Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 24, 2009 12:25 am Heya,
I've already posted a draft floorplan for comments in another thread viewtopic.php?t=12642 and a few pics of tiles/laminates in other threads....thought l might as well have my own thread and keep everything in the one place A bit (well alot actually, lol) of history about our 'building our dream home' journey thus far: We had planned to build 2 years ago and went as far as selling our little shoebox which we had hopelessly outgrown and renting a bigger home whilst we looked for land and researched builders etc. But a huge change in both our employment circumstances (DH took a redundancy package and l wanted to get out of nursing) resulted in us buying a franchise with me working it and DH back with his old employer on a casual basis. We knew by leaving our permanent positions to becoming self employed and casual that we would have to put our dream home on hold.... Last May, knowing that we would soon have our 2 years financial figures for the business done in July, we went hunting for the perfect block...we needed one that had wide enough frontage to fit a triple garage for the two work vehicles and the family car). Whole estates were struck off the list as the lots were too small and many many blocks were eliminated as they were either too steep, on a corner, on/near t-intersections or too expensive! Things were looking bleak until we reconsidered an estate (that we intially struck off ) after seeing that two of our friends had recently built there and were loving the area. There was only two blocks (out of 8 ) that met our criteria and upon seeing them for ourselves, Lot 170 instantly became "the" block. We settled on it in September (and man it felt sooooo good to own that little patch of Australia again!) and right now we are in the process of finalising the floorplan and picking colours etc. Hopefully by the end of March/early April building will commence....and we cannot wait! Here's some pics of our block taken in August (excuse the car, the inlaws, hubby and kids, lol) http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/IMGA0166-1.jpg http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/IMGA0168-1.jpg http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/ourblockfrombackfence-1.jpg Looking from the back fence, boundary peg on the left is not in view. The right one is in front of the maroon car. Check out the views! and they are there to stay as we will have no neighbours across the road whatsoever due to the fact that where the yellow arrow is exists a new main road which you can't see as it is fairly low down. This was the reason we struck off this estate earlier as we were concerned about the noise factor. But our friends, one who lives just 3 blocks down from our block and the other who lives up the top of the hill told us that noise is not an issue...only if they are outside at night they can hear the air brakes of trucks. As for fumes, that's not much of an issue either as the prevailing winds are always from the west. We're quite stoked that we will have no neighbours across the street so there won't be much traffic and we have designed our floorplan so that bedrooms and main living areas are not directly at the front of the house. Taken just the other day: http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/IMGA0211-2.jpg From the road http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/IMGA0212-2.jpg A bit closer....we don't much like how the back neighbours have done the fencing in the corner....so we're gonna mask it with our garden shed and yeah, there'll be a retaining wall to do no doubt....which is bit of a bummer. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/IMGA0213-2.jpg From boundary peg to boundary peg (27.6 metres) Here is the first site plan...we've made the house a bit bigger so we'll lose about 500mm width in the side yard. http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/oursiteplan-1.jpg And here is an updated floorplan that got completed....OMG! is that time!!...umm, completed yesterday, lol..Apart from a few minor changes and one major dilemma in which l'll list below...I'm pretty stoked with it overall...l even got my sink in the toilet, yay! http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/updatedfloorplan230109001-2.jpg The few minor changes needed are: Remove the sliding door in ensuite, l dunno why they put that there at all...maybe to give us a choice? T-Bar to be made wider so as to hide more of the sink area Bed 2 (computer room) door to be set back further into passage Remove Lounge/Alfresco window Bathroom shower should be a 1200x900 and Vanity to cover the length between it and spa. And the one major issue which l'd like some advice on is the Eaves!!! This home comes with no eaves as standard and l wanted eaves, so l requested small ones (250mm) like we have in this house....but as you can see they've drawn up 450mm, which just make the front of the house look stupid by the way they've drawn it. Not to mention it throws out the equal spacings of the study windows! Now, we knew we couldn't have eaves all the way around due to how the front portico area is designed, hence why l asked for small eaves to the sides and rear only and since they were small eaves, l thought they would make the transition from no eaves to the front to small eaves to the side look more asthetically pleasing. But it seems even with 250mm eaves that it's still gonna look out of whack. So l have two options: get rid of the eaves altogether and put up with less shade and rain coming in through open windows or try and figure out a way to get my small eaves without the house looking weird. Any ideas, suggestionsand advice on this would be gladly appreciated!! So there you have it, that is the story so far ...l'm looking forward to continuing in updating the progress....It'll be funny to look back at the end of the year and remember how the house came to be, with all the ups downs and in-betweens that we would've encounter along the way. And sorry for such a long post Dang! it's late...l'm going to bed! (Arrgghhhh!! Sorry the pics ain't showing up, l'm trying to re-size them so l can edit the thread title, but it ain't working!!) Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 2Jan 24, 2009 3:03 am Wow! Congrats thorney - I'm jealous
Nice home plan - and fits nicely on your block You're right about the ensuite doors - weird! Something to consider though would be to keep the sliding door, and get rid of the swing door, and make it a double shower EDIT: Just saw on the other post that you've already thought about that As far as the eaves go - I don't have an answer on that - sorry! After 2 false starts, a year living overseas, two more world trips and 3 years of uncertainty we are now starting the build process again - hopefully for real this time! Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 3Jan 24, 2009 7:49 am Hi thorney - absolutely love the design, obviously really well thought out. I wonder whether you should cut the laundry WIR in half and give bed 3 and WIR and the laundry - or give both rooms a door to the existing one? just a thought. We wanted WIR to all kids beds in our house and builder wanted $1500 per bedroom! we lost that fight - but you look like your paying for it anyways....
As for the mainroad, definitely made the right decision, how many people actually buy on a main road (think about it - heaps) and it does have lovely views etc - I spose it all comes down to location on the map too!! And what a big block, nearly 1/4 acre! wow, as for eaves, if you can afford it, def get the eaves and try to have the front of house design to suit it. I think a lot of people still see the value of old 1/4 acre blocks we grew up on with "eaves". I can't believe builders just dropped them off the face of the earth some time ago. We didn't even think of getting them put on - I'm going to ask what the cost would be, thanx for that!!! ANnie A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 4Jan 24, 2009 6:03 pm u mentioned that u would like it as a home office to meet with clients, then is it better to have a include a powder rm ( in the garage and go thro from lounge or somewhere not in ur family zone? Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 5Jan 25, 2009 12:26 pm muzzman Wow! Congrats thorney - I'm jealous Nice home plan - and fits nicely on your block You're right about the ensuite doors - weird! Something to consider though would be to keep the sliding door, and get rid of the swing door, and make it a double shower EDIT: Just saw on the other post that you've already thought about that As far as the eaves go - I don't have an answer on that - sorry! Thanks muzzman I'm thinking that the eaves are just gonna have to go With the money we save by not having them, l thought that we might put louvres/blinds on the east facing windows and make a small verandah across the west side of the house?? Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 6Jan 25, 2009 12:36 pm Annietom Hi thorney - absolutely love the design, obviously really well thought out. I wonder whether you should cut the laundry WIR in half and give bed 3 and WIR and the laundry - or give both rooms a door to the existing one? just a thought. We wanted WIR to all kids beds in our house and builder wanted $1500 per bedroom! we lost that fight - but you look like your paying for it anyways.... As for the mainroad, definitely made the right decision, how many people actually buy on a main road (think about it - heaps) and it does have lovely views etc - I spose it all comes down to location on the map too!! And what a big block, nearly 1/4 acre! wow, as for eaves, if you can afford it, def get the eaves and try to have the front of house design to suit it. I think a lot of people still see the value of old 1/4 acre blocks we grew up on with "eaves". I can't believe builders just dropped them off the face of the earth some time ago. We didn't even think of getting them put on - I'm going to ask what the cost would be, thanx for that!!! ANnie Thanks Annie What??? and lose half of my WIL, are you crazy woman?? lol No seriously, if l didn't love the WIL as much as l do and require that big a space, changing it like you suggested would've been a great idea. Yeah l want eaves but l honestly don't think they'll be able to change the front of the house to accomodate them and still keep it much like it is....l was looking around yesterday and paying attention to eaves on newer homes. Some looked silly without them and some looked great. It all comes down to the style of home l guess, and l think ours will suit no eaves more. your welcome, l think for our eaves it was gonna be around $5000 extra. Btw, have you got a thread on the home your building? would love to see some pics of your block and floorplan etc Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 7Jan 25, 2009 12:38 pm Nott u mentioned that u would like it as a home office to meet with clients, then is it better to have a include a powder rm ( in the garage and go thro from lounge or somewhere not in ur family zone? Sorry Nott, l don't quite follow what you mean? Can you elobarote a bit? Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 8Jan 25, 2009 6:13 pm sorry for not being clear. u mentioned that u will use the front study and lounge to meet with clients, then I guess having a washroom/toilet for their use will be better. In ur present plan, if they need that, then, I assume they need to go thro' the gallery door and use the WC between l'dry and bath and that they will enter ur private living area. Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 9Jan 25, 2009 6:26 pm Absolutely thorny, I did ask my builder about eaves and I'm sure he said something like $4-500, so I said - don't worry about it! He said it wasn't necessary because of the wall insulation etc... I just wanted to save the $$$
As for the WiL - it is fantastic tho isn't it - I really wish we had incorporated one for linen/towels/storage etc. We put extra storage into the garage and the laundry has both sides of the walls with cupboards (larger laundry than normal) so I just settled for that, maybe I should have done what you did - Aarrrrhhh, I'm always thinking of new ideas = bugga that! As for my own thread, I'll do a blog, but our land doesn't settle till next week, so I'll see if I've got the energy to get the blog going over the next week. Doc just told me today I'm very anemic (i've just had 2nd baby late last year) no red blood cells or iron etc in me and said (amongst other things) that tiredness will set in soon... so here's hoping my energy continues until after the Blog is going!!! haha Annie A thankful person is a happy person. [/color]My hobby design blog: http://aviewondesign.blogspot.com/ Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 10Jan 25, 2009 9:33 pm Nott sorry for not being clear. u mentioned that u will use the front study and lounge to meet with clients, then I guess having a washroom/toilet for their use will be better. In ur present plan, if they need that, then, I assume they need to go thro' the gallery door and use the WC between l'dry and bath and that they will enter ur private living area. Thanks for the clarification Nah just the front study will be used for clients....we're putting bi-folds to the lounge for extra privacy when l do have clients in the home, but will not be using the lounge for busines purposes at all. But if they need to use the loo, well they'll just have to hold on!! lol Fortunately, the length of time that clients will be in my home will be relatively short. Your suggestion would be a great one to consider if that wasn't going to be the case. Cheers! Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 11Jan 25, 2009 9:59 pm Annietom Absolutely thorny, I did ask my builder about eaves and I'm sure he said something like $4-500, so I said - don't worry about it! He said it wasn't necessary because of the wall insulation etc... I just wanted to save the $$$ As for the WiL - it is fantastic tho isn't it - I really wish we had incorporated one for linen/towels/storage etc. We put extra storage into the garage and the laundry has both sides of the walls with cupboards (larger laundry than normal) so I just settled for that, maybe I should have done what you did - Aarrrrhhh, I'm always thinking of new ideas = bugga that! As for my own thread, I'll do a blog, but our land doesn't settle till next week, so I'll see if I've got the energy to get the blog going over the next week. Doc just told me today I'm very anemic (i've just had 2nd baby late last year) no red blood cells or iron etc in me and said (amongst other things) that tiredness will set in soon... so here's hoping my energy continues until after the Blog is going!!! haha Annie Yeah, we've got external wall insulation and will be putting internal insulation as well. with the money we save from no eaves *sighs*, l'll probably upgrade the insulation to higher R ratings. With cupboards on both walls of the laundry, you should be right, especially with the extra storage in the garage....ah well mate, its' always the way isn't it...a new idea or suggestion when it's too late to change anything...There probably will be new ideas l'll pick up from other members of the forum when it is too late for me too... Ah ok, no worries....l was thinking about doing a blog, but l feel more comfortable just sharing my experiences here. Sorry to hear about your anaemia, it's tough enough with two young children and then add the time, energy and stress of building a new home on top and yeah, getting totally run down happens quite easily..... so take it easy won't ya....it's a long road ahead yet to travel! lol. Anyway, I'll be looking forward to seeing your blog whenever you get it going Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 12Jan 30, 2009 10:01 pm Ok so we had the appointment today to finalize the floorplan changes and select remaining colours and other tidbits.
Changes to floorplan made: Changes as previously listed + -Add 250mm to either side of garage (can't have anough storage space! lol) -Moved Bed 2 window to the other side of the wall -Return Air Vent to Fridge space, that wall extended 100mm to do so and lounge wall reduced by 100mm so we still have 1000m entry in to kitchen area -Add Bradford Soundscreen Batts to all internal walls -Remove mirror in Ensuite Here's all the colour selections and fittings that l can remember, lol : Exterior Brick - Boral Ripponlea Mortar - Cream (rolled) Roof - Colourbond - Loft Gutters - Loft Fascia - Classic Cream Downpipes - to match brick Portico Render - Sandstone (at this stage) Garage Doors - Panlemasta Contemporary in Colorbond Timbagrain - Caoba Front Doors - Timber - stained to match garage door Lockwood Nexion Lockset (not keyless though) Windows - Primrose Interior Walls - Intermezzo by Solver Ceiling - 50% Intermezzo Archs & Skirts - 200% Intermezzo Door handles - Lockwood Hakea in Chrome (can't remember if it's brushed or polished, lol) Flooring - - Redbook Carpet, Style - Amelia, Colour - Beige (to Beds, Study, Lounge & Rumpus - Ceramica Vinyl Tiles (Colour - Duomo) to rest of house Kitchen Cabinets - Stone Beige Benchtop - Crea Travertine Splashback - Urban Sand Feature Tile - Dune Glass & Stone Random Mix - Sahara Aquila Pendant Lights x 4 over Island bench and 2 of same in Meals Rest of Kitchen Lighting - dunno yet, lol Kitchen Handles - ones like donuts has, the long squareish ones that you don't get your clothes caught on Bathroom Cabinets - Classic beige Vanity top - Stipple Sumutra Feature Tile - Designer Glass & Marble Mix 8380 Tapware - Raymor "Atlanta" Mirror - Polished Chrome Frame or was it brushed?? lol anyway it's chrome Showerframe - as above Added Chrome Soap holders instead of standard ceramic Ensuite Cabinets - Classic beige Vanity Benchtop - ah cr*p! just realised l've lost half my samples!, anyway, it's a deep mocha colour, lol Feature Tile - as per Bathroom, just darker, lol Tapware, Showerframe - as per bathroom Mirror - Blink Lighting Mirror Light (stripe) x 2 - see page 3 here: http://www.blinklighting.com/brilig/adm ... er_LBD.pdf Laundry - Cabinets - Stone Beige Benchtop - Angora WC Small Pedestal Sink with mirror as per bathroom I think that's the lot.....so far, lol Builders are waiting on costings on the kitchen upgrades (we added extra pot drawers and a Euro cargo bin) and then they will prepare the tender (*yikes* ....l'm praying that we are still within budget!). Contract to be signed in about 2-3 weeks, with plans to council (or was it back from council?) sometime in mid March... Man l'm forgetting alot of things, lol.....but there's alot to absorb, it's been a big day and this freakin boiling heat we've had all week certainly ain't helping! An Update 13Feb 12, 2009 11:16 pm On Tuesday the builder went out to the block to do the slab design. We have blue markings on our block now....took my camera to take photos (silly l know, lol), but alas l left the SD card in my PC!! Anyhoo, we get a call from our CS later in the day to advise us that if we are wanting to keep the house 1m from the boundary, then they will have to put up a retaining wall which has to be structually engineered and in place before construction of the home can begin. Big bucks, no whammy's! Big bucks that we don't have the budget for.
Simplest solution was to move the house another 1.1m to the right. Yes, we lose some side yardage now and yes, our dead side of the house is wider than we would've liked, but l'm looking at the upsides here: 1. We've saved ourselves a packet of money 2. We've avoided a lengthy wait and a lot of rigmarole unitl construction on the house begins 3. We really do have ample backyard as it is 4. Now when we open our bedroom window, we won't be faced with a fence right there in our faces. We have room to plant shrubs, plants etc and pretty the view up a bit. 5. We can take our time with putting a RW up and we can choose what materials to do it in and how. 6. And did l mention that we have saved ourselves a stack of money!! lol So the builder is going out tomorrow to re-do the slab levels etc...then they can finally get the tender finalised!....feels like l have been waiting forever to get the all important contract price....although l've estimated all the changes, additions and upgrades as accurately as possible, l have a horrible feeling that we are going to go over the budget.....if it's by a little then no sweat, but if it's hugely over then....well, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. The waiting and the wondering is doing my head in!! Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 14Feb 13, 2009 6:01 am Fingers crossed for you thorney that you will only be a little bit over budget
I think you have made the right decision moving the house, we did that in our last one. We made a retainer wall 2 sleepers high along the length of the house and had a path 1mt wide then a garden bed which we planted with small conifers 1 mt apart, put bark around and it was really low maintainance. It looked really nice softened the side nicely, dh is already saying he wants to do the same down the side of this next one, so it looks like we may but without the retaining wall as our block is flat Dont forget to put the sprinkler system in before they pour the path though! We just ran it from the outside tap accross to the fence, and just had to step outside by the laundry to switch it on. May look at a timer thingy one next time though Its all getting exciting for you now then once they have all their paperwork sorted and have the go ahead they will be moving along so fast it will all start happening Know where your going in life............... you may already be there Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 15Feb 13, 2009 11:32 pm LOL, l got my toes crossed too mate...but l know l'm over, about $15k l reckon and that's before l've got the final price back from the builder! So we need to up our loan approval amount...mind you it took our bank 2 months to give us the pre-approval, so back then, l was really only guessing at how much things were gonna cost...In hindsight, l wish l just waited til now, so that we could've submitted the now more realistic figure!
Don't think the extra amount will be a problem as our broker submitted very conservative income figures (based on lowest financial year earnings) so we have room to move. The assessment interest rate has also fallen so that has increased our borrowing power heaps also. But yeah, our broker firmly told me to stop spending more money!!! lol....heh, l'm trying my hardest not to honestly! lol Yeah, l know we made the right decision re moving the house across....l love conifers and that is exactly what l was thinking of putting in on the dead side. Thanks for the tip about the sprinkler system, there's is no way l would've thought of that myself! I went and checked the block today again to see if they re-did the slab markings because we moved the house. Nothing has changed......l wonder if they don't need to re-do it and just plan the adjusted slab from the info they have already?? Anyhoo, the SC said that l should have the final quote this time next week hopefully ...and yes, tis definitely starting to get more exciting now....it has taken sooo long already to get to where we are now, it still feels all a bit surreal. We are no more than 2 months max away (if it's less than that's a huge bonus) until our dream home finally begins to become a physical reality Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 16Feb 16, 2009 10:52 am Just thought l would post the original floorplan and re-post our floorplan so OP can see the *few* changes we made
Original: http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/Glenelg25AFloorplan.jpg Ours: http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/diamondzoe/floorplan10feb2009.jpg Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 17Feb 16, 2009 11:12 am That's a fantastic floorplan thorney! I love how the living areas are separate from each other, but all still facing the same way! (pls tell me they all facing north!?) Love it all, well done! Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 18Feb 16, 2009 11:17 am Yep, great plan, love it all. I'm sure you'll be very happy in it
Absolutely love the Entry, very nice. Happy at Home Re: Thorney's GJ Lewis Home 20Feb 18, 2009 8:07 pm Thats a great floor plan thorney.
I actually prefer your plan to the original one. The thing that put me off the original one was to have a pub size pool table you need 5.4 x 4.2 mimimum, and their original was too small. If I had built with them I would have most prob gone with the same plan also with a few alterations. How big is your living areas in total not including the garage and alfresco as it looks a lot larger than the original. Also did they charge you a lot extra to have the triple garage? I may ask alatalo to email me a copy of my plan that will save me having to scan it in to be able to show you as printer is still packed up in a box somewhere from our last move Know where your going in life............... you may already be there 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 16391 go upvc window frames ensure insulation under colorbond. not just sarking, lighter color roof also not sure if you have seen this viewtopic.php?t=5823 last couple of pages… 4 110666 7 12053 |