In the wood....with Sydney Fence Builders

I have had a couple of requests for the details of our Fence company.

Ray
Sydney Fence Builders
Ph 0410 491 343

Out of three quotes obtained he was the most professional and the cheapest. Ray is a really nice guy, responsive, helpful and sincere.

In the woods....with some photos

Hello, well I finally found my camera cord and have some photos to share with you. Sorry they are not in order.........

Dekker Landscapes are doing all outside work with the exception of the boundary fence. We have been in the house for about 7 weeks...Landscaping has been a little slow, but I am sure it will be worth it in the end.

We are loving the deck area, it is lovely and sunny all day in this winter weather we are having.

I will post some more pics once the landscaping is complete. Possibly within two weeks.

Backyard, straight after the build, no landscaping

Dekkar Landscapes cleared/ graded the land prior to landscaping

Facade no landscaping

For KDR, we had to pay a demolition footpath bond and building bond. Both came to around $4k. In addition to this, it is the owners responsivility to replace the footpath, crossover and curb should it be required/ damaged. Dekkar Landscapes did this for us - it was almost $8k. Something for those doing a KDR to consider....

Part of front retaining wall using Boral Arena. Garden bed in front which will feature a hedge to cover the ugly green fence our neighbours wouldnt agree to replace! Dont blame them reallly.....

Deck and stairs made from Iron Bark wood with 4000 screws!. . The rail just needs to be painted to match the gutters. There is a seat with a lift up storage area just in front of the privacy screen. The seat against the wall conceals the aircon a little. On the right side of the Alfresco where it is tiled we will get glass "railings to wrap around this area. There is till some work to be done here....

Deck - Alex Dekkar Landscapes built this also

Matilda Turf being laid, you may also see the garden beds that were created by Dekkar Landscapes. Hedging will go in once the fencing is done.

Grass completely done. The house behind is another KDR with Wisdom. The house on the left is another KDR.

This side is still to be done. Dekkar landscapes will return next week after the fence goes in. They will be putting in an ag line, stormwater pipe and decorative river pebble to match other side. It has been a bit of a juggling act trying to get the neighbours next door to agree to a new fence. Given there are safety issues (my 2 and 4 year olds can easily fit under their fence) we decided to wear the full replacement cost despite them being liable as they pulled it down without our consent. The boundary fence is the only landscaping item Dekkar Landscapes is not doing as we were able to source another fencing contractor about $2k cheaper. We had a DA condition that the fence had to be 1.8metres high plus 600mm lattice, effectively taking the fence to 2.4m high. Ridiculous!

Front - steps to front door. These will be tiled in the same tiles to match front porch. Hopefully it is getting done this week.

Believe it or not there are $5k worth of plants here. The planting will happen once boundary fencing is erected this week

Brickies came last week and did the front fence. Again, Dekker landscapes organised this. We will be getting dune coloured inserts for front brick fence/ gate

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Butlers Pantry through the door, done post handover by Mighty kitchens. Not sure if you can see, but there is a mirrored splashback. Done in white poly

Butlers pantry with mirrored splash back. 

Butlers Pantry - right of photo is the main kitchen

Shelving in butlers Pantry. It is in desperate need of some organisation! It has turned into a dumping area!

Laundry - poly cabinetry completed after handover

This is the only room in the house almost completed. I still need light fittings and something for the wall

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Love my vintage chairs on the balcony! I think they add some softness to the facade

River pebbles up on side of the house. We have concreted one third of this side too, towards the front of the house

Front door balcony. Stairs to letterbox to be tiled in same tile. 

Ugly brown colourbond fence erection commenced yesterday. Its ok though, we are having a large hedge put in to cover it. The lawn has been laid. Just waiting on tiles, front brick fence inserts and garden beds to be planted

Tricky little access gate to aircon and under deck . The hose/ tap is also kept in here

Tiled alfresco area, to the right between the brick pier is where the wood deck sits

Combined Alfresco area is now about 45 squares. Excuse the kids toys!

Facade - clean bricks

This type of rose is being planted out the front

In the woods....with kids rumpus

I purchased a red lounge from IKEA. A cheap one that I didn't mind if the kids got dirty as the cover can be removed. They also have a red dolls house and red play shop.

I used these as my starting point to design the room.

...Here is the mood board I created for the kids rumpus
http://olioboard.com/boards/99285-rumpus

In the woods....with decorating

OK, so I found this piece of furniture and purchased it for our master suite. I had a vision in mind to mix it with a contemporary / classic look. I know it is not everyone's cup of tea, but I loved it.

This is what I came up with using olioboards.com

    
Click here to see the mood board

Love to here what you think. Do you LOVE it or HATE it?

In the woods....with lost camera

Hi, my camera cord that downloads from the camera to the computer was lost in transit during the  move. Hence the absence of any landscaping photos.......

Will buy one this week.....

In the woods.....with Landscapers

The Dekker Landscapes commenced a few days after we received the keys. They will be doing
- a deck
- laying grass
- creating garden beds
- concreting
- restoration of footpath and crossovers
- front path inc. tiling to house
- retaining walls
- colourbond fences
- brick pier fences out front
- garden bed/ lawn out front.

I will post some before and after shots soon

In the woods....with Finishing Touch

The fabulous ladies from Finishing Touch arrived this morning to pack our belongings ready for the removalists that arrived around 12 noon. The ladies moved at lightening speed, and everything inside was packed into boxes within 5 hours. Finishing touch will unpack everything at the new house including making up the beds : ) . Talk about a great service.

Marton and his team from Diamond Blue managed to pack all internals and unload at the new house within 5 hours. They are back tomorrow to load a few more items around 7.30am.. Talk about professionals, these guys know how to get the job done quickly.

 Both these companies were fabulous...I cant believe how quickly they worked.... Thanks to them we can go back to "normal" life on Wednesday.

In the woods....with keys

Our builder fixed the problem as much as it could be fixed and we had settlement today.

It was a bit of an anti climax after the last two stressful weeks.

Will post some more pics soon. Today the Butlers Pantry and laundry was fitted out.

In the woods....still waiting

Still waiting and not impressed.
Talk about a relationship turning sour.
We have had so many problems with this build and have been so patient.
What do they say? Patience is a virtue? is it really?

I suspect many people have this issue.  We were just lucky that I have such a good eye for detail, otherwise it would have gone unnoticed. 
Good luck people, make sure you check EVERYTHING, including every fit outs as you build. Take photos of EVERYTHING at each stage. We are lucky that we have photos (and lots of them)

I know many of you want to know what the issue is, unfortunately the "no name building company" wouldn't like it if it was disclosed. Sorry guys

In the woods...with another onsite meeting

Hello, we had another meeting onsite today. Productive, but we certainly didnt hold back in telling the no name building company our thoughts. We are hoping it is resolved in two weeks

In the woods....with no handover

Hi,  we went to handover yesterday but we did not settle. Everything was ok besides one major issue which I wont discuss here until it is resolved......Very disappointing. I am so glad we didn't give notice on our rental property as it may be months before it is resolved. Now I just need to cancel blind installation, furniture delivery etc etc......

In the woods with....Footpath and crossover restoration

Just a quick word of advice for those doing a KDR.

Check with your council to see if footpath, gutter, kerb and crossover restoration is your responsibility.

It is something we didnt really budget for. When the tradies are on site, they do not care about about avoiding damage to these areas. Telstra, gas, electricity providers needed access, so the front path was dug up. A large waste bin was dropped on the footpath creating large cracks, and finally our old driveway was moved and a new crossover had to be created.

the building company quoted this job at $11.5k, the landscaper came in at around $7.9k, finally we got a quote from the council and it is just over $7k. Pays to shop around : ).

Once resorted, council should refund two bonds we paid directly > a demolition bond and a build bond.

All I can say if you are building, make sure you have a contingency budget that pays for incidentals like this. We have well and truly spent our 10% contingency plus more with incidentals like this that have popped up during the build!!!

In the woods with....did someone say Handover date?

Yes that's right, we finally have PCI date of the 15 March. We have come along way since work commenced 30 May last year. It has been a little painful at times, but we have been blessed to have a great SS for the past 2 months who has really got things moving.

There were quite a few issues that needed rectifying and the SS needed two weeks to get things done. Let's hope everything is fixed and we can pick up the keys on the 16 March.

In the woods...with an update

Well, the house was completed on 10 February. We had Howard Ryan inspect the property last Friday for defects and we were supposed to get a Handover date then too.  We are still waiting despite calls to our SS and Construction Manager. Waiting waiting waiting......

Here are some pics, I will post a little later about logistics and the inspection report

Completed kids bathroom. The post it notes indicate defects

Upstairs hall

Stairs

Outdoor table we purchased

Outdoor seats

facade entry

Facade

Alfresco and backyard

Driveway done

In the woods.....with picfest

Leisure looking out

Stairs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alfresco looking in

Kitchen looking out to backyard

kitchen bench/ sink

Kitchen sink

 

 

Butlers Pantry shelving. The opposite wall is being fitted with white poly cabinetry incorporating pot draws, cupboards, overhead cupboards , sink, oven, fridge

Dune front door and garage with Austral Blackstone bricks

Kitchen - the cabinetry next to the fridge space will be replaced with a flush cabinet

Looking back from rumpus to kitchen

Kids bathroom (mirror still needs installing)

Kids bathroom with shower shot 

Powder room

 

 

Ensuite

Toilets

Ensuite bath - grouting needs to be changed to dark

Ensuite with shower "room" on left

Ensuite  shower with rainwater roof ceiling mounted shower

Kitchen - shark edge

Rumpus looking towards Alfresco

 

 

Upstairs verandah