I'm too indulged in our appointments that I completely forgot to show our land progress. It's so far so good. We go and check out it about once or twice a month. Let's hope registration is on time (Feb/Mar 2016)!

15 October 2015

Once you electronically approve your variations, Kitchen Culture send you your kitchen drawings. It looks pretty cool! Surprisingly there were no changes to these drawings! haha

Final drawings attached:

After having some lunch, it was time for our final appointment for the day. Earlier in the morning, we were pumped and excited but by the end of the day, we were exhausted!

We were introduced to Mary Ann, who was new (she started about a month ago). She was very quiet so I felt awkward because we were so loud!

Anyway, my initial budget for the kitchen was $7000. But after our appointments in the morning, I dropped our budget down to $5000 so I was hoping we were able to stick to it!

There were a few things that I wanted which were waterfall edges to both sides of the kitchen island (20mm was fine with me!), and handless cupboards. Everything else that would come up would be an extra 'want'!

Mary Ann advised that for the initial consultation, that you put everything that you want, and then slowly remove your upgrades. We ended up going through 5 variations haha! I don't know if that's a lot, but it felt like a lot to me! The good thing about Kitchen Culture is that you can get most pricing for things on the day so that helped with removing items later on that night!

We ended up with the following:
Tender Items:

• 800mm wide kitchen benchtop with 200mm overhand or 900mm wide kitchen benchtop including 300mm overhang (house specific) - (I don't know how they determined this, but we only had the 800mm x 200mm benchtop. I asked why this was and Mary Ann couldn't answer)!: Included
• Portrait style overhead cupboards either side of rangehood in lieu of standard kitchen windows (where applicable): Included
• Eden Brae's Best Ever kitchen, ensuite and bathroom: Included

Our next appointment was with Ashley at Abbey Blinds and Shutters.

It was a pretty quick appointment, we knew what we wanted (and we couldn't afford the plantation shutters)!

Ashley advised that we had the option of either adding the blinds through Eden Brae, or we could deal with them directly. If you dealt with them directly, you were still able to get your blinds installed before hand over.

We always assumed that we were going to get them installed after hand over but we thought we should get a quote anyway!

For normal roller blinds, we were quoted around $3,500. That was basically for all window coverings except for the bathrooms. I'm not sure if that's a good price or not? I did ask if they priced matched and Ashley did say yes, I just haven't got round to getting quotes!

Overall, we might not go with them. They didn't have as many options for roller blinds (colours etc) that some other places. I think we're happy to stick to installing them after hand over

Next on the list was our Cooks Plumbing appointment. We were matched up with Peta who was very helpful!

Can I just say that everything that we spoke about was an upgrade so whatever I write below will be on our upgrades page! haha

So this was all plumbing stuff and appliances. We were initially shown in a book what the standard range was, and pretty much everything at HOG is an upgrade!

Peta was very helpful with chopping and changing some things around, for example, we didn't want the soap dishes in both the ensuite and main bathroom so she replaced it with a double towel rail instead of a single towel rail in the ensuite etc.

I think we upgraded everything except for the tapware and bathroom bowls =( Surprisingly, it wasn't that expensive as I thought it would be so I was very happy with that!

Details below:
We upgraded the toilets from the best ever sale (I wanted toilets that were flush with the wall as they are easier to clean). The next toilets up were around $80 to upgrade each. The next upgrade after that was $200 each, which was a massive jump! We were happy with the $80 upgrade!

With the upgrade of the toilets we had to pay additional costs for installation =/

The $80 upgrade for our toilets

Ok, so I really wanted the Pete Evans sink that is currently in Kitchen Culture. I guessed it would have been about $600. Peta let me down gently and told me that it would have been about $1000. So I scrapped it! She did recommend the black Blanco sink. I never looked at it in the HOG (there's a sample there) but after thinking about it, I loved it, also because it was only $350 to upgrade!

The Pete Evans sink at Kitchen Culture

The Blanco sink that we're getting :)

I love it!

We also got a matching sink mixer (which was expensive but my husband loved it since he said that HE does all the washing)! Including the sink and sink mixer it ends up being the same price (nearly) as the Pete Evans sink. Never mind. I love it. It's different so why not!

Our sink mixer. It comes off and becomes a hose!

We upgraded to the SMEG package through Eden Brae which upgraded us to a 90cm freestanding oven, a rangehood and dishwasher. What we didn't know was once you upgraded, it deleted the included microwave!

We also wanted a rain shower head and detachable shower handle. The one that we wanted was about $500 so we scrapped it. Peta recommended another shower head that was more in a our price range. It wasn't a rain shower one but it was a bit bigger, so we were happy to get that!

Our shower head that is at the HOG

Overall, our experience with cooks plumbing was great! Peta was helpful and we left without that many upgrades!

Our final upgrades were the following:

• Gallery Salvador deluxe wall-faced soft close suite white x 3: Per unit: $79.55 Total: $262.51
• Additional installation costs for toilet suites x3: Per unit: $34.32 Total: $113.25
• Caroma classic 1700 white (from 1500): $78.22
• Novelli Mondo 6 rail shower (for the ensuite): $206.05
• 2x soap dishes have been replaced with 1x double towel rail and a robe hook: No charge
• Blanco silgranit 1+1/2 bowl sink + drainer LHB only: $385.88
• Blanco Alta-S Compact swivel sink mixer pullout: $590.52

Our next appointment was for air conditioning which was with Glen. He was cool and very helpful!

He showed us what air conditioning was included, then showed us a recommended upgrade (yes.. upgrades everywhere)!

So he recommended that we upgrade to ESP plus, which saves about 60% energy compared to the standard air conditioner we get. He also advised that in the classic version we only got three zones, though if we upgraded to ESP plus the fourth zone is for free.

To see the difference between the 2 you can get all info through the Actron Air website:
Classic: http://www.actronair.com.au/residential/ducted/classic
ESP Plus: http://www.actronair.com.au/residential/ducted/esp-plus

You could upgrade again from that, which is ESP platinum, which saves you about 75% in energy savings. http://www.actronair.com.au/residential/ducted/esp-platinum

The price difference isn't massive, but we rarely use our air conditioning now! Good to know though!

Another fun upgrade: Actron connect. It's an app on your phone where you can wirelessly connect to your aircon and do whatever you want with it. Honesly, we were thinking about it haha, but we have decided not to get it. Good to have though! I did email Glen the next day and asked him if this was something that could be added on later and he said yes! So if we have some pocketmoney later maybe we can add it in! Further info about Actron connect: http://www.actronair.com.au/residential/actronconnect

Glen also advised us that with our house plans we need to make edits to one of our walls in either Bed 3 or 4 for a duct to be in the dining room. He said it would be around 450mm x 450mm. Had no choice really. I'd rather have that in the room so that we can get proper air conditioning downstairs.

Pricing for the upgrades was as follows:

• ESP Plus: $2580 incl. GST
• ESP Platnium: $2843 incl. GST
• Extra zones: $193 incl. GST
• More than 4 zones, 8 zone module will be required in classic and ESP+ models: $254

Ok, I think we did pretty well with our upgrades... I think!?

Amy was very helpful with providing ideas for some of the changes that we were after.

Our initial PCV (which still requires items to be deleted) was:

• Provide off-white mortar in lieu of standard: $236
• Provide aluminium flyscreens with aluminium mesh to all sliding/awning aluminium windows: $735
• Provide 1No.Additional Cold water point to fridge space: $147
• Provide stain finish to front entry door and frame in lieu of standard paint finish: $119
• Ensuite Options:
• ENSUITE SHOWER OPTION 1: Provide 2NO. panels 10mm fixed glass to Ensuite shower, leaving corner open $1,535
• ENSUITE SHOWER OPTION 2: Provide 2NO. panels 10mm fixed glass to Ensuite shower, leaving corner open. Provide tiled nib wall approx. 1000mm high on shorter side of showerscreen, and glass panel above. Nib wall to be tiled both sides: $1,320
• ENSUITE SHOWER OPTION 3: Provide Stegbar Grange semi-frameless (no overlap) showerscreen to Ensuite in lieu of standard semi-frameless overlap showerscreen: $680
• Delete Item 21-9 of Contract Tender: (Provide 2No. Gainsborough 100 series privacy adaptor to - Main Bathroom and Powder Room ): -$102
• Provide 3No. Gainsborough 100 series privacy adaptor to Powder Room, Main Bathroom and WC: $99
• Delete mirrors from Bathroom and Ensuite only: -$350
• Handle Options:
• HANDLE OPTION 1: Provide Gainsborough Omni pull handle to entry door in lieu of standard. Stainless Steel finish: $318
• HANDLE OPTION 2: Provide the following items to front entry door, in lieu of standard: 2NO. Gainsborough Oblong Pull handle (back to back) in matt black finish 9266PH600MB, 1NO. Gainsborough Square Deadbolt Single Cylinder in matt black finish 1846SMMB and 1NO. Gainsborough roller bolt mortice in satin chrome finish 775SC60: $570
• HANDLE OPTION 3: Provide matt black finish to Gainsborough Trilock in lieu of standard finish. Part no. 8901ANGMB: $263
• Provide moroka textured paint finish brick letterbox to including letter slot: $680

Day 1 started at 9am. With peak hour traffic, we got there just in time!

After knowing what Day 1 was like, we felt like we were ready for day 2!

Day 2 involved the following:

• Electrical appointment at the Home Option Gallery;
• Staircase appointment at the Home Option Gallery; and
• Tiling and carpet appointment at DiLorenzo

We were waiting for this day for a while now. I thought I was prepared, but with all the questions they were asking, I definitely wasn't!

They gave us a brochure to read to prepare for the day. I read it a few times before we went, but all that completely disappeared!

They strongly recommend that you do go to PGH bricks and have a consultation before you go, and I definitely agree with them, or else you would be deciding on a colour scheme for half the day I reckon! So, go to PGH as many times as you need!

I tell you what, even though it wasn't a full day, it was a very exhausting process. We were so tired by the time it came to our kitchen appointment that I just wasn't bothered. I know, not the right attitude, but my brain was fried!

I'll probably need to break the day up into separate posts, so bare with me :)

The outline of the day was as follows:

1. Intro with Home Option Gallery
2. Cooks Plumbing
3. Abbey Shutters & Blinds
4. Kitchen Culture

Overall, it was a fun process, and there's definitely a lot to think about and cull after the first day!

I finally received an email a couple of weeks ago from HOG advising to contact them to book our colour and other appointments. Hooray!

I thought that they had forgotten about us until they advised that they were just waiting for our land registration date before they made contact.

Our booked our appointments a week apart, just so that we don't get too overwhelmed with everything that we had to choose.

Our appointments were confirmed via email and attached to the email as a very helpful brochure as to how the whole option process worked, and what you had to prep for before your appointments. It also showed you which appointments you had on which days (kitchen, plumbing, tiles etc).

Not long to go now. We should make time to do some last minute visits to HOG and DiLorenzo (again!) just to make sure we are satisfied with our options that we have chosen so far.

The countdown begins...

Can I just say that I love this!

Eden Brae Connect is an online resource where you can basically see everything relating to your build. The reason why I love it?

1. It's online.. no print outs to worry about
2. You can approve your PCVs at the click of a button
3. There is a build timeline (although it doesn't look up to date) but that doesn't matter!
4. It's easy to access (through the Eden Brae website)
5. It's awesome!

Eden Brae Connect - Home page

Because PGH didn't have pricing for our house plans, I asked to see if we could get it from our CSA.

I hate bothering our CSA for minor things, but it had to be done. We eventually narrowed our brick choice to Gravel (Range B). It was a nice colour to work with, and the colour goes throughout the whole brick.

My husband and I were taking guesses as to how much it was going to cost. My husband guessed around the $5k mark, and I guessed around the $1500 mark. I guess it's always better to aim higher in case the price is actually that high!

To my amazement, our CSA replied back and advised that the upgrade cost was $788. SOLD! We couldn't believe it! Our CSA also advised that if PGH ask us where we got that price from, that they could verify it with our CSA. Awesome! Best news ever. So gravel bricks it is!

As part of our House & Land package, we had an included landscaping plan that adheres to our design guidelines for our development.

Eden Brae's landscaper is Ecodesign, and their work (on their website) is amazing!

We didn't even know until tender presentation time that we had a landscaping plan included which was awesome!

Our design guidelines are quite strict, but Ecodesign let us choose one (of three) of their standard designs which they then incorporated into our house plans. They're simple plans, but look great! You can choose to alter their designs (but it costs extra). Again, it will be up to yourself if you wanted to change your plans.

The plans are done early to submit to council. I was quite surprised that they called us (even before Home Option Gallery).

Plans are below. We have to use Australia native plants. Homeone forum suggested a wholesale nursery (Downes Nursery) that are open to the public. Their prices are competitive!

Landscaping plans from Ecodesign

Landscaping plans from Ecodesign

Ok, so we wrote down a couple of addresses to look houses and these houses had the following types of bricks: outback, gravel and sorbetto.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures because I already felt uncomfortable driving slowly in front of their places! I did take pictures from the PGH book. They're not that good but it will give you a fair idea of what pictures they had.

I felt that we had to pick a brick from the A range, so we chose outback. It looked nice at PGH, but I was worried that it was going to be to 'red'. We drove past a place that had the whole front of their house with outback bricks. Whilst it looked 'ok', I didn't love it. Also note that we were looking at houses when it was dark and raining, and the bricks were still quite 'red'.

House with PGH outback bricks

We drove past a couple of houses that had sorbetto brick, and I fell in love with it! It wasn't too light and wasn't too dark. I loved it! But, I knew that the upgrade might be too much, and we didn't' want to spend too much on upgrading our bricks!

House with PGH sorbetto bricks

Last but not the least, we drove past a house that used gravel bricks and we thought, that was the one! It was in Range B, not too strong, and was a nice brown colour that could easily be matched with other colours. Now all we had to do was find out the upgrade price!

House with PGH Gravel bricks

So we decided to trek out to PGH bricks on a hot Saturday! It wasn't that hot, but you could feel the heat especially if you're out in the sun looking at bricks!

We entered the foyer and walked straight up to the reception area. We advised the consultant that we are building with Eden Brae. As soon as we said that the consultant turned around, went to her Eden Brae drawer and took out the brick list. She highlighted Range 'A' and advised us that this was the standard brick range and that if we were interested in any other bricks to come back and she could give us an upgrade price.

Out at PGH Bricks

We looked at Range A and already knew that there wasn't really anything that we liked. Our design guidelines for our area are a bit strict as well (smooth bricks only and no cream colours). But that's what we were there for, to see the bricks in person! Here are some photos of the bricks out at PGH:

PGH Pavers Collection

These were the bricks that we were considering:
Range A: Outback
Range B: Gravel
Range D: Sorbetto, Vino, Espresso, Chocolatto and Loam.

They have a coffee machine (free coffee!) so we decided to have a coffee and discussion to cut down our selection where we ended up cutting it down to:
Range A: Outback
Range B: Gravel
Range D: Sorbetto

The centre was very helpful. They had books with photos of houses with specific bricks, and at the back of the folder, there were addresses of houses with the particular brick that you were after which was very helpful (hence the addresses I hand wrote on the pages)!

We went back to the consultant to ask if she had the prices for the brick upgrades. Unfortunately, they didn't have our house on the list and she advised to contact Eden Brae directly.

The list and document of the Eden Brae brick ranges are below (excuse my handwriting)!

Range A & B

Range C & D

Ranges E, F & G

Range H

Range H

Range H

When we signed our tender, we received our Home Option Gallery (HOG) pack.

It was definitely exciting, especially after you drop a 5% deposit!

The pack consisted of a lot of things, mainly a lot of brochures (upgrades)! I managed to scan them in to show you what it consisted of. I have also put the links if you're interested:

Home Option Gallery
Home Option Gallery Magazine
PGH Bricks
Escea Fireplaces
Bradford Solar
Bradford Soundscreen
Colorbond Roofing
Concept Pools
Corinthian Doors
Bright homes
Ecodesign landscaping
Gainsborough Hardware
Laminex