One Year On

A short time ago we had our 12 month warranty inspection. We had only a small list of issues, the inspector found a few more but overall nothing major. All problems were fixed within a couple of days; yet another excellent Henley experience.

6 months ago we were broken into and a couple of computers stolen, the thieves just used a crow bar on the front door and walked right in. Even the police were surprised that the thieves had been so brazen. We found out the next day that our neighbour has been broken into 5 times over the past 20 years. It wasn't long before we had a screen door installed, something of our own design to try and fit in with the front door.

We had already installed a side gate and stained it to match the front door. We quite like the horizontal slats and may use a similar design for the front fence when we finally have that done.

Last time we posted we had finished the concrete and decking around the house and pool just in time for Christmas. This year we have garden around most of the house, just the East boundary and very front still to do. We now have garden beds along the front
	Along the west boundary, including an area for a vegetable garden.

And of course around the pool. Its come a long way since November 2011!

Last but not least, in the extra garage width we installed some Rack It shelving from Bunnings, which was easy to install and is very sturdy. We might now be able to get both cars in garage at last.

From moonscape to landscape

Almost immediately after we took possession of the new house, GardenRidge have been working hard on the landscaping around the house. We signed them up back in October and I posted an update about our plans: Today they have finished the last little bits and we are very happy with the results and more than happy to recommend them to anyone landscaping in Melbourne.

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Down the east (laundry & kids bedrooms) side of the house

You can see they did a great job with the concrete so that it will drain well.

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Down the west side we have aggregate near the deck and normal concrete near the driveway, the idea being the kids can play cricket or basketball on the normal concrete.

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The pool was originally installed last April and has been the source of much stress before, during and after the build. After relaxing in the pool last night at 9pm while it was still quite hot, it was worth well worth it. GardenRidge did an awesome job with the blue stone, decking and the pool fence.

We are starting to put bamboo screening around the paling fence to cover the horizontal beams to meet pool fence requirements.

The outdoor area has been fantastic over the break, we were able to sit under cover during the Christmas day storms and enjoy having diner outside when the weather allows.

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Out the front we have the world's biggest driveway. We wanted space so that when the kids get their own cars they can park off street, but it is a little overwhelming right now. Once we get some plants around it we can soften it up. The path the GardenRidge's idea, to "address the street" and it certainly achieves that.

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In summary, extremely happy with GardenRidge. Communication was excellent, they helped us organise some of the other trades to get the pool done, had some great ideas and as you can see it looks fantastic.