Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7561Sep 21, 2017 1:02 pm buildingmightBeFun I would suggest to look for all windows n door are as per your choice and there is no error in tender or plan. There is no room for nego whtsoever with wisdom. You can push for early appointments once the signing is done. Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7562Sep 21, 2017 1:14 pm tjuls aaron2008 We finished our Kitchen & tiles. What a fun day! :- changed the island last minute to Bianco Drift from Clamshell. & the bathroom cabinetry from Sepia Oak to Natural Walnut! apparently they wont do laminex for kitchen & polytec for bathroom. We asked to quote every single things as advised by the consultant, now waiting for the quote which take a while because we changed the island sink to different brand. Happy with colour choices. Tiles - what a lovely consultant who gave us some good tips, it was a breeze as we were ready with our selections & options. Waiting for the quotes now!! Landscaping :- I believe its a bit of a stretch. we are only looking to get the driveway to be done with wisdom however we wanted to know what else we can do. I believe the consultant went on n on with extending the retaining wall. deck through out and everything pebbles & steps. In the entire 150sqm he suggested to laying turf on10sqm. I think $$ wise its not practical or affordable. Nice choices aaron2008. I can't wait to get to that stage. I'm hoping we could do our homework as well before colour selection ( a long way yet). Can I ask where are the appointments/ colour selections at? I know from here, people have Tiles/floors at Di Lorenzo, kitchens at Timpelle or Knebel ( do you get assigned one or can you choose), bathroom tapwares at Reece.. any other ones? Bricks? I'm hoping to go in a few times and check out the selections, soak in the options and then make a choice, rather than go in to the appointments blindly. Hopefully this will minimise variations as well. Bricks suppliers are PGH and Austral. If you go to PGH and say you’re building with Wisdom they will give you the current list (there is an included list then an upgrades list). Austral probably do the same but opted not to upgrade so we just used the list from Wisdom and only looked at what we could afford!!!! Wisdom give you a list on USB after signing the tender of the inclusions but my list is a year old now so it may have changed. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ It’s good to get Colorbond and Taubmans samples of the other colours you think you might want to use on your facade so you can look at them with the bricks. You can get addresses of homes built recently in the bricks too from the brickyards to check them out in real life. Be warned, the more you think about it the more you might find you change your mind. That’s what happened to us!!! We made a “final” choice on bricks then changed our minds 3 times before selections. Building Wisdom Aspiration 31 at Willowdale https://ourwillowdalehome.wordpress.com/ Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7563Sep 21, 2017 1:16 pm tjuls - definitely do your homework as much as possible.
We started with façade & what brick goes with the façade. Look at pictures of façade you like & then go to Austral / PGH and see the brick and get samples. Visit Tile place Di Loranzo once you know the theme of your house that is basic floor tiles & ofcourse bathrooms Laminex / Polytec website for your kitchen cabinetry colors. You can order samples from there once you know what color scheme you want. Ceaserstone :- I would suggest samples from website & once you have one or two options selsected, pay a visit to the showroom to see the sample in full slab - Very imp as sample don't say the true story!. I am not sure which stage you are in but its good to review all your windows & door positioning before you reach contract. Kitchen place Tim/Ken - I don't think you can choose which one, W appoints them for you. I also believe you cannot visit their showrooms without appointment. however if you do your homework on colors you will be good for the appointment. During your color appointment at W you will need to advise if you are happy with std tapware/shower screens etc . You need to go to reece website and get the codes of items you may like to replace the std onces & W will quote accordingly. So at the end of the day you can visit Bricks / tiles shops & lot n lots of web search on color scheme & order samples while you wait for your appointments. Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7564Sep 21, 2017 1:20 pm Ah the wheels are slowly turning for us. Got the $910 sewer peg out variation today. Also got our BAL assessment. 12.5 means we have about $10k extra in our contract amount now that will cover the overages for our alarm system, garage door upgrade and balcony privacy screen Building Wisdom Aspiration 31 at Willowdale https://ourwillowdalehome.wordpress.com/ Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7565Sep 21, 2017 1:23 pm Jenifermarie Ah the wheels are slowly turning for us. Got the $910 sewer peg out variation today. Also got our BAL assessment. 12.5 means we have about $10k extra in our contract amount now that will cover the overages for our alarm system, garage door upgrade and balcony privacy screen Building Wisdom Aspiration 31 at Willowdale https://ourwillowdalehome.wordpress.com/ Good news. I think we got CDC approval 2 or 3 weeks after we signed off on the sewer peg out variation. Building Monte Carlo 40- Wisdom homes Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7566Sep 21, 2017 1:24 pm BuildingMightBeFun Hi all, We have our contract signing appointment this weekend. I have received the contract and was wondering if there’s any thing specific I need to look at, or if there is anything specific I should negotiate? Cheers We just tried to negotiate on the liquidated damages and our expiry date. Don't expect much wiggle room with anything. Building Monte Carlo 40- Wisdom homes Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7567Sep 21, 2017 1:34 pm Thank you for the tips aaron2008 and Jenifermarie. I'm still at the starting gates - haven't taken off yet I'm afraid. We only just paid the deposit for a tender with a list of variations and provisional allowance. I'm currently on mat leave, so I'm hoping to get to all those appointments before I return to work in Feb..haha ..wishful thinking I know!! Extra money for upgrades ? You're winning Jenifer Marie Any progress on ur site ozmonkeyoy? Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7568Sep 21, 2017 3:13 pm tjuls Thank you for the tips aaron2008 and Jenifermarie. I'm still at the starting gates - haven't taken off yet I'm afraid. We only just paid the deposit for a tender with a list of variations and provisional allowance. I'm currently on mat leave, so I'm hoping to get to all those appointments before I return to work in Feb..haha ..wishful thinking I know!! Extra money for upgrades ? You're winning Jenifer Marie Any progress on ur site ozmonkeyoy? I second the advice on a trip to the Caesarstone display showroom to see a full slab. We were really set on Oyster until we saw the full slab which was completely different to our tiny sample. They can also give you samples at the showroom. Laminex have a display showroom at Alexandria too but I didn’t find that so useful. If you’re really obsessed like me you can also look up display homes on the CS website that use the material to see them in a kitchen or bathroom. Oran Park is a good bet as they’re all quite new displays homes so the kitchens etc are “on trend” and use more of the newer release materials. It was the only place I could find Fresh Concrete. Clearly been way too long since we did this. I had forgotten my massive collection of Laminex and Caesarstone samples I toted around everywhere! We started our tender on 30th Sept last year and had our appointments in April this year. But everything took longer than it should have with ours, especially as we opted for a custom facade. It sounds like things are moving faster now with the tenders and contracts. Building Wisdom Aspiration 31 at Willowdale https://ourwillowdalehome.wordpress.com/ Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7569Sep 21, 2017 3:20 pm MandM+4 Jenifermarie Ah the wheels are slowly turning for us. Got the $910 sewer peg out variation today. Also got our BAL assessment. 12.5 means we have about $10k extra in our contract amount now that will cover the overages for our alarm system, garage door upgrade and balcony privacy screen Building Wisdom Aspiration 31 at Willowdale https://ourwillowdalehome.wordpress.com/ Good news. I think we got CDC approval 2 or 3 weeks after we signed off on the sewer peg out variation. That would be so good if that is the case. We’re waiting on engineers drawings at the moment from our contour survey so we might be a bit further behind. They were requested about a week ago and I know how speedy the drafting team are Building Wisdom Aspiration 31 at Willowdale https://ourwillowdalehome.wordpress.com/ Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7570Sep 21, 2017 3:42 pm tjuls Thank you for the tips aaron2008 and Jenifermarie. I'm still at the starting gates - haven't taken off yet I'm afraid. We only just paid the deposit for a tender with a list of variations and provisional allowance. I'm currently on mat leave, so I'm hoping to get to all those appointments before I return to work in Feb..haha ..wishful thinking I know!! Extra money for upgrades ? You're winning Jenifer Marie Any progress on ur site ozmonkeyoy? Great to see all of the progress for everyone.... (well mostly everyone) We are due for final inspection next Wednesday morning and then will drive to Gregory Hills for handover. Its a slow journey on house movement the last few weeks, as SS organises tradies to come back for final patchup work (which they are none too thrilled about). Luckily though life is busy, so the time does go a bit faster. Also we both have been lining up the various trades/installs required once handover occurs. We'll see if that all turns out as planned (expectations aren't high for that) Will post some pics next week once everything is uncovered (we haven't really even seen the floors as yet as they all have protective coverings on them). Here are a couple of pics though, as I know some people have asked to see the double coat of stain on the stairs. We went for dark oak stain on the stairs, as wanted a close match to our spotted gum laminate flooring (you can see a snippet of the laminate near the stairs, its not a perfect match but closest we could get - hopefully looks ok when the full floor is revealed) ; Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Stairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Home office Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Upstairs lounge & rear balcony (carpet looks brown in pic but is dark grey in natural light) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen & Butlers (with specs of spotted gum laminate flooring) Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7571Sep 21, 2017 6:21 pm Your house is stunning from the front ozmonkeyoy! Nice choice of staining for the stairs. They match the laminate flooring really well. Must say good job to Mrs Oz because the Bianco drift benchtop is very subtle.. nothing like what it looks like on the caesarstone website. Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7572Sep 21, 2017 6:28 pm Jenifermarie I second the advice on a trip to the Caesarstone display showroom to see a full slab. We were really set on Oyster until we saw the full slab which was completely different to our tiny sample. They can also give you samples at the showroom. Laminex have a display showroom at Alexandria too but I didn’t find that so useful. If you’re really obsessed like me you can also look up display homes on the CS website that use the material to see them in a kitchen or bathroom. Oran Park is a good bet as they’re all quite new displays homes so the kitchens etc are “on trend” and use more of the newer release materials. It was the only place I could find Fresh Concrete. Clearly been way too long since we did this. I had forgotten my massive collection of Laminex and Caesarstone samples I toted around everywhere! We started our tender on 30th Sept last year and had our appointments in April this year. But everything took longer than it should have with ours, especially as we opted for a custom facade. It sounds like things are moving faster now with the tenders and contracts. Building Wisdom Aspiration 31 at Willowdale https://ourwillowdalehome.wordpress.com/ Oh you bet I'm going to be toting around my own stash of samples and colour swatches. 😂 Hubby has warned me about over doing grey ( I'm loving all things grey atm). So will need to add timber and other colours to balance it out. I think I've been to the display homes twice every week now..haha.. just to get ideas for colours etc.. my poor 6 month old is being lugged around and missing naps just so I get pics .😆 Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7573Sep 21, 2017 6:51 pm ozmonkeyoy tjuls Thank you for the tips aaron2008 and Jenifermarie. I'm still at the starting gates - haven't taken off yet I'm afraid. We only just paid the deposit for a tender with a list of variations and provisional allowance. I'm currently on mat leave, so I'm hoping to get to all those appointments before I return to work in Feb..haha ..wishful thinking I know!! Extra money for upgrades ? You're winning Jenifer Marie Any progress on ur site ozmonkeyoy? Great to see all of the progress for everyone.... (well mostly everyone) We are due for final inspection next Wednesday morning and then will drive to Gregory Hills for handover. Its a slow journey on house movement the last few weeks, as SS organises tradies to come back for final patchup work (which they are none too thrilled about). Luckily though life is busy, so the time does go a bit faster. Also we both have been lining up the various trades/installs required once handover occurs. We'll see if that all turns out as planned (expectations aren't high for that) Will post some pics next week once everything is uncovered (we haven't really even seen the floors as yet as they all have protective coverings on them). Here are a couple of pics though, as I know some people have asked to see the double coat of stain on the stairs. We went for dark oak stain on the stairs, as wanted a close match to our spotted gum laminate flooring (you can see a snippet of the laminate near the stairs, its not a perfect match but closest we could get - hopefully looks ok when the full floor is revealed) ; Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Stairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Home office Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Upstairs lounge & rear balcony (carpet looks brown in pic but is dark grey in natural light) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen & Butlers (with specs of spotted gum laminate flooring) Looks amazing Oz!! So happy for you... ! Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7574Sep 21, 2017 6:59 pm tjuls Your house is stunning from the front ozmonkeyoy! Nice choice of staining for the stairs. They match the laminate flooring really well. Must say good job to Mrs Oz because the Bianco drift benchtop is very subtle.. nothing like what it looks like on the caesarstone website. The stain on the stairs isnt my personal favourite but we'll see how it all gels when we see it all in its glory (i like the darker stains). If we dont like it we will look at changing it. Having said that the colours in the house change so much depending upon the light of the day. The floor & stairs look much more "tangy" in the photos than what i can remember in person. The walls are princess bling (a light grey) but push different colours depending upon the light. Front and side reaining wall starting next week with pool and driveway the week after. All systems go. Im not liking the huge price increases that W sre now asking for their builds. I dont think that i would be building the same house with current prices - we are all ready on the brink of over capitalising with what we spent.... Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7575Sep 21, 2017 7:06 pm gfernz ozmonkeyoy tjuls Thank you for the tips aaron2008 and Jenifermarie. I'm still at the starting gates - haven't taken off yet I'm afraid. We only just paid the deposit for a tender with a list of variations and provisional allowance. I'm currently on mat leave, so I'm hoping to get to all those appointments before I return to work in Feb..haha ..wishful thinking I know!! Extra money for upgrades ? You're winning Jenifer Marie Any progress on ur site ozmonkeyoy? Great to see all of the progress for everyone.... (well mostly everyone) We are due for final inspection next Wednesday morning and then will drive to Gregory Hills for handover. Its a slow journey on house movement the last few weeks, as SS organises tradies to come back for final patchup work (which they are none too thrilled about). Luckily though life is busy, so the time does go a bit faster. Also we both have been lining up the various trades/installs required once handover occurs. We'll see if that all turns out as planned (expectations aren't high for that) Will post some pics next week once everything is uncovered (we haven't really even seen the floors as yet as they all have protective coverings on them). Here are a couple of pics though, as I know some people have asked to see the double coat of stain on the stairs. We went for dark oak stain on the stairs, as wanted a close match to our spotted gum laminate flooring (you can see a snippet of the laminate near the stairs, its not a perfect match but closest we could get - hopefully looks ok when the full floor is revealed) ; Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Stairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Home office Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Upstairs lounge & rear balcony (carpet looks brown in pic but is dark grey in natural light) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen & Butlers (with specs of spotted gum laminate flooring) Looks amazing Oz!! So happy for you... ! Where is your build up to this week? You arent too far behind, and assuming still handily in time for christmas? Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7576Sep 21, 2017 7:14 pm ozmonkeyoy gfernz ozmonkeyoy [quote="tjuls"]Thank you for the tips aaron2008 and Jenifermarie. I'm still at the starting gates - haven't taken off yet I'm afraid. We only just paid the deposit for a tender with a list of variations and provisional allowance. I'm currently on mat leave, so I'm hoping to get to all those appointments before I return to work in Feb..haha ..wishful thinking I know!! Extra money for upgrades ? You're winning Jenifer Marie Any progress on ur site ozmonkeyoy? Great to see all of the progress for everyone.... (well mostly everyone) We are due for final inspection next Wednesday morning and then will drive to Gregory Hills for handover. Its a slow journey on house movement the last few weeks, as SS organises tradies to come back for final patchup work (which they are none too thrilled about). Luckily though life is busy, so the time does go a bit faster. Also we both have been lining up the various trades/installs required once handover occurs. We'll see if that all turns out as planned (expectations aren't high for that) Will post some pics next week once everything is uncovered (we haven't really even seen the floors as yet as they all have protective coverings on them). Here are a couple of pics though, as I know some people have asked to see the double coat of stain on the stairs. We went for dark oak stain on the stairs, as wanted a close match to our spotted gum laminate flooring (you can see a snippet of the laminate near the stairs, its not a perfect match but closest we could get - hopefully looks ok when the full floor is revealed) ; Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Stairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Home office Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Upstairs lounge & rear balcony (carpet looks brown in pic but is dark grey in natural light) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen & Butlers (with specs of spotted gum laminate flooring) Looks amazing Oz!! So happy for you... ! Where is your build up to this week? You arent too far behind, and assuming still handily in time for christmas? [/quote] Yes fingers crossed ! Had a long chat with SS, he seems to think November end... but looking at how things are progressing and how many small bits are pending, I will be happy with mid December too! Quick question, did they do the gyprock bulkhead over the kitchen cabinets (near the exhaust) after they put the top cabinets in or before, when they did the rest of the house? Mine are not yet done and they were doing painting this week, so just wondering how it is supposed to be done! Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7577Sep 21, 2017 7:22 pm gfernz ozmonkeyoy gfernz [quote="ozmonkeyoy"][quote="tjuls"]Thank you for the tips aaron2008 and Jenifermarie. I'm still at the starting gates - haven't taken off yet I'm afraid. We only just paid the deposit for a tender with a list of variations and provisional allowance. I'm currently on mat leave, so I'm hoping to get to all those appointments before I return to work in Feb..haha ..wishful thinking I know!! Extra money for upgrades ? You're winning Jenifer Marie Any progress on ur site ozmonkeyoy? Great to see all of the progress for everyone.... (well mostly everyone) We are due for final inspection next Wednesday morning and then will drive to Gregory Hills for handover. Its a slow journey on house movement the last few weeks, as SS organises tradies to come back for final patchup work (which they are none too thrilled about). Luckily though life is busy, so the time does go a bit faster. Also we both have been lining up the various trades/installs required once handover occurs. We'll see if that all turns out as planned (expectations aren't high for that) Will post some pics next week once everything is uncovered (we haven't really even seen the floors as yet as they all have protective coverings on them). Here are a couple of pics though, as I know some people have asked to see the double coat of stain on the stairs. We went for dark oak stain on the stairs, as wanted a close match to our spotted gum laminate flooring (you can see a snippet of the laminate near the stairs, its not a perfect match but closest we could get - hopefully looks ok when the full floor is revealed) ; Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Stairs Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Home office Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Upstairs lounge & rear balcony (carpet looks brown in pic but is dark grey in natural light) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Kitchen & Butlers (with specs of spotted gum laminate flooring) Looks amazing Oz!! So happy for you... ! Where is your build up to this week? You arent too far behind, and assuming still handily in time for christmas? [/quote] Yes fingers crossed ! Had a long chat with SS, he seems to think November end... but looking at how things are progressing and how many small bits are pending, I will be happy with mid December too! Quick question, did they do the gyprock bulkhead over the kitchen cabinets (near the exhaust) after they put the top cabinets in or before, when they did the rest of the house? Mine are not yet done and they were doing painting this week, so just wondering how it is supposed to be done! [/quote]Mine were done at same time as rest of the house, so before the top cabiinets were installed. Gyrockers were there for 1.5 weeks and have not returned that i know of. Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7578Sep 21, 2017 8:16 pm BuildingMightBeFun Hi all, We have our contract signing appointment this weekend. I have received the contract and was wondering if there’s any thing specific I need to look at, or if there is anything specific I should negotiate? Cheers With regards to the contract, again its pretty standard and basically a take it ir leave it approach. Good luck. Its daunting but Wisdom are pretty open about things and better than many other builders that i've had the pleasure of dealing with. Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7579Sep 21, 2017 8:26 pm aaron2008 We finished our Kitchen & tiles. What a fun day! :- changed the island last minute to Bianco Drift from Clamshell. & the bathroom cabinetry from Sepia Oak to Natural Walnut! apparently they wont do laminex for kitchen & polytec for bathroom. We asked to quote every single things as advised by the consultant, now waiting for the quote which take a while because we changed the island sink to different brand. Happy with colour choices. Tiles - what a lovely consultant who gave us some good tips, it was a breeze as we were ready with our selections & options. Waiting for the quotes now!! Landscaping :- I believe its a bit of a stretch. we are only looking to get the driveway to be done with wisdom however we wanted to know what else we can do. I believe the consultant went on n on with extending the retaining wall. deck through out and everything pebbles & steps. In the entire 150sqm he suggested to laying turf on10sqm. I think $$ wise its not practical or affordable. Good luck with the quotes. We went over budget, its hard not to. Landscaping you can get them to do pretty much anything you want. They will provision the cost high initially but we found that their onsite quotes were more reasonable. Having said that we are only getting them to do our letterbox and supply a range of plants to use up the voucher. Re: Building with Wisdom Homes 7580Sep 21, 2017 9:19 pm MandM+4 BuildingMightBeFun Hi all, We have our contract signing appointment this weekend. I have received the contract and was wondering if there’s any thing specific I need to look at, or if there is anything specific I should negotiate? Cheers We just tried to negotiate on the liquidated damages and our expiry date. Don't expect much wiggle room with anything. agree with MandM+4, double check the expiry date! Maj-35 Tend:14/7/17,Cont:18/8/17,DA:9/1/18,DEP:1/2,Const:8/3, Slab: 28/3,Frames:17/4-23/4,Bricks:22/5-14/6,URoof: 29/6,elec:4/8,AC,GRoof:11/8,gyp:24/08,Keys:4/12,move:16/12 Can someone please offer some advice? Im DESPERATE. Because I'm completely and utterly exhausted. How long are variations taking with other companies at the moment? We… 0 18249 In fairness nobody gave a crap about the ACCC and the gag clauses continued in the pro forma templates of a few other builders after the ACCC took on Wisdom, and more… 20 73067 Hi Everyone, I am exploring builder in NSW and received a very tempting quote from Wisdom home for their momentum series. I just want to know experience of building… 0 8029 |