20/01/2010 - Selections

I have almost completed with making my selections and will update this post as and when i copy the pictures from my mobile phone to the computer.

Roof and Brick Selections
Brick:   Presto Perisher (double brick) with Grey Grout.

Roof Tile:  Sambucca

The house walls will probably look something like this(except for the colorbond roof):

I guess the grey grout in the cream coloured double bricks with the sambucca roof will give some unique character to the house.

Floor and Walls Tiles Selections
The square tiles are the floor tiles and the rectangular ones are wall tiles. Diamond gloss laminates are used for bench tops (kitchen and bathrooms)

Ensuite Bathroom:

Wall Tiles and Skirting: Memory Stormy Charcoal (300 X 400)
Floor Tiles: Memory Misty Grey Semi Gloss (300 X 300)

Main Bathroom / Toilet:

Walls Tiles and Skirting: Allegro Bone Gloss (300 X 400)
Floor Tiles: Connect Walnut Textured (300 X 300)

Kitchen: (The cupboards are dark brown and the surrounding rooms have timber flooring)

Wall Tiles: Cane Toffee (200 X 300)
Floor Tiles: Cane Toffee (300 X 300)

Laundry:

Wall Tiles and Skirting: Satin Midnight Black (100 X 300)
Floor Tiles: Gante Cornsilk (200 X 200)

Hallway and Utility Room:

Floor Tiles: Allegro Stone (456 X 456)

Lounge and Living Room: (Jatoba - 3 strip marked in yellow spot). I might try and get Jatoba 1-strip if i am allowed to do so during selections finalisation.

19/01/2010 - Retaining Walls

Coral wont build retaining walls and its a "By Owner" item in the contract. After the site has been cut, coral site manager will decide whether the wall needs to be built before, during or after the construction.

Retaining walls over 1m needs to be engineer designed and council approved and mine is estimated to be 1.5m high. Got quotes from various structural engineering firms and they cost anywhere from $1200 - $2000 to get it designed and approved. What a waste that would have been if Coral did not come to my rescue. The coral sales person had suggested that i split the height of the wall and make it a stepped retaining wall with the two walls being at least  1.5m apart. The private certifier has agreed to this and Coral will be accordingly making changes to the site plans to incorporate this change. I am glad with the amount of communication happening between Coral head office, the Coral sales person, the private certifier and me.

Now the wait begins for the approvals to come through. In the mean time i better get my finishes appointment scheduled.

18/01/2010 - Plans with Certifier

Got a letter from Coral Homes saying that the plans are with the private certifier. Now we just wait for 4-6 weeks to get the approval. I just hope its earlier than that as i want to see some heavy machinery on my block soon :)

11/01/2010 - Contract Signed

Happy new year to all !!!

After Coral homes being closed for over 3 weeks for Christmas and New Years the final contract plans of my Fraser should be submitted for council approval this week (fingers crossed)

Over the last few weeks, i have had my contract signed, my covenants approved and my initial deposit paid. My lending authority has also approved my loan. So hopefully all should go well.

This week i will be busy finalising my finishes which includes tile selection, carpet and timber selection, roof tile and brick selection, electrical plan layout etc.

Looking forward to getting a construction start date from Coral and seeing some development on my block of land. As of now it looks pretty much deserted ....

So in the mean time I am uploading a snapshot of my final plans.