Tiles

We had our meeting at Tiles Direct with Kylie a fortnight ago. It was a lengthy process, which neither of us had anticipated.
Whilst our consultant was helpful, we did have trouble selecting our main floor tile (for the ground floor living area) as they really had no suitable timber-look ceramics, due to the very limited range.  We had our heart set on timber-look tiling, so we reluctantly chose not to proceed with the ground floor tiling as a result. Not a good start.
On a positive we had plenty of choice with tiling for our bathrooms and powder rooms. There is a very reasonable range of floor and wall tiles in the Rawson standard. Whilst the standards are good, there are some anomalies in the areas of coverage. This leads to the first variation;
Extra tile supply to cater for ceiling height tiling behind vanity mirrors. But wait.. there's more to this.

Rawson provide a neat 32mm MDF board on the vanity wall, and mount the mirror on the board so that it appears to 'float'. The vanity wall begins at 750mm due to the cabinet height, and has a MDF board on 80% of that wall section. So what exactly are they tiling? I challenged the consultant on this, as she was adding the cost of tiles for the entire wall, when in fact the majority of it is covered by the mirror. This is clearly articulated in the plans that she had received. Still, the consultant needed clarification from Rawson before she conceded that indeed, less tiles are needed.

Other variations relate to;.

• Brickbond tiling attracts extra labour costs. 
• The subway tiles and mosaics selected in the main bathroom and powder rooms are not standard.
• Feature (ie anything that's not off-white) grout.
• Bermuda Square floor wastes

Tiles selected were largely based on our preference for practical yet timeless colour and a little flair around the mirrors.

Main Bathroom;
Floor - Lisse black 330x330
(Despite the name, this tile is not in fact black, but rather a dark charcoal)

Wall - Gloss white 300x450 (laid horizontal 'stacked')

Vanity Feature wall - Matt black subway 75x150 (laid horizontal 'brickbond') w/ Charred Ash Feature Grout (again, whilst the name is Matt black, it's more of a charcoal colour).

Floor waste - Bermuda Square tile covered

Bed 1 Ensuite;
Floor - Lisse black 330x330

Wall - Gloss white 300x450 (laid horizontal 'stacked')

Vanity Feature wall - Ivory 100x300 (laid horizontal 'brickbond') w/ Charred Ash Feature Grout

Floor waste - Bermuda Square tile covered

Powder Rooms;
Floor - Lisse black 330x330

Vanity Feature wall - White Gloss Hex mosaic 23x23 w/ Slate Grey Feature Grout

Floor waste - Bermuda Square tile covered

Tiling in the ground floor living area will be installed post handover.

Electrical Fitout

After our Meeting with Barbara last week in Rhodes, we are finally at completion of the paperwork. Barbara was so helpful during this process. Her knowledge and quick communication was simply incredible, and we were really impressed.  Barbara has had many years experience in the electrical industry, has previously worked for Clipsal, and has an electrician for a husband!

The way the appointment ran was great.  It lasted for roughly 3 hours, and was presented in a way that was clear, concise and easy to follow.  Barbara's laptop was connected to a wall-mounted LCD screen so that our electrical plans were visible to us, and we could actually see changes that were made in real time.  We were also able to look at all of the choices available to us, in terms of switches, fittings etc.

We had very good inclusions within the tender and also the standards within the Rawson build to start with.
12x 11W LED downlights and the 'Lux' standard inclusions.
Lets start with the standard plan. What do you get?

Now the final plans. This is what we ended up with after the meeting and email conversations.
You may have to come back and have another look after reading ;)

Firstly, the additional points on this plan are;
5 x 10A 2 Socket GPOs
1x Digital TV Point
1x Foxtel Pre-wire
5x Category 6 Data points
3x Wiring only for light points
19x Downlight provisions (plug-base in the ceiling)
3x Flood lights (upgrades on external J-boxes)

As the house is a two storey, there is only one chance to fitout the ground level for lighting, power and data. At least 90% of the extra costs are incurred here.  Barbara advised us that she has seen many clients attempt to complete electrical work on the lower level post handover, and it has usually turned into a nightmare.
You will also see a strange mix of battens and downlight provisions, which is all due to the handover 'Occupation Certificate'. You must have at least one light in each room.
Data points are provided in the Leisure, Study, Dining (on ceiling), Family, and upstairs hallway (on celing). I will be using corporate grade wireless equipment that is available to me through work. The Access Points will be mounted on the ceiling to maximise decent WiFi throughout the house. The units are small minimalist white boxes, featuring internal aerials and small activity lights.

Lucky for us, we have an electrician in the family for post-handover fitout of the additional lighting.  This will be easier on the pocket upstairs and also means we will have access to 'trade supply pricing' for LED lighting throughout the home.
Upstairs is pretty standard. We have mainly placed lights in the bedrooms so that extra LED downlights can be simply retro-fitted post handover, and no hole patching will be necessary.

Extra lighting circuits in the ensuite were necessary as the nib wall doesn't run up to the ceiling. Another win here was that we had the cavity door moved in the WIR so that we had a wall section adjacent to the ensuite shower to provide more space for a towel rail, which was previously lacking. This will have a heated towel rail which will be installed after handover.
 ** This was a fortunate opportunity as we hadn't yet signed the internal selections. Otherwise a drafting charge would have followed. I can't help but think this is a common pitfall that project builders bank on.

Also, with all these extra lights we had to pay for an additional 10A circuit on the switchboard!

Finally, there are some small luxuries hidden in the plan, which you may, or may not have noticed:
1) A power point installed in the kitchen cabinet (also switched on the kitchen wall switch) for under cupboard/over bench LED strip lighting.
The overhead cabinets will be mounted on 20 mm which will create a neat / hidden reveal to hide the LED strip.
 ** Another fortunate change due to unsigned interior selection paperwork
2) Multiple areas using two-way switching: in entry hallway, stairs, spot lighting in Laundry/Garage, upstairs hallway.  The convenience of two-way switching can't be beaten. The only standard here for Rawson is for the stairs. All others are variations to standard.
3) Master Bedroom bedside pendant light provisions.  ie extra wiring in the ceiling and light switches on the nib wall behind the bed. His and Hers switched lights.

Interior Selections

We met Annie roughly two weeks ago for our interior selection meeting at the color selection centre in Rhodes.  We were very pleased with the interior selection process.  The initial appointment with Annie lasted for approximately four hours.  During that time, we went through the entire house, one room at a time.  Annie showed us through the various areas of the Rawson Selection Centre, where we were able to view the products that were available to us as part of the standard inclusions, as well as the products we were able to choose as upgrades.  Annie was a wealth of knowledge, and was able to draw our attention to a number of finer details that we may not have considered on our own.  Although we had some ideas going into the meeting, she really helped with the practical side of the layout and materials.  Whilst the initial appointment lasted four hours, there were many decisions to be made afterwards, and a number of changes in the couple of weeks that followed, before signing off on our selections.  Over the last week or so we have been deliberating over the gas cooktop and fridge / freezer pigeon pairs.  I can finally say we are done. Annie has been extremely patient, and unbelievably efficient.  Her communication is second to none.  Email requests for changes, quotes etc, have been followed up almost immediately, and we have been very happy working with such a lovely, professional staff member, where nothing is too much trouble.

As I am reflecting over the week, I’m so glad we added the Envy upgrade to our tender.

Among other things, the upgrade adds 40mm caesarstone benchtops for the kitchen, 20mm for the bathrooms, and a nice fltout of the laundry.


Kitchen:
We have have chosen 40mm standard caesarstone in 'osprey' for the bench, polytec sheen polar white cabinets and drawers, and polytec belgian oak in matt as the island bench feature panels and drop-down bench. The sheen polytec finish is a variation. This is quite a practical 'middle of the road' choice given the surface shine is not as significant as 'super gloss', which we found seems to show every fingerprint, yet it is also not as dull and flat as the standard included 'matt' finish. We also added this upgrade finish to the vanities in the bathroom, ensuite and powder rooms.
We have added a lowered 'drop-down' bench section in 70mm laminate, off the end of the kitchen island, similar to the one featured in the display home at Kellyville.
We had a few other low cost variations added in, such as finger pull cabinetry, and extra drawers in the island bench section.
Over the week, we also decided on a fisher paykel pair of 635mm wide fridge/freezer units which the kitchen manufacturer ELBA and Rawson thankfully accommodated in the kitchen layout. We struggled to find good alternatives for the standard gas cooktop, and after reviewing 6 alternative options that Annie quoted for us, we decided on the Bosch PCI815B91A.
Towards the end of this week (during our electrical appointment, which I will discuss in the next post) we managed to get approval for the installation of a concealed 20mm timber batten behind the over bench cabinetry to accommodate future LED Strip lighting.  Also, a sneaky 260mm deep drawer in the island bench will be used to hide an internal power point within the cabinet. This will keep the kitchen free of USB / iThingy clutter, as they will charge 'out of sight', inside the 260mm drawer, and off the kitchen bench.

Caesarstone - Osprey

Polytec - Polar white

Polytec - Belgian Oak

Drop-down bench will feature in Belgian Oak Laminate (see colour sample above).  In the display home, it is made from white laminate, which up close, looks rather cheap and nasty.  Annie pointed out that this is because the joins are much more visible in white laminate, which is why we decided to change the colour of the drop-down bench to Belgian Oak.  It will also match in with the feature panel on the island bench.

Bathrooms:
Similar to the kitchen, we chose 20mm caesarstone in 'osprey' benchtops, polytec sheen polar white cabinets and drawers. A few extra drawers were added, as we felt the standard vanity didn't have enough.  We chose non-standard basins and went with the Caroma Leda Vasque bench top basin for the Main and Ensuite vanities, and decided to have these semi-recessed in the Powder room vanities, where cabinet space isn't as crucial. A soft close Caroma Cameo toilet is included in all these rooms as part of the Envy Bonus. Lastly, we couldn’t resist the modern Caroma Newbury Bath, so we upgraded these in both the Ensuite and Main.

Upgraded bath

'Envy' included toilet

Upgraded sink

Laundry:
The Envy Bonus gives you a rather simple but nice little laundry fit out with a drop in sink/cabinet, laminate bench top and broom cupboard. We chose Snow Fabrini bench laminate which mimics the color and character of the osprey caesarstone, and polytec matt polar white. We also requested that the cabinet be moved up the wall towards the hallway/linen cupboard to gain more space for the whitegoods.
We are getting very excited about our huge, functional laundry!

A number of colour decisions were made during our appointment with Annie.  Interior wall color will be quarter tint Surf Mist.  Surf mist is the colour we chose to use externally, and on the window frames, so it should all tone in rather nicely indoors.  Our package allows for one feature wall, and we chose this to be the upstairs nib wall in the leisure room. The nib wall has a recess within the leisure room which will be painted in 'Candlewood'.

The front door, study rimm double glass doors and staircase will be stained in Sikkens Ebony, a lovely rich, dark colour. The staircase itself will be a closed tread, finished in Victorian ash featuring timber posts, handrails and stainless banisters.






















Stay tuned for the next post - electrical fit-out plans!  Some hints so far, but we have more ideas to share that hopefully others can learn from!