Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 17, 2012 12:20 pm Hi all, I've started this forum thread to share experiences from our build (both good and bad), hopefully gain knowledge from your experiences and possibly develop some virtual friendships
This journey started as we could not find an established house that suited the needs of our family. So after looking through a LOT of display homes with a number of builders we finally decided on a custom home with Dechellis. As you may be able to see from our plan it is sort of a blend of the Monaco and Davinci... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ And this is how we roughly plan to furnish the house... Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Selections were a lot of fun (not) but so far we have been pretty happy with the choices we have made. I will try document the selection choices as I upload the photos for anyone who is curious. It was a very drawn out process to begin with but since the slab went down things have been cruising along For those wondering about time frames (i know all homes are different but think it's nice to see how other builds have/are progressing) here is a rough guide to when things have happened. I will try to remember to go back and update this list as things progress because as you can see we are not quite finished yet. 02/03/11 - Land was released (put hold on a block) 11/03/11 - Received land contract in mail 17/03/11 - Signed and mailed off land contract 08/04/11 - Paid land deposit 07/11/11 - Signed paperwork and paid deposit with Dechellis 11/11/11 - Land finally settled 21/11/11 - Received 1st lot of plans from Dechellis 30/11/11 - Received 2nd lot of plans from Dechellis 10/02/12 - Council application lodged by Dechellis 28/03/12 - Land SA received admended plans for approval 30/03/12 - Dechellis received admended engineers report 03/04/12 - Dechellis sent Council admended plans 04/04/12 - Council approved admended plans - Planning consent granted 05/05/12 - Signed final contract 07/05/12 - Bank pack ready 06/06/12 - Builders interview 04/07/12 - Rubble and garage cut completed by owner 24/07/12 - Trenched cut 26/07/12 - Mesh Laid 27/07/12 - Slab poured 06/08/12 - Frame started 10/08/12 - Windows installed 27/08/12 - Bricks delivered and gutter/fascias were erected 30/09/12 - Brick work started 07/09/12 - Bricks completed 08/09/12 - Roof erected 10/09/12 - Electrical work done 11/09/12 - Electrical error fixed (PP not centered) 12/09/12 - Installation installed 13/09/12 - Garage height fixed (we had paid extra for a height extension kit) 14/09/12 - Gyproc delivered 22/09/12 - Work finally started on gyroc which was good as the installation which was installed 10 days earlier was looking a little worse for wear 05/10/12 - Front door installed - House is at lock up ! 09/10/12 - Work started on internal doors and skirting boards 11/10/12 - Bath installed 12/10/12 - Portico rendered 15/10/12 - Work started with cabinet installation / door knobs added 16/10/12 - Cornices delivered 17/10/12 - laundry and kitchen sink installed 18/10/12 - work started on eaves 20/10/12 - cornices measured up 21/10/12 - cornices cut 22-31/10 - work continued on the eaves and cornices (the tradies appeared to alternate days). During this time the showers were also sealed and the tiles were delivered Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 3Oct 17, 2012 1:16 pm Hi Stage#2 - Your place is looking great, we drive past it often on route to check out our place Our contract had 18th Feb and our site supervisor hasn't mentioned anything about an earlier date (despite my questioning) but fingers crossed we get handover before Christmas. Not holding our breaths though. How about you? Was your contract finish date around the same time?
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 5Oct 17, 2012 1:46 pm That's a shame Stage#2. Oh well, would rather that they take their time and deliver a better quality product than rush it and botch the job.
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 7Oct 17, 2012 3:53 pm ... and where are the pictures? Looks huge! For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 8Oct 17, 2012 8:17 pm Didn't want to give it all up too early Mclaren Yes, it is quite large with lots of rooms as we plan for this to be our forever house and wanted the kids to each have their own rooms and personal space as well a big open living area where we can all come together. Also looking forward to having a Home Theatre/Guest Room and ample storage. I'm probably fooling myself but I envisage that with plenty of storage space, everything with have a home and won't need to end up on the floor or kitchen bench. ... and now for some photos ... Using Studio M we mocked up this elevation and colour pallet which we took to our selection appointments. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Here are some photos of how it has progressed! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ So far we are pretty happy with how our build is looking like the original design we mocked up. Here they are side by side. Portico isn't rendered/painted and the door isn't up or painted in this picture but it's getting there Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 9Oct 19, 2012 11:51 am The Selection Process I found the section process pretty stressful. We had a certain allocation which we had allowed for selection upgrades but couldn't plan ahead as we could only find out costs at the selection appointments or in some cases had to wait until the Builders Interview (tiles, skirting boards etc). In the end we only ended up spending $6621 which was great as we were under budget but had we known this we might have upgraded a few more things from our wish list. So to help others out I will share details of what we upgraded (or in some cases got credit back for). Sampina Joinery - 3 x pot drawers $318.00 Upgrade laminex to powder room door - smoky sepelle $106.00 (the lady at Laminex had told us it was included - but decided it was worth paying the little extra than trying to go back and choose something else) upgrade to squareform kitchen benchtop $741.00 soft close doors to cabinetry ($10 per door) $360.00 - we would have liked to get soft close doors but though it was too pricey and could add them later ourselves Tiles rectified tiles in ensuite and main bathroom $164.00 floor tiles in powder room $397.00 Sill tiles cut $150.00 (otherwise we would have had to go the red window tills) credit for no splashback +$257.00 (we wanted glass but was going to be cheaper to buy and install after handover because of the dechellis mark up) A&L Windows ventlock's to all sliding windows (9x$14.85) $133.65 translucent glass to sidelight $133.65 5mm grey tint to front awning windows $528.66 Electrical three light fittings above island bench $150.00 extra light fitting in front hallway $50.00 add light to store room $50.00 extra two lights under eaves outside $150.00 two external lights on portico $150.00 outdoor powerpoint for spa $90.00 Upgrade to linea switches to all lights and the over bench power outlets $290.00 (29pp@$10/each) upgrade to two way light switch $90.00 Surge protector $110.00 Last man out switch $140.00 (we had to ask about this but think it's a fantastic idea and great value) APBC Upgrade to 3 square basins $462.00 Swivel Bath Sprout $69.00 Upgrade to chrome bath plug $20.00 Upgrade stovetop to EG60BWSC $247.00 Laundry mixer tap $120.00 Glazed Tran to front door $195.00 Solid door from Garage $195.00 Upgrade the internal doors from timber to flush $285.00 Upgrade to lock at front door $219.00 chrome shower knobs to both showers $160.00 credit per soap holder (we use body soap and think soap holders get in the way) +$36.00 credit for deleted towel rails in both bathrooms (couldn't decide on placement so decided to install them later) +$70.00 Other Third colour to facade (render)- this was only told to us at the very end) $200.00 hi-lights to garage door $510.00 BTW: Things I knew I didn't want to do without I got included in the original quote. These included; shower rail, mixer taps (though I didn't pick up in the small print he had only included kitchen and bathroom), slab ends for the island bench, Landry cabinets, draws in both bathrooms, draws in the main WIR's, BIR in one bedroom, overhead cupboards in kitchen, rendered portico, extra powerpoints and probably a few other things that I can't think of right now
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 10Oct 20, 2012 7:25 am Your house is looking great Southbank - the lists and information you have included in your post are very comprehensive and helpful!! We were driving through Southbank the other day looking at facades and front yards and spotted your house, it must have been just before lock up as it didn't have a front door yet I don't think. Is your block all of that space out to the side as well? Your plans look excellent and I love that you have already done your furniture placement-good idea! Also not having any windows in your media room is very smart - saves on curtains too. Have your found Dechellis easy to work with so far? Who is your site supervisor? It might be the same as us as we are in the southern area as well. Please keep us updated, i wonder if things will slow down now that they are at the lock up stage? Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 11Oct 20, 2012 8:31 am Thanks Monoco Build, I'm glad it's helpful. Yes that would be our house. We choose it because of the awesome views and lots of space for our boys to do boy things. We keep a kite in our car and while we're checking out progress with the house our boys fly their kite Thought I was being smart with the furniture placement but forgot to specify in the plans that I needed the front lounge corner to be a minimum width to fit a cabinet and only noticed after the windows went in that it won't fit Have found Dechellis pretty easy to deal with so far, as with all builders there are things that I'm sure could be done better on the paper work side but I can't fault their build so far and they have been very responsive to the issues we have picked up
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 12Oct 21, 2012 3:00 pm Hi Southbank, Your house looks amazing! My partner and I were looking through your timeline as gauging against ours, at that satge we were only aware of our slab!!!! Until I got a message from my dad - a picture of our frame. So thank you for sharing YOUR experiences! I too, have a thread going. They have given us a finish time of April 18th, so we'll see if it turns out any earlier! Looking forward to your progress pics! Amanda Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 13Oct 21, 2012 7:59 pm Thanks AmandaC and congrats on your frame! Just found your thread, will now pop over and have a read BTW: There was only 10 days between our slab and framework which although we were happy that things were progressing quickly were also a little worried as we had been told the longer a slab cures the better. However we were assured that the frames doesn't make much difference to the slab it's the brickwork that shouldn't go up to quickly.
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 14Oct 21, 2012 8:46 pm Hi Southbank, What program did you use to do your furniture placement?? Good job on the selection post. Land Settled 08/11/11 Council Approval 23/12/11 Final Selections 20/01/12 Start Date 18/07/12 Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 15Oct 22, 2012 1:34 pm Hi Nice plan, looking forward to seeing more pics Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 16Oct 23, 2012 1:41 pm It's looking great - almost like your mock up! I noticed in your selections "Upgrade to chrome bath plug $20.00" - we did the same for our bath and sinks but it only means a chrome waste with a rubber plug - we have since retro-fitted the chrome waste and pop up plugs in the sink which didn't cost much at all ... just thought I'd mention it in case you didn't realise (we didn't). Can't retrofit the bath so we need to find a plug we can pull out easier than the one we have ... For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 17Oct 23, 2012 4:19 pm Thanks Mclaren. I had learnt from one of the forums (probably yours) about the plug and we had planned to upgrade the sinks ourselves later because we thought the cost to upgrade was ridiculous. My handy hubby has installed the pop up chrome wastes in our current home and they work fantastically. It is one of the first things I think I will get him to do after we move in as I think they look so much nicer
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 18Oct 23, 2012 4:20 pm I probably should have started with this but better late than never... A big THANK YOU to those that have shared their helpful hints and words of wisdom via these forums. I have spend many a nights ready through them gathering advice through the experience and knowledge of others and I'm positive that though these tips I have saved money, advoided stressful situations and will love and appreciated my home all the more.
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 19Oct 24, 2012 1:23 pm It's a great site isn't it? Good luck with the rest of your build .... For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! Re: Building a custom home with dechellis 20Oct 27, 2012 1:33 pm Three months in... Today marks 3 months since the slab was poured and things have really slowed down since lock up. In the last week they have been working on the eaves and cornices. Eaves are almost complete and cornices are only half way there Luckily I was able to get inside while the cornice guy was there and take some photos. I will now post them along with details of some of our colour choices. As you will see we played it pretty safe with colours and plan to liven it up later with some bright accessories. This is our kitchen. Our cupboards are 'polar white' silk finish and benchtop is 'Onyx cluster' natural finish square form. We have slab ends on our island with a miter join. According to the paperwork the handles are 'Artia 054487' and they have been left off of the overhead cupboards to give us a more streamlined look. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our power room cupboards are 'smocky sepelle' and the benchtop is 'papiro chalk' In our ensuite we went with the 'ebony marble' benchtop and 'polar white' cupboards Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ and in our laundry we went with 'polar white' cupboards and 'papiro chalk' benchtop. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅
07.11.11 - Signed build contract 06.06.12 - Builders interview 27.07.12 - Slab poured 05.10.12 - Lock up Hi, can anyone recommend a custom home builder who can build in north east area? Looking to build a custom 4-br energy-efficient home with a max budget of 750k. If they… 0 22813 ideal house depends on the site and location as much as internal floor plan....what is the distance from the house to all four boundaries, where is north, describe your… 3 15156 |