathroom and WC - $51ea ($306 total)
  
  
• Gainsborough Sliding Cavity privacy lock 395 to ensuite - $42
  
  
  Locks on doors should be standard
  
• Corinthian Internal Features door from the RiM primed range with translucent glazing to WIP - $733
  
  
  I want something fancy in our new kitchen
  
•  Remove wire shelving from all areas - Credit $409
  
  
• Obscure glazing to Ensuite window - $36
  
  
  
  Don't want people peeping into our ensuite!
  
  
• Aluminum fly-screens to all sliding/awning aluminum windows (excluding kitchen ASW) - $298
  
  
  Colour matches outside windows
  
• 1 x Polished edge mirror to WC for basin (1150H x 600W) - $118
  
  
  
  Really slick looking
  
• 1 x Gainsborough Storm Door Seal to front door and internal garage door - $73.50ea ($147 total)
  
  
  This seemed like the only non-annoying option for these seals
  
  
• Recess kit to gas instantaneous HWS - $204
  
  
  
  Looks a lot nicer and don't need to worry about accidentally running into it while walking up and down the side