Building with Wisdom Homes

singalg · Aug 17, 2018 5:33 pm

doosra

amf139

We popped by our build this afternoon and met our Tiler’s who had just finished screeding. Lucky we did as they wanted to confirm feature walls with us in our ensuites. First time I’d walked through in a few months and I could hardly contain my excitement!! OMG I am so happy!

Kitchen, laundry, powder room and three ensuite cabinetry have been installed. All beautiful! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅

Nice progress! We're not far behind. Full lock up as garage went in yesterday and waiting on kitchen and vanities to be delivered and installed. Potentially this week. Painting in progress and door stained. Tiling should start next week.
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Thats great progress Doosra, looks like you are much closer to handover now!

becks81 · Aug 17, 2018 6:41 pm

nthkellyvillebuild

Hi

We have been reading reviews for a few days now and love some of the feedback and suggestions.

We have just got our Tender docs for the Manhattan 44 Ens after signing up in Oct 2017. Our land has just been registered and are keen to get moving. We wanted to know how much is the average spend on upgrades etc. We really have no idea how much to allow ourselves for Kitchen, electrical and whatever else. So before we accept tender wanted to see if we should cut anything to allow more on upgrades at selections.

Also wondering if anyone has used Wisdom for pools?

Thanks

I asked the same q a few months ago and got quite a comprehensive answer so just do a search with my username. I'm finalising selections so cant tell you how much we've gone over. We included as much as possible in our tender including some upgrades and as displayed options. My only word of warning, its that you can't change as displayed options at all (with the exception of kitchen finishes and the cabinet configuration) with our deleting the variation and starting from scratch with custom joinery or staircase. Had we known this, we would have approached the estimating process completely differently.

doosra · Aug 17, 2018 6:43 pm

nthkellyvillebuild

Hi

We have been reading reviews for a few days now and love some of the feedback and suggestions.

We have just got our Tender docs for the Manhattan 44 Ens after signing up in Oct 2017. Our land has just been registered and are keen to get moving. We wanted to know how much is the average spend on upgrades etc. We really have no idea how much to allow ourselves for Kitchen, electrical and whatever else. So before we accept tender wanted to see if we should cut anything to allow more on upgrades at selections.

Also it will depend on what you need from the bank. If you need the full amounts from the bank, then put in as much as possible in the tender so you can get the full loan amount, but if you don't need all of it, then it's not so important.

Also wondering if anyone has used Wisdom for pools?

Thanks

The question about upgrades are "how deep are your pockets". What i've noticed is Wisdom are expensive ! so upgrades will cost you a fair bit and depends what you want to do yourself. Just to give you an example of my situation, we're about 230k above the base price of our house (not including any site costs) and i'm doing driveway and flooring after handover.

Also if u dont need to borrow the full amount from the bank then u really dont need to list all upgrades but if you do then it's good to put as much as possible

I'm also going through Wisdom for a concrete pool. Roughly will cost us about 65-70k extra. This is pool, fence and about 28sqm of concrete. I'm tiling myself but probably would have cost 70k if I did tiling through them. They charge over excessive rates for any work like tiling or concreting but we wanted to get the concrete done in order to get pool fence in so we can get interim occupational cert asap.

Manhattan52 · Aug 17, 2018 7:03 pm

doosra

nthkellyvillebuild

Hi

We have been reading reviews for a few days now and love some of the feedback and suggestions.

We have just got our Tender docs for the Manhattan 44 Ens after signing up in Oct 2017. Our land has just been registered and are keen to get moving. We wanted to know how much is the average spend on upgrades etc. We really have no idea how much to allow ourselves for Kitchen, electrical and whatever else. So before we accept tender wanted to see if we should cut anything to allow more on upgrades at selections.

Also wondering if anyone has used Wisdom for pools?

Thanks

The question about upgrades are "how deep are your pockets". What i've noticed is Wisdom are expensive ! so upgrades will cost you a fair bit and depends what you want to do yourself. Just to give you an example of my situation, we're about 230k above the base price of our house (not including any site costs) and i'm doing driveway and flooring after handover.

I'm also going through Wisdom for a concrete pool. Roughly will cost us about 65-70k extra.

You can spend as much or as little as you need.
I would have to kindly disagree with Doosra. Having built a few houses with custom builders who essentially uses the same suppliers I would have to say you do definitely get value for your money.

Other volume builders may compare cheaper in some ways however I think it all works out fairly similar in the wash.

We are also doing our pool with Wisdom and Landscaping.
I do think the landscaping pricing is on the high side but certainly not crazy. I have a current landscaper that does work for me and they certainly wouldn’t charge me any less than what has been quoted by Wisdom

I would probably try and leave some for your appointments if you can, each amount is up to you but start with a minimum of $5k each of your looking at keeping costs down

Stairs
Electrical
Aircon
Kitchen
Flooring
Hydraulics
Misc ( just in case)

psur2357 · Aug 17, 2018 7:08 pm

Manhattan52

doosra

nthkellyvillebuild

Hi

We have been reading reviews for a few days now and love some of the feedback and suggestions.

We have just got our Tender docs for the Manhattan 44 Ens after signing up in Oct 2017. Our land has just been registered and are keen to get moving. We wanted to know how much is the average spend on upgrades etc. We really have no idea how much to allow ourselves for Kitchen, electrical and whatever else. So before we accept tender wanted to see if we should cut anything to allow more on upgrades at selections.

Also wondering if anyone has used Wisdom for pools?

Thanks

The question about upgrades are "how deep are your pockets". What i've noticed is Wisdom are expensive ! so upgrades will cost you a fair bit and depends what you want to do yourself. Just to give you an example of my situation, we're about 230k above the base price of our house (not including any site costs) and i'm doing driveway and flooring after handover.

I'm also going through Wisdom for a concrete pool. Roughly will cost us about 65-70k extra.

You can spend as much or as little as you need.
I would have to kindly disagree with Doosra. Having built a few houses with custom builders who essentially uses the same suppliers I would have to say you do definitely get value for your money.

Other volume builders may compare cheaper in some ways however I think it all works out fairly similar in the wash.

We are also doing our pool with Wisdom and Landscaping.
I do think the landscaping pricing is on the high side but certainly not crazy. I have a current landscaper that does work for me and they certainly wouldn’t charge me any less than what has been quoted by Wisdom

I would probably try and leave some for your appointments if you can, each amount is up to you but start with a minimum of $5k each of your looking at keeping costs down

Stairs
Electrical
Aircon
Kitchen
Flooring
Hydraulics
Misc ( just in case)

You would be able to spend about $120k to $150k above base price with reasonable upgrades including driveway

doosra · Aug 17, 2018 8:04 pm

Manhattan52

doosra

nthkellyvillebuild

Hi

We have been reading reviews for a few days now and love some of the feedback and suggestions.

We have just got our Tender docs for the Manhattan 44 Ens after signing up in Oct 2017. Our land has just been registered and are keen to get moving. We wanted to know how much is the average spend on upgrades etc. We really have no idea how much to allow ourselves for Kitchen, electrical and whatever else. So before we accept tender wanted to see if we should cut anything to allow more on upgrades at selections.

Also wondering if anyone has used Wisdom for pools?

Thanks

The question about upgrades are "how deep are your pockets". What i've noticed is Wisdom are expensive ! so upgrades will cost you a fair bit and depends what you want to do yourself. Just to give you an example of my situation, we're about 230k above the base price of our house (not including any site costs) and i'm doing driveway and flooring after handover.

I'm also going through Wisdom for a concrete pool. Roughly will cost us about 65-70k extra.

You can spend as much or as little as you need.
I would have to kindly disagree with Doosra. Having built a few houses with custom builders who essentially uses the same suppliers I would have to say you do definitely get value for your money.

Other volume builders may compare cheaper in some ways however I think it all works out fairly similar in the wash.

We are also doing our pool with Wisdom and Landscaping.
I do think the landscaping pricing is on the high side but certainly not crazy. I have a current landscaper that does work for me and they certainly wouldn’t charge me any less than what has been quoted by Wisdom

I would probably try and leave some for your appointments if you can, each amount is up to you but start with a minimum of $5k each of your looking at keeping costs down

Stairs
Electrical
Aircon
Kitchen
Flooring
Hydraulics
Misc ( just in case)

They are expensive if you want them to do stuff as upgrades but comparative to other home builders I'm sure they're ok. Some examples, tiling charge from wisdom landscapes is $150sqm, outside could do for $60, concrete is $250sqm, externally $100sqm. One example is I upgraded my pool filter and they charged close to $800, outside the price variation between the models was less than $200. Wisdom landscapes will charge u 2-3 times more in my opinion.

My comment about being expensive is just around cost vs doing it external, not actually comparing builders

I think wisdom have great quality though but if u can do stuff after handover u could end up saving a lot of money.

doosra · Aug 17, 2018 8:18 pm

psur2357

Manhattan52

doosra

[quote="nthkellyvillebuild"]Hi

We have been reading reviews for a few days now and love some of the feedback and suggestions.

We have just got our Tender docs for the Manhattan 44 Ens after signing up in Oct 2017. Our land has just been registered and are keen to get moving. We wanted to know how much is the average spend on upgrades etc. We really have no idea how much to allow ourselves for Kitchen, electrical and whatever else. So before we accept tender wanted to see if we should cut anything to allow more on upgrades at selections.

Also wondering if anyone has used Wisdom for pools?

Thanks

The question about upgrades are "how deep are your pockets". What i've noticed is Wisdom are expensive ! so upgrades will cost you a fair bit and depends what you want to do yourself. Just to give you an example of my situation, we're about 230k above the base price of our house (not including any site costs) and i'm doing driveway and flooring after handover.

I'm also going through Wisdom for a concrete pool. Roughly will cost us about 65-70k extra.

You can spend as much or as little as you need.
I would have to kindly disagree with Doosra. Having built a few houses with custom builders who essentially uses the same suppliers I would have to say you do definitely get value for your money.

Other volume builders may compare cheaper in some ways however I think it all works out fairly similar in the wash.

We are also doing our pool with Wisdom and Landscaping.
I do think the landscaping pricing is on the high side but certainly not crazy. I have a current landscaper that does work for me and they certainly wouldn’t charge me any less than what has been quoted by Wisdom

I would probably try and leave some for your appointments if you can, each amount is up to you but start with a minimum of $5k each of your looking at keeping costs down

Stairs
Electrical
Aircon
Kitchen
Flooring
Hydraulics
Misc ( just in case)

You would be able to spend about $120k to $150k above base price with reasonable upgrades including driveway[/quote]Agreed 150k will get ya something nice. We did 3 decent structural change like alfresco extension, removing a structural pole to open up the area, and raising ceilings to 3.2m which cost us about 45k just for those.

This might help

- Stairs can cost up to 23k odd if u want floating staircase with glass.
- 15k for kitchen would get u waterfall edges, caesar stone upgrade, and extra sink and cabinet for butler pantry, soft close drawers and some other stuff, shark edges
- electrical, 10k provisional allowance should be a good amount for house ur size
- 5k for high ceilings upstairs
- standard skylight is about 2.3k
- we spent 14k for wet area tiling upgrade (this may be more if you dont have full wall tiling as per signature package) we used large 400x800 tiles.

One thing that stung us was the hydraulic detail listed under council/other requirements of the tender. Our PA was 6k but that came to 27k

nthkellyvillebuild · Aug 17, 2018 8:35 pm

[quote="doosra"][quote="psur2357"][quote="Manhattan52"][quote="doosra"][quote="nthkellyvillebuild"]Hi

Thanks for all the tips! We have the signature package and are doing flooring and most landscaping post build as I can get timber floors and landscaping done way cheaper due to working in industry.Have already been priced some significant changes to layout which we are keeping and are on a very sloping block which will end up splitting house giving 4m ceilings on lower split.

What’s with the hydraulic requirements?

My thoughts are upgrades in
Kitchen
Stairs
Cabinetry
Wet area tiling
Not sure where else?

Manhattan52 · Aug 17, 2018 8:39 pm

Aircon upgrade
CCTV

doosra · Aug 17, 2018 8:47 pm

nthkellyvillebuild

doosra

psur2357

[quote="Manhattan52"][quote="doosra"][quote="nthkellyvillebuild"]Hi

Thanks for all the tips! We have the signature package and are doing flooring and most landscaping post build as I can get timber floors and landscaping done way cheaper due to working in industry.Have already been priced some significant changes to layout which we are keeping and are on a very sloping block which will end up splitting house giving 4m ceilings on lower split.

What’s with the hydraulic requirements?

My thoughts are upgrades in
Kitchen
Stairs
Cabinetry
Wet area tiling
Not sure where else?

Well if u have 4m ceilings you will need to upgrade your windows and doors

Hydraulic design has to do with stormwater. This is what the tender says "Provide stormwater drainage lines and pits as per details provided by Ibrahim
stormwater consultants Hydraulic detail plan dated 26/10/17, including the
following:"

doosra · Aug 17, 2018 8:48 pm

Manhattan52

Aircon upgrade
CCTV

Yes agree with aircon upgrade. About 6k upgrade. CCTV I would do afterwards. Get them to run you cat5/6 cables. Most good security cameras are power over ethernet (PoE) so you just plug them in and configure your system and away u go.

nthkellyvillebuild · Aug 17, 2018 8:54 pm

Hydraulic design has to do with stormwater. This is what the tender says "Provide stormwater drainage lines and pits as per details provided by Ibrahim
stormwater consultants Hydraulic detail plan dated 26/10/17, including the
following:"[/quote]

Already did higher windows and doors in tender. I think we have covered a lot in tender so hoping the upgrade selections won’t be to bad. Now just to get cracking!

Manhattan52 · Aug 17, 2018 10:24 pm

Doosra

What size is your pool?

doosra · Aug 17, 2018 10:53 pm

7 x 3m

Manhattan52

@Doosra

What size is your pool?

GLO · Aug 18, 2018 7:45 am

doosra

7 x 3m

Manhattan52

@Doosra

What size is your pool?

What pool layout did you choose and other pool options.
Ie multi speed pump, auto dosing, mineral water, pool cleaner etc

Thanks

Also which coping have you selected.

Manhattan52 · Aug 18, 2018 10:42 am

GLO

doosra

7 x 3m

Manhattan52

@Doosra

What size is your pool?

What pool layout did you choose and other pool options.
Ie multi speed pump, auto dosing, mineral water, pool cleaner etc

Thanks

Also which coping have you selected.

I chose a 10x5 rectangle. I selected my own coping to be the same as my outdoor tiling/alfresco and internal tiles.
I added the Virion Connect 10 for full automation and a heat pump, jet vac and mineral water

Chompy · Aug 18, 2018 10:49 am

Is there a catalogue of lights to choose from?

doosra · Aug 18, 2018 10:59 am

Manhattan52

GLO

doosra

7 x 3m[quote="Manhattan52"]@Doosra

What size is your pool?

What pool layout did you choose and other pool options.
Ie multi speed pump, auto dosing, mineral water, pool cleaner etc

Thanks

Also which coping have you selected.

I chose a 10x5 rectangle. I selected my own coping to be the same as my outdoor tiling/alfresco and internal tiles.
I added the Virion Connect 10 for full automation and a heat pump, jet vac and mineral water[/quote]Did u buy coping yourself? If so, have you found any good places ?

doosra · Aug 18, 2018 11:02 am

GLO

doosra

7 x 3m

Manhattan52

@Doosra

What size is your pool?

What pool layout did you choose and other pool options.
Ie multi speed pump, auto dosing, mineral water, pool cleaner etc

Thanks

Also which coping have you selected.

I'm going to do pool coping and pool surrounds same as alfresco as well but I'm purchasing separately. Wisdom charge 160per sqm for silver trav coping which can easily be found for $80 or even less outside.

Manhattan52 · Aug 18, 2018 11:12 am

@ doosra
Try marbleceramiccorp they are in banksmeadow in Sydney I have used before and are excellent. You can pick up silver travertine in lots of places a lot cheaper - your right!

I used the same tiles for coping as my alfresco and Internal so it’s all one surface so I am having the tiles mitred to give a rebates drip edge on the pool. Would not recommend this however as it’s costing a small fortune. Because I’m usuing the exact same tile I had to go through Di lorenzo as they are the only ones that stock this exact tile unfortunately