Browse Forums Building A New House Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 21Jul 04, 2014 1:13 pm Hey Cameron, I'm just at waiting stage at the moment, waiting for full contracts which I expect to have towards the end of July. My broker asked about title dates in an email I was CC'd in on last week however they seemed to simply ignore that part of the email... Honestly, I am kind of hoping titles are released late July to give more time to get contracts and go through pre-start with the builder to get as much of the admin process out of the way as possible before I start paying interest on the land. The more of the pre slab stuff we can get done before I have a big scary mortgage the better. as far as negotiations go, similar to you I chose a package for $1950 which included stone bench tops, 900m blanco appliances i.e stove, oven and range hood, as well as a blanco dishwasher. I also negotiated hard and got them to throw in stone tops to both bathrooms. I negotiated the 31c ceiling and got it down to roughly $3k to go from 28- 31. Something else to consider negotiating is skirting which can cost a fortune but depends if that's something you want, personally I think skirting boards make a big difference to the look and feel of a house and i managed to get them down to a few hundred dollars. I have also heard stories of them charging exorbitant amount for the front elevation as an extra, made sure this was included in the price- I paid a little extra to get a stone cladding feature to the front elevation. again similar to you there were a lot of wall and window changes, most of which were free, but a few hundred for some more major ones. Also worth considering if your shower is big enough, I added a second shower head into the ensuite bathroom as its a large double shower, there is a shower head at each end. Good thinking planning ahead on your solar system, I haven't actually heard of a heat pump before so might be worth looking into. Just my opinion, but I would be cautious about putting an electric stove in ... Having been in real estate previously, a lot of tenants and purchasers have a gas stove as a priority item. There are some combo stove tops out there half electric/ half gas which might be worth looking at ? As far as the render goes, I'd find out what the actual requirement is. Usually they require a minimum number of design / architectural features to the outside of the property which are basically just any design feature to ensure that all the houses aren't identical boxes. The developer may just be recommending that you use render to satisfy this requirement which you might be able to meet in another way e.g. feature window or something. One of the big costs to watch out for at pre start is down lights ! generally standard lighting is one standard outlet to each room. Adding down lights at pre start costs anywhere between $2-300 each !! most living rooms require 10-15 of them ! so this can add up really quickly. Im still considering my lighting options and maybe just including a few in the kitchen. Other option is for them to do the wiring in for down lights but not actually install the down lights yourself, doing it yourself later. Tom Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 22Jul 04, 2014 5:49 pm Hey Tom, I'm much the same that I'd actually like titles to be another 6 weeks or so. They aren't on the construction critical path so there could be another month or two of not paying a mortgage whilst the homes are going through the builder. But hey, maybe we're a bit ahead of the game? Certainly you're many weeks ahead of me! I've got about half a dozen friends who are building, about to build or have just finished building and their titles were between 6 weeks and 12 months beyond the original date they were told. We won't have the same problems as they aren't forecasting 3-4 months in advance as some of my friends' developers were. I drove out to the blocks this afternoon and there's no construction work or vehicles at all. The fences are still up, but they've re-opened some of the side streets so I'd suggest the title application is well under way. Skirting I'm not too fussed about at this stage. My Dad's a carpenter (albeit he's not had a carpentry job for over 20 years), so I could get some decent skirting later on for a carton of Emu Draft (yeah... someone actually drinks that stuff) and a Bunnings visit! Hence most of my up-front works have been either structural or painful changes. But yes, I did go with the double shower to the ensuite and upgraded the window in there too. Yeah heat pumps work much like a fridge. A fridge will compress a gas, cool it to near ambient with a fan, drop the pressure (hence temperature) and use that cold, expanded gas to remove heat from the fridge. A heat pump uses the water in the water tank to cool the refrigerant rather than air, hence heating the water. A 325L tank can be kept above 50 degC with a heat pump running for about 3.5 hours a day. They're considered so efficient that they get the same rebates as solar hot water systems, but they cost less than half the amount. The DAP just says to "address the corner" re: render, so I'm very confident that the council will be comfortable with what I've proposed (render to the start of the estimated fence line), but I'll see what they say. Again, it won't cost much to render the entire side of the house - but seems a bit silly and means there's more surface area of render that may crack. I'm not starting with any downlights, but may upgrade down the line. Obviously easier to do it now, but I'm not very passionate about them. I spend half my time in my apartment standing on a chair replacing the lights because there are so many and they don't last more than 6 months (maybe I should spend more than $3 a globe). I drove back to The Primary today too and noticed there were about 10 homes with grass and were being lived in. Obviously released in stages, but some of the complete houses sit in between vacant blocks. Looking quite nice, and surprisingly large too. Even a couple of double story homes going up - one of which had smashed windows. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 23Jul 09, 2014 4:20 am Hi Guys Im also building in the Playground Came across this a couple of days ago I chose a 300sqm block which was fine at the time and now realising that a slightly wider block would have been better I'm also a first home buyer and looking forward to this build Ive decided to go with Aveling homes and currently awaiting for pre start Im guessing prestart wont start for another month, however, deciding on the different colour palettes inside will be interesting When i contacted Olga/the bank/settlement agency, they were saying the titles were going to be released around July 15 and we need to settle 21 days after this This information is what I heard a week ago but if you guys aren't sure, contact the above people and they will give you some more information. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 24Jul 09, 2014 12:40 pm Hi Hangry, Welcome ! good to hear from another playground-er and thanks for the titles update. How have you found aveling ? sounds like you are well ahead of the game, I'm assuming you've been through detailed contract stage if you waiting for pre start ? As far as colour and design ideas go, check out houzz.com I discovered it last week and am addicted ! it's similar to pintrest in that you collect pics and ideas that you like. The hardest thing I'm finding with ideas is coming to terms with how things will look in a smaller house as most of the ideas and pics out there seem to be for huge houses which wont necessarily work for me. Trying to keep things as light and neutral as possible to try and make the place look as big as possible. I am really excited about my floor tile which is a wood look, washed grey colour which I think its going to work with my design mix. looking forward to hearing about your progress as your build goes on. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 25Jul 13, 2014 12:12 am Hi Guys I went to inteliigent homes this afternoon to see what they can do to make my house NBN proof Currently, the suburb Coolbellup does not have any NBN areas at all NBN website says City of Cockburn will roll out it out next year The consultant mention that if the NBN does not roll out in the area, then it would be useless to have the box installed into the house. Just sticking with the TV outlet and copper wiring for the telephone would be enough to get internet. But if the area does get NBN, then thats great and we get awesome internet speeds and NO LAG My question to you all is that Have you heard whether The Playground will be NBN compliant or not? Has the developer ever mentioned if NBN will be in this area? Are any of you guys putting a NBN package and/or smart wiring into the house. Thanks William Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 26Jul 15, 2014 11:47 am Title Update ! So I emailed the developer again yesterday and they advised "We are expecting titles any day after 21st of July". So good news (or not so good as the case may be) we should have them next week Hangry - Not sure about the NBN situations, I cant really remember reading anything about it to be honest. Might be worth looking over the developer contracts and seeing if anything is in there, or contact the developer direct ? Olga is pretty good at responding, if you shoot her an email you generally get a response within a few hours. I don't believe NBN or smart wiring is included in my build package (nothing I can see specified) I guess ill add it to the list of things to get prices for at pre-start...... *sigh*. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 27Aug 11, 2014 6:26 pm So how has everyone been going over the last few moths? Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 28Aug 12, 2014 12:39 pm Hey Cameron, Have just been playing the waiting game.... waiting for builder to do their stuff and title to be issued. I have signed my final build plans and been given my pre-start pack, there were a couple of fairly minor errors on the build plans which they have gone back fix. Builder is also just waiting for final settlement on the land now that titles have been issued before booking my pre-start appointment. So all just more waiting. How about you ? any developments on your end ? Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 29Aug 12, 2014 11:22 pm Hi Tom, I signed a pre-works contract with Celebration Homes a few weeks ago. Now I find myself doing the run around to various display homes or new areas to try and pick renders / bricks etc and have been sifting through my pre-start booklet. The preliminary plans are in for their 6 star energy approval and my plans should be well along the way for being drafted. In the realm of 4-6 weeks I'll have my prestart and contract signing done, then on to the developer and council for final approvals before construction can begin. Of course the fencing has to come down from the development so my builder can conduct their site survey. Anyone know if Coolbellup has underground aerial connections or do we have to stick one in the roof? I'm hoping to find out before I see Intelligent Homes on Friday, but I suspect we'll all be sticking antennae in the roof. Olga has moved to the East Coast and the developer I've had contact with is on a 9 week sabbatical haha. Otherwise just plodding through the electrical plans, but I need to talk to CH to see what their prices are for extra GPOs and conduits. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 30Aug 13, 2014 8:19 pm I asked Lend Lease about the aerial and as I suspected, we will need one in the roof until 2017 when the NBN cabling is brought to Coolbellup. I believe Intelligent Homes quote about $400 for this. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 31Aug 25, 2014 1:21 pm Hi All, An update, I went to the site yesterday and the fences are down, as far as I could see the fences are now just around the park area. other than that, land settled last week. and how just waiting on my pre-start appointment and the builder/ local govt approval process. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 32Aug 29, 2014 10:31 pm Hi all, We are also building in The Playground and just had pre start today! Can anyone give me advise on soak wells? It's not included with our builder, although they have given us a quote, but of course is pricey. How easy is it for a company to come in after completion and do it? What is everyone else doing...builder/DIY/private company? Any recommendations would be very useful. Thanks! Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 33Aug 30, 2014 11:40 pm Hi Mapllewood, glad to hear from someone else in the development. Do you have any indications when your construction will start or finish? Who's your builder? The guidelines as far as soak wells for the City of Cockburn are here: http://www.cockburn.wa.gov.au/documents ... 20lots.pdf You can take this advice with a pinch of salt as I'm definitely not an expert in drainage. The requirement is not so much about the number of soak wells required, rather the volume of underground drainage necessary to divert water from your roof. That being the case, I'll be crunching the numbers for my home, digging a few trenches and installing ag pipe and a couple of plastic soakwells to reach the volume. A few hundred dollars, some strategic digging and a visit to Bunnings should do the trick: http://www.bunnings.com.au/our-range/ba ... g/drainage The only difficulty you may face is if your gutters terminate above a paved area, making it much harder to run the ag pipe to the drainage volume. But I can't imagine your downpipes terminate within your alfresco! Cameron Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 34Aug 31, 2014 10:48 am Hey Mapllewood, Great to hear from another playgrounder. I'm surprised to hear the builder don't offer this as a service. I guess the main thing you want to check is whether the city of Cockburn assess this as part of the building approval or not ? That will really be the indicator as to whether you can do it after. Urban water management is one of the key things that the local governments conditions for the developers, especially south of the river where we have a high water table and thus greater need to control run off. I would be make making a call to the council Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 35Aug 31, 2014 10:34 pm Hi Tom/Cameron, We are building with First Home Buyers Direct. We just had pre start, and they said we could be waiting up to 3 months until they start building! Tom - Yes the builder is able to do our soak wells, but it's just pricey, so was wondering if we should explore other options and do it after. But if it really is possible to do DIY job after through Bunnings, I may look into it. Although it sounds like a huge job! What stage are you both at? Thanks for responding! Emma Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 36Aug 31, 2014 11:25 pm Hi Emma, I don't know anyone who has built through the City of Cockburn yet, but several of my friends have DIY soakwells out towards the Swan Valley, or at the very least they've had them put in after-the-fact by contractors. It seems like something the council ought to have a keen interest in, however there's been no talk with my builder or from Lendlease so far asking me to 'sort out my drainage' to progress through planning approval - but they may yet do so. Crunching the numbers for my house... I'll have about 278m2 of roof, which requires a stormwater storage volume of 3.475m3. A 600mm diameter by 600mm high soak well only holds 0.17m3 meaning I'd have to install 21 of the little things. The larger the soakwell, the more tendency there is to need a specialist installer. Alternatively, a 16m length of 100mm diameter ag pipe will be 1.26m3. So I could install 6 of the mini soak wells and 32m of ag pipe to make up the required total volume. Or 48m worth of a trench and no soak wells! I'll have to be feeling particularly energetic to do so, or call in a few favours from friends/family. Cost vs effort vs practicality I guess. For my block, I could more or less trace the necessary distance around the perimeter of my home on three sides as it is large enough to not need to overlap the pipe. As far as my build, I've signed the pre-works and they've been drafting for several weeks prior to pre-start. I've made my selections (in my booklet) so essentially just waiting to make a booking for pre-start, see the drafting and sign the final contracts. Cameron Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 37Sep 01, 2014 12:47 am Hey Emma and Cameron, Similar to Cameron, I'm just waiting on a pre start appointment still, I have largely made my selections in the folder though. I just received my amended plans last week as the originals had a few minor mistakes, I also went back and added 2 skylights which they had to draw up (both to the hall way to try and get some more natural light in). I am expecting to book my pre start some time this week, it has just been delayed while the builder waits for a letter from the bank, apparently something to do with FHOG that they can't proceed without. I am off overseas on holiday from the end of this week so hoping to have all sorted before I go. On the upside Emma from what I hear Cockburn are one of the better councils for approval timelines so hopefully you won't be waiting 3 months :/, sounds like your quite ahead of the game anyway having already done pre start. As for soakwells, mine are included in site works with my builder. One of the big reasons I ended up with free life was that they included and were significantly cheaper on site works than a lot of other (current quote is less than half what most of the other builders estimated for site works). Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 38Sep 01, 2014 12:54 pm Scrap my numbers... Forgot to square a number and will have to put in a large soakwell (or wells). Piping only would not be viable. Perhaps it can be included as part of the landscaping package. After all, any soakwell will have to go in the front yard due to size Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 39Oct 21, 2014 12:03 pm Hi All,
Just thought I would check in and update on my progress, Its been a while as there seemed to be a fair few weeks of not much happening. I had my pre-start yesterday which went fairly smoothly although I am slightly nervous about what the figures are going to come back at.... Expecting the final cost summary from that back within the next week or 2. The majority of upgrades were fairly minor, however the following were the areas I expect to be pricey: - Electrical upgrades: I added quite a few power points, tv points and switched the majority of the lighting to down lights. Luckily for me, the change and addition of down lights was nowhere near as bad as what I have heard others come back with. My builder charged $102 to change a standard bayonet to a down light, $148 to add a new downlight and $56 per additional double power point and $150 (from memory) for a double outdoor/ weatherproof power point. - Stone upgrades: my package already included smartstone benchtops to kitchen and bathrooms, however I wasn't a fan of the standard stone options for the kitchen, so I have upgraded to a premium stone option (Carrarra style smartstone). I also added a waterfall finish to one end of the island benchtop (stone panel to the floor). - Slab upgrade: I have decided to go with polished concrete with an architectural finish to the main living areas and hall way of the home. the architectural finish is a fairly matte 'industrial' type finish that you see in a lot of restaurants etc. After doing my research and speaking with a few contractors who do the polishing, I have chosen one and he recommended an upgrade to 38MPA concrete and an upgrade to the mesh they use. So I have enlisted my own tradie to do the polishing, but requires the necessary upgrades for the slab pour from the builder which I am expecting to cost a few grand. I'd love to hear how everyone else is going at the playground ? I drove through about 3 weeks ago and one lot already had the slab poured ! which I thought was a very fast turn around time. Re: My first build: The playground, Coolbellup - Free life h 40Oct 22, 2014 10:46 pm Hi Tom, Good to hear an update. I'll admit I haven't been out to the development in past month, so I didn't realise someone already has a slab down. Did it have a builder's sign out the front? It must have been one of the home and land packages, as ~5 weeks is a crazy turn around to pick a builder, complete selections, obtain the relevant approvals and start construction. I also had my prestart on Monday, which was both exciting and daunting at the same time. However unlike yours, I was sent out to the selections centre for 20 minutes or so whilst they completed the costing of my variations (things like electrics, incorporating my smartwiring quote from Intelligent Homes, driveway crossover and other selection-based upgrades). I reviewed, amended and signed the variations on the day. I had of course made the build of my upgrades before signing the preworks. That meant that I was able to confirm my full contract cost and have subsequently obtained finance approval. The plans were supposedly going to the shire for approval today - but should at least be there by the end of the week. As far as electrics, I'm going to call my home conduit-central, as I've put them pretty much everywhere to run my own data and TV cables. I also went crazy on powerpoints because they don't cost a lot to do up front. Added multiple 2-way switches and increased the number of lights, however have not gone with downlights to start. I've got 30mm Caesarstone in the kitchen, 20mm in both bathrooms. Double shower with two shower roses in the ensuite plus double vanity. I extended the wall tiling in both bathrooms, but only to cover awkward gaps or to ensure I didn't have multiple level of tiles on the same wall. Extended my kitchen splashback tiles to be the same height as the range hood. Double door frames to the cinema and a single frame to the games (will put my own glass doors in later). Obviously paid extra for the 31c ceilings we require, but due to a special I got the height and stone for $1950. Extended the floor tiling into the hallway and games rather than carpet. Went with a heat pump and electric induction cooktop to take advantage of the solar panels I'll install later. Changed some window types, added a rear door to the garage (no idea why that isn't standard) plus a double sliding door from the games to the alfresco, cold water tap for the fridge, added drawers to the ensuite. I like the idea of the polished concrete, and know the appearance you're going for. The shine might make the place feel a little bigger too, though the 31c ceilings on these homes will do that on their own. My builder doesn't permit me to select my own tradesman or provide any of my own materials - but I wouldn't have any to recommend anyway. Indications are that my slab will be down before Christmas and will have time to set whilst everyone goes on holiday over the new year. Fingers crossed! You should pressure clean your roof first and make sure the paint you buy also is anti mould. 4 19008 hi guys. Please be nice. First time home builder in Qld. I would like some feedback please on whether I should build my granny flat first before my main house at the… 0 4714 So it looks like we finally have some movement on site! Definitely later than expected, but I'll take any progress at this point. I'll drop by over the weekend to get… 5 28641 |