Flooring Decision and Render

The most recent mission has been to choose what type of flooring to use. We never imagined it would be so difficult - definitely the hardest decision we've had to make so far (excluding choosing a floor plan). Thankfully we have found the most incredibly helpful and patient salesperson at Carpet Court and have finally come to a decision. We are using two different colours of carpet, but from the same range. The darker colour will be in the two front rooms downstairs (Study and Front Living) and then we will use the lighter colour up the staircase and for all of upstairs. They are a solution dyed nylon and are really nice and soft with a 15 year warranty. And this is the main flooring downstairs. We chose a vinyl plank flooring as it is easy DIY installation, and it is extremely durable - it has a 20 year residential warranty and can be used in the kitchen where it may get wet. Also as we are having a pool and we have a dog we needed something that wouldn't absorb water and get damaged easily. The colour replicates Blackbutt timber. The colour will complement the lower timber treads on the staircase and the timber bifold doors. And last but not least part of our render has been painted and so has the cladding. I have been so excited to see how this looks and I absolutely love it. The render is Paperbark and the cladding is Snuggle Pie.

Downstairs Plastered

It continues to amaze me how fast they work. Went to our house this afternoon to find that the whole downstairs has had all the plasterboard put up! Also I managed to get a good pic of the rendered front of the house (it is yet to be painted). It really feels like a house now. Garage: Looking through the house from the entry: Looking back towards front door: Where future staircase and door to under stairs storage will be: Kitchen - so excited to see this finished: Lounge, dining, rumpus and alfresco:

Render Done and Plasterboard Delivered!

We went to our house fairly late last night just to check what had happened that day but not really expecting too much. We couldn't believe it when we saw the whole front of the house had been rendered! AND there was a massive pile of plasterboard that had been delivered and was sitting in the garage ready to become our walls! Can't wait to go back this afternoon when it is still daylight and take some pictures. At the moment all I have is this one taken by torch light of the render! Really looking forward to the render being painted and the scaffolding coming down so we can see how the front of the house looks!

Balcony Bricked and Door Dilemma

We were really excited to see the timber sliding door we upgraded to installed between the master bedroom and the balcony, however as it is shown in this picture, this is as far as it opens. We thought this was bizarre as it left only a quite small opening, so we went home and checked over our plans. It turns out they have put the doors the wrong way around. The inside panel should be the sliding one, rather than the outside panel. Because of them being the wrong way around the handles prevent the door from opening as far as it should. We haven't spoken to Plantation about this yet, however as it is not as it's drawn on the plans we signed off on I presume they will fix it without a drama.

Pics of the balcony bricking done - sorry for the bad quality of them!

View out from the balcony - love the half height brick walls on each side for privacy and then we will have a glass balustrade at the back to make the most of the view..

Bricks!

The view of the golf course from the rear master bedroom and balcony...

Ready for the bricks to begin...

Bricks, bricks, and more bricks!!

Our first glimpse of bricks going up..

Front pillars bricked 

Bricking is pretty much complete now, although it is hard to really see with all the scaffolding in the way, and it wasn't the best time of day for a photo either.. 

Windows and Doors

Windows all installed! Love the awning type windows on the facade.

Close up of front windows:

Window splashback:

View from kitchen of the window out to the alfresco and the bifold doors to the alfresco..

Bifold doors

Master bedroom window and timber sliding door lying on balcony frame waiting to go on.. 

Colorbond Roof and Progress Pics

Colorbond roof :

Delivery of windows and doors sitting in the garage:

Plumbing and electrical rough ins done - amazing to see how much is actually hidden away in the walls and ceiling space of a house...

The back of the house: rumpus and alfresco downstairs, and balcony off the master bedroom upstairs..

Frame stage

We couldn't believe how quickly the frame went up. They did most of the lower level in only 2 days.
It was great to finally be able to "walk through" our future home

Lower level frame.

Upper level frame on...

Alfresco and backyard... And supports for where balcony will be off master bedroom above... Oh and Stockland kindly did our back fence for us - we love it.

Roof framing and guttering now on...

Slab

Our slab which went down on August 13th. We were so excited to finally see it after 10 months since purchasing our land! We had some family come and pop a bottle of Moët on the slab with us to celebrate.

A long overdue update of our Plantation Homes Trinity

Well it has been a long time since I last posted on here but so much has happened lately that I thought I should begin back on this blog. I love reading other people's blogs and hearing their stories so I want to share ours too.
Here is our time line of our build so far:

Oct 25 2013: Deposit on land in North Lakes
Jan 26 2014: Signed with Plantation Homes to build the Trinity Q2 with modifications
August 13 2014: Slab went down
August 28 2014: Frame started
September 26 2014: Roof completed
                                Windows and bifold doors installed
October 6 2014: Bricking began
October 17 2014: Bricking finished

Next I will post some pics of each stage of the build so far. I'm getting so excited for all the internal work to begin so that we can see all our colour selections come to life.

Overall Plantation Homes have been wonderful to deal with. They are always quick to respond and are very willing to help. We were hoping to have handover by Christmas however our administrator has said unfortunately it doesn't look like we will. It is a shame but we are just so happy and excited to be building this house that we can't possibly complain about waiting a month longer.

Plantation Deposit Paid!

We have paid a deposit and signed with Plantation Homes (aka Henley Homes)!!! We are so happy and know that this is the right choice for us - not doubt about it!
Our floor plan upstairs -

Our floor plan downstairs - but with alfresco extended to end of kitchen , and we will be using the "theatre" as more of a rumpus area! 

Today we went to visit Cosham Interiors studios for the first time, to get a bit of an idea what their choices are like! Next post I will put up some pics and tell about our experience. 

Deciding on a builder.

We received the quote from Coral Homes, and although over budget, once we downgraded the inclusions it was around the price we were happy to pay.
However, we also found a design by Plantation Homes, which was a slightly bigger home, had the options we needed, and included ducted aircon for the same price (no aircon with Coral promo).
So despite the lovely lady at Coral Homes we have decided to build the Trinity Q2 by Plantation Homes, with an extended alfresco, master suite to rear, and addition of a rear balcony.
On Sunday we have an appointment at which we will be paying our initial deposit with them - so so excited!!! Let the building process begin!

North Lakes consultant meeting

We went on Saturday to see the ladies at the North Lakes Coral Homes display. Both of them were very friendly and as they were both busy when we went in, even offered to call us to let us know when they were free. About half an hour later we got a call so raced back. The lady who helped us was so incredibly helpful and knowledgable - we were super impressed after our prior bad experience with the guy at Rochedale!
We spent about an hour going over the plan and inclusions with her so that she could prepare a quote for us based on what we want - so exciting but feeling a bit anxious about how much over budget it comes back at. We've basically asked for the initial quote with every thing we want in it, the top level Inspirations inclusions, at least that way we can see all the costings and then work backwards from there.
So now we are just awaiting her email and our quote!!

Pre Meeting with Coral Homes

Well tomorrow is the day the Coral Homes display in North Lakes opens back up after the Christmas period closure. I am feeling really anxious about meeting with them tomorrow - firstly whether the costs we have estimated are close to accurate or way under, and secondly I'm really hoping that this time we find a helpful consultant! I suppose at least they can't be worse than the guy from Rochedale who never even sent us a quote after all the time we spent going over it with him.
I've been busy busy lately researching all sorts of selections for our home. I was so happy to discover they use PGH bricks, Caesarstone, and Laminex as they all have great colour ranges to choose from. We are going for an earthy natural resort style feel to the house so are trying to ensure all our selections work together to achieve this. We also want big timber stacker doors across the back to open out to our alfresco area and pool - this will probably be our favourite feature in the house!
I will post another update after our meeting with Coral - fingers crossed it goes well!