KDRB Metricon Glendale 38 (Sydney) - We are in!

Hi all!

Finally I am ready to start my own KDRB thread. As the title suggests, we are building the Metricon Glendale 38 in Sydney (Parramatta region).

We are going with CDC. Our block is 738 sqm - so we will have a pretty big backyard. We bought a big block, as the original plan was to build a granny flat at the back - which we may down the track.

We had signed up with Metricon in March 2014 - however, post the tender we wondered if we should just go buy an established house in the UNS, and considered a see change. Given Sydney continued with its crazy prices, we decided to get a second tender from Metricon, and signed up to build our home. I am glad that there was a bit of a delay - as under the original plans we had to cut down the house size, so we could fit the granny flat and the house - max 380sqm build under the CDC rules for blocks over 600sqm; also, I know so much more now; lastly we really like the new promo!

We also got a tender from W.I.N.C.R.E.S.T. However, we did a runner. I love one thing about Metricon - they spell everything out; where as the other builder - I don't think we would have known what we are getting until handover - the costs weren't clearly broken down. The only good thing in their promo was the 'fly screens' haha.

I think this is the first of many more houses we will build (we love real estate) - we are pleased to be achieving our goal of having our nice PPOR before we turn 30.

The House
We haven't done many changes to the standard plans. The few things that we have done - I will detail these later on.

I would like to say thank you to our fellow proud Metricon home owner-to-be Sheilzy - for all her advice during this journey

Timeline
House / Land purchased 25/02/2014
Tender accepted 18/11/2014
Contract presentation 19/12/2014
Contracts 21/01/2015
Updated plans from CSC 3/2/2015
CDC application lodged 04/03/2015
CDC Approval received 26/03/2015
File passed on to construction 5/05/15
Construction Support contact 15/05/15
Piering commencement 28/05/2015
Slab poured 03/06/2015
Storm water drainage 09/06/2015
Frames commence 20/06/2015 - and no progress week starting 22/06/15
Frames complete 09/07/2015
Bricks delivered 10/07/2015
Plumbing 17/07/2015 (was originally scheduled for 10/07/2015)
Bricks commence 21/07/2015 (originally meant to start 14/07/2015) - 22/07/2015
Scaffolding commenced 27/07/2015 - stopped
Stop Work Notice issued 27/07/2015
Bricks recommence 15/08/2015
Bricks complete 20/08/2015
No work week of 24/08/2015 ; Roof tiles, gutters and fascia delivered
Fascia and gutters - week of 31/08/2015
Roof - 4/09/2015 - 8/09/2015
First floor bricks cleaned - 9/09/2015
Eaves 15/09/2015 and 17/09/2015 (were delivered on 9/09/2015)
Downpipes painted 18/09/2015
Rendering 21/09/2015 (was originally expected to start Friday 11/09/2015 or Monday 14/09/2015)
Scaffs down!! 22/09/2015
Electrical rough-ins and ducted vaccum 29/09/2015
Air con ducts 30/09/2015
Lower roof tiles 01/10/2015
Walk through and Cladding to back elevation 7/10/15
Insulation 12/10/15
Plasters 21/10/2015 - 23/10/2015
Stairs, cornices and stacker doors 28/10/2015
Rain water tank installed 30/10/2015
Kitchen 11/11/2015
Water proofing 14/11/2015
Doors 17/11/2015
Painting commence 25/11/2015
Bench tops, sinks and basins 27/11/2015
Wardrobes etc Week of 7/12/2015
Tiling commence 11/01/2016 - Tiling finishes 19/01/2016
Plumbing fit-off 22/01/2015 to 25/01/2015
Electrical fit-off 27/01/2016
Carpet 4/02/2016
Fly screens and Appliances installation 8/02/2016
Fence removed 9/02/2016
House clean 10/02/2016
Rubbish removal 11/02/2016
Final invoice received 18/02/2016
PCI date set as 26/02/2016 on 19/02/2016
PCI 26/02/16
IOC received 01/03/2016
11/03/16 - work should have been completed. Appears that render repaint still outstanding
14/03/16 - Render re-painted
15/03/16 - Reinspection undertaken by inspector
17/03/16 - Handover
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18/03/16 Blinds, Shutters and Security doors
19/03/16 Grout sealing
21/03/16 Landscaping commenced
23/03/16 Post-handover electricals

Selections
See page 4
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75696&start=60

Floor plan as at 29 April 2015

Aww thanks for the shout out Mona I'm glad I've helped and I'm very excited to follow your build. Can't wait to see the plans and all your selections. Not long till you start the actual building journey. Woohoo x

Yay another metricon home. Love the Glendale it's a great design and the dining room off the kitchen is great. We have visited the Glendale display and loved it. It's very similar to ours less the extra dining area. Totally agree with your comment about metricon, everything is clear and up front and you know exactly what your paying for. Looking forward to seeing your build take shape,

Hi monalisa, great choice with the Glendale. Beautiful home! We have almost given up on Metricon as they won't be transparent with how much certain as on display upgrades costs until we pay for a tender. Did they tell you how much the Glendale is as on display?

Thanks Sheilzy, Tribe and MrsJM - I just can't wait now. It is finally sinking in - we are actually doing this!

We love the Glendale too - wish we were building a bigger home - but anyway - it is an 'upgrade' regardless

MrsJM - we found that too initially - M weren't too open until we signed up for the tender. Once we signed up, then only we had better visibility of the cost break down - however, the high level costs were in line with what the consultant was advising - rest is dependent on your selections. I can understand why they don't want to provide this info upfront - I think if they started providing such costs up front, they will spend a lot of time with prospective buyers (some of whom may not be serious?).

They should be able to provide you with the options list for the Glendale once you sign up.

When we did our first tender, we did get the Glendale options list - however binned it - given we had dropped the idea of the building our home.

Heard from the CSC today. The Certifier has reviewed the s149 certificate, and asked for a "Flood Impact Assessment".

Hopefully there wont be much impact on the numbers... it is a level block, on the higher side of the street.

Our home visual

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Have you had any news with your flood assessment? The visual of the house looks lovely.

Thanks Tribe!

We have lodged an enquiry with the council, based on advice of a storm water engineer recommended by Metricon. Takes 10 business days! I am hoping they come back sooner.

It is 1 in a 100 year zone. There seems to be plenty of development going on around the area.

On the face of it, the engineer had said that we may be OK and not required to do a full report, which can be very costly.

There are a few creeks around the area - but none too close to home.

I am really hoping not much changes.

Edit: Land is actually above the 1 in 100 year zone - which is a relief.

Facade looks great Mona. You've chosen some lovely colours. I see you have no cladding, was this an upgrade? Any idea on when you might get CDC approval?


Blog | http://ourhudson.wordpress.com
Build thread | viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72159

Thanks sheilzy.

Re front bricks, no it was not an upgrade, M did it at no cost.... i think they have for other people too. I am gald we asked the question. I am guessing it doesnt cost them much, if anything - at least structurally.

We wanted to upgrade the FC sheeting above the garage, but it was $1,400... decided against it

Every bit of freebie helps

Defintely.

Sorry Sheilzy, I totally forgot to reply to the CDC question - not sure when it will be lodged. Council said they take two weeks to come back on the flooding query; following which the engineer will prepare their report to note how our home complies - he has advised that as we are 'above the 1 in 100 years flooding' (which is good news), a full report won't be required. So I am hoping we get somewhere by the end of February.

On another note, we went to Beacon Lighting today - to plan our down light positions, and other things we need - this is a service they provide, along with a quote. Established that we will well and truly exceed our electricals budget. Nevertheless, the service was great!! We now have 30 days to decide if we want to go with them. I want to do some more research on pricing before we commit to it.

We are not getting any feature pendants - we think we may get bored looking at them!

We are hoping to get the following fans (and instead have them as 'features'):

Family room:

http://www.beaconlighting.com.au/fans/c ... fan-1.html

Upstairs leisure room:

http://www.beaconlighting.com.au/fans/c ... -teak.html

Outdoor room:

http://www.beaconlighting.com.au/fans/c ... lades.html

M

Hi monalisa

I think we may have chatted in the past but we too are building with Metricon and are also going with the Glendale. We upped ours to about the 47 squares with a few additions and alterations to the standard plan.

We are building in West Pennant Hills and are a month or two in front of you. We have had everything approved incl. CDC and the bank and are just waiting on them to tell us when they will start. We are already a vacant block so no need for any knock down. It was actually exciting this week as we had retaining walls built on site ready for Metricon to do their cut and fill so it feels like we are very close to the start.

I started a blog but never seam to find the time. I'm hoping this changes once I have things to report on.

Good luck with everything and more than happy to exchange stories.

Congrats on your flood report monalisa, being above the one in one hundred line will save you a lot of money in engineers consultancy fees and the requirements the house would of needed. Just checked out your fan selections and I really like your family room fan, I eyed that one off my self when I went to beacon on Monday. I hope everything starts to fall into place with your council approvals ect, it's such a tedious waiting game.

Hi pfryan
Nice to see another Glendale going up. 47sq sounds awesome!
Looking forward to updates on your blog.
I can't wait for this admin phase to be over. We have had delays - waiting for the Council report - Council had said 10 business days - which will be over this Thursday!

Thanks Tribe - hope so too that things start falling into place. Delays have just annoyed me - but hopefully not too long to go now!

Hi all!

Wanted to post a quick update.

I haven't posted recently as I was too bogged down with work, and then we went away to Adelaide - to watch a Cricket World Cup match on Sunday. It was an amazing experience, but shame our team lost pretty heart broken about it. It was exciting seeing the cricketers at the Adelaide Airport yesterday morning.

It was a nice break from home building and work.

Anyway, on the home front, the demolition approval should come through tomorrow. I need to book the demo timing - but not sure when to book it, as it is dependent on the Council finalising their report this week + engineer doing theirs asap. I want to move before Xmas - but wondering what the chances are if demo happens early April?

We had a valuation done before accepting the tender, and now that we have the contracts / plans, the bank ordered another valuation. Annoyingly, the valuation has not moved since November last year. In our view (and having spoken to a good local real estate agent), the full val (including land and build) is at least $200k below the market valuation. Effectively, the land value is understated by 150k, and build buy 50k.

I want to ask the valuer to find me blocks of land in the val noted on the valuation in this market, and I am happy to buy a few blocks, and flip them for 200k plus - making a nice profit.

Need to go back to the CSC on the plans, once we have completed our second review (today!).

3.5 weeks to our colour and electricals - and we are hoping to spend the weekend finalising this in prep for the appointment.

I feel so tired now

Monalisa

Hi all

Just preparing for Electricals.

Preliminary numbers are at $16k - including post hand over installation of downlights and fans.

The $16k includes:
-A networking hub (M have a package for ~3,000 - includes 4 TV points, 6 Cat 6, and 2 phone points);
- Three additional fans from Beacon
-installation of downlights and fans post handover

M's electrical list notes $50 for each light point. I take it, it is batten holders + bulbs. Our electrician has asked us to ask M to only get a 'cable and switch' and 'tag off the lighting circuit'. I wonder if M will be OK to do this... because preference is we do not spend the full $50.

Downlights add to about 46 + 10 from M, which come as part of the promo.

Based on us getting the downlights after hand over, the average price is $86 per downlight - which is SO much cheaper than what M charge (range $130 to $200 each!).

I wouldn't have gotten downlights in the bedrooms, and just standard, if it wasn't for the fans!

I haven't even taken into account the 'Daikin air con control panel' - apparently an additional one for upstairs is $1,400 - is this recommended? or do we just get it post hand over if we feel the need?

Also, haven't taken into account additional aircon zones - I understand these are a few $100. How much have you paid? Our Electrician's view is that there is no need - really?!

Any suggestions on where we may be able to save $$$. I don't think I can reduce this further.

M sales had said just put $5k allowance for electricals!!

Successfully contested the valuation and had it increased - still short, but that I can live with.