Updated drawings with extended garage + 'Store Room'

After weeks of waiting we finally received some updated drawings showing the extended garage, addition of the store room and of the window.

The reason for the 'Store Room' is to allow us to extend the garage to the edge of our block and still being able to meet the design guidelines of our estate. As I previously mentioned, it states that the width of the garage cannot exceed 6.6m.

Pretty happy with the outcome, especially with the additional window just hoping all goes smoothly from now on and the developer accepts this change.

Finally, we found a few errors in the drawings and the BC is working on getting those fixed.

Main Flooring

We have decided to do our own flooring in all rooms except the wet areas. The main reason is the cost to upgrade flooring with Porter Davis is very high and we do not want to settle for lower quality flooring.

Carpet was an easy choice for us, we went to Western Distributors (Highly recommend this place!) and within half an hour we had picked our carpet.

Tiles on the other hand was a massive PITA. We really couldn't make up our minds and when we did pick one it would end up being out of stock without an ETA on the next batch. We visited the following stores:

• Anytiles
• National Tiles
• Western Distributors 
• Tile Liquidators
• Beaumont Tiles
• Fox Ceramics

 Finally after weeks of searching we managed to make up our mind and decide to go with the Alpine Stone from National tiles. It's a full body porcelain. We put a deposit on it today and they have agreed to hold onto it for us until next year! Woo

Here are some photos of the tile and carpet. It's a very light grey tile, photos are not very accurate.

World Of Style Showroom

The past few weekends we have visited the new "World of Style' showroom. First impression is WOW! This place does not comparable to the old Hopetoun Interiors showroom. It is about 4-5x the size and PD have utilized that space to set-up lots of different displays. The range has also increased quite a bit now.

Bad news for us is that we will probably end up spending more, so many nice things! I guess that's the whole point of the new showroom... but hey we can no longer complain about the limited selection.

Anyways, even though we have delayed our colour appointment till September now, we have pretty much selected most our colours, flooring and tap ware.

Less talk more photos...

Extend it is... Who wouldn't want a bigger garage? :)

We finally heard back from the developer. It appears we have a street lamp in front of our block (didn't know that when we signed). Therefore the answer is no, we cannot move the crossover to line up with the garage door.

Next best option extend the garage. Even though it means more $$$, being someone who works on his car frequently I can't complain about a bigger garage. Any excuse is a good excuse.

However, there are some limitations. The developer has set out some design guidelines which state that the width of the garage cannot exceed 6.6m. Hoping to hear back from the Builder with a solution in the next few days. See below picture and link to our design guidelines.


http://www.merrifieldmelbourne.com.au/uploaded/131209_MerrifieldLiving_Residential%20Design%20Guidelines_RevC-LowRes.pdf

First Dilemma...

So, during our Tender appointment we were given a house siting drawing to sign. We pointed out that the crossover was not aligned with our garage. The feedback was that we could ask the developer to relocate the cross over or we would be forced to move the house. I got the engineering document for our block and it seems that all the other blocks are in the same boat with having the cross over as far to the edge of the block as possible.

We really didn't want to move the house any further North as we would be loosing space on the alfresco side and be gaining space on the 'dead' side.

Now we are waiting for a response from the Developer regarding the feasibility to relocate the crossover.

Tender Appointment

Tender appointment completed. I thought I would share what actually happened on the day as it was still unclear to us before we went. Here is a brief outline of our experience:

1. What was involved:

• Went over a Tender Document which is basically the same layout as a sales quote with more detailed descriptions and accurate pricing
• Went over the basic house layout
• Confirmed siting
• Finalised any structural changes
• Added/removed any changes or components we had in the original sales quote
• Paid 3% deposit

2. Experience:

• Staff were really friendly, patient and knowledgeable.
• Most quotes were accurate. However, the one that weren't were WAY off. Some up to 3x as much.
• Minimal mistakes found (still need to be on the lookout)

Overall, the experience was quite positive. The only disappointing parts were the price variations (non-negotiable even if they stuffed up) and the fact that they still didn't confirm the feasibility and cost of the alcove for the fish tank.

Hope that helps anyone planing to build with PD in the near future.

Preliminary Soil Test

Got our 'Preliminary' soil test report today. It's based on a approximate location of where the block is going to be as construction is not complete yet.

It gives us a rough idea of what to expect for site costs and our SC was spot on, H2 Class waffle slab.

Here are some screen shots from the report: