Building with Kurmond Homes

Congrats mars78 - this is great news after just one Open House! My 10 cents worth - in this market, if you're happy with the first offer - then grab it with both hands because all-too-frequently the second, third, or fourth offer doesn't come!

Great stuff

Thanks. I think it was too successful because DW feels a bit rushed and flustered. I told her the price is right, don't be greedy.

Unreal. I was pleased to see you documenting your display homes visit. It certainly helps jog the memory as as you would all know, memories tend to blur after 2-3 houses.

Now to the questions/answers...

1. Front Door
The double entry doors definitely look very nice. we've actually been pondering whether we will have a security door (the clear guard type) or not. I like to open the front door for ventilation but many people opt for no security screen which definitely looks better. either way I think we can only fit the single entry door 1.2m wide. Our entry will be 1.6m wide on the Sierra.

2. Corner Stacker Doors
I do like the corner stacker doors but as Carak pointed out, not sure whether in a practical sense you can screen it. We currently have a 3 panel stacker door with 2 panels of clear guard stacker. Certainly I would upgrade from the standard sliding door, but I need to find out more about the double joining corner stackers.

3. Alfresco Ceiling
I personally love the timber ceiling look. And it would be easier to clean than a standard ceiling which outdoor would get spider webs and bugs. Worth a look at the price.

4. Front porch
The Sierra also has a great front porch all in wood - another upgrade, but stunning entry feature, thats' for sure!

6. Laundry
We will definitely get the bench and cupboards priced and you can always use the storage. DIY option is there but they can still be pricey.

7. Floor tiles
We like the style if these tiles. I don't think they are in the standard range at Manago Tiles so would need to get a price on the upgrade. Colour. I'm not sure, DW likes the darker and I prefer lighter.

9. Stove & Cooktop
I prefer the freestanding. Although I don't do the cooking it does look more gourmet?

I have only been away for a few days and so much to catch up on. Sorry for the essay...

We did it, the process has started. We paid you first payment to get our plans drafted and survey and official tender. We sat with D for ages, when finished realised it was well after 4, sorry we kept him so late on a Sunday. But he was great went through everything, drew it up again to make sure we got it all. We went through the show home and discussed many different things. Talked about the door heights with higher ceilings, DH & I think we'll leave them normal height. We looked at the massive glass window in the meals room and are adding that style window to our rumpus, it will look over at the pool. Will look great but depends on price, as everything. The Ensuite in the display home is how our Glenleigh ensuite will be. We have to change it from standard as our block is narrow. We are looking at doing the under caeser stone sink with drain to the side. Like the Iris, the one unreal showed me, I like the idea of having a little bit of draining to the right of the sink. It will be a few weeks to get our plans but should be good, can't wait.

Didn't get a chance it go to the tile shop, the shop is in opposite directions from Gledswood Hills display village. Lucky we didn't as we sat with D for ages. Have to wait until next babysitting day. Also didn't get to carpet call because the builders dept don't open on weekend without appointment. Have to that another day to. Leant matter though, have lots to do. Biggest of all is figure out what colour scheme we are going to use. It all stems from that. Thinking earthy tones, but need to look more.

Now for unreals questions

1. Double door - I like it, looks very grandeur. If you have the space well worth it. It would be great for light into the house. With our width, will be lucky to get 1 wide door. Totally agree with frosting, this is a must for me.

2. Corner Stacker doors - DH loves them and if we had an endless bucket of money we would do it in a heart beat. Asked today about it, cost approx $12000 have you thought about recessing the sliding door tracks into the concrete. It makes stepping out smoother. We'll be doing this. We like the smooth flow out, without trip hazard. You can get stacker door tracks that have flyscreen tracks. We are having them but the thought is the flies fly in and hopefully fly out. If a problem close flyscreen.

3. Alfresco ceiling, it looks good, but we are not overly keen and happy to stick with standard.

4. Front entry, looks good, we want be upgrading as the up keep would be huge for us. We face north and the sun will dry it out way to fast.

5. Built in BBQ - we love it. But it is something we will do after hand over the plan is to extend our alfresco to the fence and build a BBQ table with cover.

6. Laundry cupboards - yes like it. We have a quote from them to do the cupboards it will be done by the kitchen people. The quote given was very similar to what we paid wen we did it our selves through bunnings. If we can get them to do it we will. We have a clear mind what we want in our laundry as we just built the one in our old house. One thing to remember if you want to hang your dryer, a power point above bench for dryer and maybe exhaust outside. Also include a brace to hold the dryer. Another power point below bench for front loader machine.

7. Floor tiles - like those ones, but they are extra. Apparently there is a new package coming out that upgrades the tile package it include those ones. We like the bigger tiles, looks more modern and open. I also like the colour.

8. Stairs - we'll go carpet. Softer to fall on. I like the wooden ones but can't justify cost for them when there is so many things to do.

9. Oven & Cooktop - blanco, we are happy with blanco had one in the old house and it was great. The diamond package has the one shown included. Need to think about which way to go and look at the functions but most likely go with the included upgrades. Think the combination with the range hood will look great. Question to check for you is the glass splash back, the standard only goes up to the range hood, so above the range hood is painted. We have altered this to have the splash back go to the top of the cupboards.

10. fridge - if your having the filter fridge don't forget your tap access behind fridge. Don't know much about filter though. But maybe that is the option instead of filter at sink.

11. Garage - totally agree, the garage needs space for easy access and door opening plus all the crap, or sorry man stuff you guys store. We unfortunately can't widen it, and also can't lengthen it. So are stuck with current dimensions. We had an idea to add a room at the back though, to the right. To store our weights, future boxing bag, and other garage stuff. Have to wait until draft plans to see how we can fit this and then cost. But, if you have room to widen I would definitely do it. You want regret it.

12. HT - we will have a LCD TV with surround sound. This is DH area. He is looking at installing a hills hub and has to do some more research re all this. I can also see myself falling asleep in there, come on all the factors are spot on, dark room, cosey lounge and thunderbirds....boring show. LOL.

Mars, congrats on the offer. Trust your gut, did you set a price you will be happy with, if so, is it closer or higher? If so I would take it. You don't know what else will come in. But if your agent thinks he can stall them, then get them to small talk them for more while having another open home next weekend and see what that brings in. But, if you do that you have to be willing at the possibility to loose the offer.

Talk soon

Oh my Gosh.... Haven't my little bees been busy!!!!!

Well Done Carak for creating the thread.... I will be honest in saying that it is late, so I have only skimmed over the pages, can't believe you're up to page 4 already!

So, hope you're all doing well, I am so excited to follow your Kurmond builds now mine is over, I am going through the post-build headaches of trying to consolidate the boxes... it's taking a very long time, but we're getting there.

On some of the questions I read:

Door heights - we upgraded but we have 3m ceilings and absolutely would have looked weird with normal height. Looking at my doors now, if ceilings are 2.7m then probably not so critical to upgrade so either is fine at a 2.7m height.

Front doors - We went double doors - helped with the furniture. One is always key locked in the ground or up top, but for moving in the furniture, I was thrilled to have the option of at leasting opening the other.
Other than that, it does make the entry look grand. you can see photo's in my thread - we also went translucent glass.


Corner stackers - would have done this and a small little regret of mine, I didn't realise after plans they weren't cornerless, but I am happy and to be honest, we wouldn't have had another $12k to do them anyway. Again, you can see ours in my thread, we just have the wall in the corner so have a 3 stacker door and a 6 stacker door.

Tiles - we tiled post handover and went 600 x 600 porcelaine - still working out how to clean them.... nightmare!!!! Please don't go true porcelaine..... terrible to clean streak free! However, when they're shiny, they're like glass and I love them..

We also carperted post hand over - so glad we have carpet, otherwise it would have been too cold.

Home theatre - yes we went this too, we have screen and projector, just need to get it installed. Need to get the drive done still so that's our priority at the moment.... never ending.


Anyway, happy building and can't wait to see how it all goes... xxx

I think we're settled now with the door and window heights remaining as normal. We also like the large glass window to the meals area, so hopefully it isn't that much more. The glass rating would have to be higher being a larger surface area.


We are changing the ensuite design because we weren't sure where there was space for a towel rack. So just make sure you consider a towel hook or something next to the shower.


Thanks, yes that was our gut feel. We advertised for early $700s so for me anything starting with a 7 would be good. The agent tried for $710K but the buyer was only willing to give $705K. They were not willing to wait another week as they were already desperate to find something and therefore paid more than were willing to. Considering that this time last year we would've been looking at mid $600s and the land we bought was originally priced at $505K (we bought for $460K in April)...I think timing has been very kind to us by nearly $100K!

Mars that offer is great, for the sake of $5000, which in the scheme of things is nothing. Also, knowing it is sold is a weight of the shoulders. CONGRATULATIONS!

Definitely agree about towel racks, normally I would take that for granted but the rental we are in now has no towel racks in our massive Ensuite. I had to buy a small airier to hang them on. So, I have added that to my spreadsheet for all bathrooms.

My spreadsheet made me crack up the other day, our printer is broken so I have never printed it. I emailed it to D at kurmond to print it out for us to discuss. When We got there my spread sheet was 4 pages long on A3 paper! Yikes. LOL. it literally lists everything I can think of that we want by room. I have asked the tender to include everything on my list so that we can go through it and prioritise everything.

Upsize, you certainly are prepared! Now that we have some time I might go about the same process, room by room. There's always something you may miss otherwise.

By the way do you have any tips for getting a rental? We have never rented previously so don't have any references. Hopefully the agent will have something suitable they can put us forward for. It looks like we'll be renting for 12 months, so would locking in the rental amount for 12 months be the safer way to do it? Otherwise the rental could be increased after 6 months.

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry Unrealhome.... must have been the ‘SundayHaze’ I didn’t say thank you for all the great photo’s – really helpful to have photo’s to jog people’s memory – well my memory anyway.

Completely understand about being too exhausted to check out the bricks. People might think it is silly to say that after checking out a couple of display homes you are “too pooped” to look at bricks but it is very, very tiring both physically (the drive) and mentally (the drive and absorbing all that you see, all that you would like to have in your home and working out what you do and don’t want in your home plus a list of questions in your mind that hopefully you won’t forget to ask the builder). On the days that we have been out for up to 7 hours I get home make a cup of coffee and don’t move for a couple of hours – mix exhaustion with old age and you get ‘nanna nap’.

Fridge: We will be getting a new fridge. The fridge that we brought from our old house to the townhouse where we are living now didn’t fit in the fridge space so we had to buy a new one, so now we have two. Selling both getting a ‘normal’ 2 door/double door – not sure about an ice maker. Unrealhome I don’t think you need to worry about an icemaker, just put water in the ice tray leave it out overnight and you will have ice.

Garage: Still not sure our garage is big enough, had it bigger but it just looked sooo big, so made it a bit smaller. Already have boxes of ‘stuff’ in the garage – more room = more ‘stuff’.

Home Theatre: Think this room will be a work in progress.. just need to find out what we need to put in at the time of construction and then we will do the rest later. OMG Unrealhome my DH loves the Thunderbirds as well, I’m not so keen... but I do remember I Dream of Jeannie (I think Barbara Eden has just released a book), The Brady Bunch (love Alice) and of course Bewitched – never could get my nose to twitch..

Love your rose and your backyard, living in a townhouse we don’t even have grass... Will you be taking your roses with you? We have many, many plants including roses in pots and can’t wait to plant them in the ground.

Mars78 – that is absolutely fantastic news – first open and you get an offer. Completely understand about your DW feeling a bit rushed & flustered, I would be too. You have been planning the sale & opens for so long and all of a sudden – wham - sold. Selling a house & buying a house is such a rollercoaster ride, so full of ups and downs. I’m with Unrealhome, if it is a genuine offer and they are ready to go and it’s a price that you can accept – go for it. Better that you have the money in your bank account than someone else’s.

Upsizetime – yah – happy, happy dance so excited for you. D is a really nice man and I am sure he didn’t mind what time he finished, I'm so glad you got everything sorted. We have changed our ensuite and now I (not DH) am thinking of changing it again, agree about the undermount sink in the Iris, much prefer having a draining area. Can’t wait to see your plans.

$12,000 for the corner stackers, I suppose they would have to put a lot of steel beams for support, must remember to ask about the recessed door tracks into the concrete to stop me tripping – oh dear more questions.

With the laundry – if you have a dryer do you need it “exhausted” outside if you have a window in the laundry. Is anyone else having a window in the laundry?

Lilac welcome back, we have missed you. I hope you will be around occasionally to give a bit of advice and help. I think we are all a bit excited to be building with Kurmond (well we are) but it is always nice to have someone there how has ‘been there done that’ for support. Have you had all your little ‘issues’ fixed up by Kurmond? I have noticed on a few other threads of other builders that people are waiting months & months for things to be fixed. Would love to see some new photo’s Lilac – when you have time.

Mars78 – completely agree about towel rails – doesn’t seem a big issue until you have finished building and you don’t have anywhere for the towel to hang except over the toilet or on the wall behind the shower screen door.

Found out today that the Kurmond display homes at Homeworld Kellyville will be open beginning of August. Can't wait to see them. Who is going to be there the first day?

That is very funny Upsize I think we are heading in the same direction!

- so with you carak ~ though maybe a grandpa nap in my case


- now there's something different carak ~ water in the ice tray and leave it out overnight?! Wouldn't that leave me with, um, 'water in the ice tray' by the morning ... just kidding, I know what you meant


- hmmm, that twitch was always befuddling to me

Great to have lilac casting a shoulder over her Kurmond babies

That is brilliant news, except, I thought it was going to be June Oh well - August it is, and you know how they all line up at the Apple Stores for those iPhones, perhaps we should all set a trend and line up for their official opening? Hahahhahahahaha

Thanks for this Upsize - $12,000? Wow- that is a lot of money. All those steel beams as carak said, I guess? But thanks for the tip on the recessing the sliding door tracks into the concrete! Didn't even know you could do that. Great news.

Thanks for letting us know about the new package coming out. Wonder when and what else it will include / exclude?! I do like those tiles, but when we saw a few other display homes, yes, we also liked the larger tiles. Decisions! Decisions!


- certainly the Blanco looks good. We've never had that model before, so can't comment - therefore appreciate your feedback! As for the splashback, I don't quite understand what you mean - do you mean you'll have the splashback above the rangehood to the "top" of the cupboards as in near the ceiling? I'm guessing I'm stoopidly wrong, and you mean to just where the cupboards start?


'nough said yes, plenty of crap to store in this family

- ah, yes, the Hills Hub I hear about. What is that? A space for the data cabling I guess? When I hear "Hills" I think of a clothes line

- I think your DW is just being cautious, but seriously, I've sold four homes (gosh, sounds like I've moved and moved!) and on each occasion I found the first offer was the best. If it's meant to be, go for it!

mars you are going to have an fantastic home!! The display home looks absolutely fantastic! And thanks for your feedback on the double-entry door idea. I think we can 'fit it in' - so we will just see what the costs will be and see if it's meant to be, oh, and thanks for the tip on cooktop, like you, I don't do the cooking (but love eating what is cooked )- so what DW would most like in this department wins over.

Mars can't be much help with rental, we got lucky And are renting for my in laws. So, we have very flexible landlords.

With the laundry and exhaust, think we only have a door and in my old house it was the same. Real pain having to open the door whenever I want to use the dryer. So an exhaust is a must.

Unreal, to explain a little more. The standard glass splash back that is included on the back of the kitchen between the bottom and overhanging cupboards. However, with the range hood that is included in the diamond package the range hood goes between the cupboards, exposing the wall. Instead of having exposed wall, also cover that part of the wall with matching glass splash back up to the bulk head.

The hills hub does remind me of the ol hills clothes line. Nothing like swinging around. But the 21st century hills hub is all about data throughout the home. DH is investigating but it is to centralise all the data devices. I think the point is that if you have Internet it initially joins to the hub and then branches out to all rooms from there. It is meant to centralise all your Internet, network and audio. Theory is if we have an Apple TV, we install it in the hub and can access all our iTunes data from any data point in the home. But DH has been tasked with figuring this out more.

Yes I feel we have definitely made the right decision to accept the offer. Now to look forward to the hassles of finding a rental and moving everything...phone line, internet, mailing address etc... Well after contracts have exchanged that is!



Unreal, the display is very well presented and the layout gave us something to work with. Now that you're familiar with the house here's a summary some of the main changes we're making...
1. Adding a storage room between the garage and hallway (this will make the house wider)
2. Doubling the size of the ensuite which will occupy the bedroom just behind (moving the bedroom to the back of the house)
3. Increasing the size of the children's activity / study area to occupy the WIR of the master. This WIR will now be shifted to the entry of the ensuite - also adding a skylight as there will be no windows
4. Increasing the size of the pantry
5. Increasing size of the living room at the back

This is what I'm thinking about also. The NBN connection would come into your garage most likely, so your hub would be located nearby. The media centre would be located here, with CAT6 cabling to all room terminated on a patch panel in the hub room. I've heard 2 data points per room, but it seems overkill. Maybe for the home theatre and study at least. The rest of the house would mainly rely on wireless I'd say.

Lucky you! My parents offered for us to stay WITH them, but obviously that will be chaotic. A friendly landlord is ideal.
Also good point about the exhaust in the laundry, since we've not got a dryer but will be getting one.

Mars those changes will be great, interested to see how you make the ensuite bigger. We have to change our ensuite like that one due to our house width. We are adding a door though and therefore will get wall space to hang towels

With the data cabling we are planning on having it to all bedrooms, especially the kids. Wireless is good but if you want to download large files it can be a bit of a wait. Thinking kids might want direct connection in the future

DH had the morning off today so we went for a little drive looking at a few house facades and also went and met George from Carpet call he was great. Here are a few photos of what we liked, for today, who knows to,or row I might change my mind.

Here is a house we liked the colouring of, think the door needs to be either darker to match garage door or maybe stained dark.



These are some carpets and laminate flooring options we looked at. Liked the one on the right, Ancient Oak. With the dark carpet above.

These are all from the standard range, might be the way to go if tile upgrade too expensive.

Mars love all your changes, can't wait to see your plans. Good luck with finding somewhere to rent. We have rented before, in between house purchases, we rented a 'revolting' house but it was close to everything we needed and a really, really cheap price, so put up with it knowing that it was only for a short time and we were going to something that was ours. If you are staying in the same area as you live now, you wouldn't have to worry about renting a 'revolting' place like we did - it was old & disgusting before that area was even developed.