Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Our Topaz in 2010 21Feb 17, 2010 6:55 pm Hi 2pais, I just caught up with your thread and I love your kitchen benchtops. I want to go laminate and spend more on the mechanics e.g. drawers instead of cupboards (I'm getting older and bending is a literal pain). I feel so disappointed when I look at kitchen magazines and all you see are stone or manufactured stone benchtops. I went through one magazine and there wasn't a single photo of a laminex bench so it's good to see someone using it. I'll look forward to hearing how your build goes. Blessings to you Handover February 2011 Happy with our home Re: Our Topaz in 2010 23Feb 19, 2010 6:44 pm Thanks robinred55 I think you may find a lot more people in the 'kitchen corner' who are putting laminate and cant afford stone benchtops. Have you finished your colour selections? All the best with your build. Re: Our Topaz in 2010 24Feb 22, 2010 9:10 pm 2pais Yes n&n02 they let me keep my front setbacks. Council approval took about 2 weeks. Have you received your covenant approval? Hi 2pais! We applied for Covenant Approval about 2 weeks ago. Hmmmm, should be any day now... I'm still majorly stressing about it Re: Our Topaz in 2010 26Apr 01, 2010 1:04 pm Oh yay! That's great! We are just signing off on our final plans early next week, then our builder will book us in for site start which is generally within 2 weeks. Yay! We didn't know there was more paperwork - so over it, I just want it to start - lol!! Re: Our Topaz in 2010 27Apr 08, 2010 8:33 am Likewise n&n02 cant wait for it all to begin. Bring it on!! Went over to the block during the long weekend to hav a looky and we hav a electricity point! But the site has not been scrapped yet! Anticipating more work this week as the weather is good. In the meantime having our electrical appointment today going over the big question to hav or not 2 hav ??downlights/oyster/pendants/fans/aircon so many decisions and so little time etc etc Re: Our Topaz in 2010 28Apr 08, 2010 8:49 am Oh yay 2Pais - so, so close now!!! We were given a plan to do a rough draft of where we want electrical points, fans, what type of lights etc, etc. I took a look at it yesterday to start figuring it all out – well it is a lot harder than I thought. I gave up after 5 minutes!! He, he, we are just going to sit down with my Dad (who is an electrician) to go over it all - should be much easier! We were also out at our lot over the weekend! DH had to slash our lot which had overgrown horrendously – so funny!! I had the hard job of going for a leisurely walk around the neighbourhood with our dog - it is so, so beautiful out there, very peaceful and quite. I can't wait to move!! Good luck with your electrical appt – hope it all goes well!!! Re: Our Topaz in 2010 29Apr 08, 2010 12:24 pm Hi 2pais - at least you've finally started, even if it is just an electricity point Did H@llmark make the electricity appointment for you or did you arrange it yourself? The first time we had any contact with the electrician was after our slab went down. [quote="n&n02"]We were given a plan to do a rough draft of where we want electrical points, fans, what type of lights etc, etc. I took a look at it yesterday to start figuring it all out – well it is a lot harder than I thought. I gave up after 5 minutes!! He, he, we are just going to sit down with my Dad (who is an electrician) to go over it all - should be much easier! /quote] I found the electrical stuff a lot harder than I thought it would be! Your lucky to have your dad help out...it should save you a lot too - ours came to just under $2k which probably isn't too bad Re: Our Topaz in 2010 30Apr 09, 2010 12:09 pm Hi Pebbles Hallmark is not involved with this matter as they subcontract all work and we were told to deal directly with the electrician and tiler etc. In one way this is good as there is no third party involved and we can speak directly to the experts. We got a call from the electric company along with a letter containing contact details of the person to make an appoitment with, clipsal brochures and costings to supply, wire and fit. That gave us some idea of what to expect. Our appointment went smoothly, we made all changes with red ink and are awaiting quotes from the electric company. The only thing is the electric company does not have lights display we can choose from so we have to visit some lighting shops this weekend and decide what sort of fittings we like and are within our budget. Cheers Re: Our Topaz in 2010 32Apr 14, 2010 9:28 pm Hi, I was sooooo happy to see your thread as we are looking at the topaz at the moment. Fantastic choice! Great design! Friends of ours have built with Hallmark and were very happy. I have also read lots of great reviews on them. We are looking at getting the deluxe inclusions. Did you find that the advertised price was accurate or were there lots of hidden costs? Do they get uptight about making small changes to plans? We are first home buyers and there is so much to consider! So Overwhelming! Really looking forward to seeing more pics! Re: Our Topaz in 2010 33Apr 16, 2010 10:21 pm Hi GoWest We too have gone with the deluxe inclusions as we felt the quality was slightly above the premier specifications and also we get additonal choices. When u say hidden costs i think its more or less the same with any builder. The main catch is in the way its priced. Only the basics are provided and u have to keep aside extra cash for water tank, electricals, tiling, carpets, blinds, fencing, airconditioning etc etc Estimate at least 25% of the base price as additional cost to make the house livable. It really depends on how much you are willing to spend. The only change to our house plan was the patio which was an easy fix. So far we are happy with thier service. Staff were friendly and answered all our queries. All the best Cheers Re: Our Topaz in 2010 35Apr 19, 2010 8:25 am That's great 2pais!! Hmmm, should you be expecting a slab this week then??? Also, a quick question for you, did you need any additonal site works on your block where you are??? We needed extra footings and piers down one side of our retaining wall . Re: Our Topaz in 2010 39Apr 26, 2010 11:43 pm WOW that's exciting news from both of you The race is on Photos...photos...photos...........please DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair That laser level looks lovely! 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