I agree, speak with MJH if you are concerned. I made quite a few changes to my garage dimensions. The double garages from most builders these days are quite snug so I made a few changes so that I did not get caught without a workspace / storage if the garage was fully occupied. The team came up with a brilliant solution for a very reasonable cost.

so much has been done in the last 2 weeks its hard to keep up well done MJH the house looking great

Hi there. Same here i increased the width and length size of my garage as the standard is snug. Also think about increasing the height and adding an extra roller door panel. If you ever upgrade to 4wd with roof racks it is worth having it. In my design I upgraded the house ceiling height to 2.7 as a option which also included the extra panel on garage roller doors.

Hi
No not yet, been busy setting up. You can check out our blog in our signature to see progress and photos along the way. Will have to post some inside photos when we get a chance. No internet at the new house and Optus 3g is slow...

I must say though that the garage looks big at first... But once you get a car in it is not that big. We have a cx-7 and length wise it is quite snug. Even another 0.5m width and length would have been great!

Hey guys

Are any of you building in the illawarra/wollongong area with MJH??

Hi everyone
We received our consolidated tender today and on top of an increase of $11000 for site costs we were also told we would need to remove 110 tonnes of spoil - has anyone had to arrange this and can anyone recommend a person and advise approx costs?
Thanks in advance

we had to remove soil. I don't think it was as much as 110tonnes but our costs were $1400. Talk to your SS as they will recommend someone most can do even cheaper if you pay cash.

Thanks soccermum!!

Hi All! Another long time stalker here!

My husband & I are building the Havana with side theatre (major changes triple garage & larger alfresco which runs behind the 3rd garage, 1m extra in garage (we too have a territory & knew it would be a tight fit)! We are building at The Hermitage - Gledswood Hills (western Sydney).

Land was cut yesterday - pretty exciting!

A couple of quick questions:
- how often do you get text MSG updates? Should I expect for major steps only? We received a text when 4 pegs had been placed on block & another today re land being cut & filled! Saves a drive out there so the more the merrier!
- we have been advised our completion date is end of Jan (disappointed as really wanted to be in for Christmas, given we signed up last Christmas)! Any idea when MJH go on Christmas holidays? Thinking if factored in then house should be pretty much finished for Christmas, they go on holidays & then come back& do handover! Every week I can save rent the better!

We get txt messages occasionally. Only at big stages such as framing, roof being finished etc.

Last year they closed on the 23rd and reopened on the 9th or 10th of January.

Thanks soccer mum, much appreciated

i reckon your build will be finish before christmas... I think the january is just the maximum no. of days, but they normally finishes around a month early depending on the weather... I assuming you are building a single storey...

we received text messages normally every week as there are a lot of developments on the early stages... but it will slow down on the last stages of the build...

Thanks kornjen!
Yep house is single storey! Fingers crossed before Christmas and that it is a dry next 6 months for everyone's builds!

Yeah sounds right that you would get less updates later on, just wasn't sure what to expect! Just don't want to drive out there to be disappointed! We've decided we will only visit on weekends to check on progress but we've alreay broken that rule! Haha can't help be excited n see where all the money is being spent!!

Hi All,

Building the Havana One with Side Home Theatre in Western Sydney. We are nearing the construction phase but have gone six months over the fixed price tender due to the very wet summer we just had. As a result this has delayed land registration. Has anyone been given a price increase due to going over the 150 day period?

Havana

we paid 1k due because of price increase thing due to expired tender...

Just to get people excited, the light at the end of the tunnel has nearly arrived for us. 12pm tomorrow is keys handover. pity i have to go back to work afterwards though. But plans are to be moving in after work tomorrow night though. enough to crash for the night anyway. then a busy weekend moving everything else. Doesnt seem to big a problem now due to the excitment but i bet by sunday arvo i will be over it.

Hi Kornjen,

Thanks for your prompt reply...at what stage did McD charge you 1K extra? Before the build, during etc?

Havana

Hi

I'm new to the world of forums etc. So am not sure if I'm right to just add to this topic. But came across this site whilst looking for some info and have spent the last few hours reading thru the comments, so here goes.

We have just today signed our consolidated tender to build Mac Jones home, the Somerset Grange (with some alterations). We are building on a couple of acres outside of Maitland, near Paterson. Our main concern is that we have never been able to walk thru our floor plan and are going off gut instinct. So would be interested to know if anyone else has built it, and if you are happy?

We are having to arrange water tanks to be supplied prior to construction for the tradies to use, as we are on tank water and also supply an all access road from the road to site construction (approx 25m). If anyone could give us some indication to the size of the water tank we may need initally and also cost of the all access road (we have had varying quotes from $500 to $6000).

As we are still in our early stages I'm guessing there is still alot of money to be spent once we get to colour selections etc? I'm very open to any hints or suggestions, or things to be aware of, as we venture along this path. Its been 15 years since we last built and never in a rural setting, so I'm sure there are a lot of things I still need to consider.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi mum2kids and welcome to the forum...
The best approach to take regarding the water tank is to contact your council where your land is and ask them what the minimum requirements are. We were lucky MJH told us what our minimum was (22500L) so we just went with that. But we also have town water... It is no doubt different in every situation... check with Council.
Can't help regarding the access road but I am sure there are plenty of posts by other members in here that can help...

Good luck!

Congrats fifteensixty - Can't wait to see some photos - enjoy your move this weekend hopefully it is not too hard!!