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Hey Sue,
I am glad someone was inspired by this. Its proof you can get a custom looking home with a project builder!
If you want to come have walk through, PM me and we can organise a catch up.
And yes you can absolutely copy any part of our plans.
But to answer your question - I think we will come in around 460k completely finished. Including demo, build, pool etc.
Demolition was about 15k (this will have gone up slightly with the new dumping levy). Budget 17-20k
We had to do some retaining walls, relocate a shed and a few other things prior to the build starting.
Build was 361k including
all upgrades (and we had heaps of upgrades) and included the upstairs reconfig but excluding ground floor tiling, lighting upgrades and the barn doors.
We also removed ducted aircon, but had all the ducting and electrical 'prerun' so we could add it later. Saved us roughly 20k during the build. We made an effort to orientate all the windows to the SE and North to capture the prevailing breezes and naturally cool the house. It has worked a treat!
Lighting we are having done post handover - Roughly 5k for all chandeliers and downlights installed (saved 10k).
Driveway and paths have come in about 10k
Solar - $7,500
Pool is eight metres x four metres and partially above ground - roughly 35k
Our block is 1400m2 so our landscaping will be huge - we have budgeted about 20k for just grass and fencing.
Window screens - 3k
Plantation shutters - 7.5k
Alfresco tiling - 4k
Hope this helps.
If you want to come for a look, you can PM me and have a walk through?
Rhett
Rhett, a walkthrough would be amazing!! So kind of you to offer. Will have a chat with the hubby tonight and PM you.
And thanks so much for all the details. 460K isn't bad at all (but you've been so clever with $$ savings, what with windows positioning and catching the breeze, I wouldn't even know where to start with that! Interesting and useful to note that you're doing lights post handover). We have budgeted 500K max for the demo+new build+pool so barring exceptional deviations/specific issues on our site it looks like staying on budget might be possible???......fingers crossed.
And you're so on point with the custom look being achievable with project builds....that was mostly what put us off project builds at first. But I've fallen in love with your design so thats saying something! I am very pleasantly surprised that with all your additions and modifications to the facade it came in at 361K...I was thinking 400K at least since the Fairmont 35 currently starts at 273K on the website and it doesn't even have a Hampton facade option available. Did you manage to score some special promos etc with Clarendon that might have made a difference to the price?
Anyways, will PM you....exciting times!!
Million thanks Sue
I know what you mean... At one stage I fell in love with the plantation hamptons trinity. 45k for a hamptons façade? No freakin way!
I am a town planner and I asked the drafting team at clarendon to make some changes based on the 'Traditional Building Character Overlay' requirements that I work with when I lodge applications to Brisbane City Council. Things like intersecting gables, reduced height parapet and 25-27.5degree roof pitches. So yeah. Because I knew what I wanted, it was easy for them to change the façade.
Yeah I can give you the contact at Clarendon who did the plans for me. He was kind, proactive and very accommodating.
As a trick, we also went for the ruby (lowest) package and added the upgrades. It actually came in cheaper that way (ssshhh! don't tell anyone)
I think when we signed a contract it was around xmas and market was super slow. They had 35k off two storey houses which has now been dropped to $25k. So you might find yours is 10k higher than what I paid as a rule of thumb. Also, because you're not in a new estate there are discount for ready land etc etc that I can tell you about also.
Enough from me!
I know what you mean... At one stage I fell in love with the plantation hamptons trinity. 45k for a hamptons façade? No freakin way!
I am a town planner and I asked the drafting team at clarendon to make some changes based on the 'Traditional Building Character Overlay' requirements that I work with when I lodge applications to Brisbane City Council. Things like intersecting gables, reduced height parapet and 25-27.5degree roof pitches. So yeah. Because I knew what I wanted, it was easy for them to change the façade.
Yeah I can give you the contact at Clarendon who did the plans for me. He was kind, proactive and very accommodating.
As a trick, we also went for the ruby (lowest) package and added the upgrades. It actually came in cheaper that way (ssshhh! don't tell anyone)
I think when we signed a contract it was around xmas and market was super slow. They had 35k off two storey houses which has now been dropped to $25k. So you might find yours is 10k higher than what I paid as a rule of thumb. Also, because you're not in a new estate there are discount for ready land etc etc that I can tell you about also.
Enough from me!
You're a town planner! OK...things are starting to make sense now haha! Good on you.
Had to laugh.....I also fell in love with the Plantation's Trinity Hampton facade and promptly fell out of love when they quoted me the extra facade cost (I wish they would make it more transparent of the additional $$ when you select a particular facade online)....unbelievable.
Woot. Grass!
Write reply...
My wife is absolutely nailing the styling.
We up cycled the kitchen table (got it for $100!) and the tv unit.
Pool fence is in and certified meaning the internal work can be finished. The pool be filled by a few weeks.
I made a promise to my wife that I'd never try and get on our second storey roof haha. So I orered gutter guard today so I don't have to. Cheaper than I thought
So:
1. Finish pool;
2. Pour slab and tile from patio to the pool;
3. Prep and lay the second half of the block being turfed after the pool concrete slab is done;
4. Then I just have to finish the front fence.
Almost there!
It's looking great, and kudos to your wife - the styling is spot on
Did you prep and lay the turf yourself?
It's looking great, and kudos to your wife - the styling is spot on
Did you prep and lay the turf yourself?
Haha no way!
It's about 700m2 of the grass in total we had to break it into two stages because it's soo much. Way too big for me to do on my own.
Hopefully when the second lot goes down it will actually rain. Haha.
Hows your finishing touches coming along?
My wife is absolutely nailing the styling.
We up cycled the kitchen table (got it for $100!) and the tv unit.
Pool fence is in and certified meaning the internal work can be finished. The pool be filled by a few weeks.
I made a promise to my wife that I'd never try and get on our second storey roof haha. So I orered gutter guard today so I don't have to. Cheaper than I thought
So:
1. Finish pool;
2. Pour slab and tile from patio to the pool;
3. Prep and lay the second half of the block being turfed after the pool concrete slab is done;
4. Then I just have to finish the front fence.
Almost there!
Wow!! Beautiful styling!!! Everything looks so amazing!! On another note, my inspection was on 22nd, I took your advice and went with All Inspect. Getting the keys on 29th.
My wife is absolutely nailing the styling.
We up cycled the kitchen table (got it for $100!) and the tv unit.
Pool fence is in and certified meaning the internal work can be finished. The pool be filled by a few weeks.
I made a promise to my wife that I'd never try and get on our second storey roof haha. So I orered gutter guard today so I don't have to. Cheaper than I thought
So:
1. Finish pool;
2. Pour slab and tile from patio to the pool;
3. Prep and lay the second half of the block being turfed after the pool concrete slab is done;
4. Then I just have to finish the front fence.
Almost there!
Wow!! Beautiful styling!!! Everything looks so amazing!! On another note, my inspection was on 22nd, I took your advice and went with All Inspect. Getting the keys on 29th. Pic of my kitchen.
That's a lot of grass! I think mine was about 85m2 which even then was a half day between me, wife and father in law! Shoveling the 19m3 of soil before hand was a tough ask though
It's going pretty well - basically irrigation and gardens are the last step - all the beds are in, just need to plant and mulch them! I'll put some photos up soon when there's something to take a photo of haha
Heaps happening,
- Pool is pebblecreted, plumbing connected, coping done - few more weeks and it will be ready for a swim.
- I finished tiling the main patio, grouting it today. We poured another 35m2 of concrete around the pool
so now I have to tile that too *sigh*
Apparently the pool is getting acid washed on Monday and commissioned. Woot!
Booked in the remaining 400m2 of grass to go down on the 11th Dec.
That pool looks awesome!! Love those tiles too.
Great that things are very smoothly. More rain to keep those grass lush 😊
Hi Sue Z, whatever you do, DO NOT build with Garth Chapman...had a terrible experience...have made applications with QBCC twice and will be going to QCAT next year. Handover was in Feb 2016 so it’s a saga...
Rhetti...your house and pool is so gorgeous...the quality control looks so professional and top notch!
Did you have many defects in Pre Inspection?
Hey Rose Gold,
Our site supervisor picked up most of the visual defects before we got there and we had a independent building inspector to was pretty thorough. He produced a pretty long list, all of which was rectified.
We were really lucky with the tiler we got allocated. He was a perfectionist. Titling was probably the most stressful thing in my last building because what do you do? Rip it out?
A few weeks after handover we had screens fit to the windows. The screen guy said our big big window (3m width x 2.4m high) was sagging in the middle. I rang Clarendon and the SS came out and realised the chicks had fallen out in the middle. He organised to have the skirting taken off, the window re-chocked and painted which being done as I write this reply.
So yeah, for a project builder they have impressed me.
I am sorry to see you had a negative experience with your builder
Rhetti, yes tell me about it...our tiles were stuffed up...long saga there🤦🏻♀️
We’ve built 2 project homes previously and they were way less stressful that building with GC Traditional Queenslanders...they are basically a project builder who uses cheap stuff but tries to make it look expensive.
We are going to sell and are looking to build again. Your thread here has been a great read 👍
Hi Rhetti
Fabulous thread and congratulations on your new build! After reading KingTaco's and your thread, I am motivated to start my own too..
I am currently building with Clarendon in SEQ as well and wanted some guidance (if you don't mind) with regards to a few items..
Did you use private inspectors or inspect every time before a progress claim was made - We went for a inspection and noted few things that kind of disrupted our peace, unsure if it's normal with any build.. Emailed the team still waiting on response.. Unsure if our site manager is even across our build as he never responds to us..
I have attached some pictures but since you had already built with Clarendon and also happy with the result, would appreciate any suggestions/ feedback on this.
Timber frames had gaps and nails protruding out
Sisalation had tears and in some places wasn't installed
Slab had minor craters..
Garage frame was not straight..
Hi Rhetti
Fabulous thread and congratulations on your new build! After reading KingTaco's and your thread, I am motivated to start my own too..
I am currently building with Clarendon in SEQ as well and wanted some guidance (if you don't mind) with regards to a few items..
Did you use private inspectors or inspect every time before a progress claim was made - We went for a inspection and noted few things that kind of disrupted our peace, unsure if it's normal with any build.. Emailed the team still waiting on response.. Unsure if our site manager is even across our build as he never responds to us..
I have attached some pictures but since you had already built with Clarendon and also happy with the result, would appreciate any suggestions/ feedback on this.
Timber frames had gaps and nails protruding out
Sisalation had tears and in some places wasn't installed
Slab had minor craters..
Garage frame was not straight..
To be honest. I could give you my opinion on the items, but I don't think it would mean as much as if you had a private building inspector come and review the build. You can have an inspector come at any time during the build.
Typically, the geo-fabric timber framing and the like are inspected following completion of the rough in phase (following installation of your sewer and water pipes and electrical) as the contractors will randomly cut holes and do things they aren't meant to when installing the pipe work.
If want to be sure your build is 100% call All-inspect and book in building inspector to undertake an inspection. He gives you a report with all the defects and Clarendon
have to rectify the issues.
He will walk around and spray all the defects in yellow so you can identify them easily.
Thanks, Rhetti. We did email our builder last week that we will have a private inspector come in to inspect and they haven't responded.
Are we to wait until they respond or can we have the inspector come in anytime?