PR's Finished Build - A belated update and a wedding Pg. 69

Hi there!

I thought I would introduce myself and start a topic to document my home building journey.

I'm a 24yr old Perth resident building my first home with Redink Homes in the inner north-eastern suburbs. When I'm not building my house or playing an unhealthy amount of xbox, I'm an engineer that works in the property developing industry, particularly in stormwater system design.

Below is the final plan;



My selections from prestart are also presented below;


Render Colours changed to Solver Cloudy Sky and Solver Urban Tribe (feature)


Overhead cabinets changed to match bottom (Formica Baikal)



Timelines appear to be pretty popular, so I thought I'd get around it too!

I will update my thread regularly as the build progresses.

Cheers

TIMELINE:

19 May 2013 - Decided to build a house
20 May 2013 - Started to draft house plans with Redink
28 Jun 2013 - Signed PCQ
31 Jul 2013 - Finance Approved
8 Oct 2013 - Working drawings completed
5 Nov 2013 - Interior Design Consult
11 Nov 2013 - Prestart
26 Nov 2013 - Signed building contracts
11 Dec 2013 - Final plans received
16 Jan 2014 - Final amended plans submitted to Redink, Power Dome Installed, Building Permit application submitted
28 Jan 2014 - Received Building Permit
4 Feb 2014 - Water tap (and what a tap it is)
19 Feb 2014 - Site works
13 Mar 2014 - Pipes
14 Mar 2014 - Footings
21 Mar 2014 - Slab
27 Mar 2014 - Drains and Stormwater
3 Apr 2014 - Site Clean
4 Apr 2014 - Brick Delivery
29 Apr 2014 - Bricklaying Started
23 May 2014 - Bricklaying Completed
3 Jun 2014 - Roof Timber Delivery
9 Jun 2014 - Roof Frame Started
11 Jun 2014 - Roof Frame, Eaves and Garage Ceiling Completed
12 Jun 2014 - Wall Chasing for Electrics
16 Jun 2014 - Gutters
17 Jun 2014 - Roof and Wall Plumbing
20 Jun 2014 - Roof and Wall Electrics
23 Jun 2014 - Roof Tiles Delivered
24 Jun 2014 - Roof Tiles Started
14 Jul 2014 - Interior Grey Float Started
15 Jul 2014 - Interior Grey Float Completed
18 Jul 2014 - Exterior Grey Float and Interior White Set Started
19 Jul 2014 - Gas Connected
25 Jul 2014 - Exterior Grey Float Completed
28 Jul 2014 - White Set Completed
29 Jul 2014 - Ceiling Materials Delivered
31 Jul 2014 - Roof Completed
7 Aug 2014 - Windows Installed and Ceilings Started
8 Aug 2014 - Ceilings Completed
11 Aug 2014 - Door Delivery
12 Aug 2014 - Lock up!
13 Aug 2014 - Sanitary Plumbing
16 Aug 2014 - Ceilings Painted
18 Aug 2014 - Cabinets Installed and Tiles Delivered
19 Aug 2014 - Garage Grano Poured
25 Aug 2014 - Stone Benchtops
26 Aug 2014 - Tiling Meeting
27 Aug 2014 - Acrylic Texture Coat Completed
29 Aug 2014 - Tiling Started
9 Sep 2014 - Tiling Completed
11 Sep 2014 - Appliances Delivered
12 Sep 2014 - Electrical Work
17 Sep 2014 - Solar Hot Water System Installed and Plumbing
25 Sep 2014 - Door frames Painted
26 Sep 2014 - Rangehood and Oven Installed
1 Oct 2014 - Air Conditioning Installed
3 Oct 2014 - Ceiling Exhaust Fans
4 Oct 2014 - Sliding Doors, Mirrors and Shower Screens
8 Oct 2014 - Garage Door
9 Oct 2014 - Eaves painted
11 Oct 2014 - Clean Up
13 Oct 2014 - Door Handles, Towel Rails and Holders
14 Oct 2014 - Fly screens
15 Oct 2014 - 2AC Maintenance
16 Oct 2014 - Site Scrape and Clean
22 Oct 2014 - Kitchen Splashback and Paving
23 Oct 2014 - PCI
5 Nov 2014 - Final Progress Claim Paperwork Submitted
10 Nov 2014 - Bank Valuation
12 Nov 2014 - Keys!
14 Nov 2014 - Security System Install
22 Nov 2014 - Patch up and undercoat
25 Nov 2014 - TV Antenna
27-28 Nov 2014 - Painting
29-30 Nov 2014 - Driveway Preparation (Cancelled)
1-3 Dec 2014 - Fencing Part 1
3-8 Dec 2014 - Paving
8-12 Dec 2014 - Decking
10-11 Dec 2014 - Skirting Part 1
13-14 Dec 2014 - Carpet Installation
15-16 Dec 2014 - Floorboard Installation
16 Dec 2014 - Turf Laying
17 Dec 2014 - Wardrobe Fitout
17-24 Dec 2014 - Driveway Paving
18 Dec 2014 - Move in!

Congrats on starting the journey!

I assume you have a block of land? If so, what direction does the house face?

Thanks! Yes I already have a block of land. I forgot I clipped the north point out! North is right of page. Street frontage faces east.

It's also worth mentioning that this will be the front house of two, hence the driveway and garage positioning.

Looks like a great use of space!!
My only comment and is a personal preferance is change the glass sliding door in the Landry to a standard door with glass in it. It's one of the few things I wish I had done.

Good luck with the journey ahead

Thanks for the tips!

@fmac Any particular reason for the aversion to sliding doors?

Thought I'd upload some photos of my procrastination. I'm a very visual person, so I thought I would try 'visualise' my house. Good thing survey tape is only $4 for 100m!

If youave a normal door you can run the bench to the wall.. The blinds on a sliding door also get stuck I find and it is difficult to clean.

Though I've just looked at yours again and you have the washing machine against the door so probably not as much of an issue. Our trough it in that corner so we could have had it butt up right next to the wall. Though if your planning a front loader you can run your bench fit up to the wall and have the machine under it.

I love your idea of marking it out!! Though you'll be amazed at how different it looks when the walls go up

I agree. So much easier to have a normal door and bench running to the wall. No narrow gap where the dust collects. A front loader under the bench looks great and is heaps easier to keep clean!

Just posting to follow your build

Another Redinker here I've got a few suggestions to what I would do to your plan:

1.Add in nib walls to the showers so that there is a little 1m high wall between the vanity and shower that the glass screen sits on. Makes cleaning easier and creates a shelf in the shower for shampoo bottles etc.

2.The sliding door on your pantry may not look like what you are expecting with the way it is done at the moment. It would look nicer if it slid inside the pantry instead of out but then you would have to figure out space for it to slide next to the shelves. The way it is at the moment would not allow you to put anything on the kitchen wall like a clock etc. Maybe a hinged door?

3.At this stage of negotiations it shouldn't cost too much to add in any feature niches or a shower niche but depends on your sales rep.

4.I would raise the garage ceiling to 28c as 25c is really low and does cause issues with 4wds...not cheap but worth it.

5.I would find out how much it costs to raise the entry to 31c as well. As you are building a custom design your plan will be costed against the redink plan that it best matches and you may still have some high ceiling allowance to use!

6.This one is probably fine but just checking you have a furniture placement plan for the theatre with the doors in that position?

(sorry my phone not cooperating...)

7.The windows you have in the garage are all awnings which are quite expensive. Will you actually open these? Would a fixed panel for 1, 2 or all be something you would do? This is me assuming that a fixed panel looks the same as an awning from the outside though!

8.Totally agree about putting a hinged door on the laundry...regret not doing it myself!

Looking forward to seeing your plan evolve! Our final plan is fairly different to what we started with

just thought of 1 more! If your ensuite door swung from the WIR on the right instead of the left then you would get a wider piece of wall next to the shower for a towel rail

Yes I agree with what kat says! Great suggestions.

Hi PanRaptor

I'm at about the same stage as you. Have been chatting to RedInk (as well as Dale Alcock) about designing us a plan. I'm looking forward to following your post.

I like your plan and I agree with the other comments. Another idea...I personally prefer 31 course ceilings for alfrescos, but I don't know yet how much extra that costs.

Wow guys! Thanks for all the great feedback.

Here's what I'll be suggesting for the next iteration of the floor plan;

- 31C ceilings in the entry (purely for aesthetics) and the alfresco (aesthetics and ceiling fan placement)
- 28C ceilings in the garage
- Sliding door on inside of pantry (Thanks xxkatxx!)
- Hinged door on laundry!!! (Almost unanimous, can't go against that!) Perhaps I'll get a cat flap on the door now too.
- Extended robe (1500mm) in Bed 2/Study
- Increasing robe width to 650mm
- Door with Glass pane between kitchen/living and hallway (for temperature control/sound)
- Fixed panel windows in the garage (again, thanks xxkatxx)
- Ditch the second sink in the ensuite bathroom (more bench space > superfluous sink)
- Stone bench tops in bathrooms (Just to be a little fancy)

I'll think about shower nib walls and extending the alfresco. Perhaps adding a skylight to the hallway. Could be nice.

I guess the next step for me is thinking about appliances and furniture to make sure there is enough flexibility in the floor plan.

One day I might even make it to pre-start!

Looking at your plan made me go back to our first plan drawn up by Redink and it's amazing how different it is but still with the same basic principles that we wanted in the house. Definitly worth looking at over and over again and taking your time

Thought of one more thing to think about Looking at your windows in your master I can see that they are 710 wide for all of the front of your house and that is the way it ties together. Only problem I can see is that your master might not be getting enough light. The good thing is that you don't have a fence near the master windows so they wont have any sunlight getting blocked but would you consider adding a window to the wall on the left? Even a highlight window?
Do you know how you would have your furniture layout?

We ended up with 2 x 910 windows in our master and I'm glad they aren't any smaller so that's why I would consider adding some others. We measured out our bed and put a window either side and had the bottom of the window line up with the top of the bedside tables. So it's really good to think about your furniture and design the room around it.

Nice plan PanRaptor, and all really good suggestions...gotta love this site!!

Definately agree with raising the garage to 28c and entry to 31c, I would also raise the portico as well if you decide to do the entrance. We raised our entrance and forgot to do the portico, and looking at it now,it doesn't look too bad but would of looked better if we thought to do that bit as well. It shouldn't cost you too much, our entrance is a similar size to yours and it only cost us around $480 , different builder but I wouldn't think it would be much more as its flowing into your main area which is also 31c.
The only other thing i thought of is recessing the bath out to under the eaves. My friend did this and it really makes it feel more roomier...oh and I would extend the alfresco too.

Either way it's a great design.

Good luck

So, just had home visit from a celebrations home rep. Thought I would get a second opinion before I commit to RedInk since they were the first people I approached. I got to say, I'm more confused now.

It's so hard to know when to stop looking at plans and make a decision. I feel like I'm taking two steps back to take one step forward!

I also visited/re-visited some display homes today. A feature of a Dale Alcock home really intrigued me.




I could see it working really well with my current theatre/alfresco set up. I like the idea of getting a bit more use out of the theatre. I love movies (and video games) but I can see that room being empty most of the time. I'll see how much this window/bench will cost and decide accordingly!

Kind of off topic, but I've fallen in love with Clipsal light switches (see below).

Does anyone know much about them? Are they prone to breaking or getting stuck? I'm really hoping they are not because I'm quite taken by them...

If you have the time I think spending some time shopping around plans is a good idea

I love those switches as well. I haven't priced them but I understand they are very expensive, especially through the builder! I am hoping a friend of ours might be able to get them at trade prices for us and change them over. There are some other nice ones as well

Hi all,

Thought I would post the plan for Unit 2, the house being built behind mine. I've had a fair bit of input in the design on behalf of my brother.

It's pretty cool I think, very different to mine.



We've already requested a few changes, but that's more or less what the house will look like.

Hopefully going to sign the PCQ this week!!!

Looks good! My only thought was would you get more space if you entered the house through the walk in pantry? Then you could use the wasted space that is the corridor? Would probably make it big enough you could have a bench there for keys etc when you come in and then the pantry stuff.

Just a though as I've seen some of the big walk in pantries and if it was fitted with cabinets at the bottom with bench and then shelf you would dramatically increase storage space... Also dump shopping as you walk in