Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Dec 18, 2008 7:58 pm We have the first draft of our contract and was wondering what additions you made to your house build that you would recommend to others.
Just trying to come up with everything we can think of that will make it that little bit better and look at it from an "out of the box" perspective Nothing serious or too obvious, more little things like auto-light switch in the pantry, flood light for the clothes line etc Glad to hear any idea's Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 2Dec 18, 2008 8:47 pm Everyone will have different ideas about what's essential or desirable, but here are a few things we added that have turned out to be good ideas for us:
- DEFINITELY the pantry light. And a power point, just in case you acquire some extra appliances and have nowhere to put them... - Appliance cupboard - Power point in the end of our kitchen bench. - Power point in the hallways (for vacuuming). Not needed if you have a ducted vac system, of course. - Ceiling fan in the al fresco room - If you have the space and the budget, make your garage wider. You never have enough storage space. - Make sure locks are all keyed alike. There's nothing more annoying than having umpteen keys and trying to figure out which is which. - Do you need extra heating or cooling points? It's usually cheaper and easier to get them added during the build, rather than later on. Especially if you have to upgrade the unit to cater for them. - Glass splashbacks in kitchens are easier to clean than tile-and-grout ones. I learned THAT from experience. My husband loves to stir-fry and we had white grout at our old house. I spent a lot of effort applying grout whitener before we sold. - Are TV aerial points and telephone points included? With the phone, do they include trenching? We upgraded lots of small things like taps, door handles, feature tiles etc - those all add up, but you may be able to find something you like in the builder's standard range. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 3Dec 18, 2008 9:02 pm nice list, i have all of that sorted
the wife wants small feature tiles behind the cooker, might try and convince her into glass at colour selection i like the glass splashbacks as well Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 4Dec 18, 2008 9:09 pm - Double doors to rear of garage as opposed to single door (much better thoroughfare for bulky stuff
- 700mm oven, better than 600mm but not a huge waste of space & energy like a 900mm - Quiet belt driven garage door opener rather than a chain driven unit - Exterior lights terminated in a junction box, so we can select and add a light fitting later, rather than selecting from a limited and overpriced (margin added) builder's range. - Upgrade to longer bath so I can comfortably stretch out. Not that I'm really tall (176cm) but standard baths are a bit lacking IMHO. - Add thermal/acoustic insulation to every internal wall and ceiling you can (at least laundry and W.C's). DIY is the best option for this, if your super will let you do this pre-plaster. Other than that, our original builder had a pretty reasonable range of standard items. That must be why they went broke......... Justin. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 5Dec 18, 2008 9:15 pm Ive also added on the power side of things:
* extra powerpoints towards front inside of garage for Xmas Lights * power junction boxes outdoors for future ponds/garden lighting * powerpoints in master WIR - for charging things * powerpoint in pantry Nathan Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 6Dec 18, 2008 9:34 pm hmm powerpoint for the chrissy lights is a goody Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 7Dec 18, 2008 10:32 pm we had an extra long bath in the main bathroom in our last house. if you like bath's and have the room this is well worth doing. This time we've opted for the smaller "standard " looks like a mini bath to me ( aren't they a joke!)
Power points- lots of them and some external ones in the alfresco area Make sure you get a say in where your external taps are and go for 3 if you can or at the very least 2 if you don't get 2 in your build plan. Make sure you have a door on your laundry so you can close it off. We added additional doors into several parts of the house so we could close it off in sections. great for noise limiting but also good for heating etc. Blog http://wherethehearthis.blogspot.com/ Build https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=6634: Yard https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27687&p=378401#p378401 Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 8Dec 18, 2008 11:40 pm We lifted the height of our garage a few brick courses to ensure that you could fit a 4WD with a roof rack under there.
Made that mistake with our first house! Other than that, make sure there is a door on the laundry. Some builders leave it open and it's just too noisy.. and often messy! Building the Grand Harmony Triple with Scott Park Homes Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 9Dec 19, 2008 6:11 am - Extra doorways & doors to be able to close off areas. We are having double glass doors in our hallway to prevent noise from the kitchen/family areas travelling up the hall & staircase to bedrooms.
- Ducted vacuuming with vacpan in kitchen - Gas point in alfresco for BBQ - Lots of DOUBLE power points - Overhead lighting to vanities - Stair tread lighting Built the Eden Brae Cambridge 34 Family with Boston Corner Facade Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 10Dec 19, 2008 9:32 am kek ...... - Are TV aerial points and telephone points included? With the phone, do they include trenching? Anyone know what trenching means? This is the first time I heard about it Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 11Dec 19, 2008 9:39 am I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 12Dec 19, 2008 9:57 am thanks joles
got a few more idea's out of that Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 13Dec 22, 2008 10:43 pm
regards sean Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 14Dec 23, 2008 6:47 am in Queensland its standard for rainwater to go to toilets and the laundry, is that not the case in other states? Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 15Dec 23, 2008 7:06 am We got a few extra things, we had to reign ourselves in before we went OTT!
-stone benchtops to kitchen -nearly 10 foot ceilings in the living area (originally 9ft but the builder had to re-engineer and we got an extra foot for free at no cost) -widened the garage by half a meter from memory and put in a storage alcove -widened the laundary so that we had extra space to put more storage and a drop in tub -stainless steel cooker to kitchen -1200 front entry door -gables to roof -upgraded garage door (wider and slimline look) -massive upgrade in electrical plan (partner's best friend is an electrician so we are lucky there - for the same cost as standard we are getting heaps of upgrades) -long bath -3 phase power That's about it. Soooooo easy to keep going! I wanted all sorts of things, but had to stop somewhere Kylie handover happened 15/6/09...love living on an acre but still so much to do! Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 16Dec 23, 2008 7:11 am we're hoping to widen our laundry too, whats a drop in tub? Is that one built into a bench? im getting a bench the entire length of the laundry Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 18Dec 23, 2008 7:22 am what are the benefits of the drop in tub? other than it looks a lot nicer?
what are peoples thoughts on colorbond fences as opposed to pine? Blog - http://snakedr.blogspot.com/ Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=12084&p=307406#p307406 Status - PCI 15/10. Things nearly done. Re: Additions you made on top of builders std offerings 20Dec 23, 2008 7:33 am billdsl what are the benefits of the drop in tub? other than it looks a lot nicer? what are peoples thoughts on colorbond fences as opposed to pine? Hey billdsl, Ah, I hate colorbond fences! We currently are renting in a place that has them, the next door neighbour has a dog which seems to enjoy running into the fence. Constant clanking of the fence gets annoying, especially on really windy days when the neighbours kids leave their toys out (balls, etc) and they're blown into the fence. That being said, I didn't mind it too much before the current set of neighbours moved in. Nav i imagine you also have another contract with an architect? and yeah, whatever other's said about special conditions and appendices 16 16026 Brass or 2) Stainless steel made - which Kitchen tap is good for drinking.Brass kitchen taps in Australia contain lead… 0 6740 |