Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 11, 2015 8:33 am Hi All, Hubby and I have recently purchased land in North Brisbane and are now hunting for a builder! We're after a small double storey house and so far have got quotes from gj gardner, claredon, hallmark, stylemaster and coral homes. We're planning to get a quote for plantation next week but we're already leaning towards plantation, the soho4 due to the price. Our next choices would be stylemaster then hallmark. Has anyone built a soho and has some photos? It's hard given plantation has no displays in their breakthrough series. Also, anyone that's built a plantation breakthrough home, was there much difference in quality and choice of fixtures and anything not included we need to be aware of? Lastly, with plantation how far above the base price of $190000 do you anticipate our quote will be? I was under the impression that the facade including front render was included? Is this correct? We already know that we will be up for about $10k for site costs due to our soil class. The only other extras we want are timber stairs, timber sliding doors to alfresco, smart waste in bathrooms, floor to ceiling tiles in bathrooms, rain shower to ensuite, $5 electrical allowance, 2 bathroom niches & Caesarstone bench tops to bathrooms. All the rest including driveway, flooring, decks, landscaping we will do ourselves (hubby is a tradesman so we're advantages). How much did you pay for similar upgrades? Thanks! Thanks in advance!! Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 2Feb 13, 2015 4:08 pm Hi EmKaralyn, My wife and I are currently building the Soho4 in Griffin, we have just completed the Fixing Stage, so on the home stretch (pardon the pun) We actually spotted a Soho for-sale right near the car-park of the Plantation display homes at North Lakes, so we took advantage of the open house (sorry previous owner and real estate agent). But at this point we had already signed up with Plantation anyway. We didn't get render, so I can't comment on that, but I can advise it is not included. For timber stairs, we paid an additional $3K (they have installed these but the staining hasn't been done yet - already looks totally worth it!!). We didn't get any other of the upgrades you have mentioned, so I can't comment on them. I would recommend allowing for $5K for electrical allowance. We got down-lights everywhere, NBN Wiring Package, treat wall lights in the stairs, external lights (4 on the front facade, 1 at the laundry and 2 into the backyard). The number of power points included is good, we only added 2. We don't have a lot of photos, especially of the inside, so I can't help you out too much on that. Hope this has been helpful. Peter Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 3Feb 13, 2015 4:25 pm Hi Peter, Thanks so much for replying! We are also building in Griffin (Griffin Heights) Would you mind mentioning how much your site costs were and the total cost of your build? Thank you, that info has helped very much! 30/01/15 - Land Settlement 07/04/15 - Contract & colour selections 05/05/15- Council approval 28/05/15 - Site start Build Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76068 Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 4Feb 13, 2015 5:09 pm Hi EmKaralyn, We're practically neighbours, haha. We had to get a H2 slab as our site was quite reactive. The developer for out block used a clay soil for fill, which was over 1.5 metres deep over our entire block. The H2 Slab cost us $6.9K extra. We also got the driveway and alfresco done, tiled floors, and ducted air con and lots of other small variations which added up. Our total build cost is $240K, but all we have to do is landscaping and window coverings after handover. We've found Plantation to be excellent and would definately recommend them. Some people seem to get caught out by constantly adding extra things, but it sounds like from you list you have a good understanding of what you want. Peter Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 5Feb 13, 2015 5:22 pm Okay great, that's a great price. We are also contemplating getting ducted aircon. We've got about 5 other quotes and this quote has been well under the other builders for good quality and a beautiful home. Were you given a build time for your home? Thanks so much for your advice and I hope it continues to go well. 30/01/15 - Land Settlement 07/04/15 - Contract & colour selections 05/05/15- Council approval 28/05/15 - Site start Build Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76068 Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 6Feb 14, 2015 9:37 am Once they break ground, it takes 16-18 weeks for the Soho. They had a bit of a backlog when we were signing up, so they didn't commence for a couple of months, but they advised us of this upfront. Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 7Feb 19, 2015 6:08 pm Hi EmKaralyn and Peter_Griffin My wife and I are also considering to build the Soho 4 with Plantation. We were about one week away from having our colour selection and contract meeting with Plantation for the Aurora Q3, however we have just heard back from the engineers that it wont fit the site without huge costs to the existing retaining walls. So with this problem we have decided to go 2 story but all the Plantation range homes are to expensive. We are very interested to know what you had included in your upgrades and what the overall quote was if you don't mind? Getting so far through the selection process with a Plantation range home then now probably going for a Breakthrough range home we are interested to know what the costs would be to finish the Soho to an almost Plantation range finish. Peter in your quote of $240k, did you have an upgraded facade and rendering? did you add wooden stackers and stone bench tops in the kitchen and bathrooms? also do you guys think it is cheaper to lay carpets and do concrete driveways etc after hand over? Also one last question is do you find the space in the living/dining room/kitchen area spacious considering there is no other lounge room or theater room and all your time will be spent in this area? Sorry for all the questions, like you it is a little hard with no display examples on offer. Look forward to your responses. Cheers. Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 8Feb 19, 2015 6:37 pm Hi there, We received our quote from plantation earlier this week and have booked an appointment to pay our deposit this Sunday! It may interest you to know that plantation is discontinuing the breakthrough range apparently and no more bookings will be taken after March 1. We were forwarded a message from the state manager. Our quote has come in at $221k. That's with full timber stairs, all flooring, miller facade (including render to the front), $3k electrical allowance, floor to ceiling tiles in bathrooms, Caesarstone bench tops to bathrooms, timber stacking veranda doors and some other minor things. We are now taking out the timber stacking doors and flooring and instead putting in ducted aircon. This will bring our quote to about $225k which is great and below budget! In terms of the house size, it depends on what you're after. There's only my husband and myself so it suits us perfectly! We have chosen a double storey to ensure we have more backyard as that's important to us. The master bedroom is quite large and the living areas are perfect for us. So depends what you're after although you could probably convert the study to a media room?? We are doing the driveway, landscaping, front & back decks, letter box, clothesline & flooring after hand over. We originally had flooring included in the quote but we'd rather have ducted aircon so decided to do it after hand over. Hope that helps 30/01/15 - Land Settlement 07/04/15 - Contract & colour selections 05/05/15- Council approval 28/05/15 - Site start Build Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76068 Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 9Feb 19, 2015 8:11 pm Wow didnt realise they were removing the breathrough series, it definitely seems good value from when I looked at it.... Im bit worried about the quote they gave for you slab and H2 soil 10k for site works seems a little be understated... I think all your additions that you have included will make your home very nice! FYI small square niches are 200-300. Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 10Feb 19, 2015 8:21 pm Thanks so much for taking the time reply. Yupa huge help. Did you raise the ceiling heights as well? After visiting all display homes with high ceilings then going into a low ceiling home, it's quite noticeable. Thanks for the heads up with the discontinuing of the range, I must get onto it tomorrow. Had you visited a lot of Plantation range homes? If so would your finished upgraded Brakethrough home be of similar standard now? Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 11Feb 19, 2015 8:44 pm Tj9630, Peter Griffin is in the process of building his house yet the total price is still $240k. We have also allowed an extra $5k for site works even though we've already given them our soil test and upgraded site costs due to our soil costs. We got quoted $800 for two niches which we're happy to proceed with. We aren't raising our ceiling heights because it's not something that matters to us.. We'd much rather other things than that. It comes down to what you want. We've visited many plantation homes and at north lakes they have a display with mostly standard inclusions which has great choices anyway! In the breakthrough series, you get alot less choices but they are still good choices. My husband is a plumber so we are replacing taps etc after handover (he gets trade discounts). We have just upgraded things that we needed to get done whilst the house is being built... Eg. Niches, bathroom grates, Caesarstone bench tops, timber stairs. We're going to get good quality flooring after hand over. Flooring makes a huge difference to how the house looks! You can definitely make your soho look like a plantation home... It's just fewer choices. You can ask your sales consultation if there are any sohos getting built in your area that you can walk through. 30/01/15 - Land Settlement 07/04/15 - Contract & colour selections 05/05/15- Council approval 28/05/15 - Site start Build Thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76068 Re: Plantation Homes Soho & Breakthrough Series 12Feb 19, 2015 9:10 pm EmKaralyn Tj9630, Peter Griffin is in the process of building his house yet the total price is still $240k. We have also allowed an extra $5k for site works even though we've already given them our soil test and upgraded site costs due to our soil costs. We got quoted $800 for two niches which we're happy to proceed with. We aren't raising our ceiling heights because it's not something that matters to us.. We'd much rather other things than that. It comes down to what you want. We've visited many plantation homes and at north lakes they have a display with mostly standard inclusions which has great choices anyway! In the breakthrough series, you get alot less choices but they are still good choices. My husband is a plumber so we are replacing taps etc after handover (he gets trade discounts). We have just upgraded things that we needed to get done whilst the house is being built... Eg. Niches, bathroom grates, Caesarstone bench tops, timber stairs. We're going to get good quality flooring after hand over. Flooring makes a huge difference to how the house looks! You can definitely make your soho look like a plantation home... It's just fewer choices. You can ask your sales consultation if there are any sohos getting built in your area that you can walk through. Hey, that's really awesome... They do make really nice homes and the choices you have made really will make your home beautiful... There's another breakthrough thread being done http://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=71391 His house is looken awesome... I'm following your thread too now.. 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