Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 22, 2009 12:02 pm Summary of my timeline and colours:
Timeline to date: 8 Dec 2009 - Building Contracts signed with Builder (Quantum Homes) 10 Dec 2009 - Land settled (Highlands, Craigieburn) 15 Feb 2010 - Colour Selection done 5 Mar 2010 - Site works commence (Day 1) 28 Apr 2010 - Slab poured (Day 55) 15 May 2010 - Frame complete (Day 71) 22 June 2010 - Lock up (Day 110) 19 July 2010 - Fixing (Day 137) 17 August 2010 - Painting Complete (Day 166) 1 September 2010 - Tiling Complete (Day 180) 16 September 2010 - Pre Handover Inspection (Day 196) 24 September 2010 - Handover! (Day 204) Colours: Outside: Bricks: Austral Homestead Tan Roof Tiles: Profile - Monier Tudor, Colour - Sambuca Gutters and Downpipes - Colorbond Monument Facia: Colorbond Paperbark Windows: Merino Garage Door: Paperbark Front door: Wattyl "Royal Ribbon" (ie: purpley-pink) Kitchen: Benchtop: Laminex Pure Mineralstone Diamond Gloss Finish Base Cupboards: Laminex Stipple Seal Natural Finish Overhead Cupboards: Laminex Ash White Flat Finish Kickboards: Brushed chrome laminate Bathroom/Ensuite: Benchtop: Laminex Stipple Seal Natural Finish Cupboards: Laminex Parchment Natural Finish Kickboards: Brushed chrome laminate Laundry: Benchtop: Laminex Parchment Natural Finish Base and Overhead Cupboards: Laminex Stipple Seal Natural Finish Kickboards: Brushed chrome laminate Walls: Ceilings and cornices: Builders standard white Walls: Wattyl Your Shadow Architraves, skirtings, internal doors, woodwork: Wattyl Floati (ie: off white) Floor coverings: Carpet: a medium brown carpet (doesn't have a name, just #22) Floor tile (including shower bases): Ivory Gloss (45cx45cm) Kitchen/Laundry Splashback: Ivory Gloss (30cmx10cm) Shower walls and tiling around the bath/toilet: Shanghi Tofu (30cmx40cm) - pretty much the same as the ivory gloss, but the ivory gloss didn't come in a wall tile so this was the closest I could get Floorplan: http://i383.photobucket.com/albums/oo276/sjs137/house.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original First Post: I thought it was about time that I introduced myself and started my own thread! I'm 34 and the single mum of a gorgeous daughter (aka The Princess). I want to live somewhere where she can grow up surrounded by friends and has access to parks, schools, activities - all the stuff kids really like. I looked a at a lot of house plans/display homes, all of which were much too big, until I finally settled on PD's Chelsea III (part of the 'Smart Living' range), to be built in the Highlands Estate at Craigieburn (Victoria). This is a long term project - the stage that I'm trying to purchase land from isn't even titled yet, and probably won't be until November/December. And then, PD isn't able to start building until April 2010. So I probably wouldn't be in the house until this time next year. So far I've obsessed over colour selections with many visits to Hopetoun and National Tiles, and I now have a contract signing date. What eludes me though, is the finance! I'm STILL waiting - I can't believe it's taken this long! My land contract cut-off date is this Friday, so if I don't get some sort of formal approval in the next day or two I'm going to have to ask for an extension. I originally submitted all the paperwork to the mortgage broker over a month ago... what on earth could be taking this long??? I've been trying to not put the mozz on myself by starting a thread until I knew I had finance approved, but I just couldn't wait any longer! Hopefully this won't be the shortest building thread in history with my next post being my last due to lack of finance.... only time will tell. (to anyone who was following my blog, due to technical difficulties your details were deleted - feel free to re-follow if you'd like.) Here's the standard floorplan of my house - So for now I guess it's just 'watch this space'... Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - to be, or not to be? 2Sep 22, 2009 12:07 pm It was ridiculous how long it took us to get formal approval! We had to get an extension on our land not once, but three times because of the bank! The second time it actually got denied and we were looking at having to start the process all over again, but luckily the bank had come through with a letter so they granted us the next extension, then had to get another one cause we had to wait for all the loan documents to be processed and that took another week and a bit!!! Good luck and i hope it all goes through! They're becoming stricter with extensions as a friend of ours got denied...but hopefully it will all be fine for you We're in highlands as well Building the Talbot with the big M!! Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - to be, or not to be? 3Sep 22, 2009 12:58 pm Hi Piper! Single mummy here too! congrats on your decision to build, fingers crossed the bank comes up with the goods in the next couple of days, we would love to see you block or any colours you have chosen already 2014 - Prepping to build the Soho 4 with Plantation homes, industrial style 2009 - Built the Brampton with Coral Homes viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15399&start=280 Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - to be, or not to be? 5Sep 22, 2009 1:09 pm Hi Piper!! Another single mom here too I had to get three extensions on my land settlement as it took over three months for the bank to unconditionally approve my loan!! I had to get three extensions for the land in that time too. Luckily though i wasn't charged anything extra! Best of luck to you viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - to be, or not to be? 6Sep 22, 2009 2:40 pm calzo It was ridiculous how long it took us to get formal approval! We had to get an extension on our land not once, but three times because of the bank! The second time it actually got denied and we were looking at having to start the process all over again, but luckily the bank had come through with a letter so they granted us the next extension, then had to get another one cause we had to wait for all the loan documents to be processed and that took another week and a bit!!! and Jodie80 I had to get three extensions on my land settlement as it took over three months for the bank to unconditionally approve my loan!! I had to get three extensions for the land in that time too. Luckily though i wasn't charged anything extra! Yikes... I'm surprised that this is as common as it is.. and taking months is just ridiculous! What do these brokers/banks do that could possible take as long as all that?? Uh well... patience, patience. Jess09 Hi Piper! Single mummy here too! congrats on your decision to build, fingers crossed the bank comes up with the goods in the next couple of days, we would love to see you block or any colours you have chosen already This is my list of colour preferences as it stands at this particular moment in time - it seems to change daily, every time I see a photo of something else I usually end up re-thinking some of my options... but for now, this is what I've got: Outside: Bricks - Brown terrain with natural mortar Render - Paperbark/Self Destruct (who comes up with these names???) Roof - Magnum Windows - Merion (to match the paperbark) Garage Door - Colourbond Paperbark Gutters, Fascia, Downpipes etc: haven't decided on this yet - either something light to match the garage door/windows, or something dark to match the roof Inside: Kitchen benchtop - Formica Pure Marble Kitchen cabinet doors - Formica Mist Grey Floor tiles - not sure yet, something light beige perhaps?? Carpets - something a little darker than the floor tiles, but not too dark Bathroom vanities - a darker colour to make the basin stand out I think... still not sure. I must say, I like the PD colour options - some might say that they're a little boring - all browns/beiges/neutrals, but I like that. P. Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - to be, or not to be? 7Sep 22, 2009 3:17 pm Hi Piper, Congratulations on the decision on building. Hope everything is smooth for you after the finance hurdle. Speaking of patience, it's been 3 years since we bought our land and just received council approval earlier this month. Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - I must be invisible... 9Sep 24, 2009 3:33 pm I've read a lot of posts about people having trouble getting builders, customer service reps and the like to return their emails/phone calls. Now it's happening to me - here's a run down of my last couple of days: Monday:
Phoned mortgage broker, got through, no new information... still waiting. Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Missed a call from Hopetoun Interiors - called back three times before I could get through to a real person to leave a message Thursday:
Attempted to called customer service consultant at PD offices - no answer, couldn't leave a message. Emailed customer service consultant - no reply. What I find most interesting is that I haven't actually signed any contract, nor locked myself to anything yet. Obviously I'm not going to walk away at this point (although I've read about some people that have), but you'd think that they'd a least still be trying to make an effort until they get my signature on that piece of paper. Grrr.. On the finance front, I still have no answer about whether I'm approved or not and as such I applied for and received an extension on the land contract for another 14 days. More waiting. I have to say, I'm almost glad that the land doesn't become available for a couple of months. I'd really hate to know that the land was just sitting there but I couldn't do anything about it because of all this paperwork.bureaucracy. Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - I must be invisible... 10Sep 24, 2009 4:11 pm What a pain in the backside Piper!! Hopefully you can start speaking to a *real live* person either at PD or Hopetoun!! Maybe if you emailed everyone saying, "i'm starting to have doubts and am considering pulling out of this deal" they may just contact you quite quickly! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - I must be invisible... 11Sep 25, 2009 9:23 pm Hey there, I'm building a PD Chelsea III as well. We are due to start building in Feb 10. I love that its nice and little, the house is more than big enough for me. I was thinking of buying bigger but Id rather spend the money on a horse for myself and a unit as an investment. I have had my colour selection appointment. What I have chosen (that I can remember off the top of my head). Facade - Coolum Bricks - Ripponlea Off white mortar Roof - standard tile in gun metal gray (almost black) Render to front column things - jasper Windows, gutters and garage - paperbark Internal Walls - Parchment Carpet - light beige of some description, looped pile Bench tops - white Cupboards and bathroom - Seasoned Oak Tiles not selected yet Everything else I have kept standard. the only other things we added were a door to garage, and a highlight window to family room. I only ended up paying about $2k for extras, love building a smaller home. Due to the Chealsea being smallish, I have kept everything basic and light so that it gives the impression of size. Honestly though, the house ain't that small. It's twice the size of the place I am living in at the moment. And oh, I get a lovely big garden. The father in-law will help us build a nice pergola and and a deck. Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - I must be invisible... 12Sep 26, 2009 8:30 am Jodie80 What a pain in the backside Piper!! Hopefully you can start speaking to a *real live* person either at PD or Hopetoun!! Maybe if you emailed everyone saying, "i'm starting to have doubts and am considering pulling out of this deal" they may just contact you quite quickly! Well, I got through to a real person... but only after a few more phone calls and emails. Turned out that PD had put the wrong email address for my CSC in the letter they sent me. So it's all sorted now... at least, my requests for information have now been received, I just have to wait and see if I'll get a response!! MissAlison Hey there, I'm building a PD Chelsea III as well. We are due to start building in Feb 10. I love that its nice and little, the house is more than big enough for me. I was thinking of buying bigger but Id rather spend the money on a horse for myself and a unit as an investment. Yay... another Chelsea-ite! I've only found one or two others out there. Yep, I love that the house is nice and small, I'm planning on spending a lot of money on upgrades though, I figure that because the house is small I can afford to splurge a little bit. Having said that, most of the things I want are pretty useful - upgraded insulation, a door from the garage to the house, tiles in the eating/living areas - it's really only the glass splashback in the kitchen that I'm having trouble justifying. Still.. if it inspires me to cook, maybe that's good thing MissAlison And oh, I get a lovely big garden. The father in-law will help us build a nice pergola and and a deck. Uh yes, the outdoor stuff. You're really lucky to have some help with that - I've built twice before, both on pretty big blocks (600m2+) and ended up landscaping myself - and pretty poorly at that too, just putting in the basics so I didn't have to walk on dirt. This time I have a really small block only around 330m2. I do want to put some decking out the back first thing, but after that there won't be much left to do at all (phew!). I have my colour selections this week - and I'm just frantically going over all my notes, other peoples blogs and photos of display homes trying to finalise what I want. I'm going to have to take The Princess with me to the appointment so I need to be really clear in what I'm looking for before I go (she can sometimes be a bit of a distraction!). Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - I must be invisible... 13Sep 26, 2009 10:01 pm Piper+1 (she can sometimes be a bit of a distraction!). sounds too familiar 2014 - Prepping to build the Soho 4 with Plantation homes, industrial style 2009 - Built the Brampton with Coral Homes viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15399&start=280 Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - Colour Selection on Thursday! 15Oct 13, 2009 1:02 pm hey piper, any progress/news? 2014 - Prepping to build the Soho 4 with Plantation homes, industrial style 2009 - Built the Brampton with Coral Homes viewtopic.php?f=31&t=15399&start=280 Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - Colour Selection on Thursday! 16Oct 13, 2009 2:20 pm Jess09 hey piper, any progress/news? I've been a little remiss in updating this thread (and my blog) because in all honesty, I've been getting a little depressed about this all. I'm the sort of person that likes to be presented with a costing so I can arrange for finance and then (in my own time) make a decision and a purchase. I'm still chasing my tail at the moment trying to get contracts sorted so I can get finance sorted so I can make the decision about what to do with the house (which technically I'd already had to do to get the contracts drawn up in the first place). Anyway, a week or so ago I had my electrical appointment and went a little crazy adding power points everywhere. I also read a great thread on here about making sure that lights had accessible light switches in multiple locations (like at both ends of the hallway) so I managed to get them all in too. The colour selection was exhausting, but to be honest there wasn't much that I actually did on the day. I'm very glad that I'd done a lot of preparation - visiting display houses and going to Hopetoun a few times - so that all I really had to sort out were the finer details. Here's what I've ended up with: Outside: Bricks: Brown Terrain (with off white mortar) Roof: Magnum in the Hacienda (Traditional) profile Window frames: Anotec Grey Garage Door, Gutters, Fascia, Downpipes, Meter Box: Evening Haze Render: Dulux Stone Front Door: CB-Woodland Grey Upgraded to the Trilock Level in Satin Chrome Inside: Walls: Donkey 1/4 strength Architraves/Skirting/Internal Doors: Flokati Handles: Avilla (Standard) in Satin Chrome Carpet: Reflections Range - Cremorne Vintage Stone (upgraded the underlay to Cat 4) Kitchen: Bench top: Formica - Pure Marble (180degree rolled edge) Cabinets: Formica - Mist Grey Handles: D-Pull Satin Chrome Bathroom/Ensuite/Laundry: Cabinets/Benchtops: Stipple Seal Shower Frame: Matt Silver Bathroom Vanity: Upgraded to Valentino Stepped Vessel with1500 Basin Mixer Ensuite Vanity: Porcher Vallo Vessel (salad bowl) with 1500 Extended Basin Mixer Handles: D-Pull Satin Chrome Upgraded the toilets (doesn't everyone?) I noticed that there were a few things missing from the variations that I'd put in earlier so I sent the details off to my PD customer service consultant. (You really do have to chase these people, don't you? - I've started keeping a journal of what emails I've sent, to who and when so I can keep track of it all). And then after much to-ing and fro-ing between myself and the mortgage broker, I was advised last week that I have unconditional finance on the land portion of my mortgage. This is in spite of my mortgage broker resigning and my file being given to someone else, and my complete lack of understanding as to how this process works - I still don't know how much money I will need to borrow for the house and all it's variations, or if I will be able to get this much, or what will happen if I can't. I've spoken to my bank several times now (explaining that my broker is being less than helpful) and fortunately the bank staff have been very understanding. And now, it's just one more sleep until contract time! Tomorrow is the day I find out what this house is going to cost. I've got some calculations with me so I'm pretty sure what I can and can't afford - the hard part is going to be having to decide what upgrades to get rid off if I need to (and then of course, having to wait for the bank to decide if what I want to borrow is what they feel the house is worth.) I'm hopeful that after tomorrow my mind will be a little more at rest. Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - 1 more sleep til contract signing!! 17Oct 13, 2009 5:45 pm So how come PD won't start til april when the land titles in Nov/December? My generic HIA contract (Burbank) states they must begin works within 14 days after receiving all the relevant permits/documents. Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - 1 more sleep til contract signing!! 18Oct 13, 2009 6:59 pm ibfragalot99 So how come PD won't start til april when the land titles in Nov/December? My generic HIA contract (Burbank) states they must begin works within 14 days after receiving all the relevant permits/documents. They only start a certain number in each area each month so it's probably the next available starting slot 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - 1 more sleep til contract signing!! 19Oct 13, 2009 7:01 pm Oh and best of luck tomorrow Piper!!! 'A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.' Louis Pasteur Vegie garden: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=27637&start=0 My Backyard Adventure Re: Piper's PD Chelsea III - 1 more sleep til contract signing!! 20Oct 13, 2009 7:04 pm lisanne They only start a certain number in each area each month so it's probably the next available starting slot Is that just PD, or others too? Don't see anything about that in my contract. Hmms... geeze got me worried about making the FHOG site start condition now! Geeze theres always something 1) I had requested R6 ceiling insualtion batts, however I noticed that on some areas there are huge gaps which will allow hot air to sweep in, and also noticed black/grey… 0 3604 I posted the floorplan on Houzz.com forum and got some really good ideas and advice from people there. Then we reached out to a couple of renovation companies and one… 5 10106 9 24816 |