Anyone building with Dale Alcock or recently built

The DA Crew · **Posted:** Jan 09, 2012 10:27 am

Hi Perth-1st Timer.

I understand why you feel frustrated about the fridge space. I read your post and just wanted to see if this is something I could look into on your behalf?

I'd just need you to drop me a PM with your name and details and I can certainly investigate this for you as a matter of priority.

Alternatively you can email me directly: thedacrew@dalealcock.com.au

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Jemima.

Perth-1st Timer wrote:

Hi all, sorry I haven't been around here as much lately, we've been busy enjoying our new home for the past 12-months and I've been keeping in touch with some via private messages and email.

Anyway - thought I would take the opportunity to vent here once more as I've just been out shopping for some lovely Vintec wine fridges to fit in my lovely (but currently rather empty) wine fridge recesses. Anyone who has been to the Nautilus displays would know the recesses and fridges I am talking about.

So the fridges at the moment are quite cheap (about $2300 for the pair) and I was close to biting the bullet today, however I thought I would do a quick measure back at home just to make sure they would fit as expected. Turns out that was a good move - the wine fridges are 595mm wide each, two requiring 1190mm in total, plus clearance space on the side. As it turns out, the lovely recess that DAH built for me is actually only 1190mm at the top, just, and 1185mm down the bottom - in other words, no chance that these fridges will fit and I'm left with an empty space I could rather do without (this photo from my blog shows the recess in question - http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YuLxK3-OngA/T ... ished5.JPG).

...And so just to cancel out any visions I had of trying to modify the width of the cabinet, upon measuring the height it turns out my recess has a 65mm fixed trim panel to the top, which means an overall height from the finished floor of 510mm - the fridges at a minimum are 520mm. I had to laugh at that point - even if I could get the fridges under that panel - I would never be able to open the doors :lol:

Ahhh...the joys of building... Now of course, I could tell you that the depth was pefect and that there was adequate ventilation in the recess as per the manufacturers instructions (here in case anybody needs it - http://www.vintec.com.au/siteimages/ins ... _specs.pdf) but alas, it appears that even if I could chisel the sides of the cabinets to fit the width and the chop off the levelling feed to fit the height... the recess still wouldn't be deep enough for the cabinets to sit flush with the front cabinet work (trim panel) - in fact they would stick out by approximately 20-mm and have zero ventilation which means my warranty on over $2000 worth of wine cabinets would be void!

So just a quick thank you to the team at DAH for putting such great attention to detail into your plans and works. To make use of this space that was specified specifically for these fridges I am now faced with having to organise a cabinet maker (ever reliable types :roll:

) to quote on putting in some form of customised cabinetry and glass doors to suit the space which is probably going to cost me about $2000 at a minimum (and the head-ache or accommodating multiple trades-people) and leave me with no climate control for my wine collection.

I suppose at least I will always have this image to tell me what my kitchen should have looked like

[ img ]

Oceanus2 · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2009 **Posts:** 829 **Location:** Perth

Hope you all survived the storms this morning!
I think we may have a big problem with lack of downpipes!
On our plans, there are meant to be 2 downpipes at the back of the alfresco, HOWEVER, as the plans state, it is upto the discretion of the roof plumber.. obviously he decided not to put any there, so we have only 2 downpipes (1 at the rear of the living room and 1 at the rear of the theatre) that has to cope with the hole back of the house plus the alfresco (also raked).

This morning, water was pouring out from between the gutter and fascia. Like a goddamn water feature, it was. This isn't the first time it has happened. It usually spurts out the rear of the alfresco where the capping beam thing runs down and meets the end of the gutter.

DP attended a clients building inspection this morning, and so he told the BI what happened. BI said that we should definitely follow up on it, as obviously there *needs* to be more downpipes.

The gutters on the alfresco are not quite doing their job, anyway. After even a small shower, water sits dormant in the gutter as there is not enough slant (or whatever) for it to fall back into the other gutter and down the downpipe.

I would not be surprised if there is still a mountain of water sitting in the eaves of the alfresco that has backwashed in there from the gutters. Brilliant!

Bagheera · 13/09-06/10

Oh noo I don't know what happened up in the hills - there was no rain last night and at 5am when I got up we could see some lightening in the distance. I left home at 6am so I have no idea how much raid did we get, if any.

At our 6 months maintenance we had another downpipe installed at the back of the garage/entry of the Laundry as the valley was to big and the downpipes too far to cope with the amount of water. We had water in the garage and that wall being single leaf was always wet during heavy downpours.

Since the downpipe was installed the garage wall is not wet anymore.

BTW not sure if the gutters make a difference as well - we have the quarter round ones around the entire house which look a bit bigger so that might help slightly. They will still overflow if the volume of water is too great and there are not enough downpipes to cope with the amount of water.

How many downpipes do you have?

Edited to add: I think that the location of the downpipes is crucial and the roof plumbers should not rely totally on the plans but use common sense when installing the downpipes.

duke · **Joined:** 24 Dec 2009 **Posts:** 949 **Location:** WA

I actually don't get this downpipe business where the guy has the discretion. The down pipe is there based on the size of the roof so why not install it? I can understand where the put it could be at there discretion but reduced... I would follow it up with the builder.
Might go on a rant on my page with things that were suppose to happen but has not with my maintenance.

Oceanus2 · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2009 **Posts:** 829 **Location:** Perth

Bags, I think most of us Nautilus/Oceanics have 2 downpipes near the porch? As you look out of the door, the one one the right absolutely buckets out with water, but the one on the left literally only trickles, if at all. Sometimes the right one will gush, and not a single drop comes out of the left one.

Duke, I was also under the impression that the amount of drainpipes are collected using some sort of formula based on the area of the roof. Funny how we didn't get a credit back for the 2 missing downpipes!

I'll follow up with this one for sure. Also want to ensure that the downpipe/flashing at the rear of the garage near the master bedroom is also ok, as we have water stains on the garage ceiling. Noticed it a few weeks ago when I was clearing out the garage.

Oceanus2 · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2009 **Posts:** 829 **Location:** Perth

Duke, when was your 6mth stuff done? Are you still waiting on things to be finished?

I wonder how poor koolsville is getting on

Wandering · **Joined:** 17 Jan 2011 **Posts:** 98 **Location:** WA

My house has the same number of down pipes as it shows on the plans. No sign of leaks here yet (hope that continues!). Can't say that I went out in the storm to check nothing was badly overflowing, but no sign of anything that I can see.

duke · **Joined:** 24 Dec 2009 **Posts:** 949 **Location:** WA

O2 I still have cistern to replace but plumber waiting on part to arrive from Caroma so that bit is fine.
They are replacing the Bathroom 3 in 1 and waiting for that even though they said it will be at my place by the 16th maint. Day. Painter and tiler still need to do their bit and longer door stopper required.

Perth-1st Timer · **Joined:** 03 Jan 2007 **Posts:** 352

The DA Crew wrote:

Hi Perth-1st Timer.

I understand why you feel frustrated about the fridge space. I read your post and just wanted to see if this is something I could look into on your behalf? ...

Hi Everyone - just an update on my situation. Thanks to Jemima's assistance the team at DAH have promptly made the required changes to my fridge recess at no charge (apart from the Bamboozle floor fixes - as we removed a floor standing laminate panel - which I expect will be a few hundred). With the help of a cabinet makers eye we were able to fix the height and width issues with a minimum of fuss, and the depth issue I can live with.

I will post up a photo once the fridges are in place - which I now need to go out again and find somewhere to buy on the cheap. All in all not a great situation but a good outcome so credit where credit is due, thanks Jemima and DAH for sorting it out professionally.

Perth-1st Timer · **Joined:** 03 Jan 2007 **Posts:** 352

Hi Guys - Regarding the downpipes - remember this set of posts - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=29525&p=519918 ?

Its for that reason I had to dig this huge hole!
http://secondhomebuild.blogspot.com/201 ... l-pci.html

2 downpipes for that end of the Nautilus is just not enough, in fact I have issues here, and also near the Laundry of overflowing soakwells and pits that just cannot catch the volume of water coming out.

Since I put in the additional soakwells it hasn't been an issue at the back of the house - I also said no to the 'Slotted gutters' as I've had the curtain of water experience at our old house

I will eventually need to put some extra drainage near the laundry... somehow

Oceanus2 · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2009 **Posts:** 829 **Location:** Perth

P1T, good to hear they've helped fix the fridge space problem! Nice that they have done it, although I suspect they could save 100's of 1000's of dollars per year on unnecessary fixes if they insist on their tradies & contractors doing the job properly in the first place!

Our soakwells are coping well with the amount of water coming from downpipes, but the gutter itself on the alfresco doesn't cope. Water does sit stagnant in the back section of the gutter for a number of days. Not sure if they should be slanted slightly more towards the house? Makes for great mozzie breeding!

In your experience, you wouldn't recommend the slotted gutter? We were thinking we might have to either change the alfresco section to slotted, or have someone come in and suggest *something* to help it cope. DP also suggested maybe we should have two gutters added at the rear of the alfresco (as per the construction plans) and maybe have 2 slimline rain water tanks to catch the water.

We are somewhat restricted as far as soakwells and rainwater tanks due to having such a small backyard that is separated by a massive retaining wall. There is only about 3.7 metres between the back of the house (living room & theatre walls) to the retaining wall that separates our yard into 2 levels. The alfresco pillars sit approximately 10cm away from the retaining wall.

We'll be contacting DAH within the next week or so. Our daughter was in PMH for corrective heart surgery this week gone, so unfortunately, all else was put on the backburner for the week. I need to ensure she is recovering well before I have to worry about other crap!

Our intentions of getting some gardens done over Christmas also didn't happen. We only allowed ourselves a few days off between Christmas and New Year, and time got away from us

Having said that, the Agapanthus out the front are doing well

I'm sure the neighbours are sick of looking at our dustbowl verge, but...well... too bad. If they want to donate some of their time, I'll gladly let them landscape it

The DA Crew · **Posted:** Jan 30, 2012 12:04 pm

Hi all.

Just to let you know that as always, you can direct any issues you feel are unresolved to me - just send me an email or a PM and I will approach the relevant people so that they can investigate accordingly.

I hope everything is withstanding this strange weather - boiling hot mostly with huge downpours!

I like to read through all your posts to check all is going well (or not) - so please feel free to get in touch if you need to.

Best regards,

Jemima.

Excited to Build · **Joined:** 11 Oct 2010 **Posts:** 267 **Location:** WA

Thanks Jemima, we are nearly at our 6 month maintenance mark and will def keep your details handy!

Hi all,

sorry been MIA for quite sometime! Hope u are all enjoying ur new homes, no real issues for us. BUT as it turns out we may be relocating to Montreal in the next few months! Ugh!!! Typical we build our dream home and then move!!

Oceanus2 · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2009 **Posts:** 829 **Location:** Perth

Wow, everyone seems to be leaving Perth! We have taken on a few rental managements in the past couple of months where our clients have been transferred to Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Canada. One client is going to Mongolia in a few months so we're taking on their PPR and another coming on who is moving to Spain for work.

Do you work in the mining industry, ETB? We have 5 geologist clients.. didn't know Perth had that many! lol

Good to hear you've had no real problems, either! Seems to be that it has been yourself and Karratha who have had no/very few problems. Yay!

abstar1 · **Joined:** 17 Jan 2012 **Posts:** 12

Hi Guys,

Long time lurker...

Thanks for sharing all the good and bad as it saves us all reinventing the wheel. Very interesting reads.

Were building the Nautilus in Yalyalup. Just signed the PWC this week. :z:

We have a great salesperson so far who has been very helpful with suggestions and quick replies. Im hoping this continues.

Were doing very few changes. Have taken the theatre wall out to the eaves to make the pantry bigger, ensuite ends up slightly bigger but REALLY needed a bigger pantry. Moved bedroom 2 WIR out to the shelving space in the hallway which suits DD, kept the glass into office so I can keep an eye on homework progress :roll:

putting in underbench oven and making wall oven space into appliance cabinet and various other things which have added up very quickly :::

This build could be a while, as we are waiting for work commitments to change before we commit anymore as we will have to move, so im unsure of what stage will come next. We are hoping to get it to council so that part is ready for when we are ready and we can save a bit of time.

I will be bombarding you with all with pointless questions no doubt so please bare with me ::lol::

Oceanus2 · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2009 **Posts:** 829 **Location:** Perth

Welcome, abstar

As my signature states, we built the Oceanic with some Nautilus upgrades being the ensuite, raked ceiling to dining and alfresco and have holes in our study walls

Don't ever be scared to ask a question, no matter how silly or trivial you think it might be! Everyone in this thread is very helpful

Look forward to hearing of your progress once it all starts

Good luck!

aquanoob · **Posted:** Feb 07, 2012 5:42 pm

Hi all - another DAH project in the works now.

Best put our lot into this thread. We're building a Hampton upgrade to Archipelago design with a few modifications in Rossmoyne. Contract signed up in late Jan 2012, got the Council approvals (finally) and am waiting for construction drawings and scheduling for the build.

The DAH Salesperson was

-Fantastic-

with his timely and courteous service and help in giving advice on building items. (removed the person's name just in case it would cause problems with legal).

Our prestart was done much earlier, as we were super keen on starting asap, and kinda knew what we were going to have. The office in Ozzie Park made things so much simpler for us to decide on items *and I got sold on those E-vents for roof ventilation* and took those Kote upgrades to the sliding panels (looked so much better than the plain white).

The sales guy told us that he's glad we're building that home south of the river, as he doesn't want to drive all the way to Alkimoss :twisted:

to show off that design to clients! *I can well understand that sentiment - told him to kickstart the build faster then.*

Now waiting to hear from them about the drawings completed and scheduling this week etc...

I'll be updating my thread below for any interested. (at least I figured out how to add pictures now)

Oceanus2 · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2009 **Posts:** 829 **Location:** Perth

All sounding good, aquanoob.
Can I offer a little suggestion though?
May I suggest that you not name staff... if things turn bad, you don't want to run the risk of 'naming and shaming' individuals and getting into all sorts of trouble

Fingers crossed it is smooth sailing for you, but... well... just keep all those fingers and toes crossed and keep a close eye on your build

Looking forward to seeing your progress! Let the build begin!

abstar1 · **Joined:** 17 Jan 2012 **Posts:** 12

Thanks oceanus2, your build has been an eye opener...

On another note, the selling agent has contacted us to say we have neighbours on both sides now, 1 will build later and 1 will start sooner. Im wondering if i should forward them a picture of our site/block plans?
My hubby says no need (might look pushy), but i would like to know if im putting my main bedroom near somebodys alfresco or workshop (we have lifestyle blocks) so im presuming they might too?

Any thoughts?

Oceanus2 · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2009 **Posts:** 829 **Location:** Perth

abstar, I asked the moderators to remove my building thread. Our build was an eye-opener for us, too :lol:

Never again. Never!

It's probably up to you as to whether you contact your neighbours. We didn't. We met our neighbours before our construction started. Our living room is next to their alfresco, but they rarely have visitors, so we don't get any noise

The people who bought the block on our master bedroom side haven't started building yet, but they contacted us to get us to sign off on their plans for council. They were going to build a split-level house and their front balcony would overlook our garage.. our master is behind the garage so it didn't bother us. Having said that, that was nearly 2 years ago and they still haven't applied to the council, so not sure what they are doing these days.

He WAS pushy. He TOLD us he was raising his land by 500mm. He TOLD us he was building a concrete panel retainer wall ON the boundary, and that if we didn't like that, we could contribute towards a limestone retaining wall (I don't think so!). He TOLD us what colour fence we'll be having, and that if we didn't like it, we could always paint our side (we built first, and agreed with our other neighbours who built on the colour we wanted... which is, unfortunately, the colour he didn't want... so I guess he'll be busy painting HIS side when he does eventually build

)

If you are worried about noisy neighbours, then it might be a good idea to contact them to see what plans they have so you can avoid putting bedrooms near their alfresco's

Just keep in mind that tension can be quite high when building, so proceed with caution and if you do contact the neighbours, make out that you are concerned about noise for THEM, not you

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