Landscping

Paving the walk path.

After several years moving into our house finally we got time to think about landscaping our walk path on the side. As shown in previous pictures the neighbouring land is higher than our block. This required a retaining wall. I added a retaining wall leaving little bit of space for a small garden bed. Afterwards added pavers to our pathway. After watching few videos online I was able to do it myself. Perhaps not the best paving job but I'm still happy with the way they look.

Here are some pictures.

Before landscaping

We are thinking of doing landscaping of the side and backyard of the house. At the moment there are few factors that needs to take into consideration. First 4 photos shows one side of the house which has deep cut compared to the neighbours land. 

In the above picture you can see the house is bit lower than the fence. There is a agricultural drainage around the house. The white pipes are around the house which gives access to the drainage.

All these photos show the ground level of the house and the fence. It seems we need a retaining wall if we want to have level surface.

This pipe in the above photo is pretty low. So I would assume we will need to put a protective cover around it to ensure the soil will not go over it.

This is the same side of the house but towards the back. There is still a considerable amount of difference between the level of the fence and the house.

Above picture shows the backyard. There is again a fall away from the house toward the back fence. Now this also need to be made level. Again the method comes to my mind is using a retaining wall. However where do I put the retaining wall? Two options available to me are;

1. Cut the soil about 1 meter from the house to the same level of the other end of the house and put a retaining wall. Not much filling will be needed since the soil will have to be cut to level the ground.
2. Fix a retaining wall 1 meter away from the back boundary (fence) to the hight of the base of the house. Fill soil between retaining wall and house.

I'm not quite sure which is the best option or else are there any other methods available.

This is the outdoor living area of the house. Our intention is to put a wooden deck on this area so that it would look nicer.

fixtures and fittings

Kitchen has lot of space and the walk in pantry has more space to keep all the cutleries. We upgraded the splashback tiles. During the colour selection we specifically requested for the tiles PD had in their display home. However what is given to us is completely different. We went to NT to find out the tile we wanted and realized it is not available at NT. Whatever tiles fixed in display home is not from NT and as a result we had to go with whatever they recommended.

We love the ensuit vanity and shower area. It looks amazing. Upgraded wash basin gives the bathroom a better look.

In the entry and lounge we decided to go with the feature wall similar to the colour of the wallpaper PD had in their display home. Hallway, lounge and living area has downlights while the other areas has standard light.

Floorboard turned out to be really nice and we love the colour. Hallway to the bedroom is also changed to have floorboard instead of carpet.

Ensuit shower cubical looks amazing with the upgraded shower rail.

Tile colour in the common bathroom turned out to be really nice and has a cool finish. This is again tile we picked as close as to what's in display home. PD didn't have the same tile fixed in display home. It is again something they have fixed in display home but not available to buy.

Week 11 - Internal paint work

Went for an inspection today and 2 coats of painting is done. Feature wall is looking good.

Kitchen Layouts

This is the full layout of the kitchen and it has walk in pantry which is going to give more storage space.

Following photo better view of the kitchen design. 

Week 8 - Lockup

This week all the brick work was completed and received formal notification from PD confirming the house is now in lockup stage. Plaster work was started at the beginning of the week and plaster in the internal walls were completed.

Previous week they completed the Frame we did an inspection using an independent company on Monday before they started the plaster. There were few issues identified and it was communicated back to PD. Our SS gave us a call and went through the list of defects while he confirmed all of them will be fixed. They have been quite helpful and supportive in getting the defects fixed.

Following picture shows the main entrance that has the Corinthian INF 6G entry door with translucent glass for the main door and the sidelight. The front brick pier was timber post which we changed for a better look.

Following picture shows the side view from the front of garage side. First window is the lounge while the next two windows are in the living area.

Following picture shows the view from the lounge area towards the main door. There is an additional door to the garage. We decided to have 3 lights to each part of the hallway with two separate switches.

Following picture shows the view from the front door towards the back of the house which has the living and dining. 

Overhead cupboards and some of the cabinets are already fixed as shown in the following picture. Rangehood is not fixed yet. That will be fixed with a ducted vent towards the roof. At the moment insulation on the roof is not done as they are waiting to complete the electrical wiring to commence the installation of insulation on the roof. In order to meet the energy rating requirements the type of insulation recommended is R3.0.

Following picture shows the side view of the house. It shows the window of bedrooms and the sliding door of the laundry.

In the following picture you can see the wall of the neighbouring house. They have already fixed the fence and the their garage wall is going to be the boundary of front part of the land.

On the back of the house we can see two big windows and the Alfresco (outdoor living area) shown in the following picture.

This is the main entrance taken few feats away from it with a much bigger view.

Following picture shows the side view of the back of the house which shows the outdoor living area. The brick pier at the corner was originally timber but we changed it to brick later.

Week 6 - Internal wall insulation, Heating, Solar panel & Wiring

Last week there was lot of rain so the bricklayer was not fixed. There was duct line for heating fixed and we also saw hot water lines and some electrical wiring. Some of the internal wall insulation batts were fixed but still there is more to go. 

As shown in the following photo the ducts are connecting to the central heating system installed just above one of the bedrooms. The mettle pipe goes all the way out through the roof tile.

Below is a closer look of the gas heater which shows it has 4 star rating.

Ducts are attached to the roof using a polythene sort of material. Not sure how long would it last but seems to be the normal practice.

We also noticed the TV antenna and Solar panel is been fixed and the roof tilling has been completed. 

Week 5 - Roof Tiles

Roof tiles were almost done and the house is slowly getting its shape. There is still a little bit more to complete which will be fixed only after the solar panel is fixed. They will check all the tiles after the solar panel installation to ensure tiles are not broken.

Next week the brick layer is planned to be fixed and it would provide a better look to the house. We are still thinking about the landscaping of front garden and because of the slope towards the house it would be bit challenging. One side of the house has about a half a meter cut.

Recently Porter Davis decided retaining walls are not required though it is in the engineering plan. This is going to affect both the fencing and landscaping and we would like to see how all this would turn up at the end.  Interestingly landscaping plan is part of the construction contract hence the cut of the front garden is something Porter Davis should take into consideration.

We were told by site supervisor the landscaping will be done only after handover. This is another matter we need to discuss with our building coordinator as we want everything to be completed at the handover date.