So the 31st will be our first PC - Prelimary contract meeting for about 1.5 hours with Anthony from Metricon.
Were quite excited to get the prelim details of the house which we will be changing the windows for the bathroom to make a feature wall.

We now know the house will be aprox 267sq mts which means once we get the final draft I can sort out the finances and legal stuff with the bank - here's hoping that there's another rate drop :D

On another note I had to return one of the dome black and white 3/4 lights as it had nasty scratched on the inside - it looked like it been open before several layers of regular tape on top kind of gave it away lol (unlike the other which was sealed with one single packing tape)

Anyway Beacon (nunawadding) are ordering me a new replacement - I think I will need to follow up on this as no reference number was given to me for the new order and they didn't seem to keen to get one in for me. They where suggesting I go to hoppers crossing store which is much father away and impossible for me to do as I work full time and  I work in Box Hill I can easily pickup lights from that store before they shut on weekdays.

I have been looking at pebble's for the garden and side steps next to the house (from ebay -scopetp)
 70-90 mm  IVORY WHITE BEACH PEBBLES -- 20 kg AU $19.00

I was thinking I might use some black pebbles in feature places but cant find ones as much as I like the shape and textures as these above.


I like the idea of these lights near garage/garden to light up paths etc but very expenive if you have to buy 3.. I was looking for the best price but its still a bit $$$ this is the cheapest price I could find..

NEW Monaco LED Bollard in Graphite UA7325GP - AU $149.35 (ebay : wayfair_australia)

So the pots arrived!! and guess what they look just as good if not better than the photos on ebay were both very pleased and the white one hexigon pot is larger than the picture looked so its great for one of the corners of the back yard. I'm still looking for a slab of teak sandstone paver 40-70mm thick to go under them and probably black stone paver of some sort under the white pot.

I'm thinking of putting a Red flax plant in the white pot.

First contact from Customer Support Metricon :-)

So I had a call from Elise from Metricon today who is going to be our Customer Services Support Coordinator for our build. Which from what I asked included our HIH contract and build!
She mentioned that Anthony would get in contact with us for prelim contract meeting which we need certain details about the land sub-division.

Updates... and LIGHTS!!

So yesterday Marie and I went down nunawading furniture/hardware/lighting shops ' I think they call this 'the golden mile' - or somthing like that.

I went looking for honed sandstone (teak) pavers to my disapointment most of the stone shops where closed and bunnings hardware store only had 20mm thick when I propabably need 40-50mm thick for my bubble pots which some will arrive in the next day - the others will be delayed until new stock arrives in.

We ending up going into Beacon lighting where we need to get our lights from - although its might not be the store which we will need to go to pick the main lights as metricon have preferred beacon suppliers close to them but to cut a long story short they where having a pretty big sale - 30% off your 2nd light which is neat because lights are expensive! especially feature ones.

We purchased 2x $129- and the other at $90.30 = $219.30

$129.00

$90.30

$129.00

$90.30

Inside 1 Light 3/4 Dome Pendant in Black/White
These will be above the Kitchen bench (L Shaped)

 

And this is the other main center dining room Light! (see below)
It's hard to get the details of the drum pendant light so I looked up the patter matertials on 'mayfield's' website: http://www.mayfieldlamps.com.au/
Althought being the last one and getting a discount, these lights are kind of expensive
but they look far better quality than most other look-a-likes.

What got us is that we thought it was a 'whole package' depsite there being 3 tags on the lights
one for each component the suspension/conector, diffuser (the white shad below the bulb) and the key compoent the drum.

So of course there was confusion and we didn't end up getting the suspension/connector and the diffuser which was bit more $$ the sales rep at beacon had made the mistake for also thinking that it was a set so she's going to get in a new 1.5 suspension and new diffuser with what she said I would get 15% off for the mistake we will see how it all goes!
I will triple check when I pick up :-) I had to have this light its so nice!

 C2 Starburst (inside)
Ours seems to have some blue as well as these base colours! Blue, grey, white with a splash of yellow - All our colour scheme in ONE! :-)

C3 Black Soft Pleat (outside)
This looks softer on the outside than in the swatch.












I would have loved to go shopping for down lights but it wouldn't be wise as electrical plan meeting hasn't happened yet!  I know it may be cheaper but we might end up with not enough or too many lights but that's okay will just wait for Metricon to sort it.

Contracts, designs and facade problems...

Sorry I haven't updated in weeks been very busy and sick .. sick for about 2 weeks :(
although work has progressed!!
While I have been waiting for contracts and modifications to be draw up I have been keeping myself busy with landscaping!! yes I know it's early but I know exactly how the house is placed on the land and where the fence will be after receiving back the land placement and land surveys.

On a side note were not having  the Kingston facade as this will push back our house and cause issues with the 'free open space' :( sad but it just means I can spend a bit more $$$ else where on stone work etc.

So this is my design so far I'm sure it will be modified slightly with the drive way etc but it's pretty spot on so I know how much I will need to buy for materials.

I purchased these pots from a seller on ebay which I will probably put at the front of the house where the two pots are currently shown on the picture or along the back wall where some wood cladding will be - this design is so easy so I will follow this with the blocks of stone to raise them up!

We don't have too much room for a luscious garden but who wants that these days anyway? and since tenants will be renting the house for a few years even if they kill the plants I can easily replace them and not spend too much $$$ but still get a great look :)  (ebay seller is if you want the same item : marks_quality_products)
All these are fiber glass pots so they wont corrode and can be washed down.

Large 380 dia Round Black Indoor Outdoor Planter Home Garden Plant Pot Box - AU $139.00 380mm diameter x 760mm high

430 x 430 x 660h mm - Round Indoor Outdoor Planter Fiberglass Home Garden Office Small Large Plant Pot -AU $116.10 (on sale) + $40 for white colour


I love the hexagons on this funky pot in white - paid extras for the white it looks so much better!
I'm going to see how good they when they arrive and order more quantities if needed.

The vertical gardens by Fytogree

Florafelt F12 Greenwall Growing Panel $150 each
Florafelt F12 felt pocket greenwall growing panel with root wrappers, coreflute backing and attachment tags. Made from 100% recycled PET plastic felt.
Mounted to a rigid plastic panel.
Simply Hang from the Nylon Tabs and Grow.
Includes root wrappers and 2 rows of drip irrigation. Grows 12/24 plants (not included).
800 x 600mm. WEIGHT: 3kg (about 11kg planted)

This is what I want to imitate near the kitchen window but horizontal.

A smaller scale of this on the wall..

Designs, Structural Modifications and Marie's request list...

So were well on our way with the structural modifications with a proposed Study upstairs which will be 3.2 x 2 more long than wide but that fine with me and I don't see there will be much of an issue with council because the room keeps in-line with the current line of bedroom 3.


I wanted the study because it can be marketed as Study/Guest bedroom as its big enough to place a pull out couch/pull out bed at one end  and a desk as you walk in it adds value to the rent-ability /sell-ability of the place.. that and it comes in handy for washing that hasn't been folded yet or that exercise bike that never gets used.. :P

But in all seriousness when a person is going up the stairs instead of small space funneling off to each bedroom there will be a lovely open room bringing light and a feel of more open space upstairs section of the house and when its being used a sliding cavity door will give that privacy for what ever purpose it is being used for either that be study/work or a guest who needs privacy.

Also another structural change were looking at is the small included veranda behind the family room, which is a waste since out fence is about 2m away so instead and extension (which has yet to be priced) will bring out the family room making a huge room where windows will now be - excellent for a TV and entertainment cabinets to go.

This will allow the bi-fold doors to be placed where our open/free space is :-)
Were waiting to see the cost for this modification but we don't think it will be too much as the supporting pillars are still be used in the same way - it will be interesting if it effects the roof line at all.

Another not so major modification is the bulk head as you are walking past the powder room into the kitchen/family room(see arrow).
This is being looked into also but it depends what structural support is in that doorway space. This is where is comes in handy to read the building blogs have done prior to my build.. one thing I took away from one of them was a door way is not just a door way and cannot be removed without seeing structural advice before contracts and done and dusted.

Land Surveyor and Sample feature Tile ready for Pick up

So today is the Land Surveyor is going out to survey the land which he should be doing right now since there isn't any issues with the weather. The land/soil surveyor should be giving me a call - hasn't happened as yet to the the surprise of the Land Surveyor- to go on premises and do his bit for the pre-build requirements.

On another note the feature tile for the bathroom sample came in from Oakleigh Beaumont tiles - Marie's hopefully gone to pick this up as I'm at work and wont be able to pick it up.

Idea for Flooring Materials and which Rooms.

This is the idea I had for flooring for the new house: