Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 30, 2014 5:13 pm Hi all, My husband and I are about to embark on our first build. We have just put down our deposit on our block at South Quarter Loganlea, QLD and have been doing some initial back-and-forth emailing with Coral Homes. We will probably put down a deposit this week with Coral to go to tender process and get things going. Anyone have any tips to start us in the early stages- things that are easy to miss straight up? We have had prelim costings based on the Elegance upgrade option and then added and taken out a few things... such as removing the dropped feature ceiling in the kitchen, adding little recesses in the shower for shampoo etc, and adding an additional few thousand for electrical allowances as I know that can blow out easily. I'm worried we are forgetting things, it's a big process and there are SO many details on the costings. AND my husband just leaves it all to me. Ohh and has anyone put tanks UNDER their house in residential areas? Wondering how pricey this gets. We have a big block (compared to most residential) at 1800m2, but only a small building envelope at the front, and the rest slopes off steeply at the back down towards the river, so trying to maximise our space up top if possible. TIA Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 2Nov 30, 2014 5:21 pm Has anyone actually been able to use the basic choices in flooring, bricks etc, or is it a given that we are going to HAVE to upgrade to get anything nice? We have 3 small children and certainly with the floorings need to go with durable choices. Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 3Nov 30, 2014 5:41 pm Welcome Finnsmamma! There's a few of us Coral builders on here at present. If you have you house plan sorted have a go at working out where you want lights, fans, sockets, TV points etc and get any extras included in your tender. I have a feeling it's cheaper than adding them at Clipsal appointment. Also bare in mind that Coral's standard is batten lights. I'm not familiar with the elegance package. Is that similar to the inspirations package? We went with the inspirations package as it included a lot of things we would have upgraded too anyway and found the inclusions to be pretty good for flooring and bricks. We did upgrade the carpet to the bedrooms to the gold range and that was very reasonable. Most of our extras went on modifications on our design plus upgrades to tiles in wet areas (we are having laminate flooring in living areas) and the caesarstone benchtops as we weren't very keen on Coral's standard range. Be prepared your tenders may take a few goes and make sure you go through it carefully. Good luck! Look forward to following your build. Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 4Nov 30, 2014 5:56 pm Welcome! I'm also building with coral and have the elegance package So far I have found the standard extremely good! I don't know if it varies by area but I have loved everything! I added the following: ducted aircon option Under mount sink Waterfall edges to Island Splashback tiling to continue up behind range hood so it all looks the same Shower recess to ensuite and main bathroom Slab to alfresco Driveway Extra electrical allowance Upgraded carpet, I was happy with silver and added the laminate flooring So far I've had a look at tiles and I've taken photos of lots of standard inclusions, feel free to check out my thread.. It's Noosa 20 I think you will be pleasantly surprised, the standard is much better than other builders Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 5Nov 30, 2014 6:22 pm daydream_build Welcome Finnsmamma! There's a few of us Coral builders on here at present. If you have you house plan sorted have a go at working out where you want lights, fans, sockets, TV points etc and get any extras included in your tender. I have a feeling it's cheaper than adding them at Clipsal appointment. Also bare in mind that Coral's standard is batten lights. I'm not familiar with the elegance package. Is that similar to the inspirations package? We went with the inspirations package as it included a lot of things we would have upgraded too anyway and found the inclusions to be pretty good for flooring and bricks. We did upgrade the carpet to the bedrooms to the gold range and that was very reasonable. Most of our extras went on modifications on our design plus upgrades to tiles in wet areas (we are having laminate flooring in living areas) and the caesarstone benchtops as we weren't very keen on Coral's standard range. Be prepared your tenders may take a few goes and make sure you go through it carefully. Good luck! Look forward to following your build. Thank you- that's a good tip adding some extra sockets at tender before Clipsal appt. We had originally 3500 extra allowance over standard, but decided to go higher after hearing other people blew out the budget easily at that stage. We now have a 7500 allowance, so hoping that will be sufficient with no surprises later as I'd like to get down lights throughout the living areas and media/flexi and I read they are an expensive upgrade/change. Yes, the Elegance is similar to what they used to have in Inspirations. I looked tentatively about 6-9mths ago and they had 3 levels then. Now they just have 2 levels- Designer and Elegance, so it's all the upgraded options, but obviously you can keep on upgrading at appointments, but that's all so "unknown" it's really hard to imagine how the final figures will stack up. Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 6Nov 30, 2014 6:30 pm ASH Jordan Springs Welcome! I'm also building with coral and have the elegance package So far I have found the standard extremely good! I don't know if it varies by area but I have loved everything! I added the following: ducted aircon option Under mount sink Waterfall edges to Island Splashback tiling to continue up behind range hood so it all looks the same Shower recess to ensuite and main bathroom Slab to alfresco Driveway Extra electrical allowance Upgraded carpet, I was happy with silver and added the laminate flooring So far I've had a look at tiles and I've taken photos of lots of standard inclusions, feel free to check out my thread.. It's Noosa 20 I think you will be pleasantly surprised, the standard is much better than other builders We've added the ducted aircon too (it's a $2999 option until mid next month). I'm undecided about the sink mount, only looked at the options briefly, and I have a current sink with no drainer and it drives me batty needing a plastic draining tray under the dish drying rack (looks terrible!). We took out the driveway as we have concreters in the family, but included the alfresco slab and tiling as I think it would be a much better finish to have it all layed and tiled at once by the same tradies. Splashback and waterfal edges... I haven't considered that. I do know I mentioned to the salespeople at the displays that I thought the 20mm stone island looks really "cheap" when it's that thickness, but they gave me "the look" and told me it was VERY expensive to upgrade to a 40mm ceaserstone. I wonder if the waterfall edging would help the effect? I must look into that. We weren't going to have any carpet (have loved a house we tiled throughout in the past) but am now considering it from a cost perspective and getting a very dark carpet to suit the kids... we put down new cream carpet 3 years ago in our current house and OMG the kids have killed it! It was expensive with all these guarantees too..but craft paint and children with blood nose tendancies I will go check out your thread! I can't wait to actually "see" what they include... it's so hard to visualise and I hate not being prepared.. I'm the type of gal to have everything mapped out and then just go to salespeople when I'm ready (and they look at me shocked as they don't get to do the sales pitch). Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 7Nov 30, 2014 6:42 pm Just looked at Bribie 30 - I like it, lots of storage.
We had all the extra light points etc added to contract and then we only spent an additional $1300 at the Clipsal appointment - most of which was on two way switches. Just be warned that they charge $78 to install an owner supplied light and that is in addition to the say $70 Coral charge for the extra light fitting. We went battens throughout but have purchased our down lights and pendants through Beacon and will get the electrician to install them. I'm hoping that works out cheaper! We went standard for all doors, door handles, cupboard handles etc and we're quite happy with the options available. To be honest we knew what we wanted to upgrade (caesarstone, carpet etc) so didn't even look at the other upgrades as didn't want to blow the budget out! Check the size of the windows included in the design too as you may want them changed. Our design had a few of those windows that go to the floor. I'm not too keen on them as I think they limit where you can place your furniture in a room so we changed them. Also look at your sliding doors vs stacker doors. Kitchen cupboards vs drawers (I had most of mine changed to drawers). If you think you might upgrade your tiles maybe see if you can get an allowance built in for that. Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 8Nov 30, 2014 7:02 pm daydream_build Just looked at Bribie 30 - I like it, lots of storage. We had all the extra light points etc added to contract and then we only spent an additional $1300 at the Clipsal appointment - most of which was on two way switches. Just be warned that they charge $78 to install an owner supplied light and that is in addition to the say $70 Coral charge for the extra light fitting. We went battens throughout but have purchased our down lights and pendants through Beacon and will get the electrician to install them. I'm hoping that works out cheaper! We went standard for all doors, door handles, cupboard handles etc and we're quit happy with the options available. To be honest we knew what we wanted to upgrade (caesarstone, carpet etc) so didn't even look at the other upgrades as didn't wang to blow the budget out! Check the size of the windows included in the design too as you may want them changed. Our design had a few of those windows that go to the floor. I'm not too keen on them as I think they limit where you can place your furniture in a room so we changed them. Also look at your sliding doors vs stacker doors. Kitchen cupboards vs drawers (I had most of mine changed to drawers). If you think you might upgrade your tiles maybe see if you can get an allowance built in for that. Thank you! I often wonder where the figures come from. I emailed about having fan lights put into the bedrooms, and one over the lounge and they quoted me $1600 odd for the 5! And the type they quoted is listed as a $110 fan on the beacon website, not a fancy one either. Although we have ducted air, I really like having fans here in QLD as I'm a power miser and only run the air when I really have to. Yes the increased storage was a big one for us. I run a business from home and our current home is a basic 3 bedroom upstairs and then I have the same size downstairs just for the business (plus the laundry) so we have a LOT of stuff... We are going to have some major issues getting even a 10th of it into the storage in the Bribie. We originally looked at the Santorini26 and moving some walls to get extra storage in the garage and linen, but we changed our land block and can now fit the bigger Bribie (and the layout is better to catch breezes and make the most of natural light flowing through from both sides of the home). I'm glad to read that you were happy with a lot of the standard options. Looking at the displays and the brochure I also thought that the doors, handles and tapware looks just fine (but wondered if the advertising was deceptive). It's definitely the bricks, flooring and electricals that I'm concerned about. I will have to check out the windows.. I very much agree about the big windows- not a huge issue in the master as theres the WIR and lots of wall space, but in the smaller bedrooms it can certainly be a juggle with the kids beds, desks and other toy storage stuff. How much did it cost you to upgrade the cupboards to drawers? I do like Cupboards, but love my drawers for tupperware and things, so might change a few. I keep telling myself that stacker doors will be way out of my budget- any idea if they are crazy expensive? Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 9Nov 30, 2014 7:43 pm Maybe double check the fan light price. I guess they would charge more to cover wiring and install. Yes I prefer fans too. We won't be getting air con straight away so have made sure we have fans in most rooms. I'm not sure how much extra the drawers were and can't see it listed on my thread either. Our stacker doors were included so I'm not sure. Can't imagine they'd be more than a few hundred. It's bi-folds that are the expensive ones. Few other things we included: Cold water connection for fridge Full height tiling in bathrooms Security fly screens Window tinting Also look at appliances. They use Technika ones which aren't the greatest so we got credits for all of those and are providing our own Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 10Nov 30, 2014 8:28 pm Ohh, thankyou again. I had them take the flyscreens off as the sales guy said it would be cheaper later (and we've had it done separately in our other two older homes and it has been easy and not too pricey). I had them take out the fridge water connector- my in-laws have it and the kids make a terrible mess with water and ice and we have a near new big fridge that doesn't have water anyway. I'd forgotten about window tinting- I think we just have the Master big front windows west facing and the garage will take most of the afternoon westerly sun. Might ask about tinting those front windows. I didn't realise they use Technika. What are you going to get for appliances instead? Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 11Nov 30, 2014 8:49 pm We picked up a Blanco 60cm induction cooktop in the sale earlier in the year (it's currently under the spare bed!).
Got an LG dishwasher - we have that already as the rental we're in didn't have one. Have 2 Bosch wall ovens - one pyro and one normal. Think the rangehood is Euromaid. I don't care that they're not all the same brand! Did a lot of research and took ages to decide. Wanted the ovens to look nice but also be functional/practical. Got pretty good deal in Harvey Norman. Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 12Nov 30, 2014 9:03 pm daydream_build We picked up a Blanco 60cm induction cooktop in the sale earlier in the year (it's currently under the spare bed!). Got an LG dishwasher - we have that already as the rental we're in didn't have one. Have 2 Bosch wall ovens - one pyro and one normal. Think the rangehood is Euromaid. I don't care that they're not all the same brand! Did a lot of research particularly and took ages to decide. Wanted the ovens to look nice but also be functional/practical. Got pretty good deal in Harvey Norman. I'm quite keen to get a pyro oven too. Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 13Nov 30, 2014 9:05 pm I wasn't going to as thought it would be too pricy for two but the sales guy talked me into one of each - one for meat and one for cakes! Apparently a lot of people do one and one.
Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 14Nov 30, 2014 9:09 pm What kitchen design are you going for? Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 15Dec 01, 2014 10:12 am Welcome Finnsmamma! We're building with Coral too - the Daydream 28. We're at council now It's been a LONG road so far - we're doing a KDR. We also have three small children (3, 5 and 7) - all boys so I hear ya on the destroying carpet. We've gone with tiles throughout most of the house and carpets in the bedrooms, study and home theatre room. We were going to go with 'dirt' coloured carpet, but will probably go more of a charcoal colour since the tiles are white (with three boys - what are we thinking?!?!?) and the kitchen and bathrooms are going to be black and white. We managed to stay with the standard tiles (except for the feature in the bathrooms and we upgraded the wall tile to go higher than standard as well) and got the same tiles for our al fresco as for the main house - but textured. We were very happy with the standard tile selection. We haven't had our colour or Clipsec appointment yet. We're planning on upgrading the carpet because I haven't heard a good word about the 'bronze' range yet, and the electrical will cost us a small fortune too. As for external colours, we were also very happy with the standard range there. We are going for a red brick (we're in an older neighbourhood and don't want to stick out like a sore thumb - besides, it's all we could agree on in the end!), but there were quite a few options. We've been happy with Coral so far. Some things take a fair bit of time, but the most significant hold ups for us have been with the bank. We're hoping to get a start date no later than early March, but time will tell.... Follow my Coral Daydream 28 build: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72384 Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 16Dec 01, 2014 2:14 pm Finnsmamma Has anyone actually been able to use the basic choices in flooring, bricks etc, or is it a given that we are going to HAVE to upgrade to get anything nice? We have 3 small children and certainly with the floorings need to go with durable choices. For tiles, the basics are fine. Basically only ceramic tiles, as expected, but there are tons of options at Beaumont. So yes you can get away with the basics there. Carpet is a personal choice. The "Bronze" range of carpet is very average to poor, luckily it isn't too much to upgrade. If you want a hardy carpet though then the bronze and silver range are pretty heavy duty at the expensive of feeling hard. Bricks and external stuff: Yes basics is fine. I went with a basic brick, no extra and i think it looks great. I did upgrade to off white mortar though, which i think was worth the money. Benchtops are pretty good as well for the basics. About 15 ceaserstone colors to choose from for no extra cost. Wood look laminate costs extra though (not much). My Noosa 23 Build - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72782 Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 17Dec 01, 2014 9:05 pm Well there's another spanner.... got a call from the developer to tell me that the block next to the one we originally picked (but he sold from under us) is about to become available again... It's half the size of the one we signed for on Saturday, but much less steep after the building envelope.. and we intend to put in a pool after the build.. so could save us a lot of $$ and headaches. I have to get back to them tomorrow if we want to change. I've been back looking at ALL the designs (incl two storey to maximise our land space). The old block had a tiny frontage (13m) but angled out in a big triangle, so by setting the house back we could get machinery acccess up the side for later pool and landscaping works. The new block is 15m frontage, but a perfect rectangle, so although wider I may have to consider a narrower design to allow access up the side of the house! What a headache- just when I thought we were ready to "go"...... Back looking at the Avoca26 (our original choice before they released Santorini and then we fell in love with Bribie...). Thinking with the $$ saved on the Avoca list price we could play with the design to get a little more length in the garage to add storage and also remove the bath from the Ensuite to extend the study nook.... not sure how doable that is, but I'm sure there will be a flurry of emails tomorrow with the Coral salesman. gah! Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 18Dec 02, 2014 8:51 am Oooh, big decision to be made. Making those changes to a design shouldn't be too hard, quite a few of us have chopped and changed things up a bit. We've cut half the garage off and extended the bedrooms and others have extended ensuites, moved walls etc etc. Good luck with your decision. Follow my Coral Daydream 28 build: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72384 Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 19Dec 02, 2014 12:00 pm Finnsmamma What a headache- just when I thought we were ready to "go"...... Back looking at the Avoca26 (our original choice before they released Santorini and then we fell in love with Bribie...). Thinking with the $$ saved on the Avoca list price we could play with the design to get a little more length in the garage to add storage and also remove the bath from the Ensuite to extend the study nook.... not sure how doable that is, but I'm sure there will be a flurry of emails tomorrow with the Coral salesman. gah! Make sure you have a good think between the Avoca 26 (narrow lot) and the Avoca 25 (not narrow lot). I found when i visited the Ormeau display of the Avoca 24 that i much preferred the layout of the non-narrow lot designed Avoca series. It just seemed to make more sense and had more storage space. That being said, personal decision If you havn't been to the Ormeau display (down near the GC) then i suggest you do pay a visit. Also the Northlakes displays as they are more accurate of what you get now. My Noosa 23 Build - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=72782 Re: Coral Homes Bribie30- about to go to tender- tips? 20Dec 02, 2014 6:10 pm Welcome Finnsmamma, We're building the Marcoola 32 at Oran Park, good luck with your build,I love following everyone's journey. Julie Hi Mellywil, Awesome news(being in Council),hopefully it's approved quickly.We had our site start today,my husband said that since meeting with our SS,that he feels more confident that our build will be a smooth one. Our SS said that we will definitely have our slab before Christmas ,we've decided that we want to change our pantry door and our SS is arranging it for us,he's down to earth and so far very accommodating,his brother is the construction Manager,hopefully you'll get him also,because your in the same area. I got a big surprise from my wonderful husband today,I didn't go to work as I was sick, at 2.00pm I heard someone knocking on the front door,parked outside was a new 2014 Alfa Romeo Giulietta( in Alfa red),my husband bought for me. Julie How's everyone else doing? Ask the council if there is a chance of getting build over easement exemption. Sometimes easements are unused and 24cm is not all that much. Good luck. And yes any builder… 2 13769 In Qld it is a requirement that a builder must have a cost breakdown, for building a home to the same specification, with the same inclusions and the same finish. So ask… 1 4335 Hey. Head to a metal and decide on which profile you will use first. Profiles with larger corrugations can greatly change the appearance of the color in different… 0 3382 |