Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Building our first home -- HELP!! 12Jul 17, 2014 1:48 pm We built with a small local builder. They offered a decent price for what we wanted (we got a few quotes, from big builders and small). They also offered a great degree of flexibility in terms of who we could do our selections with, kitchen design, electrical without adding a big builders mark-up. Not too many setbacks; our main complaint comes from poor communication really, we always had to chase them for updates/information once the build started. Most stressful was dealing with the banks, and the waiting. We had minor mistakes only, which were quickly corrected. We visited site frequently, so we were always aware of what was going on. I can't remember what our site costs were, they were part of the slab cost. We had class H soil so needed a thick slab, but the site was flat and didn't require any cut/fill. One thing we did forget was to take photos of the electrics before the plaster was on, it would make putting stuff on the walls easier now (we do have a stud finder thing but it seems to give inconsisent results). This thread has a pretty comprehensive list - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=5823&start=620 We increased the size of our kitchen, increased ceiling heights, changed windows. What is a must comes down to personal preference, I would always increase ceiling height though. Most of our tapware, light fittings, we left as standard, but this comes down to what you like and what is included as the standard. Also strongly consider solar orientation in your design (viewtopic.php?f=31&t=55057). What's worth putting in later depends on what markup your builder charges, I know many people put the flooring (carpets etc) in after handover, we didn't as our builder didn't charge markup. Things like gardens, fencing, turf you can do yourself afterwards (although if your neighbours build now they may wish to have fencing costs shared). Keep everything in writing (especially if it involves 'free' upgrades, or the price for changes). Make notes in your meetings. Get a few quotes, and ask about upgrade costs in advance. We have similar tastes, so we didn't disagree on too much. For resale, stick to more neutral schemes than big bold statements. Re: Building our first home -- HELP!! 13Jul 17, 2014 10:54 pm Ozlizz Good work there kkphilly93; you guys are actually an inspiration for the Gen Y . aww thank you ozlizz! We are quite proud of ourselves! It's a big thing for us!! and you're pretty spot on, we are thinking of around 350k for what we want! staceyd And as well as that, hubby is an electrician so we had it included in the contract that he completed the electrical work, that way we have been able to put in what we want without paying for upgrades there which add up pretty quickly from what I hear. He works in heating and cooling primarily so was able to install ducted a/c at the same time, as well as the pipes for hydronic heating so that has saved us a ton. If we were to get that through the builder it would have added up big time! So jealous! We don't have any family or friends who are tradies/electricians It must be very nice and handy!! Another question: - My Dad told me that if you tell you builder for example not to put carpets down or delete things to save money, they will just up the price of other things to cover themselves True, not true? Does my dad have any idea what he's talking about? Thank you everyone for your advice, I am learning fast and keeping notes!! Re: Building our first home -- HELP!! 14Jul 18, 2014 1:01 pm kkphilly93 Another question: - My Dad told me that if you tell you builder for example not to put carpets down or delete things to save money, they will just up the price of other things to cover themselves True, not true? Does my dad have any idea what he's talking about? Thank you everyone for your advice, I am learning fast and keeping notes!! Not entirely true from what I've seen. You don't get much off when they delete things generally, we got $800 to delete the 600mm range hood and cooker, but if for example we wanted to add an additional 600mm range and cooker instead of deleting it might have cost us $1000. We have only ended up ahead with the things we have deleted either because hubby can get them at trade price and we don't have to pay someone to install them, or because they are things we would have had to upgrade anyway eg, they wanted an extra $1200 to upgrade to the 900mm cooker/rangehood. So add that to the credit from deleting it was 2k for a builders standard techninka one, just over double that and I got a falcon one! Or the flooring, we are putting eligna laminate throughout. To upgrade to that from the standard tiles/carpet would have cost almost as much as it has for us to buy it ourselves, so by the time we factor in the credit we're doing ok (although we're installing it ourselves too, so thats saving a ton of money as well.) And if you have a quote then delete things, they can't just increase the other costs willy nilly. They have to justify why. If you aren't happy then you walk. Re: Building our first home -- HELP!! 15Jul 21, 2014 12:34 pm Hi kkphilly93, I can help give you the prices for upgrades with 8homes. Just that you'd need to be a little bit more specific in what category of upgrade you want to know the price off. You can visit the colour selection office (The Hub) by emailing the head office, which would then give you an appointment and you can browse around and see what you like. For the time being, I can provide you with the cost of the upgrades we've gotten. Just remember that double storey home extras costs more than our single storey. - downlights - We got the Luxury Package - $4609 - stone bench tops throughout - 40mm Cat 2 Ceasarstone kitchen benchtop with Waterfall panels with 900mm extension in length and 1000mm width extension - $4990 20mm Cat 2 Ceasarstone Bathroom benchtop for main bathroom and 1832mm long extended laminate vanity unit - $1358 20mm Cat 2 Ceasarstone Bathroom benchtop for ensuite and 1832mm long extended laminate vanity unit - $1909 - raised ceilings - 2590mm ceiling height - $3232 - upgraded tiles and carpet Cat 4 600mm x 300mm Porcelain tiles - $11243 Cat 2 Carpets - $2248 - doors added to WIR and ensuite Single cavity sliding flush door to WIR - $488 - Alfresco Alfresco - $9073 Brick Pier $640 - Upgraded facade with balcony - Depends which facade you want to go for and if you want any rendering it'll vary - Upgraded stair case - Sorry, not sure but from what I hear, it can go up to $15k. :S - feature window upstairs - depending on size of window - internal access from garage - $253 - overhead cupboards in kitchen - included - upgraded internal doors - Depends which category. We didn’t upgrade. - upgraded sliding doors or bifold doors 2110mm high x 3573mm wide aluminium entertainer door to family - $726 2110mm high x 2673mm wide aluminium entertainer door to rumpus - $616 I heard from the Sales Consultant that Timber stacker doors can go to up to 9k for both. :S - under stair storage – Not sure, sorry! - extending the garage – Not sure again… - out door lighting – Came with package - To separate toilets - $849 each. If you need anything else, let me know. Re: Building our first home -- HELP!! 16Jul 21, 2014 2:02 pm Hi all, (RoseN) just in regards to this "Single cavity sliding flush door to WIR - $488 " we are in WA so the price will obviously be different, but we have a his / hers robe design and then you walk into the ensuite, but there is no door. is it difficult to put the sliding door in. and is this design the one where the door goes inside the wall? I think we definitely need one of these for noise & steam reasons also. We have not signed the final design just yet, but looking to do it today / tonight. Do you have any advice regarding this particular door? 14 Dreng Way, Brabham Signed Land Contract - 29/06/2014 Finance Formal approval - 16/09/2014 Prestart - 30/04/2015 Titles - 22/05/2015 Building Permit - 25/05/2015 Land settled - Slab - Bricks - Re: Building our first home -- HELP!! 17Jul 21, 2014 6:01 pm wow RoseN thanks!! This really helps me gain a rough idea of things! How many down lights came for that price? I'm also thinking I want down lights under the kitchen over head cupboards. are you getting light switch dimmers for the down lights? These are called picture windows (the ones looking over the pool), we want something similar but maybe a bit smaller, we have been roughly quoted between $6 - $7k for this size window Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I also LOVE LOVE LOVE these big sliding doors Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I think we are going to avoid timber stacker doors! Other things that I think are a must on my wish list: - soft close feature to all draws/cupboards - double sink - pot drawers - pull out bins in kitchen - upgraded garage door (love that wooden look!) - extra heating ducts - extra heating/cooling controls upstairs - extra power points (including external power points and in garage) and extra TV points - upgraded cornices - doorbell - laundry cupboards - larger fridge space - wall niches or shelves in showers - frosted glass to bathroom windows - upgraded front door - glass panel next to front door - render to the alfresco pillars - lights in the staircase - something like this: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Here are a few others that my partner thinks are not as important (but I still want ): - upgraded light switches - heater lights in bathrooms - sensor lights for outside and inside the walk in pantry - some sort of security system - man hole and extra storage in garage roof and here is a big want that I probably won't get : under floor heating to ground floor Pretty sure that will blow the budget!! I would love to sit down with sales people from my favourite builders and do a full quote but not sure if they would if we are not ready to build right away? I just would love to get a very rough idea of what things on my wish list will be doable and wish I will have to scrap. Re: Building our first home -- HELP!! 18Jul 22, 2014 9:35 pm Kaylz Hi all, (RoseN) just in regards to this "Single cavity sliding flush door to WIR - $488 " we are in WA so the price will obviously be different, but we have a his / hers robe design and then you walk into the ensuite, but there is no door. is it difficult to put the sliding door in. and is this design the one where the door goes inside the wall? I think we definitely need one of these for noise & steam reasons also. We have not signed the final design just yet, but looking to do it today / tonight. Do you have any advice regarding this particular door? Hi Kaylz, good luck with your build! Yes, so the Cavity Sliding door is the door that goes into the wall. From what I hear, it's hard to install it after handover, hence why we wanted the builder to do it or else you'd have to hire a plasterer. Just be wary that some builders don't allow adjacent cavity doors because it may go crooked after a while and they don't want to be made responsible for that. Re: Building our first home -- HELP!! 19Jul 22, 2014 9:49 pm Hey kkphilly93 Have a look of my electricals and entertainment doors on my building thread viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72422&p=1206987#p1206987 extra downlights are around $150 each? - soft close feature to all draws/cupboards - depends which catergory - double sink - Cat 2 is $253 - pot drawers - Around $1500 - pull out bins in kitchen - $1200 - upgraded garage door (love that wooden look!) - $500 - extra heating ducts - not sure - extra heating/cooling controls upstairs - we got refrigerated cooling - $11483 - extra power points (including external power points and in garage) and extra TV points - $120 per internal double power point $110 per external double power point Just to mention, you can make up to 5 changes at no charge. 6-10 change comes with a $300.. etc. - upgraded cornices - didn't upgrade - doorbell - didn't even think about that - laundry cupboards - Laundry option 3 - $2399 - larger fridge space - no charge - wall niches or shelves in showers depends how big. ours was 600mm x 300mm at $380 but if you want feature tiles it'll be more - frosted glass to bathroom windows - around $200? - upgraded front door ours was Cat 4 Timber which was $1400 for both? - glass panel next to front door Comes standard however if you want it glazed then it depends which one to determine the cost - render to the alfresco pillars - Not sure. I paid an extra $640 to have a brick post as it's only timber that's standard. - upgraded light switches - not sure - heater lights in bathrooms - not sure - sensor lights for outside and inside the walk in pantry - comes with luxury pack. I did get dimmers though. - some sort of security system - not sure - man hole and extra storage in garage roof - not sure. sorry! 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 27739 Can anyone give me any onfo on New Homes WA? Good or bad, hopefully good just need to know if my choice was good or not? Thanks ❤️ 0 8950 That is a really good attitude Akin to you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I do enjoy watching that tik tok inspector from Victoria but he does go a little… 12 81896 |