Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 19, 2014 5:44 pm Hi all, my partner and I decided to take a leap of faith recently and put a deposit on a fixed price house and land package in Forsyth Park, to be built by Nostra homes. Although I am a drafter, I don't work in residential construction and am pretty much a newb to all this and would like to draw on everyone's collective experiences to avoid any pit falls along the way as much as possible. We are yet to sign the contract, but what are the main issues or things to look out for? What have other people buying off the plan wished they'd done differently or been aware of from the start? Thanks in advance... And I will add to this with my own experience to help out other first home buyers in a similar position once the build progresses, all things going well! Re: Building our first home - advice please! 3Sep 19, 2014 5:59 pm Probably the first thing to understand is that fixed price doesn't mean fixed cost. You have fixed the price of the basic house but costs can go up: If you want to upgrade the fixtures and fitting to the display house standard. If site costs due to ground conditions are worse than good. There is some more advice at this link http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2012/02/after-the-deposit/ 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: Building our first home - advice please! 4Sep 20, 2014 1:03 pm Thanks for the replies, yes I was a bit wary about it being 'fixed cost', no matter how many times they say you won't pay anything further! It seems in the contract (standard hia) it stipulates any thing encountered outside of the design scope of the project could be regarded as a variation, so hopefully the soil testing is accurate and we don't get stung with additional fees for site costs etc. Will have a good look through those threads mentioned. Thanks! Ed Re: Building our first home - advice please! 5Sep 22, 2014 8:42 pm Hi Edward A, One thing you cannot bank on is good quality nowadays... but you might be lucky. You therefore might benefit from at least 2 (better 4 and a pre-sign) stage construction inspections by your chosen building consultant woo to be called capable in my opinion, must have a definition of defect (cos' that's what they are looking for) and that definition must contain all implied warranties and compliance with manufacturer requirements and permit documents including truss fixing instructions. If the consultant does not get on the roof, in the roof, does not look at roof plumbing or get under timber floors then he/she is probably going to find less than half of what is wrong. Best of luck, cheers, Leonardo_23 Re: Building our first home - advice please! 6Sep 23, 2014 9:54 pm Good point Leonardo, quality finishing is one thing that can easily be spotted however if the plaster is hiding bodgey framing or plumbing it could be a nightmare to fix... I'll see if I can organise a decent independent building inspector to look over the place at each of the construction phases and make sure it's been done well Re: Building our first home - advice please! 8Oct 02, 2014 6:40 pm Thanks velcro. Were you unhappy with the quality of the house? Did you have many issues with the plumbing? And did they rectify these issues? Also when you say structural items, anything in particular we should look out for? I will be getting an independent building inspector to have a look over the place at critical stages to make sure things are all ok. Thanks for the advice! Re: Building our first home - advice please! 9Oct 03, 2014 9:21 pm Hi Edward, Unfortunately we are at VCAT. I would recommend checking the truss/wall connections are installed properly, and that your drainage is completely up to scratch. If I was to build again I would be investing in an independent plumbing inspection before handover. CCTV and block/flood testing of the stormwater and sewer. Everything Leonardo has said I second! Number one don't take things the builders representatives or trades who work on the house say as being gospel. If you think something's not right, then get it checked. Prevention is so, so much easier than cure! Good luck with it all! Re: Building our first home - advice please! 13Dec 16, 2014 12:45 pm So far so good, they've been pretty accommodating with all my requests but construction hasn't commenced yet. I can update here as things progress. I have organised through a work colleague to have a reputable structural engineer assess the slab pre and post pour to make sure there are no corners cut as this is what i am most concerned about, every building needs a solid foundation if it's going to stand the test of time. Also slab have is a real possibility given the soil conditions on site. Should be a non issue though with these inspections from someone in the know to make sure everything is built to spec. Good luck with the build and happy holidays, Ed Re: Building our first home - advice please! 14Dec 17, 2014 2:52 pm Edward - Even we are building with Nostra Homes @ Forsyth Park. We are First Home Buyers, so do not know much information about building process. please keep the thread posted with your progress. Glad to see someone to talk during the journey We got an email today for color appointment. Thnx Sara Re: Building our first home - advice please! 15Dec 18, 2014 10:37 pm Will do. Yeah the colour choice and selection is the fun part, my partner and I created a 'mood board' from images we downloaded from the houzz app that we liked, to help visualise what goes well together, was really helpful so we could get a clear idea of what we wanted for each room. Good luck with it all! Ed Re: Building our first home - advice please! 19Feb 15, 2015 9:30 pm Very slowly, but it's finally starting to kick off now! The Christmas period really put a halt on everything, I guess a lot of the tradesmen were still on holiday until end of January. I went out to the block today and had a look, they have hooked up all the services to the property now ready for the slab to go down in the next few days, the site foreman said it would be built over a period of about 5-6 months so we are looking at a July/August handover. After looking over the design of the slab the other day, I decided (for better or worse) not to bother having an independent inspection of the slab as it is quite expensive and I think it would be pretty hard to do a bad job of this given the simplicity of the waffle pod slab design. It is an easy job to clip the reinforcement mesh on to the pods, check the cover of reinforcement at all edges and pour the concrete over. I guess the main thing is site preparation, and that the pods are spaced evenly apart with the correct reo mesh used, and that the footing and slab thickness is built to plan. The council inspector will still have to sign off on it anyway so spending a few hundred dollars for someone else to go out there for 30mins and tell me the same thing is probably not worth it in hindsight. Also after looking around at the quality of the other buildings adjacent to our block, I feel pretty reassured that there shouldn't be any dramas with this part of the design. Hopefully I don't eat my words lol. Any progress with your block at all? Cant give recommendations in general with that builder, but during the colour selection, this is honestly personal preference. Depends on the style you want. Do you want… 1 1165 granny can live in the garage. just give her a few extra blankets rofl 8 1499 I second taking your plans elsewhere. They're yours (unless you ended up in one of those cheaper arrangements where you don't own the rights and the build will be tendered… 2 814 |