Excellent responses people! All those great house design ideas that I never thought of. Pity I got nuthin', but a few other design masterpieces....video....the space shuttle......the apple macintosh...the cellphone, but never mind all that...leg warmers and MacGyver, woohoo. Or perhaps..... Metallica, Kill 'em All. Oh yes please.

the plants on the back fence will give good impact once grown. The rug is more of a pain. This would be a cleaners nightmare. Gives the area impact but not a suitable design choice near a pool. The mirror looks good but near a bbq you are always going to have to wipe the grease from off the mirror. The plant will also have to be removed once you start cooking. The chair is to close to the bbq and the fridge. So this would have to be moved to be able to work in this area or open the bar fridge fully. I do not mine any of the furniture but not a suitable out come for the area where the design seems not to be workable. Vision is important but design area must also be hassle free.

Attach are photos. I have been told by 3 different bathroom / plumbing co's it is not mould. They have scraped out some grout, put new grout in & the dark stain has come through again. The builders warranty expired Nov 2015. The builder passed away about a year ago but his wife is still alive & she was co-builder / co-vendor. But, as I'm out of warranty not sure if I have a leg to stand on. It has been suggested that the experts scrape out all the grout, silicon the bit where the stains are & re-grout & maybe the rusty nail stain doesn't break through the silicon / new grout. Can the wrong nails be used in wet rooms that has therefore rusted? Is there normally special nails for wet rooms? Has anyone heard of a 10 year builders warranty - standards & tolerances - for major defects; possibly like this? Thank You. It's very annoying I must say.

As builder A is a smaller builder , and presumably hasn't given you a quote , I think you are right to ask lots of questions . How can Builder B give you a set price unless it is either a set plan , or they have lots of variation and extras clauses in the contract . If it is a set plan like most franchaise builders push everyone towards , they will bulk buy everything , and also negotiate contracts with each builder ( labour only or similar , using factory built framing etc , so there could be 20 or 200 the same built across Aus this year ) then they may be on the money , but for anything custom , I would be extremely careful . Personally , I would call back ( and meet up with ) Builder A and ask for his explanation , whether he can guarantee the same quality and price ( if he looks flustered or evasive , walk away from both IMO ) -- he may say that he has a labour only contract or similar , hence why he has passed on your enquiry , but anything else it sounds like someone is going to get ripped off or shortchanged . At the very least , get references for other 'custom' builds they have done , see a lawyer , and maybe even have an arrangement where if you pay any money , you get 'ownership' of any plans .