Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 16, 2014 10:14 am I cannot believe it. We have finally arrived at a place that we can start to look seriously at building our one and only dream house. It is an event that has been in the making for YEARS, probably about 5 or so!
Hubby's parents helped us secure a 1000sq metre block in a housing development in town that we drive past often and look at the grass growing . Here it is. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ It is at the end of a court, perfect for the kids to ride their bikes without having to worry about traffic and there is a park about 50 meters away. To help get us here we had to finish renovating the house we were in (which ended up taking a sold 6 months of doing stuff) really exhausting. It turned out beautifully, and we sold it for the price we were chasing. I hope the new owners like it. A couple of years ago we found a dream plan from a gold coast builder that we paid for and I altered to suit us. Really I should have just drawn something from hand I changed it so much. Anyway I took my liquid papered, traced, erased, pencilled plans to a designer and she did some rough drawing for us. I didn't like what she did for us and it just frustrated me so much that I gave up quickly. Probably had something to do with the fact that I have had MY plan in my head for so long, any deviance to that was not cool. Anyway, now the time has come to start looking at builders and prices and quotes and all that other exciting stuff. We took my modified plans to a builder (hubby deals with a lot of these builders and already has preferences as to who he likes) to see what pricing we are going to be looking at for what we want, and then we will go from there. This is our list of criteria This is our one and only dream house, if it takes longer to build so be it - but we want it to be quality. DESIGN MUST HAVES 2 storey 4 bedrooms - WIR for main and built-ins for minor rooms 3 bathrooms (2 upstairs, 1 downstairs) *Bathroom downstairs to be old person friendly Study/study nook (not sure which one yet) Theatre – guest room: room for a queen size murphy bed Games Room 4.5m x 6m minimum HUGE patio (will sacrifice on the lounge/dining etc size to get bigger patio) Double garage *extra wide – 7 metres 1200 eaves Insulation in walls and ceiling Extra Insulation in western wall <350sq mtrs Pool Shed 2.5 bays with electricity House to the right hand side of the block All rarely used rooms on western/south-western side (e.g. bathrooms, laundry, WIR, Theatre) to help buffer the afternoon heat Lightweight construction materials so it cools down quicker in summer Could it be a few steps off the ground? Louvers Built in BBQ/outdoor kitchen area on patio INSIDE MUST HAVES KID and HUBBY PROOF EVERYTHING – wash and wear paint, tough stuff etc All Hard Wood floors except in theatre – eg Spotted Gum, Grey Ironbark, Blackbutt Kitchen benches higher Laundry Chute 2.7m high ceilings Storage for the love of god STORAGE I HATE grout, so the least amount of it as possible. Eg, glass splash back, perhaps polished concrete in wet areas or the biggest tiles with the smallest grout lines WOULD LIKE BUT NOT NECESSARY Raised kitchen (1 step up) WIP Possible smaller upstairs balcony IF we can get views of the River DO NOT WANT Laundry off kitchen Here are my pencilled up plans Downstairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Upstairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ We have told him that what I have is not necessarily what we want anymore (me being over it of course) but he is sending to his drawing people and seeing what they can do and coming back with a quote and I suppose we shall see where we go from there. I have been on this site for YEARS in anticipation of this build and I have gotten a lot of inspiration and ideas from you all. This post is quite long, I hope you all made it through. Here is to a smooth building process for the next year or so. Cheers sandra Re: The Calamaris Dream house build. 2Mar 16, 2014 9:13 pm all the best for your dream home and what a great size block congrats will follow thread to see how you progress build Re: The Calamaris Dream house build. 3Apr 10, 2014 10:22 pm We have had a plan drawn up by a draftsman. It came up to 420 sq meters... woopsie... had to cut back quite a bit. We went back again for some modifications, we have gotten it down to 360sq mts. I will upload the plans that we have gotten tomorrow when I can scan them in. Cheers Re: The Calamaris Dream house build. 4Apr 11, 2014 5:55 am when i was planning our dream home with my daughter we came to around 42 squares and it was cut back to 38 to fit budget but with the extra out door living we have add it is now 40. looking forward to seeing your plans it is a very exciting time congrats Re: The Calamaris Dream house build. 6Apr 11, 2014 5:00 pm OK, here are the updated plans. There are already some changes I want to make that I didn't pick up at our appointment. The kitchen layout isn't really working for me, but I am sure this is something that can be reviewed with the cabinet maker. Also I want to have a sliding laundry door from the hallway to get more storage in the room. We want to make the main room slightly bigger too, something like 4x4. To save square metres, we took a lot of space from our patio... CRY! Is there anything that you can see that it obvious that needs to be altered, or some other nifty ideas. I am finding it quite scary to think that THIS IS IT! Note there will be a shed in the top right hand corner, as well as a pool somewhere on the left hand side, so we can easily watch from the patio. I don't think that I want it right up close to the house, as it would cut the yard in half. But I suppose that would be a landscaping question. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Cheers Sandra Re: The Calamaris Dream house build. 7Apr 12, 2014 8:09 pm Looking good. I love how you have an area marked out for arcade machines! One thing caught my eye is that the study doesn't appear to have a way to access it? Looks like a wall surrounds it? Also, one suggestion: Consider moving the door to the ensuite, so it opens to where the vanity is, otherwise you're always having to walk past the toilet, and makes it a longer rip to get to your wardrobe with its current placement. Re: The Calamaris Dream house build. 8Apr 13, 2014 3:25 pm Ah yes, the arcade machine nook. I really would like a pin ball machine (they cost quite a bit so that may be in the future) and we also have an old style Neo Geo that we want to start up again, and that is where they are going to sit. The doors, and the whole ensuite has to be configured again. When he sends us a proper draft at the end of next week it will have doors in the proper locations. Same for the study. We want to be able to monitor the kids on their computers so the study will probably be shut off with some sort of sliding doors. Cheers. Re: Calamaris Dream house build - more updated plans 10May 31, 2014 11:24 am So we have gotten back more updated plans.
Here they are. Upstairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Downstairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ There are still some changes to be made. *make it a cavity slider into the laundry and extend the linen cupboard and add an ironing centre in there somewhere. The cabinet maker has poo pooed the ironing centre, he doesn't think that they are all that great. But I really don't want to have to bring out and put away the ironing board every time I want to use it. It will just end up being a permanent eyesore in the lounge room. *smaller vanity in ensuite, then we can extend the cupboard length. We had an appointment with a cabinet maker on Thursday and we will be getting rid of the WIP in the kitchen and just having a galley kitchen (is that what they are called?) Our island bench will be 3mtrs long, no sink, no cooktop. 2 lots of pantry's on either end of kitchen along with fridge space, then cook top and sink in between them. He did it all up on the computer but unfortunately he didn't give us a copy of what he did, so I can only go by what I remember that I changed. As mentioned in a different post I did, we are having the oven in the wall using the cavity from under the stairs which the cabinet maker is happy to do. He wasn't fussed on the built in mircrowave, he said just put it in the pantry, but I don't think I like that idea. I might check out the pull out microwave draws to put below the oven in the wall perhaps? But apart form that, and some minor adjustment of windows etc, I think this might be very close to it. We have sent this plan to some builders for some quotes. There are a few things that hubby and I DONT want to compromise on - solid hardwood floors and having a double story house. Both of these things will cost a damn fortune. So... fingers crossed. Do you have any suggestions or better ideas? Cheers SAndra Re: Calamaris Dream house build - more updated plans 11May 31, 2014 2:04 pm Hiya, Good plan, that's a giant foyer!! May I ask what's the little inset area before going in to the games room for? Cabinet makers often seem to poo-poo practical things (in my experience). Mine is good but the things he was suggested were all about how things LOOK and for us it was more about how we live and how we need to use the space. Ironing centre is a great idea. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Calamaris Dream house build - more updated plans 12May 31, 2014 2:55 pm Hmm, not sure what the inset area is for in the hallway before going into games room. I think the designer put it there to separate the Arcade Machine area in the games room. And probably for looks as it has a bulk head over it. Oh, I would also like to mention the Family and Dining area. The cabinet make said to swap them as usually you would have the dining right near the kitchen. But if we DID swap them, there would be no solid wall to put a TV up against. I am sure it doesn't really matter where you would put these two rooms, right? Thanks for the input EmyN, good luck for your hand over in just under three weeks. Very exciting! Sandra Re: Calamaris Dream house build - more updated plans 13May 31, 2014 3:06 pm Actually I did look at the family area and think it was going to be awkward to position a tv and couches, then I thought perhaps you weren't going to put a TV there at all as you have the "theatre" area.... but if you ARE using the family area as a TV spot then have you thought about how you might put your furniture? It looks a bit squishy near the island. I agree that the dining area would be even more tricky, furniture wise. In my personal opinion I'd try and extend the family wall out to include that little narrow patio space there. I think you'd get a much more useable family room. Unless you had a specific purpose for that narrow verandah. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Calamaris Dream house build - more updated plans 14May 31, 2014 3:37 pm It's a great design but completely facing the wrong way. Is there any way you can rearrange some if the rooms to get some northern sun? Also I think the ensuite would be better with the door opposite the vanity. Gives better access to wir. Have you thought about privacy in the main bedroom? I'm not sure how/if you could reconfigure the entrance but with the door open you can see right into main room. Re: Calamaris Dream house build - more updated plans 15May 31, 2014 3:50 pm Oh I didn't see north marked on the plans and assumed it was outside the living/dining/games room. I agree, that's a major problem. The house will be dark and cold. Build thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65085 Re: Calamaris Dream house build - more updated plans 16May 31, 2014 4:54 pm We would prefer the house to be cold as we are in Nth Qld. All of our breezes mainly come from the patio side of the house, the East. As well as Nth East and South East. We have that as a narrow piece of patio because we originally had that patio all the way along, but we had to shrink the house size down and that was the only way I could think of to do it. I really want to be able to walk out from the dining room, as well as the family room so we need something to walk onto. We were thinking of putting one of those big outdoor chess boards just off the narrow bit of patio. I would love, love to keep that huge patio, but alas we cant. Sigh... the sacrifices... Re: Calamaris Dream house build - more updated plans 18Jun 04, 2014 9:30 am Getting excited. We have an appointment for a build price with one of our chosen builders tomorrow morning. It will be a laugh or cry moment I am sure. Eeeeek! Sandra Re: Calamaris Dream house build - updated kitchen plans 04/0 19Jun 04, 2014 2:46 pm We had our appointment with our cabinet maker for kitchen, laundry, vanities etc. We also snuck in an appointment with one of our builders we wanted a quote for. OUCH! We have to shave a cool $100,000 from somewhere. Most likely 50sq mts from the plan would help. Here is the kitchen. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Island. As a size guide it is 3000long and 900 wide. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ One side of the laundry. Other side is broom cupboard and linen. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Cheers Re: Calamaris Dream house build - NEW downsized plans 20Jun 17, 2014 11:51 am OK, so after the initial shock and disappointment of going over budget so much, we have downsized our plans by about 40 square meters. One of the major changes was to combine the Theatre and Games room. I think it turned out ok, I was try to get something similar to this place... http://jeffreykinginteriors.com/palm-beach All I have to do now is move around cupboards etc, that have been previously drawn by cabinet maker. When he gives us the elevations I will look at what he has done with the windows and doors. downstairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ upstairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Sandra Really tight at the top of the stairs- how to get furniture into those rooms? Study books - does anyone really use them these days? Large storage closet would be more functional. 2 6848 6 11470 Ask the council if there is a chance of getting build over easement exemption. Sometimes easements are unused and 24cm is not all that much. Good luck. And yes any builder… 2 13723 |