Building @ Harcrest, Wantirna South

arun2011 · Jul 10, 2011 11:24 am

Hi Twakky,

We're on Cerise Street too - what a coincidence

We're lot 21 and waiting for the site costs to come out and reading the numbers on here, starting to get very nervous..fingers crossed!!

Tramsok - hopefully there are others on this forum on Honey Ave so you're able to compare apples to apples..

It'll be good to know what lots everyone's on...should organise a BBQ once we all move in... :lol:

twakky · Jul 10, 2011 5:41 pm

Hi Arun, we're lot 37, only across the road from you, how exiciting!

Which builder have you gone with?
Yeh a BBQ with all the neighbours would be nice later on hehe

arun2011 · Jul 10, 2011 8:10 pm

Hi Twakky,

Great to hear that you're just across the road..We're building a double storey house with Dennis Family...PD was out of question as they didn't have a double-storey home to suit a 12.5m width. Metricon and Carlisle were a little bit pricey but also we didn't love any of their designs.

We're very happy with the house design we've chosen with DFH and can't wait to see it come up...Given that we haven't signed contracts yet, I don't expect we'll start building before September..

myhome83 · Jul 11, 2011 11:06 am

Site Classification: m class site
Final Footing Design: Waffle slab
House Size: 31 sq. including garage and decks
Location: ferntree gully
Wall Construction: Double storey
Cut and Fill Requirements: Yes - there is a 3.9 m slope from back to front but not more than 1 mrr where the house will be built
Retaining Wall Requirements: Yes
Drainage Requirements: ?
Special Requirements: ?
Cost: 92000

Do you think is cost is realistic

Gren · Jul 11, 2011 8:54 pm

Myhome83, just to clarify, your site costs are $92,000? If so, thats expensive.

I think our site costs are around $15,000 at Harcrest, I would need to look through contracts etc.

Does anybody have start date for build? Also has your builder completed their own soil tests and applied for a building permit with local council?

Gren

arun2011 · Jul 12, 2011 8:45 am

Hi Gren,

I'm not sure if our builder has done soil tests as yet. As you know, we've had some bad weather recently and that may have affected the process in some way. But the interesting thing is, I went to the land last week and saw these round holes on the land which appears to have been from some machinery possibly soil test related...who knows

I'm sure we'll hear from them shortly and fingers crossed, the site costs are not exhorbitant... ::praying::

btw Gren, if you don't mind me asking - what lot are you on, and who's your builder?

What I'm actually unsure about is the signing of contracts and whether they'll be delayed due to the Design Assessment process. What if we sign the contract and then Mirvac doesn't approve the design, does that mean we do the post contract variations which may come at a cost??

Has anyone submitted their design for approval as yet? Any comments from Mirvac?

Tramsok · Jul 12, 2011 10:28 am

Hi Arun2011,

Yeah the holes in the ground are as result of the soil tests. I don't think rain will affect the tests too much and you'll notice they do drill very deep!

Carlisle won't submit the plans for approval until contracts are signed and drawing ordered. They have advised me that if Mirvac come back and reject anything, that we should not have to pay a post contract varation cost since the change isn't a result of us changing our mind, but due to the developer requirements. Hope they honour that when and if it actually happens!

Good luck with the soil tests!

Tramsok

tstr1a · Jul 12, 2011 10:33 am

My advice is get it in writing or better yet, get it mentioned in your contract

twakky · Jul 12, 2011 10:47 am

WOW 92k.... Sounds like a lot. Your sloping grade sounds like it requires some deep edge beams and bore piers. Who's the builder? Maybe get another builder to quote.

Gren- Been chasing up our builder for the past 2 weeks now.... so we know nothing of what's happening right now. I think all houses at harcrest are exempt from having to obtain a council permit, you just have to get through the the mirvac design assessment and you'll be right to build (pretty sure I read it somewhere in the guidelines)

Arun- we've already signed the contract with our builder, you do your best to adhere to the covenant requirements at your contracts but you should be able add any extras(which I assume are upgrades and are added costs) as variations. We forgot about the provision for grey water system until recently when we got the harcrest welcome packs, whoops! I've submitted my part of the application (prob nearly 2 months ago), I don't think our builder has and I hope they haven't because I know it wouldn't pass at the current state. Oh yeh those holes you saw wud've been from the geo-tech guy's soil testing commissioned by mirvac. We saw them do ours when we were inspecting the land b4 settlement.

twakky · Jul 12, 2011 10:53 am

tstr1a

My advice is get it in writing or better yet, get it mentioned in your contract

I second that. Your CSC can promise you things with the best intentions, but with room for mis-communication their managers might think differently. Which is what happened to us on multiple issues.

arun2011 · Jul 12, 2011 11:11 am

Thanks guys..I'll make sure I clarify and agree to this with my builder 'in writing'..

Another question, my builder is refusing to do plumbing only for the rainwater tank - they say either get the whole lot done via them at construction or post handover. I find this to be very inflexible given that they've been great with everything so far. Their estimate is nearly $5000 including supply and installation of slimline rainwater tank & the necessary plumbing.

I still think I can get it a lot cheaper outside of the builder..

Worst case, how difficult would it be to have the whole thing installed post-handover? Will there be any changes required to the internal plumbing at all - I definitely want to try and avoid that... decisions decisions...

twakky · Jul 12, 2011 11:18 am

It's not impossible to do the plumbing after, but it's more work since u're you're basically doing a retrofit with the internal plumbings of an existing house. Call up a few tank places and ask them. But you can definitely get cheaper and nicer tanks yourself.

tstr1a · Jul 12, 2011 11:29 am

PD charged my $878 for the plumbing. I’ll buy a slimline 2000l tank post handover for $850.
$5000... No way, that is really expensive.

arun2011 · Jul 12, 2011 11:50 am

Thanks - that's what I figured. I think cost aside, doing it myself means I get to choose the type of tank I want, the colour, the design etc. without having to just accept what the builder provides in his price. There's a tank guy not too far from where I live and I might pay him a visit.

People do install these things in existing homes as well so its just a matter of weighing up the cost/convenience of both options...

thanks again for the responses..much appreciated.

Tramsok · Jul 13, 2011 3:50 pm

Hi,
Does anyone the location of their front tap? Not sure if that is decided on by the council or Mirvac? The builder seems to think that the council will determine the location. Just reading other forums where the tap has been placed in front of a driveway or entrance to the front door, this preventing decking being done in some other estates. It costs 2K to move the tap once it is installed, want to make sure that doesn't happen on our block. Does anyone know and who would be responsibile for determining its location? I've e-mail Mirvac, just waiting for a response
Tramsok

ralbubs · Jul 16, 2011 6:47 pm

Hi Tramsok,

Generally the relevant water authority (South East Water or Yarra Valley Water?) will determine the location of the front tap/meter and I would almost guarantee it will be in a place that annoys you. There is not much you or your builder can do to avoid this as I think both do the connection themselves.

Tramsok · Jul 18, 2011 9:34 pm

Thanks ralbubs, yeah it seems South East Water determine the tap location. Has anyone thought about their letter box yet? I know Mirvac again have strict guidelines on the type, design and style of letter box you can get. If anyone has got any links or done any research on letter boxes, be great to share!

Gren · Jul 20, 2011 5:47 pm

Hi All,

Anybody has there plans approved by Mirvac and got planning permission from Mirvac or Council to start building?

We are nearly there, my builder tells me there is an issue or delay in Mirvac giving out planning permission, hence may not be able to start in July.

You can many different design letter boxes from Bunnings and other hardware shops, best to have a look online.

Gren

eimaj · Jul 22, 2011 7:55 pm

I see there's a Mirvac house & land package for sale at Harcrest at $899,000

http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-S ... 2009126941

arun2011 · Jul 24, 2011 1:04 pm

Hi all,

Our soil classification just came back as 'P' which means our site costs will increase substantially

I'm trying to get hold of the soil reports as done by the builder as the reports provided by Mirvac recommends we can use a modified M Slab or H1 slab. I'm not an engineer but I'm keen to hear if anyone is getting similar results from their builders.

We're on Cerise Street and I'm hoping to hear from other residents with lots on this street.