Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Mar 25, 2014 12:17 pm Hi All, Hubby and i are building our first home after renting for 10 years we have pre start in a few days, any advice for the first home? sooooo excited Re: pre start advice 2Mar 25, 2014 12:21 pm Have you read the things you forgot thread? That has some great prestart advice, and some of that I would never have thought of ... Happiness doesn't depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude. - Dale Carnegie Re: pre start advice 4Mar 25, 2014 4:55 pm If you don't get it in writing immediately, such as a rearranged kitchen etc which will be drawn up and given later, get a photo or something of their sketch so they can't say it was never discussed. Write down EVERYTHING you want and see what it costs. Doors, handles, sinks, everything. You can always not include it when you find out the price. Also remember that things like handles and taps are easy to switch over later and might be cheaper to buy afterwards. ______________________________________________________________________ Signed up Jan 2013........Almost done! My thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=65763 Re: pre start advice 5Mar 25, 2014 5:36 pm Make lists. Then lists of your lists! Seriously though, the prestart process will be a lot smoother if you have a fairly good idea of what you want. Nothing worse than trying to decide what taps you want for the first time at your prestart meeting. Well maybe taps aren't so bad, but you get the gist of what I'm saying. I made a few lists going in there: - The 'non-negotiable' list and must-haves - The 'that would be nice if its not stupidly expensive' list - The 'I can't choose between two items so cost both for me' list Best tip I can give, don't stress! Prestart isn't set in stone, you'll have several opportunities to make changes for free afterwards before your alterations incur a variation. Be relaxed and organised and you'll be in and out in two hours like me Re: pre start advice 6Mar 25, 2014 5:53 pm I went into the prestart with every fitting and fixture pre decided. I had a separate electrical consult to nail gpos and lights. We spent quite a bit of time measuring the vanities and cabinet layout. Choosing render, roof and gutter combo was the toughest for me. Don't stress and also realise it doesn't gave to be done in a day. Mine took 3 days. Make a list of items that are cost prohibitive to do after or take into account what you want to do. For example, should you later want to line your roof for an attic you should have 450mm roof bearers. Easier and cheaper to line out. Good luck Mark Re: pre start advice 7Mar 25, 2014 7:23 pm I wish that I had every conversation in writing/email rather than verbal discussions. All quotes and inclusions are in writing obviously but before signing the builder agreed to let me supply and install my own freestanding bath and tassie oak floorboards and even encouraged us to do our own data wiring. Now after signing, they've decided they won't allow it until after handover. We've had the offer of a short term tenant whilst waiting for CDC/DA home approval and demolition for our knock down rebuild. It would achieve a pretty low rent as it's… 0 13758 The fastest thing a builder will do is bank your cheque, those systems work perfectly with lightning speed, everything else is slow burn. Just the way it is. 1 8707 Just to makea point about this, an approach that some people have found sucessful in negotiating these rises down, Is to provide some workings to the builder, specifying… 4 81723 |