Andy and Simone's New Cremorne41

Back Decking Completed

2010-03-16T17:54:00.004+11:00

Finally the back deck has been completed. Lots of hard work but well worth it. The LED deck lights indicate where the drop offs are, emit a nice blue light. At the end of the deck I will build a backdrop, rendered coloured wall and place a large pot which will be our water feature. More work to come, cant wait till its all completed....:)

2010 Update

2010-02-21T17:54:00.006+11:00

Celebrated our 2nd xmas and the house is coming along nicely. The front garden finally has the synthetic grass, which I installed myself. The crushed rock underneath, approx 75mm was compacted and levelled which is vital for a flat finish. Once laid, and pegged white fine sand was spread finely and evenly then broomed, using a special power broom, which you can hire. The grass looks and feels very natural. I wont have to worry about mowing it, watering it or pulling out weeds....:) The grass was sourced from magic turf. www.magicturf.com.au

Once the weather cools down I will be planting a Silver Birch tree in the middle, which will add height & focus to the front garden.

In regards to the backyard I have commenced building 2 decks (Wide Merbau planks). Digging holes is NOT a fun exercise, crow bar & pick/shovel become your friends. Great way to keep fit and lose a few pounds. Will also be installed LED lighting along the perimeter of the deck. Beacon lighting have great lights, not cheap but will withstand the weather.

Huge Update.......

2009-07-22T18:21:00.006+10:00

Lots been happening since our last update. In summary:

12 Month PD Maintenance completed (100% satisfied, great PD quality)
Front Decking constructed
Front Landscape done (with the exception of the synthetic grass)
Roman & Holland Blinds installed
Side Gates (constructed of thick steel & merbau decking): Coming soon

What a difference a front garden makes. Under the pebbles is weed mat, & premium top soil. The crushed rock around the silver birch tree, approx 23 sqm, will be layed with synthetic grass. The grass will be layed in the next few weeks. Cant wait.....We chose to plant hardy mediterrean plants, inc bird of paradise.

The front deck makes such a difference, love that merbau.... It goes well with our karndean vinyl planks, where I wanted the vertical flow to continue into the house. 4 Coats of feast & watson natural oil, seals and brings out the beautiful grains of the merbau.

The blinds were organised thru, "intoblinds". Great quality & service and fantastic pricing. Highley recommend them. Check out there website: www.intoblinds.com.au . Mention my blog (Wallace Cremorne41) and Mark will look after you. The pic below is of our dining room, which consits of 3 roman blinds. The fabric is "Palm Beach" Colour: Antique, which is close to our wall colour: Bone. The dining window also has an E-screen, which allows light & privacy. All our romans are operated by chains.

Opposite the dining is our living room, where I painted & assembled our plantation shutters. We love them....

Rumous room: 2 x Romans that cover our double sliding glass doors.

Upstaires Games Room Window: We decided to go darker as the room is large. Colour: Stone. E-Screen also fitted.

Bedroom 3: Double holland blinds.
Bedroom 4:

12 Months already........

2009-05-28T20:13:00.007+10:00

Hi everyone and fellow bloggers. Gee time flies. Next week it will be 12 months since we received handover on our Cremorne41. I still cant believe it... Our 12 month maintenance will be performed in the next few weeks, once the PD maintenance inspector visits us. The process for the 12 month maintenance is that you need to list all the items that need fixing, and fax your list to PD Maintenance dept. Once received PD will organise an inspection, then followed by the maintenance. We have been blessed with a great quality home, not that many items, and surprisingly NO cracks in the walls or ceilings, which is common for many new homes. Depends on the land movement. A few months ago we purchased DIY plantation shutters for various windows in the house. The shutters are made in australia, using very light paulowina timber. Visit www.portphillip.com.au ,for the price list and video instructions on how to prepare, paint and assemble your new shutters. David from portphillip shutters, uses the best materials, and he definetly knows his stuff. Once you receive your shutters, be prepared to spend many hours preparing, sanding, painting or staining. All that hard work definetly pays off when you finally install your freshly painted shutter(s). By doing most of the work yourself, you save over 50% on the normal cost of plantation shutters. The quality cannot be beaten. We decided to buy shutters for the front study, which have been stained & varnished, Living room (painted), Rumpus Room (painted), Lounge (painted), Lounge/front study void (painted) and will also purchase another pair for the master bedroom. So far I we have completed and fitted the rumpus room, both living room windows, and front study windows (3 shutters). All the shutters have hinges, which makes it easy to open the window and for cleaning as well. There are also magnetic catches.

Here's a few pics Our trusty bed sheet in the rumpus will soon be replaced by 2 roman blinds...cant wait...

More pics to come, over the next month.

Long overdue Update....

2008-12-09T16:19:00.012+11:00

Hi fellow bloggers & friends

Well its been a while since my last post. We have lived in our new home for nearly 6 months, gee time flies. We are so happy with the overall quality of the home, and have experienced no issues since we moved in....:)

The other day, we purchased a new xmas tree, 7.5ft high. It was fun assembling it & decorating it, very exciting, felt like kids...:) Look forward to celebrating our 1st xmas in our new home. To those who have recently moved in, and those who will be receiving handover shortly, hope you all enjoy your xmas present, living in your big cremorne...:) have a few beers and reflect on all your hard work, research, late nights, daily house visits etc....:)

The front decking has been postoned till mid jan, due to a shortage of decking timber. I plan to use spotted gum, wide planks, similar to the derrimut cremorne display, which by the way closes this weekend. the front deck will look similar to this:

I also plan to deck the back alfresco, and also extend it out. However this will have to wait till later next year, as the ground is still settling. The ground at the rear, which is close to the eazement, has dropped over the past few months and will continue to drop. A good friend of mine, a builder advised not to deck until the ground settles, as the deck stumps will be pulled into the ground... So in the mean time, I have filled the proposed decking area with volcanic crushed rock, which still needs to be compacted. At least we can utilise it, and visualise the rest of the back garden. Towards the end of the deck will be a big pot water feature, visable from the dining room.

Lots of top soil & crushed rock being dumped at the front, and transferred to the back via wheel barrow, hard yakka......i dont want to see another wheel barrow again......Total 24 cubic/metres..

After visiting many stores, we finally found some nice bar stools for the kitchen, and quite reasonably priced as well..

Our 2 indoor plants.... which dont need much water...:)

This time last year, our home looked like this........ What a difference a year can make....:)

I wish David & Suzie, Toni & family all the best in there upcoming handover. Hope all goes well.

Chat soon.

Driveway sealed & 3 Month maintenance Completed

2008-09-11T10:12:00.005+10:00

Hey guys,

Our driveway was sealed yesterday morning, and what a difference it makes. Gives the driveway that wet appearance. The clear sealer was rolled on, very simple. 1/2 a day to dry and its recommended to reapply every 6-12 months, which I intend to do myself. Purchase the clear sealer from a concrete supply shop, and roller from bunnings, choose a nice sunny day and off you go.

Last thursday a PD maintenance contractor spent most of the day rectifying minor issues, and even a few extras. The service and quality of his work was fantastic. He was very impressed with our paint job, the wattyl ID 3 coat system was def worth the money.

Overall our experience with PD has been fantastic, we were fortunate to have great tradesman, supervisor, admin & sales staff, all of whom were professional, helpful, motivated which in turn produced a great quality home...

A few pics of our sealed driveway & path

The front porch will be decked, using spotted gum, wide 136mm planks.

Now its time to plan the garden.......its never ending....always something to do...

Enjoy

Long awaited update......

2008-08-30T16:24:00.007+10:00

Hey guys, and fellow cremorne owners.

Well its been a while since my last update. Plenty to report. We have now lived in our new home for just over 2 months. We are enjoying every bit of it. The house looks great, no quality issues, and nothing broken...all good... Our 3 month maintenance is up, and the PD maintenance inspector was fantastic. Not many issues at all, only a few minor things, paint touch ups etc. He commented on our floors, he thought we had hardwood timber, but no its vinyl. Karndean flooring...which fools most people..He was so impressed that PD might consider laying vinyl flooring in there display homes... This thursday we are booked for the maintenance work. Should only take a day.

We finally had our driveway done, on tuesday. The delay due to concrete guy being ill and bad weather. It will be sealed next week, making sure the concrete has completely dried. We choose the base colour as "Sandstone" and the release colour, "chocolate". Once sealed the colurs will come out. Suits the house, we didnt want a dark colour, ie grey as it would have clashed with our portico.

The front porch will be decked shortly, using "spotted gum 136mm wide planks.

Glad to see the other cremorne owners are progressing well, perry and M&M congrats on moving in, all look superb, all unique.

Enjoy the pics....

Our new couches & ottoman.

Temporary window coverings. Redi shade, available from selected bunnings stores. Much more attractive than mums old bed sheets....

Powder room towel holder, Irwell (Metro Series), they even match the door handles...

Our new light fittings

2008-07-03T09:45:00.008+10:00

Hey everyone,

We had our light fittings installed the other day, to the kitchen, dining, powder room & front facade. Hope you like the pics.

Excuse the fancy window coverings, old sheets still come in handy, while we transition to our new ones...

We have a new Home......

2008-06-30T20:17:00.008+10:00

Hey guys and girls

Well after a long and exhausting few weeks, we finally moved into our new Home last wednesday. So many boxes to unpack, and yes the house is big. Need to fill it more with new furniture...

Thanks for your patience, so much we had to organise, currently on dial up internet, waiting for our broadband to be configured.

There is so much to organise prior and post moving. Ie: Foxtel, phone, appliance commisioning, driveway, fencing, porch decking, etc

Here's a few pics......Take note of our floor, looks like timber doesnt it........ The 2nd pic, displays the 1st half of the floor sealed and towards the hallway not sealed. Our new Karndean vinyl planks is awesome, warmer than tiles, and looks and feels like timber, so many people think its timber... The rumpus room, lounge/library & front study are carpeted. All upstairs is carpeted, excluding hte wet areas of course..

More pics to come, once the driveway, light fittings, front porch decking are completed.

Lucky Im on holidays, so much to do. Wil take a while to sort out all the unpacked boxed, its amasing how much you accumulate over the years....

Our friends have been most impressed with the quality & design of our home. It feels like such an accomplishment, like I have given birth to it...:)....All those late nights discussing colours, options, upgrades, checking each day on the progress, taking pics, and watching it progress has been an enjoyable experience, one that everyone should encounter in there life.

To all my cremorne fans, thanks again, for all your feedback. Each of the houses are unique in there own way, and all look great, and soon to be your home, its such a wonderful experience.

Chat soon

Andy

We now have the keys to our new home

2008-05-30T18:30:00.003+10:00

Hey everyone, we had handover today. PD had resolved all the minor issues, and we were very pleased with the end result. It hasnt kicked in yet. Im sure it will very soon.

Will post updated pics soon.

Handover coming soon

2008-05-17T19:03:00.004+10:00

PD are resolving a few minor issues before handover will occur. Once all reported items are rectified, a final inspection will be made, then a trip to the PD office to collect our keys, and of course the handover of the bank cheque....

Our flooring guys are keen to commence after handover, and then comes the laborious task of packing, and relocating........fun fun fun

ETA of handover, possibly in a weeks time. Site Supervisor to inform us very soon.

Thanks everyone for your comments & feedback, much appreciated.

Monday-----Handover. Collection of House keys..

2008-05-07T17:53:00.001+10:00

1 week till handover

2008-04-30T19:24:00.003+10:00

Front facade rendering now complete, with the exception of the moulding between top & bottom windows. Moulding to be painted, light colour NOT yellow......

Pre Handover Inspection Completed--2 weeks till handover

2008-04-25T15:52:00.004+10:00

Hi all. We had our PCI yesterday. It took around 4 hours to inspect the whole house, both internally & externally. Nothing major, only minor things. ie: Paint blotches, marks, a few cracked tiles etc.

We are very fortunate to have a great supervisor who also pointed out faults for us. There are plenty of coloured stickers on the walls. we were both thoroughly prepared and knew what to look for. We have been fortunate that we have had great tradesman & supervisor involved in the building of our new home.

Within the next 2 weeks, rectifications will be made and all faults & issues will be resolved.

The final coat of render will be applied just before handover, as to avoid damage by tradesmen. Garage door soon to be fitted.

Nearly there.........

PS: We didnt opt for an independent inspector as I have been involved with all the stages of building, and am confident that all has been built with the greatest of quality. Also helps if you have a great supervisor. And even if we missed some minor items, there is always the maintenance period, 3 & 12 months.....

1 week before pre-handover inspection

2008-04-17T19:17:00.003+10:00

Plumbing fit off nearly complete

2008-04-15T21:55:00.003+10:00

Practical Completion Inspection & Handover

2008-04-12T09:05:00.004+10:00

PCI booked in for 24th April.....:) Not long now, Handover date, 1st May, tentative...

We cant believe how quick & efficient our building process has been. The electrical fit off is nearly complete. Home theatre, foxtel TV points, alarm and TV antenna & booster to be installed on monday. Balcony floor to be installed & tiled. Plumbing fitoff, toilets & bath to be installed also during the week. Door locks, handles, termite protection spraying & final inspection by BSS inspector soon to be organised.

TIP: Ensure you check the ceilings and walls under lights, at night. During the day its hard to see the imperfections. Ive noticed a few areas of the ceiling, which you can see the plaster joins. More paint is needed to cover these, note: the ceiling is sprayed then roller finished.

To get access, visit your site, while the tradies are there and stay there till they leave. Most of them will let you stay, as long as you lock up afterwards......

Be sure to check each powerpoint, light switch, 2 or 3 way switching before the PCI.

More electrical pics..

2008-04-12T08:52:00.002+10:00

Electrical fit off 90% complete.....

2008-04-12T08:41:00.003+10:00

More tiling pics

2008-04-05T18:47:00.001+11:00

Latest: Wet area tiling inc tiled skirts

2008-04-05T18:31:00.001+11:00

Latest ---Garage roof fitted & Balcony Floor

2008-04-01T19:41:00.003+11:00

Garage Roof Trusses & Support Beams installed. Balcony floor support beams installed....

More Interior pics

2008-03-31T20:24:00.001+11:00

Updated Interior pics---Painting Completed

2008-03-31T20:14:00.001+11:00

Rendering of the front facade....

2008-03-31T19:59:00.001+11:00

2008-03-31T14:59:00.001+11:00

Interior Pics, prior painting

2008-03-31T14:02:00.000+11:00

Exterior updated pics

2008-03-31T10:04:00.001+11:00

2008-03-30T22:44:00.001+11:00