Browse Forums Building A New House Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 621Oct 14, 2011 9:44 pm Hi Sunshine.. It does sound like you have a bit to do before Xmas.. Hopefully it all comes together.. Interested to hear your thoughts on the second hand wreckers point.. Our house - which we are thinking of knocking over - isn't in bad condition (its just that a renovation will be too expensive!).. It would be such a shame to see all those bricks and roof tiles, floorboards etc to be simply throw away.. Not only from an environmental perspective, but surely they would be worth some $$.. do the demolishers effectively give you value for this salvage stuff??.. How can you go about getting something for these second hand resources? By the way, keen to also understand what you are doing on the smart wiring / ethernet access re your house.. Not sure what it all really means!!, but it certainly sounds hi-tec!! Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 622Oct 15, 2011 7:37 am gilbeys - thanks loftus - 2nd hand wreckers - yes, we are the same as you. Our house here is OK (except for what I am about to write below) - double brick, floor boards, architect designed in the 1950s etc. so we want to re-use as much as possible (for money and environment). We have been asking around and researching but we haven't found anyone yet. Two places we spoke to said they are chockers already and don't want any more stuff! I think with demolishers they don't pay you for the bits (but we are just about to start that process). As for bricks, they are pretty much impossible to recycle due to not being able to be removed without a lot of man hours. I think it all goes to fill... But we have lovely big wooden framed windows and some retro fittings etc (that I admit I am not keen on, but I know it is in the trend for some people) so wanting to flog them off somewhere... and save some carbon footprint. As for 'smart wiring' (see, I didn't even remember that phrase!), it's all DH. He has a computer background and is keen to do all that. He has been researching stuff on the web, and will buy the wiring and terminals via work (Zen to install). I have insisted no TVs or computers in bedrooms, but for the rest of house I think we are going to be wired up like a space ship - computers, TV, music, remote stuff.. will let you know when I know more! SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 623Oct 15, 2011 7:45 am well... we REALLY need to knock this house down soon. We are *just* hanging on - one element on the stove, broken roof tiles from when the tree branches fell, mould throughout and now ... busted toilet!!!! The toilet almost fell off the wall a few months ago, but DH did a temporary fix. Now it is blocked (and I am hoping it is not the tree roots again like a few years ago, which cost $300 to fix). Luckily we have an out door toilet next to the garage, which is a bit inconvenient for late night dashes. But I just don't want to spend any money on this house when we are about to knock it down... Toilets are pretty essential though, so I expect we will have to cough up something, but every cent we waste could be a nice light fitting or curtain for the new house Bring on the CC plans and the rest ASAP!!! SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 624Oct 15, 2011 7:53 am [quote="SunshineT"]Toilets are pretty essential though[quote] You think At least you have the outside toilet and summer is coming, I would want to have to spend money on something that's only coming down soon anyway either! Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 625Oct 15, 2011 8:24 am Hey T, me again. We too knocked down the house on the block that we bought last year & we wanted to give away as much of it as we can. There were verticals in it & kitchen wasn't that bad, so we advertised on Gumtree , because from memory it's free to advertise on there, & a fellow came around & took a few things for free, we thought it's best if someone can make use of something in the house rather than it all going to the tip. Also, there are house relocators out there who will remove the house for free even if it is brick, just google house removals, it may even save you demolishing costs? Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 626Oct 15, 2011 8:30 pm Hey T, Can you sell anything on ebay?? We removed a window in our old house, just an aluminium 180x120 and sold it for around $150. We also sold our old laminate kitchen for a couple of hundred, its amazing what people buy. With your list of things to do over the next 6 weeks, looks like you will be busy, hope you still have time to visit us on H1 Oh, I hope there are no spiders in the outside loo I would just SMS the boys, say you need your plans NOW, cause your toilet is broken, otherwise you will save up all your poos and do them when you go and visit them Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 627Oct 16, 2011 12:45 pm gogo65 Oh, I hope there are no spiders in the outside loo I would just SMS the boys, say you need your plans NOW, cause your toilet is broken, otherwise you will save up all your poos and do them when you go and visit them DH and DS are still laughing at this. Boys love this stuff As for eBay ... yeah, will think about it, just not sure I have the time / patience... SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 628Oct 16, 2011 12:47 pm springtime so we advertised on Gumtree , because from memory it's free to advertise on there, & a fellow came around & took a few things for free, we thought it's best if someone can make use of something in the house rather than it all going to the tip. Also, there are house relocators out there who will remove the house for free even if it is brick, just google house removals, it may even save you demolishing costs? Thanks springtime! After getting this message I did in fact go onto Gumtree and try google. Still researching, but just need to figure out what we have of value and whether I have the time. SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 629Oct 17, 2011 6:52 pm now we REALLY have to knock down this house. In some crazed moment of inspiration on the weekend I suggested to the kids (only aged 2 and 5) who were painting on paper that they might like to paint the back door. "We are knocking the house down anyway..." I said to DH. Then before I knew it the back door was painted in dripping washes of black, blue and red (yep, it even looked worse than it sounds). I had sort of forgotten that we still have to live in the house for some time to come. It truly looks terrible ... the novelty of using the outside toilet has also worn off, so we are paying a plumber tomorrow to do whatever it takes .... meanwhile, I had a mini panic yesterday reading other posts about demolition and turning off utilities. DH and I hadn't given it any thought and some of the threads I found were quite scary But luckily DH rang up water, phone and electricity companies today and doesn't sound quite so bad... SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 631Oct 18, 2011 5:59 am SunshineT Then before I knew it the back door was painted in dripping washes of black, blue and red (yep, it even looked worse than it sounds). Any chance of a photo? Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 632Oct 18, 2011 9:00 am brb_654 SunshineT Then before I knew it the back door was painted in dripping washes of black, blue and red (yep, it even looked worse than it sounds). Any chance of a photo? OK, I will do that! DS loves it - he is always asking to look at it, we open the door, and he says "yeah, cool, its baaadd! I love it!" and he does this little 5 yro dance in front of it. Quite a worry He also informed me this morning that he is going to paint the front door, in fact ALL the doors in the house! What have I started!?!??! oh, and the plumber came this morning, all fixed but $400 later I am just praying we don't need to sink any more money over the next 3 months... $400 can buy a nice ceiling fan! It did feel good going to the proper toilet though. can I say that?! SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 633Oct 18, 2011 9:04 am gogo65 Well T, now you have some real art, you have to keep the door, maybe you could use it as your front door, would be very unique well, at least we wouldn't have the merbau issue! SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 634Oct 18, 2011 9:06 am T, you crack me up Looks like you've got a budding artist on your hands, bring on the photos Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 636Oct 26, 2011 6:55 pm Steve You could try giving bits of you demolition house away on Freecycle, it is a great resource for recycling materials and it is free... Steve Thanks Steve. Yeah, I have heard about them, so will look into it. btw, we found a great guy to custom build our front door from Spotted Gum so we are very happy about that. More below. Thanks for all your tips. SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 637Oct 26, 2011 7:08 pm OK! So some small progress. And still a few more frustrations. FRONT DOOR - Getting our front door custom made from lovely (and environmentally friendly) Spotted Gum. 1000mm x 2340mm plus frame for only $1500. Order is in, requested delivery for mid January! Really nice guy in Toormina. And best of all, we don't need to face merbau each day when leaving and coming home! DEMO - Meeting a guy recommended by Zen on site this Friday. UTILITIES TURNED OFF for demo - Telstra coming out tomorrow to check out our line and what needs to happen. DH has spoken with electricity and water so we are getting an idea of what will happen. Need to factor in more time for that. RENTAL - Decided on where we want to live, just hope an apartment comes up when we want it. The agents wouldn't take down our names, so we have to just hope we get the timing right. OUTSTANDING - tick tock tick tock CC plans STILL not with us. Now this is getting REALLY frustrating. They keep saying next week, and that has been 5 weeks now. Also waiting on other tiny things like revised Inclusions List and pics of external balustrades, but they can come later. Asked about doing the soil survey now, but the test is done by boaring a hole from a ute, and needs to be where the new house will be. As we are still in the existing one, we need to wait till after demolition. So yet more time to stack on. Maybe the 6 months rental we had hoped for will be more like 9 months Also wondering when to ask for the HIA contract. They said after CC, but CC is just dragging on forever and we want to sign everything before mid Dec so ready to go with demolition 9 Jan... SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 638Oct 26, 2011 7:20 pm SunshineT OK! So some small progress. And still a few more frustrations. FRONT DOOR - Getting our front door custom made from lovely (and environmentally friendly) Spotted Gum. 1000mm x 2340mm plus frame for only $1500. Order is in, requested delivery for mid January! Really nice guy in Toormina. And best of all, we don't need to face merbau each day when leaving and coming home! DEMO - Meeting a guy recommended by Zen on site this Friday. UTILITIES TURNED OFF for demo - Telstra coming out tomorrow to check out our line and what needs to happen. DH has spoken with electricity and water so we are getting an idea of what will happen. Need to factor in more time for that. RENTAL - Decided on where we want to live, just hope an apartment comes up when we want it. The agents wouldn't take down our names, so we have to just hope we get the timing right. OUTSTANDING - tick tock tick tock CC plans STILL not with us. Now this is getting REALLY frustrating. They keep saying next week, and that has been 5 weeks now. Also waiting on other tiny things like revised Inclusions List and pics of external balustrades, but they can come later. Asked about doing the soil survey now, but the test is done by boaring a hole from a ute, and needs to be where the new house will be. As we are still in the existing one, we need to wait till after demolition. So yet more time to stack on. Maybe the 6 months rental we had hoped for will be more like 9 months Also wondering when to ask for the HIA contract. They said after CC, but CC is just dragging on forever and we want to sign everything before mid Dec so ready to go with demolition 9 Jan... Good progress on all sides except....silly damn plans, now really 5 weeks to draw plans, ours took about 2-3. You need to be firm and say you need them by Friday, so that they can be reviewed and you will come out on Saturday to go through any changes/amendments. Dont let them keep dragging and let them know you are not impressed with the delays. Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 639Oct 26, 2011 7:53 pm T, Gogo, Just heard from my friend who's with Zen too that Andrew got accident on the weekend & his car got right off. But I think he's ok. Re: SunshineT's Build: just signed our life away!!!!!!!!! 640Oct 27, 2011 5:34 am gogo65 SunshineT Good progress on all sides except....silly damn plans, now really 5 weeks to draw plans, ours took about 2-3. You need to be firm and say you need them by Friday, so that they can be reviewed and you will come out on Saturday to go through any changes/amendments. Dont let them keep dragging and let them know you are not impressed with the delays. Hey gogo! But your plans were only DA plans, right? Not CC plans? CC plans as you know are far more detailed with exact measurements etc. But still, that is NO excuse to take 5 weeks... I am going to call our Council this morning, to get a list of exactly what needs to go to them then contact Zen and try to get moving on at least other stuff. Maybe I will ring up the draftsman too? We received an email from him with an excuse about needing to get the CC plans identical to DA plans etc. Rubbish as we gave them the CAD plans for DA prepared by the planning company (which were more detailed than the usual DA plans...). I am not feeling much Zen peace at the moment. SunshineT's Build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=34585 Designs start: 4/12/09 DA: 5/7/11 Demo: 22/12/11 Slab: 24/2/12 Keys: 31/8/12 Fig Landscapes has produced an e-book and native plant index, available for purchase from their website. It's a great resource, full of inspiration and tips. Another… 1 12455 Our Bondi Greenwall was impressive from day one with advanced lush plants to provide a wow factor to this recently renovated living area. The boundary was less than 1… 0 17605 |