Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 08, 2013 10:43 pm Well I've been stalking/lurking on here for what seems like forever. Now that we've finally made the decision to sign with Redink I thought I'd start my new thread. I feel like I know so many of you I've been following your builds and am so appreciative of all the great tips. Special thank you to charlie23 and felicity01, you both so graciously responded to my PM's and gave me some wonderful advice. We started looking for land SOR about 6 months ago and finally purchased in Piara Waters at the end of August. It felt like it was meant to be. It's a 565 sqm block with a nice long northern (ish) exposure. The north side and east side will be public open space, so only one neighbor to the south. We have looked at so many display homes, my oldest son just rolls his eyes now when I say we're going to look at houses:) and we tried to get "quotes" from about 4 or 5 different builders with plans we liked. Man, it was tough getting pricing from builders, you'd think we were trying to steal government secrets! I mean, I guess I sort of understand that they don't want everyone running around with their numbers, and it's quite a bit of work to adjust floor plans and get the costs, however we didn't feel we could make an informed decision about something so major without at least trying to compare apples to apples. But, as we learned that's pretty much impossible. In the end we really liked the Redink floor plan the best, we think we can apply many passive solar elements (which was a very important factor in why we chose the block and how we've designed the home) and the Redink sales person really went above and beyond to assist us and give us pricing for every last little thing we could possibly think of. We've added about $30K to the base price, which is insane because I don't even think we've done anything that major, but you all know how each little thing adds up so quickly. We included an extra $10K prestart allowance, please tell me this should be sufficient?!?! And since we haven't made a final decision about what we want our front elevation to look like, and we need to satisfy some estate design elements for the 2 sides facing the open space we've allocated about $5K for elevation allowance. Again, I hope this is adequate, because that's $45K on the base price and we haven't even signed a contract or picked a tile or a tap yet Titles to the land are due in about 2 weeks, but I'm quite sure there will be a bit of a delay. I sort of assumed at least a month delay from the get go, so we'll see....
That's our story. If there's one very important thing I've learned reading everyone's posts it's that you all LOVE pictures So here is our floor plan as it currently stands and some pictures of our pile of dirt and retaining wall. We have a couple weeks before we can't make any more structural changes. We're having a solar assessment done now, so we'll see what they suggest, and I'm open to suggestions from the crowd. FYI, the pool is a bit of a pipe dream at the moment but I love my virtual pool!!! Having never built before, and only living in Australia for about 3.5 years, this whole process and the lingo is new to me so please bear with me Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our colour and tile selections: Exterior Render colour and veranda beams/posts: Solver Designer White Contrast render at base of veranda posts: Monument Roof, fascia and garage door: Colorbond Surfmist Gutters: Colorbond Monument Window frames: Charcoal Bricks where not rendered: Augusta Limestone Front doors: Solver Deep Valentine Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen Benchtops: Essastone Sorbet Lower cabinets, front of island and extended sides: Formica Fini Wenge Upper cabinets: Formica Warm White Backsplash: Light green glass Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Ensuite Floor tiles: Perspectives Taupe Shower wall tiles: White matte Shower feature wall with recess and row above vanity: Scotland cream Benchtop: Formica Fini Wenge Cabinets and Shelving: Formica Rock Salt Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Main Bathroom Shower Tiles: White gloss Shower recess: Stone and glass mosaic Around bath: Chocolate gloss Floor Tiles: Perspectives Taupe Benchtop: Formica Fini Wenge Cabinet: Formica Rock Salt Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Timeline: Mothers Day 2013- Looked at first display home and decided we wanted to build 29 August 2013- After looking at about a zillion pieces of land, we secured a block in Piara Waters 30 September 2013- Signed Prelimiary Agreement with Redink & paid deposit 15 December 2013- Signed PCQ and draft plans 18 December 2013- Settlement on our block 17 January 2014- Received email from Client Advocate to inform that file received in office and admin stage officially beginning 2 May 2014- Interior Designer consultation 19 May 2014- Prestart 24 June 2014- Final Plans and Addenda received for us to sign 30 June 2014- Final Plans and Addenda submitted to Redink 19 July 2014- building permit received Week of 25 August 2014- Siteworks Completed 3 September 2014- SLAB!!!! (3.5 months from Prestart) 23 September 2014- Bricks delivered 17 October 2014- Brickwork begins 8 December 2014- Brickwork completed (just over 3 months from Slab) 9 December 2014- Roof carpentry begins Week of 15 December 2014- Colorbond on and roof completed 16 January 2015- grey float completed Week of 19 January 2015- white set Week of 26 January 2015- ceilings and cornices installed and windows in 3 February 2015- doors delivered 4 February 2015- LOCK UP! (5 months from slab) 10 February 2015- Cabinets and non stone benchtops and basins installed 16 February 2015- Tiles Delivered 17 February 2015- Essastone Installed, Garage Grano poured (and HWS and AC slabs), Kitchen sink installed, tile prep begins 27 February 2015- Tiling completed 2 - 6 March 2015- Appliances installed, doors, cornices, ceilings painted, electrical work, exterior render painting started 9-16 March 2015- Gas and plumbing finals partially completed, insulation installed, some tapware and toilets installed 16-20 March- Insulation completed 28 April - PCI! (34 weeks from slab) 15 May-KEYS!!!! (36 weeks from slab) Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 3Oct 08, 2013 11:26 pm Congratulations! We also had a $10K pre start allowance which we didn't use the whole thing, however we did add most of the big stuff into the PCQ. If you have any questions let me know and I will do what I can to help. Our build thread with Redink 11/1 - Prestart 5/4 - Slab 29/4 - Brickwork 27/5 - Roof Cover 20/6 - Lock Up 20/8 - PCI 10/9 - Handover Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 5Oct 09, 2013 6:14 pm Thank you all! We did try and include everything we could think of in the PCQ but I'm sure there's lots we haven't thought of. Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 6Oct 09, 2013 6:41 pm Congrats on signing up with RI ardie! We ended up spending about $10,000ish at PreStart so you should be ok. *famous last words* LOL It totally depends on the look you want. Let us know what things you may want to upgrade at Pre Start & I am sure between all of us RI'ers we can price them for you! Your Pantry looks familiar! LOL Our RedInk Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64118&p=1004131#p1004131 ** Timeline Page 1 Moved In - 19.12.13 Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 7Oct 10, 2013 4:08 am Congratulation Ardie with joining all us redinkers. Look forward to following ur build Building in Myalup with Redink PCQ : Nov 2012 Prestart: 17 th March 2013 Builders Permit: Sept 2013 Completed build Aug 2014 viewtopic.php?f=31&t=67559 Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 8Oct 11, 2013 10:17 pm Found you! Congratulations on signing. Love the big block! I "only" spent about 5k in Prestart. I had all the structural changes and more expensive items included in pre contract. Pre start is one of those things where you can spend a little or a lot! It's hard to put a figure on it. Good luck for the journey. I'll keep an eye on it! My build: viewtopic.php?t=62001 My Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62001 Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 9Oct 15, 2013 3:35 pm Posting to follow also building with Redink we have pre start on Thursday so excited but nervous too. We have a $15k pre start allowance but think we will need it after having our appointment with the interior designer & finding out that everything we like would be an upgrade with regards to the kitchen & bathrooms. Your plan looks great by the way look forward to watching your build come together. Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 10Oct 15, 2013 4:49 pm Thanks all. Well, titles are delayed slightly, but what's worse is developer wants us to settle on block soon, but it won't even be completed yet! Redink can't move us forward at all until they've done site surveys etc. can't do that till site is pegged. That won't happen until Jan! So now we just wait.... Since we can still make changes any advice from the crowd? We still haven't made a decision about our elevation. Approx how long from site surveys to contracts? Is pre start before or after contracts? Thanks in advance Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 11Oct 15, 2013 4:53 pm Plan looks great, good luck with the build! Not too sure about site surveys etc but regarding pre-start, I know that most of the smaller builder don't allow pre-start until formal finance of the build has been approved (that's my predicament at the moment!) Re: First timers building SOR with Redink 12Oct 15, 2013 5:08 pm ardie514 Thanks all. Well, titles are delayed slightly, but what's worse is developer wants us to settle on block soon, but it won't even be completed yet! Redink can't move us forward at all until they've done site surveys etc. can't do that till site is pegged. That won't happen until Jan! So now we just wait.... Since we can still make changes any advice from the crowd? We still haven't made a decision about our elevation. Approx how long from site surveys to contracts? Is pre start before or after contracts? Thanks in advance Ahh. That sucks. How long can you delay settlement for? Stockland morally shouldn't do this. It's ridiculous that you are paying for an unfinished block. I was able to do Prestart prior to contracts, so that I only had about a 3 week wait from the survey being complete to getting contracts. But I then had to get finance approval which took a other few weeks. My build: viewtopic.php?t=62001 My Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=62001 Re: First timers building SOR with Redink-Windows Question?? 13Nov 05, 2013 3:29 pm Well we're still waiting on titles, they're late But that's actually a good thing because the land won't be ready for the builder to get on and start site survey, etc until January. So the later the titles, the less time we have to pay for land that we can't do anything with! I've moved past moral outrage to acceptance Anyway, Redink says they can't do anything and move our file forward until they can get on site and begin assessments in Jan. So right now all we have is a signed PCQ, deposit paid and floor plan. We do have to make a final decision about our elevation and structural stuff as soon as possible though. So we're trying to figure out windows and are having a very hard time visualizing what the current windows look like. I'm going to attempt to replace the current floor plan that I've posted with the slightly updated version. Our sales rep sent us a sheet that shows the pictures of the various windows sizes (sort of!). But I think we'd just like to go to a showroom somewhere to see them and also see what our other choices are. What brand windows does RI use? Do they have a local showroom? I understand that the numbers represent the course height of the window and the width, but how do you know where on the wall it's located? For example the bedroom windows are 16 courses high and 1810 mm wide, but do they start at the floor? from the ceiling? In the middle somewhere? I assume unless otherwise stated they all are sliders??? Thanks for your assistance everyone!!!! Re: First timers building SOR with Redink-Windows Question?? 14Nov 05, 2013 3:48 pm Our windows all sorta changed once went through drafting - so I don't know if it's worthwhile waiting? I'd say once you have your actual working plans you can measure where the window is placed? Re: First timers building SOR with Redink-Windows Question?? 15Nov 05, 2013 4:09 pm Yeah the working plans will come with elevations showing exactly where each window is placed height wise, and apparently you can still move them around at that point, just not change the size ( at least that's the impression I got from the sales rep) I have a few awning windows, they're marked A after the measurements, so 18x910A, and a couple of fixed windows marked F, and the default is slider like you said Re: First timers building SOR with Redink-Windows Question?? 16Nov 05, 2013 5:39 pm Thanks so much asj25 and kash. I did clarify with the sales rep and I guess we need to be sure about the window sizes now, but you are correct we can worry about style and placement down the track. I guess once we get titles next month then we'll have to finalize our elevation, windows, etc and then our file gets submitted to the office and the plan gets sent in for energy rating assessment. That's why we need to have settled on windows sizes as it can affect the rating. We won't get working drawings until after that point. I just find it so difficult to not see a picture of something Do we actually find out how many stars our plan gets? Or do they just tell you if it passed or failed 6 stars? Re: First timers building SOR with Redink-Windows Question?? 17Nov 05, 2013 6:17 pm Hey Ardie We 16x1810 sliding windows in the back 3 bedrooms like this - Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Most of our others are 16's as well except the Master & theatre which are the highlights. Front Study is a 25x SP (special size!) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I think that the displays mostly have 18x1810's though. I like the window to be smaller & higher so that it gives you more walls to utilise. I would try & get your sizing down now BEFORE Final plans are drawn as they will charge you for changing them! RI use Jason Windows, apparently they are better quality. (so I have been told) Our RedInk Build Thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=64118&p=1004131#p1004131 ** Timeline Page 1 Moved In - 19.12.13 Re: First timers building SOR with Redink-Windows Question?? 18Nov 05, 2013 7:05 pm THANK YOU! That's super helpful. Yes we were told we have to decide sizes now. Cool, we'll go to Jason and check them out. Re: First timers building SOR with Redink-Windows Question?? 19Nov 05, 2013 7:18 pm Sorry - we were able to change windows etc at Prestart. I should have known that our process was a mess so not much was done properly! Haha! One thing I didn't think about too much (which I regret) is which way things slide and make sure it's how you want them Re: First timers building SOR with Redink-Windows Question?? 20Nov 05, 2013 8:30 pm We have a lot of wind out windows. Minimum overhang into gutter must be 50mm, turn down tool should not split the sheet. it seems wrong tool for the profile was used, the flashing cannot slope back. Rib… 2 2128 Electrical just got back to me and said the most they can provide is a single power point on the Bedroom 1 side of that wall. After handover, your towel rail installer… 2 3848 |