Saturday 22 October 2011

Coco Republic Sale

Today we went to a Coco Republic sale at one of the closing Porter Davis displays. Up to 70% off!! The sale items were from the Cayman and Brooklyn display homes at the Keys Estate in Keysborough.

There were some great bargains, but you had to be there early as most off the stuff was gone within 30 minutes.

There was an awesome couch for a cinema room, it was in a " [ " configuration (3 modules x 6 x 2), normal retail price $11,500 for sale at $4,000. I just wish I had a room big enough for it.

Anyway, we ended up with an ottoman and chair for our bedroom. The ottoman will go in the WIR and the chair in the room. Retail price stated at $2,000 for the chair and $1,000 for the ottoman, we got them for $650 and $400 respectively.

Chair for Master Bedroom

Ottoman for Master WIR

Thursday 20 October 2011

Land Barons

We settled on our land on Wednesday. Everything went smoothly at the scheduled time of 2pm. We headed down to the block after work and drank a couple of piccolos, and tried to work out where the portico and alfresco were.

Now we need to get our building permit issued and then sign off on the Construction Drawings. Hopefully these aren't too far away now and we can book in a site start!

I guess we really won't be making any more changes now (thankfully), and the really interesting blog posts detailing the build will start!

Cheers!

Saturday 15 October 2011

Sneaky Sneaking

On our most recent visit to Saltwater Coast we decided to let ourselves into the Lifestyle Centre to have a bit of a squiz. The tennis courts are almost finished as too the pools and spa. The actual building was locked so we couldn't get in :(

Here are a few pics we took before the security guy came along.

Lap pool

Spa, resort pool and kids pool

Saturday 8 October 2011

Seven is lucky for some

We have had a long time to think about the specifications of our home between signing our contract (27.03.2011) and now. Every detail has probably been checked about 100 times...

So there have been quite a few PCVs - 7 to be exact, and our BC has been a gem throughout them all. Not something to be proud of, but we have just became her customer with the most PCVs. Some things have been added/removed in one PCV and then changed back later - again she has been very accommodating. A bottle of nice Champagne will be coming her way when we finish Construction Drawings.

PCV 1 - Things not correct, picked up at contract signing

Relocation of laundry cabinets/sink to be against external wall
Relocation of the evaporative cooling duct in the Rumpus
Remove sink from middle of master bedroom
Stain external laundry and ensuite door
Stain 4 leaf and 5 leaf bifold doors
Change front door glass back to clear
Add quick slide doors to robes in bedrooms 2 and 3
Remove handles from the cabinets on the back of island bench
Add laminex crystal gloss cabinetry to pantry
Locate washing machine taps and waste points in laundry cabinet
Remove extension of splashback behind rangehood
Final drawings should show pot drawer under steam oven as per promotion
Also a few refunds due to staining of windows being calculated at the wrong price

PCV 2 (07.06.2011)

Change paint colour of alfresco beam to CB Monument
Specify edge to all stone around the house to be the same cut (straight with radius eased)
Couple of changes to electrical documents

PCV 3 (07.06.2011)

Upgrade to cat 6 bricks (Hawthorn / Hawksburn) from cat 3 (LaTrobe)

PCV 4 (12.08.2011)

Add Telstra underground connection (why this isn't a standard inclusion, we'll never know)
Increase size of windows in study to be the same as the display
Extend splashback behind rangehood
Refund for incorrectly charged garage door

PCV 5 (02.09.2011)

Couple of changes to electrical documents
Provide mirror image of pantry (it wasn't flipped when the rest of the house was)

PCV 6  - Approved by PD, still waiting on documentation, requested mid September

Change ensuite and bathroom cabinetry to crystal gloss
Plaster over the niche in dining room and remove light

PCV 7  -  Approved by PD, still waiting on documentation, requested early October

Increase ceiling heights to 9' from 8.5' (don't know why we didn't do this at the start - overlooked)
Increase the 2 bi fold door's heights to 2340mm

We were told very clearly "no structural changes after Tender" but as you can see this hasn't happened. We have been charged a $500 fee for re-engineering drawings and then the cost of the item. So we are really happy. Maybe it is because all these changes are making PD some cash. We now feel confident the house is right and have stopped looking at the drawings. For now. Maybe. Although a pool would be nice, don't you think...? Hmmm...

Thursday 6 October 2011

Finally our land has titled - come on settlement !

We received a call from our solicitor today and our land titled yesterday, with settlement on the 19th of October. It has been such a long wait (not really but it seems like that). 

Last time I went to have a look at the block I took our fluffy babies down (Kira and Chester) and Chester found the Wetlands and went straight in. It was a smelly drive home. 

Also our block has been stamped with our lot number and is properly pegged out. Next time we go we should take the tape measure. SO EXCITING !! 

Chester and Kira playing at the block

Chester rolling around after a stinky swim