Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 485Jul 15, 2012 2:55 pm Now I have frameless showers creens installed, with silicon down the sides between the glass and wall, it would have been better to have inset channels in the wall before the tiles went in. That way less mould issues and less maintenance with the silicon. Would have needed much more planning and experience to get it right though. Not really how they get it spot on so that the glass just fits into the channel at the top and bottom of the pane once all the tiles are in. Might do it in 15 years if I build another bathroom. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 486Jul 17, 2012 3:40 pm First post and everything, but I read with horror that people were using steel wool in holes to stop vermin getting in. Steel wool, contrary to common sense (lol), will burn vigorously if there's (enough) oxygen present. A "party trick" (don't actually do it a party), is to tie some steel wool to a a piece of wire, take a 1.5V battery to it. It will ignite. Then, swing it around to provide it with oxygen and you'll have a shower of molten metal - a sort of a hillbilly fireworks display. My point is, if you're using it somewhere where a small spark or heat from electrical wire can get to it, there's a real risk of fire. If you're using it somewhere where fresh oxygen can get to it (wind or the like), you're setting yourself up for a fire. If you don't believe me, do a google search for "igniting steel wool". With that said, I'm considering building a small cabin/cottage somewhere in Oz to use as a summer house, and this thread has been absolutely great for me, since I come from Denmark and we do things quite differently to Australians. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 487Jul 17, 2012 5:06 pm Danois First post and everything, but I read with horror that people were using steel wool in holes to stop vermin getting in. Steel wool, contrary to common sense (lol), will burn vigorously if there's (enough) oxygen present. A "party trick" (don't actually do it a party), is to tie some steel wool to a a piece of wire, take a 1.5V battery to it. It will ignite. Then, swing it around to provide it with oxygen and you'll have a shower of molten metal - a sort of a hillbilly fireworks display. My point is, if you're using it somewhere where a small spark or heat from electrical wire can get to it, there's a real risk of fire. If you're using it somewhere where fresh oxygen can get to it (wind or the like), you're setting yourself up for a fire. If you don't believe me, do a google search for "igniting steel wool". With that said, I'm considering building a small cabin/cottage somewhere in Oz to use as a summer house, and this thread has been absolutely great for me, since I come from Denmark and we do things quite differently to Australians. There are fire resistant metal mesh that can be used to stop vermin. The ones we have are so small in mesh size, even flies cannot come in. Ask about them at your fire protection businesses. If you don't need the air flow, use expanding foam spray. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 488Jul 17, 2012 9:41 pm Vatche There are fire resistant metal mesh that can be used to stop vermin. The ones we have are so small in mesh size, even flies cannot come in. Ask about them at your fire protection businesses. If you don't need the air flow, use expanding foam spray. Yup - a much better idea than roughed up Brillo pads. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 489Jul 18, 2012 2:43 pm All of this info is so helpful! We've been going through our plans trying to ensure we have things where we need them so looking at this now is perfect Land 761m2 - Settled 06/07/2012 - Newbie Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 490Jul 20, 2012 1:22 pm Noggins along laundry wall for hanging school bags and jackets. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 491Jul 26, 2012 7:04 pm Whilst upgrading to a timber staircase ($4k) we forgot to double check what the verticles were on the balustrade only to find once installed they are yukky powder coated metal. First job post move in is to take them out! As someone who used to be an interior designer I was very cranky with myself when I realised I had overlooked in the elevations that our overheads cupboards had exposed gables - a pet hate of mine! Fortunately the colour of the cupboards means that it doesn't stand out too much. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 492Aug 04, 2012 6:28 pm If you are thinking of 2400 high windows, keep in mind that you can't get off the rack window dressings. We have lots of 2400 windows - they look great, and we budgeted for the extra cost of higher windows but we foolishly didn't realise that off-the-rack blinds have a standard drop of 2100, which means we have to get ours all custom made. I love the 2400 windows, but if I was doing it again I was assess more closely the quantity bearing in mind the back-end window dressing costs as well as the window size upgrade! SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 493Aug 15, 2012 9:18 pm Think twice about semi frame-less shower screens, they look wonderful but your floors will always be wet I am actually downgrading to framed shower doors in my spec. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 494Aug 15, 2012 10:11 pm donna61 Think twice about semi frame-less shower screens, they look wonderful but your floors will always be wet Is that from experience? A friend at work did a renovation and got the frameless shower screen and didn't have any issues with the floor getting wet I went semi-frameless/framed. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 495Aug 16, 2012 10:01 am theanonyuser donna61 Think twice about semi frame-less shower screens, they look wonderful but your floors will always be wet Is that from experience? A friend at work did a renovation and got the frameless shower screen and didn't have any issues with the floor getting wet I went semi-frameless/framed. Yes it is, also friends have had same result. I also like the bright silver framed anyway. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 496Aug 16, 2012 11:03 pm Just wanted to say thanks very much to everyone that has contributed to this list. It is a great checklist to have pre-build!! One thing I thought I would add is a bin cupboard in the kitchen. Some builders will put a 'bin drawer' in so you can supply the bin after handover or you can get it including a bin. So much better than having the dirty bin on the floor in the kitchen. Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 497Aug 17, 2012 5:17 pm Check, check and check windows on plans ... not only position of windows, but also size and height. We have upstairs bedroom windows that are so high that my 10yr won't be able to see out of them without getting on her tiptoes. My kitchen window was so high initially that I couldn't see out the backyard. We fixed/lowered that at frame stage, but we didn't get upstairs until gyprock stage so can't do anything about the upstairs windows now. Also check size - we have a lovely floor to ceiling window in powder room. Missed it completely at plan stage. Now we have a loo with a view We also have a small window over our staircase that would have looked heaps better if it was 3x the size. And a fixed window in the bedroom where we should have had an opening window. check, check and check before you start! Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 498Aug 17, 2012 5:26 pm ditto about checking windows. We also overlooked stipulating how high (or low) from the floor we wanted windows, which can dictate furniture. Luckily our builder was flexible to allow us to raise some windows as we wanted to be able to fit a bed or desk underneath the windows (or at least have the option in the future). Also check that the window position on the wall is balanced in the room. For example, a window in our master which is visible as you walk down the hall was off centre which looked quite wonky (as you only saw 3/4 of the window as you approached). Luckily we were also able to change that at frame stage, but most builders don't let you (or charge a fortune) which means it is essential to look at all that during plan stage... SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 499Aug 20, 2012 12:26 pm Also check which way windows open. We went quite a few tilt & Turn windows but I neglected to consider which way they open up, so have windows opening into traffice areas etc Re: Things you forget - summary page 20 500Aug 20, 2012 12:41 pm strange about the electrical. at clark new homes we draw up an electrical plan for lighting and power points showing where it all goes. then the client adds or changes what they want, and then we redraw it all again properly. dont know how else you could do it. cheerio 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 11596 Looking to start the journey of becoming an owner builder in SA. Feeling pretty (overly) confident on the building and construction details, but really struggling to find… 0 8367 No. It's not original. Circa early to mid 90s would be my guess and maybe even as late as early 2000s 1 6624 |