Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 16, 2013 3:15 pm Hi there!
I thought I would introduce myself and start a topic to document my home building journey. I'm a 24yr old Perth resident building my first home with Redink Homes in the inner north-eastern suburbs. When I'm not building my house or playing an unhealthy amount of xbox, I'm an engineer that works in the property developing industry, particularly in stormwater system design. Below is the final plan; My selections from prestart are also presented below; Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Render Colours changed to Solver Cloudy Sky and Solver Urban Tribe (feature) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Overhead cabinets changed to match bottom (Formica Baikal) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Timelines appear to be pretty popular, so I thought I'd get around it too! I will update my thread regularly as the build progresses. Cheers TIMELINE: 19 May 2013 - Decided to build a house 20 May 2013 - Started to draft house plans with Redink 28 Jun 2013 - Signed PCQ 31 Jul 2013 - Finance Approved 8 Oct 2013 - Working drawings completed 5 Nov 2013 - Interior Design Consult 11 Nov 2013 - Prestart 26 Nov 2013 - Signed building contracts 11 Dec 2013 - Final plans received 16 Jan 2014 - Final amended plans submitted to Redink, Power Dome Installed, Building Permit application submitted 28 Jan 2014 - Received Building Permit 4 Feb 2014 - Water tap (and what a tap it is) 19 Feb 2014 - Site works 13 Mar 2014 - Pipes 14 Mar 2014 - Footings 21 Mar 2014 - Slab 27 Mar 2014 - Drains and Stormwater 3 Apr 2014 - Site Clean 4 Apr 2014 - Brick Delivery 29 Apr 2014 - Bricklaying Started 23 May 2014 - Bricklaying Completed 3 Jun 2014 - Roof Timber Delivery 9 Jun 2014 - Roof Frame Started 11 Jun 2014 - Roof Frame, Eaves and Garage Ceiling Completed 12 Jun 2014 - Wall Chasing for Electrics 16 Jun 2014 - Gutters 17 Jun 2014 - Roof and Wall Plumbing 20 Jun 2014 - Roof and Wall Electrics 23 Jun 2014 - Roof Tiles Delivered 24 Jun 2014 - Roof Tiles Started 14 Jul 2014 - Interior Grey Float Started 15 Jul 2014 - Interior Grey Float Completed 18 Jul 2014 - Exterior Grey Float and Interior White Set Started 19 Jul 2014 - Gas Connected 25 Jul 2014 - Exterior Grey Float Completed 28 Jul 2014 - White Set Completed 29 Jul 2014 - Ceiling Materials Delivered 31 Jul 2014 - Roof Completed 7 Aug 2014 - Windows Installed and Ceilings Started 8 Aug 2014 - Ceilings Completed 11 Aug 2014 - Door Delivery 12 Aug 2014 - Lock up! 13 Aug 2014 - Sanitary Plumbing 16 Aug 2014 - Ceilings Painted 18 Aug 2014 - Cabinets Installed and Tiles Delivered 19 Aug 2014 - Garage Grano Poured 25 Aug 2014 - Stone Benchtops 26 Aug 2014 - Tiling Meeting 27 Aug 2014 - Acrylic Texture Coat Completed 29 Aug 2014 - Tiling Started 9 Sep 2014 - Tiling Completed 11 Sep 2014 - Appliances Delivered 12 Sep 2014 - Electrical Work 17 Sep 2014 - Solar Hot Water System Installed and Plumbing 25 Sep 2014 - Door frames Painted 26 Sep 2014 - Rangehood and Oven Installed 1 Oct 2014 - Air Conditioning Installed 3 Oct 2014 - Ceiling Exhaust Fans 4 Oct 2014 - Sliding Doors, Mirrors and Shower Screens 8 Oct 2014 - Garage Door 9 Oct 2014 - Eaves painted 11 Oct 2014 - Clean Up 13 Oct 2014 - Door Handles, Towel Rails and Holders 14 Oct 2014 - Fly screens 15 Oct 2014 - 2AC Maintenance 16 Oct 2014 - Site Scrape and Clean 22 Oct 2014 - Kitchen Splashback and Paving 23 Oct 2014 - PCI 5 Nov 2014 - Final Progress Claim Paperwork Submitted 10 Nov 2014 - Bank Valuation 12 Nov 2014 - Keys! 14 Nov 2014 - Security System Install 22 Nov 2014 - Patch up and undercoat 25 Nov 2014 - TV Antenna 27-28 Nov 2014 - Painting 29-30 Nov 2014 - Driveway Preparation (Cancelled) 1-3 Dec 2014 - Fencing Part 1 3-8 Dec 2014 - Paving 8-12 Dec 2014 - Decking 10-11 Dec 2014 - Skirting Part 1 13-14 Dec 2014 - Carpet Installation 15-16 Dec 2014 - Floorboard Installation 16 Dec 2014 - Turf Laying 17 Dec 2014 - Wardrobe Fitout 17-24 Dec 2014 - Driveway Paving 18 Dec 2014 - Move in! Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 2Jun 16, 2013 3:24 pm Congrats on starting the journey! I assume you have a block of land? If so, what direction does the house face? Building the Ascot 35 with Carlisle Homes in Pasadena Estate, Clyde VIC My build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59776 Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 3Jun 16, 2013 3:41 pm Thanks! Yes I already have a block of land. I forgot I clipped the north point out! North is right of page. Street frontage faces east. It's also worth mentioning that this will be the front house of two, hence the driveway and garage positioning. Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 4Jun 16, 2013 9:54 pm Looks like a great use of space!! My only comment and is a personal preferance is change the glass sliding door in the Landry to a standard door with glass in it. It's one of the few things I wish I had done. Good luck with the journey ahead Re: RedInk Homes First Time Builder - Planning Stage 5Jun 19, 2013 12:49 am Thanks for the tips! @fmac Any particular reason for the aversion to sliding doors? Thought I'd upload some photos of my procrastination. I'm a very visual person, so I thought I would try 'visualise' my house. Good thing survey tape is only $4 for 100m! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 6Jun 19, 2013 1:04 am If youave a normal door you can run the bench to the wall.. The blinds on a sliding door also get stuck I find and it is difficult to clean. Though I've just looked at yours again and you have the washing machine against the door so probably not as much of an issue. Our trough it in that corner so we could have had it butt up right next to the wall. Though if your planning a front loader you can run your bench fit up to the wall and have the machine under it. I love your idea of marking it out!! Though you'll be amazed at how different it looks when the walls go up Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 7Jun 19, 2013 1:21 am fmac If youave a normal door you can run the bench to the wall.. The blinds on a sliding door also get stuck I find and it is difficult to clean. Though I've just looked at yours again and you have the washing machine against the door so probably not as much of an issue. Our trough it in that corner so we could have had it butt up right next to the wall. Though if your planning a front loader you can run your bench fit up to the wall and have the machine under it. I love your idea of marking it out!! Though you'll be amazed at how different it looks when the walls go up I agree. So much easier to have a normal door and bench running to the wall. No narrow gap where the dust collects. A front loader under the bench looks great and is heaps easier to keep clean! Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 8Jun 19, 2013 1:34 am Just posting to follow your build Our home building & decorating blog - http://www.rocknsoul.com.au/blog Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 9Jun 19, 2013 2:04 am Another Redinker here I've got a few suggestions to what I would do to your plan: 1.Add in nib walls to the showers so that there is a little 1m high wall between the vanity and shower that the glass screen sits on. Makes cleaning easier and creates a shelf in the shower for shampoo bottles etc. 2.The sliding door on your pantry may not look like what you are expecting with the way it is done at the moment. It would look nicer if it slid inside the pantry instead of out but then you would have to figure out space for it to slide next to the shelves. The way it is at the moment would not allow you to put anything on the kitchen wall like a clock etc. Maybe a hinged door? 3.At this stage of negotiations it shouldn't cost too much to add in any feature niches or a shower niche but depends on your sales rep. 4.I would raise the garage ceiling to 28c as 25c is really low and does cause issues with 4wds...not cheap but worth it. 5.I would find out how much it costs to raise the entry to 31c as well. As you are building a custom design your plan will be costed against the redink plan that it best matches and you may still have some high ceiling allowance to use! 6.This one is probably fine but just checking you have a furniture placement plan for the theatre with the doors in that position? Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 10Jun 19, 2013 2:05 am (sorry my phone not cooperating...) 7.The windows you have in the garage are all awnings which are quite expensive. Will you actually open these? Would a fixed panel for 1, 2 or all be something you would do? This is me assuming that a fixed panel looks the same as an awning from the outside though! 8.Totally agree about putting a hinged door on the laundry...regret not doing it myself! Looking forward to seeing your plan evolve! Our final plan is fairly different to what we started with Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 12Jun 19, 2013 1:51 pm Yes I agree with what kat says! Great suggestions. Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 13Jun 20, 2013 12:21 am Hi PanRaptor I'm at about the same stage as you. Have been chatting to RedInk (as well as Dale Alcock) about designing us a plan. I'm looking forward to following your post. I like your plan and I agree with the other comments. Another idea...I personally prefer 31 course ceilings for alfrescos, but I don't know yet how much extra that costs. Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 14Jun 20, 2013 1:18 am Wow guys! Thanks for all the great feedback. Here's what I'll be suggesting for the next iteration of the floor plan; - 31C ceilings in the entry (purely for aesthetics) and the alfresco (aesthetics and ceiling fan placement) - 28C ceilings in the garage - Sliding door on inside of pantry (Thanks xxkatxx!) - Hinged door on laundry!!! (Almost unanimous, can't go against that!) Perhaps I'll get a cat flap on the door now too. - Extended robe (1500mm) in Bed 2/Study - Increasing robe width to 650mm - Door with Glass pane between kitchen/living and hallway (for temperature control/sound) - Fixed panel windows in the garage (again, thanks xxkatxx) - Ditch the second sink in the ensuite bathroom (more bench space > superfluous sink) - Stone bench tops in bathrooms (Just to be a little fancy) I'll think about shower nib walls and extending the alfresco. Perhaps adding a skylight to the hallway. Could be nice. I guess the next step for me is thinking about appliances and furniture to make sure there is enough flexibility in the floor plan. One day I might even make it to pre-start! Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 15Jun 23, 2013 10:42 pm Looking at your plan made me go back to our first plan drawn up by Redink and it's amazing how different it is but still with the same basic principles that we wanted in the house. Definitly worth looking at over and over again and taking your time Thought of one more thing to think about Looking at your windows in your master I can see that they are 710 wide for all of the front of your house and that is the way it ties together. Only problem I can see is that your master might not be getting enough light. The good thing is that you don't have a fence near the master windows so they wont have any sunlight getting blocked but would you consider adding a window to the wall on the left? Even a highlight window? Do you know how you would have your furniture layout? We ended up with 2 x 910 windows in our master and I'm glad they aren't any smaller so that's why I would consider adding some others. We measured out our bed and put a window either side and had the bottom of the window line up with the top of the bedside tables. So it's really good to think about your furniture and design the room around it. Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 16Jun 23, 2013 11:30 pm Nice plan PanRaptor, and all really good suggestions...gotta love this site!! Definately agree with raising the garage to 28c and entry to 31c, I would also raise the portico as well if you decide to do the entrance. We raised our entrance and forgot to do the portico, and looking at it now,it doesn't look too bad but would of looked better if we thought to do that bit as well. It shouldn't cost you too much, our entrance is a similar size to yours and it only cost us around $480 , different builder but I wouldn't think it would be much more as its flowing into your main area which is also 31c. The only other thing i thought of is recessing the bath out to under the eaves. My friend did this and it really makes it feel more roomier...oh and I would extend the alfresco too. Either way it's a great design. Good luck Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 17Jun 24, 2013 1:07 am So, just had home visit from a celebrations home rep. Thought I would get a second opinion before I commit to RedInk since they were the first people I approached. I got to say, I'm more confused now. It's so hard to know when to stop looking at plans and make a decision. I feel like I'm taking two steps back to take one step forward! I also visited/re-visited some display homes today. A feature of a Dale Alcock home really intrigued me. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I could see it working really well with my current theatre/alfresco set up. I like the idea of getting a bit more use out of the theatre. I love movies (and video games) but I can see that room being empty most of the time. I'll see how much this window/bench will cost and decide accordingly! Kind of off topic, but I've fallen in love with Clipsal light switches (see below). Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Does anyone know much about them? Are they prone to breaking or getting stuck? I'm really hoping they are not because I'm quite taken by them... Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 18Jun 24, 2013 1:12 am If you have the time I think spending some time shopping around plans is a good idea I love those switches as well. I haven't priced them but I understand they are very expensive, especially through the builder! I am hoping a friend of ours might be able to get them at trade prices for us and change them over. There are some other nice ones as well Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 19Jun 26, 2013 7:07 pm Hi all, Thought I would post the plan for Unit 2, the house being built behind mine. I've had a fair bit of input in the design on behalf of my brother. It's pretty cool I think, very different to mine. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We've already requested a few changes, but that's more or less what the house will look like. Hopefully going to sign the PCQ this week!!! Re: First Time Builder - Planning Stage 20Jun 26, 2013 7:25 pm Looks good! My only thought was would you get more space if you entered the house through the walk in pantry? Then you could use the wasted space that is the corridor? Would probably make it big enough you could have a bench there for keys etc when you come in and then the pantry stuff. Just a though as I've seen some of the big walk in pantries and if it was fitted with cabinets at the bottom with bench and then shelf you would dramatically increase storage space... Also dump shopping as you walk in interesting situation what happened after builder issued final invoice? did you list as defect or not does the building surveyor have any responsibility? ie. issuing… 13 39099 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi all, My neighbour has built his 15m long garage on our boundary. It was agreed as part of the planning permit that the wall must be in exposed recycled brick. For some… 0 7162 Hi, I contracted a Builder to do a Garage to Bedroom + ensuite conversion (Class 1a), the Builder engaged the Certifier and Engineer and received BDA from the Certifier… 0 1976 |