Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 21Apr 05, 2015 7:45 pm Hahah thanks PerthAussie2014/Emily! I kinda thought it might not be a good idea moving those doors, but my mind is like "but what if..."! That is true, having those doors there isnt practical. I figured with the linen space, it would be handy to convert the IT nook into storage; you can never have too much storage! Love the way your kitchen is coming along! The drawers look really nice! And the front elevation and stained beams in your alfresco! Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 22Apr 06, 2015 4:22 pm I think the change looks ok but I wouldn't completely freak out about living areas on the west if you have room to provide some shading such as decidous trees. Their leaves provide shade in summer and in winter they lose their leaves to let sun through. If you don't have room for some form of shading then perhaps remove living areas from the west side. I wouldn't move your theatre doors. Doesn't seem cramped to me. One suggestion, in your bathroom, the window is pretty wide as it looks like perhaps it was designed for a bath running along under the window at some stage. Have you thought about perhaps changing this to something like a full height longer narrower window (rectangle) so it forms a feature, can make your bathroom look taller, provides wall beside your vanity and at end of your bath for a bit more privacy? With my builder thats the kind of change I could do at prestart with no other costs. Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 23Apr 06, 2015 7:02 pm Hi Beazly77, thanks for that - I will not be moving the doors to theater- seems pointless to waste that wall. As for the bathroom window - I did ask the rep, he said not able to do it, but they can instead put the biggest possible window in there. I will try my luck at pre-start again anyways. As for east/west orientation my width is 12.5 and the house is 11.3 wide, so there isn't going to be much space there so would rather not risk it. The builder said that with the new orientation, the house may need to be made a little bigger - so will need to see how much more they gonna charge. Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 24Apr 06, 2015 7:32 pm The problem you have in having the garage forward is that you may not have enough room to park a car in front of the garage. Or if the house is far enough back for that, then there's a lot of front yard in front of the bedroom. Some councils also don't like garages in front, which is kind of fair enough, because it isn't such a great look with a steet full of houses all showcasing their double garage doors. From this latest plan, an option may be to swap the theatre to the other side, behind the master bedroom, then swap the laundry across in behind the garage, leaving the wc with the bathroom. That should leave the garage about 1m back from the front of the house. Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 25Apr 06, 2015 9:18 pm Chromeo Hello everyone! So apparently the utilities point outside the house (main connection point) is going to be an issue on my block so I have 3 options: 1) I move the house back 2.5m which means I lose out on that much backyard, effectively making it 5.8m long at the back instead of the current 8.1m 2) Option 2 flip the house but I end up with my living area on the west end (not liking this very much) 3) Option 3 is attached below was drawn today and I think it’s actually not a bad design - but I’m thinking of moving the theater doors to face the living area? Thoughts anyone? Does it seemed cramped? Chromeo the plan is great. Here are my thoughts: - I wouldn't move the theatre doors, they will effect the way you can utilise the room and it will make it seem smaller. - Of course, as everyone else has said, don't flip it - west it only good when you live in the west, not facing it! haha - The only other thing I would do and this is just a suggestion, why not move the wall in the bedroom behind the kitchen out to match the wall of the house. This will make that room that much better and that side of the house will not be somewhere i feel you'd care if it was straight or not but you're just maximising on your internal space. Just a suggestion. I did things like that to my place and I had seen my place built, now that mine is going up these small changes make rooms feel so much larger. But just something to think about. Linnen robe is great! Master Bathroom and WIR's are so similar to mine! Love it. Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 26Apr 09, 2015 12:17 am Yeah I'd prefer the garage to be slightly behind or on the same line-ish as the house. So they got back to me today and told me the new design won't work as it will cost about $6k more due to the extension of the house length to accommodate it. It's starting to look like flipping the house as it was originally is the most viable option.. I've tried looking at all the designs on the web but most of em result in either an increase of house length or moving a bedroom away from the rest of the (bed 2,3&4). I think I would rather flip the house than lose 2m off the backyard. Is this a poor decision? Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 27Apr 09, 2015 8:29 am Which direction does your block face? I'm guessing is somewhere near the north, but is it directly to the north or rotated from that? Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 29Apr 09, 2015 9:10 am Bear in mind that the house next door will likely shade you from low sun angles anyhow, so it's probably not such a big deal. You can always add some external awnings to shade those windows in summer as well. Flipping it will also reduce western sun into the theatre and bed2, plus evening sunlight into living can be nice in the cooler parts of the year. So it's not all downsides. So if it's going to save your backyard, then flipping doesn't sound too bad here. Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 30Apr 09, 2015 9:13 am I was hoping that would be the case. I've read on many posts here and around the web that it's a big no no and was a little worried about it all. But thank you for putting my mind at ease oneJohn. Really appreciate it. Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 31Apr 09, 2015 9:51 am Hi Justin, yeah if I can get DS to find another style without extra cost it would be great. The proposed design that i posted on post #18 above really grew on me as it looks very "clean" and neat. But I will probably not fork out more $ for it. To amend the origi al draft proved a little difficult though as most designs I've found will either lengthen the house or shrink it. And ive tried to move the parts of this house around but nothing seems to gel in nice. Has anyone here had to build rooms on the west with a north facing block? Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 32Apr 09, 2015 3:22 pm Chromeo Hi Justin, yeah if I can get DS to find another style without extra cost it would be great. The proposed design that i posted on post #18 above really grew on me as it looks very "clean" and neat. But I will probably not fork out more $ for it. To amend the origi al draft proved a little difficult though as most designs I've found will either lengthen the house or shrink it. And ive tried to move the parts of this house around but nothing seems to gel in nice. Has anyone here had to build rooms on the west with a north facing block? My master bedroom is west facing on my block (as the west is the front of my house). Apparently I got a decent energy rating as all my living areas are north & South Facing (the open plan) and the other bedrooms are east facing. Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 33Apr 11, 2015 12:40 pm We've got two rooms on the west side of our house that I'd prefer weren't there but our orientation (due north to rear) means something had to go there and better bathrooms/loos/laundry/bedroom than the living areas. And the only thing that might help us block the summer heat is that our neighbours house is along the west side so we might be alright. I've bought blackout roller blinds to hang inside after handover in Bed 2 and the Theatre/Lounge to try and block some of the heat in Summer. Yanchep build with Dreamstart Homes ____________________________________________________________ Our build thread - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=73323 Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 34Apr 11, 2015 1:07 pm My front (master bedroom and garage) faces south and i have beds 2+3 plus bathroom and laundry facing west (although technically bed 3 window faces north) and the living areas facing east. However there is only one metre separation from my east and west wall to the fence so i think there'll be a lot of shadow from the fences that it wont make too much of a difference So maybe take into account distance between your house and the fence + the neighbour? Could make a difference in making a decision Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 35Apr 17, 2015 10:34 am Thank you for the posts! I guess I will be needing a few blackouts! I managed to get a copy of my drawing to kind of see what it looks like in the updated orientation. Still not happy to be shifting it about but I'm not sure if I am just being fussy. I might see exactly what I can do to mitigate that summer sun. Also, like onejohn said, evening sun might be nice in cooler months. Haha So I got a copy of the drawings but I'm not entirely sure my front is going to look like I wanted. There are no eaves to front and it looks like the front window is one big glass window? And the alfresco will have a drop with exposed timber beams? :/ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Getting it all started (1st Build) 36Apr 17, 2015 10:56 am Oh wow. That's pretty fast for the drawing. They wouldn't even do the drafting until the title was issued. Yes, the alfresco post is exposed timber. My sale guy told us that people have to pay extra to get this feature. LOL. We don't really care because our alfresco is quite small so with the proper brick pillar, it will take up more space. As for the eaves, you can pay to have it done. I don't remember the price per sqm. Timeline: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=76782 Re: Hilbert,WA: Ardent by Dreamstart Homes (PPA) 37Apr 18, 2015 1:43 am Yeah usually that's what happens, but site survey has been completed as the block is ready. The delay in titles is due to a crown land revaluation one row down at the park and future stream. Fingers crossed if all goes well, work can commence by June.. Just in time for the wettest season of the year! -.-" Re: Hilbert,WA: Ardent by Dreamstart Homes (PPA) 38Apr 18, 2015 7:43 pm I like the plan, i'd ask them for eves on the front of the house - it won't take much to adjust the roof structure and i don't think the cost will be a lot. In terms of giving the house more character why don't you ask them to put two/three longer skinny windows at the front so then it will elevate your big window problem. Alternatively you can ask them for a corner window under the portico and then one singular long window - something to make it look interesting? Otherwise - its looking good : Re: Hilbert,WA: Ardent by Dreamstart Homes (PPA) 39Apr 22, 2015 11:52 am Hey Justin, I did ask them for eaves to the front. So hopefully they will add that soon. As for elevation itself, it wasn't quite how I had ask for it, so I believe they will try and redo the front (make adjustments). Re: Hilbert,WA: Ardent by Dreamstart Homes (PPA) 40Apr 22, 2015 3:17 pm Chromeo Hey Justin, I did ask them for eaves to the front. So hopefully they will add that soon. As for elevation itself, it wasn't quite how I had ask for it, so I believe they will try and redo the front (make adjustments). I'd go onto their website and screen shot some houses that you 'like' the look of the front (show homes) and some other builders. They can then give you some options. Its worth getting it the way you want it! I hope I have helped Ask for references and speak to them. If they are defensive or try to avoid the request, walk. 1 74708 I would never build with Fowler homes. I built with them in 2021 and till date maintenance issues are pending. All their existing trades and businesses don't work with… 14 105564 Hi there! Putting the feelers out there for those who have (or almost) built with Arli homes! Interested in your experiences who've built from their stock home designs… 0 23492 |