Site visit = photo fest

Alfresco tiles

Rangehood, cupboards with THE handles, stonetops

Undermount sink & stonetop

Sink 'run'

Whopping watertank

Powder room vanity

Front door from inside

Main bathroom vanity - part of 3 way bathroom

Ensuite vanity

Ensuite - floor to ceiling tiling

Stackstone is nearly finished

It was rather difficult to talk, measure and take photos at the same time so there aren't too many for you but you get the idea.
Kitchen handles - I think we will leave them for the moment and readdress later down the track if we wish to.
Everything else is looking great. There is a slab issue in the kitchen/family area that is being addressed before tiles are laid (apparently an easy fix)
I am particularly loving the laundry but I was too busy ooh-ing and aah-ing to take a photo. The LONG bench on one side and the double cupboard on the other are amazing!

A teaser....

Tomorrow's post will contain loads of photos. I am meeting Troy on site tomorrow to check out the progress and the kitchen handles. I am hoping that I will have time to wander around and shoot away. Maybe I can give AJ (re-do my space) those honours whilst I talk to Troy.
The stackstone on the front portico has been started and whilst it looks good, it is darker or 'dirtier' than I thought it would be. Photo to come tomorrow.
I also sent a message to the Wardrobe World installer today as directed by their head office. I am keen to find out the cost to add some more drawers to the wardrobes - 2 is not enough and it seems our wardrobes are too shallow to accommodate any stand alone shelving.

Today's progress

The area to be stackstoned appears to have been completed today

More facade news

"Whilst checking this all out, I have also discovered that a section of the facade is not listed to be rendered as per the advertised facade either. The area above the stackstone under the cladding on the roof gable is supposed to be rendered. We haven't paid for it to be built like that though we did ask for the Boston facade as per the website. Again, an oversight on the part of the Tender presenter that we also signed off on. This one is much easier to fix - it just involves money. Don't think we will do anything about it."

Word has come back this afternoon that for almost $2K, EBH will allow us to change this back to how it is pictured on their website. Now I say YES, I think we will do it but it then raises a paint change colour for the cladding just above it. Not entirely sure what colour but it needs to be lighter  - either garage door (Dune) or windows (off white) or stackstone colouring. Waiting to hear back from my trusty colour person, AJ from redo my space.

Facade Update

Well the decision has been made to leave it as is and hopefully once it is all completed and with time, I will get used to it. Without final costings, the rough estimation to change it was going to be about 4 weeks delay (ouch!), $4000 and all to get a gap of 200mm. The cost in both time and money was not going to get an outcome I was happy with either so it has been decided to move forward. Relief from everyone at Eden Brae, I am sure, though they were happy to do whatever they could to ensure I am pleased with the final outcome.

Whilst checking this all out, I have also discovered that a section of the facade is not listed to be rendered as per the advertised facade either. The area above the stackstone under the cladding on the roof gable is supposed to be rendered. We haven't paid for it to be built like that though we did ask for the Boston facade as per the website. Again, an oversight on the part of the Tender presenter that we also signed off on. This one is much easier to fix - it just involves money. Don't think we will do anything about it.

Both of these oversights highlight the importance of good communication every step of the way and the need to take time to discuss the build with your client. We asked for the Boston facade as per the photo on the website and trusted our builder to either put that into the tender document or explain why it could not be done like that. Saves great disappointment later on. Having said that, if these are the worst headaches we have during the build, we will be doing well. Such first world problems...

Facade issue

I discovered our first hiccup yesterday when I saw the brick-to-be-stackstone pillars at the front door. On the advertised facade, each pillar has a passageway between the house & said pillar. I was shocked to see that ours didn't and to be honest, I don't like the look of it. I checked the EBH website to ensure I hadn't pictured it incorrectly in my head. No, as imagined. When I looked at our plans, it was drawn as per the photo below and of course, we have signed off on them so we have nowhere to go with this :-( I am really disappointed in Eden Brae for deviating from the advertised facade and in myself for not thinking to check that.

PS Just worked out how to get the advertised facade off the web into my blog. Nothing like a bit of PDFing and cropping! Can you now see what I am talking about? That peep of light behind the righthand pillar....