Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 28, 2009 9:34 pm Well after hijacking other peoples threads over the past couple of months (sorry Shelz, jackbellyjean, evolvedmonkey and charlie ) - I thought it was time to start my own thread. With my land settling today and my selections appointment tomorrow, I thought this would be the ideal time.
First my wedge shaped block at the end of a court: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Looking back towards the Murray River on the other side of the tree line: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Site Plan: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Floor Plan: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Breeze Facade: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ As you can see from the site plan, the Santorini had to be pushed back quite a bit to make it fit on the block. While I'm not incredibly happy about the huge front yard, it was a sacrifice I was prepared to make. This is also why I went with the Breeze facade, so the larger portico would help use up this extra space. Hopefully the extra width I have a the rear will help make up for it. The other sacrifice I had to make was the nearly three metres of dead space down the left hand side of the house behind the garage. This was extended to allow for rear yard access which I thought was important for resale value. The only other major change I made was swapping the rumpus and outdoor room around to take advantage of the northern aspect. I'm still up in the air with colours - both external and internal, although I do like the general look of the above display home. I would love Hawthorn bricks but if M are going to charge $3K for this upgrade when I understand the real cost is only $600 - I don't think so! So the cheaper alternative will probably be Homestead Tan with something like Dune Colorbond. My second idea is maybe Homestead Mushroom with Woodland Grey Colorbond. As for the cladding - maybe a light colour like the photo (this is apparently Paperbark but it looks very white to me!). Internal - I am thinking a classic clean and crisp all white kitchen with Ice Snow Ceaser Stone benchtops. A white back to the island bench might be a problem with marks, etc. but I don't know what the alternative would be. I am thinking of a splash of colour with a Nick's Nook (green) glass splashback - thanks MagicJ and Michelle for this one! I'm not sure with the bathrooms/laundry. I'm not a huge fan of wood grain laminate but I have been considering Fudgesteam (thanks to SuH) for these cupboards with lighter coloured benchtops. Originally for flooring colours of was thinking of a beige tile with a darker brown / chocolaty carpet, but just over the last few days I have been thinking about browns with a touch of grey... As you can see I am still up in the air about a lot of things... Hopefully the consultant tomorrow will be of great assistance! If not, I'm in real trouble! Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 2Oct 28, 2009 10:28 pm Good to see you've got a thread up, we'll be expecting some photos of colours... Then into some site cutting, slab, frame, ETC! Builder: Me*tricon Homes Design: Freedom Range, Santorini 26 Handover Date: 12th February 2010 Homeone Thread: viewtopic.php?t=22216 Blogspot: http://www.evolvedmonkey-santorini26.blogspot.com Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 3Oct 29, 2009 10:11 pm I have survived a day full of selections. Generally I think I am happy, but I have certainly come away with some things I wasn't expecting. It would seem though I have ended up with a house that colour wise is going to be very similar to the display photo above. External: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Internal: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Sorry the above photo is a bit washed out from the camera flash - the Fossil in particular has been completely washed out! I didn't seem to get a sample of the DiamondGloss Pure Mineralstone I have used in the bathrooms, but it looks like a cheaper version of the Ceasar Stone Ice Snow I have used in the kitchen - although much much cheaper! I had real trouble with the bathroom colours and ended up just making a snap decision. I am not sure about the Fossil cupboards - I nearly choose Espresso. I wasn't brave enough to do the Fudge Steam but was enough to put it in the laundry. I also couldn't do my preferred splash back colour - Nick's Nook. The closest green was called Citrus Acid but it is MUCH brighter then what I want. I am thinking Antarctica might work OK, with a crisp white look. There was also a very nice metallic purple colour, but I don't think the extra $800 is worth it. Pictures below of these and I would appreciate any feedback here. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ So what do you think? Any suggestions for my tile selection appointment to match these colours? Any advise for changes or comments would be most welcome! Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 5Oct 31, 2009 12:33 am Hey Jeffsy, Congrats on your land settlement! Im with emilygirl, I dont mind the citrus but i really like the purple! Im a bit biased though cause purple is my favorite colour Nice choices with everything else Building: Santorini 26 with M*tricon Where:VIC Site Cut 29/09/09 Slab Complete 09/10/09 Frame Complete 22/10/09 LockUp Complete 17/11/09 Fixing Complete 03/12/09 **My Thread:[/i] viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23110 Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 6Oct 31, 2009 6:35 pm Thanks emilygirl and Shelz. I still can't make up my mind with the splashback. My original idea was to add some colour to the kitchen with it - but I can't get it out of my head that the colour consultant was hinting to me that the Citrus was a little "adventurous" if you know what I mean... I do like the purple colour but $800 for paint that is probably worth only $80??? I'm not sure I will have any other colour in the house to compliment any purple in the kitchen... I'm starting to think the safest bet might be the Antarctica. Can anyone even suggest another colour that would match the rest of my selections? Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 7Oct 31, 2009 7:11 pm My cousin who just finished building with M* gave me one very good bit of advice before I started this process. And that was "If theres something you really want then just add it in. Dont worry about the cost (within reason ofcourse) because you wont regret adding it in but you will look back & regret it later if you left it out". Now having said that, if you are not sure on the purple because of the colour then fair enough but if its just because of the extra cost then go with it or try to find something similar in the standard range! I personally would go the purple because it stands out but isn't as dramatic as the citrus. Im of the opinion that the splash back should stand out because it is like the feature in the kitchen. Considering you have so much white have you thought about black for the splash back? Ours is jaguar which is black and it was in the standard range. The colours are so hard to choose, especially when you wont actually get to see your masterpiece for many many months Building: Santorini 26 with M*tricon Where:VIC Site Cut 29/09/09 Slab Complete 09/10/09 Frame Complete 22/10/09 LockUp Complete 17/11/09 Fixing Complete 03/12/09 **My Thread:[/i] viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23110 Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 8Nov 01, 2009 8:47 pm I really love your colours, particularly your externals, I think they will look great with the Breeze facade On teh splashback - I tend to agree with the others that the purple would look great, but you make a point about it not matching anything else....might be a bit odd if its the only purple thing in the entire house? Our house is in tones of brown, mainly lighter, and then the splashback is a dark metallic choc brown, which is different from everything else but in same tones, if you know what I mean. I can sympathise with your 'dead space' behind your garage side - we too have to do this to fit our plan on the block and end up with almost 3.4m along that dead side Not the best option but I wanted the single roller door for rear yard access - so once we have done our turf and the main back yard stuff, I think we'll get a water tank and put on the dead side, as well as a line of screening plants along the fence. If we needed to get large vehicle in teh backyard again, the tank would be in the way so we'll wait til we've finished landscaping I think. Good luck! Caz Caz & Co ALL MOVED IN!! Now comes all the hard work-decorating.... [b]Blog: http://cazoraz.blogspot.com/ Settling in Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36993 Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 9Nov 02, 2009 3:22 am Thanks Shelz & cazoraz. Shelz - very good advise about worrying about cost, particularly something critical like the splashback! No haven't thought about black, as I would prefer something with a bit of colour. cazoraz - It would seem we did our colour selections on the same day! I see you are also using Dune and have it also for your windows. I also wanted to do this, but unfortunately Southern Star (M's window supplier) doesn't do Dune, so I am using my roof colour instead. Today I have also been thinking about using a metallic brown colour for the splashback. If I go with the purple, even though I don't currently have any purple with my furniture etc, I suppose there is nothing stopping me adding some purple in somewhere! I am also thinking of changing some other things - 1. using Espresso instead of Fossil for my bathroom cupboards. After looking at the colours on the web site, I think I prefer the brown instead of the grey colour, particularly as I was planning on using brown feature tiles; 2. using DiamondGloss Polar White instead of Warm White for the laundry bench; 3. even changing the benches for both bathrooms and laundry to DiamondGloss Antartic Stone - I just like the white marbley pattern! Oh dear! Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 10Nov 09, 2009 12:59 pm Well I did end up making the changes I was considering. I now have Expresso cupboards with DG Antarctic Stone tops in the bathrooms. I have been looking for some real life examples of someone using Antarctic Stone but I haven't found any yet. The Fudge Stream cupboards in the laundry will now be matched with a DG Polar White top. I will now have to amend my above photo... For the glass splashback - as I am not currently paying anything for it (being part of a promotion) I have gone with Antarctica. If I am going to spend any money on this, I may change this down the track with the Nick's Nook colour I wanted but can't get from M. What did others select for your carpet? I didn't have much idea and went with the basic Sante Fe (light brown colour)... good/bad??? I liked the soft feel of the cut pile but I guess the negative is that it will wear more quickly then other styles. It is only in the bedrooms and front sitting room though - not high traffic areas. Only thing left to do is my tiles appointment (still waiting for a date) and with a bit of luck, I might have some movement on my block before Xmas! Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray - Land Settled Today (28/10/09) 11Nov 09, 2009 2:00 pm New photo of selections: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I can never get my camera to capture the true colours... This photo looks makes everything look more brown then reality - eg. the Polar White really is bright white not off-white as in the photo. The carpet is also a lighter brown then it appears here. Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray 12Dec 12, 2009 6:16 pm I thought I better update my thread. I really haven't had a need until now because very little had happened! Everything has had a delay in some way - 1. the building permit (should of been back two weeks ago and I'm still not sure if is back); 2. finance delayed because they need the building permit (although I did find out yesterday it is now unconditional subject to receipt of the permit); 3. variation paperwork from the production team (just received yesterday - with issues! - read later); 4. tile selections (it would seem my paperwork wasn't forwarded to Beaumonts... however done yesterday). So, as you can see there has been about a month of waiting... but quite a few things came together yesterday! There were two issues with the final paperwork. The one problem with the Pre Construction Variation was an extra cost for electrical wiring for downlights, which should be included free as part of a promotion. I knew the electrical girl was having problems with the computer to take this out and I was told it would be fixed but obviously it wasn't! The second problem was in the final construction plans. I increased the front door width to 870mm and as a result it would seem they taken one of the side lights out - it will look crap! I know they can still do two slightly smaller sidelights because it was done for Shelz's house. I just assumed they would do the same for my house! I am waiting to hear back from the CSC about fixing these issues. I think I am happy with the tile selections. I don't have any money left for major upgrades, so I had decided other then for some feature tiles the rest would be from the standard range. I wanted a floor tile with some texture/pattern, because I prefer the look and I am hoping it will help to hide dirt and pet hair. That basically left me with one choice, so that wasn't an overly hard decision although it is a smaller tile and I would of liked a larger one. I am using a plain white rectangle tile for the wet areas. None of the standard feature tiles appealed to me but I noticed some in the "bargain bin" of some old stock that I thought looked nice. There were two that I liked - one a metallic brown that I thought would work well with the Espresso laminate and the other a mosaic with white, brown, grey and blue. The only problem was that they didn't have enough of either to do all the rooms. So the metallic brown will be used for feature strips above the laundry bench and in the main bathroom shower and on the bath. The mosaic will be used in the ensuite in the shower recess and as a feature strip down the other shower wall. Apparently these feature tile sheets are normally $40 each but I should get them at half price because they are old stock - about $300 all up. Anyway here are picture of the tiles: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray 13Dec 12, 2009 7:36 pm Hi Jeffsy, How funny! I specifically chose the wider door to eliminate one side light, which the girl at studio M said would be fine. Only to find at our final contract signing that both side lights were kept in! Im glad now though cause I think it would look silly and unbalanced to have just one! Make sure you get what you want Jeffsy! There are many things that I wish I could change now, one being our tile selection, especially after seeing what you've chosen. It's gonna look great Building: Santorini 26 with M*tricon Where:VIC Site Cut 29/09/09 Slab Complete 09/10/09 Frame Complete 22/10/09 LockUp Complete 17/11/09 Fixing Complete 03/12/09 **My Thread:[/i] viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23110 Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray 14Dec 16, 2009 10:43 pm Well Shelz, I got what I wanted! The second sidelight is back in. That is funny how you initially didn't want two - but yes, only one would ruin the symmetrical look of the facade! The extra electrical cost has also been withdrawn. All paperwork completed - I am just waiting on a start date now... Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray 15Feb 07, 2010 3:32 pm I finally have a start date - this Thursday (11/2)!!! A M sign appeared on my block sometime at the end of last week - the first sign of any activity on my site. The wait for the sub-contractors and suppliers to come back after the festive break was horrible... I have a meet and greet with my CSC and Site Manager on Tuesday. I have had a last minute change for the Site Manager due to a change in the areas that they each cover. My poor bloke has to cover a 200km area from the NSW border to Yea / Mansfield. I thought I should include the final site plan which includes the changes from the Studio M appointment Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray (Start 11/2) 17Feb 10, 2010 11:25 pm I drove past this morning to find that my site has been pegged out. Given that I didn't think they were doing anything until tomorrow, this was a pleasant surprise! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Compared to the photo in my first post, you can see that my tree has grown quite a bit. You can also see that the house to my south, which then only had a slab, is now at lock up stage. At the meet and greet yesterday, my site manager told me that he had a bit of fun with my future neighbour last week when he was there putting up my sign. He must of been checking his house and approached my site manger enquiring about what I was building. He told him it was a big double story and apparently you could see his face sink...! He was then shown my plans and he was then somewhat relieved. Good to know my manager has a good sense of humour! Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray (Start 11/2) 18Feb 11, 2010 10:16 pm Oooh, ooh, ooh! CONGRATULATIONS on the pegs!!!! Nothing more exciting than finally seeing something happen onsite, especially when you've been waiting as long as yourself! In no time you'll have a cut, slab and frame! Your site manager sounds great - imagine saying that with a straight face! We're home!!! Site start: 13 Aug 09 Handover: 29 Jan 10 Hubby & I are building the Santorini 26 with M3tr!con My thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=20570 Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray (Start 11/2) 19Feb 11, 2010 10:46 pm Congrats on the site start Jeffsy Cant wait to see all your progress pics! Building: Santorini 26 with M*tricon Where:VIC Site Cut 29/09/09 Slab Complete 09/10/09 Frame Complete 22/10/09 LockUp Complete 17/11/09 Fixing Complete 03/12/09 **My Thread:[/i] viewtopic.php?f=31&t=23110 Re: Santorini 26 by the Murray (Start 11/2) 20Feb 11, 2010 11:50 pm Thanks guys! I rang the builder for my neighbour today about the pile of rubbish you can see to the left of the photo. It is sitting right on top of the property line, so it needs to be moved along with some frame wood and a left over facia sheet along my back fence. Apparently my site manager asked last week, so I thought I follow up call from myself was warranted given it is still there. The block and the rest of the vacant land in the area is covered with immature bindii plants... Hopefully when they do the scrape they get rid of most of these evil little devils. The construction manager was telling me the other day that M are now using prefab frames. I don't know when they made the move - were your houses prefab? It should help things move along quickly! I was also pleased to here they are going to use local contractors as much as possible instead of guys from Shepp. The concreter will be from my home town and the sparky will be from a neighbouring town. I am currently getting air-con quotes and hopefully the local guys will also be competitive with those from Shepp. Use a product like Equisol's Vitalise to clean the deck then coat with a penetrating timber oil. It will look 10 years younger and add value to your home. Visit for… 1 11214 Hi all, Trying to workout the minimum stepdown required between slab for my house and the outdoor alfresco area. Garage is 100mm lower than rest of the house and plan was… 0 3651 Thanks for the insights, that makes perfect sense, and yeah, I will be leaning on the experience of the excavator operator entirely. 6 11039 |