Browse Forums Building A New House 1 May 05, 2013 12:41 pm Hi everyone,
I'm pondering whether I should start a thread because I'm also blogging our building journey . I think I'd do both (see how long I'd last!). The blog would be a good place to record all the events, you can find it here http://ourfirstbuild.wordpress.com/, whereas this thread would be a good place to seek advice from you wonderful people, and this might be able to help others too So here we go. We started looking for established houses last year, but couldn't find anything that ticks all the boxes. We accidentally found out about Corimbia in Landsdale, both of us thought this is it. A block that meets all our criteria became available as soon as we got an offer on our house, how's that for good timing! We signed the O&A in November 2012 on a south facing 416m2 block with 13m frontage, title has recently been issued. We spent a good 3 months to choose a builder, it's more difficult than we expected. At the very end, we were tossing between Ventura and Aveling Homes, after over-analysing the pros and cons of both (you don't want to know how many spreadsheets I created), we decided to sign up with Aveling Homes late Feb this year. We're building the Corimbia display, we choose this design because we love the layout of the display home, it fits perfectly on our block, and we don't need to change a lot of things. This is our first time building, we're playing it safe The original Corimbia: We changed the elevation from the "boxy" look to a more traditional 34c portico with corner window look similar to the New Haven display. We're a bit worried the box and blade wall look may date quicker but we could be wrong A few other things: - extend internal wall and add double door frame to AV so that we can put doors in after handover - replace original window in AV with highlite window - modified laundry linen and added a door to it, we had to extend the laundry a little bit to make it work - add sliders to all bedroom robes and linen cupboard in activity - add door frame to activity so we can close that area when the furry family members are home by themselves - replace original entry door with 1200mm wide door - raise ceiling height of entry passage to 31c instead of 28c with recess ceiling - deleted the paving in the front and will reallocate them to the side and rear of the house at pre-start, we will have exposed aggregate after handover (thanks SerialBuilder for the tip ) - we increased the living area, there's only a highlite window, we can push it out a little bit, our salesperson said - reduced window size in dining to meet Stockland's design guidelines (no east facing windows where applicable) - removed window in the WIP and replace with shelves - extend fridge recess and add cold water tap - we picked the upgrade package of overhead cupboards and stone benchtop in the kitchen. We also added overhead cupboards above fridge recess and the area next to the fridge, plus 2 microwave alcoves - Not that I have two microwaves, but I have too many kitchen gadgets... That recess area in the kitchen seems to be a waste in the original design, especially after we extended the fridge recess... Timeline so far: 19/11/12 O&A signed 21/11/12 O&A accepted 19/12/12 Unconditional finance approval 27/02/13 PCA signed 18/04/13 Title issued 3/05/13 Contracts 7/05/13 Contracts signed and returned 9/05/13 Land settlement 20/05/13 Received detail drawings 13/06/13 Pre-start 21/06/13 Final documents signed 05/07/13 finance approval 12/07/13 Building permit 20/08/13 Earthworks 21/08/13 Footings 22/08/13 Slabbed!! 02/10/13 Brickwork started 15/10/13 Brickwork finished 17/10/13 Roof started 23/10/13 Eaves done 25/10/13 Roof frame, smart wiring done 26/10/13 Gas meter installed 29/10/13 Gutters, down pipes done 01/11/13 Colorbond roof done 13/11/13 Grey float started 15/11/13 Grey float completed 18/11/13 Ceilings and cornices started 25/11/13 cornices done 26/11/13 windows in, white set started 03/12/13 white set done 04/12/13 Lock up shelves and rails, internal doors are in 09/12/13 ceilings and internal doors painted 10/12/13 internal wall painting started 13/12/13 cabinets installed 29/12/13 Wet area tiling started 07/01/14 Wet area tiling finished 31/01/14 Practical Completion 06/02/14 PCI - pre-handover meeting 20/02/14 Handover Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 2May 05, 2013 12:48 pm Hey hey, glad you're starting a thread! All looks great, can't wait to see the progress Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 3May 05, 2013 3:25 pm thanks twiggens. been stalking everyone for a while, guess it's time to "give back" Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 5May 05, 2013 7:06 pm Great plan and changes! I see a few similarities to my plan. Glad you started a thread They will ask you about tap, manhole, gas locations at pre start My build: viewtopic.php?t=62001 My Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62001 Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 6May 05, 2013 11:37 pm Thanks jaceb. We're thinking of moving the manhole to the garage, what do you think? Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 7May 05, 2013 11:41 pm We're moving our manhole to the garage and I think I was told to also put a power point there too? Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 8May 05, 2013 11:43 pm I love your plan - another laundry off the kitchen - just love that!! Looking forward to watching your house develops too Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 9May 05, 2013 11:56 pm Ah! noted! We might need 2 power points then, someone (maybe the sales rep, can't remember) said we need a double power point for the NBN box...? Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 10May 06, 2013 12:03 am We had a single in the garage provided by the builder for future nbn. So we upgraded it to a double. Love the plan!! Have you considered moving your sink? We put it almost to One end to increase uninterrupted bench space Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 11May 06, 2013 8:46 am Manhole in the garage is a great idea. Saves future tradesman carrying ladders through the house to get into the roof. The NBN requires a dedicated power point as far as I'm aware. So you will need to have a think where you want the fibre box connected. My build: viewtopic.php?t=62001 My Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62001 Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 12May 06, 2013 9:18 am There was one other thing. I am not sure how long your main toilet is but have them move the door as far forward as they can. It think the minimum they will do is 1.5m but that is pretty tight. Particularly with a 720 door if it's only 1500 it'll be one of those toilets you have to do a bit of a 'dance' in to get in and shut the door. Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 13May 06, 2013 10:35 am will look forward to watching your thread.. everyone has caught up to me and starting to get ahead.. silly slow builders of mine. i think we want to move manhole to garage too. Home Group WA Monte Carlo Timeline on Page 1 Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 14May 06, 2013 3:42 pm heya - writing to let you know i'll be following your thread closely! yay for more neighbours! Build #2 Builder: In-Vogue Design: Custom 2 Storey Build #1 Builder: New Generation Homes Design: The Monterey My Build Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=60453 Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 15May 06, 2013 11:09 pm Thanks everyone. Good to know a lot of us are moving manhole to the garage. fmac Love the plan!! Have you considered moving your sink? We put it almost to One end to increase uninterrupted bench space That's a good point, I might consider that! Need to think about how I usually use the bench space then decide. fmac There was one other thing. I am not sure how long your main toilet is but have them move the door as far forward as they can. It think the minimum they will do is 1.5m but that is pretty tight. Particularly with a 720 door if it's only 1500 it'll be one of those toilets you have to do a bit of a 'dance' in to get in and shut the door. The toilet is about 1.6m long, well spotted! We didn't even think of that! I hope we can change that without having to pay variation fee happytaurus I love your plan - another laundry off the kitchen - just love that!! Looking forward to watching your house develops too thanks HT One thing I just realised though, now that we put a door in, we need to move the light switch to the little nook in the kitchen. hmmm.... Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 16May 06, 2013 11:22 pm Nicci will look forward to watching your thread.. everyone has caught up to me and starting to get ahead.. silly slow builders of mine. i think we want to move manhole to garage too. I'd be jumping up and and down and ask them to give you a good reason! Speaking of progress, on the weekend we drove past Sissinghurst someone has got a tap already!! how's that even possible? Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 17May 06, 2013 11:23 pm Just a minor update. Aveling got back to me re the missing electrical plan and kitchen, bathroom drawings. They said they changed their procedure a little bit, they're not sent with contracts anymore, because we don't need them for finance. She said we will receive them in approximately a week, will then book us in for pre-start. Fair enough. We just have to make sure everything in the contract is correct. Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 18May 06, 2013 11:58 pm The toilet wall hopefully shouldn't be an issue as it is internal. Yeah I spent a lot of time watching people using their kitchen to decide on our layout. Seeing the kitchen and bathrooms pictures is amazing! To get an idea of how it looks Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 19May 07, 2013 9:38 am Posting to follow. Woohoo Janicec's got a thread!! - I gave up on my blog after 2 weeks haha. Plan is great, also love laundry off kitchen, I will miss this in my new home. Also forgot about manhole in garage, so disappointed. Go for it Janicec, it's so annoying to have trades dirty and scratch your floor when they need access to it. Garage is a brilliant location. Can never have enough powerpoints or lighting in the garage, especially when hubby wants to tinker lol. (Light positioned over bonnet of car also a plus as the middle of garage will create shadow). Well done for the elevation too, so nice compared to the original. I'm just a amazed how much house you can fit on the block. It's a great design. Can't wait to see it all happen. Re: Our first build with Aveling Homes in Landsdale WA 20May 08, 2013 12:23 am Thanks SB, will make sure to reposition the lights in garage. Yes we have a site coverage of just over 60%, first thing my friend asked was where are you going to put your clothes line? We are also thinking of getting an instantaneous hot water system, I hope they're not too expensive. Thank you so much everyone. This all makes a lot of sense. 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