Our Build: Dennis Family Homes "Oxford"

gootza · Jul 26, 2013 2:29 pm

Hi everyone!

Thought it was about time i started my own thread!

My partner and i are first home owners and are building the "Oxford" with Dennis Family Homes in Shepparton. We prefer long open living plans. Our plan is very simple! We consulted DFH early this year after we had saved our deposit and have found them to be really great so far...

Our land was settled on Tuesday, so we are now the proud owners of a piece of the earth!

House contracts are still being drawn. We have been told that they are behind with their contracts at the moment, but shouldn't be too much longer.

We had our colour selections about a month ago, and have made some variations to the plan. The estate our block is in has a covenant that all homes must be larger than 23sq. The Oxford is just under, so we extended the end of the house (Family and Bed 2) another 30cms to meet the covenant. This is the standard plan, without our variations:

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We have also added a sliding door in place of the window in the Family room area, double basins in the ensuite and extended the vanity mirror. Will post colour selections when i get home

Thanks!

gootza · Jul 26, 2013 9:19 pm

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Bricks: Selkirk Macedon (LOVEEEEE these bricks)

Roof tiles: Boral Twilight

Guttering, fascia and downpipes: Colorbond Monument

Windows: A&L Windows Black

Garage Door: Hume Flushpanel (haven't decided colour yet, but will be dark to match roof tiles and windows etc)

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Benchtops in kitchen and bathrooms: Laminex Diamond Gloss Pure Mineralstone (light colour shown)

Cabinetry in kitchen and bathrooms: Laminex Domain in natural finish (dark colour shown)

Internal paintwork: Wattyl Calcium

the tile shown is a lovely beige/nude/grey tile which we used for an example of what we want... haven't decided on those either

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Carpet: Carpet Court Brooklands Gust

annddddddddddddddddddd, this is our block

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gootza · Jul 27, 2013 11:22 am

Does anybody know if we would be able to get (or would they be able to fit) double doors in the master bedroom entrance from looking at our plan?

gootza · Jul 28, 2013 7:10 pm

Anyone?

dragonchild · Jul 29, 2013 7:33 pm

gootza

Does anybody know if we would be able to get (or would they be able to fit) double doors in the master bedroom entrance from looking at our plan?

Depends on the size. Two 720, probably. Two 820, maybe not. A 820+520 or 820+420 combo, probably. Ask the builder.

HD

gootza · Jul 30, 2013 12:28 am

Hi thank you for your reply! I might check out the 720 size to see if I like it

TinaG · Jul 30, 2013 11:13 am

Have you included a door between the garage and the entrance hall? Otherwise you'll need to go outside again once you've pulled into the garage (I may have missed something).
I like your carpet colour, that will look great.

gootza · Jul 30, 2013 11:56 am

TinaG

Have you included a door between the garage and the entrance hall? Otherwise you'll need to go outside again once you've pulled into the garage (I may have missed something).
I like your carpet colour, that will look great.

Hi! yes we have included a door there :lol:

these plans are just the standard, we haven't received our personalised plans just yet

Thank you, i love charcoals

gootza · Jul 30, 2013 2:41 pm

I asked if our soil testing had been done and was told it was done when we paid our deposit which was back in April. Am I in a position of asking what the site costs will be now? Or do they not know until the contract is ready to be signed? ::dizzy::

they advised in the prelim contract there is provision for $10,000 specifically for site testing and was advised it's "never more than that" hoping we save a little!

4_Pumps · Jul 30, 2013 3:05 pm

Hi Gootza,

Congratulations on your new piece of earth

Have you thought about recycling rain water and using a pressure pump on the new dwelling?

It might be a good option to look at while you are in the planning phase.

gootza · Jul 30, 2013 5:18 pm

4_Pumps

Hi Gootza,

Congratulations on your new piece of earth

Have you thought about recycling rain water and using a pressure pump on the new dwelling?

It might be a good option to look at while you are in the planning phase.

Thanks!

Our next house we will have something like this, but because this is our first home we have to keep the finance down to a minimum so i doubt we would be able to include it this time round, but it is definitely something i would like to do in future

gootza · Jul 30, 2013 7:51 pm

This is the type of colour scheme I will be leaning towards:

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This pendant will be in the master bedroom:

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This one in the living:

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This one in the hallway:

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x271/gootza/IMAG0247.jpg

gootza · Aug 05, 2013 8:43 pm

Some more selections!! Tiles

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The square tile at the bottom is the floor tile throughout the house, the white tile is the shower tile, the stone feature tile will be the ensuite feature tile, the glass tile at the back will be the bathroom feature tile and the laminate samples are our cabinetry and bench tops

Some close ups

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This tile is absolutely stunning, the picture doesn't do it justice.. The colours are perfectly matched to our cabinetry laminate (laminex domain)

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sal032 · Aug 10, 2013 9:30 pm

Hi Gootza,

Congrats on building your first home, how very exciting!! We're also building with Dennis Family in Bendigo, we are building the Hastings 242. Where did you do your tile selection? I love your choices!! Your block looks lovely, nice and flat, how many M2 is it? They won't know how much your site costs are until the contract comes back, we were also advised the site costs are usually under the 10k mark as well. Have you received a copy of your soil test?

Good Luck with the build, keep us up to date!!
Sallie

gootza · Aug 11, 2013 1:44 am

sal032

Hi Gootza,

Congrats on building your first home, how very exciting!! We're also building with Dennis Family in Bendigo, we are building the Hastings 242. Where did you do your tile selection? I love your choices!! Your block looks lovely, nice and flat, how many M2 is it? They won't know how much your site costs are until the contract comes back, we were also advised the site costs are usually under the 10k mark as well. Have you received a copy of your soil test?

Good Luck with the build, keep us up to date!!
Sallie

Hi Sallie! Thank you!! We chose our tiles from prestige tiles in shepparton. They were a fantastic help and really put things in perspective for us as we really had no idea haha. Our block is lovely it is 749m2 so lots of room for our doggies to run around! They're hopefully ready within the next week or so! So hopefully start the build within the next month?? Wishful thinking haha. How far along the process are you?

sal032 · Aug 15, 2013 9:55 pm

Hi Gootza,

We have to book our colour appointment soon, SO nervous. Hoping it all comes together as I really have no idea about colours and interior design!! Our contracts are due back in September, it's getting exciting now. I can't wait for something to start happening, I'm sure I'll be out there every day! Do you live far from your build site?

gootza · Aug 15, 2013 10:10 pm

Hi sallie, I think we will be having our appointment to go over the contracts in the next couple of weeks and then contract signing in September also I'm pretty sure! They're great with giving advice on colours, it is a fun experience!

We live about 5 minutes away from our block so I think we will be there a lot also! Plus my partner is friends with one of the builders here in shepparton so I'm sure they will be inviting haha. I'm finding it very exciting already and we haven't even started yet :lol:

gootza · Aug 27, 2013 8:19 pm

Hi everyone! We should be getting our contracts by Friday to go over them! So excited!

And.... We got our first water bill :lol:

sal032 · Sep 01, 2013 12:23 am

Hi Gootza,

Did you get your contract? Any issues? We got our working drawings back, there are a couple of things that need changing. We also got our rates haha.

Sallie

lhampy87 · Sep 02, 2013 5:03 pm

Hi gootza,

We are only a month or so away from handover (I hope) in Sunbury. DFH have been great from start till now and the quality work has been top notch. Our building supervisor has been great too.

Some site costs may remain as provisional sums till handover. We had $2k for soil removal & $2.5k for rock removal outstanding that will not be used. Once you get the contract you'll know exactly (well nearly) where you stand.

Nice looking block too, wish mine was that flat!

Enjoy the process, everything happens so quick at the start but after we paid the fixing bill it has been very slow. Mind you, they are still well ahead on the schedule.

Cheers
Luke