Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jul 13, 2014 10:57 am Hi all, We have actually finished building (we got our keys on the 8th July) but I just wanted to post about our build because I have been reading this forum since April but never got around to posting about our own build. Yesterday we removed some yucky clay and spread out 22 cubic metres of loam in preparation for some turf next week. Phew! We chose our house and land back in October 2013, chose colours etc in November and signed the contract in December. Our land settled at the start of Feb, and they poured the slab the first week of March and had the frame up a few days later. The roof was on the next week. Our house was bricked, plastered and locked up mid April. Simonds really don't muck around! Our site supervisor has been absolutely fantastic, and so was our customer service person. Cassandra who helped us at the gallery really helped a lot as we were a little unsure about how some things would work together, especially our kitchen cupboards with our timber laminate flooring so we ended up having coloured cupboards up the top and white down the bottom, and it looks great. I will post some pics later Meagan Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 2Jul 13, 2014 11:24 am Looking forward to seeing pics! We were toing and froing between the Palisade and the Sierra initially, but ended up going the Sierra in the end. Glad to hear all went well and you had a speedy build, ours is going along really well so far too! Hope it continues Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 3Jul 13, 2014 3:13 pm Hi there!! Yay another simonds build We are also building with Simonds "Prague" in sth east melbourne. So far we are nearly at the end of fixing stage! Our site start was 10th of May. Not bad for 2 and half months!! Your so right simonds dont muck around at all and they have been wonderful right from the beginning. I couldnt fault them. looking forward to seeeing more pics! Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 4Jul 14, 2014 4:34 pm Congratulations! Looking forward to seeing some pictures and great to hear you had a good experience. We are just about at site start stage and loving all the positive Simonds experiences on this forum for that extra peace of mind. The Palisade is a lovely home, did you do any of the fusion options? Blogging Our Home Build With Simonds - Avalon 3512 4/05/14 Signed Contracts Land 5/05/14 Signed Off with Simonds Homes - Slightly Modified Avalon 3512 4/06/14 Simonds Gallery Appointment 4/07/14 Settlement! 28/07/14 Site Start Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 7Jul 14, 2014 10:13 pm Hi all, Here are some pics! This is our land before we built on it: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Some selections: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Our hairy dog Rusty helped us choose the carpet that would camouflage his hair the best! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Site preparations: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A frame! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ A roof! Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Bricked and plastered: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Garage door on: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Concrete preparation and shed slab poured (we're on H class soil, so it's important to have 1200mm paths around the slab to prevent movement): Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Concrete poured: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Some inside pics: 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 ⋅ Some landscaping action from this weekend: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Finished levelled yard ready for turf: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I hope this works!! I'll put up more inside pics when we're done inside. If anyone's interested we're very happy with our independent inspector (building-expert), the concreter (Dan Dickinson), the roman blind supplier (Champion Blinds) and we got our bathrooms and toilet glass frosted today (AM Glass Tinting). And of course Simonds have done a top job on the build itself! The one person who let us down was our mortgage broker, but I won't name names. aRoba, we didn't do any of the fusion options but we did add a few doors etc. We also moved one of the robes in one of the bedrooms as suggested by someone at the gallery, as it freed up 3 walls because it was in a weird spot previously. We flipped the front of the house so the garage and master bedroom were reversed so we could have the garage on the boundary and the living areas on the north facing side. We considered very briefly adding a metre down one side of the house through the master bedroom, living room, dining room and lounge room but we quickly decided against it when we were told it would cost about 12k! Now the dining table is in, it actually fits really nicely which is what I was mostly worried about. We're going to build a pergola which will extend out the living areas too. Meagan Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 8Jul 15, 2014 7:09 pm Great pics! Which bedroom did you move the robe? Also curious as to where you added doors, I'm extending the plaster and adding a door to the family room to create a media room. I'm a little worried it'll close off the open space too much and it'll seem a lot smaller. Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 9Jul 15, 2014 7:34 pm Hi Roo, We moved the robe in bedroom 4 from the left hand side of the door opening to the right hand side so the door opens below it. We added a slider to the family room so we could close it off as that is also where our TV watching will be done. We added insulation in the wall between the family room and bedroom 4 for soundproofing as our TV will hang on that wall. We also added a slider next to the kitchen to be able to close off the bedrooms from the rest of the house. We added a door to the toilet in the ensuite too and the WIP. Have you started building yet? Meagan Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 10Jul 15, 2014 7:53 pm I would love to see photos of your doors if it's not any trouble. Building won't start until October/November as the land will be titled September/October. I've got the gallery appointment in a few weeks time (super excited). First home and very new to building. I've noticed from most other users' photos they all gave the same basins in the bathrooms, do you remember how many basin options there were at the gallery? I think I'm going to have a lot of questions for you, sorry in advance! It's just great to find other palisade builder in Geelong too! Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 11Jul 15, 2014 8:48 pm Hi Roo, I'll take some pics of the doors for you tomorrow. We had a choice of 2 basins (and baths) - square and round. I dont recall if there were any upgrade ones as we were happy with the round ones, however the choices may not be the same for you, as we did our gallery selections in melbourne and then they moved us to the geelong office before our build started. Ask as many questions as you like! Meagan Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 14Jul 17, 2014 12:07 am Oh great pictures! And well done with the camo/dog hair selections, well thought out! Was the paving around the outsides a costly extra? Blogging Our Home Build With Simonds - Avalon 3512 4/05/14 Signed Contracts Land 5/05/14 Signed Off with Simonds Homes - Slightly Modified Avalon 3512 4/06/14 Simonds Gallery Appointment 4/07/14 Settlement! 28/07/14 Site Start Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 15Jul 17, 2014 12:20 am Wow you have a lovely home. We also went with a Simonds broker and had an amazing experience. He just went above and beyond to get us uncontional approval. He was a god sent. I'm so sorry u had a bad experience. When we went for selections back in February we only had one choice of standard basin and it was the square shaped one but it's a quite different style. Not as high like the one in the pic. Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 16Jul 17, 2014 7:38 am Hi aRoba, We got the concrete paths done separately from the guilder, although we used their concreter and it was done when he did our driveway (we just had to sign a variation to allow it, but it was a no charge one). We got him to do the crossover, a garden shed slab and a coloured-through path all the way around the house except where our pergola will go and it was about $6k which I thought was pretty decent compared to the other quotes I got! Justheart, we didn't use the Simonds broker. We probably should have! (Or just went through the bank because in the end we got the same thing I had already discussed with the bank!) our broker was from one of those big companies. We've lodged a complaint so I won't say anything about who or what happened until they have finished their investigation. Your house is cracking along like ours did, it's all so exciting when it's different every time you visit! Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 17Jul 17, 2014 9:46 am Thanks for sharing your pics cloverlucy! Your home looks lovely, I love how you've zoned it with the added doors, makes it very functional Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=66299 Slab: 16/6/14 Frame: 4/7/14 Roof: 22/7/14 Lock Up: 20/8/14 Fixing: 26/8/14 PCI: 9/10/14 Handover: 20/10/14 Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 18Jul 17, 2014 6:15 pm Thanks for the photos cloverlucy! The doors look fantastic! And you're right, it doesnt make the space look smaller at all. The sliding door sealing off the bedrooms is a great idea too. Re: Our Simonds Palisade in Geelong, VIC 19Sep 06, 2014 10:17 pm LOL love Rusty's choice It's all lovely Meagan. Great taste! I have posted this before: We hired Darbecca to do every stage inspection, and I strongly recommend them to anyone that asks me. They were amazing. Thorough reports… 2 4518 of course there are legal avenues. You've already mentioned it. Sue them. I find it odd that lawyers wouldnt be willing to take on the case, given CCT evidence and… 1 23792 "Losers" "humanity" "off time" "your" "top notch" "love symbol" Sounds like ponzo is done using other people's toilets 36 23922 |