Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 25, 2010 4:19 pm Finally we have decided on an house design. Originally we had wanted to build a Dechellis home but it was too expensive and in all honesty too big for just the two of us. We are living in Sydney and the house is being built in Adelaide which we realise will make some things difficult. We have already had obstacles to jump over and so far (fingers crossed) so good. The encumbrance on our block was the first hurdle as we wanted a sandstone front with quoins and a bay window which apparently was not 'in keeping with the beach theme'. The sales rep at Sterling Homes did all the chasing for us and the day before we were due to come back home to NSW (cutting it tight) the encumbrance bigwig gave us the go ahead. Next problem was the pitch of the roof which they want at 30 degrees and that won't look good with our house design. So they are putting forward reasons why we should be able to go lower. Price got approved by the reps boss at Sterling so that was another positive. We also can't have red roof or red bricks but that is okay as we didn't really want them anyway. So now we wait for the papers to arrive and we sign and send back with our deposit. We have filled in and signed all appropriate paperwork and left in the reps hands. Now the work begins, doing our house up for sale, sorting and packing etc. I intend to buy a lot of furniture new and that should make moving and cost a little less. Its all a bit daunting right now so I hope I survive lol. I just want to go home to Adelaide and build on our block by the sea with as little effort as possible. Alas.. so far that is not happening easily. Re: Sterling Home Sienna215 at Sellicks Beach 2Jun 18, 2011 6:08 pm Hi There LeeanneF, We have 10 acres in Aldinga Beach, and are looking at building with Sterling. Just wondering how your build is going? Any positives / Negitives with Sterling? Thanks and Regards Clayton. Our Build Here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=74037&p=1255246#p1255246 Re: Sterling Home Sienna215 at Sellicks Beach 3Jul 06, 2011 4:00 am Hi Claypot. Well its been a long process and our block of dirt is still just a block of dirt. Nothing major just a few stuff ups with items being posted (snail mail) to us. We had mail being sent to Richmond SA instead of Richmond NSW and then taking them a couple of months to realise that we had not sent them back the signed options. We are going over to Adelaide for our July 20th 'selections' appointment and this has been a bit of a hurdle with cancellations (due to family medical emergencies) and appointments we thought we had but they hadn't actually made it to the selections booking book. Word of advice, only make booking with the woman in charge of this and make sure she sends you a written confirmation. It has been over 30 years since we had a house built from scratch and a lot has changed since then that's for sure. Also the septic is a bit of a pain due to the fact that its costing us a packet and then we get a letter from the council stating that sewerage has been approved and will go through at a later date and we will all be expected to pay the $5000 odd amount whether we get it connected or not. I guess eventually our toilet will cost us close to $9000. I have been told by our Sterling agent that as soon as they start building it won't take long as there is not a lot of work and he has heard of things like 3 brickies teams working on one house etc. We are definitely finding it difficult getting things done when we are so far away and while we are in Adelaide for selections we will be asking a lot of questions of our agent. Do you have any idea of what Sterling design you are thinking of getting built if you decide to go with them. I am sure we will spend time in Aldinga doing shopping etc as Sellick's Beach only has a local shop/post office/take away store. Time will tell I guess. I just want to go home to Adelaide and build on our block by the sea with as little effort as possible. Alas.. so far that is not happening easily. Re: Sterling Home Sienna215 at Sellicks Beach 4Jan 09, 2012 6:19 pm Well our house is moving along now. We went over to SA at Christmas and it was great to actually walk through a house and not just on a block of land. It should be at lock up stage very soon as while we were there it had bricks and a roof but no front door so we had full access to the house. We were informed that the gyprock would go up in the 'new year' and then the house would be locked up. We got to put in extra cabling before any gyprocking went up which is very helpful indeed. So far no hassles with Sterling cept for a little bit of inconsideration towards us considering we are building a house while living in another state. Paperwork requesting next payment arrives with the standard 'pay within 5 days' etc and when its posted on 21st December its pretty hard to pay it within the time allocated. We have paid the payments the next day via registered post. Made 3rd payment last Wednesday and the cheque only arrived at Sterling Homes this morning. Pretty slow ponies around I guess. Oh thats right Australia Post don't use ponies anymore. So Claypot how is your build going? I just want to go home to Adelaide and build on our block by the sea with as little effort as possible. Alas.. so far that is not happening easily. Re: Sterling Home Sienna215 at Sellicks Beach 5Jun 15, 2012 1:35 am Hi LeeanneF, We havn't started yet, we were going to build our own design with Sterling, then went back to reno and extending our current home on the block. We are now back were we started and about to sign with Statesman, seems that the admin is not much chop with any of the big builders so are prepared to be mucked around. As we will be keeping our house we are living in now on the land ( 10 Acres) we are not in a huge rush any way, more time to save for all the extras! Did you put electrical cabling in? As this is what I want to do to avoid the cost's of 10+ extra power points, also thinking of putting our own internal insulation in. Any way hope all went well. Our Build Here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=74037&p=1255246#p1255246 Re: Sterling Home Sienna215 at Sellicks Beach 6Jun 15, 2012 1:16 pm Hello Claypot. Well we have progressed a fair bit now. The house is finished and OURS as of 14th May. We got delivery of a shipping container this morning to our house in Sydney and now we have till next Thursday to pack it and secure it all inside. Its all been overwhelming to say the least and I will feel much better once that container has been emptied at our house at Sellicks Beach and its been removed. Sterling have good people working for them but I guess like any company they are not going to point out faults. When we went over for our final inspection (drive 1400 kms) in April we discovered it really wasn't finished (we were informed it was) and so we gave them another week to get few final things corrected. Go the next week for the so called final final inspection and low and behold not all things done. We told them "too bad we are going home to NSW so see you in 3 weeks". They don't point anything out in the inspection and when you find something they just go 'oh okay yep will add that to the list'. Drive home then back again in 3 weeks time. Can you believe it but couple of things not fixed. I was not happy to say the least and got a bit snappy at our site manager. But for goodness sake how much time do they want. One thing was replace the tap in bathroom and another was paint a section of a wall. That was at 9.00am and we were booked in for hand over at 11.30am. We did do handover but not until my husband had informed them that he wanted items fixed immediately. The tap has not been done but that can wait till the 3 mth fixup.. Can you believe you get a 3 mth warranty. I'd get more on a $20 toaster. Stand your ground on everything Claypot. Its your house your money and they are building it for you. If your not in a hurry that really helps. No we did not put in electrical cabling. We put in internet and extra television cables and phone cabling. House came with two tv points and one phone point. This will enable us to put in alarm or intercoms etc down the track. When we did the initial paperwork for the house we added extra power points. They were $20 each so we thought why not. We also put any power points onto walls where we could 'piggy back' thru the wall into the next room if we wanted to. We have realised that we could have changed many many things before the house was started but we thought that would all cost. I would say next time will be easier but at our ages 61 and 57 that won't be happening until they drag us off to a nursing home. Keep us informed of your progress Claypot. I just want to go home to Adelaide and build on our block by the sea with as little effort as possible. Alas.. so far that is not happening easily. Re: Sterling Home Sienna215 at Sellicks Beach 7Jun 15, 2012 5:42 pm Hope you enjoy your new home at Sellicks ... not far from us! Great part of the world .. For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Sterling Home Sienna215 at Sellicks Beach 8Oct 19, 2012 2:16 pm Mclaren Hope you enjoy your new home at Sellicks ... not far from us! Great part of the world .. Hows it all going Claypot? Any updates on the progress of your build? I just want to go home to Adelaide and build on our block by the sea with as little effort as possible. Alas.. so far that is not happening easily. Re: Sterling Home Sienna215 at Sellicks Beach 9Oct 19, 2012 4:22 pm LeeanneF Mclaren Hope you enjoy your new home at Sellicks ... not far from us! Great part of the world .. Hows it all going Claypot? Any updates on the progress of your build? Hey LeeanneF, Good idea to piggy back the power points, will keep this in mind when locating ours. Our build is at council at the moment, so just a waiting game now. Our thread is here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=59973&p=928522#p928522 Great to hear your in your new home. Silver Sands and Sellicks beach's are awsome spots. Our Build Here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=74037&p=1255246#p1255246 We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. 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