Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Feb 25, 2009 9:59 pm Hi, My partner and I are awaiting title of a block of land in Alamanda (Point Cook in Melbourne). We have recently been lucky enough to score a block in stage 7B which is supposed to be titled in about July at this stage. The block is 18 x 32 and faces east. We searched through many display homes and fell in love with the Monaco as soon as we saw it. We have put down a deposit with Carlisle and are trying to figure out the smaller details (with the fantastic help of Nathan at Lyndhurst!!... Now Somerfield). UPDATE (FINAL FLOORPLAN): This is the base floorplan for the Monaco 32: We are making a few changes to the floorplan. 1. delete the walls of the rumpus room to create one large open living are at the back of the house. we will probably move the dining to where the 'family' is in the plan and make a large family/lounge area where the rumpus room was. 2. extend the lounge room wall out to the line of the house. we will make this room a home theatre room (with sound insulation and double doors) 3. changing the robes in the bedroom to have two WIR in place of the current robes. We will put a wall down the middle and shelves in. Of course my side will be a bit bigger 4. extend the garage out 1m to allow some extra storage/work space in the garage 5. in the kitchen we are moving around the appliances a little. Moving the sink to the island bench (in place of stovetop). Will have square sinks which are built into the caeserstone. The cooker will go in next to the pantry. 6. sliding door from meals to alfresco to allow the back corner to open up (can't afford to fork out for bifolds!) 7. changing the window in the home theatre to a long high light window. 8. 1020mm front door 9. upgraded the island bench to the same as the display homes (sink section is higher and slightly wider). 10. 450mm eaves I think that is about all of the changes that I can think of! (there are probably some other smaller ones). Our plan will be flipped so that the alfresco is on the north side and the minor bedrooms on the south. We have also picked up a deal for caeserstone benchtops, carpets and tiles for $2,999. Anyway please have a look and let me know what you think. The more opinions the merrier! Building Monaco32 with Carlisle Homes in Alamanda Estate 20/08/2010 - HANDOVER 24/8!! Blog - http://ourmonaco32.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14415 reply 2Feb 25, 2009 10:03 pm Thats a great floorplan! Dale/doghouse are building Monaco 32 as well.. They have made the exact changes you made in 1 and 2.
We are building Carlisle Atlantique Mk2, they are very good. I think your changes are very well thought of - good job! Can't think of anything else to change -love the plan!! Built the Atlantique 37 Mk2 with Carlisle Homes - WE'RE IN!! Building thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14413 ATLANTIQUE 37 MK2 PHOTOS THREAD - updated 22nd August '09 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22399 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 3Feb 25, 2009 10:07 pm Thanks!
I have sort of been following the progress of Dale and Jo. Their house is looking great! It's all very exciting My boyfriend and I had plans to go to all different builders and get a whole heap of quotes for the houses we liked but as soon as we saw this house we decided that we wanted it... Building Monaco32 with Carlisle Homes in Alamanda Estate 20/08/2010 - HANDOVER 24/8!! Blog - http://ourmonaco32.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14415 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 4Feb 25, 2009 10:33 pm Congratulations on building a Carlisle. My husband and I seriously considered them, but at the end of the day we weren't sure we could swing the mortgage repayments when he's the one on a full-time income while I'm still part-time and a student for a couple more years. But Carlisle houses are so beautiful! Really they're quite gorgeous, so I'm sure your house will be beautiful too.
I think the thing to remember, before getting attached to any potential major structural changes, is that anything that needs to be signed off on by an engineer might be denied. They might be denied as unsafe, or unreasonable if the lot is unsuitable or if there are covenants on the land that contravene the plans. They may suggest alternate changes, or if they aren't fully explained properly by the owner to the builder to the engineer, your changes might go through and somehow come out incorrectly (believe it or not, this will happen over things that are crystal clear to most people). It may take a little bit longer for your pricing to come through because it first needs to be established by the builder via an engineer if they can all be done and then they'll have to go back to start making quotes. I would realistically think you are probably looking at an additional 10,000 to the cost of your house to make the changes. Something to note also that may or may not be of interest is that these changes will add a huge cost to the house, not just in terms of money but also in time. If your contract has a guaranteed completion date on it, take into account that they add days onto the guaranteed timeframe to compensate for variations requested by the owner (yes, even if it's well ahead of time). As an example, I'm currently in the process of finalising contracts and colours to build a Porter Davis house. Our house is only 22sq, and our only 'structural' changes included adding a door on the ensuite, adding an internal door from garage to laundry, and deleting a window in the pantry. Even these needed to be OK'd by an engineer, and these variations plus a choice of different cabinet doors and the installation of evaporative cooling added 8 days onto our guaranteed 20 week completion from site start. As to your actual changes, I think they are mostly great, though I wonder if at the end of the day you'll wish there was at least one wall in there somewhere to separate meals/family/rumpus. Not so much because it will look odd, but because walls do provide for a bit of quiet time and for people to do their own thing in different spaces. We opted to leave our home theatre as a home theatre and not knock down the wall between it and family & dining as we knew there could only be one TV in the whole space if there were no walls, and that it'd be harder for anyone to sit down and read on the couch or do paperwork at the table with noise from the other spaces (unless one of the bedrooms will be a study?). I only mention this because with a 32sq house with 4 bedrooms, I imagine at some point there will be occupants of one size or another to the house, beyond you and your boyfriend. And of course, massive open spaces aren't quite as easy to heat and cool consistently, so that's something to think about. Other things... Are you happy to have an opening without a door on it for the ensuite? The WC has a door (thank goodness), but the ensuite itself is just an opening, which means you'll always have to remember to shut your bedroom door to take a shower and that might get tiresome particularly if people enter the bedroom without knocking. Is your block of land still large enough to accommodate the house if the garage is wider than originally planned? (Your Carlisle reps should be able to tell you the minimum width and length you require for your block to accommodate your house, but extending the garage by a metre to the side will necessitate larger land as well.) I also don't know if this is important to you, but presumably you'll be putting your bedhead against the wall that is shared with the wardrobe in the master... with the way the ensuite opening sits, it means there's nowhere to mount a tv to the wall if either of you get the urge to do some late-night channel surfing. For your WIRs, make sure that the space is large enough to accommodate what you want. We were surprised to discover that though our WIR looked large, it was actually pretty small and we'd have restricted space to move around it if we put shelves or hanging space on both sides rather than in an L-shape or to one wall only. To be safe, you should make sure you've got clearance of at least 60cm so you can get in and get out. Most coat-hangers are between 40 and 50cm wide, so to accommodate those you generally want a bit of clearance, right? A lot of cabinets and hanging spaces are 58cm deep, so if you had 58cm cabinets/shelves on both sides and 65cm clearance in the middle, the narrow measurement of the WIR needs to be at least 176cm (1.7m) to maximise the amount of space you get. Of course that's a non-issue if the shelving and cabinets will be l-shaped or only on one wall, but as someone with lots and lots of clothes (who never has anything to wear!) I know I was pretty disappointed when I realised it was l-shaped or one wall only for our WIR because the length and width weren't quite enough to fit cabinets on opposing walls. I hope that makes sense... Urgh, I think I even confused myself, but oh well! Good luck and I hope you enjoy your new home. I'm sure it will be lovely! Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 5Feb 26, 2009 7:30 am I love, love the idea of making one big living area. You still have the lounge as seperate area.
I'd add some doors, I know you are closing off the lounge, but I'd still put a door in the hallway betwwen the lounge and family where the bulkhead is. And I'd also put a door from the entry way into the minor bedroom area. There is one problem I can see with this plan, and it applies to many larger single storey homes. It is along way from the rear living areas and from the outside entertaining area to a toilet. Means guests and kids have to traipse through the whole house to go to the loo. I'd seriously consider adding a powder room somewhere to the rear of the house if they'll let you. (maybe between kitchen and laundry). Jo I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 6Feb 26, 2009 7:56 am Look great, i love this floor plan and all your changes.. Blog - http://clageonewhouse.blogspot.com/ Building Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=10886&hilit=milan I am in, with my husband and my beautiful bunny Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 7Feb 26, 2009 1:37 pm Oh, how we adore the Monaco!! It's only pity that it won't fit our block of land.
They have a TV space on the left side of the wall at the ensuite entry. So not a worry. Great floor plan, really not much need to be changed apart from your plan. But yes, I agree with Joels, add a powder room at rear if you can. not sure if they'll let you coz it's a wet area..... Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 8Feb 26, 2009 2:12 pm Hi,
Thanks for keeping an eye on our blog and I note you are going with Nathan as your sales rep - he is great and was our sales rep also. One change which we couldn't make as we left it too late was in the kitchen. Swap the position of the pantry and fridge space and make the pantry wider so it has 3 doors instead of 2. Someone else on the forum (can't remember who) suggested it but we were too far down the track and Carlisle wouldn't let us make the change even with paying a variation fee. We both like the large space and will soon have photos of what it will be like as they started plastering yesterday and bricks meant to be finished by end of week. If years down the track you decide you need a wall putting back in, it won't be too hard to add a partition wall. Carlisle also didn't alter the contract time period even when we made quite a few changes so that should be fine. Dale. Building the Monaco 32 with Carlisle Homes Check out our blog for photos and progress reports: http://www.beigefreehouse.blogspot.com . reply 9Feb 26, 2009 4:35 pm Good points Dale.
I wonder where a powder room would go? It would seem odd to have one out the back if the living area is all open - but then again it would be good to have one.. Built the Atlantique 37 Mk2 with Carlisle Homes - WE'RE IN!! Building thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14413 ATLANTIQUE 37 MK2 PHOTOS THREAD - updated 22nd August '09 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22399 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 10Feb 26, 2009 6:37 pm Thanks for all of your comments!
We have gone into quite some depth about the structural changes with the sales guy. Dale (above) is in the process of buidling this exact house with many of the changes we are making so at least a precendence has been set and it won't be too hard to follow. They can give us an idea of cost also based on what Dale paid which is pretty good at this stage. I am not sure if the contract will be extended at all (it wasn't in Dale's case), but even if it is it doesn't really bother us too much. Also we have decided that at this stage we would love to have a big open area at the back. If at a later stage we need another room for some reason it would be simple to add a partition wall (seems like Dale and I think quite alike!). But while there is the two of us there is no need. We quite like the open ensuite. From the bedroom you can really only see the vanities. The shower is actually quite hidden (not that we really care). The bedroom door will probably stay closed most of the time. The block is 18m wide, which is plenty wide enough for the extra garage width. As for the other small things, there will be enough space for a tv in the bedroom (as said already) and the WIT will probably be L-shaped. As for the powder room, I think there would be very minimal chance of putting one down near the back of the house. The walk isn't really that far! They can admire the rest of the house on the way!! Dale - it's great to be able to follow someones progress building the same house! I can't wait to see some pics of the inside once the plaster is up! just to get an idea of size really (there were no 32 sq display homes as you know!). As for the kitchen, does this mean that the pantry is actually wider (and makes the entrance to the laundry longer?) At the moment I think I like it the way it is, but will speak to my other half about it. Once again thank you all for your awesome comments!! Can't wait to hear some more opinions =) Building Monaco32 with Carlisle Homes in Alamanda Estate 20/08/2010 - HANDOVER 24/8!! Blog - http://ourmonaco32.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14415 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 11Feb 26, 2009 6:48 pm sarahq As for the powder room, I think there would be very minimal chance of putting one down near the back of the house. The walk isn't really that far! They can admire the rest of the house on the way!! I wasn't really meaning the walk is that far , but more that if there's kids asleep, guests have to go into that area to use a toilet, if you have a BBQ or something, it just means more mess through the house, and if you have kids they tend to forget to take their shoes off and run through the house with muddy gumboots or runners. It's just a big bug bear of mine in a lot of house designs, and I know a few people that have a toilet that is at the other end of the house from the living and outdoor areas and it drives them crazy, especially with kids. It's just somethig to think about. Apart from that one thing, I reckon the design is otherwise prettty damn good. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 12Feb 26, 2009 7:26 pm Hi,
Sarah - we can't wait to see our house with plaster too!! They were meant to start yesterday, so we will head up on the weekend to have a look. We are hoping we can get inside as we could also be at lock up. Jo, I know what you mean re the powder room. Although I think this design is better than some (like the first two houses we almost built!) in that you don't need to walk into that hallway very far or past any of the bedrooms to get to the loo. I am glad you weren't talking about the distance - otherwise I was wondering if you wanted the loo so close you could hear your guests peeing... Sarah, re the pantry, yes you are right with how you interpreted it. Someone else is doing that and adding 50% to the pantry, but yes the downside is the longer entrance to the laundry as that wall becomes longer. It is great to have someone else building the same house. So far we think the size of the 32 feels good. Yes our minor bedrooms aren't huge, but they are still all doubles, one probably only just. I am most excited about our big back room - which will probably be commonly referred to as the big room . Given the display homes don't have the rumpus walls up and just that floating wall, I find it hard to image it with those walls in and the feel of the place would be so different. Two more sleeps and will get to see our house again Jo Settled In - Home Search and Relocation Services - http://www.settledin.com.au http://www.movingbacktotassie.blogspot.com/ viewtopic.php?t=9571 reply 13Feb 26, 2009 7:50 pm sarahq, what stage are you at for the build? Built the Atlantique 37 Mk2 with Carlisle Homes - WE'RE IN!! Building thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14413 ATLANTIQUE 37 MK2 PHOTOS THREAD - updated 22nd August '09 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22399 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 14Feb 26, 2009 8:12 pm I do kind of understand what you mean with the toilet. But as Jo said, you don't have to actually go past the bedrooms to use it so I think it will be ok. Kids are definitely a LONG way off yet though (I'm only 22!!). For now one of the minor bedrooms will be a study and the others will just be spare I guess.
I will have to have a think about the pantry. I think it is quite big enough the way it is (we are even getting a kind of wall put down the centre of it to make the shelves stronger.. they are spanning quite a distance otherwise!). A bigger pantry would be nice though... hmmmmcx From the dimensions, the minor rooms in the 32 didn't seem to be too much smaller than in the 36. I'm sure they will be fine =) I am going to refer to the back as the big bright room!! I know what you mean about the walls though... it would definitely close that area off a lot (especially with the 32sq version).. thats a large percentage of the reason I love the house so much! Salt&Pepper - Our land doesn't even title until about August at this stage. We have only put down a deposit with Carlisle but I don't see us changing our minds =) Building Monaco32 with Carlisle Homes in Alamanda Estate 20/08/2010 - HANDOVER 24/8!! Blog - http://ourmonaco32.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14415 reply 15Feb 26, 2009 8:16 pm Good point sarahq. Now I think the extra toilet woulnt really be necessary, and besides, where would you put it?
August? Thats 5 months!! Well at least you can be really prepared with everything! Built the Atlantique 37 Mk2 with Carlisle Homes - WE'RE IN!! Building thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14413 ATLANTIQUE 37 MK2 PHOTOS THREAD - updated 22nd August '09 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22399 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 16Feb 26, 2009 8:24 pm I'm not sure that it could be put anywhere. I doubt they would let you change the plumbing too much.
It is ages away.. but I am so excited! We are lucky that we have a block that is being titled that early. We actually only just picked it up for resale which was perfect! We want to make sure we can get everything perfect in the plans and sign the final contract well and truly in time to get the FHB grant Building Monaco32 with Carlisle Homes in Alamanda Estate 20/08/2010 - HANDOVER 24/8!! Blog - http://ourmonaco32.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14415 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 17Feb 26, 2009 8:49 pm Sarahq - a great idea re the central bit in the pantry - I wish we had done that! We want to fit out the pantry later with the pull out drawers/shelving from IKEA, so as to make the most of the total spacen given it is so deep. So we will get a central thing put in later and make sure the sizes suit the inserts we want to use.
If you are interested in doing that sort of thing too, I would suggest checking the sizing of it all to check the widths will fit standard pantry fit out items from IKEA or elsewhere. I think the bigger pantry appealed to us as the previous houses we considered building had butler's pantry, so in a way we felt we were giving that up for this house. But I love the house so much more, so I don't care now anyhow... Jo Settled In - Home Search and Relocation Services - http://www.settledin.com.au http://www.movingbacktotassie.blogspot.com/ viewtopic.php?t=9571 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 18Feb 26, 2009 8:53 pm my other half loves the idea of a butlers pantry. at least i could kick him out of the kitchen and ask him to prepare dinner in the pantry! haha
we will probably just leave the pantry as it without pull out draws. we are both quite tall and should be able to reach in there fine! how did your colour appointments go? were they a good help when you chose everything? Building Monaco32 with Carlisle Homes in Alamanda Estate 20/08/2010 - HANDOVER 24/8!! Blog - http://ourmonaco32.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14415 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 19Feb 26, 2009 9:02 pm Our Colour appointment was pretty straight forward as we mostly knew what we wanted - basically thanks to having got to contract stage with M . Although in saying that, we still took about three hours to get through all the categories.
So we already had preferences for certain things. But also Carlisle made a lot of it easy with their booklet we got at the sales time, so we quickly chose kitchen sink, basins, vanity styles etc. before the appointment. The girl we had our appointment with was good. I don't think at any of the builders you get interior decorators as such, they don't offer a strong opinion. The M girl was useless, but Carlisle pretty good. Their selection centre is not as fancy, but it didn't matter. Many of the things we chose from photos rather than the real thing, and for some stuff that was ok - can't remember which things, probably garage door profiles and things like that. The hardest thing for me was bricks, as I didn't like many. We did that selection beforehand too by getting addresses of houses with bricks we might like. You have lots of time to do lots of research - look at lots of magazines and design internet sites and blogs, and this site of course. Make sure you don't have to finalise all your selections too early or you will second guess yourself as you see new things. Jo Settled In - Home Search and Relocation Services - http://www.settledin.com.au http://www.movingbacktotassie.blogspot.com/ viewtopic.php?t=9571 Re: S&G Carlisle Monaco 32 - HANDOVER 24/8 20Feb 26, 2009 9:05 pm thanks for the tips jo! i definitely know what you mean about the second guessing thing. i think once i sign the contract i will have to stop looking at other houses, bricks, colours, everything! Building Monaco32 with Carlisle Homes in Alamanda Estate 20/08/2010 - HANDOVER 24/8!! Blog - http://ourmonaco32.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=14415 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37085 Hello, Whats peoples current experience building with Carlisle, specifically in SouthEast Melbourne? We are currently building in SE Melbourne and finding that quality… 0 9195 Can you give advice on how to get missing certificates needed for a form 21? Our bank requires us to provide one but we are missing 4 building certificates from our first… 3 71777 |