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OK here goes.
I have been meaning to get a thread up on our Build for some time.
Essentially the thread is to share our experiences with a view to helping people as much as all the other kind people
who have contributed to This Forum. This site is a great resource.
I am going to set this up (I'm Hubby) and then let my Dear "Foxy lady" do updates.
We are happy with the division of labour there.
Our Block is 2185M -Half acre which means theres plenty of space for most things.
The Block has a 9m fall from top right to bottom left, So we are getting some Limestone walls put in.
We currently have building approval from the "Shire" and are currently waiting a couple of weeks for Mr "Limestone" to set to work. Very shortly after that we will have a compacted pad ready to "whack" a slab on. The Dwelling is Double Brick and has considerable footings. Much was made of the seismic issues in Northam but my own view is that margins are higher on Vaneer homes.......for Builders that is. We are currently living in a Double Brick in Northam .....no issues. Redink specialise in Double Brick.
Why Redink? We have limited options being in Northam. its not like having the full suite of builders that you might have to choose from in Perth. Traditionaly there has been a minimal presence in Northam from Metro builders .....but thats starting to change. Redink seemed like the best available value proposition to us and we had some positive feedback from some people who had built with them. So far there have been no Major issues, any problems that we have had have been adressed to our satisfaction........Positive so far, as good as any Large higher volume builder could be expected to be.
Why the Design? Well it one of the designs that were emailed to us and we liked it. We have deleated the second Alfresco out of it. We saw the "Hamlin" over in Baldivis and the "indoor Room" just didnt work too well. We will consruct other outdoor living areas at a later stage. "Lovely Wife" really likes the seperation between Bedroom and the Entertaining Area. We have two Children and there is sufficient living areas for all of us.
Its actually been heaps of work to get things to this stage. As many would Know you have to consider all options before making your decisions. We are doing the earthworks(organising it ourselves) and also doing the Bio-Mass sewerage Treatment unit. At this point in also sticking the wood in the roof of the Portico and the Alfresco. Overheads in the Kitchen we are going to do. We thought the Redink overheads were pretty dear for what they were. Splashbacks is another issue....we were quoted some eye watering prices for some of the Funkier options. Its simplier easier for us to retrofit this stuff in when we have more cash and time to consider. Laundry overheads Same thing. The kitchens a little bit unusual because the Stove is situated on the Island. This neccesitates an Island rangehood which is the Sweigen (Big external roof mounted motor).
Stuff we might regret? I wanted travetine on the kitchen floor but its only a few square meteres. Just due to the hastle I gave-up. I dont think the Lady of the house was too fussed...it was my idea. Not having a simple closing door on the Laundry was probably a mistake(sliding doors are a bit boring). We have dipped out on the current trend of Bi-Fold doors. i had them in(Sliders) but after driving into Perth and carefully looking at them I thought "Im paying fourteen grand for that!". I can always retro fit later on its no big deal.
Heres Some plans and photos...........dont forget you can click on these Photo-Bucket images and make them bigger and easier to see.
Elevations
Someones hiding behind that stuff....Photo-Bombing...FAIL!
These are the type of Bricks, they have a bit of texture. They are Boral Classique. Our Bricks will be Limestone.
Colourations inspired by this combo. Roof Bushland the same.......Portico Render:The same
Going to use this beaut Letterbox as the inspiration. Big Brother is Bombing the Photo
M&B Surian Cedar Doors 820MM (X2) with Metalic Strip....also has stainless Steel Mushroom Stop.
Where the Slabs going to go.
Looking up towards the Back of the Block
Dirty deeds...........Heaps of the stuff
Grey Ironbark 90mm Select Grade(153m2).............from Wholesale Timber flooring Rockingham
Bathroom Selections....actually changed from this as there is Stone Benchtops now
Bathroom Basin Mixers
Laundry Mixer...Coroma(something or other)
Kitchen Selections...but we have lost the Tile Splashback(they didnt have enough tiles anyway)
Domsjo Butlers Sink (IKEA)...PHOTO BOMB suprise(Thats rad!)
We like this sort of stuff in the Kitchen.............working out a combo rather than all Overhead cupboards
More Kitchen Options (Thanks IKEA)
Proposed Carpets......Woolen...All Bedrooms(WIR to have timber as a feature)
Standing on it here............looks a bit different according to the light.
Anyway thats a fair glimpse into the Project, so heres to sharing the experience over the next few months.
wow plans are fantastic love the land
great to see butlers sink as builders choice
i have a stainless steel butler sink and saw it on the net and asked our builder which is a first for them
Butlers sink was our idea.(we think they are pretty cool....just a bit different)
We actually brought it and all the appliances when we were going to go with another builder
Redink were cool with all the stuff we had and let us use it all.
Nice plan and welcome ....butlers sink what a great idea
Currently I’m at a bit of a loss.
I'm waiting for council approval for my retaining walls.
The process is going to take up to 5 weeks.
I'm organising the earthworks/retaining walls and the compacted sand pad.
I didn’t realise that I would need separate council approval for the retaining walls. The House plans when submitted by the builder sailed through in 10 days.....but the retaining walls will take 5 weeks
The Process requires that 8 adjoining properties(No I'm not joking) be contacted because one of my limestone walls exceeds the minimum by 500MM(Height) and it is thusly considered to "affect their amenity". So apparently any of these 8 separate parties have the ability to object to the work thus referring the matter back to the council for a decision. God forbid that should happen because there would obviously be additional weeks lost during this process. The intended changes need to be advertised and then after a period of two weeks if no objections are received we can move forward after a further 7-9 days to approval. I think it best that I refrain from offering an opinion on the efficiency or necessity of this type of Govt regulation because my private thoughts are quite simply an irrelevance.
So dear reader I would advise you to be absolutely clear on what approvals are required for any and all activities you undertake independently of your builder.This is going to cost me 5 weeks........................and It's my fault
Bugger we are on 5 acres had to do a property development application but as long as we did not build within 15m of the boundary
Got Planning and Building approval today.
Game BACK ON!
Wow great design. your house is huge. Love your butler sink for the kitchen,
Congrats on starting your build. Love the plan and that you have a real passageway.Great to see a decent amount of linen space down that passageway and a store room and not just a small linen cupboard in the laundry. Are you putting in framework for a door later on at the beginning of the bedroom passageway ?( behind the theatre) This would help divide the house up for heating and cooling and also help cut down sounds traveling in to the bedroom areas. Though sounds like you are quite handy ( your comment about the bi folds)
We liked the Classique limestone for our house but got told it was a lot more expensive so went with another cream double size brick. When that was no longer available we checked and saw that the Classique was the same $$ so said lets get our first choice. Turns out it costs more as it is heavier plus it has a flat edge and needs a different way of laying etc etc so yes, costs more. We decided what the hell and were happy to pay for it but then it was going to take an extra nine weeks to get them (which actually would have been fine with our rain delay grrrrr) so we went with Whitecliff instead. The moral to my long and rambling story is they are more $$ and get them to check they will be able to supply them when you want them
Congrats on starting your build. Love the plan and that you have a real passageway.Great to see a decent amount of linen space down that passageway and a store room and not just a small linen cupboard in the laundry. Are you putting in framework for a door later on at the beginning of the bedroom passageway ?( behind the theatre) This would help divide the house up for heating and cooling and also help cut down sounds traveling in to the bedroom areas. Though sounds like you are quite handy ( your comment about the bi folds)
Yeah storage is a priority. We never envisaged placing a door between the living area and the Bedrooms. Its an idea that probably has a lot of merit. Its a really cool suggestion actually........thanks. It is however too late for the initial build. During the initial build process I couldn't believe how cheap some things were. Stuff like doors and powerpoints can be supplied cheaper than I can do them. For example our home has every internal door specified as an external door(heavier/more solid/soundproof). Im not a fan of cheap, flimsy $50 buck internal doors. Redink could supply and fit the doors cheaper than I could buy them in Perth.
I guess if we really really decide we need a door there we wont have a standard door height. I'm thinking maybe a double glazed commercial quality tinted glass job to make a bit of a feature of it. (Were going to have to scrimp and save for that one)
We liked the Classique limestone for our house but got told it was a lot more expensive so went with another cream double size brick. When that was no longer available we checked and saw that the Classique was the same $$ so said lets get our first choice. Turns out it costs more as it is heavier plus it has a flat edge and needs a different way of laying etc etc so yes, costs more. We decided what the hell and were happy to pay for it but then it was going to take an extra nine weeks to get them (which actually would have been fine with our rain delay grrrrr) so we went with Whitecliff instead. The moral to my long and rambling story is they are more $$ and get them to check they will be able to supply them when you want them
Thanks for your input on the Classique Bricks. I still have six of them on our current verandah. I can have a beer and look at them at my leisure.....Wow!. We were going to build with the light grey ones until we saw some in a commercial job that they had butchered the mortar on (what a mess). We are now having Classique Limestone. We were told point blank by Redink "no Classique bricks" to which my response was "Bye Bye Redink" it took 10 minutes but they agreed to build in our choice of brick. I understand why they have rules but In an ideal "Redink" world they would just build the same house in the same Brick "over and over".
A Dad at my Sons Hockey Club in Northam is a cracking bloke and also Midland Bricks Production Scheduler (Numero Uno). There are literally truckloads of pallets of the Classique Limestone before another Production Run is required. Just for anyones info there can be large variations in Colours/ textures of Midlands Bricks...............check if there has been a recent production run. You quite literally may have quite different bricks on different pallets if it "all went wrong"
With Redink we were told told we could have any brick we wanted so we planned with that in mind. My theory is that sometimes Builders can tell porkies about price and availability just because they ....Cant be bothered or it suits them. Sometimes the builders are advising you of the 100% hard cold fact, and other times someone in the Builders office who maybe doesn't care or have confused the detail get it 100% wrong. On big issues I clarify myself with the supplier. My roof is going to be Bushland. Bushland in WA is now "Special Order" from Bluescope. The Builder flatly told us it has been deleted. That's not true but you can see how their lead times and payments may not be tailored to special ordering Tin from a Supply chain starting from Lysaghts Westernport works in Melbourne. We will cope with the complexity and we will get the roof we want but you need to be over the detail when your builder starts stating stuff as fact. In the case of the roof they are incorrect or are not telling the truth (Cold hard fact). Maybe there was a 9 week wait on the Limestone classique Bricks you wanted, what I can tell you is that that would be highly unusual for Midland Brick which ensures it has quantitys of this and all bricks constantly available. when was this? If it was in the last 6 months I reakon youve been told fibs
Heres a photo of just how much trouble you can get into with Concrete Bricks. The mortor is poorly applied and the wrong colour, The grey makes the calcium coming out of the bricks very apparent and ugly ( you can clean this off). It was after seeing these bricks that we chickened out on the light Grey. These are concrete Bricks remember and are not kiln fired like a normal brick. These are face Bricks that do not have a straight edge on their surface, they ARE more difficult to work with for the Bricklayer. They cause issues when the Face Brick meets an eave for example.
These bricks leave a gap where they butt up against Eaves
Heres some pictures of some done very nicely indeed.
http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/xx277/jameshorsburgh/055_zps44c952e6.jpgHmmm.........diet time maybe
OK Right, Limestone walls are under way now: 300+ blocks when its finished.
I'm managing the Earthworks/Limestone outside of Redink.
My understanding of Redink is if you need earthworks they simply make one call, get a quote then chuck their margin on.
May I just provide a word of caution to people looking at Earthworks and Limestone work and suggest that I was astonished at variations in Price. Get a lot of quotes folks if you can. I didnt go for the cheapest quotes but those people who were recommended to me and answered my questions in a knowledgeable and professional way.
No thats not a block of flats or a retirement home next door. The neighbors building a house of nearly 700m2
My Earthworks guy up here in Northam is Kevin Cox, Coxy's been a Jet. I honestly cant speak highly enough of him and Glen whos the 2IC.
100mm PVC piping underneath the wall so I can get services/retic/power/anything out under the FRT wall if I need to.
Its been brilliant just to get something happening after waiting 9 weeks to get Planning and building approval and get some blocks delivered. I just feel like wer'e "BACK IN THE GAME" yay.
The issue for us was that Midland Brick became Boral and they stopped making some of the bricks at one plant and just make them at Midland now. So the ones we wanted they had stopped making and then the Classique they had just started making in Midland. When I went and got a sample brick it was different to what we had seen in the other display sites. So we got a few of each and laid them out and decided on whitecliff over the new classique one. It seems more gold than cream. And we didn't want to wait for it. Chances are I will have brick regret later but for now I am staying positive
I know hardly anyone out there gives a rats but we now have some compacted fill on which to place sand Pad. The rest of the blocks arrive on site from Perth on Monday. . Its just so cool so see progress considering weve been working away on this for nearly 13 months. My wife said last night she's actually starting to feel that "Somethings happening"
Nearly ready to start then?
Yep rolling forward at glacial speed.
Should have a compacted sand pad in 7-9 days.................then we wait for the Builder
Will check out your thread when I get some time. I dont know if this is our forever home as I still have an
acre block on the other side of town with better view and position. Once I get through this I might just hand in my badge and say enough's enough. I see youre double story and was tempted( dual level) but we are constrained by budget and it didnt make sense on this 2186m block.
Yay!
I am building with redink and I lived in Northam for a few years! So you have my interest! Those views out over the hills make me feel nostalgic!!
Where in Northam are you building?