Building a Home

[TheRealTMA]

Congratulations Sam. Must be getting exciting now!

Have you considered putting one of these in the kitchen?

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We've had one for 20 years from when we did our last kitchen and would not be without it!

 

[RB]

I'm sure there's always a rule about something lurking somewhere in the covenants. Our "buildable land" doesn't go right to the footpath, but does go a little further than the house is set out, that said, I'm not sure there would be space for a future car/boat/caravan.

When we bought (the land) we got lucky as there was a front landscaping bonus from the developer – after handover, we just have to choose the style from four provided. in Each planting option there's a total of 4 species listed, perhaps more offered, but I have typed a couple of each instead of the whole thing. There are repeats between each style too.

• Native garden – trees including broad-leaved paper bark, willow bottlebrush and ivory curl flower. Large screening species including brisbane golden wattle and gymea lily. Small shrubs including swamp banksia and scrub cherry. Groundcover including kangaroo paw and kangaroo grass.
• Contemporary garden – trees including native gardenia and alexandra palm. Screening including powder puff lilly pilly and lady finger palm. Shrubs including hibiscus and bromeliads. Groundcover including spider lily and palm grass.
• Exotic garden – trees featuring blueberry ash and tropical birch. Screening featuring coastal rosemary and port wine magnolia. Shrubs featuring whale's tongue and bird of paradise. Groundcover featuring blue flax lily and liriope evergreen giant.
• Low maintenance garden – trees featuring tuckeroo and water gum. Screening featuring grevillea honey gem and grevillea robyn gordon. Shrubs featuring melaleuca snow storm and honey myrtle. Groundcover featuring walking iris and lomandra shara.

Just my opinion but I would be avoiding the paper bark-had them previously & I think there are nicer options. We are stuck with a tuckeroo (council supplied) on the footpath at our current place-can grow quite large & they have seed pods that can end up as a mowing annoyance. We have a robyn gordon that was given as a gift, it has really flourished & reacts well to hard pruning

 

[equus]

who parks his semi-trailer (without load) outside his house on the street some weekends

If it becomes a problem, just inform the council. It is illegal to park a heavy vehicle on the street in a built up area for more than an hour (unless actually loading or unloading).

 

[samh004]

Have you considered putting one of these in the kitchen?

I would say it's a bit late now to be adding something to the island bench, and we do have a number of after handover items that need to be costed and installed, such as wine racking and potentially 2 decks. So this could be something much further in the future, and perhaps ideally placed in the butlers pantry. I recall seeing one in a program with some former The Block contestants where they raved about it... and then mentioned the price!

From what I gather the 3 main functions are boiling water, chilled water and potentially, sparkling water. The only feature I would be interested in is boiling water, but that would only replace a kettle and I imagine the kettle costs a lot less. Chilled (filtered) water I believe will come from my fridge and I am unfortunately a tart for San Pellegrino... rarely allowing any other type of bubble (unless we're talking Champagne or Sparkling Shiraz) from touching my tongue. Now, if the system could plug into the aquifer in Italy where San Pellegrino is from, we're in business

If it becomes a problem, just inform the council. It is illegal to park a heavy vehicle on the street in a built up area for more than an hour (unless actually loading or unloading).

Good to know, thanks. Though don't want to start upsetting neighbours especially now I've mentioned it on a public forum

 

[Julesmac]

Just my opinion but I would be avoiding the paper bark-had them previously & I think there are nicer options. We are stuck with a tuckeroo (council supplied) on the footpath at our current place-can grow quite large & they have seed pods that can end up as a mowing annoyance. We have a robyn gordon that was given as a gift, it has really flourished & reacts well to hard pruning

Ohhh no not the paperbark.We have one in our nature strip. They shed all year, so you'll end up with leaves and blossom everywhere - and the trunks shed too - not attractive at all

 

[samh004]

Photos from day 52, which was yesterday.


Waterproofing appears to be done, in preparation for our appointment next week where we'll confirm the correct tiles are on site.


Cabinetry was also in the process of being installed. French navy is the colour, which will mostly be paired with walnut and mustard yellow furnishings.


The back patio isn't looking too bad. This sort of illustrates why I would like to continue the palings on my side along the back, for uniformity – and then they'll probably be painted. It should also eliminate any slivers of light from the house behind, ensuring more privacy. On the RH wall you can see a gas point and power and I'm toying with the idea of having a BBQ/fridge placed here in a cabinet but as it's right outside the sliding door it couldn't take up the whole wall. Needs some thought.

An outdoor table wont make an appearance here, we've chosen to make this area an outdoor relaxing area, perhaps a coffee table... and of course BBQ. We have an outdoor table at our current residence, and it stores plants.

 

[jakeseven7]

Photos from day 52, which was yesterday.

View attachment 233818
Waterproofing appears to be done, in preparation for our appointment next week where we'll confirm the correct tiles are on site.

View attachment 233819
Cabinetry was also in the process of being installed. French navy is the colour, which will mostly be paired with walnut and mustard yellow furnishings.

View attachment 233820
The back patio isn't looking too bad. This sort of illustrates why I would like to continue the palings on my side along the back, for uniformity – and then they'll probably be painted. It should also eliminate any slivers of light from the house behind, ensuring more privacy. On the RH wall you can see a gas point and power and I'm toying with the idea of having a BBQ/fridge placed here in a cabinet but as it's right outside the sliding door it couldn't take up the whole wall. Needs some thought.

An outdoor table wont make an appearance here, we've chosen to make this area an outdoor relaxing area, perhaps a coffee table... and of course BBQ. We have an outdoor table at our current residence, and it stores plants.

What bout growing plants up against the fence to screen it? Climbers like Jasmine etc

 

[blackcat20]

Good to see you have a nice big shower; I love ours.

 

[Pushka]

What bout growing plants up against the fence to screen it? Climbers like Jasmine etc

Espalier fruit trees look great too.

 

[travelislife]

Photos from day 52, which was yesterday.

View attachment 233818
Waterproofing appears to be done, in preparation for our appointment next week where we'll confirm the correct tiles are on site.

View attachment 233819
Cabinetry was also in the process of being installed. French navy is the colour, which will mostly be paired with walnut and mustard yellow furnishings.

View attachment 233820
The back patio isn't looking too bad. This sort of illustrates why I would like to continue the palings on my side along the back, for uniformity – and then they'll probably be painted. It should also eliminate any slivers of light from the house behind, ensuring more privacy. On the RH wall you can see a gas point and power and I'm toying with the idea of having a BBQ/fridge placed here in a cabinet but as it's right outside the sliding door it couldn't take up the whole wall. Needs some thought.

An outdoor table wont make an appearance here, we've chosen to make this area an outdoor relaxing area, perhaps a coffee table... and of course BBQ. We have an outdoor table at our current residence, and it stores plants.

Yea, interesting the palings aren't lapped on your neighbours side so you get those gaps and slivers of light which will expand and contract over time as well.

 

[samh004]

What bout growing plants up against the fence to screen it? Climbers like Jasmine etc

There is a plan to do something like that too, but I'd like to seal the fence in some paint first. Would probably also change the retaining wall colour to match.

Yea, interesting the palings aren't lapped on your neighbours side so you get those gaps and slivers of light which will expand and contract over time as well.

When we add our own palings to our side that should sort that issue.

 

[love_the_life]

The cabinets in the kitchen are a great colour. It’s all looking fantastic. So exciting for you.

 

[samh004]

Recently we hit day 58 of the construction process and we were invited onsite once again to make sure they had the right tiles for the wet areas. Little did they know that we'd chosen to keep things simple in this area, so they only had two tiles to show us. The garage door is now on of course, and the siding has been added but not painted. I love the texture in the bricks.

 

[love_the_life]

Recently we hit day 58 of the construction process and we were invited onsite once again to make sure they had the right tiles for the wet areas. Little did they know that we'd chosen to keep things simple in this area, so they only had two tiles to show us. The garage door is now on of course, and the siding has been added but not painted. I love the texture in the bricks.

View attachment 234452

View attachment 234448

View attachment 234449

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View attachment 234451

Looks fantastic - and that room (last photo) is enormous.

 

[samh004]

Looks fantastic - and that room (last photo) is enormous.

It truly is a giant entertaining space, and I (personally) can't wait to have people come enjoy it with us. The dining table will sit across from the kitchen island, while a yet-to-be-purchased couch will sit facing the wall on the left, that will have a TV hanging on it.

 

[Pushka]

And the site is still so clean!

 

[samh004]

And the site is still so clean!

I didn't take any photos of the area at front left that stores site trash... but I can confirm again that it was empty, suggesting it is regularly cleared out before the pile gets too high.

 

[NM]

I really like your brick choice too.

Its great to see the transformation from a building site to a house. Can't wait to see the next transformation from a house to a home .

 

[Hvr]

The entertaining area looks awesome and those huge windows had such possibilities. A pity they look upon the fence which appears to be very close.

 

[samh004]

Can't wait to see the next transformation from a house to a home .

Might have to do a whisky afternoon/night

The entertaining area looks awesome and those huge windows had such possibilities. A pity they look upon the fence which appears to be very close.

This was always going to be the case, as we didn't buy acreage. The simple solution is to plant vegetation against the fence, which is what they have at the display home. The usefulness of the large windows though is that we'll be able to keep a close eye on the dogs when round the side of the house.