Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jun 22, 2013 5:43 pm Hi guys, I have been reading the threads within this forum ever since I had begun to dream of building, and finally I am about to sign on the dotted line. A bit about me : I am a first home owner (or will be), building a modified Taragona with Hickinbotham. I have just received my footings report (eeeeeee!!!! price increase!) and have made my colour selections appointment. I have decided most of what I want in my house, but unfortunately money IS an object with me and some of the upgrades I have in mind might just have to wait. A few things that I am concerned about: I have posted a reply in another thread about my footings report. It came back WAY over what they quoted in the initial contract. $5200 extra for footings, $4000 extra for excess soil removal, and $1500 extra for power connection. I also found out that I need to put retaining walls in later (but that's another story! ) I really wish that there were prices in the selections book - I am keen to find out how much it costs to upgrade to a Westinghouse dishwasher, upgrade my shower fittings, upgrade my lighting.... but I guess I'll have to wait for that. Oh, and my super duper biggest dream - a spa bath (not sure if I am allowed to change my plans to a corner spa, but I guess I'll find out that too!) Anyway, just a friendly "hello" and a bit of a vent. You all seem like lovely, helpful people who know a lot about building. Nice to meet you, Angela Land settled: 13th April 2013 Master Plans: 6th May 2013 Footings Report: 14th June 2013 Colour Selections: 8th July 2013 Council Approval: 4th July 2013 Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 2Jun 22, 2013 5:52 pm welcome, the electrical selections are a killer we went over the allowance by 7k , but most of that price was led downlights Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 3Jun 22, 2013 6:01 pm How much was each downlight? The ones that I really want are in the kitchen area, and heat lamps for the bathrooms. They are the main changes - everything else is just gravy. Wow - 7K! Land settled: 13th April 2013 Master Plans: 6th May 2013 Footings Report: 14th June 2013 Colour Selections: 8th July 2013 Council Approval: 4th July 2013 Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 4Jun 22, 2013 6:09 pm angeepants How much was each downlight? The ones that I really want are in the kitchen area, and heat lamps for the bathrooms. They are the main changes - everything else is just gravy. Wow - 7K! i think from memory it was around $350(have heaps of them )to be fair we put double power points everywhere, fancy power points on the splashback, security lighting outdoors,special power points for tv & home theatre areas, and NBN wiring and special enclosure for the NBN hub Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 5Jun 22, 2013 6:12 pm Hi angeepants, we're building with Hickinbotham. You can email the customer service people with questions. For us it usually took about two weeks (and a gentle reminder) before getting answers. In the end I just made my wish list and took it to selections. They quote some things on the spot, but other things, especially kitchen and bathroom upgrades, have to be quoted by the suppliers so they take longer. Some of the upgrades seem to be about full retail price with no reduction for the standard so in that regard they seem expensive, but if we were doing it ourselves we would have to pay for delivery and tradespeople so in the end it costs us less to have the builder do it for us. If you are handy though you might want to do some of it later on rather than include it in your build. We had a promo dishwasher but it didn't seem to be a very good one so we asked for the Westinghouse one. It cost us $1295, no rebate for the promo one but you get to keep it if you want; I suppose you could sell it or give it to charity. Regarding shower and lighting, it would depend on what you want. I have some of the Liano prices--if you would like them, let me know. We asked for a veggiemixer in the laundry--there is a price for kitchen installation and a different (dearer of course) price if fitted in a laundry. Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 6Jun 22, 2013 6:14 pm maddutchman and NBN wiring and special enclosure for the NBN hub Oh yeah... the NBN. I already have double powerpoints included but want to add about three extra points. And security lighting... maybe mine will end up that much! Land settled: 13th April 2013 Master Plans: 6th May 2013 Footings Report: 14th June 2013 Colour Selections: 8th July 2013 Council Approval: 4th July 2013 Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 8Jun 22, 2013 6:16 pm angeepants maddutchman and NBN wiring and special enclosure for the NBN hub Oh yeah... the NBN. I already have double powerpoints included but want to add about three extra points. And security lighting... maybe mine will end up that much! hahaha, after our clipsal selections we both walked out after going WTF just happened Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 9Jun 22, 2013 6:20 pm _lucinda The heat lamps are $335 for two heat and $510 for four heat. thanks for letting me know _lucinda! Now I have to decide what I "need" and maddutchman - I am not surprised. How far into your building are you? Or still at pre-construction stage? Land settled: 13th April 2013 Master Plans: 6th May 2013 Footings Report: 14th June 2013 Colour Selections: 8th July 2013 Council Approval: 4th July 2013 Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 10Jun 22, 2013 6:21 pm Sent you a PM Angela Jo My son and his fiance's build viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66084 24/7 Slabbed 30/7 Framed 05/8 Gutters 08/8 Roof & windows 31/8 gyprock,bricks,cornice 3/9 Lock up 8/11 In Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 11Jun 22, 2013 6:24 pm _lucinda We had a promo dishwasher but it didn't seem to be a very good one so we asked for the Westinghouse one. It cost us $1295, no rebate for the promo one but you get to keep it if you want; I suppose you could sell it or give it to charity. Cheers for that! I think it's worth it to get the upgrade - I read review for the included one and - no joke - most of them said they put out black smoke and stopped working! I think selling is a good option. How far into your build are you? Land settled: 13th April 2013 Master Plans: 6th May 2013 Footings Report: 14th June 2013 Colour Selections: 8th July 2013 Council Approval: 4th July 2013 Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 12Jun 22, 2013 6:48 pm angeepants _lucinda The heat lamps are $335 for two heat and $510 for four heat. thanks for letting me know _lucinda! Now I have to decide what I "need" and maddutchman - I am not surprised. How far into your building are you? Or still at pre-construction stage? almost at handover Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 13Jun 22, 2013 10:41 pm hi angela, we are also building with hickies. where abouts are you building? we too have that dishwasher promo which i dont think we will put in, we were going to get it taken off but because it was on our contract they said one would be getting delivered regardless. hubby isnt keen on dishwashers but we have a dishwasher provision included for resale but i think i will talk him into getting a westinghouse one at some stage. not sure why they have the dishwasher promo when they dont even install it, lucinda do they install the westinghouse one or do they not install any of the dishwashers? h Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 14Jun 23, 2013 12:16 pm Yes, I understand the Westinghouse one is fully installed. I don't know but my suspicion is that if they install the promo one they could be held responsible and have to replace it if/when it blows up. Once we realised what the promo was we insisted it wasn't to be delivered because for us we would have to hire someone to come and take it away and dispose of it. We'd rather just spend the money to have something decent (fingers crossed) installed. Ange, we have given the okay for the selections paperwork to be finalised and sent to us (for signing I think--nothing happens until they have our signatures, I believe). We seem to have first stage council approval, but haven't had that advice from Hickinbotham's--we are following progress through the council web site. So I think we have two more council stages and have to sign our selections, then we should be ready to be placed on the queue for a slab. Ta-da! Unlike many, we are lucky because we are not in a hurry. Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 15Jun 26, 2013 9:21 am Hi Angela, It is nice to see another Hickinbotham build on here. My wife and I are building a slightly modified Torino in Seaford Rise. Just out of curiosity what brand and model is the promo dishwasher? we have it included also but forget what it is. We figured even if it only lasts 6 months it was free and then we can buy a nicer one down the track. I look forward to watching you build progress Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 16Jun 26, 2013 3:26 pm _lucinda Hi angeepants, we're building with Hickinbotham. We had a promo dishwasher but it didn't seem to be a very good one so we asked for the Westinghouse one. It cost us $1295, no rebate for the promo one but you get to keep it if you want; I suppose you could sell it or give it to charity wow installation must be expensive, just had a look at a westinghouse dishwasher almost same model and it cost a little under $700. Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 17Jun 27, 2013 8:01 am Retailers (both shops and online) have massive discounts but appliances from the builder seem to me to be the highest retail price. For example, see here--the dishwasher for $877 but scroll down to RRP and see $1279, which matches the builder's price. Would be cheaper to leave it out and fit one later. For us, because doing things at a distance is not the easiest, and we want everything in place when we move in, it suited us to go with their's even though it is more expensive. I found the same with the other appliances too. Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 18Jun 27, 2013 4:41 pm _lucinda Retailers (both shops and online) have massive discounts but appliances from the builder seem to me to be the highest retail price. For example, see here--the dishwasher for $877 but scroll down to RRP and see $1279, which matches the builder's price. Would be cheaper to leave it out and fit one later. For us, because doing things at a distance is not the easiest, and we want everything in place when we move in, it suited us to go with their's even though it is more expensive. I found the same with the other appliances too. we have a dishwasher provision put in and the promo dishwasher will be delivered but i think i will find a westinghouse one to match the oven and stove, we dont currently use a dishwasher so not a big deal for us. Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 19Jun 27, 2013 6:15 pm That's the other reason I wanted Westinghouse, to match the other appliances, and I think their products are reasonably good. Re: First Home: Taragona (mod) with Hickinbotham 20Jul 06, 2013 1:46 pm Hi peoples, Sorry I haven't been on for a while - had to deal with a family emergency over the last few weeks and finally have a chance to breathe Good news - was advised of council approval on Thursday! My selections appt is booked in for Monday so I am hoping that things will begin to get underway this month... or next month... I don't know how long the whole process takes. It's interesting to see what everyone has said about the dishwasher. I think I'm going to go with what @DavCar13 is doing and take my chances. I hope everyone's build is progressing! Land settled: 13th April 2013 Master Plans: 6th May 2013 Footings Report: 14th June 2013 Colour Selections: 8th July 2013 Council Approval: 4th July 2013 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 27463 We already paid for somfy motors for the blinds. The quote above was purely for “pre-wiring” so the blinds company can install the motors and blinds. That’s why we… 5 16252 11 40698 |