Brooks Reach Neighbourhood/Community Park

Stockland has opened its display village at Brooks Reach. Of the 24 planned display homes, 15 are ready. Metricon too has a presence and I will soon write on its display homes.

This post is on Brooks Reach Neighbourhood/Community Park – which is about 250 metres from our future home. I visited the Park a few days ago, and it is friendly and inviting. I even got my in-laws to play (along with my daughter) on the large tower slide and it is awesome! The Park has a number of fun places for children to explore including decking, boulders and open spaces. For adults, there are sheltered areas; BBQ and ample seating to encourage gatherings.

According to Stockland, “this park…was designed in conjunction with the children from Dapto Public School as part of a child friendly neighbourhood research program, which was recently recognised by the Planning Institute of Australia, winning the award for Children and Young people and the President’s award for the night”.

Here are some of the photos of the Park.

Internal Colour and Electrical Appointment-5

Last week, we received the revised Contract variation and Colour Schedule documents reflecting the selections we made during internal and external colour appointment. After cross-checking with the New Home Contract and two variation documents along with the Colour Quotation document, we identified few more errors and omissions, and asked our Consultant to address them. Our consultant fixed the errors and emailed us the document by the end of week, after which we signed and returned the documents.

Ensuite / Bathroom / WC and Powder Room selections



Standard 6 mm Semi-Frameless Shower Screen with Polished Silver frame colour and clear glazing



Our shower in ensuite will resemble this one
(we will also have another one in the extended Powder room)



Our Shower in Bathroom will resemble this one

All three showers have 300 mm high x 90 mm deep tiled shower recess



Stylus Venecia Close Coupled Toilet

  

Two 950 mm high x 420 mm wide x 90 mm deep mirror front wall-mounted recessed shaving cabinets



Mirrors in Powder, WC, Bathroom are Silver backed with polished edges on a 16 mm backing board and have either full height wall tiles or 100 mm tiled surround 

Ensuite Shower: PureJet Shower Set Duo (2 spray function); height adjutment rail, with push-button control

Ensuite: Pinto Quad shower mixer



PDR and Bathroom showers: Moda Duo Rail 99002 + HS200 shower head




PDR and Bathroom: Alto wall mixer for shower



Caroma Liano inset basin 415 mm x 415 mm

PDR, Bathroom, WC and Ensuite: Pinto basin mixer

 

Stylus Newbury bath 1675 mm




Vito Bertoni fixed bath mixer set; 220 mm spout with Chrome back plate



Star robe hook

 

Bathroom and Ensuite: 750 mm Metza double towel rail (88902)




Metza towel ring



Metza toilet roll holder



Internal Colour and Electrical Appointment-4

We finalised our internal selections six weeks after we had our Internal Colour appointment. We got to this stage after exchanging several emails, as there were some omissions, errors, follow-ups with the estimator, and items that required clarifications. Although some of these could have been avoided, I provide credit where it is due: the consultant was patient, courteous and helpful throughout this journey.

From what I have experienced, you need to have ‘attention to detail’ at five levels:

Level 1: This involves checking for items that you originally requested, but was omitted in the variation. For example, we requested HUME Sorrento SOR 5 doors throughout the house; however, the Consultant / Estimator missed including SOR5 door for entry into Powder from Sitting.

Level 2: This involves checking for items that you originally requested, and included in the variation; however, the numbers don’t stack up. You need to visualise by perhaps drawing on a piece of paper, tally the number required and cross check with the ones included in the variation. For example, we requested patio bolts in Dining and Family for added security. There is one elevation in Family and two elevations in Dining; therefore, it is only natural to include three patio bolts. However, one of the elevations in Dining has a bi-part door, thus requiring two bolts instead of one that is typical needed for sliding or stacker doors. Thus, you will need to visualise such omissions and advise the consultant accordingly. Another example of this type is when there are two separate items. For example, we requested Laminex cupboard handles (244 mm), in lieu of standard, for pantry doors. When looked at the item in isolation, the number of handles was correct. However, we also requested a laminate panel for the integrated dishwasher to be placed in the Pantry – in between the two pantry base cupboard doors – for which a handle needed to be included. There were other minor Level 1 errors (for example, a wrong description). In our case, instead of stating ‘front laminate panel to Pantry…”, it read ‘front laminate panel to Kitchen…” (Our dishwasher is in Pantry).

Level 3: This involves checking for items that you originally requested, and included in the variation, but the codes are wrong for the items that are included. The only way you can verify this is if you take a note of the codes when the consultant refers to the brochure at the time of selection. For example, the code for handles 244 mm is 869991; however, was wrongly stated as 869990. There might also be typographical errors that are Level 1: for example, the length of the handles for the code 869990 should have read 188 mm instead of 88 mm as originally stated.

Level 4: Pricing issues that do not make sense. We originally included Category 1 stone bench top to many wet areas in the New Home Contract itself; however, chose a type and colour that was Category 2 during the appointment. However, the Estimator did not take that into account while calculating the variation. Instead of stating “provide Cat 2 bench top….in lieu of Cat 1”, the Variation stated “…in lieu of standard”, which prompted us to seek clarification on the over-the-top upgrade price.

Level 5: The last one includes undertaking research and asking the consultant to include additional descriptions to minimise potential mistakes during the construction stage. You will need to read blogs of other clients and may even need to collect your own information. For example, one of the bloggers had lamented that the kitchen supplier installed the handles centred in the middle of the drawers, which made it hard to pull open from the middle (rather than the top).

Drawer handles centred and top aligned
Source: Metricon, Byron Kitchen

The blogger also lamented that the drawers were not fully extendable, which made it “inaccessible to pull pots and dishes out of without first moving items from the front row”. Further, the blogger was not happy that the island bench was not deep enough, as it forced him to drink his coffee leaning over it, instead of actually sitting under it. These are small, but significant matters that needed attention; I am glad I read the blog, and eventually got the consultant to include a description that drawer handles must be centred and top aligned, in addition to extending island bench top depth (while agreeing to paying extra for it). We also requested that drawers are to be almost fully extendable (and agreed to pay extra for that privilege).



Not fully extendable drawers
Source: pnhousebuild.blogspot.com.au



Almost fully extendable drawers 



Likewise, we were particular that entry door handles resemble and are positioned similar to the one in one of the Metricon display homes. Therefore, we measured the position of the door handle and the lock and requested the consultant to include a description to position the lock at 1000 mm from floor and centred to Horizon 750 mm pull handle, like the picture below.

I’ll post pictures of our internal selections after we receive our final internal and colour variation document.

Phoenix wins HIA Display Home of the Yeard Award

Recently, Metricon’s Phoenix Display House at Fern Bay was awarded the Over 300,001 Category and the HIA Display Home of the Year. The awards are judged by industry professionals and acknowledge the talent of builders who plan and construct quality new housing.

Whilst our House will not have all the bells and whistles of the Display House at Fern Bay, we are nevertheless glad to have selected the same Phoenix design that won the Award (and we hope that our house when built by Metricon will be of high quality).

The news page on Metricon’s web site notes “With a focus on open plan living, the five bedroom, two bathroom home offers multiple, spacious living areas amongst a smart floor plan designed with a growing family in mind” – which is exactly why we choose this design! We had made minor modification to the design that included converting our Powder to another bathroom, and the Sitting to another bedroom, totalling 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.

Good on you Metricon for winning the Award.

See the news page for details

http://www.metricon.com.au/about/latest-news/2012/october/metricon-wins-hunter-hia-display-home-of-the-year-

Internal Colour and Electrical Appointment-3

Update on Electrical Plans and Variations

After exchanging numerous emails amending, clarifying and fixing errors, we finally signed off on our electrical plans and variations. Our electrical variations totalled just below 11 K. When considering that our house would be 44 Squares, we think we did spend OK (some Metricon customers have spent about 16 to 20 K for a similar sized house).

Following are the prices of some of the items we selected:

• Batten holder: $40
• 2, 3 or 4 way switches: $50, $80 or $240 respectively
• Double Power Point: $45
• Few different types of outdoor sockets: $80 approximately
• Power supply to Island bench (for easy access to toaster): $110
• Free-to-Air TV point: $75
• Pay TV point: $80
• Phone socket: $90
• Data/Phone (Cat 6): $115
• Speaker cable provision / Blank plate: $110
• TV conduit provision (for wall mounting TV): $115
• Ducted exhaust fan (provision, unit and installation): $300
• Sunshine 6600A Heat-Fan-Lamp (2 heat lamps): $450
• Wiring only for ceiling fans: $40
• Timber noggin (for mounting moderately heavy pendant lamps): $10
• Junction box provision: $75
• Pre-wire for future doorbell: $150
• NBN (National Broadband Network) conduit provision: $380

See pictures below on how the conduit and NBN equipment respectively would look like.

Internal Colour and Electrical Appointment-2

I was hoping to receive the costing on our internal selections, so that I could post the details on the blog; however, the Studio M manager sent her apologies a few times in the past week for not providing the costing. Apparently, there are a few items the Estimator is waiting a quote for from their supplier as they did not provide all the items he had requested. So, instead I will report on our electrical consultation in this post.

Our electrical consultation was held on the same day as our internal colour appointment. We met a lovely lady, M, from Vaccaro Group. M was professional and explained to us the basics of the ‘musts to have’ and ‘good to have, but can be done later’, so that we do not stretch our budget very far. We had a budget of 10K to spend, and the variations did not deviate much from that figure. We spent a little over three hours and completed most of our selections at 5 PM when the computer froze! Thanks to the System’s auto save feature (which was actually annoying, as it saved every 5 mins), we did not lose any data. M advised that she would email me us our selections, which then provided us an opportunity to review at leisure. Note Metricon/Vaccaro’s standard policy, which is “Electrical selections and plans are to be finalised and signed off on the same day as your appointment”; so, we were pretty lucky to get some time off to review. We took our electrical plans last week-end to Beacon Lighting to make our actual light selections and sought their advice on many items. I emailed M our amendment requests after reviewing the electrical plans.

OK, now to the actual selection process: As you can see in the picture in this post, the system they use allows us to clearly see the approximate locations of switches, batten holders and other electrical items we ask for.  Note that the height of all lights switches is approx. 1050 mm above slab level; all external junction box for future wall lights are 1800 mm AFL (above floor level); all light points above mirror to any bathroom are 2100 mm AFL, while all GPOs (General Purpose Outlet / Socket Outlet), commonly known as power point, are 300 mm AFL. So, if you want at any other height, you would need to specify them.

We love down lights (D/Ls), but were anxious about the prices. Reading from other blogs, I was under the impression that CFL D/Ls lights provided by metricon are about $105 each, and I was wrong. M clarified that halogen D/Ls are $105, 11W CFL D/Ls are $125 and 11W LED D/Ls are $200. When I heard the prices I almost fainted! So, I asked M’s suggestion, and her solution was to get Batten Holders at this stage for $40 each and then get them converted to future D/Ls. A week before our electrical appointment, I enquired with Beacon Lighting on LED D/Ls, and they were having a promotion on LED D/Ls (30% off second light and subsequent ones). So, yesterday we went to Beacon and chose LEDlux 11W 600 Lumen Brushed Chrome D/L Kit that was priced $60 for the first one and $42 for the second light. I also contacted an electrician recommended by Beacon (as we do not have any sparky friends), who charges $30 to install a D/L. So, the approximate cost of having a LED D/L is $40 for the ceiling point (that comes with a batter holder and a bulb) + approx. $50 for LEDlux 11W Led D/L + $30 to install it = $120. We ultimately selected 25 LED D/Ls via Beacon, which is a saving of $2000 ($80 per D/L x 25).

There were a few other items that were ridiculously expensive (eg., metal cover plates that were $15 each, as opposed to about $5 if you were to do it post hand over); so we stuck to the standard ones. All light switches are Classic C2000 style, with the exception of Kitchen and Pantry glass splashback switches and sockets, which are Clipsal Saturn Espresso Black, approx. $140 each; and double power point on kitchen island bench, where we selected Black C2000 style for an additional $10.

For tricky places that required recessing the lights (lights in niches in Entry;  lights under Over Head Cupboards in Kitchen; and lights on walls in Stairs), we bit the bullet and purchased lights via Metricon/Vaccarro, so that they can be responsible for installation of those lights.

With the exception of 2 light points (batten holders) in Portico (for future D/Ls), 1 light point in Balcony (for future D/L), 1 wall light point on Garage (for future wall down light) and three batten under eaves (for future double spot lights), we asked for 3 junction boxes for external lighting, at a cost of $75 each.

There are many more items on which I wish to write; and I will continue those in my next post on electrical selections.

Internal Colour and Electrical Appointment-1

We had our internal colour and electrical appointment on the same day this week. It started at 9:30 AM and finished at 5:30 PM. It was not overwhelming, as we did our homework prior by visiting display houses and having several bed time discussions!

Both the internal colour and electrical selections were a fun experience, although we felt that the internal colour selections process was a bit rushed. It was neither the fault of the Studio M Consultant nor ours. We had the Studio M manager itself as our consultant, who was very knowledgeable and helpful with our selections and provided her wisdom on which ones to upgrade through metricon and items we could consider upgrading ourselves post hand-over.

We were quite detailed in our selections, and we provided a modified kitchen cabinetry design for the consultant to pass on our rough drawings to the drafting department.

We think we did not go crazy with the internal colour selections. The Consultant said she would email us the selections (along with prices) in a week or so for our review.

As there are so many selections, I will write about them in a series of posts rather than rush through one or two long posts. This post is on internal paint and stain colours.

INTERNAL PAINT AND STAIN COLOURS



Hog Bristle Full Strength for internal walls; Hog Bristle Quarter Strength for Architraves, Skirting, Ceiling and SOR 5 internal doors





Feature Colour 1: Dulux Mid Night Secret similar to this one 




Feature Colour 2: Dulux Eastern Gold




Architraves: Double Pencil Round 67 x 18 mm




67 mm architraves are those ones that surround the window




75 mm Scotia Cornice



Intergrain Rich Chocolate Stain for Stairs and JST 1 internal doors




Hume JST1 timber internal doors (in rich chocolate stain) with transulescent glass for master bedroom, pantry/laundry, study, guest bedroom (sitting), ensuite and PDR



This is Charcoal stain, we will have a shade darker than this (rich-chocolate)



Pantry/laundry internal doors




Internal doors to Study



HUME Sorrento SOR 5 internal doors to remainder of the house



Staircase: Maple treads and risers, in rich chocolate stain finish,with stainless steel balusters. The handrail would be rectangle and continuous instead of curved; and there would be no newel post - see picture below to get an idea (however, will not have semi open treads like the one below as they are very expensive!)





The stairs will have a P35 control joint in lieu of standard MDF cover board.