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