Nice job
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: GJ Gardner Mandalay 338 382Mar 07, 2017 10:32 pm Absolutely gorgeous home!!!! I love your colours and black tapware/handles etc. We're hoping to have matt black items too. *squee* We are more than likely going to have concrete floors for our home too. I'd love to know your experience with concrete floors. Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated. Things like: - what finish floor did you get? (did you get a particular mix/dye for the slab?) - did it turn out as expected / was there any variance in colour/exposure etc? - did you have to sign a waiver or anything for the concrete floors? - did any issues arise during the process? - how are you finding them now that you're living with them? - would you do anything different / go for a different finish? Thanks in advance! Re: GJ Gardner Mandalay 338 383Mar 09, 2017 4:21 pm Hi Stacey, Thank you!! We are so happy with everything and love the concrete floors - they are just so practical! The concrete is 32mpa and all the trades there at the pour were told it would be polished concrete so took extra care. The floor polishing guys did the first few cuts and grinds prior to the walls going up and then it was covered in plastic for the remainder of the build and didn't get uncovered until right at the very end, when they came back and did the last grind/polish and applied the sealer (which you can't actually see - it's for protection only). The floors are so smooth and I love the variations in it. Some area show slight aggregate and in others you can see the swirl and mottling in the concrete. It's very easy to clean and so forgiving of dirt - we have 3 kids and a dog so it cops a hiding! We need to use special cleaner when we mop it - but you use very little and it smells nice! The floor polishing guys gave it to us. It has cracked in a few places - mainly in places we expected like the corners near the 'u' shape of the courtyard. We don't find it to be an issue and did expect that it would crack just because it's concrete and it expands and contracts. We had no special colour added to the concrete and asked them to grind far enough for it to polish but not too far that we had exposed aggregates. There was no waiver to sign from memory, but our builder did stress to us that cracks would appear so that we knew that prior. I love it and wouldn't change a thing. We're about to finish our courtyard in the coming weeks with more silver travertine and fake grass, so i will have more pics to post then. Good luck with your build! Re: GJ Gardner Mandalay 338 384Mar 11, 2017 11:32 am fiat10 Hi Stacey, Thank you!! We are so happy with everything and love the concrete floors - they are just so practical! The concrete is 32mpa and all the trades there at the pour were told it would be polished concrete so took extra care. The floor polishing guys did the first few cuts and grinds prior to the walls going up and then it was covered in plastic for the remainder of the build and didn't get uncovered until right at the very end, when they came back and did the last grind/polish and applied the sealer (which you can't actually see - it's for protection only). The floors are so smooth and I love the variations in it. Some area show slight aggregate and in others you can see the swirl and mottling in the concrete. It's very easy to clean and so forgiving of dirt - we have 3 kids and a dog so it cops a hiding! We need to use special cleaner when we mop it - but you use very little and it smells nice! The floor polishing guys gave it to us. It has cracked in a few places - mainly in places we expected like the corners near the 'u' shape of the courtyard. We don't find it to be an issue and did expect that it would crack just because it's concrete and it expands and contracts. We had no special colour added to the concrete and asked them to grind far enough for it to polish but not too far that we had exposed aggregates. There was no waiver to sign from memory, but our builder did stress to us that cracks would appear so that we knew that prior. I love it and wouldn't change a thing. We're about to finish our courtyard in the coming weeks with more silver travertine and fake grass, so i will have more pics to post then. Good luck with your build! Thanks so much for answering all those questions!! I'm super excited for concrete floors! *squee* That's fair enough - regarding the cracks. We're probably going to go for a nil exposure, matt finish. We love the industrial look and cracks and imperfections kind of add to that aesthetic. Fantastic!! Excited to see it all come together! Thanks again!! Re: GJ Gardner Mandalay 338 385Mar 13, 2017 5:23 pm bank fiat10 shellby That is nice - is it much to change the door? Everything is looking great! No final figure as yet but around the $1200 mark. The panels on the current door can be used as shelving in the shed - so technically that means we're saving money - right??!!! Haha I like your logic! Pricey but I'm not sure I could have lived with the light either. Everything is looking amazing! Makes me want to start over and have another crack at my bathroom selections. Can I ask what colour your garage door was called originally ! I love the new colour you've chosen. Re: GJ Gardner Mandalay 338 386Mar 13, 2017 6:24 pm galleriamad bank fiat10 [quote="shellby"]That is nice - is it much to change the door? Everything is looking great! No final figure as yet but around the $1200 mark. The panels on the current door can be used as shelving in the shed - so technically that means we're saving money - right??!!! Haha I like your logic! Pricey but I'm not sure I could have lived with the light either. Everything is looking amazing! Makes me want to start over and have another crack at my bathroom selections. Can I ask what colour your garage door was called originally ! I love the new colour you've chosen. [/quote] It was tassie oak originally - but it was much yellower than anticipated! We changed to black walnut and we're very happy with it! Re: GJ Gardner Mandalay 338 387Apr 14, 2017 12:06 pm Travertine tiles arrived this week to complete the courtyard! We're hoping that the tiler will be here in the next two weeks or so to lay them, and then we'll confirm final measurements for the fake grass. I'll update photos when it's finished. The beautiful frangipani tree that was growing gangbusters in the courtyard received a thrashing from cyclone debbie, so it no longer has any leaves on it! It should come back ok though. We copped the full force of the cyclone, and we're so pleased that GJ built us such a strong house! Even the assessor we've had around to see if there is any non-visible structural damage have commented on how well our house is built - especially the roof. Re: GJ Gardner Mandalay 338 390Jul 02, 2017 7:44 am Hi Fiat, thanks for sharing your experience and pics. My wife and I will be retiring and building a house in Hervey Bay in few years and the Madalay is so far our favourite dsign. Did you consider having the pool in the courtyard? Re: GJ Gardner Mandalay 338 391Jul 02, 2017 10:33 am HeadingNorth Hi Fiat, thanks for sharing your experience and pics. My wife and I will be retiring and building a house in Hervey Bay in few years and the Madalay is so far our favourite dsign. Did you consider having the pool in the courtyard? Hi HeadingNorth - thanks for reading my thread! We didn't consider the pool in the courtyard as we have a large block of land (1800m2) so we had the pool installed off the master bed instead. Here are the finished courtyard pics: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Once our garden and frangipani take off in a few years it should be a lovely tropical space! Good luck with your build - I can highly recommend the Mandalay! May I ask why you chose not to use GJ Gardiner? I'm actually meeting with one of the sales guys tomorrow for an appointment. Definitely not signing anything yet… 3 13257 |