KG's First Build - Bricks finished!

Hi!

So with registration due(apparently) on the 30th of April I thought I would FINALLY start this thread.

Background: We are a young couple (21 and 23) building our first home. We are also getting married in October. Originally we were hoping to move in straight after the wedding but due to delays in registration I'm not sure that will happen.

Here is a quick timeline so far:
Early Nov: Found the Appin Valley estated and started looking at builders.
Mid Nov: Found the house & land package offered by Mer!dian Homes.
25.11.2013: Obtained pre-approval for house and land package
28.11.2013: Signed estimate tender with Mer!dian Homes
08.12.2013: Paid deposit for fixed tender
15.12.2013: Received fixed tender - all good
18.12.2013: Applied for formal approval
14.01.2014:Formal bank approval for house and land
22.01.2014: Paid 5% for house and land as well as signed contracts
14.02.2014: Exchanged on contracts
28.02.2014: All construction work finished on land
31.03.2014:Land estimated to register - didn't happen
30.04.2014: Land expected to register
06.05.2014: Land Registered
08.05.2014: Colour Selection Appt
28.05.2014: Land Settled
12.06.2014 Plans approved. CDC obtained.
12.06.2014: Commence Build Authority received.
13.06.2014: Moved into Construction Phase
01.07.2014:Fence delivered.
09.07.2014:Piering and slab framed up
15.07.2014:SLABBED!
22.07.2014: External Plumbing Completed
23.07.2014: Frame (Walls) Up
24.07.2014: Roof Trusses Up
28.07.2014: Windows in and Bricks Started
14.07.2014: Bricks finished
15.08.2014: Guttering completed
20.08.2014: Roof on

The Block
We have a 452sq m block on a corner block. We get a 5k rebate back from the developer which will help pay for landscaping etc

The Plan:
The house is 21sq (4 bed, 2 bath) which is tiny in comparison to some of the houses on here but its huge for us.

Here are the plans:


Upgrades/changes made so far:
- 2.7m high ceilings
- design change of Master WIR/Ensuite to a large built in robe with the ensuite behind.
- 300 mm in length added to the house - to be added to the bedrooms
- the alfresco 'slab' being added to the rear of the house - this won't be under the roof as we are intending to install a nice pergola
- front facade will have 3 vertical windows instead of 2 horizontal
- design change to main bathroom - remove the separate toilet as its not really separate.
- bamboo flooring to all areas except wet areas
- design changes to space between benches and island as well as cupboard modifications
- 3 phase connection
- added a door out the back of the garage to the yard
- mirrored wardrobes to all built in robes
- extra TV points, gas points and down lights

The builder has said they will be doing the soil tests and contours in the next few days and we should have construction drawings within the next week or so. Once we check those are okay we can move onto colour selection.

How exciting your own thread! Following you are very similar to us, we signed our contract in April 2012 (both of us 23); married in November that year and moved into the house the following March

Good thinking putting a gas point outside, wish we had've thought of that. Definitely something for the next build!

Good luck with your build. When I was your age that house size and design would have been heaven. As long as it's well designed it shouldn't matter the size. Like the master at the back of the house.

That is exactly what we are hoping for! We are currently shoved in a single bedroom at my parents house and sharing with 4 other adults. We have tried to maximise the house but also stay within our budget and make it sell-able to another young couple/family down the track. Its also somewhere that we could still live comfortable with a young baby so it ticks all the boxes.

The plans were submitted to LPI so we are on track for an April 30 registration (or there abouts).

Haven't heard anything from the builder but I will give them till the end of next week before I will chase our construction drawings.

Congratulations!
I was 20 when I built my first house and remember being in a VERY similar position, cramped up sharing with the family and just itching to get out!

I like that you are using bamboo throughout too.

It all looks great

We got our draft construction drawings yesterday. Everything overall looks good. I have about 24 questions drafted at the moment - not all errors (a few are) some are just clarfication.

There is 2 issues that need to be sorted
1. The side second frontage fence is installed by the developed which we have known. Its a timber 1.8m fence that the real estate told us would come up to basically in line with the ensuite/garage. The contract actually states that it can only cover 50% of the second frontage unless its dropped to 1.2m in height. Our conveyancer is putting a request into the developer to see if we can get it extended to 2/3 or 3/4 of the house. The bold line is the proposed fence just so you know what I'm talking about.



2. The ensuite/WIR/BIR of the main bedroom.
This was the original design:


We changed it to maximise the BIR space but caused an issue with the door of the bedroom and ensuite. This is what we changed it to:



But are having issue with the doors and I don't really think we are gaining all that much except a big ensuite? Thoughts ideas? Which do you prefer/which one is the most practical?

Also would love to hear your thoughts on the rest of the plan

Nobody?

I drove past the house that they have built with the same design that we walked through initially - they are definitely missing a few windows down the Eastern side of the house - 2 in the main bedroom and 1-2 in the family/meals.

The conveyancer has put in a request to the developer to extend the fence up to the 3/4 or 2/3 at a minimum down the side of the house. It is on a case by case basis but I'm hopeful as the developer has been pretty informative and happy to work in so far.

I personally prefer the original plan of your ensuite. While you have more room in the ensuite now, it doesn't seem like better usable room, iykwim. I'll have a closer look at the rest of the plan in a bit.

Your bathroom looks big.but I would take original design but remove wall between wir and ens could put pigeon holes along wall for extra storage that way when showering won't have to look at toilet enter bathroom through wir

Nice plans. Very similar to our 1st house. It was fine when it was just us and even up to the first 2 kids but when the next 3 came along it was time to upgrade!

Re the WIR/Ensuite I actually prefer the original plans (with what looks like a double shower?). If you think this would give you a big enough robe I think that would work better.

You might want to measure the L/H wall of the Master. We had the same inset corner in ours and it wasn't going to leave enough room for a Queen bed and bedside tables. We ended up having to square off the corner to get another 600mm of wall space.

I think we are leaning back to the original design too. I think we are over capitalizing with the ensuite at the moment.

Matt - Thank you for pointing that out. I'm really not the best at reading those plans but we should fit a queen sized bed and 2 side tables from the way I read it. There was one bedroom set I was looking at that has a wider frame that I think will be too tight but there is a few other styles I like that will fit.

Looks like you'll be fine with the Master. You've got 3390mm along that wall. A Queen bed is 1530mm + 50mm for the frame + 50mm for the gap to the side tables + 1200mm for the side tables (600mm x 2) + 50mm for the gap to the walls = 2880mm so plenty of room.

Thanks for confirming! I was coming up with similar numbers so all good one of the beds I was looking it is like 2450 wide :O unless that's a misprint

2450mm is huuuge! Maybe that's just the width of the bedhead?

I found this table of bed sizes on the net:


Australian bed & mattress sizes

Bed Type

Metric Measurements (cm)

Imperial Measurements



Single Bed size

92 cm x 187 cm

3'0" x 6'2" (36" x 74")



Single Extra Long size

92 cm x 203 cm

3'0" x 6'8" (36" x 80")



King Single size

106 cm x 203 cm

3'6" x 6'8" (42" x 80")



Double Size

137 cm x 187 cm

4'6" x 6'2" (54"x 74")



Queen Size

153 cm x 203 cm

5'0" x 6'8" (60"x 80")



King Size

183 cm x 203 cm

6'0" x 6'8" (72" x 80")



Super King Size

203ccm x 203 cm

6'8" x 6'8" (80" x 80")

Thanks Matt! I think it will be okay.

We are still expecting the land to title next week 30/4 so hopefully that ACTUALLY happens.

I've sent the builder my 27 queries and corrections for the draft plans who will get them sorted next week

We had our first win with the developer today. They have agreed to extend the fence up to in line with the middle of the lounge at the full height which is great news!

We have got everything crossed for titles hopefully Wednesday! Hopefully we can settle on my 21st birthday on the 16th of May - it would be pretty awesome if it worked out that way.

That's great news!

Caught up with friends on the weekend who are looking to build in this estate as well. They were talking about registering in August/September I think so it must be a different release?

Stage 3 and 4 are around that time! Stage 4 is the only release with blocks left though.

LPI is currently saying Undergoing Folio Creation so we SHOULD have land titles this afternoon