Things you forget - summary page 32

Here's an unusual omission that has just become apparent to us.

We're getting a split system air con unit installed after handover, and the indoor bit is one room away from the outdoor bit. We talked to the installer before we went to the colour/electrical selection centre, and as per his instructions, organised for the electrician to run a separate circuit to a junction box on the exterior wall for the outdoor bit. No problems there.

What we failed to include in the contract was for the interconnecting cable, between the two components, to be run. So it wasn't.

Happily, it's not too late, but several unneccessary phone calls and faxes had to be made to rectify the situation, and an extra cost will have to be incurred.

Will they do that????? We'd love PD to do that, so we don't have the quad bit once the flloor boards are laid, but I bet they won't!!!

I wish that at frame stage we had got in there and added LOTS of noggins.
ie. toilets for roll holders, bathroom walls for towel rails, picture hanging height on walls etc.

Don't know whether our heated towel rail will actually stay attached to our wall - nothing in the right place behind it.

In general the studs are too far apart and <u>never</u> in the right place to hang that really heavy picture.

Built in shelves! (like rikster's)

Most builders won't !

Thank you all for the great tips! I have already taken most of them and incorporated them into the house. A few of them it is too late and we can't make changes at this date.

We did get the tap in the fridge space and we had the skirting board put on because the builder charges extra to leave them off. I can't undersand that we have to pay them for not doing something!

I must admit that I know nothing about the pipes. But I will try to find out more.

I was told the other day by a home energy expert, that it is only necessary to insulate the first metre or so of your hot water pipes to prevent circulation of the water back into the cylinder as the water cools down. It can actually cause more heat loss if you do insulate them, the reasoning being that the insulation will warm up to the same temp as the water after a little while and you lose more heat as you have increased the surface area of the pipe with the insulation.

As I said he is an expert, but it still doesn't sound quite right to me. Surely good insulation would take a long time to heat up...but I didn't think to ask this until later.

one of the main things we checked was the location of light switches.
Particilaurly as we added 3 double doors to living areas, and the original light switch location would have been buhind where the door opens (hence youd open, wlak in to dark room and have to close door again to get to the light switch.

This can be a problme on some plans even without modifications so check the locations!

Also we ended up with a 1m2 section of carpet between our kitchen and laundry as we didnt see it when we made our changes. Since I'm refusing to pay in excess of $700 to change this I'll be ordering extra tiles and fix it myself afterward

extra powerpoints and telephone points, light in the panrty if you have a walk in.

We also raised our bench height by an inch and extended the benchspace by adding an extra cabinet module.

Exhaust fan to the laundry. After living in a house with no ventilation in the laundry this was an absolute must for me.

ducted vaccuum.

We've put a TV point in the Alfresco. You never know when you might have a Grand Final BBQ and want to watch it outside!

We also put in an extra hard wired smoke detector outside the laundry purely for the clothes dryer...just in case!

Also make sure you are aware which windows are fixed and which are openable on your plans. We have requested more to be openable for cross ventilation.

Otherwise all of the other things I thought about have already been mentioned.

towel rails
light switch dimmers
Alfresco decking plank width and colour
power point to the garage for your husbands power tools