Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 14, 2015 3:57 pm There are quite a few things I will compromise on and a couple of things I absolutly won't. As we have discussed our requirements with various building companies and pointed out things we would like changed in their designs, I have been surprised at their reactions when I put my foot down and say something MUST be changed. I think they think I am a silly woman but this is my house and I shall have what I want silly or not. The things I won't compromise on are: the toilet in the ensuite must be in a seperate room. We are in a rental and it turns my stomach that I have to shower right next to the toilet, first time I've lived with that configuration and it never passed my mind as a problem until I started living with it. The second thing is the main bedroom door directly off the dining or living area, can't stand it Reminds me too much of the grotty litle flats I lived in as a teenager. Luckily the design we've sort of settled on has been adaptable so I've been able to have what I want. So tell me your absolute 'no's' silly or not. Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 2Feb 14, 2015 8:31 pm Absolutley No Flat Roof The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 4Feb 15, 2015 7:46 am I see it a lot in project homes - both the displays and the ones actually built for people - steps into wet areas, the 50mm step ups because the builder is too lazy to do a setdown in the slab to allow for the tiles and sand/cement screed. The transition for all the floor finishes inside a house - tiles to carpet to vinyl to timber should all be the same level. Low shower screens - the ones at 1800mm high because "that's what the standard height is that we allow for". Wardrobes in so called double bedrooms that are 1m wide. What the ??? And bugger all storage in the rest of the house. Stewie Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 5Feb 15, 2015 1:20 pm A midget bed in displays that gives wrong idea on size left. Not been allowed on site . Dont tell client that has displayed isnt going to be as displayed. Big room with small kitchen. Poor structure under nice home. Builders grade carpet. new home with no drainage plan for outside home perimeter. Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 6Feb 15, 2015 1:33 pm Laminate benchtops! My one rule was I had to have stone. Houses without eaves and with F.C infills (though I'm having to have both due to budget). Lack of countertop space in kitchen. Toilet in bathroom (not fussed about en suite). Wasted spaces, funny corners in hallways. Media rooms/extra living rooms that back onto other living rooms (how do you put a TV in both room and hear both?) How long the admin stage takes... like really I know what I want, just let me get on with it Cupboard laundries ******.. and getting barreled up in the display homes office by pushing sales people when your just looking. Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 7Feb 15, 2015 1:35 pm Flat roof is not a problem when done properly, e.g. generous and well made box gutters, overflows in the fascia and plenty of downpipes. Just need to be vigilant with cleaning leaves off if you have big trees (which we did until we cut them down) Our house has a flat roof, handles extremely heavy Qld downpours as well as any. The aesthetic improvement by not having a roof that's visible from the ground is worth the cost and extra effort in my opinion. Plus it lets us have solar hot water and solar PV panels mounted in the optimal orientation without being able to see them from the ground. I HATE it when you look at a nice house that has solar panels and all sorts of stuff on the front of the roof. Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 8Feb 15, 2015 2:19 pm No hallways. They are inevitable but when we started this process 90% of home plans had long hallways down to bedrooms 2,3 & 4. They end up dark, they are never wide enough and they are wasted space. Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 9Feb 15, 2015 3:16 pm Agree with the hallway comment, though I don't mind them if they are useful. Long endless hallways all over the house I find annoying. Or odd shaped ones. I have one from front to back of house, with all doors leading off it, but with the size of my house not much else I could do. In my current house, the hallway has about 3 turns, it's horrible. Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 10Feb 15, 2015 3:50 pm A lot of the layout problems come back to block size and shape. There's only so much you can do with a 400m2 block and a cheap mass-produced house plan. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 11Feb 15, 2015 7:49 pm 1960sModernistHome A lot of the layout problems come back to block size and shape. There's only so much you can do with a 400m2 block and a cheap mass-produced house plan. I disagree Regardless of the size or shape of the block, a functional home can be designed. This can actually adds character and appeal with the odd levels/spaces. Just takes a bit of imagination and creativity. Imagine if we all had flat level huge blocks to build on…it would be easier but doesn't mean its a more attractive site to build on. We are building a home on a sloping block with 4 different level inside and 3 levels outside. We love it ! Wouldn't have it any other way! And its not more expensive than building on a flat bock. Work with your block, not against it Id rather a challenge….. Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. George Carlin Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 12Feb 15, 2015 8:27 pm I believe you have misread my post. I said there's only so much you can do with a 400m2 block AND and cheap mass-produced house plan. Of course you can design a fantastic small-lot home if starting with a blank piece of paper, that is what I would do, and what I would encourage others to do. Personally I would only build a custom home. Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 13Feb 15, 2015 8:36 pm Enough storage space - It's laughable how little there is in some project homes for 5+ people Double garage - too many are being built that are minimum allowable size - TOO SMALL!!! Make sure it's wide enough to actually open doors. Sight lines - There's nothing better than sitting in the kitchen with a view of the toilet in the master bedroom's en-suite NOT!!! Don't have two open living spaces near each other. As soon as you put a TV in each area the sound/noise competition starts! For 2 storey places, ensure that the stairs are wide enough to carry furniture up there, especially if there are turns in the stairs or at the top landing. ----------------------------------------------- http://pab34newdigs.blogspot.com.au/ ----------------------------------------------- Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 14Feb 15, 2015 8:36 pm I read your comment correctly I only meant to quote your first sentence, not the second Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. George Carlin Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 15Feb 15, 2015 8:59 pm Ah ok, the two sentences are very much related though. I have nothing against small or challenging blocks of land. Usually the ones in the best location or the best view are the most challenging. My problem is with cookie cutter house plans. They might work ok in new, flat, housing estates, but not so much in small urban blocks and rebuild sites. I spend my working life in design teams designing bespoke buildings of various types so once you know how to design a good building, you tend to notice all the errors and compromises in mass-market home plans that try to be a one size fits all Building Services Engineer Renovating our 1960's modernist home in Brisbane https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=82091 Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 16Feb 15, 2015 10:12 pm 4-car Garage and a fully equiped workshop! Designer,Engineer (Civil,Const & Envir),Builder,Concrete & Masonry Contract.Struct Repairs Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 17Feb 15, 2015 10:41 pm StructuralBIMGuy ::wink:: 4-car Garage and a fully equiped workshop! Absolute must !!! Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience. George Carlin Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 18Feb 16, 2015 12:17 am Honesty and integrity! [and a huge theater room!] Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 19Feb 16, 2015 1:31 am First up - Great thread. I am so glad that my house took 3 years to get off the ground. The first year was written off because I through out the design after reading so much on this site and learning. What still annoys me is the enormous cost of pivot doors and wood garage doors. Stone upgrades for benchtops. The cost of stainless steel drains. The less that helpful design person who simply agreed with everything I suggested. Annoyed I did not plan the attic ladder spot better but it was late in the game and compromise necessary. Want to use the roof pace in both the rear garage and main house as storage. Specially got the builder to use 450mm space bearers instead of 600mm so it will be easier to board out. The most annoying thing though is the horrendous vetting process that the admin staff do and the close eye you have to have over every change to make sure that numbers stay true to quotes and budget. Also a little peeved that the front portion of the house only has 31c ceilings but it is only the guest bedroom and the laundry so compromise to keep it rolling. I tip my hat to my builder to be honest as I did have close to 300 changes that ran around 20 plus pages so it was a lot to track. I pretty much changed everything, thinking about it now, the only thing left that is builder's standard are the clipsal light switches and GPOs. I used the previous posts as a rough check list....hehe Have not got a 4 car garage but have a double at the front and a triple at the rear. Both have higher than normal door openings and are wider and deeper than the standard size. Good for trades and handy person (maybe I will become one) Don't really have any passage ways to speak of that are of any real length. Made sure after seeing many plans and my parents house had a long dark passage way. The rooms are bigger than normal but less of them. This is usually a topic where a flame suit is needed as some see this as indulgent, not me though as this is for me and my family. The theatre was a main inclusion that was important to me and it is adjacent to the living and dining. To deal with sound bleed I paid extra to have it full double brick and soundcheck ceiling and plaster. Things I am still worried about. Painting - Internal painting, going with, I think its called vivid white, builder quoted 22K for two coats. Not sure if that is value or not. Suspect it can be probably around the 15 - 18 mark. Flooring - who to select to do the wood Exposed Agg Driveway - colour, cracks, whether to do side paths Landscaping - Where to even start Now I am worried again...... Re: The Things We Insist On, Tell Me 20Feb 16, 2015 6:59 am I tend to agree about the room sizes. If I were building, I would have fewer rooms but larger size. Some new homes have all of these rooms that no one ever uses and they're small. Things like separate formal dining, separate formal lounge, theatre rooms (although some people are passionate about their theatre room, so if you do use it, fair enough!). I'd rather just have the basic rooms and make them 20% bigger, with big open living spaces. For a family home I would probably have a large rumpus room for the kids junk. Depends what you're current inclusions are, but we're not including wardrobes and will just use second hand ones until we can save later on to get them built. Also have a… 3 11642 |