Hey all,
Just a couple of questions for MurphyStreet.
I understand your concerned about rock costs and that you have just signed up with metricon. How much has Metricon allocated for site costs ?
Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Carlingford Estate 22Sep 30, 2009 9:31 am eliza_doolittle :z: Hello MurphyStreet and Julie & Geoff How exciting I just came across your forum and love to see other people talking about Carlingford. I am a first home owner too and have just signed my building contract last Saturday...nothing like the last minute . We are building with a small builder so we were able to get most things we wanted. We are due to start mid October, if the building permit comes through We brought our land last year in the first stage, in Dunmore street....yes we were number 14 in line amongst many to buy the first piece of Carlingford. It seems so long ago. Our neighbours have already started building but have not met anybody yet. I take my dog for a walk weekly, hoping to meet somebody out there but all I see is a lot of builders and plenty of great houses being built. For now it is great to see a great place being developed. Eliza Hi there Eliza, You are bit of miser, come on share the excitement of who you are building with? Lucky you!! - We were never in the category of building a custom home. Either the builders were too small to have faith that they won’t go bankrupt in recession plus they will be able to support the home for another 7 years OR the builder was too big and we could not afford the prices of their services ($12-25k) for a square. So we decided to go through a volume builder . Next time I see a girl with a dog in Carlingford we will waive a say hello to you Eliza. Wish you all the very best with your endeavor. Re: Carlingford Estate 23Sep 30, 2009 10:19 am ken007 Hey all, Just a couple of questions for MurphyStreet. I understand your concerned about rock costs and that you have just signed up with *****. How much has ***** allocated for site costs ? Did they offer fixed site costs ? Our site costs were approx. $7200 and this included rock removal costs. What were everyone elses site costs ? G’day Ken, Love your double storey home and love your Zinc Brick mate.. $7400 was allocated for our site cost without rock removal they are asking another $5000 to fix rock removal. [I know other people been offered with $15k] Interesting points – Do not quote me on below - my own research. Waffle Slab sits on top of the soil. One needs to cut and fill to make the site even and pour the concrete with other bits and pieces . Developer/C3dar W00d$ is bound to compact the top layer with superior soil. [This is mentioned in your land contract last page in the Engineering on top left hand corner.] Now depending upon the finished surface area or fall of the land site will be cut after release. You will be surprised after your land release if you get your second soil test done independently you might get M class soil because of the superior soil poured and compacted by developer, which will nullify the need of the H slab and removal of rocks. Reminisce – waffle sits on top. Ask for compaction report. Look for the soil standards. Unless your home is right on the edge of sewer, you do not need deep foundations. You may hit rock when you are trying for your storm water connection / legal point of discharge but not that much… I know you have seen lot of rock on a block but that does not signify anything at this stage until/unless you know and have spoken to the person of that lot. Please note other readers who will be building in future: With all the above things I have written do not get dishearten by thinking you are victim of super site costs. You do not have to forget that prices volume builder offer are super low for the home and for them to gain (bit of leverage) is only site cost so if they are charging $15 k for site that means they have offered you lower prices for other things in the home. Key to understand is - with a very comfortable home not extremely luxurious your per square should come between $7600-$8400 for a 30 square home. [Extremely luxurious would be category 5 and above bricks, terracotta roof tiles, stone facades, rectified porcelain with features tiles, 100% wool carpets, top of the range granites benches, smeg and above cook tops/cookers, melamine shelving, more than 2 people indoor spa with hot pumps and remote controls, wall tiles instead of feature walls, LED down lights, timber windows, timber bi-folds, timber garage door, refrigerated cooling, 5 star heating, climate controls smart wiring, home automation, et cetera] Re: Carlingford Estate 24Oct 01, 2009 11:27 am Some very interesting points you raise, MurphyStreet. Need to be very careful before signing any contacts especially building ones. Site costs can be tricky, some builders provide an 'ALLOWANCE' which people assume will be the final cost, but then they get nasty surprises with variations for a different slab requirements etc. Must make sure your site costs include everything such as temp. fencing, council Fees, OH&S, insurance fees etc. In terms of M class slab, the Carlingford area consists of (H)ighly Reactive clay soils which is infested with rock and unfortunately requires a H class slab. I heard some of the lots on the other side of Gilwell require P class slabs due to excessive land fill Re: Carlingford Estate 25Oct 02, 2009 12:10 am Hello MurphyStreet, Eliza & Ken, MurphyStreet & Eliza - Congrats to you both for signing contracts in time for the grant! MurphyStreet your info is great and informative Eliza, l still haven't seen you walk the dogs, what times do you walk thru ? Geoff and myself usually go past Sat and Sun. We'll be there this Sunday arvo taking some photos of the block and our new fence We want to make sure the owner behind us doesnt throw anymore garbage on our block or has modified the fence ! We went past Tuesday night and seen a guy with his kids walking his dogs and we also seen a burnt VL commodore in the street opposite the park, near Gilwell Rd. It's been dumped out the front of the block who's getting their house built by Lentini homes. Excuse the french, but pigs to do that, if l found that at our block, l'd be calling up to get it removed. Ken, Re: site costs ... we're getting charged for rock removal @ $150 per If you see us at our block on Sunday arvo, please come and say hello, we wont bite! Re: Carlingford Estate 26Oct 02, 2009 8:40 am Hello Carlingford Our builder has allowed for a H slab but secretly hoping that there is no rock found on the surface when they start digging for the plumbing... . Our neighbours have also been dumping rubbish on our land for a while but I have given up, when it comes time to building I will just dump it back onto their land again... LOL. Juile and Geoff I am usually out there at the start of the week, mainly in the morning. Unfortunately I work the weekends so I will miss you. Last Tuesday we saw the burnt out car. How unlucky for the people living in that house. I think that street are all display homes anyway. I have also just noticed the noise of planes that pass through the area. They come down pretty low. Eliza Re: Carlingford Estate 28Oct 05, 2009 10:07 am Hi everyone ... Eliza, aha, the weekend is when we are mostly there, but we do go through during the week nights (Geoff and l both work full time, Mon to Fri). Hopefully we’ll bump into you one day Speaking of rubbish, we went to the block yesterday and Geoff and I aren't impressed with our neighbour/the owner behind our block, (which is the old houses); they have RUINED our/estate's new fence !!!!!! We took photo’s and l'm about to call my builder and the estate. Basically the neighbour has nailed a mat over our side of the fence (which isn't major), and he has drenched the fence with some sort of stain, at first we thought it was water, but l said to Geoff, if it was water it would have dried by now, but it looks like when he's been gardening, he's either sprayed his plants and it has seeped right thru the fence. The fence is drenched! (We saw him pop his head over the fence while we were taking photos). We decided to go knock on the guys door and surprisingly he didn’t answer, so we went and knocked on the owners on the corner and they were nice people. He came around and had a look at our fence and was shocked as well. He said that he had told the guy next door to stop throwing things over and he'll go have a chat to him about the mat and ask him what did he spray on the fence. He also said that they had got a letter from Cedar Woods/Carlingford about whether they wanted a new fence or keep their old ones, (colour bond ones and wood) and that they were getting it for free. He said he ticked new fence. We shook his hand and left, he was a nice man; shame our block isn't the corner one, as he'd be our neighbour. l hope I'm not over reacting, as we didn't want to start trouble, but my point is; all those owner's (old houses along Suncroft Dve) got free fences and these people have no consideration for his new neighbours. l keep thinking to myself, when l look outside my kitchen, l'm going to going to be looking at this ugly fence that he has ruined. Questions l'm asking myself ... how long is the new fence going to last with a neighbour like that? What about in 10yrs time when the fence needs replacing, is he going to pay for half? I just can't believe that the fence is only 2 weeks old and he’s done that to it already Does anyone think l'm overeacting? Ken ... thanks, we’ve seen both cars ! We’ll look out for you and say hi! If you see a silver Honda Civic, that’s me or a Magna, that's Geoff, please stop and say hello RE: Items missing; it doesn't surprise me. Geoff and l have noticed heaps of houses don't have any temporary fencing around them. I know if theives want to get they will, but anything to deter the thieves helps. Re: Carlingford Estate 29Oct 06, 2009 1:44 pm Good Morning Carlingford Dear Julie and Geoff I do not think you are overreacting mate. I personally think the owner on the other side should be more sensitive (respectful). If he/she cannot make you feel welcome they should not be doing things to annoy you. If I would you I would do the same thing, I will try chatting with the owner of the property and ask if staining was done in error? What are they doing to prevent this from happening in future? Try communicating your expectations of them is to - behave properly in a firm but polite way. We all do hear about horror neighbour stories, smartness is not in resolving issues, smartness is in to prevent these issues from happening. Also mate, some of the issues/things are “Fact of Life” some people will be unreasonable and illogical learn to forgive them. Easier said then done… Have a great day.. Re: Carlingford Estate 30Oct 09, 2009 5:32 am Morning all, Julie & Geoff, You guys aren't over reacting at all. You have every right to question the stain and ensure that it does not happen again. Hopefully it can come off with a high pressure hose! We also had a bit of an issue with our fence. We have one of the ugliest existing back fences in the whole estate. It is an aging steel fence which stands 2.2 meters high! Our back neighbour (which we haven't had the opportunity to meet yet) refused to have it knocked down (when Carlingford sent out the letters) in exchange for a new timber fence. Their excuse was that timber fences are a fire hazard. They also have access to our property because of an existing door on the fence! After a few enquiries and phone calls, Cedar Woods have agreed to have it 'skinned' with the Carlingford timber fence. The existing metal fence is 50mm into the back neighbours property so this option was possible. We are very happy with the outcome even though the Carlingford fence will slightly enroach onto our property. Re: Carlingford Estate 31Oct 09, 2009 9:29 am Good Day Ken, Julie, Geoff and Eliza, Can you please advise us - We are going with Austral Homestead Tan (brown) brick with off-white mortar. What colour garage door you will go with Paperbark(very light shade of brown/almond) or Timberlook? Paperbark was suggested by HomeDecor consultant - looks great on the colour chip. However, looks completely different on computer-screen.. I have not seen any paperbark garage anywhere and bit hesitant. Now the question is what is safe? 1.) Darker Door with Darker Brick or 2.) Lighter Door with darker brick. Also have a choice to use white or cream(bit yellowish) What would you guys choose?? Cheers, Re: Carlingford Estate 32Oct 10, 2009 8:30 am Hi MurphySt, Regarding your garage door, I would suggest you stick with the same colours as your downpipes, gutters or fascias. Or you can go for the timber look. The house on Elizebeth looks great with the dark timber garage door and once that render is painted, it will look a million bucks. Cheers Ken Re: Carlingford Estate 33Oct 10, 2009 2:53 pm MurphyStreet Now the question is what is safe? 1.) Darker Door with Darker Brick or 2.) Lighter Door with darker brick. Also have a choice to use white or cream(bit yellowish) What would you guys choose?? I agree with Ken the timber garage door looks great, especially if you are going to team it up with a wooden front door and dark bricks. Re: Carlingford Estate 34Oct 12, 2009 8:28 am Hello Ken, MurphyStreet & Eliza, Thanks everyone for all your help, it's appreciated! Ken, I’m glad Cedar Woods has sorted something out with your fence, as l was wandering when you were getting your new fence, as l agree with you, that fence is shocking and the colour of it makes it worse. Geoff called Cedar Woods and he spoke to a guy called Rob and we had no luck, he said nothing can be done with the fence. I wasn’t happy when Geoff told me that, so then Geoff ended up going to see the neighbour and luckily the son and daughter in law were there. Geoff asked the son nicely to tell his dad to stop with the oil, as the fence is ruined. (The guy has put more on in blotches and the stuff won’t dry up). The son apologised and said he’ll fix it; which l can’t see how, as the oil has stained the fence and once construction starts, the dust is going to stick on the oil. Ken, would you have the contact details of the person who you spoke to with Cedar Woods? I believe it’s between Cedar woods and this neighbour, as we’ve done nothing and l don’t think we should have to look at a ruined fence, Cedar woods should invoice the neighbour in fixing the fence. MurphyStreet, it is hard choosing colours and so true it looks different in real life. I think we chose paperbark too. (can’t remember now). The house on Elizabeth st is looking great, which is right near our block. We were going to go with a wooden looking garage door, but we’re not having a wooden look door, so we changed our minds and are going with the colourbond range. Colourbond has this visualiser which might help. Boral bricks has a Boral vision, but you have to go to the Boral centre in the western suburbs. I hope this helps. http://colorbond.autech.com.au/onlinevi ... esidential Also our builder called us to say; we got the approval to build !!! We’ll be starting soon, can’t wait! I think we’ll be the first ones to build on our section. Re: Carlingford Estate 35Oct 12, 2009 10:42 am Julie&Geoff, Congrats!! it's exciting stuff and will be much more exciting when you see some progress on site Re: The Fence, I spoke to Robert Steele from Cedar Woods. He was fantastic and kept to his promise. I thought i'd never hear from him again but he got back to me within a fortnight with the good news. Our house has been awaiting plaster for the past 2 weeks the exact same house on the other side of the street has been plastered!! we were told ours would get done at the same time but unfortunately still waiting. Re: Carlingford Estate 36Oct 12, 2009 3:18 pm Dear all, In relation to our Garage Door Colour - thanks for your recommendations. We would love get timber and stain every year….I have just confirmed prices. Timber garage door will cost $2500. Things do get added up pretty quickly in relation to our front façade, we have deviated quite a lot from standard… Bricks Category 3 - $1600 Off-White Mortar - $650 Tiles Category 2 - $2457 Render to Portico - $3600 Entry door Upgrade - $700 Awning windows to meet corner treatment - $1300. It looks like we have to go with Colour bond standard colour. I have just confirmed timber looking colour will cost us $550. Julie and Geoff, I am very happy for you guys…it appears that we got small community thing already going …. Good signs – “Synergise – Learning from each other” How good is that…. Cheers, H Re: Carlingford Estate 38Oct 13, 2009 3:43 pm Thanks Ken for the contact details, Geoff called him this morning and it was the same bloke who he spoke to the other day. Geoff wasn't happy, so then l called Robert and spoke to him. Basically; Cedar Woods don't want to fix the damage the guy did behind us, which l realise this, as he may do it again. I suggested that Cedar Woods invoice him for the damage caused, that way this guy won't do it again. Robert said it's between him and us now. I'm going to write a letter and now l've got to organise quotes to repair the fence We've done nothing wrong, we haven't even started to build and headaches already. Why should we pay for something that we didn't do? RE: Plaster ... that is a long wait, have you chased it up to see what's happening? MurphyStreet ... there are two timber door look a like made out of colourbond, which we were going to choose from, but then we changed our mind. Did the builder show you the option? These builder's know how to get you on the upgrades. Thanks Ken, MurphySt for your kind wishes, it is nice having friendly future neighbours Re: Carlingford Estate 39Oct 14, 2009 7:38 am Hello We are coming very close to a building permit and finally a start date for our house. First thing first we need to get all the rubbish off our land. I called the Council this morning and they said that unless you know who threw the rubbish they can't do anything. So I mentioned that the guttering looks alot like the house accouple doors down and they said they would investigate. Fingers crossed or we need to clean it up our selves becasue it is our land... I feel awful for doing that but there is so much building rubbish, it is not funny anymore. Also both my neighbours have started to build, guess what... we are a single story house inbetween two double storey houses...oh well I see it this way at least we will be warm at night. Eliza Re: Carlingford Estate 40Oct 14, 2009 9:58 am Eliza - Congratulaions!! How exciting! I can't believe you have to remove the rubbish off your land when you didn't even make the mess! Go talk to the other houses that the builder's have dumped it and ask them to remove it or you will take the matter further. RE: Council, when you called them, did they put you through to bi-laws? About the double stories on each side, l feel your pain (no offence to double story owners)! At home (Reservoir) we have two double stories - one on the corner block and one behind us and it's awful, as people behind us can see into our back yard and next door can still see over, although my folks did put a higer fence, the level of their blcok is higher for some reason. I hope that the positioning of your neighbours can't see too much into your back yard and you do get some privacy. |