One year on, what we wish we could change.

Well Friday 29th March 2019 marked the one year anniversary since we got our keys to our beautiful Waldorf Grange.

A lot has happened in that year. Driveway, fences, landscaping, decking, letterbox, curtains, fireplace, furniture, mirrors, artwork, lights… We are not quite finished but most of the main things are done.

So upon reflection after spending a good year to get acquainted with our home there are a few things in hindsight I wish we had done differently. They aren’t major things, but certainly things we wished we got when we were locking in all our upgrades.

1. Sarking under our Colorbond roof. This wasn’t something I really knew about until it was too late. Our documents did clearly say that sarking wasn’t included but I glossed over it not really understanding what the term was at the time. For those that don’t know “roof sarking is a protective second skin under your roof, installed when building a house. Roof sarking is a pliable laminated membrane that is positioned under your roof during installation by the builder and is rolled out in sections either parallel or perpendicular to the eaves with an overlap between each layer. Roof sarking will protect the frame of your house from the weather during construction. When your home is completed, sarking will protect your roof cavity from storm driven rain and dust, improve its thermal performance, help it resist bushfire ember attack and reduce the risk of harmful condensation.“
2. Deeper fridge space. Our fridge does stick our a bit from the fridge cavity. Not a big deal and also not something we considered during the build (we only measured height and width).
3. Deeper laundry bench. Our washing machine and dryer also stick out from the laundry bench, by about 5cm. This is no biggie but it would look better if they were neatly tucked under without any of the appliance protruding.
4. Power point in downstairs powder room. When we did our electrical appointment we never once considered the need for a power point in the powder room. After all, it was just a toilet. But soon after moving in I went to use a hair dryer in there and looked around for a power point only to realise we didn’t ask for one. Something to think about, especially if you have a double story house and little ones running around that you need to supervise. It is not always appropriate to be upstairs.
5. Relocate handle for second shower head in master ensuite. We got a rain dumper as a promo in our master ensuite shower. So along with our normal shower head we had the two and positioned one at each end of the shower. We never discussed where the taps to turn the shower on/off would be positioned. And they were automatically both placed down one end. So if you’re standing under the rain dumper, you cannot reach the handle to adjust the temperature. You have to walk back and forth whilst adjusting the handle and then checking the water temp. I know these are first world problems but if they can be avoided before the build starts then that is preferable.
6. Another power point in theatre room. We have the quad power point under the Tv space. And then a double at one end of the couch. But we didn’t add a double at the other end of the couch. So if you want a lamp there or you want to charge a mobile phone you either need an extension cord or you have to only have them in one spot. Plus we ended up with electric recliners that take up one plug so the only remaining plug would have to be shared between a phone charger and a lamp. In hindsight it was definitely a room that could do with more power points. It wasn’t until we were living in the space that we realised this.
7. Another power point in the kitchen. We felt like we had a lot of power points here already. A quad on one side of the galley and a quad on the other side of the galley meant that coffee machine, kettle, toaster, etc could all be hidden away and not used in the main kitchen area. We then had one double power point put in kitchen on back bench and one double put on side of island bench. I cook a lot with the thermo mix and there have been many times I just wanted that option to have the appliance on the left of the cooktop, not just to the right. It would be closer to the fridge and pantry there as well.

And when I think about things that we upgraded that we now wish we hadn’t I would have to say the garage sensor light. We never took into account that our house is directly opposite a street lamp. And we only have a 4.5m setback. So basically we can walk around the whole house at night and see without lights on because the street light is so bright. So we never actually use our garage sensor light. And now we have a less than attractive light affixed to the front facade.

So as you can see from this list there are no major changes we wish we did. They are all minor. But I hope that by blogging about these it could help someone in the future who is building and still at the stage of locking in their preferences.