Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 04, 2009 6:48 pm Hi everyone, Found this forum and just think its fantastic - so I thought to introduce myself ! Hubby and I bought a block of land in Doolandella, Brisbane in August (on our 1year wedding anniversary), and have decided to build a house with a granny flat for my parents ! (Live-in babysitters! Haha) After looking at many designs, we fell in love with a Cl@r3nd0n split level home. After doing our finances, we thought we would go ahead ! When we went to pay the deposit to the sales lady, she said that there was a typo on the sales sheet we were working off, and the house was actually $100,000 more expensive !!! We were so upset, but moved on. After spending half a day looking through endless houses with my hubby & my mum, we decided to stop off for lunch, drop hubby home so he can watch the V8s (huge fan, doesn't miss a race!), and then we would hit it on our own. This is when we had the most luck. We went through Pl@ntation homes first ! Wow !!! What great displays ! We fell in love with the retreat. So decided to get some info from the sales guy and see if it would fit on our block. We were bluntly told that this house would not fit on the block and that they couldn't cut it to fit. He then said that no house would fit on this block, and that we should look for another block in that estate where there are no building envelopes - luckily we hadn't signed the contracts for the land as yet... We then left disheartened & in a panic, as we loved the block we had chosen, in a quiet street overlooking acreage, and the block is just short of 1/4 acre - which is very rare in neighbouring suburbs. All the 'new' blocks we looked at just weren't right. It was then when we walked in to the M***con office, and was greeted by a friendly sales person. Before we even went thru the houses on display, we asked if anything would fit on our block - to which we were relieved that yes, many houses would. Phew !! So, we walked thru 2 displays, the 2nd being the Grandview and we just thought that this was the house for us. A week later, I brought hubby thru the same houses, and saved the grandview for last - and sure enough, he felt the same. We did the walkthru with the SC and got some pricings - we were quite happy actually with the prices. So then a few weeks later after settling the land and showing dad thru, we decided to get a plan drawn up and go ahead. That was at the End of Oct/Nov. It took a few weeks for the paperwork, which is understandable as they have to draw up a granny flat. After changing the PC a little, we were given the FC the week before xmas. Took it to a solicitor to read over, then we all signed away! We will have already had a variation, as the SC forgot to put in the details for a patio area off of the granny flat, and didn't tell us that a stacker window would cost 10x more than the stacker door (when we were going the window only to save money!) But apart from those little errors, he has been fantastic ! We've started dealing now with a CSO who seems lovely as well. Today we had our first appt - tile selection at Beaumont tiles. We arrived early to check out their selection, at that stage not knowing which tiles were in the Builders Standard package. But when we met with the lady, we were very suprised at such a great selection, and easily chose all our tiles ! All the tiles are in our package which was great, the only things we are getting different is coloured grout, and a glass & chrome soap holder thingy for the main bathroom. I don't have any pics or anything at this stage, but will definately post some when I have them! This week we have our Studio M appt which we are looking forward to ! Thanks all for listening & I look forward to sharing stories with you all !! Happy house-building !! Crissy Building in Brisbane SW Suburbs Started on site with plumbing on 30/3 - Lock up 2/5 - 15/6 Recd Fixing Invoice - 18/6 Painter to start ! Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 5Jan 04, 2009 8:54 pm Welcome to the forum Crissy
So glad that you managed to find a house to fit on your block Have you been given a start date yet? We picked all of our tiles from the builders standard range from Beaumonts...it,s funny as we were prepared to upgrade,but really prefered the standard range Good luck with it all and look forward to seeing lots of pics! Cheers Mel Building on 9 acres Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 6Jan 04, 2009 8:54 pm Gday Chrystal,
We too are building with M***** and have found them a pleasure to deal with. You will surely enjoy the studio M appointment, we sure did! Make sure that you sleep well the night before! Good luck, Ryan Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 8Jan 04, 2009 9:00 pm Thanks Ryan!!
We were exhausted after today with the tiles, but had to do a fair bit of driving. I guess it is pretty overwhelming, but the lady was awesome so that really helped. And we're really pleased with our selection!! Very impressed so far - it seems that they have a great quality finish ! Which home are you building? Are you in Brisbane too? Building in Brisbane SW Suburbs Started on site with plumbing on 30/3 - Lock up 2/5 - 15/6 Recd Fixing Invoice - 18/6 Painter to start ! Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 10Jan 04, 2009 9:07 pm Hi Christal,
I love the grandview, (almost built the 36). I'm interested to know, are M3tricon actually building the granny flat as well??? And I agree, M's standard inclusions are generally really good and the tile selection is great. Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 11Jan 04, 2009 9:44 pm Christal,
Congrats on starting the building process. It seems that many of the builders in QLD are using Beaumont. We were there again today just getting ideas in readiness for colour selection. Nathan Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 12Jan 04, 2009 10:49 pm Hi Christal,
We are building west of Brisbane, at Coominya (near Wivenhoe Dam). We went with Newstart Homes and are building a modified version of their Homestead 37 on 10 acres. All the best with your build! Cant wait to see your colour choices. -Sha Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 13Jan 05, 2009 9:28 pm Thanks Ryan, we fell in love with the Grandview ! Ahhh Melbourne - my home town! Still miss it like crazy !
Hi Jo - yes, Metricon have designed and are building the granny flat! Makes our life easier thats for sure. Our SC was very accommodating, we've been really happy so far (touch wood!). Sha - Wow ! 10 acres, what a dream !!! We were initially going to put a contract on an acre block out at Spring Mountain, but after reading their covenant, we decided against it. Plus it was a little bit further out than we had wanted, so ended up buying up the road ! The colours we are going with are creams & chocolates ! Once we have had our appt next week, I will know more and will post details ! Next thing on the list.... Tues 13/1 at Studio M, for colours & then electrical appt. Hubby is an electrician so we have already marked on the plan where we want everything to go. Now we just need to choose the lights !! All very exciting ! Building in Brisbane SW Suburbs Started on site with plumbing on 30/3 - Lock up 2/5 - 15/6 Recd Fixing Invoice - 18/6 Painter to start ! Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 14Jan 06, 2009 8:43 am Hi Christal,
Seems as though we are in the same position. My partner and I of 6 years are building the Jasper in Moggill. We are one day ahead of you though as we had our Studio M appt yesterday. We also selected our tiles late last year. We were so overwelmed with Studio M being first home owners but overall we are happy with our decisions. It will be interesting to see how you went as we were slightly over budget with our electricals. The staff were just fantastic and very helpful in every way. Looking forward to following your journey. Good luck Megzy Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 15Jan 06, 2009 12:23 pm Hi Megzy !
How was Studio M??? We are so excited to be going shortly !! Moggill hey - I actually grew up there ! Great area, I loved growing up there ! My parents are still in Bellbowrie (for now until our house is built and they will move in with us!). Which estate in moggill are you building in? I remember the days when it was all pineapples, now its all housing, it still looks weird to me, but I'm getting used to it!! LOL Which display village did you see the Jasper, or are you dealing with anyone in particular ? Building in Brisbane SW Suburbs Started on site with plumbing on 30/3 - Lock up 2/5 - 15/6 Recd Fixing Invoice - 18/6 Painter to start ! Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 16Jan 06, 2009 1:04 pm Hi
Studio M was great. Got the prices in today and again another shock I think we may need to loose a few more luxuries. It was a bit rushed to be honest as we got our BA just before christmas so they really want to get things happening. We will have a site start date and all in the next day or so. Moggill is a wonderful area - well what we have seen so far. Funny you say about the pineapple farms as our block is located right where the main house use to be. We back on to Moggill Rd. Only Jasper is at Warner Lakes or down NSW. Its a very long drive but the sales team are wonderful up there. To begin with it took a while for our soil test results and PC but other than that all smooth sailing so far. Also had issues with our developer but all in the past now. We very much look forward to start date soon. Good luck with your appts! Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 17Jan 06, 2009 1:09 pm Yeah, we're a bit worried about the electricals and we want mainly all downlights !
We did well with our tiles, only a minor variation which is upgrading to coloured grout, and also a different soap holder! Hopefully we will be okay with the Studio M, and try and choose standard as much as we can! I bet you can't wait to hear when it will all start !! We knew the lady really well that lived in the main house. We couldn't believe it when she said she had sold, she must have made an absolute fortune!! Lovely family that lived in that house, so I hope the love will continue in your house! We found that the paperwork took a little while also, but we weren't in a major hurry, although now I can't wait for them to start building so we can move in!! On our FC, the start date was 10/02/09 with 222 days building time (inc the allowance days for weather etc & weekends). Hope it all goes smoothly for you & I look forward to reading your story ! Sounds like our timings will be very similar !! Take care, Christal Building in Brisbane SW Suburbs Started on site with plumbing on 30/3 - Lock up 2/5 - 15/6 Recd Fixing Invoice - 18/6 Painter to start ! Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 18Jan 06, 2009 3:22 pm Our plan was also to choose standard items. We have only upgraded on a few such as door handles, roller door, frosting to front door etc.
Electricals is another story. We went there not going to upgrade anything and we walked out with 30+ downlights and a security and data system. One of our tiles has just been discontinued so we will purchase the small amount that is required and get a variation credit from M. Hope this all works out fine. Yeah looks as thought we will start around the same time. We have in our contract 225 days but we are not in a hurry. We are thinking that we can still save a bit more over the next few months while still being at home. Milk as much as we can out of our parents while we can. Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 19Jan 06, 2009 6:38 pm We've already been through our plans and selected exactly where we want power points, down lights, wall lights etc, and where we want the standard lights. So far I think we are up to 38ish downlights just for our house !
I think we'll be upgrading the door handles too (I dont know whats standard though), but we already upgraded the garage door when we had our walk-thru of the display home! We're going the Tuscan door. If you don't mind me asking, how much extra are the downlights ? Do they credit you the cost of the standard lights ? Do you know if we can provide all our own lights ? My hubby is a sparky and my sister works for a lighting company so it will be good for us if we can supply them ourselves I've just had an email from our CSO saying they've heard from the Certifier who wants a copy of the Town Planning Approval & Subdivision doc - I haven't got these, so it looks like I'll be calling the council tomorrow. Has anyone else who is building with M have to provide these documents as well ?? Good idea about staying at the parents' as long as you can ! Sounds like a plan!! Building in Brisbane SW Suburbs Started on site with plumbing on 30/3 - Lock up 2/5 - 15/6 Recd Fixing Invoice - 18/6 Painter to start ! Re: Crissy's perfect home - In & Loving It ! Pics Finally ! 20Jan 07, 2009 9:02 am Yes we also had a plan but that went right out the window when we got there.
We also upgraded the door. I think it is $310 for the timber then another $50 for the Tusan style door. Overall great value for the look we want. We also went with the Rice Paper Frosted Glass in the front door (promotion door) for privacy which was neally $600. Something that was a definate for us. The price for the batten holder is $63. There are different types of downlights that they can offer. The downlights that we got are $100 each. Some go up to $130 each. They credit the batten holders so really you are only paying $40 odd extra per downlight which we thought was very good value. We did leave some batten holders as standard just for the pendant lights that I already have my eye and we will do this after handover. What got us is that we had to pay $380 for additional circuit for the light points as we were over the 30 mark. And also Additional Circuit for power points - $225 as we were over the standard of 25. This is something that we did not consider. The only handles that we upgraded were in the bathrooms, laundry and kitchen. This was neally $400 as well. All depends on what you are after. We did have to supply developer approval to M which delayed us a month or so. But our developer did request all information on colours, landscaping plans which we thought was too OTT. Maybe someone else who is building with M can also comment on what they had to supply as well. Hope this helped. We used a smaller qld builder who went bankrupt about 12 months after completion of ours. It was a shame as they were good and relatively cheap and I would have used… 3 4620 We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16087 From what I know about water tanks (I've been working with a client on them for a few years now) is this - The concrete can last a lifetime if they don't crack for some… 2 10618 |