Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 23, 2009 8:32 am Just a fun one for you… below is our story as to why we picked the house we picked, why did you go with the house you picked? My girlfriend and I were out looking at display homes on the weekend and were talking to a sales rep, he asked us who we were building with and we told him that we had picked our house with PD. He then asked us why we went with PD. For us, the design of the house was by far the most important factor, we have a decent sized block, 2 kids and 2 small dogs. Our block is within walking distance to 3 parks so getting our block in the spot it is was important for us so that we could spent time at the parks with the kids and dogs without loading everyone into a car. Once we had our block, we set about finding a house that met certain criteria: We wanted a house that was wide rather than long as we wanted the biggest back yard we could get (for the kids and dogs to run around). Side alfresco that I can build a decking out to the backyard for when we entertain, we have regular family get togethers and we all prefer to be outside when we can plus I wanted to be able to keep an eye on the kids from the decking. Other factors we wanted were, alfresco visible and within talking distance from kitchen, rumpus room for the kids, study for me and the GF, 4th bedroom for kids study, and if we could a cinema room. After looking and just about giving up on finding anything that even comes close and within our budget, we stumbled on the Francis 29 by PD. It’s not perfect, but after we move in, we will make some changes and make it perfect, and it was in our budget! Current status: Busy making the house our home Built PD Francis 29 on our 576m2 block at Reflections in Tarneit Reflections Estate Thread Our Build Thread Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 2Nov 23, 2009 8:52 am We didnt really have too many requirements for our first house, being just the two of us. I think our block was 18m wide so we just needed something to fit on that. We ended up cutting off the eaves and building a Byron with Perry Homes. We just loved the layout. Our new house, we had to design ourselves, on a narrow block. The builder we first had lined up couldnt do it so then we had to find a new one. The new one was a combination of price and he had built houses like ours in the same area and we really just liked him. We have only just started so hopefully our gut feeling is right Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 3Nov 23, 2009 11:35 am We bought our land first, so that helped us choose the criteria for the house: * Max 14.5m wide (estate guideline - must have 2.0 to each boundary) * Garage set back 1.5m from front of house (estate guideline) * Min 4 bedrooms * Min 2 living areas * Minimal hallways * Room for pool table * Side alfresco (block runs east/west, alfresco on the north side) * Master bedroom NOT at the front of the house * Master bedroom separate from minor bedrooms * Open plan Things like WIR's or WIR pantry weren't really high on the list, nor the total squares of the house. We narrowed it down to 3 different plans from 3 different builders. Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 4Nov 23, 2009 4:09 pm Our criteria were: *have a house that fits on our land (at least 13.5 metres wide and 20 metres long) *we wanted to maximise the inside area - we have a lovely park and a lake just 50 metres from the home. So, we have a bit less than 100 m2 for the backyard not considering a 4x5 alfresco. As a result, we have 310m2 of living space (430 m2 gross) on a 480m2 block. *the master bedroom to the back was a must (plus the facade is north facing and I'm not a big fun of sun shining/warming into my bedroom). Only this requirement alone eliminated at least 80-90% of designs and 60-75% of builders *we had some ideas about layout of the rooms and the overall shape of the house. No standard designs were 100% compliant with what we wanted, so we selected a design that was closest to what we wanted - the less you change the less you pay ... built a Promenade with Clarendon. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25104 20-10-09 - excavation and piering completed ... 12-04-10 - Basins fixed. Connecting to the electrical grid 23-04-10 - PCI 07-05-10 - HANDOVER! Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 5Nov 23, 2009 4:40 pm Only found one builder willing to draw up a plan to fit our block free of charge. All others wanted between $2500 to $4000 to draft a plan. Took em about 3 days and we liked it , so then got preapproval from council to build it ( Took three months and only $50 ) We didnt like anything else they had so if the design hadnt been approved we would have been locked in with a builder with nothing we liked to build and they could have upped the priceing on anything we changed. Timeline Aug 08-Land Mar 09-Demo/Titles Sept 10-Handover No1 Sept 11-Handover No2 April 12-Sold No2 Aug 14-Land/Demo Jan 15-Slabs viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25736 Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 6Nov 23, 2009 4:45 pm Only found one builder willing to draw up a plan to fit our block free of charge. All others wanted between $2500 to $4000 to draft a plan. Took em about 3 days and we liked it , so then got preapproval from council to build it ( Took three months and only $50 ) We didnt like anything else they had so if the design hadnt been approved we would have been locked in with a builder with nothing we liked to build and they could have upped the pricing on anything we changed. we are still happy, but would be exstatic if they would hurry up and get moving on building it. Timeline Aug 08-Land Mar 09-Demo/Titles Sept 10-Handover No1 Sept 11-Handover No2 April 12-Sold No2 Aug 14-Land/Demo Jan 15-Slabs viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25736 Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 7Nov 23, 2009 4:51 pm We had a large block so any size would work. Our requirements were: - A pool room (so I can say "Put it in the pool room love". Yes I'm serious ). The opportunity to close it off with doors was important too to keep noise in. - An alfresco AND pool room, not one or the other, as we had seen plans in the same price range with either one and with both, and why pay the same for less? - 4 bedrooms - 2 study/activity areas with one that can closed into another room (as they are all open) and be used as a Bed 5 or study, and an open one for more of the kids - Lots of bench area in the kitchen and the opportunity for overhead cupboards (lesson's learnt from both parents) - WIP - Big WIR in the master bedroom. My parents used one for us a kids when we were in a bassinet so from the start we were used to not being in the same room, although we are in the room (as there was no door so they could hear everything as it was bigger than their ensuite so it was a mini-room). Also useful for storage later of big things. And good for threatening kids - we were banished to their wardrobe if we were naughty. - Big Ensuite - my parents have a tiny one and hate it, they've hated it every 22 years they've had the house so we though we better not make the same mistake - Garage not carport Some things that are 'nice to haves' were: - 900mm stove and oven (or upgrade and stay in the budget) - Home theatre, without windows preferable - Powderoom - Laundry able to have bench and sit in sink, not trough (or upgrage and stay in budget) Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 8Nov 23, 2009 5:39 pm We walked in the PD Illoura display at Marriott Waters and fell in love with the house straignt away. We didn't need to change much at all as it suited us, so we just widened the garage and added a few internal doors, windows and walls. We went with the 33sq rather than the 36sq so we could have a bit of a backyard for the kids to play in. We could afford the 36 but instead we have put the extra money into having a great enclosed alfresco area, which is currently under construction. We bought the land second but wanted a reasonably sized block to fit the house on. Ideally we would have bought a 750-800m block but had to settle on a 700m as it was all we could find within out budget. We weren't even planning to move at the time, it just happened by accident but we have no regrets at all Blog: http://bluemistkids.blogspot.com "Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark, and professionals built the Titanic." Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 9Nov 23, 2009 6:25 pm We particularly needed a sizable living room with the minor bedrooms as it would be the secondary seperate TV area. We have a multi generational set-up. A third living room that could be set up as an area without TV was also important. Other must haves were walk in pantry, laundry either off the kitchen or close to the garage (not with minor bedrooms), walk in robe to master and a lot of storage preferably with a walk in linen. To get this we were either heavily modify smaller houses or looking at houses slightly bigger than what we needed. It was always working out far cheaper to just go for the slightly too big house and not have to modify it. My mum was not comfortable going custom with a smaller builder, she wanted to stick with a bigger builder. If it was up to me, I would have OB'd. We went through a lot of houses and builders, but we have ended up building a house that gets northern light into the rear living areas.... quite difficult when the block faces north. All the other house we nearly built would have been very dark inside, so we are very happy with how it has turned out. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 10Nov 23, 2009 6:59 pm I wanted to be able to get a lot of natural light into the living area's(North-west) and be able to block half of the house off via a door. I also wanted to have a nice outdoor area and a northerly facing area for a vegie garden. '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: Why did you pick the house you built? 11Nov 23, 2009 7:28 pm In our case its "Why did you pick the house you're building?" Some of our criteria were as follows: Less than 12.5m at front, due to our small frontage and estate covenant of setback must be between 4.5m and 5.0m. (Our block is V shaped) wider at the back than front. Must include double lockup garage. Must be able to access the rear of the block with a vehicle - either house skinny enough to drive past, or single rear roller door in garage. Must have either 4 bedrooms or 3 bedrooms + study. Preferably have living areas that can be separated. Must have an island bench in kitchen without sink in the middle. Must have at least 1 broom closet and 1 linen cupboard. And most importantly, it was the one that felt *right* when we walked into the display. As well as it was the one that when we went back to our previous leader. went 'OMG what were we thinking' Our Build - Places Fairhaven 23+ - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=28045 Our Landscaping - Belial's Backyard - https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=45375 Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 12Nov 23, 2009 7:31 pm Oh, that was my other criteria. It had to be a relatively wide house. Our block is 25m wide and it had to sit nicely on the block, not too skinny. I leave you to fend for yourself, figure things out yourself. Terrence Malick Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 13Nov 23, 2009 7:40 pm We wanted a design that took in the views of the golf course across the road.It has a decent size balcony/verandah & the upstairs living & main bedroom face the golf course.We also liked how the access to the upstairs balcony is from the living room not the bedroom.Most of the other plans we looked at had just the bedrooms facing the front & living in the middle. We recently got to see our view for the first time (via a ladder) & loved what we saw...can't wait to be sitting on that balcony with a glass of wine! 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: Why did you pick the house you built? 14Nov 23, 2009 7:54 pm wizard Just a fun one for you ... Once we had our block, we set about finding a house that met certain criteria: We wanted a house that was wide rather than long as we wanted the biggest back yard we could get ... Yes, this is fun ... [*] A better usage of our block (similar to you, a house that is wide rather than long as we wanted the biggest backyard we could get) [*] Flexibility of dividing or opening living areas in the house as we are pleased (eg. close off the living areas in winter for better heating efficiency, and same in summer for cooling) [*] Bedrooms, kitchen, living areas, study to be looking either out onto the street or into our own backyard (ie. no rooms looking into a side fence or neighbour's side brick wall ) [*] Every-day living areas to have the good aspect (north east in our case) [*] More storage [*] A proper hallway [*] More than 1 separate living area (we'll have 3) [*] Enough bedrooms so that we can have a spare or two (we like our guests to feel they are special ) We came across the base house design years and years ago and immediately figured "that's it". It had to be modified (to satisfy 1 and 3 above), and it was extremely easy with this design. There is no other design with which we could have done the same (in the same price range!). So, we stopped looking years ago ... easy decision. The funny thing is that, once we saw this house and "figured it", we mentioned that to one of our friends. Turned out their other friend had just signed the contract for the same house! My signature is distracting people from my wise posts ... Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 15Nov 23, 2009 8:24 pm We bought land first (20w x 35L) then started looking for a house plan. Have 2 boys under 3 so a yard was a priority with the hope of a pool at some stage. The criteria for the house: - 4 beds (want a spare bed for family to stay - we live on the coast and they are in bris) - study - rumpus - good size laundry - open plan kitchen, meals, family - decent sized alfresco Looked at more displays than I like to remember but am sure I could have looked at more - and came back to the first couple we saw (we both really liked them) , one was a single and the other a double storey. I had more criteria for a single storey ie. laundry and garage not near bedrooms, don't enter from the garage thru the kitchen + a few others, so it narrowed down our choice considerably. Our great sales rep did a rough siting for both house designs which showed very clearly that the single storey would leave us with no yard - so we decided to skip the pool for the moment and build a 2 storey - absolutely love the house plan, it does have a retreat area at the top of the stairs that we don't need now and a more "formal" living area - but am sure we will end up using them. Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 16Nov 23, 2009 9:27 pm We decided to build because a townhouse is no place for a rapidly growing Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. Buying established was not going to work...we couldn't find anything we liked that had a decent sized yard. Porter Davis were the first display homes that we visited...originally to look at a two storey house, but when we walked into one of their single storey houses, we were hooked....the house was "us" down to a tee. After that we stopped looking. Finding land that would take the house was a bigger problem. So, what did we require in a house? ..4 bedrooms ..Rumpus/Theatre room ..big master bedroom ..tall ceilings ..double garage ..enough room out the back for the dog Not much really...everything else that is in the house was a bonus....suppose we are lucky that we only have 1 adult child still at home. PD Hayman 34 H1 Thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=29460&start=0 Blog http://miazfolly.blogspot.com Tiles 25/3/09 Colors 6/4/09 Tender 7/5/09 Contract 28/5/09 Land 16/11/09 Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 17Nov 23, 2009 10:27 pm My only two criteria were that it had to have a garage, and it wasn't to be too big with rooms that would never be used. Its only myself and my son so we have no need of having a home that has more than the one living area. I bought a relatively small block (426), so the house would have to be smallish to fit. I had actually pretty much decided on a different plan, when my sales guy showed me my plan *just for the hell of it*... and i was hooked The only thing it needed was the garage. Am very pleased with my selection and can't wait for it to be finished!! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 18Dec 11, 2009 8:38 am We're no where near starting to build yet - not the house anyway - but have already picked our plan. We have five beautiful acres so could pretty much build whatever we wanted. Site works dictated that we will build on stumps instead of a slab, and I kinda like the idea of not disturbing the land too much. Number one was we wanted a traditional country style house - we didn't want to plonk a 4x2 project home in the middle of our block, but compliment the area and surrounds. If I had the money I would have had custom built a mud brick house with big timber beams and jarrah flooring - but I don't so went a timber frame Queenslander on stumps An important feature of the house was a verandah running all the way around the house - in fact the plan we picked has almost as much verandah and porticos as it has inside living space The other thing we wanted was the adults and kids to have there own space. The plan we've chosen has the adult rooms on one side, the kids on the other and a central living space. I can't wait to build it Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 19Dec 11, 2009 8:58 am for me - the main thing was the size of the house in terms of fitting on the land. I purchased my land first and then had difficulty finding homes that fit the very strict covenants. My lot is quite small, only 16 x 25mtr so the Columbia 21 from DFH made a perfect fit. Turned out to be the best plan for me anyway so I am very happy. Current build Porter Davis Brookwater 49, Eucalypt Wollert Build: 24th Jul 2015 - Approx Mar 2016 Previous build DFH Columbia 21, Lyndarum Epping North Build:20th Jul 2009 - 18th Dec 2009 Re: Why did you pick the house you built? 20Dec 11, 2009 9:58 am We chose the house plan we are building as it is a practical floor plan. Laundry had to be at the end of the house, not in the middle, not near the garage nor behind the kitchen. Initially I wanted the master BR at the back of the house, but we changed our minds for it to be at the front. We have no regrets. All the rooms are at the end of the house away from the living areas/kitchen etc. We had to have a large closed off living room that can be changed into a theatre room. Ensuite had to be really big. Kitchen also had to be really big and we had to have an alfresco area. Lots of really big windows to allow light in. We basically saw one plan and made a few changes. Every time I look at another plan I never like it as much as ours. I guess maybe I'm being biased but I still haven't seen another floor plan we really like. You may still have a case, but your next step is to speak to a lawyer. 3 1623 That sucks! Hope it all works out. Good to move away from steel anyway for all your reasons, but it's also thermally poor. 16 17871 Hi All, I just wanted to close this topic out with an update. So we ended up agreeing to a number with the insurance company, and after an extensive amount of hand… 8 23401 |