QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
Colour selections
Selections
Final plans
Slab pics
Brickwork pics (Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11Day 12)
Roof frame pics
Colorbond moment
Grey float (Day 1 & 2 Day 3 & 4)
Ceiling and White Set
TIMELINE
Block O&A: 01/04/11
PPA with RBC: 31/08/11
Settlement: 08/09/11
Decided not to build with RBC: 31/12/11
PPA with Gemmill: 21/01/12
Building Contracts: 04/05/2012
Planning Approval: 19/05/12
Prestart: 30/05/12
Finance Approval: 30/05/12
Building Permit: 05/09/12
Earthworks: 08/10/12 - 31/10/12
Footings: 26/11/12
Slab: 27/11/12
Temporary Power Installed: 14/12/12
Bricks Delivered: 18/12/12
Bricking: 17/01/13 - 09/02/13
Service Trench Dug: 31/01/13
Roof Timbers: 12/02/13 - 21/02/13
Render: 21/02/13, 27/02/13, 13/03/13
Roof Cover: 26/02/13 - 06/03/13
Grey Float: 14/03/13 - 20/03/13
White Set: 20/03/13 - 04/04/13
Ceilings: 27/03/13 - 04/04/13
Glazing: 08/04/13
Lockup: 17/04/13
Render Texture Coat: 19/04/13 -
Painter: 22/04/13
Cabinets: 24/04/13
Garage Grano: 26/04/13
Tiling: 02/05/13 - 14/05/13
Benchtops: 09/05/13
Shelving: 09/05/13
Electrical Fit-off: 13/05/13
Downpipes: 19/05/13
Robe sliding doors: 28/05/13
Mirrors and shower screens: 29/05/13
Garage door: 30/05/13
Plumbing Fit-off: 11/06/13
Septic Installed: 11/06/13 - 13/06/13
HWS Installed: 28/06/13
PCI: 04/07/13
Handover: 19/07/13
THE LONG VERSION
I'm back.... with a new builder and a new plan. For those of you are interested (and have a few hours to spare) our building journey so far can be found here viewtopic.php?f=31&t=50300
For those of you who would prefer the short version, here it is...
About two and half years ago Hubby and I started to think about where we wanted to build our "forever" house. We came across Waterwheel Ridge Estate in Bedfordale by complete accident and soon after decided it was where we would build our house. The block we wanted was finally released for sale in March 2011 and we secured it soon after. It officially became ours when titles were issued in September 2011. During the time we were waiting for the block to come on the market we started looking at display houses and fell head over heals for a couple of houses from the same builder. Once we secured the block we approached the builder about combining the two plans to create our dream house, hoping that by the time titles were issued most of the paperwork stage would have been completed and construction would be able to start ASAP. Things have not gone to plan and we recently made the decision to change builders.
To justify walking away from the first builder and losing close to $10,000 the new house had to be extra special. We started looking at plans all over again and quickly realised that none of them really suited us so I bought myself a graph pad and started to design a house that incorporated all the things we want in a house. We then approached a few different builders to see what they could do for us. A couple weeks later we had designs and costings (very impressive considering we waited 4 months to get to this stage with the first builder) and decided to build with Gemmill Homes.
The service we have received has been absolutely fantastic and I cannot recommend our sales and design consultant highly enough. He has managed to turn my chaotic sketch and ramblings into a fantastic plan which I just know we are going to love living in . It became apparent when talking with the other builders that our budget was large enough to allow for some bling, something which we didn’t think we could afford based on the price of original house. Wanting to see just how much we could fit into our budget, we went a little crazy with the upgrades and have ended up with a house plan that is so much more than we ever imagined we could have. The cherry on top is that we get all this for $65,000 less than what we would have spent on the first house (which only had upgraded stone benchtops in the kitchen). They also threw in ducted aircon and a $10,000 prestart allowance to sweeten the deal.
Some of the bling includes:
- 34c ceilings to entry/theatre/dining/living and 31c to the rest of the house including alfresco, portico and garage
- Aquacheck lining to alfresco, portico and verandahs
- Awning windows
- Fixed window kitchen splashback
- Bifold window and extended benchtop in kitchen to alfresco
- Stacker doors in living/dining to alfresco
- Upgraded external and internal doors and door furniture
- Hobless showers in ensuite and bathroom
- Pot drawers, bin drawer and overhead cupboards to kitchen
- Upgraded cornice to entire house including alfresco, garage, portico and verandahs
- Upgraded tapware
- Stone benchtops to kitchen, laundry, utility, ensuite and bathroom
- Colorbond gutters, fascia and downpipes (standard inclusion)
- Soft closers to all kitchen drawers and doors (standard inclusion)
- Colour consultation with interior designer (standard inclusion)
So without further ado, here is our new plan