I thought it was about time I began my own little thread about our Wilshire Mk 3 with H3nl3y.

The story began back in November 2007 when we paid our deposit for the initial soil test and survey. They were booked for the 14th November, but on the 12th my husband was made redundant from work, throwing all of our plans through the window. Timing couldn't have been more disasterous!! Merry bloody Christmas!

Anyway, a new and more exciting/challenging job was soon secured, and we have been patiently waiting for 3 pay slips so we can apply for the loan again. In the meantime, H3nl3y have held onto our deposit, and have been in contact with us regularly to see where we are at. We now only have 1 month to go before we can re-apply for the loan, so they booked the soil test for this Friday!

Today at 1pm, I received a little knock at the door from the 'soil tester' who was in the area. He thought he'd pop in and conduct it today...YAY!!

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I know how much we all love a good photo, but one pile of dirt is enough!

At this stage, I am refusing to get remotely excited to avoid any further disappointments...there have been far too many so far. Once we have pre approval the champers might come out . We are also on fairly tight time constraints with the house. It will soon be superseded by the larger and more expensive Wilshire 483.

The one positive to our disappointment is that I have had plenty of time to sort out colours and extra features.

Fingers crossed for everything to 'finally' fall into place, so I can get out of this tiny 14 square box, and into our spacious, dream Wilshire!

Good luck Stormy!

That is a lovely piece of dirt you have there!! Such a close up photo too, did you have zoom lens on maximum?

I remember taking photos of dirt before our house started, we had to wait a while for action too, for different reasons. We had a registration of interest on a block in a subdivision, land titles took nearly a year to get through.
Its a frustrating stage but if you have a lot of the house decisions already made, once action starts it will be all go from then on.

In the meantime, can you post a floor plan of your intended house?
I always think a floor plan on these threads helps others to visualise your home.

It’s a top photo!
I can see an ants nest!

Good luck with it all Stormy……

If Ash is allowed to get upset about carpeting definitions well then....Engineer Mode On....it's not DIRT it's Foundation Material....

Looks like you have a few trees on the land, by the amount of leaves everywhere.

At least it’s a start, and look forward to following your progress.

Ha ha ha! It is actually very sandy at the top (a gardiners nightmare...I've lived with it for 11 years!), so it does kinda look like ant hills! I just hope being so sandy it won't be too much of a problem, but I believe there is clay somewhere underneath the existing house. The whole site will be cut and scraped for the slab, just hope the soil tests are OK! I don't think there is any rock underneath.

Thanks for your good wishes!!

Helyn, photo was taken with a standard kit lens on my DSLR, nothing fancy! And here is a floorplan for you!

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This is what we have proposed to change with the floorplan:

* Built in cupboard in study
* Move the bulk head at the end of the hall to be in line with the stairs/familyroom wall. then put a door underneath the stairs for storage.
*Doors to the above bulkhead to close off the family/meals/kitchen
* Alfresco out the back
* Swap living room windows for the dining room window (bigger window will be north facing)
* North facing window (right side) of meals area
* Remove bath from ensuite, get a bigger shower and extended wall in the WIR

There are many other upgrades we plan on doing including:
* Changing all the interior flush doors to 2 panel doors
* Heritage skirtings and architraves
* Caesarstone benches to bathroom/powder/ensuite
* Sound proof the study
* Sarking on the roof
* Possibly extend the eaves (don't tell Matt!!! )
* Water point for future fridge
* Possible double glazing
...and a whole lot of electrical upgrades/additions.

Kiwi, There are 2 rather large trees that will need to be cut down, one unfortunately. The other will be infront of our garage! Mind you, I haven't raked any leaves this Autumn...I don't really see the point

Nice photo of your dirt!!

Good idea to extend your WIR - very smart move.

Don't be silly TDL.

This is grass, sand, dirt and bark chips.

See, it can all be described in words of one syllable

Off you go - back to your "water irrigation efficiency reports"

"how well the sprinkler works" in plain English


Thankyou for the floorplan, Stormy.
I enjoy looking at floor plans and helps me to put the photos into place when your house is being built.

...but reserve the right to grumble....

How about Crappy Soil!

Sorry Stormy! But hey, you already know that!

Stormy, your layout looks good!

Can’t wait for you to start….did I read 10 months till finish ???
I might have had a heart attack by then.

Oh, men always grumble.

We'll just ignore you

Thanks for posting the floor plan. You’re making some nice changes as well, it’ll be a beautiful house when it’s finished.

I don’t blame you not racking the leaves, plenty of time for that when you move in.

No idea how long it's going to take! Still have to pack up the existing house, cut down trees, demolish, then it can be built. I'm taking each day as it comes at this stage!

Kiwi, the whole house is a disaster, not just the garden, but we refuse to spend money on it when it won't be here for much longer! It will be a shame to see it go...first house, and all...but onto bigger and better things. A much cheaper alternative to selling and buying in the same area ( a house this size in this area would be at least $800,000). This way, we get what we want from scratch...CAN"T WAIT!!! Oh, hang on...I'm not supposed to get excited yet!

It'll be great, a few (well many) frustrations along the way but the results are worth it.

I also checked out your blog, I love your photographic work. That is one hobby I'd love to get back into, need to buy a good digital SLR first. It's a pity the film cameras are worthless secondhand to sell these days, and so it seems the digitals due mainly to the ever changing models.

Stormy thats fantastic news!!!!

Congratulations, it's been a long tough road already and i'm glad that it is all working out for you!!!!

It's going to be great to follow your progress....have you started putting together a colour board or anything yet???

Its ok to get excited....why not, what the hell, it IS YOUR BEAUTIFUL HOUSE that you're building, i'm sure you're entitled to be EXCITED!!!!!

Thanks Kiwi! I haven't touched my film SLR since buying my DSLR...I believe there is still an unprocessed film in it! D'oh!!

Phoenix, my basic colour board is this (with a few decisions to be made re the kitchen!):


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and these rough colours for the exterior (still need a price on Austral's Hawthorn, but I can never catch anyone at Cosham):


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After previous disappointments I'm not getting excited until we have pre approval for the loan and a building permit from the council! Who knows, the neighbours may complain profusely!

I'd also like to add that many decisions regarding added extras, things to 'look out for' during the build and inspiration would not have been possible without the help of this wonderful forum!

OK I'm no expert on color boards and "interior designology" but I really like what you've selected is very pleasing to my eye.....has a nice flow.

Mind you if it's pleasing to my eye maybe that's a reason to change.....

Thats not a nice thing to say about your wife!!

OK...got me...left the door wide open.....