Just busy unpacking, cleaning, unpacking some more and building a retaining wall with my husband.
A few questions we get asked, would we build again, would we recommend our builder and are you happy with the finished product.
So the answers...
I hope we never have to build again, it was an emotional roller coaster, it was thrilling and draining at the same time.
We had delays on settlement with the land which put us back 6 months.
We had to move from our first rental after 6 months, so technically we moved 3 times in 12 months!
Without a doubt I would recommend Rawson Homes. We love our Rawson Home!
Our CSO at head office was fantastic, our Colour Consultant was fabulous, helpful and in no way pushy & our Site Supervisor who is new to Rawson Homes was thorough, easy going & honest.
It took a week shy of 6 months to build, which is good time for a double storey home of our size.
The quality of work has been excellent, there are still a few things that need work (acid burnt bricks & welding in of our garage door opener) these will be done when tradies are back from Christmas break.
We are very happy with the finished product, we are pleased with how our colours have come together nicely. We took a gamble on our kitchen colours and we love them.
There is nothing I would have done differently, changes we have made to the original plans have come up nicely. Our upgrades have been money well spent. There is nothing that we regret doing.
I love the whole house, but here are few things that stand out -
- Powerpoint to Island bench top - It would have to be the most used power point in the house. If it's not charging a phone, it's used for the vacuum or to charge a laptop or iPod dock for music in the kitchen.
- Oven & Cooktop - Roomy and works well. Looks great too!
- Stairs - These were a pricey upgrade, as seen in the Seaview display home at Homeworld V in Kellyville. They look amazing, we get comments on how good they look. The stain looks fantastic on them too.
- Big windows in bedroom & above the stairs - Right now we have views of the golf course (until we get built behind) We get some great breezes through the house too.We can see right across to The Ponds from our bedroom & we can see the golf course from the stairs. We plan on putting a pendant light above the stairs (David Trubridge - Coral pendant) which will be seen from the street.
- Freestanding bath - Another upgrade, it's so big and spacious, I can't wait to finally have time to lay in it and soak. I have used it a couple of times & it's amazing.
- Rain showerhead - Okay, so I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant... but I love it. It's so nice just standing under it.
- Butler's Pantry - We had the pantry fitted out as an upgrade and I love it. It's spacious, it is functional and it's nice to have everything hidden away.
We did change the lay out of the pantry from the display home, we have the full height cupboards on the otherside. I am so glad we did this, as it gives a nicer view from the kitchen. The overhead cupboards & benches are hidden out of sight and makes it look neater.
- Front Door - The pivot door looks great & the handle completes it.
- Air Conditioning - We've never had ducted air conditioning before. The positioning of our house and the insulation means the house is always cool. 22 degrees inside whilst it's over 30 degrees outside, and thats without the air conditioning on. We have barely used the air conditioning but it's great to know we can cool the house down if needed.
The only thing I would change is the push to open doors in the bathrooms, they drive me crazy.
They don't always close. Maybe there is a knack to doing it, or maybe ours are faulty, but it's going on my maintenance list!
We still have a lot to do, we are working on the driveway now, as well as some shelving for the garage. We will get fences up in the coming weeks and a driveway poured.
After this will be gardens & eventually lawn.
I will take some photos in the coming weeks of the house, but for now here are some sneaky photos & some photos of our retaining wall.
The retaining wall took 6 days to build, mostly my husband's handy work, but I was in there digging, mixing concrete, bolting timbers in & giving it my best shot!
We will now have a lovely level backyard. The retaining wall is 1000mm high at it's highest point, it's 18.5m across the back & 12m up one side.
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| The start of the retaining wall |
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| Pier holes for the Retaining Wall |
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| The finished wall! (Corner of our block) |
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| Short side of the Retaining Wall |
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| Long side of the wall |
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| Family Room |
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| Sneak peak of kitchen splashback & a Renmano Hospitality Brandy Bottle from the 1950's |
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| Kitchen sneak peak |
