Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 22, 2015 12:31 am Im so excited to finally start our own thread Today we received unconditional finance for our land. I will pop a little update in my signature with all the dates shortly. A little back ground story . . . We are a family of 5 with 3 little kidlets. This will be our first and hopefully forever home. We have been looking at buying established in the Belgrave area however have always dreamt of building. We actually put a deposit on some land when we were a new couple in 2000 but then chickened out as we werent yet engaged. 15 years later! and we are finally doing it! We found this land after looking at a few homes which didnt quite suit us. We want to build a small 4BR with north facing living, hopefully taking into account passive solar heating as well as cross ventilation for summer. Building will allow us to do this. This land tick so many boxes for us. We love it up in the hills and this way we get to be in the hills but also great access to free ways and not as much of a fire danger as directly in the fire zone. Our BAL rating is 29. The land is 1000m with a beautiful green wedge directly behind us. We have a tiny budget for a build which is making us sweat a little but it is what it is. Looking for a builder has been rather tricky because of this. Crossing off more builders that we are finding at this stage. Really love the look of Leneeva homes. They have been so helpful and really accommodating so far. So the first step for us now is to start thinking about septic and sewer. Sewer is going through in the coming years so hoping to have a temporary septic tank and then connect later to sewer. Really looking forward to keeping you all updated with our progress and getting some tips along the way Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 2Sep 24, 2015 3:42 pm Congratulations Pobie! I hope you have a smooth and painless build Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 3Sep 24, 2015 7:28 pm hi as your children grow older they will start staying up later make sure you have a living room away from B1 that they can use in evenings i start work very early and my chn stay up to around 11 watching tv we will be moving soon to a house where b1 is away from living room either get a media room or seperate 2nd living room for when someone wants to watch horror movies or football or horror of all horror, reality tv Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 4Sep 29, 2015 6:59 pm trixee Congratulations Pobie! I hope you have a smooth and painless build Thanks Trixee. Ive been devouring your blog over the last few months aussieta make sure you have a living room away from B1 that they can use in evenings i start work very early and my chn stay up to around 11 watching tv Thanks for the tip xx We have actually changed our design a little to include a small kids retreat at the back of the house with the kids bedrooms. Im a midwife so work all over the shop and was considering it might get a little awkward when I need to sleep and the family wants to have dinner etc. The retreat isnt especially large but it will serve the purpose of TV watching at the back of the house so I can have a little quiet at the front when we need too. Had a meeting with Leneeva over the weekend which was really great. He is going to work on a preliminary quote for us. Also getting some site tests done from JG King who are happy to re-design their plan for us and will also arrange a time with Rawdon Hill at some stage. Would also love to chat with Excelcon and Edgeform but think they are perhaps out of our league Have a few random questions flying around at the moment. We want to do in slab heating and polish the floor to take advantage of north facing and the large thermal mass. Problem is the price Has anybody polished the standard builders slab before? Leneeva are telling us that it wont look very nice with the cracks etc. I thought it might add character. I dont think we can afford a second screed or the additional concrete to make the slab thicker to avoid cracks. Also really dont fancy the in roof ducted heating so feel like the in slab heating is really the only option we are happy with. Another random question is about ensuite vanities and toilets. Does anybody know if it adds re-sale value having a door for the toilet in the ensuite? We are find with having the toilet in the ensuite but the builder has suggested putting it in a room for re-sale. Also we were thinking that a double vanity with a single basin would work. We have no need for a double basin and think the additional bench space would be useful. Not sure if it would look strange? Also another question about re-sale. Would it be best to stick with the double basin and sacrifice the additional bench space? We are considering having a double vanity with a single basin in the main bathroom but it doesnt seem as odd in my mind to do it this way in the main bath for some reason. What are people's opinions? Finally . . . we have designed the house ourselves with the help of the builder fine tuning it . . . with principals of cross ventilation and passive solar. Should we seek the opinion of a draftsman to ensure that we have it right? We are by no means experts (ok, Ill be honest, hubby hasnt had much to do with it LOL) so want to make sure that Im on the right track. If I post the design here is there enough experience here to gauge how effective my design is? Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 5Sep 30, 2015 6:47 pm Hi Pobie, Great reading your story. There are several threads/blogs on here that will help you on the journey. I recommend you start a list of "must things" you want in your new home and adding to it as you go. Things like furniture you intend to put in your new home have to be thought of to ensure they actually fit where you want them. Common things we find are electrical/data/TV points (qty and positions etc), fridge cavities, water points are just some of the things we see go unchecked and are so important (a wall mounted TV with the cables running to the floor are unsightly). Garage opening heights is another consideration if you have a SUV fitted with racks. Lastly, be sure to check all your documentation (or seek assistance) before you sign. Never assume that because you "asked" for a particular feature, it naturally is added in. Accurate documentation is one area builders have a huge opportunity for improvement. Regards, CR Partners Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 6Oct 02, 2015 12:11 am CR Partners Hi Pobie,I recommend you start a list of "must things" you want in your new home and adding to it as you go. . . . Lastly, be sure to check all your documentation (or seek assistance) before you sign. Never assume that because you "asked" for a particular feature, it naturally is added in. Accurate documentation is one area builders have a huge opportunity for improvement. Thanks for the tips xx Been over the thread here of common things missed multiple times. We are coming to the stage as we think of things to add to our list we find we have already added them which is a really great place to be in. Will also make sure we have somebody check over our building contract before we sign to make sure its complete Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 7Oct 11, 2015 8:41 pm Best wishes Pobie. Look forward to seeing your progress. viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76666 our custom build on 25 acres Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 9Oct 17, 2015 7:30 pm JB1 Have you thought about hydronic panel heating? Yes we had thought about it and its still an option if in slab heating doesn't work out. We have been told that the slab heating has a better thermal mass providing better energy efficiency. We had our plans sketched today thanks to an uncle who offered to draw them up for us (and also happens to be an architect - winner!!) What do you think? I sketched in the room names as its only a ver rough draft. PLAN 1 - BR 3 will have a robe - half in BR 3 and half in BR 4. Ensuite will have the toilet and double shower switched also. PLAN 2 - what do you think of the robe? I can change BR 4 to have a WIR for the girl in the household. PLAN 1 Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ PLAN 2 Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ One more Here is our block - Frontage is 22.25m. We need 5m from each boundary. The house sited is an older plan that has permits. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 10Oct 18, 2015 7:06 am When you say north facing, is that along the living and bedroom 3? I can't say I'm a fan of either design because to get to the back of the house, you'll have to walk past the meals area which is fine, but put a 8 seat Dining table in there and it's going to be cramped and won't flow. Re: the slab and thermal mass, wouldn't the slab provide heating in winter regardless if there was or wasn't hydronic floor heating anyway? The hydronic floor heating would retain more heat than the hydronic panel heating but would use a long more energy to heat up in the first place. It's not like if you opt for hydronic panel heating you will get nil benefit from the thermal mass of the slab. Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 11Oct 18, 2015 12:59 pm As the kids get older you might get arguments about "Why have I got a small bedroom while they have got a big one. Although its nice to have a large master bedroom with a big Walk in Robe there is going to be a lot of wasted space. If it was me I would look to make the master smaller and the 2 smaller bedrooms larger. See this link to see why I don't like twin basins: http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2012/01/twi ... -worth-it/ The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 12Oct 18, 2015 11:35 pm JB1 When you say north facing, is that along the living and bedroom 3?. Sorry, no north is the front entry which is the living room and master BR. We want the living at the front of the house so we can shut off the kids bedrooms etc for when they get older and move out. That way we arent heating and cooling such a large area. JB1 I can't say I'm a fan of either design because to get to the back of the house, you'll have to walk past the meals area which is fine, but put a 8 seat Dining table in there and it's going to be cramped and won't flow. Yes the dining table does squish things up a bit. Our table will be 900x1800mm. It fits with a 1m perimeter around. We can make the alfresco smaller to make a little more room but having a 2000mm wide alfresco is rather useless to put a table in also. I have a picture on my phone with the dining table drawn in. Ill try and load it up tomorrow. JB1 Re: the slab and thermal mass, wouldn't the slab provide heating in winter regardless if there was or wasn't hydronic floor heating anyway? I plan on doing a little more research into this before we choose. We are still a fair way off at this stage. bashworth As the kids get older you might get arguments about "Why have I got a small bedroom while they have got a big one. / The rooms are now all 3300x3000 with one 3190x3300. I doubt they will notice the difference. bashworth Although its nice to have a large master bedroom with a big Walk in Robe there is going to be a lot of wasted space. If it was me I would look to make the master smaller and the 2 smaller bedrooms larger. Not really sure how we can make BR 3 and 4 larger by reducing BR 1. Also we have a king size bed and a cot on our room so its not really an open to reduce the master too much as we simply wont fit. bashworth See this link to see why I don't like twin basins: http://www.anewhouse.com.au/2012/01/twi ... -worth-it/ I will have a read of your link later, thank you xx We dont intend to have double basins at this stage as I feel like its a waste of bench space. Would rather a single basin and more space on the bench to put things down. Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 13Oct 28, 2015 10:01 am So close to finalising the floor plan which is exciting. I will try and upload it shortly. Still have to finalise the layout for the laundry and kitchen. Kitchen - thinking of putting the fridge into the walk in pantry and having a bench in there also for the toaster and kettle. Will have to have an exhaust fan also. Laundry - plan on switching the linen and the tough walls around. Not sure how we will arrange it other than that right now. A few questions for you: Bench tops - would you switch out the stone in the bathrooms and laundry and opt for laminate to try and save some money? Cladding - we were toying with the idea of having rendered styrofoam rather than brick cladding for the thermal benefits 'Giant Esky' Wondering if anybody have any experience or comments in relation to building a single story out of styrofoam? Its rating (generally) as an R4 which will make a huge difference with the double glazing. Do people put R2 bats into the walls also or just keep it as the styrofoam? One of the builders we are looking at are happy to switch out the bricks for the styrofoam rendered at no additional cost. Does that sound right? Obviously styrofoam is substantially cheaper but apparently adding the render brings it in line with bricks. Thoughts? Re: Building in Clematis Vic - passive solar 16Nov 01, 2015 10:59 am i would try to squeeze a sink into the wc somehow our chn, one in particular decides if her brother or sister are having a shower she will use our ensuite instead. not happy when i have just gotten to sleep and she turns bedroom light on to see her way 0 2181 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 1924 I looked into it a few years ago and my conclusion was to just build a carport that will support panels and get a system installed separately. The company I looked at had… 1 5431 |