Tiling begins

Went to the house a few times in the last few weeks, to meet with Rod to discuss water tank position and a few other things. Then with four concreters to get quotes for the new crossover, removal of the old crossover, new driveway with exposed aggregate, concrete behind the 3rd garage next to the laundry for the camper trailer, a slab against the fenceline in the far right corner for Garry's shed, and lastly for a slab for the rain water tank. I'd expected the crossover and driveway to cost $10K, with everything else it's looking more like $15K to $18K.... not a cheap exercise. But we can't get by without a driveway.

Good news is that where I'd heard some negative things about our council Monash not being in favour of double crossovers, when I spoke to them last week about the permit we need, the guy said a 3.5 m crossover sounds like it might not be an issue. Especially with needing to back in our camper trailer, and having a 21m frontage. We must remove the existing one though. I am going to write a letter along with 3 copies of a plan they need, detailing my requirements and justifying the 3.5 m crossover. Further justification is our neighbour's driveway opposite is 3m...  Stay tuned. 

Also waiting for a landscaping quote. And decking over the alfresco, and of the front porch.

Going round Thursday night at 6.30 pm pallets of tiles were being unloaded. And Anzac Day morning (next day) the tilers were there starting on our shower in the ensuite. Further good news was all the stone benchtops had been delivered in readiness for installation.

Lastly I had noted that the drawers in my island bench were on the left of the bench, opposite to where we'd put them in the plan. (I wanted them as close to the dishwasher as possible). Yes they will be changed! Good to have that sorted. And now for some photos:

tiles

kitchen benchtop above double ovens

powder room benchtop

laundry benchtop

We were warned not to choose one of the lighter exposed aggregate colours, as they show rubber from tyres, as well as any oil. So, here are the ones we are considering:

 

 

Painting

Progress in the last 3 weeks is that the cornices and skirting boards have been put in place, house has been prepped for painting, and painting started this week. 

We met with the landscaper yesterday for him to hear our thoughts on what we would like. We've agreed on an australian native theme plus a lemon tree, magnolia, and a vegie patch. He suggested putting a shed in the back corner with a spotted gum screen, showed us a photo of one he'd recently done and it looked great. We discussed the driveway and other concreting. I think it's going to be a sizable total but he'll provide a breakdown, am hoping we can postpone some things but obviously the driveway and a fence for Snowy is going to be the priority.... looking forward (not, lol) to getting it in about two weeks.

Dropped by this morning to find painting in full swing. We have gone for a neutral colour, Dulux white duck quarter, and it's looking good. 

Bathroom vanity

Painted doors for toilet and WIL

Painted doors in our bedroom, a bit dark as the windows are covered in plastic to stop paint being dropped

 Kitchen

Hallway upstairs

Shower in Bathroom

And I forgot to add that the two retaining walls have been done - looking pretty good: