16 Irvine St / Selections
Prepared for Mastacon · 43 sections
Questions
Sections

Meeting with Harriett, 8 October

The 48 questions on the finishes and layouts for this meeting, by topic. Each is the same question as in its section, linked above it, where the pictures are. Open Meeting notes under a question to record what was said or agreed; it shows in the section too. Each topic ends with a general notes line for anything that fits no question.

Floorboards

  • 00a Tender vs design — to confirm Flooring. The tender allows engineered timber to the marked areas. At Solomons we shortlisted a laminate — Elements Laminate Hydro, Cedar Mist DR6616 or Blackbutt DR6601 (1515 × 237 × 10, painted micro-bevel). Can we select a laminate against the engineered-timber allowance, and is there a price difference either way? Or should we be choosing from the engineered range? If we do go with the laminate, it must go down on a quality acoustic underlay, not the standard one — these are attached two-storey townhouses let to guests, so footfall noise upstairs matters. Please name the underlay and price the upgrade. Update, 8 Oct 2026: Harriett recommends staying with the tendered engineered timber in place of the laminate, as the better floor; not yet decided. Whichever is chosen, John's requirements for the main floor (everywhere but the herringbone in Bed 3): a colour close to Cedar Mist; long boards (about 1.5 m or longer); and it must look like floorboards, with a fine bevelled groove between planks on the long and the short edges, as the laminate's micro-bevel gives. Please offer engineered boards that meet all three, with samples, and say if the tender allowance covers them.
  • 00a Tender vs design — to confirm Bed 3 floor. The tender allows direct-stick timber herringbone; the original brief (section 01) asked for a darker hybrid-laminate herringbone. Confirm the product and colour.
  • 01a Bed 3 — the design Floor: COREtec Naturals Herringbone 'Lumber' 50 LVPEH 804 (Solomons) in this room only, meeting the main floor at the door (a contrast, not a match). Please price it against the tendered herringbone and confirm the threshold detail.
  • 11b Laundry and the pool-side lobby Floor: laminate carrying through from the hall (our lean) with no change of floor here. Decided: the same floor as the hall; the product itself is still open: the laundry and lobby have the same laminate as the hall (John, 8 Oct). The travertine alternative and the recessed mat well asked for here earlier are both withdrawn; the door mat is a loose one we supply. Please confirm the floor is suitable beside an outside door, where wet feet come in from the pool.
  • 12a The staircase — the design Tread finish (30 Sep): natural oak for now; smoked oak is dropped. Please also price oak stained to match the laminate floor and advise which you'd recommend, with a stained sample against a real floor board. Tread thickness?
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Floorboards. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Tiles

  • 10a Texture tile — Franci’s suggestion Which of these is the look — they are not the same tile. Five are a wide fluted travertine, one is a narrow stacked tile, one is a cooler grey stone and one is timber battens rather than tile at all.
  • 10a Texture tile — Franci’s suggestion Feature wall only, or the whole wet area? Every reference here uses it on one wall and a plain tile elsewhere.
  • 10c The wet areas, measured How many bathrooms per dwelling get the feature wall — all of them, or the ensuite only? Answered: all three rooms (bathroom, washroom, ensuite), as on Harriett's tiling mark-up.
  • 10d The downstairs bathroom — the design Is it all achievable as drawn and specified here, within a normal tiling and joinery allowance? Anything she would change?
  • 10d The downstairs bathroom — the design Her ideas — this is a short-stay rental and the aim is a “wow” bathroom that is still quick to clean between guests.
  • 10d The downstairs bathroom — the design Fluted tile: stock and lead time for three dwellings from one batch; how she details the external corners and where the flutes meet the flat tile.
  • 10d The downstairs bathroom — the design Fittings on the flutes: a flat patch or a flat tile behind the shower mixer, rail and basin taps?
  • 10c The wet areas, measured Timber-look floor in a wet area — tile or vinyl, and how it is waterproofed. Answered: the wet areas are tiled in Life Bianco.
  • 10d The downstairs bathroom — the design Basin: a round vessel with a rugged, chiselled stone exterior and a smooth bowl (chosen 28 Sep; reopened 4 Nov: John now leans to a matte black undermount basin, and Mastacon is pricing both), in place of the plain white oval — stone-beige to match the tile and top. Natural stone or a sealed concrete version of the same form (e.g. Sticks & Stone Co Round Rugged, Ø400, ~$740)? Concrete is favoured for a rental: natural stone stains from toothpaste, dye and fake tan. No overflow, so an unslotted waste; nine across the three dwellings, one colour batch. Pictures 4–6 show the stone basin.
  • 10d The downstairs bathroom — the design Mirror option: instead of the round backlit mirror, an organic-shaped solid timber mirror (Etsy maker; 90 × 82 for the two downstairs vanities, 75 × 68 for the ensuite — nine across the three dwellings; walnut or oak). John has the 90 × 82 in walnut in his own ensuite. It isn’t backlit as sold, and it’s heavy: noggings in the wall behind it before tiling. Decided at the lighting meeting, 30 Oct 2026: no backlight, so no LED strip and no power behind it. The contract's nine round backlit LED mirrors (item 32) are therefore not wanted: please credit them, or credit the difference if Mastacon supplies and hangs a plain round mirror instead.
  • 05b The kitchen — the design Crazy-paved splashback (section 06): the extra over the tendered tile, grout (epoxy?) and sealing. We lean towards stone behind the cooktop and crazy pave elsewhere, for cleaning in a rental.
  • 06 Splashback Square tumbled travertine instead of the crazy pave (Harriett's suggestion; pictures added 7 Oct). A 100 × 100 × 10 tumbled travertine in a warm cream, straight grid, about 3 mm joints, for example Australian Paving's Travertine Tile 100 × 100 in Classic Cream. In four places: behind the cooktop, the bench beside the fridge, the butler's sink wall and the laundry — about 3.1 m² per dwelling, 9.2 m² for the three before waste. We do not want the benchtop stone run up the wall. Please price it against the tendered tiled splashback, with stock for all three kitchens from one batch.
  • 06 Splashback A splashback with more colour or contrast (John, 8 Oct): the cream stone options read as bland for a holiday let, so we are also looking at a glazed tile with some life in it, in the same three places. Pictured: a charcoal finger tile with dark grout, matte and gloss, one dark honed stone slab, a light aqua finger tile stacked upright, and a sea-green subway. Which would you choose for this kitchen, would a colour date, and which tile ranges should we look at for samples? The benchtop stone run up the wall has also been suggested (Harriett; Franci likes it). John does not want it: too bland, with no contrast against the benches. It is pictured here too, so the options can be compared side by side. After the meeting of 8 Oct: Harriett liked the gloss charcoal finger tile and John is happy with it; that is the current lean, not yet confirmed. No product has been chosen: please suggest one, with a sample. Two more ideas, 13 Oct: we asked two independent AI design reviews for ideas of their own, and both came back to a small glazed tile in a plain straight grid, the same on all three walls, with epoxy grout close to the tile's colour. One is a blackened olive glazed square (100 × 100, near-charcoal from a distance, olive and brown up close); the other a sandy taupe tile (about 300 × 75, stacked flat, a shade deeper than the benchtop). Both are pictured. Neither is a product yet: does a tile like either exist in your suppliers' ranges, and could we see one beside the benchtop stone and the laminate samples?
  • 06 Splashback Square travertine behind the cooktop: tumbled travertine is porous and pitted. Would you use it there as it is, with the pits grout-filled and a penetrating sealer, or a honed and filled travertine of the same size behind the cooktop only? Grout colour (warm beige, not white), epoxy or not, and how the tile's edge finishes against the oak frame of the cooktop recess with no metal trim showing.
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Tiles. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Textured paint

  • 02b Bed 1 and the walk-in robe — the design Limewash: every wall of Bed 1 and the walk-in robe in a pale warm limewash (for example Bauwerk Bone or Dalray Bisque), ceiling flat white, doors in a washable paint tinted to match. Does your painter apply limewash? If not, we may do it after handover. Please price it as a variation and say what the walls need first (primer, level of finish).
  • 10d The downstairs bathroom — the design Paint: the only painted surfaces are the ceiling and the door. Her pick of warm white against the Pearl tile.
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Textured paint. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Microcement in the bathroom

  • 10e The downstairs washroom — the design Option — microcement instead of the fluted tile on the vanity wall (the idea in 10b, still open). About 1760 × 2730, roughly 5 m², warm clay tone a few shades darker than the Pearl tile. Please price it against the fluted tile, and advise: who applies it (a specialist plasterer, not the tiler); the sealer and how often it needs resealing; detailing the wall-mounted basin taps through it; and cracking — it's the stud wall with the concealed cistern behind, so does it need a board system or a movement joint?
  • 10b Rendered walls instead of tile — microcement Price the separate downstairs vanity room only in render (2.86 × 1.91 overall, measured in 10c), against the same room tiled. That room has no shower in it, which is what makes it the cheap place to try this.
  • 10b Rendered walls instead of tile — microcement Re-sealing. A rendered wet area wants a fresh sealer roughly every two years — on a short-stay property that is a room out of service on a cycle. Who does it and what does it cost?
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Microcement in the bathroom. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Blinds, curtains and sheers

  • 03 Curtain bulkheads Which openings: every sliding door and window, or living and bedrooms only?
  • 03 Curtain bulkheads Recessed ceiling pocket for a double curtain track (sheer + blockout), rather than a dropped bulkhead where the room allows: about 150 wide × 120 deep, square set, no shadow gap, running the full width of the wall so the curtains hang from the ceiling to the floor. Needed in Bed 2 (the whole west wall, ~3.9 m, past the high 2710 × 800 window), Bed 1, Bed 3 and the living room (the balcony slider wall). Tracks in matte black to suit the black accents through the house. Please allow blocking for the tracks and power for a warm LED strip in the pocket (living and bedrooms), and confirm the ceiling framing allows the recess. The tender has only one bulkhead: “Line bulkhead to rear Bed 3 window to conceal motorised curtain track” (so Bed 3 has a motorised curtain track in the tender); the rest is a variation.
  • 03 Curtain bulkheads Depth needed for a double track (sheer plus blackout), and what it takes off the 2730 mm ceiling line in that room.
  • 02b Bed 1 and the walk-in robe — the design Front window (AAW 2420 × 990, tall, from the floor): sheer + blockout on a matte black double track in a ceiling pocket the full width of the front wall (section 03), floor to ceiling.
  • 02b Bed 1 and the walk-in robe — the design Slot window over the bed: a Luxaflex Duette honeycomb blind in a blockout fabric, PowerView motorised with a remote, recessed in the window head. Battery or hard-wired: if hard-wired, power at the window head.
  • 02a Bed 2 — the design Window left as drawn (AAW 2710 × 800, high); curtains in the recessed ceiling pocket (section 03), full wall.
  • 01a Bed 3 — the design Curtains in the recessed ceiling pocket over the slider, full wall, black double track (section 03).
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Blinds, curtains and sheers. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Timber cladding, rear downstairs bedroom

  • 01a Bed 3 — the design Timber cladding: the reference reads as vertical boards about 180–200 mm wide with a fine shadow groove, light warm oak, clear matte, floor to ceiling. Please source and price three options, installed per m², full height (2730), and say who does each:
  • 01a Bed 3 — the design Option 1 — Supawood SUPALINE grooved panels (the closest match found): SUPAVENEER Tasmanian Oak ¼ (quarter-cut, straight grain) on black MDF so each groove reads as a dark shadow line; grooves ~5–6 mm wide at ~190 mm centres, vertical; clear matte; concealed fixing. Supawood, 1800 002 123, info@supawood.com.au — no SA office listed, so ask them for an Adelaide installer. Please get a sample.
  • 01a Bed 3 — the design Option 2 — solid Tasmanian oak lining boards, about 180 mm, square-edged with a shadow gap, clear matte, installed by your carpenter.
  • 01a Bed 3 — the design Cladding on the full east wall, 3.9 m × 2730: Supawood grooved Tasmanian oak on black MDF, solid boards, or Touchwood Tasmanian oak on black (the three options are the next questions).
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Timber cladding, rear downstairs bedroom. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Kitchen and butler's pantry

  • 05b The kitchen — the design Oven under the cooktop (John, 29 Sep): a 600 built-under oven centred under the induction cooktop, with ~500 drawer banks either side; the old oven tower becomes a tall pantry cupboard. Please confirm an approved oven/cooktop pair for stacking, and a cool-touch door (children at door height).
  • 05b The kitchen — the design Rounded corners on the U: a 100 mm radius on the two exposed corners at the walkway, stone top and end panel together, in a walkway only ~800 wide. Is a radiused end panel and stone corner a standard detail for your joiner and stonemason, and what does it add?
  • 05b The kitchen — the design Oak laminate: the inspiration's pale, long, straight-grained oak. Our own shortlist was Austral Oak TrueScale, then Calm Oak and Seasoned Oak. Harriett has since chosen Raw Bluegum TrueScale 2623 (8 Oct, see the Laminex colours question). The two are very close: both are pale, warm, straight-grained timbers from the same Laminex range, so her choice keeps the look of this design and is not a change of direction. The earlier pictures on this page show a stand-in pale oak drawn in the model, not either product; the two pictures in Harriett's colours use Laminex's own Raw Bluegum.
  • 05b The kitchen — the design Laminex colours from Harriett (meeting of 8 Oct, to be confirmed with samples): Raw Bluegum TrueScale 2623 for the timber fronts, Alabaster 203 for the white fronts and Black 460, all in Natural finish. Harriett recommends the AbsoluteGrain finish instead, at about 20% more by her estimate. Laminex lists Raw Bluegum TrueScale and Black in AbsoluteGrain, but not Alabaster (the white in that finish is Chalk White). Please price the joinery both ways, Natural and AbsoluteGrain, say which white goes with AbsoluteGrain, and supply a sample of each to hold against a Cedar Mist floorboard and the benchtop stone. Two pictures on this page show the kitchen in these colours; a picture cannot show the difference between the two finishes. So we are all on the same page: Raw Bluegum is almost identical in tone to the Austral Oak we had shortlisted ourselves, so this is the same kitchen, not a new look.
  • 05b The kitchen — the design Kickboards: black throughout, as designed (John, 8 Oct). Harriett suggested making each kickboard the colour of the fronts above it (timber under the tall units, white under the drawers); the two are pictured side by side here, and John prefers the black. Recessed, in Laminex Black 460. Please confirm.
  • 00a Tender vs design — to confirm Stone tops. The tender includes Lavistone LSU401 Taj Classico (Gen Surface Ultra Print, matt, 20 mm) — the Taj Mahal look the design is built around. We'd like prices for three options on the same basis: Kaya Sienna (understood to be cheaper), the tendered Lavistone Taj Classico, and natural Taj Mahal quartzite honed (AMS). Both Kaya and Lavistone are printed faces: how are cut edges, the undermount/vessel basin cut-outs and chips handled?
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Kitchen and butler's pantry. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Walk-in robe and robes

  • 02b Bed 1 and the walk-in robe — the design Walk-in robe joinery, open, both sides, in the pale oak of the kitchen (Laminex AbsoluteGrain): towards the bedroom, hanging under a shelf on a matte black rail; towards the ensuite, three oak drawers with black pulls and two open shelves. The west side is the suitcase bay: the rail at the top for shirts and a low oak luggage platform (~150 high) underneath; the east side is long hanging. A warm LED strip under the front of every shelf, on the robe's light switch. Please price.
  • 02b Bed 1 and the walk-in robe — the design No door between Bed 1 and the walk-in robe. Please delete the 720 cavity slider there (credit?) and finish the opening square set, no architrave. Price widening it to about 900 so more of the robe shows. The 720 slider between the robe and the ensuite stays.
  • 02a Bed 2 — the design Robe (as drawn, 600 deep under the 2.4 bulkhead): white laminate, hinged, full height to the bulkhead. The design (chosen 1 Oct 2026): the lit black column with the luggage bay, below. Please price it, and price the two alternatives alongside for comparison.
  • 01a Bed 3 — the design Robe the same design as Bed 2 (section 02a), on the west wall: white laminate, hinged, long matte black bar handles; a lit open column in matte black laminate (550 wide) at the slider end with a warm LED strip under each shelf on the room's light switch; four doors; and an open luggage bay at the south end, lined in black, with an oak bench and a cushion (removable, washable cover), a drawer under, a black hanging rail and hooks, an LED strip at the top.
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Walk-in robe and robes. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Laundry

  • 11b Laundry and the pool-side lobby Laundry layout (behind the two bi-fold sets as drawn, in the kitchen's oak with its framing): one stone bench the full 2.86 m; trough and washer where drawn (no plumbing change); a heat-pump dryer under the bench beside the washer (no external vent; pictured: Fisher & Paykel Series 7 in graphite, 10 kg washer WH1060DG5 and 10 kg heat pump dryer DH1060DG5, 850 high, to fit under the bench); ~1 m of drawers at the far end; full-width overhead cupboards, lit underneath; no open shelves and no separate linen cupboard (linen goes in the overheads). Bi-fold pulls on the fold of each pair.
  • 11b Laundry and the pool-side lobby Bi-fold doors folding to both ends so the whole bench opens for folding washing. Folded, the west set would stand in an inward-opening glass door's swing, so we'd like the glass door to open OUTWARDS onto the courtyard: outward-opening seals and threshold (still step-free), hinges, and a door stop outside so wind can't slam it. OK?
  • 11b Laundry and the pool-side lobby Tall cupboard at the east end of the laundry (John, 4 Oct), behind the same bi-folds: the east ~600 becomes a full-height cupboard to the bi-fold head, lined in the joinery oak, for the guests' cleaning gear: a stick vacuum on a wall dock fixed to the side panel near the front (power point beside it), broom and mop clips on the other side panel, shallow shelves at the back, the ironing board on the inside of its door. The bench and overheads shorten to about 2.26 m, with a 400 drawer stack. Please price.
  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: Laundry. Anything said on this that belongs to no question above.

Anything else

  • General notes, Meeting with Harriett, 8 October: anything else. Whatever came up that is not on this list.