I have miles of decking at two houses. All timber when put in the Australian sun will suffer. When building our beach house we decided to go for Spotted Gum and let it grey. Why fight it? We applied Cutek, and will on a regular basis. At our main house we have lots of Merabu or Quilla. Will not grey the same, and leaches lots of red stain. Cheap, but would not use again. What ever you use, use a good quality oil that seeps deep into the wood not a traditional stain/or top finishing product.

I am installing MSI Everlife LVT waterproof vinyl flooring. I understand I can't use rubber-backed rugs. Is there a pad I could put under the rugs?

Thank you all for your comments. I have replied to everyone below. oklouise: Thanks a lot for drawing with accurate measures but I was unable to see parameters or measurements clearly in the picture.. House will be mostly east facing as per land details. Something like 80% east and 20% north. Small space is actually fridge. I was unable to reduce the size in my software. So, made it 1.5m x 1.5m. Thought the builders architect will do it. Also, there is a sink in kitchen and in WIP as well. So, I kept 2 single sinks over there to have some space between gas and sink. Thought of having kitchen bench 4-5 m long. Also, Island bench top in centre will not have sink, we thought of keep it plain white bench without sink. I know robes were bigger than usual but I was unsure about the sizes. I want to have as much natural light as possible and want to have nice windows as kitchen splash back. I also had something else in mind. Right now according to my plan or fixed plan by you, it seems that backyard will be on right side. But while typing this, I realised that sun will rise in east, so most morning sunlight will be hitting directly master bedroom and left side of the plan. Is there a suggestion to still have living on right but backyard on left? I want to use garage 6m wall for projector or a big TV. Also, I think I missed dimensions reading somewhere because I thought it is 189m2 and I can add alfresco for 12-13 m2. :( Kate: Thank you for your suggestions. As mentioned above, House will be mostly east facing as per land details. Something like 80% east and 20% north. I want living to be actually bigger. but you are also right about entry door from garage. I need to think about that too now. Kids/Common Bathroom is a 2-way bathroom. It will act has ensuite for corner room at the back plus common for other rooms. That was my thought and to make 2 door, I had to make it congested because we wanted to add a toilet suite to it as well. Extra Room is actually 4th bedroom but couldn't fit it properly with robe, so I thought I will not put a robe in there and will use it as a office. pottsy99: Thank you for your suggestions. My wife is kind of fan of big WIR, hence I made it large one for her. So, that she can have massive wardrobes with lots of storage and also a makeup table. And, to align everything, I kept ensuite bigger because I like bigger shower space plus wanted to fit a double vanity in there. But Yeah, if space can be used for something else, I can check with builder as well or if anyone can provide suggestions over here. Dining and lounge - I wanted massive, so just kept a photo from the software. But my design size was approx. 6m x 7m. So, I thought, it will look huge and can fit big sofas in front of TV and behind sofas a dining table, so while eating , we can watch tv. Rear rooms - I was also not happy but couldn't find any other way. But, let me think about it again. dreamer: It's not a prayer room. It's a place for fridge. :P Kate: Didn't thought about storage for automation and security cameras. Need to add that as well. Thanks for reminding.

I just hope your opening is wide enough for what you want. If you need to make it wider then you will also need to consult a structural engineer for a lintel design to span the wider opening before the builder starts. You may want to do your research on stacker and sliding doors first to find a manufacturer that you like and tell your builder the colour and the manufacturer before he quotes. Don't leave it to your builder to decide as he will just get the cheapest. Get a builder to quote if you are using aluminium doors. They have to be measured precisely and ordered by the builder (who takes a risk if he makes a mistake when measuring). Do your research so you know what you want, and how it works, rather than get your builder decide based on what is easiest and cheapest to install. Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls/Dr Retro Virtual Visits