Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Aug 09, 2013 11:48 pm After months of browsing and scouring the site for ideas and information it is finally time to start my own thread.
Location: Northern Tasmania Block Size: 880m2 House Size: 144.2 Floor Plan : Custom After months of dreaming, saving and some more dreaming I first made an offer on my ideal block in January which was listed at 138,000 but after some negotiation and some less than ideal bank valuations we managed to buy it for $122,000. Settlement was in March and since then we have spent months working with a Draftsman to get the perfect house with out exceeding our rather small budget, I never realized how indecisive I was until I actually had to make so many choices. During this time we have also managed to clear the scrub from our block, build a garden shed and construct part of our fence. Our block slopes dramatically on the northern side, this area is fenced of and will essentially just be a garden, it also includes a steps and provides access to the local golf course. Thanks to both our grandparents and parents we have managed to raid their gardens and have planted this out with a selection of grasses with out spending a whole lot of money. We live in the area and have done for several years, and chose our block based purely on location and size, it is an internal block at the end of a very quiet court overlooking the local golf course. We are currently house siting for my parents and have been for the last two years (they are living the dream on a working holiday around Australia) which has allowed us to save a reasonable deposit and also means we wont have to deal with rent and a mortgage. We entertain a lot so keeping the “noisy” end of the house separate from the bedrooms was essential, we also spend a lot of time outdoors and this was the deciding factor in putting the toilet off the laundry. Our house was designed to maximize the view but we also had to consider the very likely case of our house being hit with the occasional stray golf ball hopefully the alfresco will protect some of the house from this. We are currently in the process of obtaining quotes from builders - we have received 3 of the 4 and are rather impressed with all of them and more impressed that they have all came in under our budget now its just a matter of choosing one which seems to be a way harder choice than I imagined. 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 ⋅ Re: Building our First Home in Tassie 3Aug 25, 2013 8:18 pm Well we have finally decided on a builder, he is available for immediate start so subject to council approval and the bank he expects we should be able to start in 2 - 3 weeks. He is dropping in the contract tomorrow so we will have a few days to look over that before meeting with the bank later in the week. Pretty sure I've got everything ready for the council, after a mini melt down at the massive stack of forms and paper work i had to sort out, so will give them a call tomorrow he expects that should only take a week or two. The builder expects the build to take approximately 4 months so we are hoping for a February/March handover. Re: Building our First Home in Tassie 4Aug 26, 2013 6:37 am congrats on finding a builder all the best with council Re: Building our First Home in Tassie 5Sep 05, 2013 7:22 pm The Council had previously told us our plan was fine and we would not require a planning permit, however yesterday they went back on that after spending basically the last the two days at the council they have admitted the mistake was their fault and will speed the process up and waive the administration fee, we still have to pay the $200 for the news paper add but will hopefully have our building permit by the end of the month fingers crossed Re: Building our First Home in Tassie 6Sep 06, 2013 6:14 am all the best for approval least council will waiver the fees Re: Building our First Home in Tassie 7Dec 18, 2013 9:28 pm After months of delays we finally have approval from both the Bank and the council and the builder will be starting early January. As we are going with a small local builder most our selections will be done along the way so so far all we have locked in is Monument for our roof, gutters & windows and Surfmist for our fascia. Also considering this for our kitchen colours - The one on the right is for the bench tops, next is the lower cabinets and the grey is for the pantry wall and over head cupboards wasn't really what we had in mind but it is basically the same as the display kitchen at the store and I fell in love with it Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ During the past few months I have been working on restoring a few bits of furniture for our new house i managed to pick this cabinet up off gumtree for $100 spent another $20 on new handles and gave it a coat of black paint, it didn't come up to bad and still needs a coat of clear I plan on using basically as a hidden office as its deep enough to hid the printer etc out of the way Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Building our First Home in Tassie 8Jan 09, 2014 11:30 am Im very interested in an update on your build. Im looking at building in Launceston this year (i live in sydney). Would love to know what you expect your total project to cost and what it included. Re: Building our First Home in Tassie 9Jan 11, 2014 10:30 pm Our approximate total costs are $322,000 this includes our block which was $122 000 and a completed house the builder will also be doing a gravel drive way (our block is internal with a rather long drive so everything else was way to expensive) and pathways around our house (concrete) we have opted to do all our own landscaping and fencing. The builder is also doing our shed slab but we will purchase and assemble the shed ourselves we also deleted curtains and blinds from our contract as it was something we could do much cheaper. Our fixtures and fittings whilst aren't top of the range certainly aren't cheap either our builder is a huge fan of good quality and warranties which is a good thing. We originally planned on building a much smaller house with the option to extend as we currently have no kids and no real need for the additional space but decided against this due to the hassle of renovation and the additional costs. Are you planning on relocating to Tassie? Re: Build has finally started !!! Custom Build Tas 10Jan 19, 2014 9:39 pm After almost 12 months since signing the contract to purchase our block we finally have some action Hoping to have the slab down this week the builder is estimating our build to be complete about June which seems so far away. We selected our flooring last week and went with a dark grey carpet in the bedrooms and a dark grey vinyl plank in the rest of the house I forgot to take my phone with me so unfortunately didn't get any photos so am now doubting my decision - I've doubted every decision so far - I didn't realise how indecisive I was until recently. The footings surprised me a lot after months of looking at an empty block the house seems to take up so much space but seems so small, we are lucky to have a similar size house next door and a copy of their plans which is almost at completion so it makes it very easy to compare room sizes etc as we are building a custom plan with no display. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Build has finally started !!! Custom Build Tas 12Feb 03, 2014 8:01 pm It seems things are moving very quickly Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The Alfresco Area Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Looking from the kitchen down the hallway We were very surprised to discover how busy our builder has been according to the neighbours he was working yesterday to which is a bonus. Locked out!!! Custom Build Tas 13Feb 28, 2014 9:04 pm Well its been a while since I last updated not sure if any one is following along at home but if you are here are a few more pictures. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The lounge - taken from dining room Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Entrance Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Eastern side of the house - the entire house will be rendered Dune It has been six weeks since the build started and it has all been happening extremely quickly, I went to check the house tonight (after waking in the middle of the night thinking about the location of power points) only to discover we are LOCKED out, this wouldn't be quiet as bad but all the windows are covered in black plastic so I can only assume they are preparing to paint. Re: Locked Out after 6 weeks!!! Custom Build 18Mar 03, 2014 9:02 pm Yes it is very quick I'm guessing it is going to slow down a lot now though. They have removed the plastic from one of the windows so managed to get a photo of the paint in the kitchen today - its not the greatest photo. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The bricks are almost finished only another day or two and the house should be done, then hopefully they start on the pillars and open fire place, the kitchen is ready and hopefully will be in later in the week, not entirely sure what is going on in the rest of the house. The bricks seem to be taking for ever its probably not that slow its just everything else has happened so fast. Re: Locked Out after 6 weeks!!! Custom Build 19Mar 06, 2014 7:38 pm This week has been rather exciting with our builder giving us a key so we can check out the house when ever we wish. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ our bricks are finally finished and now just need rendering Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The architraves and skirting is up Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ The internal doors and latches are in, all the internal doors are sliders except the linen closest, the reason behind this is that it saves space and probably the biggest reason is that we currently have a problem in our current house of the doors blowing shut when a window or external door is left open and our cat gets trapped inside rooms. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ it seems someone/something has already decided to make our house his home, will defiantly be getting the house sprayed before moving in. I spotted the Bath and shower bases sitting in the spare room so hopefully this means they aren't to far of going in. Our outdoor fire place is started and should be finished soon. Re: Locked Out after 6 weeks!!! Custom Build 20Mar 06, 2014 7:55 pm Your build is super fast! How exciting for you Custom downslope build Build thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=61873 Blog http://www.buildingroyalmanor.blogspot.com.au Regardless of wall hung toilet or floor pan toilet your feet will be right on drain, seems to me the waste should not be in that location given the design. Also are you… 6 7042 I'd get the gutters to match your roof and pipes to match the paint - otherwise they become a feature. Nice pick with the paint colours! 1 34269 6 55347 |