First time builders trying to decide on a builder

Hi all we are first time builders and are still trying to decide on the best builder for us from HGWA, Gemmill or Dale Alcock. Having bought a 510sqm block in Amberton Estate and also wanting a pool we are struggling to fit our large wish list into a house to fit on our block! We have had a plan drawn up from HGWA and would love some feed back

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Wow! I really like your plan I assume the toilet off the laundry was included so people using the pool can use that toilet instead of walking through the house dripping wet? We did a similar thing with our downstairs bathroom

Love it. We had one quite similar drawn up with hgwa but our orientation wasnt ideal.

I cant quite see on your plans your measurements from house to pool or distance from fence to pool. If you pick the right pool you can get it closer to your fence or house.

Sorry forgot to mention maybe have a think how you would furnish the living room as well as master bed especially as it looks like both the slider and window are full height. Only leaves the nook backing onto the theatre for bed and it may be a little squishy or lopsided looking.

Plan looks great. And I agree with asha, you could probably get the pool to be closer to the alfresco area if you so wish.

My only suggestion is to change the door from the dressing entrance to the ensuite entrance, as the idea of the moisture/steam/etc from the ensuite going into clothes is undesirable (to me personally). But if you don't share the same concerns, then leave it as is.

Thanks for your initial feedback everyone. This plan was only quickly drawn up for us after a very brief meeting with a HGWA rep at a display home. It was actually someone else's that also wanted to fit a pool on their block but with some of our ideas added eg the large WIR. I would prefer if the main bedroom looked over the pool more but I'm not sure how we could flip that area and still access the bedroom.
We have a meeting with the salesman at the HGWA office this week so may discuss other options. We really did want an activity room too but can't see how it would all fit. Am also concerned about the orientation of our block in regards to the plan as we face north and won't really get much afternoon sun.
The pool is 1517mm from the alfresco and 1502mm from the back fence. And yes I'm already thinking about how to furnish the lounge room with the way you would walk through but wanted an entry area at the front of the house because I hate seeing all the way through it. As for the bedroom I'd change the window so I could possibly put the bed up against that wall. Feel free to give me more feedback

No worries pinkjam, our orientation is the same hence why we didnt go ahead with our initial plan- I would think that the living area would be rather dark! Unfortunately there are not many off the shelf plans with living areas at the front which is why we designed our own. I would go back to them with your concerns and see what solutions they come back with.

Is having the theatre room sandwiched between 2 bedrooms a good idea?

Plan looks good! Whatever you do don't take it to DAH, they'll just mess it up for you.

Another plan from a builder...... Thoughts??

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Pinkjam1/f6492312-b193-4467-b721-3e81ebaf46f7_zpsa834ec35.jpg

This was the version we had drawn up from HGWA. It may give you some ideas. We didn't go ahead in the end as we decided on another design that allowed us to see the side garden from th living area.

Updated version of HGWA plan, tho I still want to make changes to the bathroom.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg536/Pinkjam1/530f6420-177c-4fee-8e3b-fdcaab604d74_zpsca6f32e2.jpg

Alfresco is better like that

The plan looks great..few things that comes to my untrained eyes..
1) There is something odd about the master bed room and theater position, the entrance gap eats away a lot from the master BR, on paper its big (5.1*xx) but I think it will look much smaller after the built, especially considering how big the en suite is. I think the Mbr will look much better/bigger if it could be made a perfect rectangle.
2) Sliding door and another 2210 (?) window in the Master br..do you really want to so much light in your bed room? It leaves with the bed orientation in one way only.
3) Is the swimming pool concrete? If so, it can be arranged right next to the alfresco which looks much nicer with glass fencing.

I'm going to agree with Ozlizz about the master, with the window and slider in there, there is only one spot the bed can go and that is on the wall opposite the ensuite ... which with the recessed doorway into the Master is a squishy space.

If the window in the master was a highlite window, you would be able to put the bed on the side boundary window.

Other than that, I like what you have done, you've really channelled the view out the back to the pool.

Yes I agree, the window in the bedroom is going to definitely be a highlight window. I'm not sure how to get around having the bedroom entrance like that, I think if the theatre entrance and bedroom entrance was moved to access it from the dining room it would look strange?? Lots of doors??

We are getting some changes made to the scullery and laundry and are getting the bathroom changed to a semi ensuite from the guest room.

We are already up to $90000 in alterations as he has based it on the Monte Carlo, which we questioned today as it is a cross between the Bellevue.

The pool will be fibreglass.

Wow, big house!
With regards to your bedroom door access, how about your theatre entry doors off the dining room wall and not combined in that little nook area to both theatre and Master bedroom? But then again they may be too close to your fireplace.. Unless perhaps your fireplace could go on the family room wall on other side of entrance? Might ask make your dining/family area seem like a bigger more spacious rectangle? I'm just making these suggestions but have no idea of your drivers so they might not be much use!

Have you considered 28c alfresco sliders to really maximise the light into that central dining family area, where the family area doesn't have any external windows? They will be flush with your 31c alfresco which i think will look beaut.

Also, in the powder room/bed 2 area, if you are making that a semi enquire from a guest room, is that Bed 2? If the wardrobe was moved to the bedroom wall that abuts the family room, perhaps you could have a door next to shower to gain entry to bathroom. Then the powered room could be a long rectangle running vertical (on the dwg). Toilet at the top end, then basin on the bottom end and the entry door to toilet on the right hand side. the door could open so it back toward the basin when you go in (i.e hinged on the left). Sorry, this probably doesn't make sense in words!!

Anyway, thats all from me. Hope it all works out for you.

Variations of 90k without the pool?
From our experience, increasing construction area/large variations on a project builder's plan is wastage of money. If the variation is not straightforward, I would probably choose another (bigger) similar plan, either from the same builder or a different one. I still regret my variations

Depends on what the variations are - adding a third garage bay cost us $13k. Adding a portico costs us $2k. Adding 0.5m in length (or is that width, I never know which one it is!!) across the house cost us $4.5k. So it can add up quickly.

The house we priced with 'the other builder' we were going to use added about $70k in variations - but that was after taking the house plan back to bare basics and then adding everything back in. Perhaps that is what they have done here.

Creating a custom design by merging two plans will cost a bit. But isn't that what builders like, the more variations you add, the more money in the sales reps pocket? I'm sure that's why they are so keen to accommodate in the early days!

Plan looks good, I would want to try to have more of a view of the pool as well, having the MBR at the rear is one thing I wish we had done now.

Just remember if having a fibreglass pool it has to be at least the maximum depth away from the house unless you are going to underpin which adds to the expense. You can go as close as 1m from the fenceline as long as it's not a retaining wall, definately something to consider. we were told the underpinning was 500-600 per metre and they need to go about a metre either side of the pool so it does add up