Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2101May 24, 2011 7:42 pm HI EVERYONE! We're back after a long absence! haven't been able to log in have been locked out for so long! Lots of newbies here, welcome. And a few of you have reached completion! Still in pre-construction got final tender this afternoon, now just to double check. Dot the i's and cross the T's. one of my balks at this process is the electrical appt. this should be done first. Hoe many of you got to this last step in the process and had to skimp on it due to budget constraints. I think it;s more important that tile selection.... your thoughts... anyone? We had our appliances taken out of the contract and got a meagre amount credited back for the appliances themselves which I don't think includes the installation. We have opted to supply and install our own appliances considering that Masterton wont supply Miele. We scored our dishwasher range-hood and microwave at the recent "4hr sale" in Sydney saved at least 35% so rather impressed with ourselves! Since we've been absent we have had our pool installed a heap of excavation to level the back yard to match the slab and retaining walls put in to preserve the boundaries and also once the house is up it will be too hard to for them to dig footings and pour concrete. We are sitting on rock. Sandstone on top of ironstone so our underground RW tank is going to be expensive! It's been a pretty cruisy ride so far with the exception of the Demolition Company we dealt with. the drama we had with the demo guy - he didn't cap the water mains so we had to fork out an extra $460 to get that repaired - and yes it was in the contract but the B4stard wont take responsibility passing the buck to some unknown ripping out the copper pipping which was a complete fabrication. makes my blood boil. but karma will get him no doubt. His wife had the audacity to say it's not her problem how I interpret their quote? I mean really if you can't right up a quote clearly let alone speak to your prompt paying clients like that insulting their intelligence, should you really be in business? anyway like I said Karma... There's a Villina going up down the road from usI wonder if it's anyone here. Please PM me if it's you Cioa for now everyone! can't wait to see the slab go down.... Building The Santorini Custom BA Signed 22/09/10 DA Approval 20/1/11 Demo 28/2/11 Pool 18/3/12 Slab 22/07/12 Frame 24/8/12 Bricks 7/09/12 Roof 19/10/11 Blog http://santorinidreams.wordpress.com/ Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2102May 24, 2011 7:53 pm @Susiebunt, we budgeted $100k. There are upgrades you will see along the way and the standard lighting plan provided in the contract does not reflect what you see in the display homes. @ Cathy we installed our pool and retaining walls prior to construction. Building The Santorini Custom BA Signed 22/09/10 DA Approval 20/1/11 Demo 28/2/11 Pool 18/3/12 Slab 22/07/12 Frame 24/8/12 Bricks 7/09/12 Roof 19/10/11 Blog http://santorinidreams.wordpress.com/ Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2103May 24, 2011 7:56 pm welcome back sunny and warm. progress is a good thing hey. the electrical being last didnt really phase use more the pain of travelling out to warwick farm all the time to be honest. @susiebunt, we did the same $100K above base for the house, extra for landscaping/furnishing etc, it all adds up i guess. Building: Masterton Villina Savoy in the Sutherland Shire http://nathanandvivienbuildahome.blogspot.com/ Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2104May 24, 2011 8:30 pm have to say we had a the best pre construcion consultant. She has been wonderful! Building The Santorini Custom BA Signed 22/09/10 DA Approval 20/1/11 Demo 28/2/11 Pool 18/3/12 Slab 22/07/12 Frame 24/8/12 Bricks 7/09/12 Roof 19/10/11 Blog http://santorinidreams.wordpress.com/ Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2105May 24, 2011 10:20 pm Hello sunny_and_warm I was wondering what happening to you as I was very interested with your thread because I am building the Santorini MK1 too, but with Georgian facade. I just got my amended plan this week. I was so happy that I didn't found any errors this time. The last plan have so many errors! I am now waiting for the final tender and after that, is the contract signing. Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2106May 25, 2011 5:53 pm Hi Guys. Thanks for the welcome looks like ive come to the right place!! Does anyone know or has anyone built in Spring Farm (camden) we have just purchased a block in there and im wondering how the bushfire grade works when builidng ive heard it costs you more to build? Also what is a standard site cost on a flat block there? How much extra did you guys pay from your first to last tenders? How do i look at pics of ppls bathrooms/kitchens id love to see colours etc and know if there standard or cost more? Thanks Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2107May 25, 2011 7:51 pm Macarthur (Camden) Council sometimes impose additional restrictions on builds. My mate had an electrical box outside of the front of his place for his Camden build and needed to alter the position of his house to comply with council restrictions, eg x amount of distance from e-box, which resulted in him pushing the house significantly into his planned back-yard. Check your easements with CC - something like more detail applied to this may help, http://www.springfarmriverside.com.au/P ... prings.pdf You may choose to get an independent BAL done if you wish. I am unsure if this effects MH bushfire assessment, i.e. whether they accept it. We submitted our own and saved thousands because the MH one was VERY cautious. If I was paranoid I would think MH opts for very conservative BAL to increase the mark up they add to all additions. Where you can do as much for BAL as possible yourself. You can find more info via here for requirements http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/dsp_content.cfm?cat_id=1058 If you can find out what has been accepted before for BAL via DA, say via the CC website than just submit one of you adjacent neighbors BAL's and if CC or Mh contest it ask why there is a discrepancy between one (adjacent) BAL and another BAL on the same piece of land. Let us know how you get on Actually, think about anything you can do outside of the 'selection' process to do by yourself. You will have contact with your building construction coordinator, not the MH office person, but the actual builder. You may find that many of the 'upgrades' that appeared out of your reach are actually affordable when negotiating with the guys that are doing the install for you. This goes for plumbing & electrics just as it does for your concreting. Weigh up whether that 12K alfresco could actually be done for 30% less by negotiating with the builder direct, perhaps even more with 'cash in hand'. There are so many things to think of. My advice, don't get too caught up in what you can or cannot get. If you think it's too much of a stretch to afford a build with the extras you want than perhaps building is not for you, and walk away.... Just my opinion....on the other hand if it's within reach, grab it with both hands and fight for the lowest price for what you want and ride any home builder for the quickest and most accurate cost/inclusive build turn around . You don't have to jump in bed with signing any tender until then. Remember, you're the one with the land wanting to build on, and the money. The home builders are the ones with wanting your business. Get the most you can for your money. Haggle, negotiate and play the home builders off against each other. You may just be presently surprised by the results. At the end of the day the money either goes to them (your desirable builder) or another home builder. In these times the advantaged is to the buyer. Don't be afraid to use this where you can. June 2010: Land Aug Tender + Deposit for Villina 41 Dec DA in Feb DA out Mar Construction Cert May Slab June Frame viewtopic.php?f=31&t=45643 Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2108May 25, 2011 8:42 pm Oh Sunny and Warm, how frustrating!! It really irritates me when these Demo Companies do *** things. I think ours buried rubble as we kept on finding so much rubbish when we were excavating the back garden.. THey seem to get away with so much! Villina with Contemporary Facade + Alfresco *Demo 22/4/2010 *Pool 04/05/2010 *Released to Construction 24/05/2010 *Slab 29 June 2010 *Start of Frame 30 July 2010 - 21 Aug 2010 *Bricks started 14/09/2010 - 13/10/2010 *Roof started (Facsia) 15/10/2010 *Lock Up 10/12/2010 *PCI 18 Feb *Keys in hand 24 Feb *IOC 09 March 2011 My Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39843 Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2109May 25, 2011 9:11 pm freshstart Lucky freshstart Anyone building the Symphony?? We saw it yesterday at Warwick farm and like the mastersuite to the front version. Didn't like the Oran Park one at all. So at the moment tossing up the Overture or Symphony...... We are building the Symphony. Brickwork started this week. Where are you guys building? and have you been happy with the process so far? We are tossing up the Symphony with an Eden Brae design - Hawthorne 27 just waiting on both tenders to come back. We are tossing up between those two as well let me know how you went with the tenders who worked out better where are you building pm me if interested Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2111May 25, 2011 10:49 pm Thanks, they go great with the blackbutt timber, they're standard from the platinum range Building: Masterton Villina Savoy in the Sutherland Shire http://nathanandvivienbuildahome.blogspot.com/ Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2112May 26, 2011 7:05 pm Can I ask, after you sign with M are you allow to add aditional sliding internal doors? Like on the Villina put a door between entry and great room or in the main walk in wardrobe? Or change the cupboard doors in the bedrooms to be mirrored and take up the whole wall. Can this be done later in colors? Or will I need to tell my CSC to change the plans and get a new tender? Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2113May 26, 2011 7:11 pm any changes after the final tender will result in a fee of $1000 (if i remember correctly) so you need to make sure you have everything done before you move past that point, the colour room is too late. Building: Masterton Villina Savoy in the Sutherland Shire http://nathanandvivienbuildahome.blogspot.com/ Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2114May 26, 2011 7:39 pm Nathan&Vivien any changes after the final tender will result in a fee of $1000 (if i remember correctly) so you need to make sure you have everything done before you move past that point, the colour room is too late. Thanks for the prompt reply.. *sigh* was jsut so hesistant to do this because I didn't want anymore delays... do you think this will add much time onto the process? Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2116May 26, 2011 11:47 pm Yes. But there will be delays for these alterations. Sometimes for even things that appear relatively small can have lengthy delays. It may need to go back to costings and drafting depending on how far along they are. Thou better to have what you want... June 2010: Land Aug Tender + Deposit for Villina 41 Dec DA in Feb DA out Mar Construction Cert May Slab June Frame viewtopic.php?f=31&t=45643 Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2118May 27, 2011 9:39 am Hi everyone This is my first post. I am currently at the tender stage with Masterton to build the Overture. Have received the initial tender, now in the process of all the fine points. I have been reading this thread with interest, thanks for all the tips. I also just saw the 'things you forget' thread too, what a fabulous resource! Looking forward to chatting Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2119May 28, 2011 4:42 pm For those who have built with Masterton, Do they use 90mm framing all through or just on external walls? Also do they have double thickness top plates ( studs nailed to 1 top plate then another plate fixed on top), as I was looking at another building companies frames and they only had single plates on both bottom floor and top floor framing. Re: Masterton Homes - The new thread 2120May 28, 2011 6:46 pm paulevan Can I ask, after you sign with M are you allow to add aditional sliding internal doors? Like on the Villina put a door between entry and great room or in the main walk in wardrobe? Or change the cupboard doors in the bedrooms to be mirrored and take up the whole wall. Can this be done later in colors? Or will I need to tell my CSC to change the plans and get a new tender? Hey Paulvan, we added internal doors - to the home theatre room (double doors) and to the entrance of the great room (French doors) I will check and see what we were charged for them if you like. Villina with Contemporary Facade + Alfresco *Demo 22/4/2010 *Pool 04/05/2010 *Released to Construction 24/05/2010 *Slab 29 June 2010 *Start of Frame 30 July 2010 - 21 Aug 2010 *Bricks started 14/09/2010 - 13/10/2010 *Roof started (Facsia) 15/10/2010 *Lock Up 10/12/2010 *PCI 18 Feb *Keys in hand 24 Feb *IOC 09 March 2011 My Thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39843 4 17261 Hi, Apologies - I know there is plenty out there on this but struggling to put together the puzzle. We're planning our garage/external laundry to master bedroom and… 0 12638 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 26702 |