Peas have a new Pod!! =)

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

Hi all,

Hubby and I have been stalking this site a bit the last month....everyone on H1 is so helpful

Late last year we decided January 2011 was the month to start looking for our own home again.

We did look at established (our last house we purchased established), since it is a good time to buy. Found nothing suitable within our budget to accomodate all 6 of us, so started looking at blocks.

3 weeks into Jan and we had an offer on our block...836sqm of sand and scrub 600m from the beach and a preliminary contract signed with CH (ABN Group)

We are so excited to be building :z:

Well....that is when finance and paperwork is all sorted :roll:

I know how much you all like pics, so here are a few of our block.

Street view
[ img ]

From the back fence
[ img ]

Zarli · **Joined:** 13 Sep 2010 **Posts:** 1245 **Location:** Perth

Welcome to the forum

when you say CH, are you referring to C0mmodore Homes? Where abouts is your block located?? Sounds like a great location. What house plan are you building? Look forward to following your journey

carlswil · **Joined:** 16 Apr 2010 **Posts:** 2653

Welcome. Thanks for the pics. Your block sounds like it's in a great location, so close to the beach. Could you please put your house plan up when you get a chance. Have fun with the paperwork stage, I hope it's not too painful for you and goes really quickly.

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

Zarli, we are building with C3l3bration Homes. It's a fairly basic design...we didn't want a huge mortgage.

Yes we love that our block is only a walk to the beach, there's also a park at the end of our street. It has a great 'little town' feel about it, but is still close to the freeway and 2 major hubs. Can't wait to live there!

Carlswil, here is a pic of our plan
[ img ]

It hasn't got all our changes on it yet, it's just a basic drawing the building consultant gave us at the preliminary contract stage.

The paperwork is a hassle, but an important part of the building process. I shouldn't really complain, I'm just impatient and can't wait for the construction phase

. I'm guessing everyone else feels this way too at the beginning.

Zarli · **Joined:** 13 Sep 2010 **Posts:** 1245 **Location:** Perth

Nice plan, very similar to ours except the study...fantastic. When do you think it all might start?

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

Originally there was a study behind the ensuite like yours. There was a dining where bedroom 5 was. We could of just made the study a bedroom, but we wanted all the minor rooms to be together.

We haven't signed a building contract yet, we should be getting it in the mail Friday/Monday. Doubt we'll see much action for a couple of months yet. I've got the prestart folder though. It's hard trying to visualise it all together, but I'm enjoying the process. I love the fact the house is going to be filled with the colours we have chosen

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

We got our building contract today...YAY!!

It's so exciting to see it all on paper, can't imagine how excited I'm going to be when I actually see some action on our block!

I have a few questions I'm hoping someone can answer for me?

We still want to make changes to the plan, do we do that all at prestart and sign the contract with changes then?

We have a copy of the contract we received today to give to our bank for our loan application, we wanted to finance it together with our block (which is a private sale with finance approval by 7th March). Do we sign that copy to give to our lender and then send them the new one when it's done or do they give us a loan based on the original contract prices?

Sorry for all the questions it's our first build and we don't want to sign legal documents only to find out later we shouldn't have.

oldgold · **Posted:** Feb 14, 2011 5:15 pm

Hi PeasInAPod

Congrats on your new home build.

We're having our new home built with same builder as you and we'd advise going over your plans to work out what you would like to change before you head off to prestart. We wrote everything down that we wanted to change tho' some things worked out too expensive for us to do.

We also visited the Austral Bricks display (3 minute walk from our current home) to 'see' the selection of bricks that we could choose from.

You can make changes to your plan at prestart and your Consultant will be able to advise you then and there as to what it will cost to make those changes etc. Making changes later, you will get charged for it.

We also went over our electrical plan to work out where we would like all our extra power points situated (inside and outside). We added a power point inside the pantry as well. From memory, my husband worked out, in pencil on the electrical plan, where he wanted all the power points etc before we went to prestart. I'm certain they ask you to do this.

If you can, visit their prestart room prior to your meeting so you have a fairly good idea of what colour and fittings you would like.

Good luck

Cheers

PeasInAPod wrote:

We still want to make changes to the plan, do we do that all at prestart and sign the contract with changes then?

kiwi · **Posted:** Feb 14, 2011 5:37 pm

we are building a 5 bed home too.
...and golden bay is?? it sounds perfect , beach and a park. My dream come true!!
good luck and so exciting for you all.

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

Oldgold....it's great to hear you are going through the same builder

Haven't really come accross anyone else who is building with them. Do you have a building thread? I noticed you are from Bunbury, we moved from there just over a year ago. We loved it down there!

We have made a list of changes we would like to make and have written them in a book along with some questions. The book will come with us whenever we venture out to look at house stuff or for any meetings. It's also got lots of scribbles of colour ideas and so forth. We are going to visit the prestart room tomorrow to look at some samples and to see if our ideas will work

We did get a spare electrical plan which we have started to make additions to. We would like exhaust fans above both showers, extra power points in theatre, living, kitchen, laundry, garage, alfresco and maybe the bedrooms as we aren't sure where to place them in the kids rooms. We would also like to add a few extra light bayonets (will put in our own feature lights later) for over the island and on the front of the house and maybe above the mirrors in the bathrooms. Of course most of our changes depend on cost as we have only allowed so many $$$ for changes.

Is the electical meeting with the prestart meeting?

Kiwi....had a quick look at your thread, what a beautiful piece of land you have and your house looks so roomy

Well you need all that room I reckon! My 4 are between 10 and 10mths, I'm sure the house we're building won't seem big enough as they get older :lol:

You mentioned you couldn't have the plans submitted to council as a 5 bed home, is there a reason for this? Is it just an NZ thing or should I be changing mine to a 4 bed with study?

Does anyone else know if it's OK to sign the copy of current contract for our loan application, even though we intend to make some changes?

TIA P

oldgold · **Posted:** Feb 14, 2011 7:46 pm

Hi again

We've lived down here for 17 years and we're making the move not quite back to Perth but within an hour's drive. 31 km's southeast of Golden Bay.

Good idea to check the exhaust fans as they should be a standard fitting in both bathrooms??

Depending on what sort of vehicle(s) you have, you may wish to do as we did and extend the length of the garage by 2 bricks as a reasonable sized car (4WD) only just fits with very little room to squeeze past (we have a Triton dualcab). We also added a door to the back of the garage to make access easier without having to open the front roller door.

Yes, the electrical will be done at prestart.

We also visited several CH displays to get an idea on colour schemes.

We were a tad worried about parking when we visited their Perth office. Be careful where you park as we were told that the rangers apparently have a field day. When you have an appointment date for your prestart, CH will reserve a parking space out the front of their office (sign with your name on).

We don't have a building thread (only a blog) but if you do a search for 'Luke81', he is also building his new home with the same builder and is nearing completion.

Cheers

PeasInAPod wrote:

Oldgold....it's great to hear you are going through the same builder

Haven't really come accross anyone else who is building with them. Do you have a building thread? I noticed you are from Bunbury, we moved from there just over a year ago. We loved it down there!

We have made a list of changes we would like to make and have written them in a book along with some questions. The book will come with us whenever we venture out to look at house stuff or for any meetings. It's also got lots of scribbles of colour ideas and so forth. We are going to visit the prestart room tomorrow to look at some samples and to see if our ideas will work

We did get a spare electrical plan which we have started to make additions to. We would like exhaust fans above both showers, extra power points in theatre, living, kitchen, laundry, garage, alfresco and maybe the bedrooms as we aren't sure where to place them in the kids rooms. We would also like to add a few extra light bayonets (will put in our own feature lights later) for over the island and on the front of the house and maybe above the mirrors in the bathrooms. Of course most of our changes depend on cost as we have only allowed so many $$$ for changes.

Is the electical meeting with the prestart meeting?

Kiwi...Golden Bay is next door to Secret Harbour, between Mandurah and Rockingham in W.A. Had a quick look at your thread, what a beautiful piece of land you have and your house looks so roomy

Well you need all that room I reckon! My 4 are between 10 and 10mths, I'm sure the house we're building won't seem big enough as they get older :lol:

You mentioned you couldn't have the plans submitted to council as a 5 bed home, is there a reason for this? Is it just an NZ thing or should I be changing mine to a 4 bed with study?

Does anyone else know if it's OK to sign the copy of current contract for our loan application, even though we intend to make some changes?

TIA P

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

Thanks for all your help Oldgold, your feedback is much appreciated

Hmmm 31k southeast....Sth Yunderup??

We have an exhaust fan included in the ensuite, but only a vent in the bathroom, so we'll be changing that. I might find out how much extending the garage costs too, we measured it out and our car will fit, but we might not be able to open the back (we have a Grand Voyager).

And thanks for the warning about the parking, hopefully we can park somewhere legal

I will check out Luke81's thread later tonight.

P

kiwi · **Posted:** Feb 15, 2011 7:37 am

hi,

it is a nz thing..you are only allowed 3 bedroom homes here

no, it is cos we have a septic poo bed thing cos we are in the country and for every bedroom you have it is like another 70 sq mets of field with plants on, so you tell council you are building a 3 bed home where possible (they dont care how many people live there...I know , crazy)
that way our effluent field is only about 200 sq mets instead of about 750 sq mets.
and we didnt have room for 750 sq mets of drip line anyway cos we have springs on the land and you cant plant near a water course.

you really want to hear about our poo on the first meeting ay!!

anyway, thanks for the heads up re where you are..WA, cool.

good luck with your park spot and choosing!!

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

Nevermind the poo talk kiwi LOL! We also require some sort of septic system and I found myself watching the 'poo cam' on one of the products websites, all the while thinking...'what the .... am I doing watching this haha!

Went to the prestart room for a bit of a play Tuesday morning. Well Oldgold's warning on the parking was, of course, well warranted. I found a nice little park on the verge right next to a sign that said 'No Parking on verge'. Hubby had his car as well because he had to go straight to work afterwards and he parked next to me, but we were 2 of about 20/30 others also parking on the verge so figured safety in numbers.

Still a little confused on kitchen colours, but we've been playing with the 40 odd laminex samples we took home. I was pretty much sold on a bathroom combination untill I found a wall tile I loved and tried to make it work, not sure if it looks right though. Might post pics tomorrow and see what you all think. That's really all we have to make up our minds over as everything else we've pretty much decided on

kiwi · **Posted:** Feb 18, 2011 6:24 am

pics, pics, pics...................

carlswil · **Joined:** 16 Apr 2010 **Posts:** 2653

Your plan looks great.

We sent the original building contract off to the bank, and then sent variations when we had them. They didn't do anything with them until they had all the paperwork they needed.

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

I only took 2 photos while I was there. I'll save my snap-happy finger for the prestart appointment

This 1 is of our first colour combination for the bathroom. I sort of had an idea in my head before going there of what I wanted, just needed to see what it looked like together and I'm pretty happy with it. (I say 'I' because hubby has given me full rights to decorating the inside as I have him the outside...easier that way. Although saying that I like to have his imput and I want him to be happy with the colours because he has to live with them too). Anyway enough blah, blah...here it is

[ img ]

The colours always look different on camera in real life so...

Floor - Storm Cloud
Wall - Ripple Gloss White (think we can go a larger tile as standard)
Feature tile - Candy Humbug
Cabinet fronts - Fossil
Tops - Brook Pebble (but also considering Pure Calcite or Platinum Micro??)

Then I found this wall tile and it complicated things

[ img ]

Not sure it works with the feature tile, there wasn't a great deal of samples there. I would turn the wall tile horizontal not leave like it is in the pic and I'm really not sure about a light coloured floor.

Floor - Rainbow Chrome
Wall - Silk Fog :x]

Feature tile - Candy Coconut Ice
Cabinets - Fossil (although I think I had a charcoal sample in the pic, not what I will have though)
Tops - Pure Calcite (would also consider Platinum Micro??)

Any thoughts??

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

Thanks Carlswil, we had our mortgage broker over Tuesday night and gave him a signed copy of the building contract.

We are pretty happy with the floor plan, the living areas are very similar to the rental we are in now.

Here is a pic of the plan with the building contract, it looks heaps better than the prelim drawing I posted earlier.

[ img ]

(dining and living will be other way around)

Changes we made to the original plan (not prelim drawing)

*Created 5th bedroom by relocating study wall (located where dining is on plan) into Dining, added door and robe.
*31c ceilings in the living areas and alfresco.
*Extended Bathroom to under eaves and made vanity longer.
*Ensuite vanity was made longer and added another basin.
*Door on WIL.
*Extended the Laundry bench.
*Double doors to Theatre.
*Entrance from single to double doors in the below design.

[ img ]

We still have some more changes we would like to make. Might list my ideas later otherwise I think it would be info overload :lol:

Ezi4few · **Joined:** 22 Dec 2009 **Posts:** 153

I LOVE your second selection with

Quote:

Then I found this wall tile and it complicated things

[ img ]

Not sure it works with the feature tile, there wasn't a great deal of samples there. I would turn the wall tile horizontal not leave like it is in the pic and I'm really not sure about a light coloured floor.

Floor - Rainbow Chrome
Wall - Silk Fog :x]

Feature tile - Candy Coconut Ice
Cabinets - Fossil (although I think I had a charcoal sample in the pic, not what I will have though)
Tops - Pure Calcite (would also consider Platinum Micro??)

The wall tile selection is STUNNING! ::lol::

PeasInAPod · **Joined:** 16 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 282

Thanks Ezy4few...aren't they just gorgeous :x]

So you think they'll look fine with the feature tile...not too busy??

Do you think maybe a slightly darker floor tile? I'm a little worried about a light floor tile with 4 sets of cute little feet treading on them daily o_O]

P

Peas have a new Pod!! =)

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