Lighting

Lights .. I have to admit that trying to get the lighting right has been one of the bigger headaches of the build so far. We want to use energy efficient globes (i.e. compact fluoro) not just for the environment but also for the sake of our bank balance as electricity tariffs here in the west are set to rise significantly over the next two years. We have decided that we will use the lighting from the display home as a guide but where SPH have used halogen downlights, we will install a compact fluoro downlight. So as part of our electrics plan discussed at pre-start, we had the batten fixings removed from the living / family rooms, study, Bedroom 1, ensuite and Home Theatre rooms and replaced with a junction box placed in the ceiling.

For the other rooms I am going to fit a DIY batten fixture and a CFL globe.

In what we thought was a step away from the 'mainstream' (but which we now find is common in some of the more recently built display homes) we have decided to use downlights with white surrounds instead of the brushed chrome that seems popular. The reason being is that they are, after all, just lights and not everything in a room has to be a 'feature'. So, the downlights will look like this;

For the al fresco and portico, we are using Fozz 'Opera' because of it's water and dustproof capabilities.

The one bit of lighting bling in the family / kitchen / dining area will be three pendant lights over the island bench.

It's not all CFL though, for the Home Theatre we are usig halogens, (I am having a HPM SuperDimmer as the switch and it only works with halogen lights) but am also trying to go for a cinema feel for the room and are using these;

With the exception of a ceiling fan for the al fresco area and one for the Main Bedroom, that's about it.

Flawed?

No - actually floored.

The timber that we are going to use for the floor in the living area is going to be marri. It's a WA hardwood and should look great. We are carpeting all the other rooms, except the wet areas, obviously.


This is just an example of what it will look like - can't wait to see it for real!

Apparently it takes two to three weeks to install as it has to be left to acclimatise to it's new location, glued to the concrete, then sanded, sealed, polished etc. There's a lot more to flooring than I had considered.

Colours ... from the top! (Part 2)

Told you we would change our minds!

We chose 'Truffle' as the colour for our roof tiles.

Pre-start

Tile selections - check
Electrics plan - check
List of questions - check
Plans - check
Wishlist - check

Okay, we have everything, let's go!

And so it was, 'armed to the teeth' with plans plastered with post-it notes, pages of points-to-mention and cuttings of various bits and pieces we thought we'd ask about; Rayleen and I made our way to Balcatta for the pre-start consultation.

We had heard horror stories of seven hour meetings and cost blow outs, so we were a little nervous about what may happen and what the final balance may look like! Arriving promptly at 8.30 we waited for the consultant to invite us into her office ("Come into my parlour." said the spider to the fly.) And the consultation began;

To be honest it was not as difficult as I thought it may be. Just as expensive, maybe even more so, but the planning we did paid off as it was over by 12.00.

The main extras were;

1. The electrics plan. We installed extra powerpoints in the majority of rooms and I had conduit and blank face plates added to the rooms I wanted to run data cabling to.
2. Upgrade the front doors. This was more than I thought it should be, seemed as if I wasn't getting credit for the doors I was replacing.
3. The garage door. Upgraded to a cedar look finish.

These were in addition to the upgrades we had made with the sales consultant; raised ceiling to the living area, double drop bulkhead to the kitchen, the upgraded bath in the ensuite, upgraded shower heads in the main bathroom and the ensuite, replacing the single window in the Home Theatre room with three awning windows, to name a few of the changes.

All in all we added about an extra 15% to the base price. But, I think it was money well spent.

Apologies

It's been a very long time since I last posted and it's about time I got back into the swing of things.

A lot has happened; prestart, six revisions to the plans, site scrape, slab and now brickwork is nearly half way. So, starting tonight I will try to get this blog up to speed and you can join me on the process so far.

Dirt Resolved

I received a call from Caroline of SPH and after a brief look at the rubble they have determined that it is indeed from the neighbour's home and they have agreed to remove it free of charge - when they do the final site clean for the neighbour.

Dirt(y) Rotten Scoundrels

I like to visit our block once a week, sometimes more, just to make sure nobody has stolen any of the dirt. I needn't have worried!

When our neighbour's had their building site cleaned, the contractor did an excellent job ... and then dumped all the rubbish on our block! Luckily for Rayleen and I, our neighbour (a fellow H1er) also built with Scott Park Homes, so after a quick and unexpected call from Joe the friendly SPH sales consultant to discuss the plans for the Sov, which we still haven't received, I casually mentioned the extra dirt. Joe didn't seemed surprised but is confident that he can have it removed in plenty of time for the build.

Just amused that the contractor thought I would never notice or figure out where it all came from!