So here we go.. Finally... after 8 months of plans, tears, arguments, stress, we have finally made it..

It all started after a string of bad luck in our current house, we decided to buy a block of land on the outskirts of Melbourne and build our dream home. So after the Husband went for a drive one day and found the perfect 1889m2 block of land, put an offer in and then told me, there was no going back.

So this is our patch of land;
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Then the stress started, after looking at what I think was every display home in Victoria, we finally decided on the NBG Vaucluse largely due to the huge balcony on the back which was perfect for the block of land and the views we will have. So in the past 8 months we have changed the plans numerous times, added things, taken bits and pieces out as well as getting around to finishing off renovations to our current house, putting it on the market, selling it, and now finally moving out and starting our new life in what we hope to be our forever home.

So here it is, the final plans;

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I think we have managed to cover everything we wanted, plus a bit more.. Any advise/opinions is greatly appreciated.

I hope the photo's worked, its the first time so I am crossing my fingers I did everything right.

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congrats!!!

all the best, hope it goes well for you

Your plans look amazing , congrats on your start

Really great design! I have been to the display in Cranbourne it looks fantastic and huge! (i like huge )
Well done on your decision.
Cant wait to see what colours you have selected!

Oh another one to follow I'm in, looking forward to colours as well

Great size block and awesome plan! Goodluck!

Yay - You have a thread Well done to you msjones. Great job Nice pool room! You've got access to your front balcony from main too! Facade looks great (but I am obviously very biased ) We have opposite balconies! Mine is glass front, rendered rear. I think you said there was a "battle" of the facades - Who won? Compromise? Or silly question?
Also added double doors on media room (not on the plan I posted). This will be our workout room I Hope....
I know you said you'd like feedback. Maybe I'm not the person for that job! We did very little by way of floor plan changes (we've had a few "doh" moments after final plans), but the ones we did do I can do I can tell you about.
We did a switcharoo in the upstairs bathroom (moved 2nd basin and switched to toilet side with flush wall to hallway, so toilet can be accessed whilst shower/bath occupied). This was our big change We also changed hinge side on upstairs bathroom so door doesn't open onto shower. Mmmm struggling now... Most other things were upgrade extra kind of thingys (which you've already probably read in my thread). Did you consider 900mm shower? from memory (and mine is dreadful) I think was a couple of hundred, but then shower meets bath so might want the space between for something.
Did you look at Larah1's plans on my thread? I am definately going to look at a small storage area under the stairs from garage. Will do if it's only cost of a door!

You've started a thread -stand by for questions.. Are you getting sarking in your roof?

Final note for now - REALLY nice block Looks like your elevated quite high (with no one to look down on you - YAY!). Liked the story that your hubby put an offer in and then told you - too funny

Hi there,
Yes Mike, finally have my own thread! Cannot believe its finally happening! Sarking in roof? Um what’s that? I guess not!
We love our block, even though I didn't get a say in it , but as always it worked out for the best, luckily for my Darling Husband..
I agree with the upstairs bathroom door, the first thing our 4 year old did when looking at the display house was push the door open into the shower... so I might have to look into it..

So here is a list of changes so far, I guess we have made just a few, although I am sure we have left something out

Extended Garage – 2500mm in length / 1200mm width – Garage now comes in line with front piers
Extended Theatre room, now comes in line with front piers, (in doing this we no longer have the front piers as per displays)
Added void as per Highton Display
Changed to the Highton Master bedroom plan
Removed guest ensuite and WIR and extended Guest Bedroom, now “The Bar/Pool Room”
Added bar area to Poolroom, laminate bench with sink.
Relocated Laundry to Garage area, to provide a hallway between poolroom and garage.
Added entertainer doors to left of pool room (future access to pool from pool room/bar)
Changed doors at end of poolroom, dining room doors and up stairs balcony doors to bi parting doors
Added awning window to poolroom overlooking alfresco area
Added awning window to Family room overlooking alfresco area as well as end of family room
Façade (Designed our own, brick bottom, cladding to upper level, windows as per Brighton façade)
Glass balustrade to rear balcony.
Rendered blueboard to front balcony
2700mm ceiling heights ground & first floor
Changed all internal doors to 2340mm high
Added Doors to media room.
Sliding cavity door for ensuite.
Sliding cavity door for WIR in main.
Cabinetry in theatre room as per display, as well as upstairs family room
Cold water point to fridge
Ground floor laminate flooring – as well as first three steps on staircase (apart from theatre room which will be carpet)
Integrated dishwasher
Added spa and tiled steps to Ensuite as per Display
Added Flyscreens to all openable windows
Upgraded to a 2340mm x 1020mm front door
Added fans into bedrooms, family area, upstairs rear balcony and alfresco area (we will supply).
Flat down lights into walls of staircase
Wall lights to balcony/alfresco area (we will supply)
Dimmer switches to bedrooms
Wall lights to Master Bedroom (we will supply)
Pendant lights to kitchen bench area (we will supply)
Lots of extra down lights / two way switches / additional power points ECT..
TV points to all bedrooms, Pool Room and 1 in the Ensuite – (spa area)
Flood lights to rear of house & garage
Added a 514mm x 2710 highlite window to Master bedroom
Internal staircase balustrade changed to glass
Additional bench space and cabinetry to laundry

There are also a few more things we are going to add at colour selection and directly with the builder, glass splashback, soundproofing in roof between floors, shower niches, niches in downstairs wall beside stairway, upgrade vacuum to the dust pan model (husbands request) and whatever else might pop up at colour selections
As for colours we think we will go with all white walls with a light grey feature walls, charcoal carpet, all white kitchen with a light turquoise splashback, theatre room will be all dark grey, walls & roof. As for the façade colours, we are still deciding, we are having huge problems deciding on bricks, we have been to Boral and have been given a list of all houses in the area with bricks we are thinking about so that will help.. Hopefully.

Just a tad bit excited ... Finally Colour Selection booked in for Monday 29th August!!!! Any tips/suggestions on the best way to go about this with National Builders, having to choose everything in a day is stressing me out!!!

Hi,

Good luck with colour choices.

It is easier if you know what your external colours will be prior to the visit. Check out a Boral display to see the different bricks available. If you ring Boral they will give you some addresses of some homes that have been built with a specific brick so you can do a drive by and check it out. Look at the new estates and see what you like.

Its a good idea to visit a beaumont tiles display room to see the full range of tiles available for you to select from.
If you like something specific then buy a sample of it (same thing with wall tiles and feature tiles).

Take your camera with you to the colorworld visit so you can take photos of your selections and have something to refer back to.

It is also worthwhile taking some pictures of kitchens you are trying to recreate if there is a particular colour scheme or look you are trying to achieve.

Good luck.

Michelle

Hi msjones,
Colourworld on Monday! How exciting and terrifying at the same time (if your like us). We ended up enjoying our time there. The consultant was very helpful but we did have a good idea of what we were after. We had already had a preview when doing contracts so that helped also. Regardless, I would take photos or note down the choices to "google" later because you can still change later! We got sold an a stripey (madagascar) look for overheads whiule we were there. We then went home and panicked about it! We emailed a couple of days later and changed to matt black overheads and it was no dramas at all. Looking at your list of changes, we also kept the inbuilt cabinetry as per display in theatre. I really like the idea of doing the same upstairs! Shame, that ship has sailed now... I'm sure you'll be fine but it is hard to make selections in a couple of hours. It took us ages to come up with our changes and extras. Best of luck and keep us posted!

Colourworld completed!!! record time of 2.5 hours and we were done.. however more upgrades We upgraded kitchen cupboards to the colorform gloss, added more feature tiles, upgraded powder room benchtop to stone.. Very happy with outcome and now cannot wait for this to get started.. Can anyone tell me what the time frame is now of getting this started soon... The tiny rental house is driving us insane!
Also did anyone upgrade and get feature walls added.. We were quoted $245 per wall.. we almost fainted.. we wanted the theatre room a different colour and it would have cost us $1225, for just one room! ... needless to say we decided against it..

And jsut a thanks to everyone for your help and advise, we are really happy with what we have chosen and I credit this site for most of that, it sure helps when you get a bit of advise from people that have been there and done it all..

Well done msjones! I loved Colourworld
How did you go with your exterior bricks/colours - what did you end up choosing?
In regards to start time frame, it would vary with each build but our colourworld appt was in early Nov and the site cut commenced in Feb. L o n g....&....s l o w Hope yours is much quicker!
I find that feature wall cost surprising. I just checked our upgrades list and we have chosen the home threatre to be painted in Thunderbolt at cost of $600. Far more reasonable, unless your ht is double the size?

oh and the colours we have selected are:

Bricks: ground floor "Boral Mist".
Roof /Gutters/Facia/ downpipes: Colorbond Shale Grey
Windows: Colorbond White
Cladding - 2nd floor: Colorbond-Surfmist
Front door: Upgraded to larger door - Colorbond Woodland Grey
Garage Door: Contemporary - Colorbond Shale Grey
Ceiling paint: Wattyl Titanium white
All walls, doors and skirting: Wattyl Titanium white
Kitchen cupboards and island bench cupboards: Colorform Designer White
Splashback: Dulux Vivid White
Kitchen Benchtops: Quantum quartz Apline white
Bathroom Cabinetry: Inspiration Vertica Asian Night
Bathroom Benchtops" Quantum Quartz Luna White
Wall & floor Tiles to Bathrooms and Laundry: Technico Charcoal
Feature Tile in ensuite shower and below mirror: Cenefa Fence Silver Travertine
Laundry Cupboards: Laminate Lustre Artic White
Laundry Benchtops: Inspiration Solid White
Theatre built in units: Inspiration Vertica Slate Grey
Theatre built in units tops: Laminate Pearl Silver
Carpets to 1st Floor: Dark Grey - son't actually have the name..
Laminate Flooring to ground floor: Nature Lock Acacia 1 Strip
Stair Balustrade: Glass Alustain clear, hand rail: Rectangelar - Satin finish top mount.

Nice!
Good taste haha your exterior selections are very similar to ours. I have found the colours are quite neutral but fresh at the same time. We added window mouldings to the front facade which were painted bright white for some added contrast. The exterior colours will lend themselves to many different landscaping ideas & outdoor features that you may want to add after completion - well I think so anyway
I like the sound of your kitchen. We went with colour which I'm still not sure about!

Ha ha , we actually added window mouldings as well.. in white... gee what good taste we have!

Love your colour choices.
I also have dark grey carpet, Technico Charcoal floor times and the quantum quartz benchtop in luna white in the bathrooms...

With regards to timing of the job start, it depends on where the paperwork is at.

Have the final drawings been issued and been certified to ensure they meet the energy efficiency requirements?

If so, the next step is the Slab design (which is normally done after the block has been titled).
The builder will then arrange for a certificate of insurance to cover the cost of the job and the record of the insurance cover, final drawings, slab design and copy of title then need to be submitted for a building permit.

Once the building permit has been issues, the builder is supposed to start within 21 days (I think it is in the contract).

Hope this helps. If you are still stuck in the paperwork stage then ring NBG to find out if slab design has been completed and if so ask for a copy.

Good luck,

Michelle

Gorgeous plan, can't wait to see it go up

Hi msjones. Well done on your colour choices. Nice selections . We also have gone for surfmist for upstairs cladding but so is surrounding render. Alpine white kitchen benchtops also.

Re: build time - we did colourworld in end November last year. Just framing now..... I hope yours is quicker than that!

Would love to know how much for glass balustrading up staircase. NBG wanted over 5k for us. its getting requoted (when stair company come in). If same, we will probably look at rigging wire if it's any cheaper (no idea).

Msjones-are you getting your Dulux Vivid White splashback on starfire glass? If not it will have a green tinge-fine if that's what you want, but if you are after a "clean" white you will need it on starfire.

I have the Alpine White Benchtops with Dulux Vivid White on Starfire-I love it! So easy to change the feature colour!