Hey everyone,
we have been so busy lately no time to post on this blog ( yet facebook gets a look in every day – go figure!)
Since the last post we have signed the building agreement, parted with a large sum of money (ouch!), and delivered it in person to Masterton Homes (MH) HQ, haulling myself and my two little ones all the way out to Warwick Farm on the hottest day of September which would have to be the first decent day we had coming out of our cold season.
Since signing the agreement we have been told it can take up to 6 weeks for plans to be lodged at council for DA. Whcto complete the following; Revised BASIX report (required due to the relocation of bedroom 3 window);
– site analysis plan;
– shadow diagrams;
– erosion & sediment control plan;
– driveway longitudinal profile;
– landscape open space calculation plan;
– bushfire report;
– A4 notification plans;
– landscape plan;
– stormwater drainage plans;
– waste management plan; and
– statement of environmental effects. Which left a little dismayed, there goes my timeline out the window! My biggest learning curve here which I learned very quickly is to just roll with it. I was quite attached to the idea to have plans approved before Xmas so that we could move, demolish and have our pool installed all before every one goes on their 5 week break. But that’s not going to happen. The first week or so I was calling everyone trying to push things along, however I reconsidered this approach realising that this how some seriously big mistakes can happen and we could end up without our Santorini dream….
Plan changes
I’m always looking at our plans admiring them, imagining living in the beautiful spaces we will create in those boxes on paper. One day I was looking at all the windows and thier placement imagining what window coverings I would have and where furniture could be placed when I noticed our highlight window in our upstairs living room was off centre and a very narrow 30cm with only two louvres. Our splash back window in the kitchen was segmented! So had that changed pronto! I wanted a nice uninterrupted pane of glass behind my cooker, I told Alex at Residential Logistics, if it’s going to be segmented it has to be functional so if I cant have one long plane of glass give me louvres. I asked why had they uses such these windows and he told me it was the standard. Unless I specified that was what was used. So a lesson learned there my friends – BE SPECIFIC!
Building Santorini 