Saturday 27 September 2014

Gerflor Creation Clic System laid today & update about the general status of work


Saturday 27 September 2014

We were surprised to see floor-layers working on site today and laying our matt Walnut-coloured floating Gerflor already!  Sorry, no photos of the actual flooring just yet – we’ll have to wait until our next walk through, and that shouldn’t be long to wait.  I have included information about the flooring towards the end of this posting for further details and information.

We’re guessing the same floor-layers may have also been laying the 11mm [100kg per metre³] rubber underlay and carpet in the Master Suite Bedroom and Walk-In-Robes and in Bedroom 2 at the front of the house?  They’re the only floor surfaces that will be carpeted in the new home.  For the carpet, we’ve selected an acrylic ECO+ Sunrise by Godfrey Hirst and the colour is called 710 Pebblestone.  Having house-trained dogs, we needed a carpet that is soft, comfortable, durable and easy to keep clean.

Although the debris in the front yard at the front of the construction site currently looks messy and unsightly, it’s a helpful hint to the status of the work that’s now been completed inside the house, by viewing the names and pictures of each product that appears on the empty boxes and cartons awaiting removal and disposal.  It appears the following interior finishes work has now been done in addition to the laying of the Gerflor flooring:

·         [Lucci LEDlux] LED downlights and LED dimmable downlights have now been installed throughout the main common areas, hallway, and open-plan kitchen, dining and Family/Lounge areas;

·         the ActronAir Air Conditioning System and related components have been installed;

·         the Caroma Opal II Easy Height Wall Faced Toilet Suite has been installed in the main toilet;

·         the Stylus Venecia Close Coupled Toilet Suite has been installed in the Master Suite’s Ensuite Bathroom;

·         the Caroma Liano Wall-mounted Hand Basin has probably been installed in the main toilet; and

·         the Dorf and Caroma tapware or fixtures seem to have been installed in the Bathroom and Master Suite’s Ensuite Bathroom.

On Friday afternoon, 26 September 2014, a big mechanical digger was delivered to the site.  I saw it arriving and leaving the site, and I'm pretty sure it was used to dig the trenches for the new sewerage line and storm water pipes.  After it left the site, there was evidence of a couple of new vertical, capped, PVC pipes that have now appeared, one directly to the right of the front driveway area, and the other(s) located at the left front corner of the new house, near the wall-mounted water tap.

There's a lot of new technology used in building this new home.  During our final walk through inspection I'll be prepared with a lot of questions for our Site Supervisor, because we're not really sure how all these different water pipes interface and work together.  We have mains town water connection plus a rooftop rainwater recycling system that connects to the 4,500 litre (1,188.77 Gallons) rainwater tank.  Recycled rainwater from that tank is also used for garden water and running the washing machine and toilets.  There's some special water pumps and extra water taps mounted in the laundry for connecting the washing machine to either mains town water or recycled rainwater modes as necessary or desired.  This is an excellent way for us to harvest and use as much of our own free rainwater for use as possible.  

Here’s some photos of the front of the house that I took during the late afternoon sunshine today.

(Click on photos to view enlarged images)





Gerflor Creation Clic System

We wanted to have wooden floors in the new home but without the risk of damage and the ongoing high-maintenance that is typically required with having wooden floors.

We considered having a floating laminate flooring but we were concerned about the negative problems with waterproofing, warping, cupping and that audible tacky, hollow, acoustic sound of footsteps on a laminate floor. 

McDonald Jones Homes introduced us to a fabulous French flooring product, namely, Gerflor, which seems to offer us exactly what we want – the warm appearance and illusion of a wooden floor but without the high maintenance issues and other hassles.  We actually observed the same product (albeit, in the different ‘Portobello’ look), which was installed in the McDonald Jones Homes’ My Studio offices, when we attended our lengthy Colour Selections appointment way back on 12 August 2013 (last year).  We were very impressed with it and couldn’t believe it wasn’t a real wooden timber floor!

Gerflor is a resilient vinyl laminate flooring with a unique vertical Clic System and it’s available in 12 different wood colours.

The Gerflor Creation Clic system is easy enough to do it yourself (but McDonald Jones Homes installed it for us today, Saturday 27 September 2014).  It differentiates itself from laminate flooring by being 100% waterproof and it’s much quieter underfoot.  It also boasts a lifetime residential warranty.

The Creation Clic system is a loose lay luxury vinyl plank which combines the warmth and style of a wood design with the performance of a vinyl floor.  It has an innovative and unique vertical clicking system and is laid without an adhesive, which makes it one of the quickest installed products on the market.

The product is a 176mm x 1,000mm x 6mm vinyl plank with a pure PVC wear layer and a printed wood design.

Main features:

·           It’s suitable for heavy traffic areas, group T wear rating;

·           It’s tough and durable and ideal for heavy traffic environments with a 0.7mm wear layer;

·           It has a PUR surface finish, no initial polishes;

·           It has an R9 / R10 slip rating;

·           It has a quick and easy loose lay installation, no glues are required;

·           It is specifically marketed as having 100% water resistance - unlike wood based products and laminates, it can be installed on subfloors with up to 7% moisture content;

·           It is 100% recyclable;

·           It has low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) emissions;

·           It provides acoustic comfort and sound insulation properties that offer a quieter alternative to standard laminate floorings (a 12dB improvement over laminates), Class B vs Class C or D for laminate; and

·           It’s easy to maintain with its polyurethane (PUR) surface treatment.

We’ve chosen the matt reddish ‘Walnut’ coloured option.  I love the high gloss looking wooden floor finish but we think the high gloss will just deteriorate over time and lose its glossy appearance, so we settled for the matt finish look instead.  The Gerflor Walnut-coloured flooring will be installed throughout the new home with the exception of the Master Bedroom Suite and Ensuite, Bedroom 2 (at the front of the home), the Bathroom, Toilet and Laundry.  The Master Bedroom Suite and Bedroom 2 will be carpeted.  The Bathroom, Toilet, Laundry and Ensuite will have ceramic tiled floors.

We requested an upgrade in the thickness of the flooring to its industrial grade for even greater durability at a cost of $117.00 per metre.  Like most things, you get what you pay for – watch out for the cheaper laminates and alternatives on the market unless you want never ending problems with audible sound, warping and cupping due to moisture etc. 

Refer to the earlier post dated 9 June 2014 to view copies of the Gerflor Creation Clic System product brochure for further details and pictures etc.

Thursday 25 September 2014

Photo of the front door painted

Thursday 25 September 2014

There was no work being done on the site today.  I managed to take the following photo that now shows the front door painted in Taubmans' Night Shade.

(Click on photo to view enlarged image)


Wednesday 24 September 2014

Voila! Painting finished & Actron Air Conditioner installed

Wednesday 24 September 2014

At last, here's the photos that I took today that show the paint work that has now been completed.  The painted front door can't be seen in these photos because the workers on site had the door open during the day.  The door has been painted the same Taubmans' Night Shade colour as the feature colour on the 2 brick piers at the front of the house.

The colour used on the eaves and the rendered front walls is Taubmans' Grey Cast T08 179-2.

The colour used on the 2 x feature, vertical, brick piers at the front of the house, the front door and door jamb and all the downpipes is Taubmans' Night Shade T142-8N.

All the interior and external paint work was completed by the end of Tuesday 23 September 2014, but I couldn't get any photos of the completed paint work until today.

Also today, the big Actron ESP Plus 203 (19.32 kW, 3 phase, ducted, reverse cycle, air conditioning system) was installed.

For further details about the Actron ESP Plus please click on the following Link to ActronAir's website:

http://www.actronair.com.au/espplus

Here's the photos that I took earlier today.

(Click on photos to view enlarged images)





Tuesday 23 September 2014

Exterior decorative & sensor lighting installed on Monday 22 September 2014

Tuesday 23 September 2014

On Monday 22 September 2014 the exterior decorative and sensor lights were installed at the front of the house and garage.  I couldn't get any photos on Monday but managed to take the photo that appears below at midday today (Tuesday 23 September 2014).  It seems a bit odd that the decorative lighting was installed on the 2 x cement-rendered brick piers before they were painted.

I got an SMS Text Message from McDonald Jones Homes early this morning to advise that the painting work was due to be completed today.  When I drove by tonight on the way home from work I could see that all the exterior painting work, including the front door, has been finished but it was just too dark to take any photos.  So, all being well, hopefully I can get some photos tomorrow to upload.  I've just realised that the photo below shows the down pipes have also been painted and are no longer the plain white PVC downpipes.

Our Newbury 1700mm Island Bathtub has also been delivered to the site.  In the photo below, it can be seen towards the front left entrance to the garage awaiting installation.

It's all starting to come together now and the unique features of the Douglas 10M with Chase facade are now clearly observable.

(Click on photo to view enlarged image)


Monday 22 September 2014

Electrical work on Monday 22 September 2014

Monday 22 September 2014

An electrical contractor from J & M Costa Enterprises Pty. Ltd. was working on site today installing the decorative feature lights at the front of the house, and the movement sensor lights near the front door and garage door.  I couldn't get any photos today but will upload some as soon as I can.

I think the electrical contractor might have also been working on the installation of the big Actron ESP Plus 203 (19.32 kW, 3 Phase electrical) ducted, reverse cycle, zoned, air conditioning system.  The Aussie-made Actron ESP Plus will be our main source of cooling and heating for the new home.  Post construction, we will also be installing some 20 roof top photo voltaic Solar Panels, sufficient enough to generate at least 5 kW of electricity, harvested free from the Sun, to power the air conditioning system and the other electricals in the house (more about that in a later post).  The following Link provides all the details about the innovative and award-winning Actron ESP Plus Air Conditioning system:

http://www.actronair.com.au/espplus

Sunday 21 September 2014

Front rendering work completed on Saturday 20 September 2014

Sunday 21 September 2014

A lot's been happening at the construction site over the past couple of weeks but most of the work's been done inside the home where we haven't been able to get any progress photos... until this afternoon!  Here's the latest update.

The tiler has completed laying all the floor and wall tiles in the main bathroom, separate toilet, laundry and the Master Suite's ensuite bathroom.  In the ensuite bathroom we had the wall tiles tiled from floor to ceiling height.

The Classic Look ceiling cornices have been installed.

The painters started their work on Tuesday 16 September 2014.  They've spent the past days painting the interior and they still have some painting to finish inside and outside the house.

I got an E-mail update from the Site Supervisor on Tuesday 16 September to advise that the painters should be finishing all the painting work early next week.  When the painters have finished, McDonald Jones Homes will then start on the "Finish-offs".  It's getting really exciting now... we're approaching the final weeks of construction and it shouldn't be too long now before we can start the landscaping work and move into our new home.

Yesterday, Saturday, the painters and renderers were working all day until sunset, almost.  They were applying the sealants where necessary around the front patio ceiling and brick piers.  They also completed all the rendering work at the front of the house where the different coloured bricks had previously been laid.  We couldn't get and photos yesterday, but we managed to take the following photos this afternoon (Sunday 21 September 2014).  Our neighbours alerted us to a water tap that had been left running at the rear of the house. So Pete managed to shimmy through the security fencing to get to the back of the house and turn the water tap off.  Whilst there, he also managed to take some progress photos of the interior of the open-plan kitchen, dining and family/lounge areas through the windows.  I've included those photos in this posting as well.

We've started to hit the shops to purchase some of our new furniture for the new home.  We discovered a fantastic new place to shop at, namely, Equator Homewares, at the DFO outlet at Homebush.  Fantastic, helpful sales staff and great deals!  We finished-up buying 2 x 2 seater leather sofas for the open plan Family/Lounge area; a new modern Dining Table and Chairs; and a 1 x 3 seater electric reclining sofa and 1 x single seater electric reclining sofa for our Home Theatre room.  We're pretty confident that our chosen comfy leather sofas won't be too bulky for the home.

Here's the photos that we took today.
 
(Click on photos to view enlarged images)


The rendered walls and brick piers will be painted, probably some time next week.

That front door is not staying Green.  It will be painted in Taubmans' Nightshade colour (like a Plum colour) to match the feature colour in the 2 x brick piers.

(I don't know what happened to the Gunmetal Blue bricks in these photos, they almost look like Cobalt Blue.  Something happened to the colouring when Google automatically enhanced the photos).
 




Pete took the photo below through the sliding glass doors from the Alfresco Cabana area at the rear of the house.  This photo shows the open plan Dining Area and computer desks at the left rear; the refrigerator alcove to right of centre; the kitchen to the right; and the entry hallway and bedroom 3 doorway in the centre rear of the photo.
 

The photo below is a view of the open plan kitchen.  The 2-Pak Polyurethane kitchen cupboards and cabinets (in Pumice Gloss colour) have been installed.  The red/pink wall at the rear is the heat shield plasterboard upon which the Glass Splashback will be mounted.  The SMEG ducted rangehood will be installed in the centre.  We've selected a Glass Splashback called Resene Jumpstart Starphire Glass (it's a deep Burgundy/Red Wine/Maroon colour).  At the rear left, is the Lincoln LIN1 Walk In Pantry Door in translucent glass.  The pantry door frame has now been painted/stained.  It also looks like the 40mm Ceasarstone benchtops (in 'Night Sky' 6100) have been installed (and it looks like they're covered in a protective plastic sheeting until the painting has finished).   Pete took this photo from outside through the Dining Room window


Another view of the open plan dining area in the foreground, computer desks to the left of screen and kitchen in the background taken from outside the Dining Room window


Another view of the open plan dining area in the foreground, computer desks to the left of screen and kitchen in the background taken from outside the Dining Room window.


 Pete took this photo of the Home Theatre Room windows & 4,500 litre rainwater tank.


Floor Plan for the ‘Douglas 10M’ with Chase façade.