Blaxland 29 - NBG - Minniti Properties & Building Services

Hi Everyone,

We are building Blaxland 220E with NBG. We are waiting for our final drawings and contract. We have been assigned Minniti Properties and Building Services as our builder. If anyone has a good or a bad experience with them, then please reply to this post. This is our first build and due to an irregular block and difficult building envelope we had to make a lot of external and internal changes to the standard design. Any guidance would be much appreciated, regarding what to keep in mind while going through the contract or things which might cost a lot later on and to get them included in the contract etc.

Cheers,

Raul & Dolly

Hi,

I am also building the Blaxland but the 200E with NBG.

The main changes I did were:
- upgraded the family room, entry and hallways from carpet to tiles
- added lots of extra powerpoints (one double powerpoint in a bedroom was not sufficient)
- removed the downlights as there were not enough and updated to them installing owner supplied lights to ensure I could select exactly what I wanted
- added second light in the entry as it is quite a large hallway and one light didn't seem to be sufficient
- make entry light to operate of two switches so it could be turned on/off from each side of the hallway
- added external light outside laundry
- changed window in laundry to a door so I could have direct access outside
- added sarking in the roof
- added water point in refridgerator space
- looking at adding plumbing now for water tank to be connected to toilets and laundry
- added rear roller door to garage to make easier access to back yard (and easier to get wheelbarrow in and out).

I have raised a few variations, and have one left to do.
However, once the build starts I am not planning any further variations.

You need to ensure any changes that require plumbing, or structural changes are done as soon as possible.
After building starts you only really want to be doing minor variations (ie extra power points at electrical stage etc).

Good luck.

We have yet to include the light outside Laundry, some other electricals etc. The main changes we did apart from the floor plan (changed the whole floor plan to look like Homestead with all the bedrooms, living, meals, family (the entire thing is family and no separation for Rumpus), Alfresco of different sizes from the original plan) is:

1. Raising the height of the house to 2550 instead of 2400
2. Getting them to put lights on the porch piers
3. Water point to fridge cavity
4. Extra TV points and Phone points
5. Having two rendered Porch Piers, a lot wider and much more in depth
6. Bigger shower space
7. Closing off the Living room
8. Bedroom to have his/her walk in robe
9. Including the Spa in Ensuite
10. Double Vanity in Ensuite
11. Some Extra Oyester lights
12. Changed the Pantry to have 2 door
13. Changed the Master bedroom walk in robe door and Ensuite door to Cavity sliding doors
14. Entry to have 2 sidelights, one on either side of the door


The changes which I need to include are Light outside the rear entry of the Garage. And if budget permits, then getting tiles instead of carpet in Entry, Family, Meals and rear hallway. I am not going to make any more changes after the contracts have been signed apart from the things to be decided in Colour World appointment. We are already to our last dollar so getting tiles looks like a distant possibility.

Anyways, which Suburb are you building in and who is your builder?

Good Luck with your build!

Hi,

I am building with Manbuilt Projects and am building in Kyneton.

I was charged an extra $2800 to have tiles instead of carpet in the family room, dining area, main entry, side hallway, walk in linen & walk in pantry (this was previously carpeted as part of the formal dining area that I removed).

It is very hard to stick to the budget. I ended up going about $30K over what I was originally hoping for.

Michelle

Hi there,
We are with NBG as well with our exterior nearly finished. It's quite a challenge to think of everything you may need in your home whilst at the planning stage AND stick to a budget! A couple of things we wish we had of included in hind sight were recessed shower niches (we were told originally that we could add these at Colourworld, but at our appt we were told it was a structural change & to enquire with our builder instead, in the end we couldn't be bothered) and secondly to increase our kitchen bench height slightly.

Our upgrades ended up being a longish list and I estimate we spent around $40k ( upgrade list is in my thread). We've learnt from our previous builds not to skimp on lighting, power points & tv points. One thing to be wary of in the building contact is anything that is provisional - our site costs were provisional and the end cost was significantly different from the original estimation. The final cost wasn't known until the slab was poured.

Best of luck with your build once it starts

Hi,

We are building with Minniti Builders in South Morang. We were quoted $3400 @ $54 per msq for getting tiles in the Family, Meals, Entry and rear hallway. It is not possible to stick to budget as we ourselves have gone overboard by $15K and thats not including the cost for putting in tiles. Our soil being class 'P' and having a Tree in the build zone our site costs are close to $22K.

HI There,

Ceratinly it is quite a challenge to think of everything beforehand, but what ever we thought we needed, we requested the consultant to include it in the wish list no matter how trivial or big it is rather than relying on anyhting they said. For many of the things they say are standard, i still got him to include in the Wish List, so that it is menioend and included at least somewhere rather than just in a conversation. Things like toilet roll holders, towel hanging rails, 30 mm stone bench to Enquite and Bathroom (only stone benchtop was mentioned in the bonus wiothout any thickness), locks to all openable windows and sliding doors, brick infill on all the windows of the facade as our facade have 6 windows compared to 2 big or 4 small windows in Blaxland's original plan were also included in the Wish list just to make sure that everything was covered.

We also included the Kitchen exhaust to be externally flumed rather than into the roof cavity. Couldn't bear the thought of all the oil and crap sticking to the frame, roof and the ceiling insulation.

They were giving us as well a provisional sum on the Slab and site costs, but I insisted on including absolute costs for each items of the site cost. It took a bit longer for them to get the engineer to confirm the cost but was worth the wait. Now, anything except rock removal (and extra concrete due to rock removal), is the builder's responsibility.

Hi Raul & Dolly
Congratulations on building your house! You'll be very happy when you finally move in.
I just wanted to drop you a line, as we also built with the Minniti's... and I must say, they were great! In all honesty, if I was to ever build again, without hesitation, I'd be wanting Peter and Tony to be my builders.
I won't bore everyone else with my stories... but, please feel free to PM me, if you would like further info.
Congrats again! Crunchbone

Thanks Crunchbone. Sent you a PM. Please share with us your experience with the Minniti's. Thanks again.

... and there's now a reply PM awaiting you, Raul & Dolly...