Current Building Progress (Christmas Break)

Carlisle Homes how has closed for Christmas and our progress is back on halt. The SS ask whether we still wanted to lay the foundation (rushing) before Christmas and let is stay under the hot of summer for 3 weeks or wait until Jan.

We choose to wait, we don't want to rush things and make sure everything goes accordingly. So Slab has now dated the 6th of Jan and frame the 13th. However site scrape has been done, portable toilet is in, sand barrier has been installed and that cage thingy to put rubbish is there. Also electrical meter is up and Carlisle sign (showing the SS details) has been put up in the site.

As you can see from the pictures below, all of our surrounding neighbors have gone way more than ours in regards to construction (remind you all settled in September 13). They are using Henley, Porter Davis and Simonds. 

The good thing about this is that we won't have a problem in the future that our neighbors start building (fencing to be put down for construction, dust, etc), all fencing costs will be divided equally (yay) and we think it will feel more like a community if our house is surrounded by other houses :).

To be honest I now found that Carlisle is a bit slow in regards to starting construction (showing that other builders can already gone to this stages below). I have finished all paperwork finance etc (other than final drawing) in the end of October. It took them a month to start the site scrape (early Dec). During this time, they are stating that they will be finishing the docs, ordering the material, estimating, and finishing final drawing. I'm hoping the wait is a guarantee of their work results. 

From Front

Look Messy from Back

One of Many Holes on the Ground, Probably to put the Ground Foundation?

Electrical / Meter Box

4th Contract Variation, Final House Plan & Final Electrical Plan

We have now receive and signed our final drawing which mean we won't be able to make anymore changes to the plan unless we want to pay ridiculous amount of penalty.

So these are our final house plans :)

Final House Plan

The plan is mostly standard, the changes that we made are change the robe doors to sliding doors, add sliding doors to ensuite, add double sliding door to lounge, add wall opening to rumpus (from meal) & add extra noggins to future tv location for possible wall hung TVs

For the electrical, we manage to add 4 more power points before they finish the drawing which mean avoiding variation fee :)

Final Electrical Plan

For electrical we do plan to change all the normal batten lights to a down lights after handover & add garden lights in the back and front of the house (with the Junction Box) however at the moment we think the current plan will be enough :)

Our CLE also inform the changes to basin and toilet, she said that these are new standard item which will replace the old ones. They look very similar to the old ones, I think it is just different brand

Old Toilet                           >>>>                   New Toilet  

Old Basin                        >>>>                       New Basin  

Other than that, all have been good and we cannot wait till the house finished!

Update on Land Settlement & Building Progress

Hi All..

It has been a while since I updated the blog. During the two months a lot of things has happen and not happen according to plan.

The land was settled on time and all documentation and settlement goes well and we are now a proud owner of a piece of Melbourne.

After the land is settled we are trying to push the bank and our broker to finalised the construction contract valuation and give us the final approval. This process took them 1 month, this is with me following up on daily basis which is a pain. After the wait the valuation comes 12k short because the bank expected improved property (including landscaping, driveway & fence) which is not and will not be provided by Carlisle.

In the end the problem is sorted (another 2 weeks wait), by borrowing above valuation amount with small LMI. This can probably be avoided by going with the big 4 banks instead of smaller one. In this case we factor the saving in interest rate and willing to take the risk dealing with smaller bank in which tend to be risk adverse and slow in valuation

During this time, I believe Carlisle has made some internal restructuring and our CLE quit the company so we have a new CLE. Fortunately the new CLE is amazing!!

We have to make some changes to the house design because we missed the developer covenant in regards to 2 minimum material to be used in front facade. We choose to go with full render in the beginning and we consider timber posts as the second material, however the developer do not accept this.

In this case we have to

1. go back to original part render / part brick

2. have the Chestnut brick with off white mortar (upgrade)

3. Have FC Sheet above garage with Jasper color
4. remove the 3rd render color and only go with two as per standard

Carlisle did gave us credits in regards to the change.

We have received the building permits & developer approval last week and now waiting on an actual start date, approximate time at this stage is to start late November / early December.

Overall, these have been a tiring two months delay and now we cannot wait until the house start building!!

Electrical & House Plan - Nearly Final

Hi All!!

Excitingly waiting for our building contract which is going to happen next month.. Currently reviewing the electrical plan that we have made a lot of changes to.

This plan will also shown changes is Rumpus room (now have 2x sliding doors), En-suite with sliding door & all wardrobe now have quick-slide door instead of normal door.

The only unusual thing that we did was to have the power point & data point in WIL. This is to put the WiFi Router. we feel that it is the best place to put it because it is right in the middle of the house and really close to the rooms.

We will change the lights on top of the kitchen cabinet, middle of living room & meal room with pendant lights after handover. Furthermore we also will change most or all of the normal batten to oyster lights in the future.

Let me know what you guys think / critics in regards to the plan :)

PS: There are never enough lights...

Nearly Final...

Tender Appointment & Price...

Hi All!!

We have just finished our tender appointment. The appointment was easy and all the price add up still acceptable for us. I will set out all the upgrade pricing below, remember this this for our house specific so price may differ from your own but not much.

Celebrate Living Promotion 4 Packs ($16,500)

1. Full render front house 2 Colours
2. Clear glazed Windsor Entry Door
3. Cat 2 Monier Roof Tile
4. Automatic Garage Door with 3 Remotes
5. Caesarstone Kitchen Bench top
6. 4 Different Configuration to Kitchen Overhead Cupboards
7. Laminated open Shelf and Wine Rack to Above Fridge Space
8. Technika Stainless Steel Dishwasher
9. Clear Glass Splash back for Kitchen
10. Aluminium Entertainer Glass Door to Alfresco
11. Ceiling Fan to Alfresco
12. Four Zone Security System
13. Fly screen & Locks to All Open able Window
14. Towel storage rack to En suite Cabinet
15. 15 LED Down lights
16. Microphone Rail to Bathroom
17. Cat 1 Carpet to Bed Rooms, Rumpus, Activity
18. Cat 1 Laminated Timber Flooring to Entrance, Hallway, Kitchen, Living, Meal

SPECTRA Upgrade

Telstra Velocity Entertainer in lieu of Basic Velocity	$ 1,454.00
Wall Opening Between Activity & Meal - Free	$ -
1no Additional Front Render Colour	$ 248.00
Fly screen to alfresco door 2.1m High to Suit Entertainer Door	$ 762.00
Entrance Door Upgrade Madison PMAD104 - Translucent Glass	$ 308.00
Translucent Glass - Front Entry Site lite Window	$ 104.00
2no Translucent Glass - En suite & Bathroom Windows	$ 850.00
Entrance Lock Upgrade - Trilock	$ 342.00
Garage to Indoor Lock Upgrade - Single Cylinder Deadbolt + Handle	$ 160.00
2no Hardwood Solidors (Garage & Laundry)	$ 268.00
Laundry Lock Upgrade - Single Cylinder Deadbolt	$ 95.00
En suite Door Addition - 820mm Sliding Door	$ 319.00
2no Toilet & Bathroom Privacy Locks	$ 84.00
Door to Rumpus from Hallway Double Sliding 820mm	$ 738.00
3no Quick slide Sliding Door to Bedroom Robes	$ 639.00
Kitchen Range hood Ducted to Outside (Roof)	$ 531.00
2no Perspex Door Upgrade (Slimline)	$ 108.00
11no Soft Close Kitchen Drawer	$ 308.00
Round Shower Dumper + Microphone Rail in En suite	$ 268.00
6no Additional LED Lights	$ 864.00
2no Outdoor Lights to Front - Rebus	$ 520.00
2no Outdoor Lights to Side - Double Sensor Flood Lights	$ 320.00
2no Outdoor Junction Boxes	$ 180.00
2no Slimline Lights for Under Kitchen Cupboards	$ 290.00
2no Garage Single Fluro 600mm	$ 236.00
7no Extra Double Power Point	$ 364.00
1no Extra Double Power Point - Outdoor (Alfresco)	$ 118.00
4no Extra Wall Noggins	$ 112.00
3no Two Way Light Switch	$ 138.00
Extra Self Sealing Exhaust Fan (Laundry)	$ 202.00
Surge Protection (Main Meter Box)	$ 208.00
2no Extra TV Point	$ 210.00
Brivis Evaporative Cooling (Profiler P54 - Auto Refresh & Winter Seal)	$ 6,417.00
4 Star Heating Upgrade & Zoning Controller (4 Zones)	$ 931.00
Moving Outdoor Tap to Rear	$ 126.00
Cat 2 Carpet Underlay	$ 555.00
2no Shower Niche (300mm x 400mm x90mm)	$ 600.00
3no Metal lining to bath & shower	$ 54.00

We also found out that we need to add one extra Solar Panel for the Rinnai Hot Water & Pay extra for Telstra Smart Wiring

Color Selection

Hi All!!

Fiuhh... just went back from the tiring yet exciting color selection in SPECTRA. Our color selection lady was really helpful and advises us on the color selection process. Here it goes...

Outdoor

Brick                         : Chestnut (Cat 1)

2nd Choice Brick       : Truffle (Cat 1a - Now Cat 3)

Roof Tiles                 : Barramundi (Cat 2 - Promo)

Gutter / Down pipe    : Dune

Window Frame          : Jasper

Render                      : Corral (Dark) - Bed box (Med) - Hog Bristle (Light)

Impression on Photoshop

Render Position        : Middle & Timber Post                      : Corral
                                               Right & Left Sides                            : Bed Box
                                               Two Brick Wall Under Timber Post   : Hog Bristle

Entrance Door Model - Different Color

Garage Door Model - Different Color

Entrance Door & Glass     : Madison & Translucent                                                                                      Garage Door Model          : Ranch / Hampton

Entrance Door Color         : Hog Bristle (like the lightest render)                                                               Garage Door Color           : Jasper

Flooring

Carpet

Laminated Timber  : Witloc Merbau                                                                                              Carpet                   : Ballard 185

Kitchen

Bench top               : White Shimmer (Upgrade - Promo)

Cabinet                   : Licorice Linea  

Splash back             : Shipwreck Clear (Upgrade - Promo)

Perspex                   : White (Upgrade - Slimline)

Internal Paint

Ceiling                 : Whisper White

Wall                     : Grand Piano Quarter 

Bathroom, En suite & Laundry

Floor Tiles                  : Vibe Latte

Wall Tiles                   : Euphoria Latte

Feature Tiles               : River Almond  

Cabinet & Bench top   : Nocturne Oak

Electrical plan coming soon!!

Our Land Update

Went for a drive after work last Friday to see the current land state and it didn't disappoint. We had our crossover laid out and some indication of our boundaries. It looks like our land will be a bit taller than the street (which is good)

Front Right

Front

Front Sideways

Backview

Front Left

Back to Front

Useful Website / Designer Tool

I have added a couple of useful links on the right hand side to help if your builder are using those vendor and wanted to see the images / specs of the product you will be getting.

Some of the website also have a visualization web based software to help you plan your house for example

Laminex Designer 3D (The best one!)

From this tool I manage to re-create my kitchen and tryout variety of colors for the cabinet in the kitchen with our selected floor color

The Colorbond Visualizer & Beaumont Tiles Select are also another useful tools to use!!

Color Browse

We went to our Color Browse at SPECTRA which is Carlisle Homes head office. The lady who help us there is very helpful but Carlisle may need to train them to answer more detailed questions (they ask us to wait until Color Selection).

In the end we have to ask some questions via email which is painstakingly take a long time to answer & do a lot of research our self. We do recommend visiting Homeone Forum for all your information. There are also specific Topic for Carlisle Homes

Standard Detailed Master Plan

Standard Electrical Plan

Color Browse (The place is huge and there so much more than this!!)

Timber Flooring

Splashbacks

Door & Cabinet Handle

External Lights

Switches

Standard Cooktop

Stained Door (Upgrade)

Internal Door (Upgrade)

Garage Door (Upgrade)

Colorbond Colors

Standard Bath Tap

One of The Standard Basin

Standard Kitchen Tap

Microphone Rail Showerhead

Standard Rangehood

Shower Niche (Upgrade)

Security System (Upgrade)

One of The Standard Brick

One of The Standard Caesarstone 

Skirtings

Renders

Cornices

Hot Water System