Porter Davis homes

Stairs unrapped, final staining and painting started today.

Have recieved final invoice in prep for PCI

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Some more progress yesterday, splashback tiling dome, kitchen finished and underlay down for carpets. Hopefully we get a date for PCI soon!

Have started PCI checklist outside prior to PCI.

Quite a bit of red ink....

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Good thinking! I should do this too!

Is that a checklist you downloaded from somewhere?

Looks like the same one I got from http://anewhouse.com.au/sample-page/ . Very detailed checklist.

Would you recommend getting the booklet Nikil? I'm assuming it's the Guide to PCI one you are referring to?

I've sent you a PM Hurrow.

We have a wall and a ceiling air return with our Metricon build.

Good luck Bruce for PCI. May i know whats your exterior render color, looks stunning with the slimline garage door.

Hi guys, great info on the cooling.

I'm building a mad45 and didn't get to speak to a cooling consultant through selections because the consultant quit, or was being replaced, at the time.

I initially wanted 4 zones, but was told that zoning was strictly for heating only, and cooling is upstairs / downstairs only.

At that point I didn't bother with more than the two zones. Heating isn't the expensive bit, so didn't care too much about it.

Anyone get different advice, particularly for double storey?

I was also told that any additional zones needed to be large (min three ducts) due to the volume of air (was thinking about zoning off my theatre only, for example).

Yeah we were told exactly the same. We kept 2 zones just to keep the cost down.

Ok excellent. Just seems strange!

Hi Fademan

Here is my experience and partial knowledge regarding heating/cooling systems at Porter Davis

We had many discussions with the Brivis rep at WOS. She informed us that we would need to upgrade our Heating unit from the 3 Star in our standard inclusions to a 6 Star so we could add refrigeration and zoning. (probably also possible if you upgrade to 5 Star unit, but better cost savings with the 6 star, so we choose that one)

With the Brivis 6 star unit you can have up to 4 zones for BOTH heating and cooling. To run heating and cooling through the same ducting system you need to increase the size of the heating ducts provided, from 6 inch to 9 inch. This allows for the greater airflow required for your refrigerated cooling. Once this is done, you can create zones with 2 or more outlets.
So it is not usually possible to zone just one room, unless you have 2 outlets in that room.

Their pricing is very expensive (no surprise) to create additional zones and their pricing for adding on a refrigerated cooling system is outrageous. We are building a 38 Square house and the quote was 16K. We found a great company who will do this for us post handover and will only cost us $8100 for everything we want done. There are a few things you need to get PD to do during the build, as changes cannot happen downstairs after the build. However they can do anything upstairs after handover.

With a double story build, if you require 2 downstairs zones, you need to make sure you have this organised with PD prior to the build, as you need a control cable to manage the control for that zone in that area.
For example, we are creating 2 zones in our downstairs area and one zone upstairs. The upstairs zone is controlled via a network controller upstairs which runs back to the main unit in the ceiling. One of the downstairs zones is the Guest bedroom and Guest Ensuite, and the other downstairs zone is All the other rooms downstairs. The large zone will be controlled by a fancy touch screen controller (upgrade) and the other zone has a thermostat only (as PD tell me that I cannot have another network controller installed, just the one upstairs, even though my Air Con guys says he can do 3 network controllers for me).

Once I have handover from PD, I will ring my Air Con guy and have him come and install a 17kW refrigeration unit which will bolt onto the heating unit in my upstairs ceiling space. At the same time he will create another zone upstairs (Master Bedroom and Master Ensuite - run via a new network controller) and change the thermostat cable downstairs into another network controller.

This will allow me to have 4 zones set throughout my house and have control of each zone from within that zone or via the touch screen. I have also been told that Brivis are in the development stages of creating an App that will also allow you to control your zoners from your phone, however I cannot get 100% confirmation on when this App will actually be launched so I have opted for the manual controls in each zone just in case this App never eventuates.

I hope this helps explain what I know about upgrading the heating/cooling systems that Brivis can provide through PD.
If you need any further clarification please don't hesitate to ask and I will try to explain further.

Painting and staining finished. Closer to practical completion

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hoffmangoldwithporterdavis.wordpress.com

Looking great Bruce!

Awesome info inphaze, very detailed which I'm sure many will appreciate. Thank you.


Our 37sq Custom Hamptons Inspired Home

What roof ..?

Porter Davis only give tiles and colorbond is an addition, is it worth going to colorbond and is it worth doing roof sarking, have heard colorbond makes it warmer during summer.

I am putting a whirlybird does that make any difference ..?

Thanks

For anyone who is looking at getting electricals for their home, it looks like Samsung and Hisense at least are coming out with their new TV models so the current ones are all going on sale. As an added bonus Harvey Norman give you 10% of the purchase value in gift vouchers if you spend over $250, so basically another 10% off. We picked up a 55in HiSense for the rumpus room last night as well as some Arlo Pro 2 security cameras which never go on sale but in this instance have the 10% in gift vouchers. Same prices as at JB HiFi but with 10% in gift cards sounds like a pretty good deal to me!

In other news they appear to have done at least one coat of render to the front of our house so we have a better idea of what it will actually look like. Hopefully only a few weeks till PCI!

We decided on colourbond as it is low maintenance and doesn’t move like tiles can, didn’t fancy dealing with leaks and cleaning after a few years.
We added sarking as it controls condensation and reduces wind getting into your ceiling cavity.
We have 2 whirlybirds, they work very well at removing heat from the roof space, especially if you also combine them with vents in you eaves.
Colourblind cost is currently $999 at PD and sparking cost us approx $1600 fir a 38 Square double story

PD had a free colourbond promotion on when we were buying which was handy as it was what my wife wanted anyway. Because we're in a BAL area we have sarking and whirly bird as well, so hopefully it all works out ok.