Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Apr 05, 2015 5:28 pm Hi Everyone! Very new to all of this but very excited to get the building process started and into our new house! We have already learnt so much from reading everyone's threads and are ready to start our own for people to learn from (us included). We are first home buyers and builder and are looking to build the Amafi 632 in the South Eastern suburbs of Victoria. We are changing quite a few things on the floor plan but no major structural changes. Some of our changes include; - Colourbond roof - Raise ceiling height to 2720mm (this is because we would like have double cavity sliding doors to the theatre and are aware that cannot be done with the standard 2570mm) - Squarest throughout main areas and master (does not include back hallway, bedrooms etc.) - Cornerless timber sliders (aluminium instead of timber) - Increase sliders to 2.4m - Raise height of front door - Provide double cavity sliders to theatre - Provide translucent glass panel doors to house (except laundry external) - Change the windows in Bed 4 to match that of Bed 2 - Blocking off butlers pantry (it seems everyone does this!) - Providing the butlers pantry layout (with overhead cupboards and sink) but not the colour board shelves (we couldn't justify the extra $2,000) These are the major changes. We have lots of ideas for the kitchen but aren't sure if everything will work together yet and we are still unsure about the bathrooms and the laundry, although we want tiles to all four walls, as well as porcelain floor tiles in all wet areas. We have chosen to go with the Eclipse facade as we couldn't justify any extra expense there. Although we love the Avenue facade. A few things we have chosen to do post handover include; - Floors - Heating/Airconditioning - Lights - Front/rear landscaping - Driveway Now for a few questions: 1. We noticed something about the bricks above the garage not being included and this being an extra cost of $950? Can anyone confirm/shed some more light on that one? 2. The junctions boxes in the two front pillars, can anyone confirm the price for this? Also, has anyone added junction boxes around the eaves or is this relatively easy to do post handover? 3. Has anyone added noggins for wall mounted tvs? If so, was this expensive? Any general advice or opinions (good or bad) with what we have chosen to upgrade or with Mainvue in general we would love to hear about. Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 2Apr 05, 2015 6:42 pm That's strange about your theatre room. We are building with henley and are having double cavity sliders on the theatre and have the standard ceiling height, we didn't have to increase it. Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 3Apr 05, 2015 7:05 pm Hi jessicana10, Sorry, my mistake, I forgot to say we want to have the cavity sliding doors at 2340mm to match the rest of the doors in the house. Is this the height you're getting? Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 4Apr 05, 2015 7:45 pm Aghhh that mAkes sense, we are just having normal door heights I think they are 2040. The higher ceilings will be nice. We only upgraded our stacker doors to 2400. We hit budget pretty quickly so at tender we scrapped a few things then and there, we are doing a Knock down re build so the site costs are a killer. Can't wait to see you colour selections. You plan looks great. I didn't know you could flip just the back half - what a great idea. Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 5Apr 06, 2015 1:03 pm Yeah, we're unsure wether you'll even be able to notice the height since it's a cavity - that will probably be one of the first things to change if we have a shortfall. I didn't know they could upgrade the stackers to 2400 with the standard ceiling heights so that's awesome! That sucks about your site costs though! Which house are you building by Henley? Do you have a thread? We're thinking a dark colour pallet at the moment but I'm terrified it won't all match haha! I can barely decide on colours for one room let alone a whole house! Do you mean the back bedrooms windows? Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 6May 10, 2015 5:05 pm Hi Shan and Pete, I am too building an Amalfi (530) in the South East! Mine is due to commence construction in approx 6 weeks! Getting close finally! As for the bricks over the garage - it is a $950 upgrade (I have done this too), standard is a painted beam. My Build Journey - Mainvue Amalfi 530 in South Eastern Melbourne https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75810&p=1353804&hilit=mainvue+amalfi#p1353804 Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 7May 11, 2015 11:39 am That's so exciting! I can't wait for it to be 6 weeks away!! How have you gone with all the appointments? Did you upgrade much? I think we're going to have to get the bricks above! I haven't seen many new homes without it. Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 8May 13, 2015 2:32 pm ShanAndPete That's so exciting! I can't wait for it to be 6 weeks away!! How have you gone with all the appointments? Did you upgrade much? I think we're going to have to get the bricks above! I haven't seen many new homes without it. Appointments went well overall. Initial tender couldn't sign as I was not OK with the site costs quoted ($36k). So made a deal with them to do my own site cut once land settled, then have Mainvue re-survey/soil test and go from there... Paid off big time - Second Tender came back in $23k cheaper. So site costs are now <8k! So signed Tender and Contracts on same day (Monday) and now its full steam ahead to getting council approval and building permits issued! As for upgrades - I ended up spending just over 60k on top of base price (which includes the site costs, slab upgrades etc). Check out my thread for a list of upgrades! My Build Journey - Mainvue Amalfi 530 in South Eastern Melbourne https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=75810&p=1353804&hilit=mainvue+amalfi#p1353804 Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 9Aug 02, 2015 1:43 am ShanAndPete Hi Everyone! Very new to all of this but very excited to get the building process started and into our new house! We have already learnt so much from reading everyone's threads and are ready to start our own for people to learn from (us included). We are first home buyers and builder and are looking to build the Amafi 632 in the South Eastern suburbs of Victoria. We are changing quite a few things on the floor plan but no major structural changes. Some of our changes include; - Colourbond roof - Raise ceiling height to 2720mm (this is because we would like have double cavity sliding doors to the theatre and are aware that cannot be done with the standard 2570mm) - Squarest throughout main areas and master (does not include back hallway, bedrooms etc.) - Cornerless timber sliders (aluminium instead of timber) - Increase sliders to 2.4m - Raise height of front door - Provide double cavity sliders to theatre - Provide translucent glass panel doors to house (except laundry external) - Change the windows in Bed 4 to match that of Bed 2 - Blocking off butlers pantry (it seems everyone does this!) - Providing the butlers pantry layout (with overhead cupboards and sink) but not the colour board shelves (we couldn't justify the extra $2,000) These are the major changes. We have lots of ideas for the kitchen but aren't sure if everything will work together yet and we are still unsure about the bathrooms and the laundry, although we want tiles to all four walls, as well as porcelain floor tiles in all wet areas. We have chosen to go with the Eclipse facade as we couldn't justify any extra expense there. Although we love the Avenue facade. A few things we have chosen to do post handover include; - Floors - Heating/Airconditioning - Lights - Front/rear landscaping - Driveway Now for a few questions: 1. We noticed something about the bricks above the garage not being included and this being an extra cost of $950? Can anyone confirm/shed some more light on that one? 2. The junctions boxes in the two front pillars, can anyone confirm the price for this? Also, has anyone added junction boxes around the eaves or is this relatively easy to do post handover? 3. Has anyone added noggins for wall mounted tvs? If so, was this expensive? Any general advice or opinions (good or bad) with what we have chosen to upgrade or with Mainvue in general we would love to hear about. Hi ShanAndPete, has anyone ever questioned Mainvue/Henley why they only do 2570mm and 2720mm ceilings instead of 2590mm and 2740mm which most other builders can do? I don't understand why Henley has to reduce the ceiling height by 20mm? Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 10Aug 02, 2015 1:46 am ShanAndPete That's so exciting! I can't wait for it to be 6 weeks away!! How have you gone with all the appointments? Did you upgrade much? I think we're going to have to get the bricks above! I haven't seen many new homes without it. Have you considered adding eave at the front of garage? The eave may cover what's above the garage door so bricks over garage door may not be needed? Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 11Aug 02, 2015 8:57 am Hi nestaxu, I've been meaning to post again as we've decided not to build with Maivue now. We felt like their standard inclusions were minimal compared to displayed and some of the upgrades were very expensive. I also noticed the thing about the ceiling heights when we changed as well.. Very strange. Re: Pre-Build - Amalfi 632 Mainvue Homes 12Aug 02, 2015 11:51 am ShanAndPete Hi nestaxu, I've been meaning to post again as we've decided not to build with Maivue now. We felt like their standard inclusions were minimal compared to displayed and some of the upgrades were very expensive. I also noticed the thing about the ceiling heights when we changed as well.. Very strange. No worries ShanAndPete, we look forward to your new build thread Ideally you would engage a landscaper to give you some insight what they may need in the space to make your vision come to life… 1 13624 We've had the offer of a short term tenant whilst waiting for CDC/DA home approval and demolition for our knock down rebuild. 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