Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 03, 2011 10:10 pm Hi all, have been lurking around this wonderfull site for the last 5 months and have found it a great resource and very informative, as well as very entertaining . Needless to say, its with much excitement that Jill and I can finally announce that we will be soon be starting our building adventure.
Two months ago we purchased our block of land in Ashton Grove (Ashtonfield NSW), a great block located 5 minutes away from shopping, medical and, most importantly, the highschool that our daughter will be starting with next year. Its a nice size block (742sqm) located on a hill with panoramic views to the north. Here are some pics : http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/284.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/290.jpg Last week, after 6 months (and 3 price reductions), we have finally sold our existing home in Raymond Terrace and as you can imagine its a great relief to finally have this happen. During this time we have also been working with our builder (Greenbuild) on our custom designed home, with the plans being sumitted to the Maitland city council this week. All things being well we will be starting the build when the land settles in June. Here are the plans: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/drainageplanhouse.png http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/groundlevelhouse.png http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x34 ... lhouse.png][/url] Here is a view from the front of the house: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/house.jpg As you can see we were looking for something unique, as well as tailoring to the individual needs of each member of our family (mega WIR for her, bigger bedroom for the daugher and Man Cave for me ). It has certainly been an interesting (and mentally consuming) process being involved with the designing of this house - but we are really happy with the final product (on paper). Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild at Ashton Grove Maitl 3May 07, 2011 7:50 pm Thanks gogo Its certainly going to stand out a bit from the surrounding houses, we did look at larger windows for the upper floor although we may be limited by the ceiling height. At this stage we are a month ahead on our timeline, although that may be dependant on how long the council takes with the approvals. We really want to have it all done and dusted by Christmas (fingers crossed) Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild at Ashton Grove Maitl 4May 07, 2011 8:11 pm how exciting!!! congrats all the best Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild at Ashton Grove Maitl 5May 08, 2011 7:20 pm Thanks for that Kiwi Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild at Ashton Grove Maitl 6May 08, 2011 8:12 pm jillnglynn Thanks gogo Its certainly going to stand out a bit from the surrounding houses, we did look at larger windows for the upper floor although we may be limited by the ceiling height. At this stage we are a month ahead on our timeline, although that may be dependant on how long the council takes with the approvals. We really want to have it all done and dusted by Christmas (fingers crossed) Wow, in by Christmas Lets see if that happens Just one comment jillnglynn, do you want the entrance to your WIR outside of the bedroom. I would be forever running naked in out and out the door Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild at Ashton Grove Maitl 7May 11, 2011 9:29 pm Hahahaha now thats a good point, Jill's not one to move around the house in any state of undress but then again I have been known to nudie streak through the house on occassion - might have to ensure that the the appropiate window shutters closed or the neighbours/pedestrians might be in for shock As for Xmas - well its very optimistic but hey one can only live in hope LOL Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - just a little wait 8Nov 02, 2011 7:22 pm Well its been a very busy 5/6 months since we have last posted. Sold our house in June and thought that we would be building within a month, but unfortunately our finances fell through at the last moment with a shocker of a valuation. This ended with us going through a mortgage broker and we were able to secure a loan through another bank, with the associated tooing and frowing and the usual delays. Well today is "B" Day and we are very excited to say that its all begun, with the removal of some of the trees on our block. Im a big fan of trees, and it was sad to lose the big white gum that we had out the front of the block but unfortunately it was not something we could work around. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Saturday should see a nice cleared block Tile and Tap/sink/shower head selections will be finalised on Monday next week. Sooooo Sooooo Good to finally get the ball rolling. Glynn Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild at Ashton Grove Maitl 10Nov 10, 2011 8:02 pm Thanks GoGo, intend to keep the photo updates on a weekly basis and I now have the blessing of the builder with this blog. Had the tree stumps removed - the big gum tree proved to be a bit of a challenge due to some extensive root systems with a hole big enough to fit one and half utes The good news was that there was rock at the bottom of the crater and this apparently will be of much benifit for the pier/slab. Completed some of the internal selections on Monday - including doors, handles, skirting boards and the front door handle. With regard to the remaining selections we have asked the builder to provide us 3 options for each item - one conservative, one middle of the road and one way-out. The reasoning behind this is that it will make the selection process much easier as we dont want to spend too much time trying to decide on the little things, as well as making the process easier for our builders. Will have meetings with our architect to select the exterior and interior colour themes in the next few weeks. Trying to also tee up an appointment at the Harvey Norman Wholesale Dept so that we can sort out the selection of kitchen appliances. So here are this weeks pics : Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ [imghttp://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/DSC00816-2.jpg][/img] Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild at Ashton Grove Maitl 11Nov 10, 2011 8:50 pm Wow, Love the roof lines. Looking forward to watching your build. I was just up at Maitland on the weekend for the Bitter and Twisted Festival at the Old Gaol. Living in Sydney - Building in Melbourne My Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=50518 Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild at Ashton Grove Maitl 12Nov 17, 2011 7:23 pm Thanks Baby B - yes the house is going to stand out from the surrounding places with these roof lines, combined with some good exterior lighting and colours its going to be something else. Hope the festival at the old gaol was fun - we are looking forward to getting out and about in Maitland next year .
Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - theres been some di 13Nov 19, 2011 4:30 pm As promised we have been up to the block today to find out the latest, and there has been a bit of activity by the looks of it. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Seems like there is going to be more house than we thought LOL, it seems hard to visualise it all on paper. This week we sorted out the airconditioning situation - the builders have secured us a very good deal for ducted aircon so thats one major headache out of the way. Additionally we have selected the colours for our window frames/alfresco stacker - woodland gey matt, which will be produced by Trent Windows and Doors http://www.trendwindows.com.au/colour%20chart.html Within the next few weekends we will be meeting up with our architect to select the exterior paint colours - at this stage we are thinking of shades of grey/dark grey with a red higlight for the entrance . Wishing a good weekend to all. Glynn Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - theres been some di 14Dec 27, 2011 9:21 pm Hi there was just up your way today and think I know which is your house but was just wondering how you went with mine subsidence issues as we were looking at a block just up the road and one across the road from you... thanks Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - theres been some di 15Jan 02, 2012 9:38 am http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae141/letnotyourheartbetroubled/happy_new_yeargif.gif 2012...whoaoaoa, new home!!! Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - theres been some di 16Jan 05, 2012 8:50 pm penelee Hi there was just up your way today and think I know which is your house but was just wondering how you went with mine subsidence issues as we were looking at a block just up the road and one across the road from you... thanks Hi Penelee, our house is the 2 story frame at the top of the hill. With regard to mine subsidence - our builder recommended a pier and joist construction for the base of our house, and it came in at approx 30,000 dollars - not sure how that stacks up cost wise to a concrete slab. It appears that majority of the surrounding houses are being built with a concrete slab/waffle pod combination. One thing to be aware of with the blocks on the opposite side of the road from our house - they have a much higher bushfire rating as they are in close proximity to the adjoring bushland, and this may incurr further building costs. Landcom did not make us aware about these ratings when we enquired about the blocks. This was the driving force with our choice of block. Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - theres been some di 17Jan 05, 2012 8:51 pm kiwi http://i966.photobucket.com/albums/ae141/letnotyourheartbetroubled/happy_new_yeargif.gif 2012...whoaoaoa, new home!!! Hey thanks Kiwi and hoping that you all had a great Xmas and New years. Things have been insanely busy here for the last two months and I have been a bit lax with the postings LOL Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - theres been some di 18Jan 05, 2012 9:20 pm Well its time to wish all a Happy New Year and play catch up on the last couple of months. We did lose a couple of weeks due to the heavy rain when the boys were digging the holes for the piers, but since then things have been coming on in leaps and bounds and we are nearly ready for a roof. Here are some pics of the initial ground work: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/039.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/004-1.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/037.jpg Here's some pics of the joist work: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/DSC01241.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/DSC01244.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/DSC01247.jpg And here is the framework going up: http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/DSC01251.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/DSC01252.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/DSC01250.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/DSC01250.jpg So far so very lucky as there have not been any show stoppers up to this point. The concrete guy did strike rock when putting down the piers but it only amounted to an extra 2,000 dollars. The only real pain has been our banks regularly stuffing up payments etc - maybe they could take a page out our builder's book as they have been fantastic Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - scaffolding is up ! 19Jan 08, 2012 5:05 pm Hi all, just a quick update on this weeks activities, the boys have managed to squeeze in a fair bit of work within a short 3 day week and we now have the rest of the timber work and the scaffolding has been raised - here are the pics. http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/IMG_1730.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/IMG_1729.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/IMG_1732.jpg http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x341/jillnglynn/IMG_1728.jpg And today we found our new media room furniture at HN's with their after XMAS, too many couches to sell sale . Picked up a 3 seater and two single seaters with powered recliners in all 3 - and this for just a smidge under 2000 dollars. Here is a pic of the lounges http://i1177.photobucket.com/albums/x34 ... G_1736.jpg Also picked up the new media room tv at the boxing day sales - 55cm led lcd for 890 dollars and JB Hi Fi - and it works a treat. We have finally nutted out a colour scheme for the exterior with the following: Roof Colour: MONUMENT Guttering and Facia: WHISPER WHITE Walls: STONECROP Feature Walls: RAKU AND RED BOX (ENTRY ARCH) Garage Door Colour (std Colorbond Range): CLASSIC CEDAR Square Matrix Cladding Colour:WHISPER WHITE Downpipe colour: WHISPER WHITE We are taking a look at a few options for the upstairs cladding - Im i big fan of the scion panels though there might be some local/cheaper options avail. Re: Jill and Glynn's Custom Greenbuild - update update updat 20Jan 08, 2012 5:11 pm Great buying! Well done!!! Gotta loveeeee sales interesting situation what happened after builder issued final invoice? did you list as defect or not does the building surveyor have any responsibility? ie. issuing… 13 46956 Building Standards; Getting It Right! Hi all, My neighbour has built his 15m long garage on our boundary. It was agreed as part of the planning permit that the wall must be in exposed recycled brick. For some… 0 10907 Hi, I contracted a Builder to do a Garage to Bedroom + ensuite conversion (Class 1a), the Builder engaged the Certifier and Engineer and received BDA from the Certifier… 0 5006 |