Browse Forums Building A New House Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mt Bar 101Oct 08, 2013 2:22 pm At least Broken Hill is civilised with pizza, KFC, take-away Chinese, supermarkets and a range of shops. Mind you, that is legacy of the days the mines were in their heyday. If they were setting up now, I'm sure it would be on par with Roxby. Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mt Bar 102Oct 08, 2013 6:46 pm hachy melanie85 hachy poor clayton, roxby sucks. YUP! I'm hearing you!!! It's solely so we can afford to do more things with the house a lot quicker than planned and so he can get some money behind him to start his own plumbing business. Ahhhhh the joys of life... yep money is the only reason anyone goes to roxby, not for a lifestyle or anything. if we had not have gone we wouldn't have been able to afford to build the house. is clayton doing something like fly in and out every 2 weeks or something? hope he doesnt like takeaway food cos the nearest is a 2+hr drive to pt augusta. His Dad is a boss of a company up there so at least he will have family close by. I went to Roxby with him not long ago and I don't think I could live there at all. He's 13 days on and 8 days off. I don't think that's too bad. My brother works in Qld on the gas pipe lines and it's a month on. I don't know how they do it! Keep calm and build a house Building a custom plan 'Wild Orchid' with Dechellis Homes at Mallala THIS IS OUR JOURNEY... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64597 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mt Bar 103Oct 08, 2013 8:36 pm My partner works FIFO...used to be at Olympic Dam, but is now at a mine that doesn't even have a town attached to it, so is even more isolated now. Thankfully just 1 week on and then 1 off...is so much nicer! Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mt Bar 104Oct 08, 2013 9:45 pm Cooper05 My partner works FIFO...used to be at Olympic Dam, but is now at a mine that doesn't even have a town attached to it, so is even more isolated now. Thankfully just 1 week on and then 1 off...is so much nicer! It sucks, but for the money they earn there it's really worth it. We would never be able to get in front with a big mortgage otherwise. Seems like there are a fair few people on here who are building or looking to build who work in the mines Keep calm and build a house Building a custom plan 'Wild Orchid' with Dechellis Homes at Mallala THIS IS OUR JOURNEY... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64597 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mt Bar 105Oct 15, 2013 9:01 pm melanie85 tasha_is_clueless Just popped past to let you know that Mick managed to drag me down to the block yesterday afternoon to check on our flowers (which are hidden by all the weeds that have grown back ) and the dirt has been moved from your block Your colour schemes etc are looking fantastic and I am loving that decking area! Good to hear from you Tasha Not so good to hear that your flowers have been overgrown by weeds I'm too scared to have a look at our block's weeds, we can't get there to do any mowing or slashing for a couple of weeks as Clayton is going to start work in Roxby soon. Busy times ahead. Thank you for reporting back on the dirt. I wasn't too worried, but it's good to know. Do you know when the builders have the all clear to start work? Not long now surely!!! Nope, hopefully not too long. We have the all clear to go just waiting, waiting, waiting for Fairmont to do their thing now. Thankfully, I am two weeks off of exams and they will run over almost two weeks so my mind is occupied for the moment. Building the Leabrook with Fairmont Homes in Mallala, SA. Building contract 24/3/13 Council Approval 18/6/13 Selections 29/6/13 & 1/7/13 Site works 21/10/13 Slab 7/11/13 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mallal 106Dec 03, 2013 9:26 pm After what feels like forever in waiting and saving we are almost there. I am picking up all of the contracts, plans, selection guidelines and a bank pack tomorrow after work. Excited!!! We still need to save another $6,000 before the bank will approve our loan but we have a few months to play with thankfully. The first proper meeting we will have with Dechellis is on the 18th of February and our build is scheduled to begin on the 17th of March. Starting to feel like it's all getting real now and the last year of saving and looking endlessly has paid off. I'm actually able to start looking at selections and colour scheme's, furniture and lighting, matching toasters and kettles etc instead of blocks of land and house designs. We are going to build a timber deck under the alfresco, but aren't sure how to go about it. Apparently there are two options: pour a slab and put it over that or leave it as strip footing and build it up using supports. Not sure which avenue to go down as we can see pros and cons for each. Any ideas?? Keep calm and build a house Building a custom plan 'Wild Orchid' with Dechellis Homes at Mallala THIS IS OUR JOURNEY... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64597 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mt Bar 107Dec 04, 2013 9:51 am Can't help with your deck, both ways would have pros and cons; but so glad you are moving forward and have a start date. Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mt Bar 108Dec 09, 2013 1:55 pm Great to hear it is coming along neighbour! March will be here before you know it and you will have the joy of watching it go up. Colour schemes and dreaming of what you will do is one of the best bits so enjoy. Building the Leabrook with Fairmont Homes in Mallala, SA. Building contract 24/3/13 Council Approval 18/6/13 Selections 29/6/13 & 1/7/13 Site works 21/10/13 Slab 7/11/13 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mallal 109Jan 13, 2014 12:34 pm Update! (I wish I knew how to change my title from Mount Barker to Mallala) Finally we have some progress and are just about to begin selections TOMORROW! The appointments are spread out all over the place, but all of the companies had breaks over the silly season and we weren't able to contact them to book in until after the 6th of January and even today was finalising the last 3 appointments from companies that reopened today. So this is the plan... 14/1/14 - Sampina Joinery (Cupboards and surfaces) - PJ Glazing (Splashback) 15/1/14 - Italia Ceramics (Tiles) 16/1/14 - Caspa Electrical - Carpet Call 24/1/14- Austronic (Phone and TV points etc) - Direct Interiors (Door and door hardware) - Adelaide Building and Plumbing Centre (Plumbing, shower screens, robes & Euro appliances) 3/2/14 - PGH Bricks (Thinking of Oyster which is a grey brick) 5/2/14 - A & L Windows (Aluminum windows and doors) Other selections that don't need appointments are: * Commercial Air (Airconditioning) Quote has already been done and they are present at the final selection meeting with Dechellis. * Gliderol (Garage Door) * Solver Paints (Interior and exterior including render colour for the front of the house) * Stratco (Roofing) 17/2/14 - Final selection meeting at Dechellis HQ 17/3/14 - START DATE 17/9/14 - FINISH DATE (Hopefully it is before September!!) We have decided to move away from brown and cream colours and are choosing greys and whites. White and grey silk finish joinery, white floor tiles (I'm going to regret this aren't I?!), light grey carpet and I am going to have the walls painted a crisp white. I am going to paint darker grey feature walls after handover and before we move in. I know what I want in my head and have a created a look book using a Kikki-K folder, "My Dream Home", which has pictures and clippings of styles and colours that we like for all rooms. This is the exciting yet daunting phase. Clayton's roster has changed to 13 on and 8 off and somehow, without my doing, NONE of the selections appointments are scheduled for when he is back Which makes it more scary because if I pick something bad, then it's my fault. Eeep! That's why the look book has come in handy and we have spoken about most things and put our thoughts and ideas in there. WISH ME LUCK!!!!!! Keep calm and build a house Building a custom plan 'Wild Orchid' with Dechellis Homes at Mallala THIS IS OUR JOURNEY... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64597 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in Mt Bar 110Jan 13, 2014 12:48 pm To change the title of your thread, go to the end of the first post in your thread and find the edit button. Choose edit and in the subject line, change the heading to whatever you want. And best of luck for your selections. Sounds good so far, and I'm sure if you've discussed everything with Clayton they'll all work out just fine for both of you. Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 111Jan 13, 2014 12:55 pm Woo hoo! It worked! Thanks lucinda, I've been trying to work that one out for months!!! I'm more than certain it has confused a few people too haha. I just hope there are no unnecessary blow outs with selections. We upgraded a lot of things in the initial quote. It's the joinery and tiles that I am most worried about. Keep calm and build a house Building a custom plan 'Wild Orchid' with Dechellis Homes at Mallala THIS IS OUR JOURNEY... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64597 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 112Jan 13, 2014 2:04 pm The two areas where we got caught out, hopefully not for you. You will have so much fun, shame that hubbie can't be there. Must be so exciting to finally have things happening again Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 113Jan 13, 2014 2:30 pm FairmontSAcustom The two areas where we got caught out, hopefully not for you. You will have so much fun, shame that hubbie can't be there. Must be so exciting to finally have things happening again Oh FairmontSAcustom. You hit the nail on the head! It's so nice to start seeing the benefits of saving for so long and getting nothing in return for such a long time. Not that I'm not prepared, I know I am, it's just that you feel like it's never going to happen, then it does and you start to freak out! I am going to be pretty ruthless with selections. Other than the main things, fixtures for plumbing and little things can be changed later on if needs be. Lets hope I have that same mindset when I walk into the display rooms haha Keep calm and build a house Building a custom plan 'Wild Orchid' with Dechellis Homes at Mallala THIS IS OUR JOURNEY... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64597 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 114Jan 13, 2014 3:50 pm That's right, it is easy to replace things like kitchen doors and bench tops later on. We have laminate bench top in our laundry and it looks really good. Tiles could be the blow out because they are more expensive to replace so more tempting to get it right first time. However I am sure they will have some nice ones in your price bracket. Tell them not to show you the upgrades, he he. You will have a house this year now that must be awesome to say out loud! Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 115Jan 13, 2014 3:51 pm Oh and we have a grey and white colour scheme along with timber as a feature Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 116Jan 15, 2014 2:33 pm Hi - Good luck with all your appointments! Very exciting ... A word or two of warning though - we weren't happy with the meeting at Sampina as we were looked after by a girl who didn't know what she was doing and luckily the boss was there to add some sense but we were very disappointed with the end result and going to Laminex was a waste of time. Hope the meeting went well. If you read the beginning of my thread there is a warning about porcelain tiles which cost us a fortune and look terrible. In hindsight we wish we had got this done ourselves after handover. We feel we were sold an inferior product at top price. Apart from that all the rest are great .. let us know if you need any help with anything or have any questions. This part of the process is scary but so much fun!!! Edited to say I just looked through your choices and they are great - you are so right about the brown palette looking dated compared to the Cedar display ... can't wait to see the end result! Cheers Annette 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: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 117Jan 28, 2014 1:39 pm So glad to hear you're in the midst of selections. I am sure you are loving it and fantastic to hear of a start date. You won't be far behind us I'm sure you know by now but the price of silk finish isn't too scary. May be different because of different builder but we got polygloss which was $20 more a panel than silk and it came in at $1700 for the kitchen, vanity and ensuite and I still thought that was a really good price. Can't wait for you to come on and update us on what you picked. I think your grey and white scheme sounds great but I absolutely detest brown haha Building the Leabrook with Fairmont Homes in Mallala, SA. Building contract 24/3/13 Council Approval 18/6/13 Selections 29/6/13 & 1/7/13 Site works 21/10/13 Slab 7/11/13 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 118Jan 28, 2014 2:16 pm How did your selections go, melanie85? Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 119Jan 28, 2014 9:33 pm FairmontSAcustom That's right, it is easy to replace things like kitchen doors and bench tops later on. We have laminate bench top in our laundry and it looks really good. Tiles could be the blow out because they are more expensive to replace so more tempting to get it right first time. However I am sure they will have some nice ones in your price bracket. Tell them not to show you the upgrades, he he. You will have a house this year now that must be awesome to say out loud! You are so right! We have made a few upgrades because it would be more expensive in the long run to replace them, but because Clayton is a plumber, he is able to do quite a bit in that area himself. Tiles are annoying me because of the need to get them right the first time. We extended the start date on our build from the original date in March to June. This just gives us more time to save and not feel pressured with the upgrades we have made. But with a finish date of December the 20th, we will still be in this year!! I will upload photos of our selections so far. I forgot to take photos of the plumbing choices so I'm thinking of going back in there to do so hahaha Keep calm and build a house Building a custom plan 'Wild Orchid' with Dechellis Homes at Mallala THIS IS OUR JOURNEY... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64597 Re: One small step for most, one giant leap for us in... Mal 120Jan 28, 2014 9:41 pm Mclaren Hi - Good luck with all your appointments! Very exciting ... A word or two of warning though - we weren't happy with the meeting at Sampina as we were looked after by a girl who didn't know what she was doing and luckily the boss was there to add some sense but we were very disappointed with the end result and going to Laminex was a waste of time. Hope the meeting went well. If you read the beginning of my thread there is a warning about porcelain tiles which cost us a fortune and look terrible. In hindsight we wish we had got this done ourselves after handover. We feel we were sold an inferior product at top price. Apart from that all the rest are great .. let us know if you need any help with anything or have any questions. This part of the process is scary but so much fun!!! Edited to say I just looked through your choices and they are great - you are so right about the brown palette looking dated compared to the Cedar display ... can't wait to see the end result! Cheers Annette Hi Mclaren (Annette)! Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. I haven't been on for a while. The school holidays have been super busy with selections! We are nearly finished!!! Feels so good to say that! Sampina turned out to be really easy as we literally copied the design of one of the Dechellis display homes. They already had all the colours recorded so we didn't have to match them. Thank god! It's so hard when you are looking at tiny little samples!!! I didn't bother going to Laminex for this reason. As for the tiles, I am still deciding... This has turned out to be he hardest part of it all! The main floor tiles and the bathroom/ ensuite floor tiles are turning out to be painful because I keep changing my mind! I will upload photos of some of the options. Sorry to hear about your experiences with selections. It is such a difficult and stressful time when doing selections and finally seeing the end result. Keep calm and build a house Building a custom plan 'Wild Orchid' with Dechellis Homes at Mallala THIS IS OUR JOURNEY... viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64597 Do I need to concern about this pattern of crack? Is this crack showing some signs of bigger problems? Thanks for any suggestions! 1 1914 Thank you. That is really helpful. Once we get the place done and passed for OC we can upgrade in the future once we get back on our feet and not paying mortgage and rent. 4 5727 The worst thing you can do is sign a building contract without a pre contract review. Over the years many people have come to me with disputes where they just signed… 0 8340 |