Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 14, 2010 4:34 pm Hi All I thought I would start a new thread for people starting to build their new homes that can add advice or ask questions of people in the same boat.. We are building the Harvard with DFH it has been a long hall for us due to needing to get planning permit with our local council before beggining.. We also had a few problems along the way with our contract and getting it all sorted out and last but certainly not least we have had to have a bushfire abaitment done and it came back as a BAL 40 which is very high and means a big change to our home and our pocket.. Soon to start now just finalizing our kitchen then should only take around 3 weeks to begin I will post some pics to show all along the way Please add your coments and your own projects its a great forum for first time builders This is the block before we started heavily treed but only taken out around 10% of trees on our whole 6 acres Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ all cleared ready for the site cut we didnt realise the fall of the land until it was cleared Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ we got a contractor in to do our own cut and fill to try saving money had to import 30 truck loads of clean fill at this point I would like to suggest if you need to do the same make sure you get compaction tests it will save you in the long run. ( we didnt do this but found out later it would have been benificial) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ All flat and ready to build on Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ we had to put a retaining wall in as you will see before doing this we got the driveway cut down almost a metre to save on having to get an engineered design it saved us a fortune total wall (almost 50mtrs long) doing it ourselves cost around $5500 .. if your interested to know how just ask i will let you know where we got all our supplies and how we did it to save money.. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Thats it for now please coment or add your project for others to see it does help people to see what others are going thru and doing I will post more as things progress Tammy viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 we have a bath and shower yay 2Mar 16, 2010 4:13 pm Yay DFH phoned today and we should be only about 3weeks away from starting woo hoo its been a long hall for us we are just so excited now .. Below is the Plan of our house it was our favourite right from the begining http://i937.photobucket.com/albums/ad212/sootymay12/SDC11512.jpg please post your house plans too viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 3Mar 16, 2010 6:32 pm Hi Sootymay, We are also going to build with DFH, but wont be till later as our land isn't titled yet and we have only recently paid our initial deposit. We will build the Charlton 291. We wanted a study at the front so will change the living room to a study. Good luck with your build and we will follow with keen interest. Your floor plan looks good with plenty of room. A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands. Melbourne West Our build viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34169 Landscaping viewtopic.php?f=19&t=51147 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 4Mar 16, 2010 10:12 pm Hi Kaytee We really cant wait now it has been a long haul for us we put our deposit down in 2008 August we had trouble with planning and have had a little trouble with dfh only with changes we made (nothing to worry about) on the whole they are pretty good but just a hint double no tripple check everything in your variations and costs as they do make the odd mistake as I guess every builder would along the way.. The colour girl was fantastic but we had visited most of the places and chosen our colours before we went lol although im going to phone up tomorrow and change a couple of things.. I decided to have a stone benchtop when they were charging an outrages price for the folded benchtop, if there is anything you want to know please ask i would be pleased to help out. Please keep us up to date with your project good luck with it all it will be worth it in the end Tammy viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Dennis family homes our slab more photos :) 5Mar 22, 2010 3:08 pm Yay our water tanks arrived today and Hubby has finished the form work ready for our concrete to arrive on Wednesday .... we are not on town water solely on tank water so I hope we dont run out hubbies form work Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ here comes the truck Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ the truck on site Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ almost there Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ on pallets waiting for their slab Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ hopefully we will have our benchtop quote today then we will be on our way woo hoo viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 6Apr 11, 2010 9:55 pm well on Wednesday we got our commencment letter so our new home will be finished by the 6th of November this year, it has been one hell of a slog with lots of different things going wrong right up to the other day we received our building permit and the kitchen plans were not the ones we signed and there was ceasarstone tops on the island bench but laminex on the back bench???? who does that hmmm well im not sure im totaly confident now but we have been charged $7300 for the stone benchtops so im guessing that we will get the whole kitchen done.. but have phoned the office and asked for written confirmation that this is going to happen.. will keep you all posted viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 7Apr 12, 2010 7:28 am Excellent news. Gosh the CS benchtops are expensive. Ours are included but we will upgrade the island bench and have thicker edges. We are having 2 different colour benches. One black the other white. Those tanks sure are huge. Just hope it rains when you need to fill them. I was thinking your finish time is so far off and then realised it is just over 6 months so not so bad. We haven't started yet. Still waiting on title etc. Keep us posted. A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands. Melbourne West Our build viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34169 Landscaping viewtopic.php?f=19&t=51147 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 8Apr 12, 2010 5:21 pm Hi Kaytee yes we are very excited about starting I think the waiting is the hardest part knowing that your almost there but have to wait for calls and that I am so impatient.. We chose an aspirations house and added all the extras that the generations had I love the stone but didnt realise how expensive it was but when you have added it it is so hard to say no in the end so now i have it heheh.. The tanks are 15,000 ltrs each and we got one load of water delivered so they have water on site when they need it, with the roof size of the house we should get enought water that we dont have to buy again fingers crossed lol .. I think the colours were the hardest thing to choose for me I change my mind and dont trust myself much, I like the different coloured benches like you will be having have you chosen the colour of your benchtops yet? we are having the nimbus which is a shaded white with specs of browns thru it and choc brown cupboards I hope it looks ok " How far off do you think you will be? soots viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 9Apr 12, 2010 6:35 pm Hi Soots, I like your CS colour. We were going to have Nougat but changed to Organic White for the island bar and Jet Black on the back bench. Hubby wanted a black bench and I wanted a white. So compromise it was. All cupboards are going to be a white. Splashback will probably be a teal blue. We have chosen most of our colours so far. Just the tiles for the bathroom/ensuite need to be done. I believe we don't get title now till May but DFH aren't ready yet anyway so we are fine with the delay. Our 3000lt tank here would be like a mini-me beside your 2 tanks. Kay A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands. Melbourne West Our build viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34169 Landscaping viewtopic.php?f=19&t=51147 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 10Apr 13, 2010 5:54 pm Hi Kaytee your kitchen sounds amasing, we chose all our colours and tiles and things before the colour appointment but when i changed the benchtops to CS i had to alter a few colours but that was ok it wasnt a problem and i didnt get charged the $500 fee for changes so that was ok. The colour girl we had was fantastic she advises if she thinks things will be a little odd but leaves you to make the decision in the end although we went with most of what she advised. May is not that far away now you must be getting excited.. excuse my ignorance but where is williams landing? Are you having your tank for grey water or gardening does the estate require you to have a tank or are you just having one to save water. I find that the tank water is a lot softer than mains water it is very nice to drink it dosnt have the clorinated taste to it... We are paitiently waiting for our SS to call to get it all started heheh I have crossed a week off our time now Soots viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 11Apr 13, 2010 9:15 pm Hi Soots, We have a tank at this house but not sure when we will get one for the new house. We will wait till we are in to see where we want to put it. Are you in Melbourne? Williams Landing is on the old RAF base at Laverton. 20k's from the city. It should be a thriving community when the area is all developed. This will be our 4th house we have had built, so the excitement is not as high as a 1st house would be. But will be good to follow it through and maybe this time not to be in such a hurry to move in and letting the builders get away with a few things. We had sold our previous house too soon and had to move into temp accommodation. Not this time though. We will sell closer to the house being ready or after. Kay A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands. Melbourne West Our build viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34169 Landscaping viewtopic.php?f=19&t=51147 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 12Apr 14, 2010 11:51 pm Hi Kaytee My Husband works at Laverton so would have probably known where it was heheh but I didnt ask, we are in Woodend its about 60 ks from Melbourne around 20mins from Sunbury its a lovely town we love it and hubby dosnt mind the comute to Laverton he works 4 days on and 4 days off so its not to bad.. Wow four houses you must be getting everything down pat now with colours and things and what you want in the house and what you dont need, We are just about ready to go to site and im already thinking of things that I probably should have added but its too late now.. After the bits and peices of trouble we have had I said I would never do it again but I think I probably would I actually think its adictive heheh Do you mind moving? Soots viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 13Apr 19, 2010 5:01 pm Yay we have just received a call from the SS to say he is coming up Thursday morning for our appointment well I guess we are on the move now viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 14Apr 20, 2010 7:31 am Hi Soots, This is good news. Hope all goes smoothly for you. Kay A balanced diet is chocolate in both hands. Melbourne West Our build viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34169 Landscaping viewtopic.php?f=19&t=51147 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 15Apr 20, 2010 11:07 pm Thanks Kaytee we cant wait until Thursday then we should know approx when we will be starting woo hoo Have you heard anymore yet? I hope you dont have to wait to long.. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 16Apr 22, 2010 12:31 pm Our S/S just left woo hoo he was great explained everything that will happen along the way and made some changes that I had asked the S/C to do (and he had said he couldnt) I am glad the office buisness is finished and we are on our way ( we havnt got a date yet as the slab supervisor is away until next week ) but we were told that after lockup it will only be around 12 to 14 weeks woo hoo viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 17Apr 22, 2010 12:44 pm Good luck with it all sootymay-like Kaytee we are also on our 4th build! We will be on an acre just outside of Warrnambool and will also be on tank water and septic-check out my thread and blog if you like! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 18Apr 22, 2010 1:25 pm Hi Deemarree wow I dont know how you two do it 4th build this is our first and i think it has already added a head of grey hair and 20 kg of comfort eating heheh I guess that after the first few you know exactly what to add and what to do so you would be heaps more prepared, there are a few things that i have not put in and a few things i would do differently but hopefully I wont be too disapointed in the end .. keep us all up to date i just love looking at peoples houses going up this is a great forum for information How far away from building are you Soots viewtopic.php?f=31&t=31037 harvard 27 DFH signed contract 16th March 2010 slab down 1st June 2010 frame started 8th June 2010 trusses and frame finished 24th June 2010 tiles almost done 14th July 2010 Bricks started 14th July 2010 Plaster started 28th July 2010 Paint 25th August 2010 Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 19Apr 22, 2010 2:10 pm Hi sootymay12, I'd love to hear more about your issues with planning. Did it have anything to do with native vegetation? We have 0.5 hectares in Macedon and we are currently going through the planning process ..... I wonder if we'll ever get a planning permit? How long did yours take? Building on an acre in Macedon ......one day. Re: BUILDING THE HARVARD 27 WITH DFH SHARING OUR EXPERIENCE' 20Apr 22, 2010 10:01 pm sootymay12 Hi Deemarree wow I dont know how you two do it 4th build this is our first and i think it has already added a head of grey hair and 20 kg of comfort eating heheh I guess that after the first few you know exactly what to add and what to do so you would be heaps more prepared, there are a few things that i have not put in and a few things i would do differently but hopefully I wont be too disapointed in the end .. keep us all up to date i just love looking at peoples houses going up this is a great forum for information How far away from building are you Soots I am meeting with our builder tomorrow morning (Friday 23/4) for our site meeting-we should be less than 2 weeks away from commencment-we've just been waiting on the septic permit which has to go through the local council. Then our builder uses a private surveyor for the building permit-all go then! Deemaree Kyndylan Capers: viewtopic.php?f=36&t=46852 My blog: http://www.sufficientlysufficient.blogspot.com/ Regardless of wall hung toilet or floor pan toilet your feet will be right on drain, seems to me the waste should not be in that location given the design. Also are you… 6 7041 Hi everyone, Newbie renovator here, after some advice for combining our family room in the picture and the alfresco and make a larger family room. There is a flush sill… 0 4890 A question. Im in Queensland and building a new home. We managed to reach practical completion 6 weeks ago but we haven't heard any date for handover yet. Who should we… 0 5806 |