Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 29, 2010 8:24 pm Due to popular demand (ok some mild interest from orangepool) I have decided to start a thread to document the build of my first house on an odd shaped, tiny block in western Adelaide.
The Little House http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af253/stegosaurus_album/House%20Plans%20March%202010/FrontElevation.jpg http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af253/stegosaurus_album/House%20Plans%20March%202010/FloorPlan-1.jpg Re: The Little House 3Mar 29, 2010 8:55 pm Thanks Lee!
My block is in a Historic Conservation Zone which influenced the facade a lot! The house next door has 14ft ceilings so mine will still look like a dwarf but I couldn't afford to go any higher. I'm building with x - yes its a custom design. I downloaded some 'free trial' floor plan software and made up the floor plan, took it to a couple of builders and asked if they could build it. x said they could - made a couple of really good suggestions and away we went. Its odd to reflect on how little time I spent on the floor plan now - compared to how much time I've spent looking at floors! Did you check out Baltic Pine? Who are you building with? Do you have a thread? Re: The Little House 4Mar 29, 2010 9:00 pm Awww... that's such a cute design! I love the façade, and you've done a great job of giving a small house some BIG street appeal. Best of luck with your build. Re: The Little House 5Mar 29, 2010 9:14 pm Thank you Initially I wished my block was narrower and deeper (its only 15m deep!) but now I appreciate having a big facade - so its not garage-dominated and I realise that I'll have a lot more natural light this way. I will have to get around to putting up my interior selections... Re: The Little House 6Mar 29, 2010 9:19 pm Ahh Marshall Thompson make beautiful homes, I can't wait to see your build progress. I have saved the company at port adelaide in my favourites for when the time comes for us to decide on floors. It is a bit too early for us at the moment, I don't want to get all excited picking out the fun stuff when everything seems to be taking so long. We are building a custom design with h0mestead. They have been great up til the last couple of months, I guess they are busy but it is now more than 3 weeks of waiting for some amendments to the drawings. Paid our deposit in January. I guess my frustration is when we finally get the amended drawings there is a chance we will have to make more amendments and we could be potentially up for another month or so wait and then by the time it goes to council etc etc.. I get it that these things can't happen overnight, but what is reasonable? I really don't know. I don't have a thread yet because to be honest there would not be too much to write at the moment. "still waiting"..... yep not very interesting! So maybe when it is approved by council - a looooooong time in the future obviously. (I know there are people who have waited years for their houses so I know I cant complain - YET!) I will be watching your thread with anticipation - good luck and hope its as stress free as possible!!! Re: The Little House 7Mar 29, 2010 9:21 pm Well on the plus side you wont have to worry about mowing much of a lawn and trust me, a little house on a big block gets very tiring Quote: I will have to get around to putting up my interior selections... Yes you will! Because we all go a little bit mad about what's on the inside on this site Re: The Little House 8Mar 30, 2010 7:28 am I looked at your front elevation and thought Little house?? It looked pretty big to me..... Then I checked out the floor plan and realised that it doesn't have much depth. It's going to look fantastic - 3m ceilings, wow! Re: The Little House 9Mar 30, 2010 8:07 am Lee75 Ahh Marshall Thompson make beautiful homes, I can't wait to see your build progress. I have saved the company at port adelaide in my favourites for when the time comes for us to decide on floors. It is a bit too early for us at the moment, I don't want to get all excited picking out the fun stuff when everything seems to be taking so long. We are building a custom design with h0mestead. They have been great up til the last couple of months, I guess they are busy but it is now more than 3 weeks of waiting for some amendments to the drawings. Paid our deposit in January. I guess my frustration is when we finally get the amended drawings there is a chance we will have to make more amendments and we could be potentially up for another month or so wait and then by the time it goes to council etc etc.. I get it that these things can't happen overnight, but what is reasonable? I really don't know. I don't have a thread yet because to be honest there would not be too much to write at the moment. "still waiting"..... yep not very interesting! So maybe when it is approved by council - a looooooong time in the future obviously. (I know there are people who have waited years for their houses so I know I cant complain - YET!) I will be watching your thread with anticipation - good luck and hope its as stress free as possible!!! I so know that feeling. We've been having ammendments made to our pre-lim plans for months. I finally put my foot down with the builder and asked them to get things moving along. We were hoping to have everything lodged for council approval by now, especially considering we've had ownership of the block for over 2 months and been designing this place for close to 6 months. Steg, I think your little house is going to be gorgeous! Possumchops Now the proud owner of 3.7acres of Serenity. Colour selection completed! Soon to go to council. Re: The Little House 10Mar 30, 2010 2:07 pm I like it ( especially with the high ceilings ) and it is way bigger than a apartment I have. Best of Luck with the build. 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: The Little House 11Mar 30, 2010 2:55 pm Thanks guys - I'm glad you like the ceilings. They weren't that much extra really (I've convinced myself) but I think they will make it quite a different house compared to standard ceilings. Kek its all front, no substance. Lee/possumchops - I don't know what 'normal' wait times are when building. I think I might have been lucky because it seems like I haven't spent all that long in pre-construction compared to other people. I haven't come across anyone else on this site building with MT so I don't know whether they are generally quick or its just worked out that way on my house. I hope things speed up for you both. Re: The Little House 12Mar 30, 2010 7:51 pm AR!!!That's sooooooooooooooooo awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!the ceiling is really high...i guess i must ask the historic person again!!coz the receptionist told me we didn't need varandas and high ceilings...............WTH....................@@ 3rd property but 1st home March 19,2010 signed contract Re: The Little House 13Mar 30, 2010 8:29 pm Aww... Steg, It's a gorgeous little house. It's very imaginative and your right and wrong, more front but lots of substance. A bit like my little Maltese Muffy. Remember, small things come in large packages Handover February 2011 Happy with our home Re: The Little House 14Mar 31, 2010 7:44 am robinred55 Aww... Steg, It's a gorgeous little house. It's very imaginative and your right and wrong, more front but lots of substance. A bit like my little Maltese Muffy. Remember, small things come in large packages Thanks Robinred How are you going with Rossdale? Did you have to cut out a lot of the things you wanted? Re: The Little House 15Mar 31, 2010 7:47 am Thanks orangepool If you haven't already - read development guide 18 - should give you a better idea of what Council is looking for in the zone. http://www.charlessturt.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=456 Which Hicks design do you think will fit your block? Re: The Little House 16Mar 31, 2010 2:41 pm Hi Steg, We're doing ok with Rossdale. We cut out the alfresco area, paving, semi-frameless showers (and just about everything else I loved) but I think we'll end up with a decent house. Thanks for asking thought. Handover February 2011 Happy with our home Re: The Little House 17Mar 31, 2010 3:21 pm Hi Robin Ahh the disappointments of variation costs...I think everyone has been there. I had to completely change my kitchen selections yesterday - back to laminate for me! I reckon you will probably be able to get the paving done a lot cheaper after handover compared to paying builders margins. I spent too much on my selections and can now no longer afford paving at all - gravel it is! Re: The Little House 18Mar 31, 2010 5:07 pm I can identify Steg, It's hard to balance the budget and decide what and where to spend the money. We were quoted over $7,000 for paving so we'll get it done afterwards. Laminate for the kitchen was only the ever option I could afford. I do sometimes get envious with those on this forum who are having the gloss cupboards, ceasarstone benches, glass splashbacks. Those were never on the cards. I think SA builders are very parochial in their inclusions. Some of these things are standard in builders from the other states. I guess it's important to feel happy with the end product and I figure our house will still be nice. Blessings to you Handover February 2011 Happy with our home Re: The Little House 19Mar 31, 2010 5:13 pm Great work on the design. Superb layout, with your block challenges. Well done Re: The Little House 20Apr 01, 2010 7:41 am fairy blue Great work on the design. Superb layout, with your block challenges. Well done Thanks Megan I just had a look at your thread - your house is stunning! I see you had your own block challenges... Seems like your build was very quick if you started in March and moved in September. How long did it take after handover before you moved in? I was thinking it would take a while to do things that are not included in my contract - like floors, stormwater, blinds, etc - were these things done by your builder? 8 6246 You’re on the right track, wire brush in a grinder then a zinc rich epoxy primer then a top coat of some sort, like a waterproofing membrane. Raising the concrete would… 1 7166 How good is Simeon?! Always taking time to help others out! Wish we were building in NSW and could work together. Thanks for all that you do! 7 6649 |