Hi Tana, I'm interested to know whether any builders were able to give you estimates? We are also in Perth and considering an undercroft (we have a narrow lot with 5m variance, sloping upwards to the rear) but so far know one we've spoken to has been willing to provide estimates without plans. Although I understand this, we are in a predicament given we are trying to avoid extra expenses that come with redrawing plans (we have been told it would be a whole new set of plans rather than an amendment if we changed our minds about the undercroft) so are trying to ascertain feasibility before hand. However this is proving so difficult! Did you have the same issue?

Great to hear that you have decided not to paint the brickwork. Can I offer my opinion - I'd suggest painting the garage door and surrounding frame and the adjacent beam and column (currently white) in a dark charcoal/brown to match the ground floor brickwork try Dulux Namandji or Mali. I would redo the retaining wall with large boulders in a more freestyle layout than the current straight line and take up some of the concrete drive near the retaining wall to create a garden on the lower level, curved to still provide access to all of the undercroft unless you wish to enclose part of it with a large full height window. I'd love to see the wrought iron balustrade painted black. My home in the mid sixties had salmon coloured bricks, white window frames and fabulous turquoise gutters! The downpipes were painted to match the bricks thankfully - turquoise might have been a bit over the top! Good luck with your project, would love to see your progress. W

Just trying to study your floor plans which unfortunately I can't read so can only guess at the room use. I have no idea of the room sizes either, but I'm just wondering if you have actually done furniture layouts for each room to scale. This is really important. It seems to me like you have some great ideas you have picked up but then tried to make the rest of the house fit around them. How many people do you intend having live in the house? You have a lovely generous ensuite with a private toilet area for two people, but then have a main bathroom for how many people, jammed into a space almost half the size of the ensuite. Even the toilet is in there with no privacy whatsoever meaning that entire space can only be used by one person at a time. If you are planning this for kids, that will translate into lots of fights and arguments. If you want to create a really luxe and practical space, create a separate enclosed toilet, the shower and bath in an enclosed space and the vanity open for use at any time. This would be more in keeping with the standard you have set in the ensuite and balance the house so much better. These sort of details have a major impact on the overall value and attractiveness of your home. I don't know what you plan for the open space upstairs, but with a window along one wall a passageway the other side and only minimal wall space your use of this room will be severely restricted. Similarly the room under it will be very limited in its use. All the more reason to plan furniture to scale. I have seen master bedrooms done with the double doors which look very grand in the right sized room but in the wrong sized room, it just looks ridiculously pretentious to fling the doors open with a flourish, take two steps into the room and fall over the end of the bed. I'm sorry if I'm sounding harsh here, just trying to use my years of experience to help you create an amazing house. I've seen many pitfalls and I know how easy they are to make. You obviously intend spending a lot of money and you have some great ideas judging by your Ideas Books. Create more Ideas Books to cover every room of your house, then go talk to an architect, show him/her what you want, your Ideas Books will be invaluable to understand your likes and tastes and let him/her create something unique and special for you.

Thanks Paul. I agree it would be better to stop water coming in rather than dealing with it once it's inside, but that has its challenges too. These include loss of mature garden including a hedge of mature (50 yo) roof-height camellias and excavation below the current foundations (lot of digging, tight working space, cost....). Have drawn a sketch to (hopefully) explain my issue better. Once I solve the water problem, I would like to build a (block?) wall to the right of stump C. I have (mostly?) solved the problem of overland water flow by installing drains outside the house. But with heavy rain (when we get rain it is often heavy), water seeps out from the soil profile (wavy lines on sketch) and flows over the kerb (which is about 200mm high). I could instal another drain behind the kerb/Stump C (very tight working space, potential impact on stumps and have to be done by hand). The other (or supplementary) option I have been thinking about is installing a drain like the one pictured above inside the garage (ie to the right of Stump C and proposed wall). Any advice appreciated (especially as we live in a small remote town and often specialists are reluctant to travel to us), but I'm particularly interested in the internal drain option as I hadn't heard/thought of that option before doing some web-based research....