Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 08, 2009 5:51 pm Hi all!
Firstly - I have been hanging around these forums for at least 12months or so now. Some of the information I have gathered has been invaluable. So a big thanks to everyone for stories & thoughts on the building process. DW and I have recently signed a tender with Wisdom homes to build a Manhattan 42. Well - it started off as a Mahnattan 42 - but quickly grew to a largish 51 squares in size We are building in the hills area of Sydney. We bought an old house (is 30 years old?) on a large 1000m block that we are going to knockdown. So far all the planning seems to be going well. We put everything we could think of in our tender - and Wisdom have been very accommodating with the floor layout, upgrades etc. The only thing that currently concerns me is what the final site costs will end up being Our site came back as a P class - but this was due to loose fill that seems to be all over the block. There is also a slope of about 2 metres across the entire building envelope. We have extra provisions for extra piering and slab requirements - and are hoping it is enough to cover the extra costs! We received our preliminary plans a couple of weeks back - and only needed a few minor revisions. We hope to sign the final contract over the next few weeks - and then submit to council in early June. I have started a building blog. It currently has our prelim plans with floor plan as well as front/side elevations. Please feel free to comment and provide feedback! As I said earlier, the more comments, ideas and feedback the better in my opinion. I hope to keep this thread going over the next 12 months or so as we are building - and will also keep our blog up to date with all developments, pictures etc. http://www.hills-manhattan.blogspot.com/ Thanks all! hills_builder Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 2May 08, 2009 6:02 pm Even tho you've been around the forums for 12 months, I still want to say WELCOME TO THE FORUM!! I had a look at your blog, WOW your floorplan is incredible, very nice ! It's MASSIVE . I really like the layout, it's got all the rooms you would ever need and they are good sized rooms also. I especially LOVE your WIP, it's enormous! Heaps of storage space, and the WIR is impressive!! Gawd darn I dont know how many synonyms I can think of for the word BIG !!! Hopefully you can start building soon, good luck with council! Look forward to following your build with HEAPS of photos!! Idiots are fun, that's why there is one in every village! - Dr. House - Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 3May 08, 2009 10:39 pm Hi Hills builder, Welcome to the forum just like you i have been looking at this forum for around 10 months and have just started a tread and blog on our build. We are also building with wisdom homes not as huge as yours lol Just the 2 of us, so we are building the Serenity (29 sq) single storey, We are waiting for DA approval hoping to get it within the next few weeks and start building in around 6 weeks. We are building at spring farm near Camden, i will look forward to keeping upto date with your blog viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15161 www.buildingwithwisdomhomes.blog.com Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 4May 09, 2009 12:05 pm Welcome! That is one great house you're building there! After 4 years - we're in! Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 5May 09, 2009 8:09 pm wow! Nice house. Looking forward to watching it progress. C&G -------------------------------- A new building chapter begins.. Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 6May 09, 2009 9:06 pm Wow, awesome house! Also looking forward to seeing it grow on your blog Building a Wisdom Homes Impression 33 MkII http://lilypadintheponds.blogspot.com/ We have the keys! Tiling in progress... Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 7May 09, 2009 10:35 pm Thanks for the warm welcome guys When I started browsing the forum 12 months ago there was very few people building with Wisdom. Now there seems to be heaps!! bobbuilder, stonecutter1309, principessa - I follow all your threads (as well as 1sttimer, danma & MKTodd) - and they have all given me some inspiration - as well as reassurance and confidence that Wisdom should do a good job. We hope to be chosing our colours soon - and will post them all up when finalised. Thanks again guys - look foward to sharing our building experience with you all. I will likewise be keeping a close eye on how all your builds progress. Regards, hills_builder Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 8May 09, 2009 11:49 pm Welcome hills_builder! Your house looks great and so big! fantastic! I think your walk-in pantry is bigger than some of the bedrooms in our house will be and let's not talk about the awesome WIR in your master bedroom. Yeah, a few months ago there didn't seem to be many Wisdom builders but it seems like there's a few of us around now! I think the veteran is Stonecutter, we all can't wait until she gets the titles to her land and finally gets a start! We are all going to be keeping a close eye on your build, I think your place is the biggest Wisdom house on the forum, what do you all think? Building a Wisdom Prosperity 23 - http://erwisdomprosperity.blogspot.com/ Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 9Jan 19, 2010 7:17 pm Gday all! Long time since I have updated this thread Anyway - we are finally on our way building the Wisdom Manhattan. As far as I know, there is nobody else on this forum building the Manhattan? I know there are heaps of people building the impression! I have been keenly following all your blogs for a lllloooonnnnggg time - going back to bobbuilder's build. We demolished the old house, excavated and removed soil (>750tonne), built the concrete pool shell and now Wisdom are getting ready for the Slab pour next week! There have been some minor complications - but nothing that will turn my har grey (not yet anyway). Very exciting All updates and pictures on our blog. I look forward to hearing feedback and suggestions from all who are interested. Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 10Jan 20, 2010 4:27 pm Waffle Pods arrived today...hopefully not long till we see our slab. Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 11Jan 20, 2010 8:12 pm Hi Hills builder...congrats on the start of your slab I have just checked out your blog & all I can say is WOW that is one magnificent house that you are building! Everything is HUGE...love the butlers pantry & the main bedroom WIR. What a great idea all the bedrooms having ensuites & WIR's...that would be very handy if you had lots of daughters! Look forward to following your build. Cheers, Loretta Built The Jenmark with Cavalier Homes Macarthur. http://camdenacres.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17870 We are in - front landscaping begins Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 12Jan 20, 2010 9:05 pm Hi... great to hear from you. Glad you're under way, i've added your blog feed to my rss reader and looking forward to watching the progress!! Cheers, Graham C&G -------------------------------- A new building chapter begins.. Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51)..... 13Jan 21, 2010 6:04 pm Thanks JohhnyD. I guess it is a rather large house. We only have one baby boy at the moment - but I am sure there will be a couple more children if my wife has her way. When they are teenagers, I am hoping that they will appreciate the WIRs and Ensuites. bobbuilder - I enjoyed following your block early last year. I hope that the house has delivered all that was expected over the last 9 months since you have been living there? As for the build - they installed all the waffle pods today. The concretors told me there was plans on pouring the slab on Saturday. I really hope they opt not to - as the mercury is meant to hit 43 degress out our way on Saturday (even 40 for tomorrow)!!!! Regards, hills_builder Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51).....SLAB POURED! 14Jan 24, 2010 7:32 pm Hi all, Wisdom surprised us by pouring our slab on Saturday. It was a very hot day in Sydney ( it got to 42 degrees in the arvo) - and the concretors were there till 2:30pm. Luckily, a massive Southerly came through at 4:30pm and dropped the temperature back down to 25 degrees (where it has basically stayed for the last 28hrs). There has been a couple of light showers on the slab after the southerly - but the concretors said this was good as the slab set relatively quickly - and the light showers and the 25 degree temperature will help in curing. Some pictures on the blog. Our SS (F) has us that drainage is scheduled for the 2nd Feb and Framing us due to start on the 4th!. Regards, hill_builder Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51).....SLAB POURED! 15Jan 24, 2010 7:59 pm Congrats on the slab! - It is a really nice feeling once the frame starts to go up as you can finally get a feel for each room that for the last however many months you have had to imagine. Looking forward to more progress shots! Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51).....SLAB POURED! 16Jan 25, 2010 8:05 am Congrats on the slab I wouldn't of wanted that job on Saturday!! We had the air con guys doing the rough in at our build on Saturday...imagine what temperature it was in the roof space! Looking forward to those frame pics, Cheers, Loretta Built The Jenmark with Cavalier Homes Macarthur. http://camdenacres.blogspot.com/ Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17870 We are in - front landscaping begins Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51).....SLAB POURED! 17Jan 25, 2010 8:08 am Very nice! And congrats on getting F as your SS - he was ours before we got someone else and it really hasn't been as good. After 4 years - we're in! Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51).....SLAB POURED! 18Jan 27, 2010 12:50 pm oh wow... how did i completely and totally missed this thread?! firstly, a very late welcome to the forums! i love the house that you're building if only we could afford that gratz on your slab!! that's fab news! looking forward to reading more of your build! Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51).....Bricking + picfes 19Mar 16, 2010 8:31 pm Hi all, A quick update on where we are at. Windows are in and pumbing rough-in has been completed. All the bricks, sand and cement have arrived with brickwork to commence tomorrow....yippee! Much more information and pictures galore on our blog. Regards, hills_builder Re: Building a Wisdom Manhattan 42(51).....bricking + picfes 20Mar 18, 2010 12:21 pm beeaaauuutfiul pics!! congratz on progress! Hi, guys! If you've built with Wisdom Homes, would you mind sharing images of your front facades once they're all rendered? I'm considering signing up with them for a wide… 0 13886 Can someone please offer some advice? Im DESPERATE. Because I'm completely and utterly exhausted. How long are variations taking with other companies at the moment? We… 0 18466 In fairness nobody gave a crap about the ACCC and the gag clauses continued in the pro forma templates of a few other builders after the ACCC took on Wisdom, and more… 19 73469 |