Roof

At last we are starting to see more work on the house,
as you can all see the roof is going up and the brick work will hopefully start very soon.


But to the other matter of the kitchen Window we have signed all
the paper work and the new drawing, but still no work has been
done to the window will be chasing them up in regards to this.
(Hope they don't start the brick before window is fix or will be a big job to change)

Frame UP

As you can see the frame is up, and we are starting to see the outline of our house.

Also the windows are supposed to be going in today.

So yes... the windows have been delivered.

Dilemma 1...... In the 'Indulgence Package' which we payed an extra $1,999?? for, it says three stacker door. However, A&L Windows have delivered a two stacker door. (Sliding door). This door is for the entrance from the alfresco into the living area/kitchen.

When we discussed this with Carlisle Homes, we were advised to read the 'small print' advising it says three stacker door as per display. Now the Madison display house only has the 'two stacker' door. So Carlisle Homes are ONLY referring to the 'as per display' and ignoring the one, two, three obviously! Perhaps they just cannot count?

Then we have Dilemma 2..... The window for the kitchen to the alfresco area..... A&L Windows have delivered just a normal two sliding/side window. However, in the display home it shows a window with two fixed sides on the right and left and then two sliding sections which open up from the middle to leave a large gap in the middle of this window. Instantly we could (I could) tell that this was not correct as it looked much smaller than the display window. Not to mention the completely different design. Due to the size difference this makes the alfresco 'appear' smaller. When discussed this with Carlisle Homes it was noted that the 'display home' window is much larger than our window delivered being 200 x 1810.

However, with this one... Carlisle Homes are willing to 'amend' the window for an extra cost of $408. This cost was advised by their 'sales' administration. Which we are reasonably happy with as this definitely opens up, not only the kitchen but the alfresco too.

The hole point of the door, the three stacker door opens up much larger. Where as the two stacker door only opens half way. However, the window to me is more beneficial!

We just spoke with Carlisle Homes and it has been confirmed that they will put in the 'better' window between the alfresco & kitchen free of charge.

The Frame

Right, the house across the road as you can see in these photos started two weeks after us. Yet for some reason their frame is already up? The land next to us, only started a week ago and they already have their slab and are preparing for their frame?

Anywho, our frame is being put together as you can see from the photos. However, our windows and doors have already been delivered. Kurt went to see the progress last night (10/03/2009) as I was at work I could not go with him :(

We believe they have delivered the wrong sliding doors. As part of the 'Indulgence Inclusion Pack' we signed, we received a two paneled door instead of the three that is in the contract. The three sections make it so that the opening is much larger when the doors are open. Whereas the two doors can only open half way. We will be speaking with Carlisle shortly and will let you know of the outcome!

Interior Colour Selection

The first 'Laminex' colour you see is called 'Licorice Linea'. This will be our kitchen bench top.






The second colour you see is 'Bogart'. This will be the colour behind the glass splash back.

The third colour you see is 'Oyster Linea' this is for the cupboards, draws and shelving throughout the kitchen, bathroom, ensuite and Laundry.






The fourth colour you see is 'Espresso Ligna'. This will be for the bathroom, ensuite and laundry bench tops.







The fifth colour you see is Dulux 'Hog Bistle'. This colour will be for ALL internal walls.







The sixth colour you see is Dulux 'Whisper White'. This will be for the ceiling also in gloss this will be for the internal window frames, door frames, doors etc. Unfortunately, the pantry doors in the kitchen will also be in this gloss colour. To have the laminate doors like the display home they are $700 each door. Thats right.. $1,400 for a set of pantry doors!!!!! Obviously we said NO!



Our door handles for the cupboards etc are going to be positioned horizontal and we are using brushed stainless steel (less cleaning and polishing :D) As you can see in the Madison display picture, the handles will be the same!


This handle is for the front entry door ONLY.





This is the style of bath we have chosen, but you will have to 'imagine' the tiles around it as our bath is not freestanding. However, it was the closest thing I could find to match!


This is the basin we are getting for the Bathroom and ensuite.

We believe we have covered almost everything (almost) there is so much more we could tell you. But don't want to bore you too much!!!
So if you want to know anything else... Just let us know!

Exterior Colour Selection

Hello again,

Well we figured it was about time to advise of the colour selections.

So here we go!

The roof is the 'Tudor' style and will be the Barramundi colour. These are from Monier Roof Tiles. (The spell check doesn't know 'Barramundi' haha)

The 'Woodland Grey' from Colorbond is for all finishing i.e. window frames, door frames, garage door etc. The partially rendered front will also be in 'Woodland Grey' matched to copy by Dulux.

The bricks are 'Brown Terrain' from Boral. We really wanted something darker, but of course that would cost much more money :(

We located a program on the Colorbond website we believe, which allows you to choose the colour of your bricks, finishing, render, roof etc. That is where the 'house' photo came from. It is similar in colour selection to ours, therefore we thought to put it on here for you to see.

The Frame Commencement

Today we went to see if any further progressed had been made. We were a little surprised to see the delivery awaiting us!

I don't know if you have noticed, but the 'council' we assume have also erected a fence. This fence blocks off the neighboring power line paddocks. Unfortunately they are not installing a gate, which would have been excellent for dog walks!!! (that is a hint to Kurt) However, they have also installed a fence to the back of our land. Our land neighbours a vacant block which is 'leased' by Telstra. (Remember the tower for great reception!) We were not advised at any stage that this fence would exist. So we were a little disappointed as we liked being able to look out across the paddock.

Today we also spoke with a resident of the area who advised that the power lines are 'supposed' to be going underground at some stage? As this would cost 'millions' we will believe it when we see it. Also that 'Telstra' tower is rumored to be removed eventually too?

So we now await the frame to be completed!

Again, if you have any advice please let us know!!

The SLAB

So the slab is down. It wasn't down long before we got the photos. As you can see the concrete is still really dark. The one photo showing the side of the slab shows just how deep the slab is. We 'assume' this is a good thing? We took a photo of a dodgy side that seems to be not completely covered and you can still see the wire. We were not sure if this is normal or not. So decided to take a photo either way?

So remember how I said there had been no wet weather? Well it decided to rain that afternoon that the slab got poured. And then after for the past three days roughly it's been on and off raining. Thankfully the rain has not been heavy. So fingers crossed it's not too bad until they get a roof on at least?

By this stage, you could imagine that we were finally starting to get 'excited'.

Preperation for the almighty slab

Right... so you will notice there is Styrofoam instead of dirt in the middle.

We have done a 'little' research via the web and have so far figured that it is due to the conditions of the soil/grounds. As everyone else around us have used sand/dirt we are a little skeptical. If you know anything about this, any advice would be great!

We were actually a little surprised at the depth of the slab. But once the slab was laid, the dirt was smoothed out and the depth was not so noticeable. It just appeared to be a large step from the ground.

Other than that... this is the preparation photos for the slab.

Preperation of the land

So, we then signed the contracts for the house and got all the paperwork out of the way.

We were advised that building would commence mid February 2009. The paperwork to advise building has commenced would follow shortly after. However, we did not receive any paperwork until the day before the slab had been poured. (Not that this bothered us, as we drive by each night after work anyway as it is on our way home).

We did take photos of the land with JUST the portaloo, but they were on a different camera and didn't work out right. That and seemed a little 'bogan' so we thought twice about posting that photo :D

However, we do have a photo which shows the land being leveled and the plumbing prepared for the slab. Isn't it lovely? haha.

By the way there has been no 'wet weather' so far to this point. Only a couple of hot days which stopped the laborers from being able to continue work. So nothing too bad just yet thankfully.

Ownership of land

This is our land, prior to purchase. And yes we will have great telephone reception!

So draw down of the land was on the 12th January 2009.

We used a conveyancer instead of a solicitor. We used 'Parkside Conveyancing Services'
email: parksideconveyancing@bigpond.com

We dealt with Julie, who was absolutely fantastic. Julie assisted us with issues we were having with the bank due to draw down time frames. As we have never built before, we had many questions to which Julie was very happy to help.

Parkside Conveyancing Services are located at Point Cook, Victoria. However, we believe they are still able to assist most areas as our land is in Cranbourne North.

We are happy to recommend Julie 'Parkside Conveyancing Services'.

Introduction

Hi,

We are Kurt & Shanna and we have chosen to build our first home with Carlisle Homes in Carlisle Park, Cranbourne North.

We chose the Madison 30 which is on display at Marriott Waters, Lyndhurst Victoria.
http://www.carlislehomes.com.au/trange/madison.html

What drew us to the Madison is the layout. It is very open as soon as you walk in through the front door. The bedrooms are hidden away and still nicely arranged with the bathroom in the middle.

The Kitchen has a great arrangement also with a window that opens wide into the alfresco area.

We are hopeful that building is not too dramatic for us as it has been for others.

If you have any queries, or advice please do not hesitate to drop us a line :D