Building the Burbank Prescott

Prescott_Build · Apr 19, 2014 8:51 am

I've been reading heaps of threads which have been super interesting and helpful as my husband as I begin to build our first home, so I thought it's time I made a contribution.

We are building a very modified version of the Burbank Prescott on a small, rear loaded block (12x30m). It will end up being about 21 squares including garage. With the garage in the backyard we had to completely change the standard design and we added in a study, and left room to create an alfresco area in the space between the house and garage. We are really happy with the design and feel we have used the space really well as we still wanted some kind of decent backyard for our dog.

At this point we had just signed our building contract on Thursday and are waiting on the building permit etc ready to start in early May (we hope) and be moving in by the end of the year!

We started this journey last year around October by looking for land and researching builders. The land became ours in early February and it is already titled so we can build as soon as very thing goes through. It took a while of going back and forth to get the house plans right and there are still a couple of little things that were wrong which we noticed when signing the contract, but communication has been pretty good and everything has been fixed so far.

The colour appointment was the best bit! It took about 7 hours but it went really fast. We love our selections and we felt that we did a lot of upgrades for both colour and electrical but it came in cheaper than we thought it would. Only downside was that our developer rejected our bricks (which I loved) so we had to choose new ones which are pretty similar but cost an extra $900 as they were an upgrade. Oh well can't be all smooth sailing I suppose!

I will post this and have a go at putting in some pictures.

Cheers!

Prescott_Build · Apr 19, 2014 9:44 am

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House plans and front - we are having cladding and eaves to the front of the house as well as a porch to get a country cottage look that we like.

Prescott_Build · Apr 19, 2014 10:06 am

Colour selections

External:
-Austral Ask bricks (we had previously chosen Austral Praline but had to change booo!)
-cladding to front in marble mist (close to white)
-timber front door in walnut
-colourbond roof, gutters etc in basalt
-front porch posts in basalt
-window frames in dune
-garage door in basalt (we didn't care too much about this as the garage faces the rear laneway)
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Bathrooms/laundry
-upgraded bath to classic
-feature tile strip in main bathroom
-stone benches (almost black, can't remember the actual name)
-silk finish cabinets in polar white
-grey square floor tiles
-bigger shower and tiled base for ensuite
-both showers with those big square showerheads
-laundry is like a cheaper version of the rest of the house (eg laminate bench rather than stone)
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Kitchen/living/bedrooms
-900mm oven/stove/range hood
-grey stone benchtops
-rustic grey timber laminate floors for kitchen/living
-silk finish polar white cabinets
-glass kitchen splash bank in tempest (a purple kind of colour)
-bedrooms - white sliding doors for robes
-walls Phantom Grey
-white skirting and architraves
-double roller blinds (block out one is light grey, sheer one is white)
-grey carpet (cat2) for bedrooms
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Prescott_Build · Apr 19, 2014 10:09 am

So any thoughts or tips you have would be great! Eg things to look for when the build actually starts. We are also starting to think about landscaping and decking the area between the house and garage with some kind of roof (laserlite?) with grass to the other part of the backyard. Any ideas for landscaping would be great as we are no gardeners!

trambay · Apr 19, 2014 10:42 am

We have the same floorboard, rustic grey look very good, They just done my floor, totally love it

Prescott_Build · Apr 20, 2014 12:52 pm

That's great to hear! We can't wait to see how it all comes together

Mentone3850 · Apr 22, 2014 9:52 pm

Hiya we also building with Burbank

Just reached lock up

Hope you find my thread helpfull

Prescott_Build · May 10, 2014 8:53 am

Well last week our finance was officially approved, construction letter sent and when I went for a drive to the block the other day, out temporary fences had been delivered. It is all happening! We are hoping construction will start maybe next week, fingers crossed...

Anocha · Jun 04, 2014 2:56 pm

Hi everyone,

We r building a Prescott in keysbourough. And just wanna get some ideas if we r on the right track.

Our land settled on 23/4/14 and Burbank said they have to get building permit which normally takes 4-6 weeks. Last week (which is week 5 from settlement), I emailed our account manager (CRS?) she said still waiting but not too far away now.. So I emailed her again yesterday (now week 6)and got auto reply that she's on holiday till next tue, so I emailed her assistant n also got auto reply that she's also on leave till next tue..

So I emailed our sales guy - our very fist Burbank contact person, he said he will find out if any updates but will have limited access to the info.

I'm just wondering how long does the permit normally take.. My workmate is building too with Simons they have already got the building permit done just b4 or just after the settlement (I can't remember when exact)

Then after the building permit does it take long till the building start?

Maybe I'm being too worried 4 nothing? I guess i just can't wait to move into our new house that's all :))

Thanks in advance guys

Cheers,
Annie

Anocha · Jun 04, 2014 4:13 pm

Prescott_Build - that's so exciting!! sorry just had a good read at all your messages!!
Nice colour selections as well! well done!

I'll see if I can post mine too.. hehe

Ponzu · Jun 04, 2014 5:27 pm

The building permit may depend on how fast the council is. Ours was approved about a week after the plans were sent off.

Mentone3850 · Jun 04, 2014 6:06 pm

Hiya we are now at fixing stage but here is my pre-sight dates just to give you idea

Presite
02 Oct 2013 - Registration and paid $1000 to Burbank
10 Oct 2013 - Soil test and Site Survey requested
22 Oct 2013 - Signed our Tender and paid $2000 to Burbank

08 Nov2013 Bank Approval
12 Nov 2013 Water Meter installed
13 Nov 2013 Colour Appointment at Edge Studio
19 Nov 2013 More variations signed and sent back (Variation 4-6)
24 Nov 2013 Site Costing completed - Variation 8
25 Nov 2013 Energy Rating Report

29 Nov 2013 Engineer Plan Completed

11 Dec 2013 - Permit approved
Approx. two weeks since plan was sent off

12 Dec 2013 - Final Construction drawing updated and signed (Version F)

13 Dec 2013 - Refer file to Construction Department
19 Dec 2013 - Received SS courtesy call to advise will be commencing construction start of 2014.

09 Jan 2014 Sight Scrape

Anocha · Jun 04, 2014 7:51 pm

Thanks guys for your info.

Sounds like our building permit is way overdue. Will have to ring the sales guy n go from there.. Not sure if we still got a chance to move in by Xmas now if they keep delaying the processes

(( oh well..

Thanks again guys. Hope all goes well 4 you guys.

Anocha · Jun 05, 2014 3:06 pm

We've just a called from our sales guy (after emailing, calling/texting 20 times lol!) that the council is being fussy on where the gutter is.. So we have to come up with a solution to meet their requirement

(

Ponzu was right.. That's what's holding us up on the permit.

dsbuild · Jun 05, 2014 9:17 pm

Hello All!

My building permit didn't take that long and I am building in Keysborough too. You need to keep in very regular contact with them to make sure your file stays at the top of the pile!

Ponzu · Jun 05, 2014 9:31 pm

D's build, if the council doesn't like something they can take their sweet time to raise it with the builder. I do however agree the builders should have been more proa tive

dsbuild · Jun 05, 2014 9:36 pm

Ponzu

D's build, if the council doesn't like something they can take their sweet time to raise it with the builder. I do however agree the builders should have been more proa tive

I totally agree the council will take as long as they take. That doesn't change my advice and experience that staying in constant, regular contact with Burbank is beneficial in pushing them along. Someone in the office could have opened the file and help Annie find out what was going on rather than her having to go to her sale person.

Anocha · Jun 06, 2014 7:25 am

Ponzo/DSbuild - thank you so much for your advice. It was a bit daunting when we didn't know what's going on.. I will definitely keep hassling them. Also a bit unprofessional of the admin ladies (main and backup persons) for not passing on our case to another person before they went on holiday too.. But lucky the Sales guy is helping and it's with his manager now. He seems like he's doing his best too.

Our block of land is smaller than standard for having double garage (25mx12m), i think the standard width should be at least 12.5m. That's why they had to adjust our gutter position but unfortunately the council didn't like it. So hopefully Burbank can come up with the solution soon.

DSbuild - we're gonna be neighbours!! hehe how's your building going - nearly finished I guess? Or already finished? How exciting!

dsbuild · Jun 11, 2014 9:02 pm

Hi Anocha,

Yes we are going to be neighbours. No my builds not finished! I have just reached lock up and come to a bit if a stand still. Hopefully Burbank have come back to you with a solution. With all our "problems" pre build we actually came up with the solutions.... So don't be afraid of throwing them some ideas too!

Good luck and keep us posted!

Anocha · Jun 12, 2014 8:40 pm

Thanks heaps dsbuild hope your one starts moving fast again. Yeah we r still waiting 4 the build permit. I just wanna see the commencement letter already and I already feel like opening a champagne when the slab is in hahaha imagine when it's all done ready to move in, I'd probably turn alcoholic lol!