Yay! Finally heard back from the Council (after repeated phone calls and follow ups). They have issued a Notice of Decision with a whole bunch of conditions. Took us a few read throughs before we finally understood it all. So, basically they are planning to give us a permit so long as we remove the widened driveway and the skylights (we'll appeal on this later in the process). We now have to wait a further 20 days to see if there are any appeals lodged to VCAT about the decision.
I called our neighbour a couple of days ago to see if she would get together with and discuss her objection letter. She said that as the Council had made their decision she didn't see the need. Which leaves us in a bit of limbo as we're not sure whether she plans to lodge an appeal or not. In any case, even if she does, her objection has no Heritage grounds so it would be thrown out. Problem is we would have to wait 4 weeks for a time slot at VCAT for them to tell her that. We're hoping that she is smart enough not to pursue things any further.
So it's a tentative celebration. We haven't broken out the bubbly but we are very close.
Design has continued. Last week we saw the first of the concepts around colour, floor coverings, tiles etc. It's all looking great. We weren't much of a fan of the initial concepts provided around the kitchen but I'm sure with a few more iterations we'll be getting close.
Our architect says that we're still looking good for the documentation to be completed by the end of July. I'd say we're probably pushing this a bit. There's still quite a lot to got through. Haven't even started talking about electricals and there are a billion and one little things that we need to be sure of.
Today we went and visited friends of ours who have just moved in after a big reno on their place. It looks fantastic and we got a lot of ideas that we might use for ourselves. We also got the names of the 2 builders that they used (and highly recommend). I'll ring them next week and fingers crossed we may be able to add them to our tender roster.
We're still trying to work out what material to use on our kitchen benchtop. With the benchtop being 3.6m there really aren't many choices that wouldn't require some sort of join. We really don't want to have to deal with trying to join something like Caserstone after our experiences in the warehouse. As much as we love the surface I really think that could be problematic. So the options are to redesign the bench to design for two smaller pieces of Caeserstone (maybe a two level bench somehow) or go with Corian. What we really need is to be able to see some decent installations of Corian rather than just a small sample. We were discussing this with our friends today and they remarked 'Don't they use Corian at McCafe's?' We reckon they do, but unfortunately after a trip to the nearest McDonalds and a strawberry thickshake for the kids we found only Caeserstone. We will continue to visit Micky D's till we find something!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Detailed Design
The last few weeks we have been knee deep in detailed design. With the floorplan largely complete we have moved onto each internal room. This gets us down to the detail of wardrobe placements drawers, basin etc etc.
It's been a fun process but it's amazing just the amount of decisions and choices that need to be made. All in all though it's been pretty painless. The kitchen has required a fair bit of thought. We have so much space, which is great, but we want to make sure that it is all still accessible and easy to use. For example, you don't want to have to walk into the Walk in Pantry just to put the kettle on. Our architect has come up with a great appliance cupboard solution for all of the commonly used items which we thing will work really well.
We're now getting to the point where we have to start deciding on things such as taps and basins. There are just so many to choose from but we really just need to buckle down and pick a few. That's my job for the next couple of weeks!
Still haven't heard from Council regarding our planning permit. They said it would be 2 weeks which would have made it arriving last week but as yet no news. Guess they're working on Council-time; a very elastic thing!
So far we're sticking to our schedule. Hoping to wrap up the majority of the detailed design by the end of this month and then use July for documenting and final decisions on colour scheme. Still heaps to do but I think we can make it.
It's been a fun process but it's amazing just the amount of decisions and choices that need to be made. All in all though it's been pretty painless. The kitchen has required a fair bit of thought. We have so much space, which is great, but we want to make sure that it is all still accessible and easy to use. For example, you don't want to have to walk into the Walk in Pantry just to put the kettle on. Our architect has come up with a great appliance cupboard solution for all of the commonly used items which we thing will work really well.
We're now getting to the point where we have to start deciding on things such as taps and basins. There are just so many to choose from but we really just need to buckle down and pick a few. That's my job for the next couple of weeks!
Still haven't heard from Council regarding our planning permit. They said it would be 2 weeks which would have made it arriving last week but as yet no news. Guess they're working on Council-time; a very elastic thing!
So far we're sticking to our schedule. Hoping to wrap up the majority of the detailed design by the end of this month and then use July for documenting and final decisions on colour scheme. Still heaps to do but I think we can make it.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Catch up
A bit to catch up on since my last post. The advertising sign has now come down and has been returned to the Council. Still will need to wait a few weeks before we hear what the outcome is. The architect will be giving them a call tomorrow to see what's happening. We're really hoping that we can have our application 'fast tracked'. Watch this space.
In the meantime, we've moved on with the detailed design component. We've now talked through the master and guest bedrooms, walk in robe, ensuite and yesterday we tackled kitchen, walk in pantry and laundry.
Lots and lots of decisions to make. Need to decide whether to go with a linear or triangluar workspace in the kitchen. We're much more familiar with triangular where the sink, fridge and stove make up a triangluar shape. Linear (where they're all in a row) might be all the rage in Europe right now but we suspect they'd choose triangular if they had the room.
I've also started the spreadsheet (it had to happen!) for tracking the appliances and prices that we're looking at. Definitely going with Ilve for oven and cooktop and Asko for the dishwasher. I've also started to look at taps and other bathroom fittings. There are just millions to choose from. In the interests of saving wherever we can we plan to buy many of these items ourself which means we won't have the builder's margin tacked on top.
Here's an image I found of a kitchen we really like. The sink is in the island bench with oven and cooktop on the back wall. I really like the additional splash of grey colour under the bench. Also, below is an image of a kitchen that shows what our glass splashback is going to be like. The splashback will stretch all the way along the open plan area in our house and have plants and a coloured fence to look out on. It should really keep the place light and bright.
In the meantime, we've moved on with the detailed design component. We've now talked through the master and guest bedrooms, walk in robe, ensuite and yesterday we tackled kitchen, walk in pantry and laundry.
Lots and lots of decisions to make. Need to decide whether to go with a linear or triangluar workspace in the kitchen. We're much more familiar with triangular where the sink, fridge and stove make up a triangluar shape. Linear (where they're all in a row) might be all the rage in Europe right now but we suspect they'd choose triangular if they had the room.
I've also started the spreadsheet (it had to happen!) for tracking the appliances and prices that we're looking at. Definitely going with Ilve for oven and cooktop and Asko for the dishwasher. I've also started to look at taps and other bathroom fittings. There are just millions to choose from. In the interests of saving wherever we can we plan to buy many of these items ourself which means we won't have the builder's margin tacked on top.
Here's an image I found of a kitchen we really like. The sink is in the island bench with oven and cooktop on the back wall. I really like the additional splash of grey colour under the bench. Also, below is an image of a kitchen that shows what our glass splashback is going to be like. The splashback will stretch all the way along the open plan area in our house and have plants and a coloured fence to look out on. It should really keep the place light and bright.
Image courtesy: Collaroy Kitchens
Image courtesy: BG Architecture
Image courtesy: BG ArchitectureSaturday, May 8, 2010
How much?
Got an email through today from the architect summarising the costs that we received from the 2 builders. The good news was that both quotes were within 20K of each other, which gives some confidence that both estimates are reasonably reliable. The bad news was that they are quite a bit over our budget. Surprise!
We will need to shave quite a bit off to get them back into the realm of sensibility. In order to start that process we really need to get down into the detail of the design. This is a process we've been anxious to start for awhile now so it will be great to finally start to the see the interior take shape.
One things for certain, the pool is looking like it could hit the cutting room floor. We haven't fully made that decision yet but we will need to soon.
Below are some pictures we took the other day of the interior of the house. Our friends are living there at the moment so it's been interesting to see it with furniture rather than empty.
We will need to shave quite a bit off to get them back into the realm of sensibility. In order to start that process we really need to get down into the detail of the design. This is a process we've been anxious to start for awhile now so it will be great to finally start to the see the interior take shape.
One things for certain, the pool is looking like it could hit the cutting room floor. We haven't fully made that decision yet but we will need to soon.
Below are some pictures we took the other day of the interior of the house. Our friends are living there at the moment so it's been interesting to see it with furniture rather than empty.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Soil investigation and other stuff
Today was a busy day at the house. The soil investigation was done. Nothing of great note was found other than the house it built on rubble. Don't really know if that's a good or a bad thing, doesn't sound brilliant does it?
The structural engineer also came through and had a good look at all of our cracks and our rollercoaster floor. On the whole though he thought the place was pretty solid which we were very happy to hear.
Finally, we have had a couple of builders providing order of magnitude costs for us based on a high level spec supplied to them by the architect. We just want to make sure the project is feasible and to provide us with some guidance for the next round of design. One of the builders wanted to have a look around the house so we headed over for another visit. Glad we live close by!
The structural engineer also came through and had a good look at all of our cracks and our rollercoaster floor. On the whole though he thought the place was pretty solid which we were very happy to hear.
Finally, we have had a couple of builders providing order of magnitude costs for us based on a high level spec supplied to them by the architect. We just want to make sure the project is feasible and to provide us with some guidance for the next round of design. One of the builders wanted to have a look around the house so we headed over for another visit. Glad we live close by!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Sign is up
Yesterday, I went to the Council and picked up our advertising board. After quite a bit of mucking around I managed to wire it quite securely to our front fence. 11 properties are also going to get a letter in the mail to let them know what we are doing.
The sign stays up for 14 days. Fingers crossed that there are no objectors. Really we aren't doing anything that would cause any of our neighbours any concern so we are quietly hopeful that we can zip through this stage. Only time will tell.
We're really starting to get anxious to move on with the internal design of the house. Based on our very broad calculations we need to have all of the house spec'd and design by the start of July to stay on track for a move in next April. (I know...it takes a long time this house renovating stuff!).
This Friday we have someone coming to do the soil investigation and the first onsite meeting with the structural engineer.
The sign stays up for 14 days. Fingers crossed that there are no objectors. Really we aren't doing anything that would cause any of our neighbours any concern so we are quietly hopeful that we can zip through this stage. Only time will tell.
We're really starting to get anxious to move on with the internal design of the house. Based on our very broad calculations we need to have all of the house spec'd and design by the start of July to stay on track for a move in next April. (I know...it takes a long time this house renovating stuff!).
This Friday we have someone coming to do the soil investigation and the first onsite meeting with the structural engineer.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Town Planning is submitted
The Town Planning submission has been sent to Council. This will provide all of the details to get approval for the Heritage-related changes that we're making to the house. We're not doing really much that requires approval. Widening of the front gate so we can a car off street more easily and gates on either side of the house. We're hoping that it will be a straight forward process, but you never can tell with these kind of things.
Next step is to get some preliminary costings from a couple of builders. The architect has put together a list of the all of the things that will affect cost as well as supplying a range of prices for items such as the pool etc. It will be very interesting to see what comes back.
The architect says they'd prefer to wait for the Town Planning permission to come back before moving on to the internal design. Not sure why we can't get started with some things now but in the meantime we're visiting lots of showrooms and compiling pictures of all sorts of things.
Next step is to get some preliminary costings from a couple of builders. The architect has put together a list of the all of the things that will affect cost as well as supplying a range of prices for items such as the pool etc. It will be very interesting to see what comes back.
The architect says they'd prefer to wait for the Town Planning permission to come back before moving on to the internal design. Not sure why we can't get started with some things now but in the meantime we're visiting lots of showrooms and compiling pictures of all sorts of things.
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