Artful69

Actually there's quite a few I could name ... I missed the Carlos Saintz era with the dodgy-illegal, yet brilliant Celicas ... Most of my interest was directed toward the era of the battles between Subaru and Mitsubishi ... and my love of the Evo with fond memories of Tommi Mäkinen driving like he stole it! Rog

Lol ... not sure about the toilets ... as long as they flush in the general direction of AWAY, I'm happy!! Well ... yes and it's by choice ... I'll fill you in with the details on my answer to Martin below 👇 Choices have been limited here for about 15-20 years now. Doing inspections, I was able to see first hand when investors became the primary market driver here in Australia. Investors are 'coached' that any colours outside of what they term are 'neutral' are a bad idea for resale valuation purposes - as preference becomes an influence. 20 or so years ago you'd be likely to get blue, pink or apricot coloured tiles in the ensuite along with coloured cabinetry and in some more daring cases - coloured porcelain sinks and toilets! Slowly that sort of thing faded to neutral colours ... White, off white, cream, beige, brown and various greys. They still manage to get houses to look decent enough, with a little smudge of character, using things like wood grain finish etc. The last middle finger at mediocrity that I saw was a run of styles during the era 2010-2015 where people would select a feature colour ... this colour would then be distributed around the house in a variety of ways ... a strip of tiles vertically down the shower well, a glass splash-back in the kitchen, a painted feature wall in a living area or a wall paper with a design featuring that colour as the main contrast. Some of these colours were subtle, some glaringly obvious. It dates the property now - but somehow it also still works when you walk into a property where it's been done. The short answer is ... I'm doing the paintwork although the builder could have. To give you a better answer we have to go back to the beginning of the process ... The first stop in doing the whole house and land purchase/build thing - is to the broker. Find out how much I can borrow in order to do this - then marry that up with what a house (that I can live with) will cost and find a block of land to build it on. Of course if the income stream will allow for a bigger plan than what I actually want, I can probably just go out and buy any large block of land available ... but when you're on a budget 🤷‍♂️ ... So I work out what size of building the builders will build and with what inclusions I want to get a handle on pricing ... There's a bit of negotiating involved ... but there a LOT of investors out there with industry connections - so its not beyond the realm of possibility that a builder can just build a shell, ofttimes - with the purchaser hiring trades (on the side) to fill in the blanks, resulting in a much cheaper build. With me ... I had to work out what jobs will cost if they are included vs not (here the sales rep will more often than not, point you in the right direction if they are are good) Alby told me right from the start, Painting, additional brick paving and landscape works is not something that the builder is 'interested' in doing. Meaning: if you include these you'll get screwed over! ... Compare the painting cost example below to 'additional' tiles I paid for in the wet areas ... Half height tiling cost me about $600 in the ensuite from memory ... certainly better that I could DIY or get an external quote on! I buy all the paint and materials and DIY the job (which I'm relatively good at - just a bit slower than a skilled painter) and it costs me about $1500 I do the above and hire a skilled painter (if I can find one because we're in the middle of a property boom here) $3500-$4000 It's a similar exercise with brick paving. I get the builder to include it in the build price of the house and it'll be $10-15K (because they'll have to pay premium prices for a painter also and then there's always the builders margin!) ... and you can quickly see that a build contract that has all the 'inclusions' that I want - sans wall painting, full brick paving and landscaping fills a budget that would have been about $50K more otherwise. I've learned so many neat little tricks to building a home on a budget through this experience! Rog

A lot has happened in the last week or so ... When the smoke clears, perhaps I'll share more, but in the meantime the builder booked for a PCI (Practical Completion Inspection) this morning at 7.30am. This means that ... excepting a few little repair issues here and there, the house is fit for living in. From now ... I wait for the invoice claiming final payment. I will sign this and forward it to my broker for payment through the bank. Meanwhile I will organise Home and Contents insurance and obtain a certificate of currency for the builder / bank. Once payment has cleared with the builder I will attend "Hand Over" and receive keys etc for the house. From that point I will install gates, security screens and shutters ... and obtain paint and equipment for application. Arriving, I see that house in its final form (at least from the builder). Both front and rear garage doors are in place. First time entering through the front door for a while now ... Turn around, shut the door and there's a view of the front office ... Turn around again and walk toward the back of the house and the next door on the left is the entry to the main bedroom ... A look either side at the walk in robes ... and then straight ahead into the bedroom ... Then over to the ensuite bathroom ... Back out and into the main living area ... ... Then into the secondary bedrooms at the rear ... Look right ... Bedroom 2 then the bathroom next door ... Then to the left ... Bedroom 3 A few photos of the the theatre, living are and kitchen (with repaired cabinetry) Laundry and walk in linen ... Hopefully my next post will be my improvements being made ... Rog

Before moving on ... at my meeting with the supervisor today (next post) ... I was given the accurate 'bench replacement' story ... The bench timbers were swollen and cracked when he did a run through inspection - he didn't know how it happened because nothing was obviously wet or damp. He ordered them to be replaced and - because the trades have to disconnect and reconnect everything (plumbers, electricians etc) prior to the components being changed out, they were asked to check over their installation before reconnecting the services. Apparently nothing was reported. Steve suspects that there might have been a leak that was spotted by a trade earlier (perhaps when the plumbers were doing their final appliance fit and check?) - and then repaired prior to his 'look around'. He said the house would have been handed over sooner if it wasn't for that hiccup. Martin ... Carpets are one of the last items to be installed ... I don't know what you mean about the walls not being finished? ... they were finished off as soon as the windows were glazed and the house was locked up, a few months back. Rog

I dropped by the block on November 8th for a look at progress ... It's getting quite close to finished - and my next Perth window is November 27th to December 4th and there is a distinct possibility that the builder will want me to attend the PCI (Practical Completion Inspection) which happens just prior to official handover ... Arriving at the site, the brick paving is down ... a very warm sunny day and no angle that I am trying to take the pic from will prevent the glare! Just a quick note here: The drainage gutter across the driveway is the front of my block ... the section of land between the road and the drainage gutter is called the 'crossover' A clearer picture of the verandah - with paving now ... and you can see the vertical blinds have been installed in the front window. The Front door has it's new electronic security door handle/lock installed. Went to grab a snap through the kitchen window to get a look at my cook top ... and see half the island bench dismantled ... ... a view from the alfresco door ... The story is that one of the water pipes burst, flooding the cabinet, causing damage to the cabinet woodwork ... So there's a delay while that issue is resolved. Meanwhile the rest of the paving to the alfresco is completed I should have noticed out front but fly-screens all fitted also ... A photo from the Home Theatre window reveals that the carpets are now installed ... Bedrooms 3 & 4 ... Master Bedroom and a couple of extra front shots before leaving ... Rog

A few days ago the builder sent though these pictures showing the state of completion reached on the house ... As you can see here ... The paving bricks have been delivered ... these were not on my photos, above. Now we get to tour inside The entrance ... The Master bedrooms ensuite ... The rear bathroom ... The Kitchen / Living area ... ... and toward the Laundry ... Can't wait to get back next week ... apparently there's a lot happening before mid November! Rog :)

Well … we don’t have Home Depot (Despot 🤣🤣 - I saw what you did there!) … but we do have Bunnings … I will have a go at most things and am reasonably patient … getting epoxy right though requires skill - and if you mess it up there’s no going back!! DIY painting though?? I can do that easy!! I just needed guidance from Dulux as to the correct product. Gas powers the HWS and the stove top … electricity powers the oven and everything else The Dulux expert walked me through what I need to do … so hopefully no peeling paint - though I’ve been advised that theres a 7 day curing period after the top coat Rog

Hey all ... Just back from getting engaged in the Philippines ... I took another visit down to the block ... and there's some subtle changes ... Before the update, though ... just answering a question: I was ... and then the outrageous pricing had me backtracking very quickly!! It's a painting job now! _________________ Rocking up ... there's another dump of brickie's sand at the front ... and it's spread out waiting for paving to be started. The painting looks a little fuller and finished off. A quick look into the laundry has the tap-ware fitted A blurred photo due to the dirty glass not allowing the lens to focus properly ... but enough to show the tap-ware stove and light fittings as well as power-points etc. A clearer image showing aircon vents, light fittings and switches, power-points and the aircon controller on the far wall. External shots of the rear LHS corner where the Gas bottles will go ... and the 10Kw air-conditioner compressor and the instantaneous gas hot water heater. Photos of the rear bedrooms show the aircon vents, power points, LED downlight and the mirrored doors fitted to the wardrobes ... The interior doors also appear to be glossed now ... A wide angled shot through the Master bedroom window shows the tiling, tap-ware, power fittings, lights and aircon vents. Meter boxes painted and external tap fitted ... Toilets were also fitted but I can't get access for photos ... the evidence of them is via the empty boxes at the rubbish bin though Rog

T'was the night before departure .... Well not quite - the morning before ... I took off to the block early this morning to see what had been done in the 2 weeks + since I last went down that way ... We're getting so much closer now! ... The first thing I noticed as I drove up the street was the rendering - finished off now, as the painting had been done ... and as I pulled up to my usual parking spot - I noticed that the garage concrete hardstand had been laid also ... When I originally designed the house facia I did it with "a modern take on a Hamptons design" in mind ... The mix of blue, grey and white does my idea more justice than I thought it would. Judging by the colour of the concrete, it's been down longer than a few days ... The door into the laundry shows the floor tiling done - at least in that area ... Laundry, Kitchen, Main living area are tiled with only cleanup required ... As is the study / office at the front of the building ... The Ensuite is still being done .... Though whether this was a break in - or an accident ... I don't know. The board has been pegged to the opening so it's not going anywhere ... I picked the blue colour for the render to match the sky in fine weather ... I think it does quite well ... Rog

True ... this is some good scratch work! ... As for HB - I would have expected a Hetzer before a field gun but what do I know? 🤷‍♂️ Rog

Oh this looks good Ern … taking that tinkering to a whole new level … given the shape I favour the radial … but that’s just me … Start up a You Tube channel and you challenge Mighty Car Mods!! 🤣 Rog

Yesterday, the builder sent through some photos of the waterproofing completed to the wet areas in preparation for the tiling ... Since the photos came through early in the morning I was figuring that the place was probably in the process of being tiled already, so I decided to drive down there today and take a quick look before I fly out to work for the next 2 weeks. First thing I noticed was the Ute parked up in the garage area ... so someone was at work! Next thing I noticed was the completed fencing ... With the front door open ... I figured I'd check areas that I haven't had access to for a while ... The other side of the island bench ... The shelf and robe rail in the Master bedroom WIRs ... Shelving in the WIL ... The concrete leveler fix the rear hallway ... Another photo of the waterproofing - to the rear bathroom ... The tiler is starting on the ensuite ... So ... Probably by the time I get back home in 2 weeks there'll be a couple of other surprises Rog

Occ Health and safety at its finest 🤣🤣🤣 Rog

I arrived back home in Perth yesterday ... to a miserable day ... we're supposed to be in spring here now and indeed there are wildflowers everywhere, but yesterday was cold and wet and windy ... Still, I was excited to get down to the block and see if any progress had been made ... The first thing I notice is that the fence framing is installed on either side now ... ... and a quick walk around the perimeter shows that the storm water drainage is now lining up with the downpipes ... A quick look into the study room from the veranda shows that Tiles and grout have been delivered ... A look through the windows shows that wet areas have leveller applied and some sealant ready for tile application. Rog

This will be lovely … once the house is built and I can start finishing off my F1 cars I’m gonna go full tilt on a 1/16 build! Rog