Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 13, 2010 10:25 pm Hi all, Been browsing for a while and found a lot of very interesting topics about the highs and lows of new home building. So here we are officially to add our experience of the process so far on building our final home in Hervey Bay QLD. We are a "mature" couple with married children and grandkids in Hervey Bay so this will be our last house building process. Whilst going through the initial process of finding an existing house to buy we came across a great block (our opinion) of land in Summit Ridge Estate. The block is 756sq/mtr and around 60mtr above sea level with views across Hervey Bay to The Coral Sea (5 Km) and Fraser Island. It is a corner block with a North Easterly aspect and gently sloping facing the views. We settled on the Land on 1st July 2010 and since then have had fun and games trying to find a suitable house plan that fits the block with the street access on the main road side but having out door area and (alfresco) on the end and able to take in the views etc. Here are a few photos of the block and views. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ After many visits to Show homes and bags full of brochures of potential plans that would give us the features we wanted, we finally decided we would have to modify a plan to suit our needs and budget. We found that the SC at Coral Homes was interested, very helpful with advise in trying to solve our dilemma and put up with our constant questions and changes to plans, to end up with our final house plan. I am sure he dreds my phone calls by now!!! The plan is based on their Portsea 256 with heavy modifications to put the entrance and garage facing the main street and again modify the Family room and Patio/Alfresco area to suit the block and views. The home will eventually have a small private courtyard outside the main bedroom and we included a sliding door in the bedroom to access this. We have put double sliding cavity doors to the study that could also be used for a formal dining room if required. The lounge /dining area will be carpeted with a tiled perimeter from the entrance and across in front of the study into the Kitchen /Family room. We have also added another Sliding door to Bed 4 so it can be used as an indoor/outdoor room with a bar!!! The garage has been made wider and deeper and we are having 2 garage doors so we only have to open a single door as required and have enough room between cars to get in and out comfortably. Here are the plans of the house and elevations. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ You will see there will only be a relatively small garden area (which suits us in our twilight years) and we will be putting in a Murraya Hedge along both road boundaries and keep them trimmed down to about 1200mm to 1400mm high eventually for privacy, but still see over the top. As of today the plans have been sent to the Private Certifier for Council approval so that will probably take at least 6 weeks, so I do not think we will have a slab down before the Christmas break (dam) but as long as approval is given before Christmas, Coral should be able to start soon after the break and from there we hope to be in by Easter!!! (anyone want to buy a good quality 28sq 4 bedder/Cathedral ceilings/ double garage in Penrith district NSW???) We are now going through the task of picking finishes for inside and outside, never thought it would be so hard, its easy buying an established home, what you see is what you get, you either like it or leave, it but with a new home there are so many options to decide on, it is quite stress full, we have changed just about every area 2 or three times and still going. Till the next time. Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 2Oct 29, 2010 9:59 pm Just a quick update. Plans are already back from the private certifiers and council for plumbing and other approvals. We have finishes appointment next week. All outstanding forms and sign off should be finished by the end of next week. Coral advise we should have a start date within a few days of all details completed and then a start date within 20 working days. We have already spoken to Building/Site supervisor and he advises he is expecting to have the slab down, frames up and roof on by the break for Christmas as long as we can have the retaining wall on the fill side done within a couple of weeks so we need to arrange these very soon. Things seam to be moving on quickly so we are very happy at the moment We will keep updating. Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 3Oct 29, 2010 10:19 pm Welcome to H1 ... we're nearly neighbours ... well you're closer to my location than any other members I've seen I'm in the tender process at the moment to build with Coral as well, but up at Innes Park (Bundy). Your plans look great! Look forward to watching your progress. ~ trying to build our dream home by the sea ~ Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 4Oct 30, 2010 5:36 pm Hi Rary, We have been following your posts on H1. You certainly have had a few problems in the early stages with having to change builders and then finding a suitable HSTP but it all looks as though it is heading in the right direction now. Are you still waiting for final tender? It all happens quickly after you sign off on the Tender and at the moment around Hervey Bay and possibly up to Bundy where you are it seems as though homes are being built without much delay. We will be in Hervey Bay next week to meet the Builder/supervisor and he says he has been building for Coral around there for over 15 years and normally has up to 16 homes under construction at any one time but at the moment has around 9 at various stages of construction so hence he is saying he is hopeful of having the roof on before Christmas close down. (nice Christmas present) We will miss being able to call around each day during construction, with us still here in Penrith NSW, but our daughter and son in law live in HB so they will be our eyes and camera operators. Till next time Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 5Oct 30, 2010 7:56 pm JohnMar Hi Rary, We have been following your posts on H1. You certainly have had a few problems in the early stages with having to change builders and then finding a suitable HSTP but it all looks as though it is heading in the right direction now. Are you still waiting for final tender? It all happens quickly after you sign off on the Tender and at the moment around Hervey Bay and possibly up to Bundy where you are it seems as though homes are being built without much delay. We will be in Hervey Bay next week to meet the Builder/supervisor and he says he has been building for Coral around there for over 15 years and normally has up to 16 homes under construction at any one time but at the moment has around 9 at various stages of construction so hence he is saying he is hopeful of having the roof on before Christmas close down. (nice Christmas present) We will miss being able to call around each day during construction, with us still here in Penrith NSW, but our daughter and son in law live in HB so they will be our eyes and camera operators. Till next time A roof would be a fantastic Christmas present! You should check out ~Nic~ build .. her Coral home in Newcastle flew up - it was great to follow. We're still waiting for the final tender ... we paid our deposit ages ago, but put it all on hold until I found a HSTP system that suited, otherwise we were actually going to put the block back on the market and start again. Enjoy your trip to HB next week ... the weather is perfect up here at the moment, a little windy, but nice and warm and no hint of rain. Great timing for a visit. ~ trying to build our dream home by the sea ~ Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 6Oct 30, 2010 8:30 pm Quote: You should check out ~Nic~ build .. her Coral home in Newcastle flew up - it was great to follow. I was just about to say the same thing myself! Hi JohnMar! We have just moved into our Coral home (and love it!) - our build was amazingly quick - we moved in exactly 11 weeks after the slab was poured... our slab was poured on the Wednesday and more than half the frame was up by that weekend. We found everyone at Coral to be really helpful and I honestly can't fault them - I hope you are happy with them too. The link to my thread is below, so feel free to have a look. Good luck!! Nic. Built the Coral Homes Hamilton 252 - moved in 20/10/2010 and loving it!! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=27215 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 7Oct 30, 2010 8:42 pm ~Nic~ I was just about to say the same thing myself! See us Nic's think alike I'm hoping the tradies up here are as efficient as yours ... I'd love to be in that quick, actually I'll give them another week for wet weather. ~ trying to build our dream home by the sea ~ Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 8Oct 31, 2010 5:52 pm Hi Nic and Nic!!! I have been following both of your build postings and I can see how frustrating Nic's build in Newcastle area must have been with land registration and Council approvals, and Nic from Bundy with the frustrations of building costs, changing builders, and then finding a suitable HSTP. We new when we bought our land that the land was already registered and fully serviced and ready to build on, otherwise I think we would have looked elsewhere if it looked like we could have problems with approvals (time wise) and HSTP (suitable system). Your new home in Newcastle Nic looks fantastic, your colour schemes are very similar to our selections also although Coral (possibly only in QLD) now use Austral for there brick supplier and as such there is the Pavilion range that we can only look at in QLD to decide if we like this range or not, if not we will probably go for the URBAN range in either Macadamia or Latte. Decisions decisions We have our existing home to sell so we are madly packing boxes and tidying up the garden and a bit of painting before putting it on the market. We have had several RE market opinions on it's value and we believe as long as we are conservative with the asking price, rather than holding out for top dollar which might only be a few thousand more than we can get for a quick sale, it should sell quickly when needed. As Newcastle Nic has said, in hinesight she would have taken out a separate loan for all the separate trades needed to complete the home ready for moving in. This is a good idea, because as Nic has found out, she could have finished a few trades earlier if she had had access to the additional funds. We have taken a construction loan where the Bank pays the progress payments direct to the builder to complete the house, and a separate "Incidentials" loan based on interest only and at Home loan rates just for the other trades like Retaining walls, Fencing, Concreting for driveway/Alfresco and paths, Carpet/tiles , Landscaping etc. This loan is has been set up so it can keep going for a few years if needed so we can draw on it as required for other major items we may need like Air conditioning (for next summer) or a shed/workshop. We are fortunate (or unfortunate) being an older couple, where we have equity in our existing home to cover the costs of the loans involved after we sell up here. I remember well our earlier home loans where it was always a struggle making the correct decision on how to finance the loan(s) and meeting payments a priority. We moved into our first home with no carpets on the concrete, no driveway, borrowed furniture including a Black and White small TV, and dining table and chairs. It took us some time to get that first home suitable to invite anyone around for a house warming. I do not know if the system of approvals in QLD is different from NSW, but ours has gone through the private certifier and council for plumbing approval and set back permit, in less than 4 weeks, and we have already been told by Coral as soon as we complete the finishes schedule (this week) we will have a start date and the builder is ready to start!! So hopefully a quick build time is on the cards Maybe it is a slow down in the building industry in QLD but it seems as though the private certifier takes full responsibility for the approvals and it is just a rubber stamping process through council. From what I can read in all the approval forms we now have, they also do all the progress stage inspections and approvals during the building process before the bank does it's own inspections for progress claims. Catch up again soon. Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 9Oct 31, 2010 8:22 pm JohnMar We have taken a construction loan where the Bank pays the progress payments direct to the builder to complete the house, and a separate "Incidentials" loan based on interest only and at Home loan rates just for the other trades like Retaining walls, Fencing, Concreting for driveway/Alfresco and paths, Carpet/tiles , Landscaping etc. This loan is has been set up so it can keep going for a few years if needed so we can draw on it as required for other major items we may need like Air conditioning (for next summer) or a shed/workshop. That is a great idea about the loans. Didn't even think of splitting it that way, have to talk to the broker about that before we finalise everything. I hope the private certifiers up here are as efficient as yours! A lot more efficient than submitting direct to council for approvals. My parents built within the same council as you 18 months ago and council approvals took forever and then there were issues with final approvals on their shed. Drove Dad up the wall ... especially as they bought the land it was before all the amalgamation of the councils and they were in the less fussy Maryborough Council region. ~ trying to build our dream home by the sea ~ Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 10Nov 24, 2010 10:30 pm We are starting to move along now. Arranged to have a company build our block type retaining wall(s) and will be starting next week. Coral have given us a start day of 7th December. Site supervisor/builder has advised he should be able to have the site cut, underground plumbing, formwork and then slab poured before the break for Christmas and then full steam ahead straight after Christmas. Finally getting a little excited!!!! Let you know of further progress as it happens. Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 12Nov 29, 2010 9:07 pm Here we go, Surveyors marked position of slab today with white and red stakes, so excavation for the footings for the retaining wall on fill side can be positioned correctly. Water meter has been installed. Weather permitting, trench for the retaining wall footings should happen tomorrow (hope they do not find too much rock!!!) and footings formed up ready for concrete. Weather forecast for later in week not too good (hope they are wrong) but could be some delay in concreting the footings and then building the wall. First photos. Lower end of block where fill side retaining wall has to go. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Top of block and water meter Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 13Nov 29, 2010 11:15 pm Hi JohnMar...you are going to have lovely views. Hopw all goes well with your build. We will be building in Maryborough next year. Also dreading all the decisions. It was fine when we built 12 years ago but now having kids I just don't know how we are going to find the time to make the right decisions. Good luck with everything. Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 14Nov 29, 2010 11:32 pm Yay. How exciting!! Looking forward to seeing your progress. Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 15Nov 30, 2010 8:09 pm Hi chook07, The reason we decided to build a new home was because we fell in love with the outlook from this block. After trying to find an existing home that ticked most of the boxes we came across this area and this block so the decision to build a new home was made the same day. Hopefully the trials and tribulations of the building process won't dampen our thoughts about the outlook. Heard from the builder of the retaining wall that the excavator broke a diff as it was reversed off the truck at the site today, so first set back, no work today hopefully back on schedule tomorrow (weather permitting!!!) Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 16Dec 02, 2010 8:20 pm Amazing what can be done when your not looking. 6.20am this morning and I thought this is good they have managed to get the footings in for the fill side retaining wall Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ and by 5.30 pm this afternoon we have a WALL Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ the agg pipe will go in just before levelling the slab area and back filling which is scheduled to start next Wednesday. Hopefully more photos then. Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 17Dec 11, 2010 11:18 pm Further update. Cut and fill on the site was done 6th December 2010 Agg pipe and gravel installed before filling. This end will eventually be connected to a storm water drain pipe to the street. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This end of the Agg pipe will be pulled back and be placed behind the rear retaining wall when it is finished. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Looks like a bit of serious landscaping will be needed for the fill end of the site, or find a mountain goat to keep the lawn down eventually!!! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is the cut area where the rear long boundary retaining wall has to be installed. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is the front retaining wall ans side boundary. We had 50mm x 50mm Galvanised posts installed in the wall before it was filled with concrete for future side fence. We will do the same in the rear side boundary retaining wall to continue the fence to the back corner of the block. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is a view from the block behind ours> Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ This is standing on the block, looking across the front retaining wall corner. That is Fraser Island in the distance and a rain squall happening between it and us. You can just see the top of Peppers Resort (white roof line nearly centre of photo on water line) which is on the Esplanade and the highest building in Hervey Bay (at the moment). This is about 6km from our block. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We are having the rear side boundary retaining wall installed next week (weather permitting). The builders have indicated they will have the formwork done for the slab and plan to pour on 22nd December 2010 (again weather permitting) and if this all goes to plan they will start framing early in the new year. Let you know of any changes. Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Re: Building Modified Coral Portsea in Hervey Bay 20Dec 14, 2010 8:18 pm Hi chook07 and Nic Thanks for your comments, always nice to see someone following our progress. It had to happen, RAIN RAIN and more RAIN around 170mm fell over the week end especially Sunday and Sunday night, so we have a great place to have a mud bath at the moment, so we will not be starting the rear retaining wall for a few days to save cutting up the slab pad area from the excavator digging the trench for the retaining wall footings, looks like Wednesday at the earliest to be able to do this. Construction Manager is saying the delay may mean not being able to get the drainage pipes etc and form work constructed in time to be able to pour the slab before Christmas, after all it is only a week before they close for the Christmas break (like most of us) so we will just have to wait and see (fingers crossed for fine weather) but it is looking more like the New Year for the slab to go down. Hey Nic, how are your plans going? haven't seen you posting any progress for a while. Did you get your Tender letter? any shocks? (hope not) let us know what stage you are at, I like to know how other Coral Homes are coming along and how people are finding dealing with them as a building company. At the moment I cannot fault any dealings with the people from Coral Homes and I hope it stays this way. Most of us only get one or two chances to build a new home and I believe this will be our last, up to this point in the proceedings no complaints. Let you know of further progress as it happens. Cheers, John and Marilyn Our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39708&start=0 Retaining wall for fill side 3/12/10 Cut and fill 6/12/10 Screw Piers 17/12/10 Rear retaining wall 22/12/10 Under slab plumbing and electrics 20/1/11 Formwork and slab 29/1/11 Frames 01/02 Roof tiling 14/02 Doors,plumb, elect rough in 16 -21/02 Bricks 23/02 Plastering start 2/03 Ask the council if there is a chance of getting build over easement exemption. Sometimes easements are unused and 24cm is not all that much. Good luck. 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