Aerial view of Wright

 Here are two aerial pictures of Wright. The first before any development and the second I guess would have been around November 2011 (zzomed in to Cotter Rd).  Waiting for Google to update their satellite view for once the houses are up.

Here is a photo sourced from the Molonglo Valley website of an aerial view of Wright in June 2012. If you look closely you can see my untouched block with my western and northern neighbours well under way.

Update in mid-November 2012, I realised that Google have updated their satellite view of Wright.  In this photo you can see that the frames of the house are up.

Dulux Paint

They have started painting the house, starting with the fascia (Deep Ocean of course). If you see the photo above the dark blue fascia is the painted part whereas the light blue is unpainted.

They need to paint this before they put on the guttering and the roof.

They are using Dulux Paint throughout.  Incidentally I have had to use timber fascia throughout because of the curves in the roof.  Now you can cheat by using colorbond fascia but that means you use multiple straights to make it look like a curve.  To get a real curve you need to use timber.  So the curves have to be timber.  The straights can then be colorbond but it would then look odd and inconsistent. So we decided to use timber for all fascia.  The downside is that at some point you will need to repaint it.

That's why the next point is so important.

The first floor will have Stria cladding.  On the Hardietex Scyon Stria cladding website it states that if you use Wattyl paint on the Stria, then Wattyl gives you a 15 year warranty on the paint. Now this is important to me as painting the first floor of this place is going to be a major hassle.  This is the wording on the website:

Not only does James Hardie provide a 25-year product warranty on Stria cladding, but Wattyl® Australia Pty Ltd feels so confident it has given a 15-year paint warranty on Wattyl Solagard® when used on Stria cladding.

The bad news (or so I thought) is that my builder is using Dulux.  So I had a look at the Dulux website on what their warranty is on their exterior paint.  They do have The Dulux Weathershield Promise which is as follows:

We're so confident our product will not peel, flake or blister in any weather condition that if it doesn't deliver - we'll replace the product free of charge*. That's our promise to you.

For any claim or query, call Dulux Customer Service on 13 25 25. Proof of purchase is required.

There is caveat:

*This guarantee does not cover paint failure caused by any breakdown of coatings applied previously, where Dulux Weathershield is applied over coatings not specified by Dulux, or in the event of substrate failure or faulty application. To claim, you must be living in the house you have painted with Dulux Weathershield.

But this won't apply to me as its new paint on unpainted material.

Now this doesn't indicate exactly how long the warranty lasts so I rang the number above and was put through to the technical department where the gentleman there advised me that its for lifetime, meaning whilst I'm living there I'm covered. Well that means if it peels, flakes or blisters Dulux will give me the paint free of charge. I'll still have to arrange for it to be repainted though :-(.  

So I rang the builder and asked him to provide me with the receipt. I don't think anyone has ever asked him this before so he referred me to the painter, Adam, who said he would. 

Considering wall decals

Watch "Decor Designs on Etsy Wall Vinyl Decal Designs" on YouTube

Exterior colour scheme

Our exterior colour scheme will be similar to this picture (but I think the finish will look different in the real world).

Elements are:

Brick - Boral Classic Horizon Leura

Roof, Fascia, downpipes, terrace balustrade, windows - Colorbond Deep Ocean

Upstairs Harditex - Stria - painted Dulux Red Terra - all except on both sides of the walls that come out on western side of bay windows at the front of the house which will be painted Deep Ocean. 

Garage doors to be Colorbond Deep Ocean

External doors to be painted Dulux Red Terra

Pillars will be painted in a colour similar to Deep Ocean with a Tuscan affect. 

Omega cooktop and oven

We will be installing Omega cooktop and oven.

The cooktop is Omega OG92XA 90cm stainless steel gas cooktop. Key features:
- Good controls, 
- easy to clean
- flame failure device - ensures the gas does not run if no flame
more specifications here.

The oven is Omega OO971XN 90cm stainless steel fan forced oven  Key features for us was:
- double-glazed door
- Cavity cooling
- Full automatic cooking

More specifications here.






Update:

Choice, in their test of cooktops, gave Omega OG92XA the highest rating of 83%:
http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/household/kitchen/ovens-and-cooktops/gas-cooktops-review-and-compare/page.aspx

Good points:

• Excellent for cooking white sauce, stir-frying and melting chocolate.
• Wok trivet provided.
• Layout of burners is good for a five burner.
• Spill catchment area deep enough to contain any spills and separated on each side as is the wok burner.

Bad points:

• Only 4 pots fit comfortably at a time.
• Controls are positioned at the front allowing easy access for children.

In their test of ovens, the Omega OO971XN came out second (top was Westinghouse POR883S

 Good Points:
• Very good grill performance 
• Excellent oven performance.
• Controls are easy to use and basic.
• Grill trays roll out smoothly. 
• The grill element can be lowered for easy cleaning.
• Catalytic liners on sides and back wall.
• Exterior reasonably easy to clean.
• Surface temperature label on door.
• Relatively cheap for a 90 cm oven.

Bad points:

• Grill rack does not accommodate small items.
• No shield over grill element.
• Glass cannot be removed from oven door for easy cleaning.
• Larger trays can be very heavy with a load.
• Larger area to clean internally and externally.
• Trays and shelves are awkward to clean in a domestic sink.
• Enamel can be difficult to clean if grease baked on.
• No half grill, defrost or warm mode.
• No child lock.

Schweigen Rangehood

We have opted for the stainless steel Schweigen DS3170SP VERA 90cm Wall Canopy rangehood with the Isodrive Power System.

The main advantages of this system was its efficient suction to draw the fumes etc out of the kitchen and then out of the house.  

The main feature of this system is that the motor sits on top of the house near the roof and sucks the fumes out rather than blow them up from the canopy. Hence its silent operation.

Dishwasher

We have chosen the following Dishwasher
BOSCH SMS63M08AU  Freestanding dishwasher
http://www.bosch-home.com.au/appliances/dishwashers/freestanding/SMS63M08AU.html

Key features:
- 14 international place settings
- 4.5 Star WELS water rating, 12.3 litres per wash
- 6 Wash Programs:
- RackmaticPlus - 3 stage height-adjustable upper basket




Update:

Choice have just carried out a test on dishwashers.  Link is below if you have membership.  They rated this dishwasher 76 (best rated dishwasher was 78).  Not much between them.  Size, efficiency and flexibility were key things for us. 

http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/household/kitchen/dishwashers/dishwashers-review-and-compare/page.aspx

Good points:

• Excellent drying and water efficiency.
• Very quiet.
• Has a small-light item holders
• The sensor program works well.
• Has a moveable cutlery basket that can be placed anywhere in the bottom rack.
• Top basket can be height-adjusted even when fully loaded.
• Cheap to run.

Washing performance was "OK" so not stellar.

Scaffolding and Upstairs

Yesterday the scaffolding went up so today I was able to cimb up to the first floor (one up from the ground floor!). From the balcony there is a clear view of the Black Mountain Tower and in the distance, the flagpole of the Parliament House.


 Here is the upstairs hallway.









The upstairs storage area (above garage).






View from the hall down to the family room.








The Blue Stone rock wall with the western wall finished and the northern wall still to complete.






Bedroom 6 - likely to be Jumanah's room.