Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 03, 2009 7:25 am Bummer! Our builder was going through our NatHERS checklist in prep for our DA and what do you know. We failed. Due to a combination of dark moroka, a lot of north & west windows, lack of eaves and a laminate floating floor we failed. So we have been told our options are as follows:
1. 5mm toned glazing for all windows OR 2. Solid timber floors OR 3. Change our external colours to light So from here we have no idea how much the glazing will cost (waiting on a costing from the builder) and the floor boards we believe will be a mimimum of around $150 square metre. The colour change of course will be free but we LOVE our chosen colours and it took so long to get the right combo. Which option would you choose? Does anyone know how much the glazing could cost? If in Sydney how much did you pay for your timber floor? (By the way I'm not a huge fan of the brown/orange/yellow tone of wood which is why we went with a grey laminate ($70 sqm installed) so we would need to get the boards stained as well) Here are our external colour choices so you can see why we are so attached to them Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ What would you change? Floors $$$, windows $$ or colours (free)? Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 2Mar 03, 2009 7:52 am I'd change the windows as the first option, then I'd change the colours (just reverse the order of the colours, dust clay on grey and vice versa), the house would till look good. Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 3Mar 03, 2009 7:53 am The offerings will cure the problem. You can also cure it by double glazing some or all the windows, or if you are already double glazed then use Low-E. No change in appearance, the only compromise is price and you will get superior comfort.
Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 4Mar 03, 2009 8:33 am We have had a rough quote of 15k for polished timber floors throughout the ground floor... As I said it was a rough quote not yet received in a tender.
This flooring wouldnt cover, garage, media, bathroom and laundry.. So not exactly sure of how many m2. Maybe 120? So I would say your figure of $150 per m2 is pretty close to the mark. Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 5Mar 03, 2009 10:53 am I think it might have to be the windows as the floors are really too expensive for something we don't really like.
Ed is there a rough figure that I should anticipate for the toned windows per sqm? They have told us we would need to do them all which indcludes 3 sets of stackers and 2 big & 3 small louvre windows as well as the all standard sort of sized bedroom windows. Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 6Mar 03, 2009 10:56 am I love your external colour selections, it looks great.
The only thing that wouldn't change how you want your house to look would be to do the glazing if clear (:? A house near us has windows with a green tinge ) However, I love floor boards and we have quite a grey house. Very dark grey/blue face bricks, Ironstone colorbond roof, and light grey garage door, front door and windows! We also have quite a dark grey floor tile in all wet areas. Our floors are spotted gum (the colour of each piece of timber varies hugely) and it cost us around the $150 psm, installed. Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 7Mar 03, 2009 10:57 am buildingadreamhome I think it might have to be the windows as the floors are really too expensive for something we don't really like. Ed is there a rough figure that I should anticipate for the toned windows per sqm? They have told us we would need to do them all which indcludes 3 sets of stackers and 2 big & 3 small louvre windows as well as the all standard sort of sized bedroom windows. I think maybe $80 - $100 extra/m2. I think you would achieve the same with clear double glazing at about the same price. Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 8Mar 03, 2009 11:09 am Thanks Clarity - yes we don't like the green tinge either. We are hoping we have a few options. The floors are just out of our price range - even if they would co-ordinate we just can't pay that much.
Thanks Ed - I shudder to think how much that is going to be all up. What's the actual physical difference between toning and double glazing? I assume double glazing would be more efficient? The last thing I want is to darken the inside. Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 9Mar 03, 2009 11:14 am I'd change either the colours or the windows. Colours would be my first choice; as much as I like the colours you've chosen, I think some light colours would look just as stunning! (think Rachelle's and bel (haywgl)'s facades ... beautiful) Plus it's free!
But I can understand how attached you are to your colours, so go for the windows, if they are not as expensive as the floors. "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 10Mar 03, 2009 11:28 am donuts I'd change either the colours or the windows. Colours would be my first choice; as much as I like the colours you've chosen, I think some light colours would look just as stunning! (think Rachelle's and bel (haywgl)'s facades ... beautiful) Plus it's free! But I can understand how attached you are to your colours, so go for the windows, if they are not as expensive as the floors. Thanks donuts (or should i be calling you celery now!!) i'll do a seach for their facades. Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 12Mar 03, 2009 2:03 pm buildingadreamhome Thanks Ed - I shudder to think how much that is going to be all up. What's the actual physical difference between toning and double glazing? I assume double glazing would be more efficient? The last thing I want is to darken the inside. Tone = colour Double glazing = comfort, quiet "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 14Mar 03, 2009 7:11 pm If all goes well with the cost on the glass I think it will be the option we choose. We have been photoshoping our facade and it just doesn't work the way we want in a light colour.
Thanks everyone for your help! Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 15Mar 03, 2009 9:24 pm We don't like the green tinge either, but we chose green "comfortplus" because it performs best in relation to all the important parameters. Also, we're finding that, so far, the green tinge is less visible than feared, probably because all the important windows are shaded by verandas.
No doubt, Ed will point out that double-glazing is better again and, of course he's right, but this introduces another set of compromises and, in the end, we decided that the cost was too much for us. Actually, the whole glass bit is a minefield of confusion. I've read the Stegbar glazing brochure several times and I still have trouble understanding the details. BTW, there seems to be a glass called evergreen that has a more definite green tinge and this might be what others have seen. The green in Comfotrtplus green is more a "hint" than a "tint" Cheers zeke Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 16Mar 04, 2009 9:22 am zeke We don't like the green tinge either, but we chose green "comfortplus" because it performs best in relation to all the important parameters. Also, we're finding that, so far, the green tinge is less visible than feared, probably because all the important windows are shaded by verandas. Unfortunately most of our north and west windows are not shaded at all so if there is colour we are going to be able to notice it. Also with white blinds I'm sure it will enhance the colour too. This is so infuriating as we have already spent more than I care to mention on the facade let alone having to spend any more. Anyway I have attached a pic of our house in lighter colours. Tell me what you think..... http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq68/marissa_simpson/FrontElevationInkWellDoor.jpg Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 17Mar 04, 2009 10:14 am I am a massive fan of light coloured houses, and I even prefer your original colours. I think you will be disappointed if you change them. Sorry I'm not much help. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 18Mar 04, 2009 12:14 pm I liked the other one, better. it's amazing the importance of colour though - in the lighter shades it looks to be a completely different style of house. Building Upside down house in Wantirna VIC Current Stage: Procrastination... it's just all too hard.... Blog: http://thereluctantbuilder.blogspot.com/ Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 19Mar 04, 2009 12:17 pm I liked your other one better too... but what if you replaced the white with the light grey that you had on some of the trims on your original one? "Your emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions." — Elizabeth Gilbert Living in our new house. Currently scaping the land. Re: We failed our NatHERS! - We've now passed! 20Mar 04, 2009 12:17 pm I like light houses also - but this is too white - what about the light grey around garage as well as pillars..... keep fiddling..... otherwise change your glazing ..... 9 24795 This is one of the reasons I decided to go overseas for my double glazed windows. As the builder indicated, he's worked on many upmarket builds, these were the most well… 13 19244 2 15465 |