That's just plain weird. Is it a problem with your phone line or are Telstra and Optus saying they can't provide service? As Duke says if you've got a phone line you should be able to get broadband internet even if it is on copper. Did the builders perhaps forget the Telstra lead-in?

Hi Everyone.

I am back again after a long break. The last time I wrote was when we were signing up for our prelims. I have few concerns...

- We got our contract and detailed version of the plans last week, which we have gone through but it is too much for our little brains to understand. I am bit stressed about this whole contract signing thing and going through every little detail. So far I can't find anything wrong with the plans..I am just am not sure what to look out for.

I am bit stressed especially after hearing people say..go through the contracts and plans hundred times before signing...not sure what am I missing here.Does anyone have a list of things to check before signing the contract? any piece of advice is appreciated.

- Can we sign the contract as subject to finance approval? ( I know it's a silly question) but not sure if we can do that with fixed building contract??

- I am also worried about..what if the council requires changes to the plan..if that is the case than we will end up paying a lot of variation fees and of course the cost of changing the plan..has anyone had such experiences before? can we hold off the sign up till the plans come back approved?

I have heaps of questions.. I think I'll stop here for now...

Any help is appreciated.Thank you in advance.

Hi Mocha,
With our plans we just made sure all the switches and points for the electrical were in the right place, the taps were right (we didn't want mixers and ours had mixers drawn), the windows were the right size, the tiling was drawn right, the colours were right. Basically we double checked everything we changed from the standard range as they seemed to be the places most mistakes were. We went through room by room - and yes our brains were fried by the end!
Our 'green' contract in the very back section in the 'schedule of particulars' (item 4 for us) gave us 20 working days for finance approval - so it was already in our contract.
Our council required our setback to be changed and an air vent to be changed - this was done with no variation charge to us.
Hope that helps and lessens the stress

In the addenda make sure you take out the bit that mentions about any minor issues during the build will be up to the SS to decide... Scratch that out cause you want the final say and my house is what happens when it was left up to the SS.

Thank you guys...I am now going to re-look at the plans and go through everything we changed from the original plan.

How do I create my own thread ?? I need to start posting pics and our plans.

To start your own thread, you can just click on the 'new topic' button. Look forward to seeing your plans.

I am too lazy to start my own thread!! Sorry!
My pics are here --> http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... d302be37d2
I have the keys, but still lots to do before we move in..... Getting there....

Groovy, our plan is similar to yours...will post our pics soon.

GroovyOne - your pictures look great! Your flooring will look wonderful when all finished. I am finding the flooring completely changes how the house looks and feels - so nice to have that bare concrete starting to be covered!
Duke - can I ask what type of antenna you have put in your house and approx cost? All the quotes I have recommend different ones with very different prices...

talk about concrete floor... I have one of the worst that I have seen. enough gap to put your fingers under the tiles. Really, builder should include concrete leveling to floor as a final finish cause the concrete pad represent your workmanship.

oh the antenna... sorry... fogort. I had a big range in canning vale from $160ish? to $220ish? depending on how many TV point you are wanting to attach to the sam antenna determines if you need splitter and/or amplifier. Where I am, I can see the Station repeater antenna in the hills so no probs with signal. I don't know what antenna it is but it is aussie built one and looks like common aussie one everyone uses as it looks same as my neighbour. I got mine on the expensive side cause the installer is govt digital ready installer recognised and had good price to install cat6 data cables.

Hello guys.

Is anyone getting gloss laminates done in their kitchen and bathrooms? we getting the laminates upgraded for $485..it looks nice and gives a good shine. I am not sure if it lasts long. Someone said they are highly scratchable.

Any comments?

Thanks Duke.

Mohca... the right colour hides scratches well. try scratching the sample cards and you will get an idea.

I will definitely try that Duke...We are having our pre-start in 3 weeks time..any tips for me??

Very nervous and excited at the same time!!!!

Have fun at prestart!!
I would advise to be well prepared. Ours took long enough with me having everything already chosen, let alone trying to make decisions on the day...
I would make sure you have your own checklist to work off as well as theirs, as I found they went in a different order to the book I had everything written in. Eg we didn't actually chose taps for the laundry - it was technically missed, I clarified it afterwards what ours would be. I also asked for quite a few things to be priced up and then afterwards when we had the costings back I deleted many that were way over budget (our prestart was higher than we thought regardless!!). Some things were so much cheaper than I expected, some were way more expensive. Mostly enjoy the day - it's so fun to finalise all the colours and personalise your house

Our laundry taps were missed in prestart as well. Wasn't until the taps were installed that I then realised that they are the only *taps* in the house vs mixers in all other rooms.
Will change them to fancy levers later to match in with the rest of the levers/mixers.

We had overhead cupboards in the kitchen added, but missed the fridge space during prestart as well. Again, will add a laminex shelf box thingo later on.. hopefully our cabinet colour will still be available then!

Thanks Oceanus & Wandering..it's a good point. I am going to make a checklist of the things to select..I am on it!!. Infact we have asked our pre-start consultant to give us the pricing for all the upgrades we want for us to budget way before pre-start...thanks to you guys I'll be well prepared ( hopefully)..This website is just AWESOME!!!

Has anyone taken DAH's smart wiring package or alarm system from Intelligent homes??

Yep have gone with both from IH

Any piece of advise on the deal would be appreciated....we are debating whether to go for the smart wiring or not...