Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 30, 2021 6:36 pm Hi everyone, First of all want to say a huge thank you - this community is so helpful and we're big fans of sharing advice and experiences. We are building a Boston 28 with Clarendon. Our property is very narrow and west facing so trying to maximise sunlight and living space. We are adding approx. 2 m extension to the family dining space as this is where we will do most of our living (approx $11K per metre extension with one off $5K for steel beam if we don't mirror it upstairs). We're also having higher ceilings and doors to help make the place feel more spacious. Like a lot of the folks here, we like the Hamptons look but trying to balance this costwise. Attached the layout - the garage will be on the left side because of the master to rear option. Just paid our site inspection fee and so the journey begins! Happy to share our experiences as we go so DM if you want any more info! So far here are the modifications we've come up with and a few questions for you all, please. Worried we will forget something or realise there was a better option after it's too late! - Kitchen - Planning to do Shaker cabinets provided not too $ but haven't been able to get an indication of price. We prefer to have sink and stove along the back wall but there isn't much space. The bench space looks pretty tight. Worried dishes might look messy if sink is in island. What experiences has everyone had? - Classic facade: We prefer the Hamptons and Saville but they are too $. Has anyone been able to adapt the classic facade. We are planning to have the weatherboard across the whole front of the house and colourbond. - Master bedroom and ensuite: We are having the master at rear. Concerned there isn't enough space in the WIR. We're considering adding along the left wall behind the bed. Not sure if this will gather dust or make the room feel much smaller? Also thinking about how to reconfig the ensuite as it looks pretty tight. We'd prefer a larger shower and can go without double basin if need be. - Storage/wardrobes: Wardrobes look tiny. Is sliding mirror wardrobes to the ceiling the best way to maximise storage space? - Slider doors: Do you think we should do 1 extra large slider door across the width of the back of the house or do two separate doors. - Alfresco: We're thinking of doing a deck ourselves instead of the grand alfresco option (which is around $21k). Haven't had a chance to get quotes to see if there will be much of a saving but we assume so, particularly as we want the decking look. - Windows: We're building a granny at the back so the access for this will be along right side of the property. Does anyone have any tips for good windows to balance getting light and maintaining privacy for the office and dining spaces? - General advice: Any general advice about customising a west facing narrow property and/or things to consider with Clarendon would be greatly appreciated! We've seen a few don't forget lists. Does anyone know where the most recent, compiled list lives?? Thanks so much! Our garage will be on the left side. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Clarendon help please (Boston 28) 2Aug 31, 2021 3:02 pm I'm still a little confused about the orientation of your house. If the front of your house is facing west, that means the left side of your posted photo will be the north. And now you are putting the garage on that left side, so the ground floor plan is actually flipped? If I get this correctly here, I think you are making a mistake because you just put all solid walls on the north side. You will have no direct sunlight coming in during the day. You might get some light in the morning through your dining/living windows/doors in the morning from the east side. To other questions. Kitchen. You are probably right. It doesn't look like you have much bench space there besides stovetop. And I don't understand at all why you want to put sink next to stovetop. Messy dishes in sink at the island? Sink is there to clean up your messy dishes. It's not a display area. So you'd rather have messy dishes next to you while you are cooking?? The bench space next to the stovetop is for you to put ingredients and sauce bottles ready to pour in, and put plates and bowls ready to serve. You need to consider how a kitchen actually works. Master bedroom/ensuite/WIR. I'm not sure how big your master bedroom is. Photo has no dimensions. You are right. If you add a wardrobe behind bed, it might make your bed area too short. I did a rough sketch of the WIR and ensuite. It's only an idea, but may give you more WIR space and a bigger shower. A single large sliding door across dining and living surely looks nice, but also costs more. You should be able to do the deck after handover yourself. It would probably cost less. Just remember to ask your builder to leave gas/water/electricity points beforehand. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Clarendon help please (Boston 28) 3Aug 31, 2021 3:43 pm Thank you Jason526. Appreciate your feedback. Ideally garage would be on the right (south) but our understanding is side set back for garage side (considered single storey) only needs to be 0.9m whereas the other side (considered 2 storeys) would be 1.1/1.2m under CDC. Our preference is for garage on right side but this is where access to granny will be so we probably need to allow more space. On the north side we prefer to have wider side set back to allow more light in, particularly if our single storey neighbour builds up one day. Not sure how to resolve this given how narrow the block is. Your suggestion for the wardrobe looks great. Thank you. Re: Clarendon help please (Boston 28) 4Aug 31, 2021 6:42 pm Kitchen: I would look at swapping fridge to the end next to hallway wall as its the most used appliance in the kitchen and make sure wall depth is 700mm otherwise fridge sticks out. Look at the pantry area to make 600mm bench to back onto garage and place sink inside pantry area. change the door to an internal slider to make it easier to use and even look at extending bench to pantry wall so you gain extra cabinets and bench space rather than have a walk through. You could also just add a small single sink bowl along cooktop run if required Bedroom: The wasted floor space in your WIR is huge with just running hanging on each side with a massive gap between. Again i would be a cavity slider on the ensuite as it wont feel as small with swinging door. As Jason suggested in Ensuite layout works better and helps use the WIR space but i would flip toilet to opposite wall (Back onto wardrobe) and turn Vanity 90 degrees so as you enter you face the mirror and cabinet. Sliding Doors: I would make sure its wider and with 3 doors to maximise the opening and air flow but keep in mind its harder for flyscreens. Laundry: I would look at pinching 200mm from the MPR so you can have 700mm between wall and external door so washing machine can go at the end against external wall. This will make the room approx. 1600-1700mm wide. This will allow you to run cabinets all the way along and build in sink to cabinetry and have more storage space Re: Clarendon help please (Boston 28) 5Sep 02, 2021 1:38 pm Thanks, splashers. Kitchen: If we move the fridge as you suggest, one option could be to do something like this, with the dishwasher to the left of the sink (although this doesn't have the magical triangle it increases bench space on the island). Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The other option is to have (from right to left) fridge on the edge near the hallway, stove/oven and then extend the bench (where the fridge originally was and perhaps beyond) and alter the layout of the walk in pantry and centre the island? This might help with making the room feel wider, which would help. Bedroom and ensuite: I like the idea of moving the basin. The window could be moved to the eastern wall. A skylight might also help but depends on the expense. Important things consider / not to forget: Here's one of the lists we've come by: https://1stbuild.club/ are there any others (or important threads) that anyone would recommend? Garage: Jason526 we could keep the garage on the right and make granny access say 1m (increasing from 0.9m minimum) and then do the 1.1m (?) side set back for the northern/left side. Re: Clarendon help please (Boston 28) 6Sep 08, 2021 2:10 pm If you house is reversed to the first picture, I would swap the family and dining room. That way you have the big window to the north. Re: Clarendon help please (Boston 28) 7Oct 17, 2021 6:00 pm Hi everyone, We finally got to visit a display home! We visited the Boston 36 which has similar sized bedrooms and the main issue was that the wardrobes were really small. We wanted to see if anyone has any ideas we can take to our tender appointment, please. In Bed 4 and 3 it would be great if we could have wardrobe with 3 sliding doors (around 2.6m?). We also want to use one of the bedrooms (Bed 2) as a second study (using a desk approx 1300 x 600) and a guest room (Queen bed 1530 x 2030). Does anyone have any ideas on the best way to reconfigure Beds 2, 3 and 4, please? Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Clarendon help please (Boston 28) 8Oct 18, 2021 10:16 am Oh hi, this post again. Perhaps you can swap your Leisure with one of the bedrooms? I'd swap Leisure area with either Bed 2 or Bed 4. After swapping, reduce the size of Leisure and enlarge remaining bedrooms. If swap with Bed 2, you'd have a better view to the front of the house in your leisure I assume. If swap with Bed 4, your stair leads straight to the Leisure area. It will give you a more spacious feeling when you walk up. It also kind of separates your master bedroom with other bedroom. Either option will have it's advantage. So it's up to you. The two 15mm holes are obviously not compliant. The Dept of Fair Trading would love to see this one! Do the gutters pool water after it stops raining? Although it's… 4 18430 All 3 items listed are defects and are of concern. Please seek qualified independent inspector and/or legal advice for your state. 1 28200 Thank you @. Tried to play with the facade models but the exact colour is not matching up. 2 21879 |