Things you forget - summary page 32

amsmeq · Nov 15, 2010 2:02 pm

What ive just remembered AGAIN (as we come down to the crunch of handover) is that the builder will never ever ever have to pay liquidated damages.

Next time we build, i will make sure that the contract is changed to reflect that the date that works commence on site is stated as the contract start date (not the later of 20 days from provision of evidence of funding).
I will also remember to alter the contract to show that rain days can only be claimed prior to the roof tiles being installed and only if there has been more than 5 mm of rain.

Our builder has just claimed an extra 57.8 days (with a very lengthy and complicated calculation of how they got to this amount of days) on the practical completion date (this is also based on a 5 day work week). So they are claiming an extra 11.5 weeks onto our 25 week contract period. Add onto this the extra 4 weeks at commencement and we now have a 40.5 week build - - - wowsers!!!!! Thats almost double what they advertise. ::dizzy::

Drayto · Nov 15, 2010 2:13 pm

Powerpoint to plug pump in for watertank

External light switches in alfresco.

lots of powerpoints in study - 4 point ones are good

Powerpoints in garage

Provision for ceiling fans

Window in bulters pantry

Provision for split aircons if you are intending installing later

frames on open doorways incase you want to put french doors on later

1sthome · Nov 15, 2010 10:38 pm

If you have a shed, add provision for power and lighting in the shed!

Outdoor power points and gas point.

Rizzo · Nov 16, 2010 11:07 am

YBBroker

With the electrical, i'd suggest also adding a conduit for whereever your foxtel is going. If it's on a cavity wall then they normally have no problem but if its not then it can be a pain. Add the conduit so they can run a TV and Phone cable down.

I second this. We just went to have our foxtel installed yesterday, and they can't do it. The conduit the builders put in is only big enough for the ariel cable and nothing else! (brick wall) The only other option is to have the cabling on the outside of the wall, which with the amount we have spent on this house, is something we are not prepared to do, so no foxtel.

YBBroker · Nov 16, 2010 5:40 pm

amsmeq

What ive just remembered AGAIN (as we come down to the crunch of handover) is that the builder will never ever ever have to pay liquidated damages.

Next time we build, i will make sure that the contract is changed to reflect that the date that works commence on site is stated as the contract start date (not the later of 20 days from provision of evidence of funding).
I will also remember to alter the contract to show that rain days can only be claimed prior to the roof tiles being installed and only if there has been more than 5 mm of rain.

Our builder has just claimed an extra 57.8 days (with a very lengthy and complicated calculation of how they got to this amount of days) on the practical completion date (this is also based on a 5 day work week). So they are claiming an extra 11.5 weeks onto our 25 week contract period. Add onto this the extra 4 weeks at commencement and we now have a 40.5 week build - - - wowsers!!!!! Thats almost double what they advertise. ::dizzy::

If you went to the BDT regarding these delays you'd probably win. The builder should be informing you of delays within days of the delay happening, not at the end of the project.

Twiggy · Nov 20, 2010 9:16 am

If you're building a double storey and want air con, chances are the standard evap they give you will only cover the top floor.

We just had tender and had to upgrade to a full Refrigerated system to do the whole house. That might be common knowledge to most people, but we assumed our air con would cover the whole house. Only picked up on it by a chance comment made by the Tenderer

CC101 · Nov 22, 2010 1:38 am

careful with the height of rangehood. it should not hit your head while cooking.

elemist · Nov 22, 2010 4:21 am

I've been in my new place for about 6 months.. Found a few points that i've noted for if/when i build again in the future.

- Line of sight - In this instance if the master bedroom door is open, you can see through the front door straight into the shower! In my case i could have easily switched the toilet and shower and there would be no problems.

- Fridge recess - Check the depth of your recess. Mine is more of an alcove and isn't deep enough to fit a bar fridge let alone a side by side fridge/freezer.

- Single Brick Walls - Give lots of thought as to where you want to put power points/phone points/data points/tv points. If it's on a single brick wall, make sure you put in a conduit!
- Sub point to this, one issue i've stumbled into is putting in a heater/fan/light unit in the ensuite. Whilst you would think it would be simple, i have no external walls and no way of adding in the extra switch!

- Aircon - give some thought as to what you will be doing with regards to aircon. It's hit summer and i've just started looking at putting split systems in. Small problem i've discovered - i have no external walls in either the main living area or the master bedroom. In the living areas all the external walls have windows/sliding doors. The external walls on the master bedroom is either the very front of the house, or right next to the front door! It is possible to run the piping up into the roof, and out but you pay quite a bit more (in excess of $700 per unit extra) for the additional piping and water pumps etc.

Rangehood height - mine comes down to perfect head height, and being that its right next to the sink i smack my head on it at least once a fortnight!

Sink/stove layout - I didn't notice till after i moved in, but my stove basically butts up against the sink. It's a pain because you have no where apart from on the stove to stack dirty dishes for washing. Also if you didn't use the stove for cooking, you still end up having to clean it after stacking dishes on it!

Windows/Sink layout - i have a window at bench level behind the sink. If you have this on your plans, i would suggest raising the window and having a 1 or preferably 2 coarse row of tiling under it. The water splashing on not only the window but the curtains is a pain!

They're the main ones i've discovered so far.. Sure there's a few more which i'll post later!

jbyway · Nov 24, 2010 1:16 am

We had all of our internal door handles upgraded to lever type ones, we also upgrade our front door to a lever handle but forgot to do the shoppers access through the garage which is the door we use the most.

karry327 · Nov 24, 2010 12:16 pm

Jason, what do you mean by Shoppers Access?

Pugs · Nov 24, 2010 1:56 pm

karry327

Jason, what do you mean by Shoppers Access?

so when you bring the shopping home it is quicker to get it inside the House rather then carrying it outside in the sun/ rain

karry327 · Nov 24, 2010 2:01 pm

Reading Jason's post, it sounded like he already had a door from garage into the house and I thought shoppers access might be a certain way the door held open or something along those lines...

Springleaf · Nov 24, 2010 2:11 pm

Some great tips here guys and gals, very useful, keep them coming

jbyway · Nov 25, 2010 12:36 am

karry327

Jason, what do you mean by Shoppers Access?

Sorry, yeah it is basically just a door between the garage and the house rather than having to go back out to the front door. I call it a shopper access as that's what i've always been told it's called.

The door itself isn't any different really (though I suppose you could probably get one fitted that does stay open) but a lever handle would have made it easier to open in the event of having your hands full

Pugs · Nov 25, 2010 11:05 am

Boardband avalibity!

not the most common thing to check for when building a house .. but it should be. unless you are moving into a FTTH estate or a (current) NBN roll out area.. it is one of the most ovelrooked services for home builders.

just because you can get Dial tone this doesn't mean you can get any form of ADSL.

hows does one check this:

Ask your new Nieghbours.. or check this site : http://yourbroadband.com.au/

Springleaf · Nov 25, 2010 11:54 am

Pugs

Boardband avalibity!

not the most common thing to check for when building a house .. but it should be. unless you are moving into a FTTH estate or a (current) NBN roll out area.. it is one of the most ovelrooked services for home builders.

just because you can get Dial tone this doesn't mean you can get any form of ADSL.

hows does one check this:

Ask your new Nieghbours.. or check this site : http://yourbroadband.com.au/

Definately this!!

My sister just moved into her brand new home in Wyndhamvale's Manor Lakes estate and has found out that the only option they have for internet connectivity is wireless. She isnt very happy...

Julie R · Nov 27, 2010 7:41 pm

Thanks for all your wonderful tips, it has been such a help to us, being about to build our custom designed home. One thing we were advised to do was have a drying cupboard eg a duct put in a cupboard that is only used for drying clothes

S_Loke · Nov 29, 2010 3:49 pm

Bumping this. This is simply an invaluable list. Wonder if it is possible to have this thread stickied and even better would be a short simple listing on the 1 page.

Stuff we found to be useful and easily overlooked. Privacy locks esp on the guest bathrooms. capped water point & power points to the roof if you are intending on evaporative cooling installed.

Pugs · Nov 29, 2010 6:16 pm

S_Loke

Bumping this. This is simply an invaluable list. Wonder if it is possible to have this thread stickied and even better would be a short simple listing on the 1 page.

Stuff we found to be useful and easily overlooked. Privacy locks esp on the guest bathrooms. capped water point & power points to the roof if you are intending on evaporative cooling installed.

this thread is already stickeid.. it is just when one of the other stickies threads gets a new post it drops down to the postion down inthe stickied list

tigerandox · Dec 05, 2010 11:22 am

Love all the tips. We increased the length and width of our BIR where possible. Standard width was 500mm, we increased to 600mm, still probably not quite enough, but better than 500 which will definitely catch on clothes as we shut the doors.