Honestly, your time frame is pretty damn good. 16wks from initial concept to an approved DA is very impressive. Ours was 16wk tweaking concept plans and another +6mth in council. We had an approval that wasn't worth building nearly 12mth later. Don't ask. Nightmare council. Another 6mth to Land and Environment Court. Hell your 16wk is looking like a fantasy to me! Construction Plans and Construction Certificate may take longer, really depends how many conditions are attached to your DA. Our last DA- I nearly died when the certifier gave the the 'things to do list' with 30 odd reports, assessments and amendments! We managed this bit ourselves to save some cash (thanks to legal fees chewing up our budget), but boy it cost me in time! It took me 3-4mth to get it all done- delapidation reports, council assets bond deposits, waste management reports, soil tests...it was endless! It might just be that your architect is up to his neck in this right now. IF he is not, you need to 1. discuss costing for him to do this and then 2. instruct him whether or not to progress. Siriuskey's advice is gold. "Keep the door open" The reality is the architect owns the plan and if you sack them- you will need them to sign over the copyright of the plan to a new draftsman, designer or architect. No other architect will touch it till this happens. Try be patient. I don't think there is much info out there to inform people about realistic time frames. It does take time, and due to all the other people involved- engineers, soil testers, surveyors...list goes on. It is out of the architects hands.

Hi, thank you so much! The green is Aqua Queen, the white is Ornamental Pearl (both by Taubmans) and the grey is Mineral Salt by British Paints. If you take a look at the whole project on my page there is a ton of information.

When you are running through your thoughts, options, colours, designs, etc for your new outdoor living area, deck or patio cover; we will guide you through three areas of consideration. These are: Design, Materials & Accessories. By considering these three areas whilst you are investigating the options to enhance your home, it should mean that you will ultimately achieve an outdoor living area, deck or patio cover that is function (by functional I mean an area that I can use all year round), meets your budget & lastly looks great. Today, we are going to focus on the first area – ‘Getting the Best Design for your Patio Cover Outdoor Living Area’. So, what are your design options? Flat Sillion Traditional Gable Hipped Roof Dutch Gable Curved How do you choose the best design for your home? Consider the size of the area you want to cover Why? If the area is too small a gable might look out of place for the size of the area. How will it be connected back into your home? Do you have a high eave line or do you have to fix the patio cover above your existing roof line? As an example, you might not want to then install a gabled roof line if the connection point will already be high as then the patio cover will be too high, could look funny & won’t offer much protection. What’s your budget? A gable might not fit. As a very general rule of thumb, a gable can be double the cost of a flat roofed structure, as you have more material required & it takes longer to install. As an alternative you could still get height within your outdoor living area by using a skillion design. Gables: ‘Gables’ can come in a variety of forms – Hipped Roof, Dutch Gable, but the most common is the Traditional gable. One feature that you can include within your gable is to add down lights within the ridge line. This not only cleans up a often dirty or forgotten area but can also make the area more functional so you can use the area in the evening. Think about your accessories early when designing your outdoor living area or patio cover. TIP: If you are considering any form of gable, get the balance right. Sometimes a gable can look squashed if the area is too small or too flat if you don’t get the roof pitch right. Refer back to the existing roof pitch of your home & try to match it; this way your outdoor living area or patio cover will look more integrated rather than a ‘slap on’. Flat: Its flat – pretty simple. Sometimes, people try to make it all to fancy or complicated. Remember the KISS method (Keep it Simple Stupid), as sometimes simple can sometimes be better in your design. Ensure you have enough height to play with if you are leaning towards a flat roofed pergola. If its too low the area could feel claustrophobic & might not get enough air flow. Skillion: I think that a skillion design is sometimes forgotten but can often be the most effective. A skillion is where it is higher at one end & lower at the opposite & it can work really well on a double storey brick wall or even fixed above an existing roof line. A skillion can also give similar benefits of a gable – such as good height & thus air flow, without the cost or complexity of design that sometimes follows with a gable. Curved: Curved patio covers can be used with either a Colorbond or polycarbonate roofing material. We don’t offer a curved design option within our range simply as the amount of homes we just don’t see homes which already have a curved area. To install a curved roof we feel would make it look out of place. I hope this helps you get a better outdoor living area for your home. Remember that all of our material options (detailed below) can be used in any of these design styles. 'Premium Series' Colorbond Insulated Lined Ceilings Louvers Would you like to find out more? Can you entertain our relax outside all year round? Is your BBQ & outdoor furniture always covered? Contact Usto have a discussion about the options available for your home. We highly recommend that you share a coffee with us in our office so you can have a closer look at the products available in our display. We find that this helps our clients a lot as they can get a ‘hands on’ feel for each material option. Our display is by appointment only, so use the link below to book in a suitable time for us to meet one on one to casually discuss your outdoor lifestyle. Book a private consulation in our display - click here

could suggest that you make the extension a separate building connecting via glass or other enclosed walk ways ie: one extending from the passage into the family and another between the kitchen and pantry they only have to be deep enough to stop the gutter from the original house touching the new house which could have amazing sloping roofs and high ceilings. I also notice that I haven't marked a laundry, that shouldn't be too difficult. You could consider extending the carport along the boundary which could include a laundry, WC within a pool house for the NEW Pool. Many ideas as many ways to do things cheers PS: do you want to share where the house is, must be one of the wine country areas in , guessing SA,VIC,Hunter Valley