Appliances & Flooring

Hi Guys,

Haven't been on here for awhile and not sure if this is the right section to be posting however the scenario is I'm in the process of building a duplex in the Northmead area with the plan to live in one and sell/rent the other depending on the market. I've excluded appliances from the contract so that i have the option to choose specific models at completion.

- In regards to appliances what brands are you guys currently installing in investment properties?
- Whats the consensus on Carpet/Floorboards upstairs?

Cheers

 

Are you wanting to finance the appliances or paying cash later - I would get a quote for the appliances and get them included in the valuation.
- I went with SMEG, a lot on here previous likely the quality/price of BOSCH
- I like carpets in bedrooms, especially upstairs (noise)

 

I'll pay cash for them later however at completion I'll get them included in the valuation.

These were the two brands i was thinking for the investment side, i suppose they both attract the buyers attention and are reliable in the event i need to retain the premises.

Did you go 600 or 900 wide for cooktop/oven?

Did you put any further insulation underneath the carpet to reduce noise?

 

I will go a +1 for Bosch. It is at an attractive price point for the quality (both actual and perceived). What about 2 x 600 ovens. Not having to heat up a big one every time but can cater for larger occasions?

 

Will you do selections now so that dimensions will be given to the cabinet maker etc? I don't really see how you can wait for completion?

Carpet on stairs and common hallways upstairs might get quite warn so do choose carefully if you chose not to do timber in those areas and just carpet in bedrooms.

How many bedrooms? if it's 3 or more than I'd go with larger oven capacity. A 900mm with a 900mm hotplate on top works well or you can stack 2 x 600m in a wall oven location.

When looking at Bosch do also check Siemens as it's the better model but sometimes with discounting it may end up cheaper. Otherwise Asko or Smeg also good.

 

That's correct, i'll also be keeping an eye on pricing between now and a few months for when i need to purchase.

On the O/O side it will be tiles downstairs and floorboards upstairs however on the investment side it will be tiles on the downstairs with carpet upstairs (with the option to upgrade to floorboards again) - Stairs on both sides is covered in Victorian Ash.

Specs are 4x2.5x2 so it sounds like i'll calculate what is more cost effective between the two options.

My theory was if i like the look of it the chances are the buyer will too however people are getting picky these days especially the way the Sydney market is atm. I will checkout Siemens/Asko as well.

 

Is there a style to the house? For example if it's a Hamptons/Cottage style then a 900 freestanding oven looks great and can actually be quite economical

Winning Appliances | Kitchen & Laundry Appliances

 

I like your thinking, once side has a Hampton style feeling going internally however the street has no gas

Any other tips and tricks that look great and assist with costs?

 

That's a shame. The ones with electric or induction tops just don't give the same feel. However with a Hamptons style I think a 900mm hotplate (induction or ceramic) with a 900 under bench oven will still look nice.

My other kitchen suggestions would be
- widen your cutlery bank drawers. They are normally a bank of 4 drawers which are 450mm wide. Make then 600-900mm wide (layout permitting) and delete the bottom one. So it's 2 normal height drawers and one nice deep drawer. It is very little cost and sometimes a credit to take out one drawer but it's a nice touch when people open them and see how much more functional they are

450mm drawer storage vs 600mm drawer storage vs 800 and 900mm drawer storage

 

I'm sold on this feedback

Maybe i can pick your brain around the kitchen layout.

Imgur

The aim was to have as much open space as possible with the limited duplex size. My wife was keen on making the kitchen the centre of the home (the island was a must have) however it has limited the living area space imo. Any feedback here?

I don't think the fridge depth is enough as well as the walk way between it and the island. This has unfortunately pushed the island towards the family area and made it smaller.

Any other feedback will be appreciated now that a copy of the plans have been uploaded.

Cheers

 

It is probably worth while getting the opinions of some local agents as to what is most popular for the area

 

I have a few thoughts @daves88 . Please don't be offended, they are just things to consider and muse over and see if they suit you and your project.

Downstairs

• I'm assuming the stairs are floating type that aren't enclosed underneath?
• I suspect that the laundry is going to have potential issues. At 1590 internally with an 820 doors swinging into the space I fear that the washing machine location is going to have dramas. Although washing machines are generally around 600mm deep they have water pipes at the back which mean they often take up 700mm of space. I would potentially move the washing machine location more to the middle out of the door swing or convert the door to a glass sliding door. Or change the laundry internal door to a cavity slider and put the washing machine location up that end.
• in the kitchen I would make sure the depth of the cabinetry on the fridge side is 700mm deep so that any fridge doesn't stick out too much - especially again if it has plumbing behind it for cold water/ice. I would make sure there is 1000mm space between the front of the fridge and the island bench. With the island bench it is a nice size but I would line it up with the hallway which potentially can make it bigger. I know traditionally sinks are put in the middle of island benches but I find this problematic and I can't really see a good reason for this. I tend to place them to one end so that there is continguous preparation area. I find it wasteful to have the 2 spaces separated by a sink.
• I can see your dilemma/issues with the living/dining and the kitchen. I think at the end of the day you'll use the 4100 x 7800 regular shaped area above the kitchen as the dining and living and the space to the right of the kitchen will become an unused awkward area. I'd probably put the tv on the wall that has the rain water tank (?). I don't have any solutions for this. You could put a study nook or even a scullery there if you really wanted or just leave it and have it as a reading nook/play corner etc
• the stacker sliding door in the meals area might be backwards for the way I'd use the room. I'd probably put the fixed panel on the left so that I could put a sideboard/buffet along that wall and have the opening in the middle of the meals/family. I can also so why you'd have it as it is but it don't think it works with the way I'd furnish the room.

Upstairs

• 
  
• Make sure you put a kick arse pendant in that stair case void for some wow
• I would steal a smidge from the master or WIR to make the ensuite a bit bigger. I'll assume that is a 900 x 900 shower and I know that was a standard but it's rapidly becoming a "small" shower. If you could make it even 1100 x 900 or even better 1200 x 900 it will seem more luxe.
• I would use a cavity slider to the ensuite. It does mean you'll have to put the plumbing for the shower on the other wall but the upside is that it will free up a wall for a towel rail. There is currently no room for a towel rail only towel ring or hooks.
• I'd like to see a door to the WIR. That's my personal thing - I cannot keep a robe tidy so looking at it all the time would annoy me. Perhaps I would keep it tidy if I didn't have a door
• I think your upstairs master glass sliding door might be backwards or I'm misinterpreting it. Looks like it's fixed, slide, fixed. I would want the slide to slide towards the stairs so that you don't have to walk around the bed as much to get to the door handle and open or walk through when it is open.
• upstairs bathroom is going to have the same issue with no locations for towel rail unless you change to a cavity slider

Inspo
Sink at one end of island bench

 

I've done this already, the only feedback they provided was adding a second living room for families with kids however with the limited space it couldn't accommodate. The only option was to convert the 4th bedroom into another living space however we opted for the 4th bedroom and the owner can decide if they want to convert this to a living space or not i suppose.

 

This is perfect feedback as whilst your building you don't generally think of these things! thank you

This was initially going to be floating stairs however the RE advised that families are always looking for storage space, so this will now be MDF stairs covered win Victorian ash tread and rise with open cut string and frame-less glass balustrade with storage underneath. I'm hoping this will look good.

This is a good pickup, i think we will move the washer to the centre. These were the internal doors we selected, ( HAM1 | Hampton | Hume Doors ) i wonder if they can be used as slider doors.

Here's our inspo for the laundry http://thestylistsplash.com.au/wp-content/uploads/insta_AdoreElsternwick32_opt.jpg

I'm thinking of potentially moving the fridge to the garage wall side?

I like this idea, for some reason i was thinking 4.1m isn't wide enough to put a L shaped couch. So we were planning to put one couch running in line with the island and one in front of the island facing the rainwater tank wall.

Good point, i like this idea as well so that the drawers can be wider. Are kitchen sink's with drainers out of fashion these days?

This was initially going to be bi-folding doors however due to the lack of ventilation in that area we opted for stacker doors with fly screens. This has been a dilemma for the builder & architect. The builder was complaining that 4 sliding doors will leave a fairly thick ugly track (Including the fly screen). We opted to change this to 3 wider doors (making the overall window length 50cm smaller)

Yes our only concern was not knowing how big the dining/lounge areas will be. We didn't want the doors opening in line with the couch for example. (happy to hear your furnishing thoughts here..)

Already looking for some Any inspiration here?

Noted and told the builder already

Good thinking, im hoping the doors we selected can also be used as sliders.

Noted and good idea.

Good point and noted.

Good point and noted.

Thanks for the inspo pics! LOVE IT!

P.s you wouldn't happen to know where we could source this door?

Doors

 

I do love more storage. If you are ok about enclosing the stairs have you considered moving the powder room there? Then you could push the kitchen far left and have direct access from the kitchen to the laundry (rather handy). Then you could have a much larger area (might be 5 x 7.6 easily) to the right of the kitchen so you could run the living dining along that wall if you wanted. You could easily widen the laundry by at least 6-800mm and put a linent and/or extra storage along the right hand wall.

Love the inspo. I have those same Hume doors at my place but HAM4 and yes I have a few in cavity slider. I only viewed them online and chose them over the Corinthian as there was a significant cost saving but I was disappointed with the quality of the ones with the glass inserts. They look very cheap. So I would advise you to go see them in person to make sure you like them. Yours are only the solid ones so you'll probably be fine. I use HAG12 and HAG14 a lot in IPs and they are a nice look. The HAG14 might tie in well with that front door you like
HAG12 | Accent | Hume Doors

A lot of people are going for the more streamlined under bench sink look these days but it's not as practical as having a drainer. I have the Blanco 700mm undermount with no drainer and if I need to do handwashing then I grab my Kmart drainer out of the cupboard and stack the stuff to dry in it then put away.

If you like the look of a drainer and it suits your colour scheme you could get something like this Kitchen Sinks | Typos | Abey Australia in the Schock 1 and 3/4 bowl.

Personally I love my giant bowl as it washes all my large trays and saucepans with ease and I have the same model in my laundry - it's very similar to your inspo.

I have a very wide track with my stackers and flyscreens but I wasn't going to live without flyscreens - the retractable ones weren't tough enough to stop our dog destroying them


P.s you wouldn't happen to know where we could source this door?

Doors[/QUOTE]

I have seen doors like that but I suspect they are a custom made cedar pivot door. The closest I know of is the Corinthian Seaboard range. The door handle looks similar to the Gainsborough Omni range

 

I had initially thought about this however the stairs are only 1-1.1m wide - so we thought it may have been really tight? and the door facing the living space wasn't something that was appealing i guess. The pro's would have been a bigger living space and a window in the bathroom now that i think about it. (such a shame the slab has been poured and the frames are going up as we speak (I hope))

I like the HAG14 for the investment side, I'll show my wife tonight

The HAM1 we saw at our local Bunnings and my wife seems to be over the moon about them.

I like the Blanco 700mm undermount ALOT. The giant bowl is something my wife is insisting on - i think this is very practical in my opinion.

Is Abey a reputable brand? as he has included this on the investment side and has given us a $$ value to use on Caroma.

I've seen a fair few people trying different colours these days, black seems to be the IN thing at the moment.

I've seen our inspo door around a few times around Sydney however i cant locate them, i think you maybe right about the custom build.

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It looks like a decent size couch can be squeezed into this area as is however im not sure if the walking space is too crammed now.

 

Just following on, the builder has offered a LPG solution. Two bottles that get swapped over when required. Thoughts on this?

Any consensus on Bosh VS Electrolux for O/O? There doesn't seem to be a lot of 900 wide ovens out there.

Westinghouse seems to be the winner on the investment side (from a price point).

 

I have found the reviews on Appliances Online reputable since they are based on invitations to all customers a month after a actual purchase. I just got two request a day apart. The first DW I received was dinged and replaced. So it indicates they dont filter out returns which I liked.

Personally I would caution that these sinks that are mounted underbench leave all the dishes on a flat smooth benchtop that will collapse and fall off. Water goes everywhere unless you have a routed bench top drainer area as well. They look great but are awefully unfunctional. Its slippery and everything falls off unless its just a plate or two in a rack. DONT stack anything to drain / dry or your floor will suffer and the benchtop edge chips. A friend installed a flash modern black sink and tapware. Replaced after a month. Dropping anything in sink will scratch and chip it and leave the staino exposed. Its like a windscreen chip in centre of driver vision on a brand new car. As he said - There is a reason sinks are staino !

 

I would have thought Electrolux was lower than Westinghouse???

LPG bottles are handy and then you could have the option for a gas instantaneous hot water system.

 

This is good feedback, i'll checkout the reviews people have been providing.

I believe they are both made in Australia? (I could be wrong) I was speaking to someone at HN who was saying Bosh/Electrolux sit on the same level.

I like the sound of this however the maintenance sounds like a pain:

1) Special regulations on where the bottles need to sit
2) Someone must be home for the bottles to be changed when requested
3) Horror stories of suppliers claiming they have filled bottles when they really haven't (Apparently they blame "Leaks" to be the cause)

I do however like the idea of instant hot water....