All Framed Up (pics galore)

Fowler Homes are well and truly on a roll with something happening almost every day for the past two weeks or so.  We now have the second storey and roof trusses complete and the windows installed.  We got a chance to have a walk around the second storey for the first time given that Fowler Homes does not have a Monaco display home.  The central sitting area is massive but furnishing will be a little difficult given the placement of doors and the linen cupboard.  The bedroom are all a good size and the changes I made to the location of the windows in bed 3 and 4 really suit the views we have.  The views from all second storey windows are fantastic - a real upside from building up on a hill - and to counteract the extra cost of building on a sloping site (split level, drop edge beams, retaining walls).

We are not getting any real communication from the SS, but other than this we are really, really happy with the progress so far. I am excited.

I love the two step roof adding a bit of perspective

An imposing view, large side acces

Stacker and sliding doors to alfresco - one of the main reasons we chose the Fowler Homes Monaco

Sitting room window highlights the park and hides the roof tops

I moved this window to avoid the two storey house next door, now it looks out to the park

Master Bedroom WIR on left, ensuite or right

View from Master Bedroom windows, 10.38mm lam glass to reduce neighbourhood noise ingress

Amazing view from Bedroom 2, you can see skyline on the South Coast at night

Bedroom 2 view framed by the large awning window

Fowler Homes This Week - A+

While the slab was curing we needed to get rid of the excess soil to make space for the external plumbing.  The contractor we used did a fantastic job moving the soil around to level the site up and in the end only took away 2 loads when they could have taken 8-9, saving us heaps of money :).

We really are going to have a good sized side yard, which is why we built two storey.  There was some money in the tender for some steps off the front porch that it is clear now won't be needed.  We will need a few steps off the laundry though.

This week Fowler Homes delivered on the promise of completing the external plumbing on Thursday and Friday.  They also cleaned up the site a bit more.  We have been quite happy with the constancy of progress in the past two weeks.  If this can be sustained we will be happy, happy, happy.  Now we are ready for the frame.  There is no Fowler Homes Monaco display home, so we are super keen to see the frame up and get a feel for the spaces.

There was a dispute over the piering variation.  When I inspected the depths with the excavator driver he calculated 89 m, which I signed off on.  The CSO rang to advised that we would be charged for 93.9 m, so I queried the variance.  Turns out the excavator driver had miscalculated.  If pressed I would have offered to split the difference 50:50 but Fowler Homes extended some good will and will only charge for 89 m. Nice.

Fowler Homes this week - A+.

The Plans (Pics)

We chose Fowler Homes' Monaco 28 design because we wanted a small footprint home to maximise the yard space for our little ones yet still get 4 bed, 2 garage, Alfresco, Cinema, Study, open plan kitchen, dining, family...  It is less than 16 m long, most are 19-20 m, and about 11.3 m wide.
This design is almost exactly the same as Wisdom Homes' Aspiration (and is from the same Architect).
I have included snap shots of some of the more exciting elements from the Plans.

Ground Floor Plan

1st Floor Plan

Front Façade Elevation

Compared to the original design we have:

• Had to put a split because of the sloping site.  This was big dollars, mainly because the ceiling height had to be increased to 3450 mm in the front of the house.  Should make for a grand entry!
• Converted the ground floor linen cupboard into a pantry (no pantry in original design)
• Flipped the Home Cinema and the Study - no charge
• Made the Ensuite Shower full length with two shower heads - this cost a bit too
• Moved the Bed 3 and 4 windows to suit the view - minor fee
• Added two piers and parapet over in front of the Home Cinema to jazz up the basic façade - this cost a fair bit
• Made the Meals Room wall a recycled brick feature wall - this cost a bit