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Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - 8 Month Update!
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Author:  measure [ Mar 04, 2016 9:20 am ]
Post subject:  Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - 8 Month Update!
Hi All,

I have been a long time visitor of this Forum and always wanted to create a thread to document our build progress like so many other great threads on here.

This thread will be covering our second build. My first build was an investment property so I never really focused on the details. Our second build will be our dream home. We believe we have found the perfect block of land in a good area and have a great plan to place on the block and we will even add a pool.

I have already started a blog which was created to document the whole build journey from the decision to buy a block of land right through to moving in, landscaping and interior designing. My hope is our blog and this thread will be detailed enough to help others who may not have had any experience building and want to know what the journey is like. I wanted to start a thread on here to get some more immediate comments, feedback and suggestions. Please let us know what you think!

My current build blog is here
http://tropezienadventure.blogspot.com.au/

The timeline of our build so far is
http://tropezienadventure.blogspot.com. ... vents.html

Colour Appointment
http://tropezienadventure.blogspot.com. ... tment.html

Electrical Appointment
http://tropezienadventure.blogspot.com. ... tment.html

Pool Information
http://tropezienadventure.blogspot.com. ... gress.html

We are building a Boutique Homes St Tropez 28 Squares (31 with our varations) in Wollert/Epping in the Northern Suburbs of Victoria.

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Author:  measure [ Sep 29, 2016 10:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 28 Epping Victoria - Site Set
Today we had the first movements on our site with the set out beginning. Fingers crossed for good weather so we can get the full site cut completed by next week and the slab the week after!

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Author:  measure [ Nov 24, 2016 10:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 28 Epping Victoria - Slab/Fra
It took nearly 60 days to get from site cut to slab due to weather and other factors however since then a lot has happened.

Frame progress so far. Hopefully see the roof on next week!
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Author:  measure [ Nov 27, 2016 8:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 28 Epping Victoria - Site Set
So the majority of the frame has been completed now and most windows are in. Gutters were completed Sunday night and the roof tiles have been delivered. Fingers crossed for roof installation next week!

We also received our slab/frame independent inspection report this week and whilst there wasn't a lot of defects, the defects listed seem rather large jobs to rectify. The report was very detailed (17 pages long) with pictures of defects and suggested repair options.

The defects are as follows.
- Large amounts of slab over pour which will require engineering to come up with a plan to rectify without damaging the slab.

- The site cut has been advised as very poor in general with the fall of the land falling towards the slab. This means that water can pool against the slab and run under the house. This could cause major issues in the future.

- A few frame issues with the frame over hanging the slab as the slab in some sections has been poured incorrectly.

- Intersecting sections of frame walls are not actually connected which means that future movement and plaster cracking is very likely

- Lots of areas where the slab is not level. There are a few sections where the fall and rise of the slab is way above allowed tolerances meaning to fix they will have to grind back sections.

- Areas of the roof trusses were not connected with brackets to the load bearing walls meaning those trusses could move.

- There are non loading bearing walls which have been converted to load bearing using blocking.

Overall some pretty concerning points that I am glad the inspection picked up however I have been advised by others that the listed defects are pretty common when building. We have formally requested Boutique to fix these defects and they have advised that the normal process for reports is to send it to their regional manager who will send a detailed report within 7 days outlining how they will repair.

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Author:  measure [ Dec 09, 2016 8:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 28 Epping Victoria - Roof/Bri
Just a quick update to what has happened over the last week and a half.

As a result of the slab/frame inspection the site has been cleaned up a lot and most of the defects have been rectified.

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The roof has also been installed and the bricks have been delivered to the site.
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They have also started (and almost finished) electrical, plumbing and insulation. The heating/cooling has been installed into the roof cavity. Solar heater water panel is on the roof also. It is really moving.

We have been advised that next week the bricks and plaster will be installed. I believe they are aiming for lock up just before Christmas.

Today we also had our Pre-plaster inspection. This report was very detailed and over 30 pages long. I'm very happy that we choose to get these inspections done as I can't imagine what would have happened if these points were not rectified. Part of this inspection also included a re-inspection of the previous slab/frame issues raised. Most of these points have now been fixed with the exception of 2 which is a work in progress.

Some of the issues picked up on the Pre-plaster inspection are;

- The gutters are not installed properly meaning that they are not level and water could pool in the wrong ends. There is also a lot of rubbish and material left over from the tile installation which needs to be removed.

- Flashing and cladding have not been installed meaning the roof is not 100% watertight.

- Sewer vents on the roof have not be insulated to prevent water leaking.

- The masonite packers to straighten out the walls have not been attached with the correct fittings.

- Some of the windows haven't been installed with the correct headspace and gap.

- The laundry bulkhead has been made using the roof truss which is not to code. It will have to be redone.

- There is no clear walkway between the manhole and heater platform in the roof which will need to be installed.

Those are the main points which we have officially requested Boutique to rectify before moving on with the next stages. This may slow down progress on the build however it is important that these are fixed now so to not cause issues in the future.

Hopefully next week I can update the blog with photos of the bricks and plaster!
Author:  measure [ Dec 19, 2016 9:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 28 Epping Victoria - Roof/Bri
Insulation, Plaster and Bricks!
It has been a week and a bit so time for another update.

The build is really powering along now and it is awesome to see. It really looks like they are pushing to reach initial lock up before Christmas.

In what seemed like only 2 days they managed to get all the insulation installed including the roof space. It was also great to see that they have insulated all internal walls as well as the roof right up to the eaves. This will really help keep noise from travelling through walls and also help keep an even temperature in very warm and very cold periods.

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In a week they have also managed to get 95% of all plastering done including the square set cornices in the living areas and the normal cornice in all other areas. Quality looks great too!

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During this time they have also worked a lot on the bricks. We were really worried up until this point not knowing if we would like our brick choice. We chose Austral Settler Pepperwood Bricks (Category 3) however were never really sure if it would match our window frames and roof colour. Since seeing a couple of walls now completed we are really happy. It is only a Cat 3 which means on the lower end of the scale (Boutique offer nearly 20 different categories of bricks).

Please ignore the quality of the bricks in the photos. Looks like the camera distorted some of the picture colours.

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We are still waiting on Boutique to send us our Pre-Plaster inspection report. Hopefully they can advise that they fixed everything prior to the plaster and insulation going in as we have no way to check it. I guess we will just have to trust that Boutqiue's repuation for producing quality homes is correct!
Author:  measure [ Jan 18, 2017 7:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 28 Epping VIC - Bricks/Plaste
It has been a few weeks since our last post. A busy time at work in the lead up to Christmas and then we managed to get away to QLD for New Years which was nice and relaxing!

Just before Christmas Boutique managed to reach external lock up and finish the plastering inside. It was good to see that they also worked through Boxing day and the days between Christmas and New Years to finish some smaller jobs.

Since New Years they have completed a lot of work and we were able to see it all today with a site tour with our build supervisor. Stephen was fantastic and gave us all the time we needed to have a good look around. I believe we were there for nearly 45 minutes and he never tried to wrap it up at all!

The items we saw completed are as follows.

- All plastering except for the garage is complete. They are hoping to complete the garage this week.
- They have added skirting boards to all the walls and finished and prepared the square set cornice for painting.
- They have prepared the plaster walls for painting by sanding back the walls to a smooth finish.
- All external brick work is complete except for the front facade which is just waiting for a fascia plate and cladding.
- They have installed the cement sheeting in the eaves.
- Cabinetry has been delivered and installed in all rooms (Kitchen/Bathrooms/Laundry) Just waiting for the caesar stone and appliances.
- All internal doors and frames have been hung. The proper front door has also been installed.

During our site visit we also got to talking about the next stages of the build. Hopefully at the end of this week all pre-painting and waterproofing work will be finished. We will have our independent inspector go through early next week and then over the next couple of weeks should see all the painting completed.

After the painting all they need to do is lay the tiles and carpet, door handles and electrical switches/lights and install appliances.

Our site supervisor goes on leave on the 5th of March and he is hoping to have everything complete and handed over before then. He is also going to try to get approval for us to get the pool company in before handover to excavate the area ready for pool installation!

Below are some photos of the kitchen and ensuite cabinetry. You can see the square set cornices in a few of the photos and we think they look great!

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Author:  measure [ Feb 16, 2017 11:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 Epping VIC - All locked up
Link to latest update.
http://tropezienadventure.blogspot.com.au/

It has been around 4 weeks since the last update. For the first 2 weeks not a lot happened. However since then there have been a few changes and all of a sudden the waterproofing was done, the first part of the painting has been completed and the front facade has been rendered.


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We also arranged some follow up on some jobs needed after handover.

Fencing - Melbourne Fencing Specialists

For our fencing needs we have a total of 89 linear meters. This includes a 3.5m fence and gate from the garage to the boundary.

For a double paling fence at that distance and a gate the total project comes to $11,150 with our share being $6,038.

The fence quote was always going to be more expensive than normal as we require double sided palings which means there will be no rails to climb on either side of the fence. As we have a swimming pool we really want to make sure that kids can't climb over the fence from our neighbors property or use the railings to climb over the pool fence on our side.

It looks like we will go with this quote as we were very happy with their service during the quote. They will also assist with sending out Notices to Fence to our 5 neighbouring blocks so we won't have to worry about chasing them up ourselves.

Driveway - A Better Driveway

For our driveway needs we have a total of 154m2. This includes around 25m2 for our sideway. Because our garage is set back 10m on the long side and we have a 3 car garage we always knew this would be expensive. We have also extended the width to cover down the side of the home beside the garage to so we have some extra parking for guests. This effectively means we will have a driveway that is 4 car widths wide.

We will be choosing a charcoal colour exposed aggregate which means the expected price is $13,777. Pretty expensive however considering the amount we need it is acceptable. It works out to be around $89 per square meter which is pretty average for exposed aggregate.

Blinds - Into Blinds

In a previous blog post I went through our blind details.

http://tropezienadventure.blogspot.com. ... quote.html

During our meeting with the installer they just came out to take some final measurements and help us choose colours so they could start production and have the blinds ready for hand over.

It was lucky that they did come out as it turns out when the salesman did our initial quote off the plans he wrote the numbers backwards so all the blinds would have been wrong.

We have also chosen to add a small blind to the glass window beside the front door. Initially we were going to leave this clear so we could see out however seeing how wide it is in person and how visible it makes the inside of the house we will add a blind for privacy. We can still see who is at our door by opening the blind first.
Author:  whitefresh [ Feb 16, 2017 11:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 Epping VIC - Painting Star
Looks great! How high are your ceilings?
Author:  measure [ Feb 16, 2017 12:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 Epping VIC - Painting Star
whitefresh whitefresh
Looks great! How high are your ceilings?

Thanks! They are 2700. The square set cornice in the living areas makes it look larger as well.
Author:  measure [ Mar 06, 2017 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - Caesarstone and Tiling
Floor leveling had started in preparation of the tilers starting. This involved grinding down raised sections of the concrete slab or raising it up by using self leveling mortar. They also prepared the shower bases.

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A few days later we had a peak through the windows and noticed the Caesarstone benches in the ensuite, bathroom and kitchen had been installed. It was an awesome surprise as we were under the impression it was still weeks away and we had been hanging out to get a look at it!

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Not long after that surprise the tiling started. They started on a Friday and managed to get all tiles laid by Monday by working on the Saturday. This included the ensuite, bathroom and laundry splashbacks. All they have to do now is add the grout!

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Dining Room - Galileo Disk Grey Glazed Porcelain 600X600

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The only downside we experienced over the lasts couple of weeks was the cladding on the facade. It appears that the wrong material has been ordered and instead of an horizontal cladding installed around the main bedroom window it was vertical. It looked weird from the moment we saw it and as soon as I raised this with the RBM he advised that he would chase up the correct material. Hopefully that is installed over the next week or so.

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From here they will grout all the tiles and then start the electrical works. Shower screens and basic fittings will also be installed. Carpet will be later on and the last coats of paint will be finished a couple of days before the pre-completion inspection. We have been asked to book in our PCI with our independent inspector on the 23rd of March. Fingers crossed for minimal issues and a sooner rather than later completion date!
Author:  measure [ Mar 18, 2017 7:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - Caeserstone and Tiling
Just a quick photo update before the QA inspection this coming Thursday. Should only be a week or two away now!

 Garages  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅   Hallway to Living  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅   Kitchen  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅   Main bathroom  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅   Ensuite  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅   Ensuite  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅   Laundry  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅   Powder room sink  ⋅  Add a comment  ⋅  Pin to Ideaboard  ⋅  
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Author:  measure [ Mar 27, 2017 9:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - Electrical/Fixtures/Fitt
We have just got back from our QA inspection with our building inspector present. Overall we are really excited that we are in the final stages and happy with the quality of the home at present. We have been told that we should have our New Home Presentation this coming Friday. There were not many majors items picked up however quite a lot of small dents and scratches which is too be expected.

Below is a list of points that need rectifying.

- Missing towel rail and door handle in Ensuite
- Missing sink taps and towel rails in powder room
- Missing shower screen in main bathroom.
- Walls in bedroom, powder room, living and dining still need to be patched.
- Alarm system still needs to be installed
- Missing flood light on garage wall.
- Missing man hole in garage.
- Big chip in one of the tiles in the ensuite.
- Door and window tracts need a big clean out and detail.
- Some minor repainting required.
- 2 light switches and 1 light not working.
- Missing gas point on garage wall for future pool install.
- Some minor mortar cracking issues on the exterior.
- Silicon on a coupe of tiles that needs a proper clean off
- One of the bedrooms has a big lump under the carpet.
- Media room is missing lower wall HDMI power socket.
- Mirrors will be installed with appliances after NHP
- Pendant lights above kitchen island bench not installed.

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Author:  Aimz086 [ Mar 27, 2017 3:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - QA Inspection!
Wow looks great! Have you started packing?
Author:  measure [ Mar 27, 2017 4:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - QA Inspection!
Aimz086 Aimz086
Wow looks great! Have you started packing?



Thanks! Yes, starting slowly. We will move in over a week. Can't wait!
Author:  measure [ Apr 20, 2017 4:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - Driveway/Blinds!
It has been very busy over the last couple of weeks. We have moved in 90% of our belongings with only a little bit to go. Appliances will be installed next week and then the move is 100% completed.

Blinds were installed last week and the driveway was finished today.

Unfortunately with all the bad weather a few weeks ago the pool install was pushed back which means the fence was also delayed. Hopefully they can make a start on both next week.

I have also purchased material for the alfresco deck which I will be building myself so I will keep you updated to that progress as well.

See photos below of blinds and driveway progress.

Media Room - Wall to wall block our curtain with screen blind behind

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Bathrooms have block out only due to the frosted glass.
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Main Bed - Wall to wall sheer curtain with block our blind behind
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Living area. Main doors just block out. Side windows have block out and screen.
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Day 1. Final excavation and frame and metal work completed.
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Day 2. Concrete poor. When the poor is complete and leveled they add a special chemical which reacts with the top layer of the concrete causing it to never dry or set. They can then come back the next day and wash the top layer off exposing the concrete.
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Day 3. The soft top layer is washed off. They then add the expansion cuts into the concrete to reduce the chance of cracking and then acid wash it to give it a final clean. The only thing do to now (it is optional) is to seal the surface. Doing this will protect the aggregate however also give it an almost permanent "wet" look which will be darker and more impressive.
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Author:  measure [ Apr 24, 2017 11:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - Pool!
Today was a very exciting day with the swimming pool going in.

Rainwise (our pool supplier) managed to complete 90% of the excavation on the Monday. On Wednesday the pool shell will be delivered and installed with the plumbing and equipment to follow.

After that the concreting, paving and fencing will happen.

We were very lucky with rock during the excavation today. It looks like most of the rock is around the 2M depth mark so they only had to spend an hour or so breaking up the rock near the deep end. The rest they could leave. You can see in one of the photos what they had to remove.

I estimate they removed around 10 truck loads with 4-5 remaining on site to remove on Wednesday.

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Author:  measure [ May 01, 2017 7:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - Swimming Pool Progress!
The pool excavation went relatively smoothly on day 1 only encountering a little bit of rock. Unfortunately Monday night, Tuesday and Wednesday were all extremely wet. Upon looking into the site on Tuesday we found that the walls of the hole had started collapsing.

It looks like the ground wasn't very stable around the storm water pipes which run around the house. In most cases they would be fine however as we had dug down beside them it made them even more unstable and it was the first spot to fall. You can see the edge of the storm water pipe in some of the photos

Rainwise attended on Tuesday afternoon (Fantastic Service) and brought a pump to drain the water out. We had to use this a couple of times on Tuesday and Wednesday to keep the hole empty. The water was filling up in the hole very quickly as the untitled land behind us is still be excavated and the water is draining towards the hole.
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On Wednesday morning they delivered the pool as it had been pre-booked and they couldn't cancel it. They had to leave it on our next door neighbours vacant land (we had permission) however this worked out okay as they had plenty of space to run the pipes and plumbing before they lowered it into the hole.
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On Thursday morning at 7:30am they arrived on site and brought another excavator with them. This wasn't the original plan however they had to fix the pool hole. Took them an hour or so to repair the damaged hole then we waited until the pool plumbing was finished before they could move it into permission.

It was great watching the team do it. They had 7 people on site today all doing their own tasks to get the pool into permission.

Once the pool was in the hole they added a sand/concrete mix to back fill the sides. This was quite time consuming as the excavator could only bring the mix closer to the pool. It still had to be hand shoveled into the hole. At around 3pm the pool was in and the backfill was about half way up the pool.

They stopped the backfill at that height on purpose as any higher and the pool shell can warp under the weight. Water will be delivered tomorrow morning and after that they will continue backfilling and filling with water until it is full.
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On Friday they started filling the pool with water. They used around 6 trucks to fill it all up (11 thousand litres). They filled to the child safety step around the pool which was the height of the backfill. After this point they alternated between filling and back filling to make sure the pool stayed straight and didn't bow.

During this time they also installed the pool equipment, lights, wet deck plumbing and anything else required to run the pool. By the end of the day they fence it all off and are due back on Monday morning to finish of the plumbing, top the water level up, excavate the underground pool cover and concrete the base for the coping tiles.
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Some other things going on at the same time as the pool was the side LHS side fence being finished. The Rear and RHS won't be done until the pool is completed. Overall we we quite happy with the quality.
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Our appliances were installed. This included the Heating and Cooling! We love the Westinghouse, so very glad we chose them over the Ilve range.
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We also had pet door installed. Now our pets are free to come and go. Well, until we get a backyard!
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Author:  measure [ May 03, 2017 5:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - Swimming Pool Progress
Day 5 was all about getting the concrete ready for the paving and coping pavers when the pool is landscaped. They topped the pool up to it's final level and then boxed the frame up for the concrete.

This also included excavating a hole for the in ground pool cover.

As the concrete is just a base for the final pavers the finish isn't the best but this is to be expected. Now we just have to wait on the landscaper to come in and do the rest of the paving. This should be over the next week or so.
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We also had some electricians out who installed our dining room pendant lights, ensuite wall lights and alfresco fans.
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Author:  cat_dunc [ May 08, 2017 8:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Boutique Homes - St Tropez 31 - Swimming Pool Progress
I'm loving your pool updates. Thanks for the detailed posts about it. Very interesting! Please keep them coming.
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