Our colours: Homestead red, Woodland grey render, CB Monument for garage door, front door, gutters and down pipes, surf mist windows and woodland grey mouldings..
Similar colours and concepts in a nearby unit...
Friday, 30 September 2011
CV - contract variations!
OMG I have read, re-read, and re-read again the contract and YET i still find errors!!! I am gob smacked to realise that the flooring is listed incorrectly, as in the colour is WRON WRONG WORNG!
How can this be at this point in time??!! How many more items are listed incorrectly that we haven't picked up??!!
Rule no. 1 - you cannot have rechecked the contract details yet enough times! It does help if two are on board in the checking tho - Reading this rob? hint, hint!
So far I have been really happy with the money we have spent on xtras such as mouldings around the facade windows, a gas fire in the lounge, loads of down lights inc LEDs, soft close cupboards/drawers, the extended living areas, awning windows, caesar stone, loads of sliding doors, an extra driveway and an xtra carport for the boat or kids car as they grow up!!
So far i am really happy we have chosen the colours internal and external that we need. I have second guessed the render - woodland grey and the colour bond accessory Monument that we have for doors and down pipes, gutters and facias. Will post a pic of a house that is most similar to the colours we have chosen - I drive past it every day to take kids to school and it re- assures me of our choices in all different lights and weather!
How can this be at this point in time??!! How many more items are listed incorrectly that we haven't picked up??!!
Rule no. 1 - you cannot have rechecked the contract details yet enough times! It does help if two are on board in the checking tho - Reading this rob? hint, hint!
So far I have been really happy with the money we have spent on xtras such as mouldings around the facade windows, a gas fire in the lounge, loads of down lights inc LEDs, soft close cupboards/drawers, the extended living areas, awning windows, caesar stone, loads of sliding doors, an extra driveway and an xtra carport for the boat or kids car as they grow up!!
So far i am really happy we have chosen the colours internal and external that we need. I have second guessed the render - woodland grey and the colour bond accessory Monument that we have for doors and down pipes, gutters and facias. Will post a pic of a house that is most similar to the colours we have chosen - I drive past it every day to take kids to school and it re- assures me of our choices in all different lights and weather!
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Waiting, waiting, waiting....
It's driving me insane NOT to have started as yet!! Reading all the other BLOGs and seeing their progress has me Green with envy! C'mon council!!!! Aaaargh!!
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
I was wrong!
After colour selections we were really happy - for at least two days. Then I began to second guess myself and so yes, it was back to the displays to check and recheck some of our choices..... I can only compare this feeling to being like when your baby starts sleeping thru the night then STOPS and you go back to getting up at all hours all over again - excruciating!
Happily though, I can report that it was worth all the effort to feel really happy about our colours. I was even known to stealthily walk up to a non display home, with similar colours to what we have chosen, to compare my colour swatch with their downpipes! What the neighbours thought of this crazy lady, as I pushed through the shrubs down the side of this house I'll never know! (ps. I did knock first but no-one was home!) Thanks again Hopetoun girls for all the advice!
So then we went to sign the contract (read life consuming document) - I was petrified but hubby was non plussed. He signed the contract and was happy to have any changes we wanted to be noted in a contract variation - to be drawn up after we signed. "It's done this way all the time" he informed me! Well I wasn't so sure and wanted everything in writing. I wanted the variations finished before the cooling off period as after that I felt we would have no leverage!!!! Rob (hubby) wasn't fussed. He had faith. I was betting I'd be wiping that smugness off his face very soon after BUT I was wrong! Yes, a first time for everything I think. Lol
Even after the contract was signed we have found Porter Davis have been amaaaazing. They have worked with us in detail on the variations and we have found them to be very honest and professional - adjusting all that we felt to be fair and more via the contract variation. I worry that I am spruiking this too early - it's the pessimist in me - but I just can't tell you how amaaazing they have been in seeing fair and honest solutions to some of the queries we have had or changes we requested. Did I mention Amaazing!! Well done to the team at NarreWarren Office - not sure I can mention names but there are a few involved and we think they are Amaaazing!!
Again, we are loving our Porter Davis Experience
PS. On a sad note: Due to the unusual way we are hooking up to the sewer line (house too close to the easement for the usual way) we now need two more planning permits! This will mean an Oct start now NOT september! Lucky our housemates love us and we love them but I am just keen to see our house finished!! Never was good with laybyes either! (Hhmm! Patience my dear!)
Happily though, I can report that it was worth all the effort to feel really happy about our colours. I was even known to stealthily walk up to a non display home, with similar colours to what we have chosen, to compare my colour swatch with their downpipes! What the neighbours thought of this crazy lady, as I pushed through the shrubs down the side of this house I'll never know! (ps. I did knock first but no-one was home!) Thanks again Hopetoun girls for all the advice!
So then we went to sign the contract (read life consuming document) - I was petrified but hubby was non plussed. He signed the contract and was happy to have any changes we wanted to be noted in a contract variation - to be drawn up after we signed. "It's done this way all the time" he informed me! Well I wasn't so sure and wanted everything in writing. I wanted the variations finished before the cooling off period as after that I felt we would have no leverage!!!! Rob (hubby) wasn't fussed. He had faith. I was betting I'd be wiping that smugness off his face very soon after BUT I was wrong! Yes, a first time for everything I think. Lol
Even after the contract was signed we have found Porter Davis have been amaaaazing. They have worked with us in detail on the variations and we have found them to be very honest and professional - adjusting all that we felt to be fair and more via the contract variation. I worry that I am spruiking this too early - it's the pessimist in me - but I just can't tell you how amaaazing they have been in seeing fair and honest solutions to some of the queries we have had or changes we requested. Did I mention Amaazing!! Well done to the team at NarreWarren Office - not sure I can mention names but there are a few involved and we think they are Amaaazing!!
Again, we are loving our Porter Davis Experience
PS. On a sad note: Due to the unusual way we are hooking up to the sewer line (house too close to the easement for the usual way) we now need two more planning permits! This will mean an Oct start now NOT september! Lucky our housemates love us and we love them but I am just keen to see our house finished!! Never was good with laybyes either! (Hhmm! Patience my dear!)
Internal colour selections
At this point I will add this post without completing it as I am going to update on the progress since...
Colour and Electrical selection - finally!!
Wow! What a day! The Hopetoun girls were amazing - this has been the first time since our sales consultant that we enjoyed our "Porter Davis experience". They were so patient and considerate - made our experience really pleasant as we were quite dreading it all really.
Unfortunately we were 30 min late due to the fact my son who has broken his leg also broke his arm yesterday (yes!!!) so we needed to get him to a friends house to be looked after. We had done our home work - we thought - visited Hopetoun and displays every weekend we could manage. Suprise suprise we still had some areas we hadn't really considered such as the laundry colours and we still made some colour changes to BIG areas such as render and kitchen cupboards. Thanks to the advice of our consultants.
We didn't upgrade too much in the colour stuff - door locks were probably the biggest chunk. (still went went around the four grand mark tho!!) Electricals were a killer : we went for LED down lights at $150 a pop and after 31 downlights downstairs alone it's no wonder we come in around the ten grand mark in upgrades. #@*#$!! How do the others do the six grand mark i wonder?! Perhaps the extras came in the form of home theatre wiring (read: NOT the units) and internet /data/tv wiring for the six, yes six TV points?!!
We are very excited about the colours we have finaly chosen - mostly! I say mostly as we were never entirely wrapped in the red brick (a bit too orange) and were worried that the brown brick would date as did the seventies "mission brown". So after much much deliberation and many rural visits to addresses of the brick we had chosen ( ie: past Cranbourne) we decided as neither were particularly bad and neither was particularly perfect we would go with the red brick and save around $1800 in the Cat two upgrade that the choc brick required. This was particularly re-inforced as we found out the off white mortar was $1400 upgrade!! (Amazing the details we have had to consider)
Biggest tip: the colour you choose for the windows should not only be considered in the facade but also in the interior colours!!
So here goes: (pics to follow) will make sense to Porter Davis buyers...
External
Brick cat one: Austral homestead red gum
Raked Joints with off white mortar
Render to portico and Mouldings: Woodland grey
Garage door : Colourbond Monument
Front door Colourond Monument
(back rear cement sheet : Shale Grey)
Alfresco beams Colourbond monument
Roof tiles Sambucca ( black)
Down pipes and gutters: Colourbond Monument
Eaves: white
Windows Surfmist
Door glazing: Desert Sand
Door handle: Nexion Vision Glide Lever Polished chrome
phew.... will post internals list next time as this is already a huge post.
Unfortunately we were 30 min late due to the fact my son who has broken his leg also broke his arm yesterday (yes!!!) so we needed to get him to a friends house to be looked after. We had done our home work - we thought - visited Hopetoun and displays every weekend we could manage. Suprise suprise we still had some areas we hadn't really considered such as the laundry colours and we still made some colour changes to BIG areas such as render and kitchen cupboards. Thanks to the advice of our consultants.
We didn't upgrade too much in the colour stuff - door locks were probably the biggest chunk. (still went went around the four grand mark tho!!) Electricals were a killer : we went for LED down lights at $150 a pop and after 31 downlights downstairs alone it's no wonder we come in around the ten grand mark in upgrades. #@*#$!! How do the others do the six grand mark i wonder?! Perhaps the extras came in the form of home theatre wiring (read: NOT the units) and internet /data/tv wiring for the six, yes six TV points?!!
We are very excited about the colours we have finaly chosen - mostly! I say mostly as we were never entirely wrapped in the red brick (a bit too orange) and were worried that the brown brick would date as did the seventies "mission brown". So after much much deliberation and many rural visits to addresses of the brick we had chosen ( ie: past Cranbourne) we decided as neither were particularly bad and neither was particularly perfect we would go with the red brick and save around $1800 in the Cat two upgrade that the choc brick required. This was particularly re-inforced as we found out the off white mortar was $1400 upgrade!! (Amazing the details we have had to consider)
Biggest tip: the colour you choose for the windows should not only be considered in the facade but also in the interior colours!!
So here goes: (pics to follow) will make sense to Porter Davis buyers...
External
Brick cat one: Austral homestead red gum
Raked Joints with off white mortar
Render to portico and Mouldings: Woodland grey
Garage door : Colourbond Monument
Front door Colourond Monument
(back rear cement sheet : Shale Grey)
Alfresco beams Colourbond monument
Roof tiles Sambucca ( black)
Down pipes and gutters: Colourbond Monument
Eaves: white
Windows Surfmist
Door glazing: Desert Sand
Door handle: Nexion Vision Glide Lever Polished chrome
phew.... will post internals list next time as this is already a huge post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)