Project Regent

It’s been almost 2 weeks now since we had official contact from Porter Davis and we found out who our Administrator will be, and almost 2 weeks with no word from her.  Today I emailed a list of questions that we need answers for before our contract signing on Tuesday (20th April).

The issue with all builders seems to be lack of communication.  There are a heap of posts on the Internet about that issue.  She will probably hate me by the end of the process as I’ll be on her case constantly - after all WE ARE THE CUSTOMER and spending a lot of money with them….

Stay tuned!

Marty trying the bath for size

Yesterday while measuring windows at Mernda Marty decided to try out the bath for size (and yes mum he took his shoes off!).

Its a funky shape bath, and the tiles you see in the photo are what we are thinking of having too.

With nothing better to do on Easter Saturday we decided to take a drive to Mernda so that we could measure some windows and get an idea of what blinds are going to cost.

We were able to measure all windows and the living room sliding door, but the master bedroom window size is not yet know as the facade of our house isn’t on dispaly.  We’ve got a fair idea of its size though.

All up we’re looking at around $3200 to do all the blinds, but the only windows we need to cover immediately are the master bedroom and my office (rumpus).

Also while driving around the estate in Mernda we spotted a house with Brown Terrain bricks.  It was good to see them on an actual house - they look great!  I wanted to go and knock on the door to ask if they were Brown Terrain, but Marty wouldn’t let me.  We’re 99% sure they were though.

On the way back we took a detour to Point Cook.  Nothing really to report on the progress of the land.  The blocks behind ours are now flat so it looks like all is on track for a June title release, which also means we should be on track for an end July build start - and of course that means a pre-Christmas move in!!!!!!!

Oh my! What a busy, yet exciting day.  We had both our Electrical and Colour selection appointments.  It’s all happening pretty fast.  Within a week of having contact from Porter Davis we had two of our three selection appointments not only set, but done!  This is rare, and to have them both on the same day is not common!  We’ve been lucky.

The day started with a visit to National Tiles, and no we didn’t see Frank Walker (Melbournians would get that reference).  We thought it would be a good idea to at least have a look at what tiles we like before finalising our colour selection.  We found what we like and the only upgrade here will be a small amount for the funky glass feature tiles we talked about in an earlier post.  We also managed to set our tile selection appointment - April 21st!

Brown Terrain Bricks

Time Capsual Render

Windows, Gutters, Down Pipes & Garage Door

Roof Files (Barramundi)

Then it was off to Hopetoun Interiors for our electrical selection.  This was a fairly simple process untill I decided to ask about networking the house.  We had already got a quote from an electrician to do this independent of Porter Davis as we though this would be cheaper.  The quote was just over $2000.  Stragely enough Porter Davis could do it for $790!  We love saiving $1300, although we spent that on other bits and pieces and we still have 10 data points through the house.  All up we added about 10 double powerpoints, 1 outdoor double power point and a single outdoor powerpoint.  We also added 2 additional TV points and 2 phone points.  In both bathrooms we’re adding IXL Tastic light/fan/heat units - a must for those cold winter mornings.

Our next appointment was for all the internal selections (except tiles).  All up this only took just over an hour.  Seeing that we had been to Hopetoun Interiors 3 times before we pretty much knew what we wanted.

Kitchen Cupboards (Burnished Wood)

Stone Bench Top (Ice)

For the outside of the house we’ve selected Brown Terrain bricks, Woodland Grey for the windows, garage door, guttering and downpipes, and  Capsual for the render on the portico posts.  Roof Tiles will be Barramundi which is a dark grey.

Everytime you bink while at Hopetoun Interiors it seems to cost you money.  We had to pay more to have translucent glass in the front door and side windows.  Not sure how much that will cost yet.  We also upgraded our carpet underlay (about $300).

All up for the interior there are 15 pages of colour selections for everything, so I won’t list them all, you’ll just have to come visit when we move in!

Now we just have to wait to see how much it all came to.  Not too much we hope!

We have our colour and electrical appointments booked in with Hopetoun Interiors.  They’re both this Thursday 9th April.

Just goes to show how you need to be careful what you ask the Universe for.  We wanted to get all these done quickly, but this week is the week from hell for work!  If we didn’t take these appointments it would be Electrical next week and then Colour wouldn’t be for another 2 weeks!

Oh well.  It’s still all very exciting and will all work out.