Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Builder not yet confirmed 21Nov 17, 2012 9:32 am itzeddie - it doesn't matter where you are building/buying. Settlement agents in Mandurah settled our property in Bayswater a few years ago. I love your plan - the double door entry, the big WIR (love the door to close it off btw), double doors to the theatre, big walk in linen, big family room, big alfresco, minimal hallway, etc. I can't quite make out what all the red marks are for though. I think a slider to the ensuite bathroom would be better than a 180` hinge door - it just looks like it is going to hit the towel rail. Or else you could move the door down a little towards the toilet seeing as you have created a bit more space there. Are you happy with the shower in the ensuite? I am a fan of the wet rooms or otherwise double showers seem to be the rage but it depends what you like. My only other concern from an energy efficiency perspective is the windows to Bed 3 & 4 because they are West facing. They may be quite warm rooms in Summer. The SW breeze will hopefully help this but just something to think about. Otherwise it sits so well on your block - you are going to have a great backyard. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Builder not yet confirmed 22Nov 17, 2012 1:13 pm You can just call me Eddie by the way, and thanks for that information regarding settlement, that has sorted that one for us then. Regarding the plan, we quite like it as well. We actually cancelled the double-door entry as it did not quite fit and would of added a larger amount to the cost that we just couldn't see the benefit of as we have a large side area of the house to move big things in and out. In terms of the ensuite door I have never actually seen a sliding door in a display as of yet that does this but it is something we could probably consider if we have seen it, we only went with the basic ones for now just to show that we want a door there for sure. The shower is 1.5, We did not see the need for a double shower personally and I hate crampy showers so 1.5 was the way to go for us. Regarding Bed 3 & 4, there is not much we could do about it as w don't think the window would be that nice looking to the left as it would just be fence and it would ruin the look of the back imho as well, but I guess we are biting the bullet a bit with efficiency by getting Air-conditioning, I get hot very easily so this was a main choice for us. Yeah we absolutely love the way it sits on the black, we get a very generous amount of back yard when you compare it to most blocks these days, very keen to get to work there And a couple of the other markings are stone benchtops in the Kitchen and a benchtop added to the laundry as well with the sink moved over to allow for washer and dryer. Oh and the study has been narrowed slightly to provide the same family space as seen in the display version of this design. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Builder not yet confirmed 23Nov 17, 2012 4:11 pm Hi Eddie - I guess that should have been obvious from your username. Agree about the side area for getting things in to the house. That was our reason for deleting double doors to our Master suite too. I also agree about the double shower - no point having wasted space if you aren't going to need it. Are you looking at any other builders? Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Builder not yet confirmed 24Nov 18, 2012 2:40 pm SmithiesWife Hi Eddie - I guess that should have been obvious from your username. Agree about the side area for getting things in to the house. That was our reason for deleting double doors to our Master suite too. I also agree about the double shower - no point having wasted space if you aren't going to need it. Are you looking at any other builders? We have had a look through a few of the main ones plans, and none of them really looked like what we wanted, they always had one or two big no-nos in terms of design. And as soon as you start making big changes you hit the $$$. We have had a look through many displays over the last year in the lead up to this process and we just cant seem to get passed this celebration design. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Builder not yet confirmed 25Nov 18, 2012 3:50 pm It's great if you can find a design that is just about perfect. We had such a hard time with it but luckily the builder we liked had a design that was close-ish. I know what you mean about $$$ - we are fiddling with ours still but we want it to be spot on. It is mostly minor stuff though and we have saved some $$ as well as spent a bit extra so it will balance out. Well I guess your "builder to be confirmed" line will be changing soon then. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Builder not yet confirmed 26Nov 18, 2012 7:27 pm SmithiesWife It's great if you can find a design that is just about perfect. We had such a hard time with it but luckily the builder we liked had a design that was close-ish. I know what you mean about $$$ - we are fiddling with ours still but we want it to be spot on. It is mostly minor stuff though and we have saved some $$ as well as spent a bit extra so it will balance out. Well I guess your "builder to be confirmed" line will be changing soon then. Fair enough, finding the right design is never an easy task. And hopefully it will be! Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Builder not yet confirmed 27Nov 25, 2012 8:58 pm We have another meeting with our Celebration Homes guy on Tuesday to discuss the outside features such as windows and things and to hopefully get a complete price on everything so we know where we stand. We are also thinking about liquid limestone on the driveway instead of paving as the cross-over is really expensive to have done it seems to almost pay for itself. Getting really close to signing with these guys now. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Builder not yet confirmed 28Nov 28, 2012 12:25 pm I am very happy to announce that yesterday my fiance and I, after many months over the last year looking through builders trying to find the right one we have settled with Celebration Homes, we sound our prelim contracts with them last night and intend to pay our deposit by the end of the week. We absolutely love our house plan and we came in under budget with $10K available to spend during pre-start if necessary. We are absolutely over the moon, just a shame we have to wait until May. The best news we received last night was that we ended up getting our stone bench-top upgrade in the kitchen for free which is fantastic. We have until Friday, when we intend to pay the deposit, to make any last structural changes. Also we have decided not to go with limestone as we have had a look at a few and they look quite shabby, we are very happy with our plan Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes - Polaris 29Nov 28, 2012 6:05 pm Yay! That's fantastic news for you guys. Congrats. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes - Polaris 30Dec 02, 2012 11:16 am Love that WIL... Liking the little tweeks you've made to the original, there are a couple of polaris homes in our estate and they are quite striking in their appearance. Score on the essastone. look forward to your updates.. ps what is the line representing in the study ? chelle xx Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes - Polaris 31Dec 02, 2012 3:36 pm We have made the study slightly thinner to increase family room space, because in the Polaris the Study is actually bigger than the one thats in the display so we have just made it the same. Just a question for everyone as well, what are your opinions on solar power, what is the average cost and does it actually make a difference? Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes - Polaris 32Dec 03, 2012 11:15 am Just got hit by our first and I am sure will not be our last price mishap, unfortunately due to new BAL 12.5 fire ratings in Ellenbrook we have just been hit by a cost increase due to the air conditioning system in our house, this has mostly been countered by an old offer thanks to our building consultant, meaning less than a thousand dollars was added to the overall cost which is alright. And still does anyone have any opinions on solar power? Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes - Solar Powe 33Dec 03, 2012 12:31 pm itzeddie And still does anyone have any opinions on solar power? With power prices rising the way they are, having solar is definitely better than not having it - though it really comes down to your usage, whether you have the spare $$$$ and the payback period. Similar to QLD, WA has seen the FIT for new solar installations slashed from 27c to 7c. Which makes having a system for the sole purpose of exporting to the grid for $$$ not very economical - the payback period is just way too long. However if you find yourself a high user of power during the day, you may find benefits to be gained through a small system that offsets your daytime usage to some extent. It won't offset your bill entirely, but you would see a reduction in your bill. So probably a 1.5kW - 3kW. Not sure about WA pricing, but here in QLD that size system would be around the $3k-$6k mark. You would really need to sit down and do the sums on your usage to work out your payback period If you aren't using the power during the day - I would say it isn't worth it - payback period would probably be 10-12 years. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes - Solar Powe 34Dec 03, 2012 1:20 pm Thanks for that Atom, with both me and my fiance working full-time jobs its highly unlikely any power would be used during the day apart from the obvious stuff, I have been keeping a close eye on the rebates etc and they all do seem to be going away, making it less interesting. Unfortunately this being my first ever house (never rented) I am not sure what we will use per day, but I suppose we could install at a later date if it is extortionate. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes 35Dec 06, 2012 4:39 pm Hi Eddie. I missed your recent posts for some reason. I think a small solar system is definitely worth it to counter some of your electricity cost. I agree it is almost not worth exporting power to the grid but it does help with your bill each month. They're starting to do some good things with battery storage for solar too from what my research tells me. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes 37Dec 06, 2012 5:29 pm Honestly I'm no expert and have not actually been in to a store to ask. I know they do battery storage for people who have no mains electricity connection but not sure if it is readily available yet to people hooked up to the grid. It would be awesome if you could arrange to store roughly what you needed for night use and only export whatever you don't use over and above that. Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes 38Dec 10, 2012 2:32 pm I went into Celebration Homes the other day and collected our pre-start book and have been having a look at the options we have available, the fiance and I are going to go out looking at a few of items over my two weeks off over the christmas period but we think we have chosen a door we like. The colour isn't correct but thats what were going for at the moment. I shall have pictures of more items as we go on. MADISON - STYLE: PMAD104 - Translucent Gass I also found this one whilst at work, but will need to run it past the missus as it might suite the elevation of our house more. MADISON - STYLE: PMAD101 - Translucent Glass Opinions? Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes - Prestart P 39Dec 10, 2012 3:15 pm Hi Eddie, loving your work so far. Glad to see you're already progressed to prestart - look forward to following your build. Build #2 Builder: In-Vogue Design: Custom 2 Storey Build #1 Builder: New Generation Homes Design: The Monterey My Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=60453 Re: Our build in Ellenbrook - Celebration Homes - Prestart P 40Dec 10, 2012 3:51 pm I love the first door, though I may be biased as it is the one we have piacked, it will be painted monument. We were deciding between it and the one with four squares down the side. I really wanted the starburst one but we had to draw the line somewhere! Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. I guess when you talk to a builder who butters up everything to look very polished, you get to start believing… 7 19849 of course there are legal avenues. You've already mentioned it. Sue them. I find it odd that lawyers wouldnt be willing to take on the case, given CCT evidence and… 1 24586 "Losers" "humanity" "off time" "your" "top notch" "love symbol" Sounds like ponzo is done using other people's toilets 36 25173 |